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High School Hack and Slash Chapter 45 Part 3

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Pasifista

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「So. Ye brin’ back de ‘usk av dat Nue ‘ere?」

「… To be honest, though, I obtained a rare material dude, such a thought doesn’t necessarily not cross my mind.」

I turn my face away from Spirit-san, who is staring intently at me.

Giving the feelings of Yuki-chan and child Nue a careful consideration, we ended up holding a memorial service.

Well, we simply dug a hole, buried it and offered it a pomegranate fruit.

「You really are dense, aren’t yer? Oi bet yer ‘av naw idea ‘oy much de ‘usk av a Boss, whaich built an ancient『Other Realm』, is worth.」

「I see.」

Spirit-san crosses her arms and makes a face as if she’s making fun of me, but her mouth is smiling.

「So, yer promised ter bate de Boss, though?」

「Iyou?」

She points at the child Nue who cutely tilts its head.

「But in de end yer broot it ‘ere.」

「It seems to have ended up growing attached to me.」

Perhaps acting as the substitute of Yuki-chan, who has ended up promptly going back to the Item Box, it ended up coming along behind the floaty cloud.

It’s probably lonely, or perhaps it is bored.

It was certainly a place with nice scenery, but if it had been there alone all the time, it would have had too much time on its hands.

「If yer don’t bate de Boss, dis『Other Realm』 won’t disappear, yer nu?」

As if frightened by the glares from Spirit-san, the child Nue hides behind my back and rubs its body against me.

It’s staring intently at me with its round and cute eyes, but to demand me to finish it off.

「To hunt a life that is neither for the purpose of eating or because they’re my enemies is against my policy.」

「… canny ‘elp it. ’tis not loike oi’m an eejit who strive ter kill every single monsters. Though it sure is a dilemma, for de somewhat decent challengers are al’ idiots loike yer.」

The play-biting, as its fluffiness is crackling with electricity, is not an attack, it shouldn’t be.

I wonder if it thinks I’m one of its kind.

Its memory may have been reset and it may have turned into a child, but at any rate its physique is huge, so even its cat punches are megaton-class.

「Sheesh, i’m club. Looks loike dat guy ‘as taken over de『Royalty (Diadem)』. As long as dat guy is present ter serve as de『Core』, de『Other Realm』 won’t disappear, yer nu.」

That’s a problem.

She said that this『Goten no Zakurosan』 has grown too much, and if left unchecked, it would reach dangerous situation.

When I stroke the throat of the child Nue, it rolls seemingly feeling good.

I’m not sure if it is before it was reincarnated, but even if I’m told to do something about this child Nue, which now has turned into such an idiot, it seems impossible.

「You can chucker nathin’ aboyt it even if yer tell dat guy, yer nu. 『Royalty (Diadem)』 is a passive tin’. ’tis de seem as yisser 『Authority (Divine)』. De superior skill av『Kin’ Authority (Diadem)』 is『God Authority (Divine)』, after al’.」

I don’t quite get it, but I wonder if she’s talking about Item Box.

Or rather, if the『Core』 that maintains this space is this child, can’t we just take it to another space, I wonder?

「The『Other Realm』 is built wi’ de『Core』 as de center, yer nu. If yer move de『Core』, de『Other Realm』 ‘ill move too. ‘oy in de warrld….」

Giving a sidelong glance to Spirit-san, who becomes tongue-tied midway, I try pulling Yuki-chan out of the Item Box.

Maybe she’s feeling down, or I was worried, but Yuki-chan, who is dangling as I hold her by the collar, is enjoying herself eating a red boiled crab-like leg.

She seems displeased with my physical summoning technique.

For the time being, I consult, or rather confirm, my idea with Yuki-chan.

While tightly securing the crab-like leg, Yuki-chan stares at the child Nue with an annoyed look on her face.

Rather than dry, Yuki-chan truly boasts a loner hikikomori constitution.

But I guess she doesn’t particularly hate it.

I don’t know whether the child Nue has no fixation about it or perhaps it just doesn’t think about anything at all, but it runs after Yuki-chan and goes into my Item Box.

「… Yer, ‘oy shud oi put it, sheesh, you’re such an absurd guy.」

Going beyond exasperation, Spirit-san’s eyes turn into an admiration ones.

Perhaps due to the disappearance of the『Core』 that has been serving as the center of the world, the entire『Other Realm』 begins to make small vibration.

「It’s aboyt time de whole『Other Realm』 collapsin’. Looks loike oi can finally go oyt, ‘uh.」

Spirit-san shows a sour look on her face, but she seems to be happy deep down.

I don’t understand the feelings of Spirit-san who has been continuously wandering the dungeon with her stall since long ago.

Even so, as expected she must have been bored to spend hundreds of years continuously being in the same place and gazing at the same scenery.

It’s a good thing if I can be of any help for her.

「… ‘umph. Oi tart yer ‘ad quite an idiotic bake, but yer also ‘av de manly bake. Oi, de stall spirit av de labyrinth av perforashun realm YGGDRASIL, Herfjötur, shall offer yer me gratitude.」

「My name is Funasaka Touma. Let’s meet again in the dungeon, should the chance arise.」

「Fukkukku. Waaat a cheeky langer yer are. Git de ‘ell oyt av ‘ere at once.」

Bowing to Heru-san, who waves her hand as if driving away a fly, I ride the floaty cloud.

