High School Hack and Slash Chapter 124 Part 2
「Rather, it’s a little too late to bring this up, but wouldn’t it have been easier to just sneak in there …?」
「Laughable.」
There’s no need to sneak around like a criminal.
Fair and square, we ought to tell them that we are looking for the Japanese Embassy head-on.
As I thought, even if you talk to the grunts, I guess the information won’t reach the higher ups.
It may be a slight breach of manners, but it would be quicker to talk directly to someone who holds a certain level of authority.
「If we’re talking about the top authority… In this world, as expected, it’s the king, I suppose?」
「I guess so. Since the ruling class seems to be aristocrats and royalty… Touma-san?」
「In other words, the Maharaja, huh.」
For those kinds of people, the image I have is that they’re living in a castle.
There just happens to be a big castle just below us, so let’s try going there.
◇ ◇ ◇
「Kyaaaaaaaa!」
The audience hall of the Royal Castle of Camelot.
In the place where royalty and a large number of nobles were panicking, a remarkably louder scream echoed.
The stained glass of the skylight shattered and multicolored shards rained down in the hall.
Raising a thunderous roar as they formed a crater on the red carpet leading to the throne, a figure slowly stood up.
「… Namaste Everybody.」
The man who had crashed through the ceiling held out his hands to appeal that he harbored no hostile intentions.
The glittering glasses, shining like a halo, colored the surroundings in a beautiful yet ominous manner.
Touma’s steps, as he suddenly began to dance for some reason, were out of place and sharp.
His smile, which hung like a crescent moon, caused a large number of the nobles, who were weak on the knees, to become incontinent.
Following him, a shock that shook the royal castle reverberated, and something was caught on the speech stand leading to the audience hall.
「Ouch ouch… Geez, aren’t you unable to fly simply because you’re too fat, you fatgon?!」
「It’s because you’re too heavy, Mai-chan! Don’t blame it on Peperon, okay?!」
「I believe I told you we’re over capacity.」
「Well, we’re pretty sturdy too, aren’t we…?」
「Golden and shiny.」
「Bad taste.」
「Somehow, there’s a guy that seems a little bit strong there. Can I cut him down?!」
The lively group of the Demon Lord’s army made entrance from the top of Peperon, who was stuck on the speech stand.
「H, Hero-sama….」
Giving a sidelong glance to the incontinent fainting nobles, the eyes of the hero party, to whom the Princess and the Miko clung, were dead.
It could be said that them standing there leisurely, while everyone else was terrified and becoming weak on the knees, had the hero vibe to it.
However, their eyes were devoid of color, like that of a dead fish.
「Huh? By Hero… Oh, I thought it was a face I’ve seen somewhere before, but… Isn’t it Kazuto-kun and his merry band of friends?」
「Err, who are you guys, again?」
As Seiichi greeted them in a light manner, Mai, who was also their classmate, heartlessly tilted her head in wonder.
「… Y, yeah. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?」
「… O, ooh. What a coincidence, isn’t it?」
Kotarou and Takeshi, who had moved a step later, sluggishly raised their hands.
「Ah, so that’s how it is. The so-called『Heroes』 summoned from another world were you guys, huh. In that case, then… Do you by any chance also know the means to get back home?」
Seiichi, wrapping his arms around their shoulders as if not to let them run away, understood their feelings in an instant.
「Dear me, to be able to meet our classmates in such another world, I truly am happy. Hahaha.」
「… Ha, hahaha. Yeah, we’re happy too.」
Kazuto, sporting a refreshing smile on his face, eyes still dead, swiftly turned around.
He then quietly grabbed the hands of the Princess and the Miko, who were frozen in place, unable to follow what was happening.
「… Please secretly send us alone back to our original world. Pretty please …」
◇ ◇ ◇
Well then, we’re finally back in Japan, but it’s quite cold.
Bodily time-wise, we’ve been diving in the dungeon for almost two months.
We’ve been going back and forth between various irregular other worlds (raid), but the time elapsed on the above ground is only about half a month.
November has passed the middle of the month, and the postponed interclub tournament will start tomorrow.
「Isn’t that a bit too tight of a schedule? I’m tired, so I want to take it easy for a bit, though~.」
「No, for the most part, all you did were eat and sleep, weren’t you, Mai…?」
Seiichi, with a straw from a pack of milk in his mouth, throws a retort at the grumbling of Mai, who is stretched out stickily on the classroom desk.
「The extra times have continued on for so long, after all. So I believe there is also mental exhaustion.」
「Hmm. I think it was fun, though.」
Shizuka, seated next to me, smiles warmly at me, saying: I guess so.
In the end, our classmates who seemed to just happen to be going on a vacation there helped us return from India.
The timing was too good to be coincidental, but I guess it was also thanks to our good habitual behavior, huh.
One of the Maharaja’s girls had acquired a special summoning magic.
Inside the dungeon, she invoked reverse summoning magic, in other words repatriation magic, and sent us all the way back to Rashomon.
She exchanged a heated moment of grief with our classmate Kazuto-kun, but I guess it means that when it comes to popular men, romance will occur even when they’re on a trip.
I wonder if Kazuto-kun, who was clinging to her with tears in his eyes, wanted to be adopted into the Maharaja family.
「It seems that the only way to exile us from that world was to tie us to summoned subjects and send us back together, after all.」
「Well, that means they must have been『heroes』 chosen for that purpose.」
It goes without saying, but Kazuto-kun and his group of three are also back in the classroom.
They have eyes like that of dead fish, but that’s just how they usually are, so it doesn’t matter.
They are being fawned over and comforted by the classmates that are their harem members.
Setting aside such trivial matters.
When we returned to Rashomon, we ended up with a fairly large group.
In addition to Mikan-senpai and the others, who had taken refuge in the Item Box along with the entirety of the aerial mobile fortress, Doggy-senpai and the others from Black Honey, who for some reason had gone feral, Tatsuya and his party members, and of course the quartet of Mirin and the others had automatically appeared in front of Rashomon.
On top of that, there were also boys who were stiffening up in strange poses as well as groups of high rank clubs who looked like they had lived through an extreme survival situation.
That was rather surprising.
I got the feeling that the eyes of Mirin and the others had achieved enlightenment, as they muttered: We are not afraid of anything anymore.
「Everyone managed to make it back safe and sound, and being in the classroom like this sure strikes home the feeling that we’re back, doesn’t it?」
I look around at my classmates, who are hanging and holding their heads, looking up at the ceiling, or in some kind of mild despair.
Certainly, it’s a scene that can be described as, well, everyday life.
When I turn around as I feel gazes from the corner of the classroom, I find that three yankee-like guys are smirking widely at me, but strangely enough I don’t sense any ill will from them.
「I guess so.」
I’m back.
It seems that this place has turned into a place I belong to, enough to make me think as such.
RELEASE RATE
High School Hack and Slash
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 70 hours
Tftc.