Translator: Reizenchuu

  Editor: Kenny Stryker

  “For now, Rouga, go distract him for a while . I need some time . ”


  “Okay!”


  After replying to me briefly, Rouga jumped off Ouka’s back and charged at Souki who was waiting for the best timing to thrust out his fist . With a splendid move, Rouga dodged that fist .

  “Mr . Ogre, this way please . ”


  “.…… GeT AwaY . ”


  She provoked him with words that I’ve already heard somewhere . She is gradually getting influenced by her owner . As she was making use of her small body in her tactics, she continued to trifle with him . Although Souki doesn’t understand what she was saying, he was clearly irritated by her super fast speed . Well, mobility and speed are her inherent skills . It’s very unlikely for her to get caught by that giant lump of hatred .

  I entrusted the plan of distracting Souki to Rouga, and asked Ouka to let me down after getting far enough from them . Apparently, my arm is still too heavy . Even though I understood that it’s just a mind trick, it still feels heavy . This carved seal in my hand is due to my foolishness, so I need to bear with it now .

  “What are you intending to do now, Yato-sama?”


  Ouka asked me while being in her original fox form . The answer to her question was already decided .

  “We will take him down with one hit . ”


  It’s impossible for me to battle him for a long time with this arm, anyway . If I only fought him seriously from the start, nothing like this would have happened . Perhaps I got a little too ahead of myself this time . I will make sure to take him down with a single blow now .

  “I-Is that even possible?”


  “Of course, it is possible . ”


  After hearing the words ‘one hit,’ she asked with a bewildered voice tone . I replied to her immediately then crouched down and placed my heavy arm on the ground .

  “Alright, let’s do this . ”


  Everything is prepared now, all that is left is to make the move . When I was about to call for Rouga to get away from Souki, we got interrupted by a totally unpredictable interference .

  ——


  “!?”


  “Kyaa!”


  We got assaulted by a third party . All of a sudden, I received a shock to my back and lost track on the magic spell I was preparing . The voice that reached my ears right before the shock was unfamiliar . Someone else is present here . Even Ouka got involved in the attack . I turned to confirm what happened and noticed a stone gouged on the surface of the ground .

  “Ah? Did someone just shoot us with this stone…… ?”


  I frowned while fixing my gaze on the stone that wasn’t there until now . I activated my【Presence Detection】skill but couldn’t detect anyone nearby . This means that we were sniped by stone by someone from an incredibly long distance . I assume that it’s the same person who transmitted that ominous voice to my mind . In other words, someone is observing us from another place . Due to the noise resulting from the crash, Souki had noticed our location .

  “HuMAn…… DiE!”


  He then ignored Rouga and came rushing towards me with his full speed and power, but Rouga stopped him on the way .

  “I’m not done playing with you . ”


  She shouted and bit him with her sharp fangs, but as his skin was so hard, she couldn’t chew it off and got readily brushed off by him .

  “So hard . ”


  “StOP…… HiNdrANce . ”


  He probably got really fed up with Rouga moving around and changed his target from me to her again . It looks like I still have time to start preparing again .

  “C-Could this be……”


  Ouka who took a closer look at the stone thrown at us looked somehow agitated . I wanted to ask her if she knew anything, but I didn’t have time to do that . I perceived another stone flying directly at us . This time it wasn’t only one, but a few dozens . They were all covered by some dark matter . Surely, nothing good will come out of getting shot with them .

  “Yato-sama, I will do something about the stones . ”


  Ouka stepped forward, preparing to counter attack the flying stones . I used my【Presence Detection】to examine them and realized that they have been shot consecutively . If I were to deal with them instead, I will never have time to prepare the magic .

  I entrusted my back to Ouka and returned to concentrate on the spell I was preparing . Ouka transformed back to her human form and diagonally thrust her arms which eventually started sparkling with lightning . The lightning then left her arms and created a round wall surrounding the both of us . For a second I wondered if a wall can be made out of electricity, but soon focused back on my task . Everything is finally prepared now .

  “Rouga!! Get away from him now!!”


  “Okay!”


  Before she ran away from him, she kicked Souki’s eyes with her forefeet . Souki reflexively placed his hands on his eyes as he screamed and slightly bent down his knees . That was a heartless move from her . I felt a little sorry for Souki who got his eyes carefreely crushed by Rouga, but I didn’t let that chance slip by .

  “It’s about time for you to return to nothingness, lump of hatred — Heaven Load . ”


  Following my chant, two magic circles appeared . One of them near me and the second under Souki’s feet . It took him a while to calm down and open his eyes again to realize what was happening under him . He instinctively guessed the danger that was about to assault him and tried to escape, however, it was already late .

  Four tiny magic circles appeared above his head and iron chains violently sprout out of them, binding Souki’s limbs and restraining him . He tried to break free out of them using all his power but the chains didn’t even move the slightest . Once he got caught by them, the game was already over . The chains then abruptly lifted him all at once . His arms got stretched in different directions and his legs got bound straightforwardly . He looked as he was getting crucified .

  I won’t show any sympathy to you for your past, but at the very least, I will let you pass without suffering . The magic circle under Souki’s feet started shining . The light in the circle increased in its radiance gradually as if it were pumping out its energy . That growing brightness had most likely reflected as a death countdown in his eyes since he desperately tried to tear away the chains .

  “HuMAN…… Human!!”


  Despite facing his approaching death, the deep grudge in his eyes didn’t vanish .

