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Shiinamachi Senpai Volume 3 Episode 1 Part A 9

 

 

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Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist     

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【Episode 1 Part A: Sister and Legend, Part 9】

We heard a gentle voice echoing from the top of the hill.

Fujisato-senpai’s right hand has already been covered with lightning and I’ve procured a knife from my skirt’s pocket.

Up until now there were no signs of anyone beside us being here, that much I am certain of.

But she was here right now, as if she appeared out of nowhere, without us noticing. But there was something even more alarming than that.

That thing was…

「Eh? I, It’s me?」

Yes. Standing above us on the hill’s slope was none other than my Lord, Fujisato Yuika.

「Yes, it’s you. Although I’m merely borrowing your appearance for a moment.」

*Snap!*

And with a simple snap of her fingers, the other Fujisato-senpai’s hand was also covered in lightning.

「『Demonic Gift Kirin』.」

She’s copying one of her Gifts like it was the most natural thing in the world to do!

「Hmm, I find it quite strange to be speaking with such a polite tone of voice.」

「That’s how a Lord’s voice should be. Got a problem with that?」

「No, not at all. Even though it doesn’t suit you in the slightest.」

Her lips curled up in a mocking smile, but her eyes remained dead serious.

The only explanation for the current situation that I can think of is that he possesses more than one Gift, and the one he’s currently using allows him to copy the appearance and abilities of his target. How else would you explain the fact that he used the same lightning as Fujisato-senpai just now? Also, I thought it was impossible for a Knight to possess more than one Gift at once, so how come he has two of them?! No, that’s not what’s important right now. That is not what I should be focusing on!

「I take it you’re the one everyone’s calling 「The Legendary Knight」?」

「That would indeed be me, yes.」

A dignified, prideful response, one that was filled with enough confidence and resolve to make my heart tighten with uneasiness.

「Although I have to say that being called like that is more than a little embarrassing. Compared to someone like me, you’re much more fitting to bear such a grand title, Fujisato-san, Kuhoh-san.」

His self-confidence was truly on a completely another level. It was so strange to hear him say all that with the voice and face of my Lord.

「Now then, do you want to confirm my strength with your own eyes?」

In my mind I knew that our chances of winning against someone like him were probably small if not nonexistent, but I still thought we should at least confirm if the rumors about him were true or not. Even if I end up throwing my life away, at the very least Fujisato-senpai, my master will gain valuable information about the enemy. Right now, that is my job as her servant, her Vassal!

「There’s no need for that.」

But much to my bewilderment, Fujisato-senpai gave him a surprising response.」

When I looked at her, she had this unreadable expression on her face…

… But the lightning she had in her hand just a second ago was now gone.

It would seem that she has no intention of fighting him.

「I don’t want to lose Nagi-chan.」

「I see. I honestly thought you’re going to be crueler with your Vassal, as is befitting of a true Lord.」

I cannot hide my surprise as well. I also thought she was going to do just that.

「I am ruthless and cruel just like you say, but that is exactly why I don’t want to do unnecessary reckless things which would only result in my Knight sacrificing herself in vein.」

「I see. But is that truly all right with you? Now that you know another one of my abilities, don’t you think that Shiinamachi Kaguya is going to be in even more disadvantageous position?」

So it was like that all along. I was wondering what did this 「Legendary Knight」 came to our city for. So he was targeting Shiinamachi-senpai after all.

「We have formed a kind of a partnership with each other, so I think we’re going to figure something out if we think about it together.」

「Ah, but of course. Ever since she managed to acquire Sakuradamon Jiro as her Vassal and passed  『Divine Gift Thanatos』onto him her battle potential has increased significantly, not to mention that she’s always been more cooperative compared to other Lords.」

With just two sentences he’s completely and utterly exposed us. Even though we’ve just met him for the first time, he seems to know everything that’s been going on here in this city!

「I see you also know about Monjiro-san, Mr. Legendary.」

My master tried to get some information out of him. But it was all for naught.

「Of course. I know him very well.」

「!!!」

We heard his voice behind us and I reflexively swung my knife in his direction as fast as I could, aiming for his throat. But he stopped my knife with just a single finger without any difficulty.

「Wha…?!」

「Good response, Kuhoh Nagi, very natural and intuitive. Truly a sign of an assassin who has seen and experienced many a battle. Speed, precision, reflexes and resolve to take a life without even flinching for a split second, everything about you screams how good of a killer you are.」

Right index finger. He stopped my strike with just the tip of his right index finger! That was an attack I’ve put all of my experience and resolve in, and he blocked it like it was nothing!

How can such a thing even be possible?! Something so insane shouldn’t be possible to pull off unless all of your senses were enhanced to their maximum limits!