The small vibration shakes this whole world like an earth tremor.

This, I guess I should meet up with the Senpais for once.

It rides the floaty cloud at full speed.

「—Leavin’ de fickle Skeggiold aside, it’s been ‘undreds av star periods since de last time oi granted a blessin’. Really, waaat a cheeky langer yer man is.」

◇ ◇ ◇

「Geez, I was so surprised, you know?! Everything was like all wobbling, and I was like, Whoa, there’s an earthquake!」

「Hmm. I suppose we need to be careful with the『Guild』 union in such situations. If everyone ends up falling into panics, it could end up triggering a chain reaction.」

On the way back to Asagi-sou.

With a boy in the lead, a bustling lively group of girls was following along.

Carrying large backpacks, they were looking somewhat worn out, but their steps were light.

The sky in the west was a twilight, tinged madder red.

The dusk of the day after they had dived into Rashomon was slowly being repainted with a veil of darkness as opposed to stopping.

「As we returned, somehow the teachers seemed to be in a panic, weren’t they?」

「Well. I suppose that’s inevitable. The raid quest that no one has been able to clear until now is now completed, after all.」

The『End Realm Gate』, the fifth gate of the Perforation Realm anchorage utilized exclusively for raid quests, possessed the function to connect space-time coordinates.

It was specialized in sending in a large number of people to the same coordinates and was designed for decisive battles, where in exchange for lowering the safety level against essence exhaustion, it strengthened the respawn function.

Due to the mechanism of the transfer, a large number of people will return at the same time during the repatriation through the releasing of the connection, and in case they were maintaining multiple raid quests, there was a need to set the time difference for the release.

However, during the extinction of the『Other Realm』, which was the raid area, or the completion of the raid quest, a forced repatriation would be triggered.

「Hmph. I’m sure they had never expected us to complete the quest. Really irritating.」

「Kurumi-chan, that’s a secret, you know?」

Anzu pacified Kurumi, who was snorting.

All of the raid quests set for the supplementary lessons were『Super Class』 or higher in the academy’s difficulty level settings.

The prerequisite was the quests to be uncleared, and the students were sacrifices for the sake of calming down the destabilizing『Other Realm』.

As far as the teachers were concerned, the students were in the state of being left alone until the release time set for three days later.

「Well. It was designated as an『Extreme Class』, after all. As expected, I suppose Touma-kun taking down the boss all by himself will be too conspicuous.」

「Maybe it self-destructed, or so the Senseis said, after all. But we know exactly what the truth is!」

「… There’s a bit of misunderstanding in your cognition, though.」

Touma wished for a correction to Rinko and Mikan’s act of uplifting.

The Nue, the『Royalty (Diadem)』 Boss which was said to have been subjugated, should be lounging in the Item Box in a laid back manner even now.

「Now now, I suppose we shouldn’t mind the minor details. At any rate, even if they listen to our side of the story, they are bound to go: what the heck is that, after all. Not only have we cleared the supplementary lessons, we’ve also managed to have some power up, so I suppose it’s not something we should tell other.」

「… Come to think of it, no one died, not even once.」

For the girls, raid quest could be said to be the worst of the worst kind of punishment game.

A group of people locked up in extreme conditions and losing more reason than usual.

It was a hierarchical society where there was a clear distinction between those of the top rank (Jocks), who conducted themselves as the absolutes, and those at the bottom rank (target), whose even their pathetic dignity was trampled underfoot.

Even if one tried to run away, the fear and pain of immediate resurrection death (respawn) would break their mind.

「I want to take a bath and relax.」

「Yes, yes.」

「I want to eat something sweet….」

「The remodeling of the dormitory was also only halfway done, so during the break—」

Somehow or other, everyone was now able to walk together while facing upward in such a manner.

With the madder red-dyed shade of the mountains serving as the background, the old looking silhouette of Asagi-sou came into view.

「Ha~, we’ve arrived~」

「Yes. I suppose being able to go home together with everyone is not a bad thing. Looks like Asagi-sou has now completely become our home…. Huh?」

Rinko tilted her head at the shadow of a person that ran out of the dormitory gate.

They were rushing desperately, but even as their hurried legs got tangled up with each other, their feeling alone was unstoppable.

Their hair was a mess, and their appearance of wearing a camisole which was akin to underwear was totally not an appearance that ought to be shown to others.

Straight away, as if falling down, Shizuka jumped into Touma’s chest.

「Haa…haa…haa…. Ugh, ah, ah…」

Without even catching her breath, she clung to his clothes as if grabbing him by the collar, sobs leaking out as she pressed her face against him.

Scratching his cheek, Touma hugging those shivering shoulders, even as he was perplexed, was probably of passing mark.

Remaining in silence, Mikan and the others nodded to each other, passed by Touma and Shizuka, and walked toward Asagi-sou, where they were greeted by yet another group of comrades.

「Welcome back.」

「Good, work.」

「Good.」

At the beginning of the night past the twilight, the left behind Touma and Shizuka turned into the sole shadow for a while.

「… I’m back.」

「Hic… Yes. Welcome back, Touma-san.」

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