  “UnfORgIvAble!…… NeVer, ShALL I ForgiVE…… The EnEmy…… Of My FamILY!!!”


  “.…… Later . ”


  He will never forgive anyone no matter what happens . That tragedy is now part of the antic past, no need to make a fuss about it at this point . I closed my eyes while listening to his resenting words, and bid him farewell . The magic circle reached its utmost radiance and entirely covered Souki .

  “I Will NEvEr ForgIVE…… hUmanS!!!”


  The magic circle created a giant pillar of light . While piercing the clear night sky and enlightening the gloomy forest, the pillar interrupted Souki from finishing his last resenting yell . Just rest in peace now . I prayed for Souki to find peace while silently gazing at the light pillar . After the light settled off, what was left in that place was Souki’s worn out body . The truth that he didn’t turn into light particles and disappear, which means that he is still alive . I prepared to append another attack, but soon realized that his body has started to faint away .

  Rest in peace, Souki .

  I quietly watched Souki disappearing off, turning into light and slowly fading out .

  “.…… Hu…… man……”


  I could hear his faint voice, which was barely reaching my ears .

  “Thank…… you……”


  Leaving those words behind, he completely turned into light particles . Simultaneously, the curse mark in my hand vanished . My hand stopped feeling heavy . This is what I’m talking about! A person’s hand should always feel like this . Waving my hand around I recalled Souki’s last words . Did he get back his sanity at the very end? I didn’t feel any resentment in his last words . They were his true feelings ……

  I pray for you to find a better world there .

  The light particles slowly ascended towards the night’s starry sky . It looked as if he were really ascending to the Heaven . So this brings to an end to this problem . Now that is done, one more thing is left to do . I turned to look at Ouka who was doing her best at warding off the flying stones . The other side of the electric wall was all filled with them . Just how many stones is he planning to shoot at us . Feeling glad that Ouka was able to defend my back from those shots, I stepped forth to assist her .

  “Did I make you wait?”


  “Yato-sama……”


  She spoke with a tired voice as she was about to reach her limits from warding off the flying stones . Sweat dripped from her forehead and she was barely able to keep the electric wall standing . I created another wall inside of the one she made .

  “I will take care of the rest . You can take a rest now, and thank you . ”


  “.…… I-it’s no problem . I’ll go take a rest now . ”


  Ouka flustered for a moment there, but soon lowered her arms and stopped pumping her magic into the wall . I don’t know who is the one behind this, but I’d like them to do this child act somewhere else .

  “Let me give you back your stones . ”


  The electric wall disappeared and the stones flew directly at the barrier I created . The moment they touched the barrier, their trajectory abruptly changed to the opposite direction and they flew back the way they came from .

  One after the other, the stones flew back their way into the horizon until they stopped coming . They should have all returned to the person who cast them at us . This should make an end to them as well . I could have just used【Erasure magic】instead, but I wanted to teach a lesson to the one who sent them flying at me . I took a deep breath after getting done with everything else . Ouka, who realized that everything was safely concluded, was about to faint from exhaustion . I supported her from the back so she doesn’t fall on the ground .

  “Ah, I am sorry . ”


  “You did well . ”


  After giving her a few words of appreciation, we both smiled at each other . Rouga came running to me while still feeling excited about our victory . I patted her head after brushing off the blood from her fur and asked her to return .

  “What were those stones about?”


  “I don’t know . I got hit by one of them when I was in the process of sealing Souki . ”


  She doesn’t seem to have an idea about them too . Well, nothing will come out from thinking about it now . The one who snipped those stones at us was probably trying to free Souki . Now that his goal can no longer be achieved, we will never get attacked by them again . I looked at Ouka who ran out of energy after she calmed down and moved my hand to carry her from her back .

  “Y-Yato-sama?”


  “It’s fine, just relax for now . You’re tired, aren’t you?”


  She seemed somewhat reluctant about having me carrying her on my back, but I insisted on not letting her down . This much is nothing for someone who did their best in assisting me . Ouka eventually gave up on resisting and turned quiet .

  “.…… Please let me down before the children see us . ”


  “.…… Sure, got it . ”


  She asked me in an embarrassed voice as she hid her face behind my back .

  “Let’s go now . ”


  “Yes . ”


  <>

  Ouka replied to my suggestion with a cheerful voice . The voice I heard in my head earlier is still a mystery, but nothing can be done about it now . Under the bright and clear night sky, I walked the forest enlightened by the moonlight and headed to the shrine, where everyone was waiting for us .

  ————————————————–


  Bonus

  What if .

  What if Yato forgot to brush off the blood from Rouga’s fur .

  “Ah, I forgot to wash Rouga from the blood of the ogres . ”


  “Chief!”


  “Ah, Rouga, come here, I need to—”


  “Chief, you’re an idiot!!”


  “Eh? What happened?”


  “The blood dried up and changed color . ”


  “Eh, ah, you’re right . ”


  “I can’t wash it off now!!”


  “Well, wait, I can do something about it, probably . ”


  “Did you just say probably, chief!? You said it, right?!”


  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”


  “UUuu~~~~”


  “Don’t make that face now . You’re still Rouga for me even though you’re stained with dried blood . ”


  “Uwaaa!! Chief!!” ← jumps at Yato for a hug .

  “Wow . ”


  “Don’t dodge my hug!!”


  “Sorry, I just thought that we can leave the hug for later……”


  “Liar!!”