Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 48

Chapter 48 – The Test of Courage Begins (Part 4)

"Phew... I'm beat."

Even with my Body Enhancement skill letting me sprint at full speed, simultaneously creating a swarm of lifelike animals with Water Magic, then remotely controlling them to encircle the likely culprits behind the incident—that’s no small feat.

Even with my level over 100, it eats up my stamina, mental energy, and mana like crazy.

…But with this, everything's in place.

"All right. We're ready."

"Ready?"

"Nah, just talking to myself. Anyway, Kuon, recognize any of those guys?"

I took a breather and asked Kuon, who was hiding with me in the bushes.

"I know the man with the beard. I believe he’s from the Hisai family, who were expelled from the clan."

"What about the other two?"

"…I'm sorry. I don’t recognize either of them."

So, nothing on the other two, huh?

Well, according to what I learned from Appraisal, neither seems to have any direct ties to Kuon anyway.

"No need to apologize. Do you know anything about this Hisai guy?"

"The Hisai family was said to be adept in barrier-type arts. But they were banished from the world of exorcism decades ago for illegal fundraising. I don’t know much about the man himself."

"Got it. Let's keep an eye on the bearded guy just in case."

"…Um, there’s something I’d like to ask."

As I was going over the plan in my head, Kuon timidly spoke up.

"Something bothering you?"

"It's not exactly that, but... those animals surrounding them—are they your familiars? Or are you luring them with some other power?"

Ah, right. She never actually saw me using Water Magic to recreate those animals, and I hadn’t explained it either.

Not that it's a huge secret or anything. I can give her a rough idea.

"Nah, I created those with a skill."

"Y-You created them with a skill?"

"You’ll understand better if you see it in action. So, how do we break out of here?"

"…There are three main methods to dispel a barrier: the caster dies, the caster releases it voluntarily, or the barrier itself is destroyed."

"So we need to deal with the bearded guy one way or another."

"…Yes. Therefore—"

Kuon pulled out a talisman from her sleeve, closed her eyes briefly as if to steel herself, and spoke with firm resolve.

"I’ll distract them with an illusion spell. While I’ve got their attention, use the animals to isolate the man from the Hisai family from the others."

"You’re gonna be the decoy?"

"You seem quite exhausted. It’s more efficient for me, since I still have plenty of stamina left."

Looks like Kuon thinks I’m more worn out than I actually am.

Sure, I’m tired—but not to the extent she assumes.

And more importantly—

"Didn’t I say? Everything’s already set. All we need to do now is sit back and enjoy the show."

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◇◇◇

—Side: ???

"Damn it! What the hell are these things!?"

Surrounded by what appeared to be countless animals, Okajima let out a scream.

(...Great, he just had to run into someone with a real troublesome ability.)

While feeling mildly annoyed at Okajima, Kai began analyzing the situation.

Normally, animals not designated by the caster shouldn’t be able to enter this domain. Any creatures inside at the time of casting would also be forcefully expelled.

And yet, here they were—surrounded.

That could only mean that these were newly summoned, or rather, generated within the barrier itself.

"Young master, can we set up a defensive barrier around us?"

"A defensive barrier?"

"Those are constructs formed by some kind of technique. Without the caster’s spiritual energy, they can’t maintain form. So—"

"—We hide inside a barrier and wait for their mana to run dry. I see."

Despite his fall from grace, the bearded man—He from the once-prestigious Hisai family—immediately grasped Kai’s idea and began setting up a defensive barrier.

Watching him work, Kai pulled a cigarette from his coat and shifted his gaze back to the animal-like things surrounding them.

(Even a genius can’t maintain that many manifestations for more than thirty minutes. And the more you make, the lower the quality of each one.)

Lighting up, Kai smiled with confidence.

His tactical approach—based on fundamentals drilled into him by the organization—would be flawless if his opponent were a typical exorcist.

Objects generated via spells require a steady supply of spiritual energy from the caster to stay materialized.

The more creations there are, the more the caster's energy gets divided, weakening each one.

So hiding in a defensive barrier and waiting for the caster to burn out was a simple, effective strategy.

Yes—if the caster were a regular exorcist.

"H-Hey. Something’s wrong with them...!"

The first to notice was Okajima, who had ducked inside the barrier and resumed preparations to break the seal.

Kai and Hisai turned to look where he pointed—only to find the animal-like creatures frozen in place, as if time itself had stopped.

(Did the caster run out of spiritual energy?)

Just as Kai considered that possibility, the creatures began transforming—no, morphing—into entirely different forms.

"…What the hell is that?"

What appeared before them was a strange, inexplicable floating construct.

Roughly 60mm in diameter, it had a circular disk shape with horn-like wings reminiscent of stag beetle pincers attached to either side. Its central dark cavity pointed directly at them.

"What... is it trying to do—"

The moment Kai opened his mouth, something was fired at the barrier at extreme speed from the cavity.

"Wh—!"

"Eek!?"

The impact left a massive hole in the defensive barrier, as if something had drilled right through it.

(No way… it pierced the barrier that easily!?)

It wasn’t that barrier-breaking spells were rare.

The problem was that the strange floating thing—and the projectile it launched—emitted no spiritual energy whatsoever.

"Young master! Reinforce the barrier! I’ll go destroy that thing!"

"U-Understood!"

With that, Kai drew several talismans and dashed toward the floating object.

Unbothered by Kai’s approach, the construct fired a second shot at the barrier.

(...Is that water?)

At close range, some of the liquid—likely leaked during the firing—splashed on Kai’s face.

It didn’t feel special in any way.

Just ordinary water—like something out of a plumbing system.

(Then how the hell is it doing that with it!?)

Confused, Kai closed the distance until the floating object was within the effective range of the spell sealed in his talisman.

And then—

"Burn, Flame Hound!"

The talisman burst into flame, and a fiery arrow flew toward the floating machine.

Only now, it seemed, did the construct register Kai’s presence and attempt to dodge.

(Too late now.)

The fiery arrow twisted in midair and gave chase relentlessly.

Kai had unleashed Flame Hound, a spell that homes in on a target at high speed until impact.

Only a handful of exorcists could cast it freely, and its sealed version fetched a high price in the underworld.

It was, for Kai, a secret trump card.

—With Flame Hound unleashed, there was no way it would fail.

Confident, he watched the moment of impact—

"...Huh?"

Just as the arrow struck the object’s center, it fizzled out with a sizzle, like a sparkler dropped into a bucket of water.

—No way. That shouldn’t be possible. Is there anyone in this era who could—

(...Is that entire thing made of water!?)

Just as the realization struck, the construct rotated its barrel toward him.

"Hah. Guess I’m dead, huh?"

With that offhand remark, Kai’s body was blasted into the air by whatever projectile came next.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was a horror movie-like scene:

Dozens—maybe even a hundred—of those floating constructs, just like the one that shot him, pouring through the shattered barrier and swarming Okajima and Hisai like a tidal wave of death.

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