「Don’t worry too much about that, Kuhoh Nagi. This is not my natural ability. I did that by using another one of my Gifts.」

I couldn’t believe his words. If his Gift allows him to do something like that, then even with my whole life’s worth of experience there’s no way for me to defeat him, even if I used my 『Divine Gift Chronos』 (TL NOTE: ZA WARUDO!!!!)!

「You got that right. So I strongly advise you to cease any further attempts at inflicting physical harm upon me. If you don’t, I might just end up accidentally killing you in self-defense.」

Again, he knew exactly what I was thinking!

「Nagi-chan, stop! You don’t have to do this!」

Even though my master ordered me to stop, I had no intension of doing so! No, that is exactly why I have to do this, even though the air of intimidation he was emitting right now was so strong that I felt like I was about to vomit from the stress.

「Ahhh, so you won’t back down no matter what? Then I’m afraid I’ll have to teach you a lesson.」

When he removed his finger from the tip of the knife, a small red ball of blood formed in the place where blade cut through the skin. If he bleeds, then it means he’s just like any other human. But if he’s human, then where’s that gap between our abilities coming from?

「If I may ask, Mr. Legendary, why have you appeared before us?」

Even if she was as shocked as I was, Fujisato-senpai didn’t allow it to show on her face, which was perfectly calm now. That was probably her way of not incurring his wrath upon us to ensure that we will both survive.

「Most probably to send a warning, I think.」

「Warning? As in, to not get in your way and disturb you from doing whatever it is you came here to do?」

「Oh, good heavens, no! I don’t mind being disturbed in the slightest!」

Of course something like that wouldn’t bother him. He was absolutely sure of his own strength after all.

「Then what do you want to warn us about?」

「Right, I was just getting to that. The contents of my waring would be for you not to get involved in my business here because if you do, you might end up accidentally getting caught in the crossfire, but if that ends up happening anyway, then allow me to express my heartfelt apologies in advance.」

「Ahh, I see. In other words, it’s a 「Keep out of it if you don’t want to het hurt」 kind of warning?」

「Yes, that is exactly what I was trying to say. If all goes well only two people will have to die, so I want to keep it exactly at that number, without adding any more to it without any legitimate reason.」

「So… you’re being considerate of us?」

「That’s right.」

Once again, he said some pretty outrageous words with a disturbingly calm voice. This in turn cemented my belief that he is a fundamentally different being from me and that it’ll never be possible for us to get along.

If the difference lies in abilities alone then that gap may be bridged with effort and determination. But against someone like him, even that attempt might end up in nothing but an epic failure.

Because he had an unshakable self-esteem. There was nothing that could undermine his beliefs that he is 「The Strongest Legendary Knight」. Even though I knew my Lords every habit, mannerism and the way she was expressing her body language, I couldn’t read any of his intention at all even though he literally became my master.
That was his way of showing me that the difference between the gap in our levels was far too wide for me to cross.

「So you want to say that staying close to Shiinamachi-senpai or Monjiro-kun from now on might be potentially hazardous for us. Okay, dully noted. Thank you very much for your warning.」

「You say that, but your facial expression tells me that you have no intention of heeding it though.」

「Of course I won’t. After all, if we did that then we couldn’t have any more fun with Monjiro-kun. And it has nothing to do with my status as a Lord… I’m just doing whatever I think is 「fun」. That is my personal way of life!」

「I understand… it does have a beautiful sound to it.」

His tone and expression have… softened, somehow? It was as if he felt relieved when he heard Fujisato-senpai say that.

「Very well, that concludes my warning to you. Now if you don’t mind, I’d best be on my way.」

He then clasped his hands together and went past us down the slope of the hill.

「Uwaaah, so that’s how my butt looks from behind? Nice~~! Maybe I should expose it more often?」

Certainly, looking at your own… back from behind was a bizarre experience. But I do got an impression that my master focused on the wrong aspect of it.

「But I do have to say, I am honestly surprised.」

And she showed me her right hand.

… Her right index finger!

「Ohh, I see now. So it is that kind of ability, huh?」

Her right index finger bore the same wound I’ve inflicted on her impostor earlier. Could it be that whoever he impersonated received the same damage that was done to him?

「He might be crazy strong and be way out of our league, but there is one thing that I understood after meeting him.」

Her eyes had a tinge of fear in them, but it was quickly overshadowed by her usual lively happiness.

「What did you understand?」

All I could think about was how strong he was, so I genuinely wanted to know that has my master discovered. She raised her blood covered finger and said:

「Whoever our mysterious 「Legendary Knight」 really is, I think he or she is most probably related to Monjiro.」

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