Chapter 5 …
The fact that he killed that demonic creature from such a distance with a single strike was astonishing, truly amazing, but…
‘D-damn, if I had flinched even a little, I could have died!’
As soon as that realization hit me, my legs gave out and I collapsed right where I stood.
The thought that if his aim had been off by just an inch, I would have been the one hit by that tremendous sword energy, made me break out in a cold sweat.
I saw it clearly.
The sword energy that had dyed my vision pure white in an instant had passed right over my head.
Really, if it had come down just an inch lower, I would have died instantly. Instantly!
‘W-wow…….’
So this is the capability of the man acknowledged in the original story as the strongest in this world…?
…I better not mess around.
I stared blankly at His Lordship, my mouth agape.
His Lordship, who had dismounted from his horse, was walking towards me.
“…My Lord?”
I called out cautiously, trying to read the situation.
But His Lordship was making an unexpected face.
A stiff, hardened expression.
A face as pale as a sheet of white paper.
Shaking black eyes and slightly trembling lips.
He looked far too unwell for someone who had just unleashed such powerful sword energy.
“My Lord, are you okay… Hup?”
Just as I was about to ask what was wrong, taken aback by his appearance, His Lordship collapsed down as if pouring onto the ground and hugged me. Huh?
Squeeze. A really tight squeeze.
“My Lord?”
Why is this man acting like this?
Without understanding what was happening, I was pulled into His Lordship’s embrace.
I could feel the arms wrapped around me trembling faintly.
“…You gave me a fright.”
A trembling sigh filled with relief.
“…You scared me.”
That’s my line!
“Huh?”
His Lordship, who had held me silently for a long while, finally released his arms just as I was starting to feel stifled.
“You… Phew, really.”
His Lordship’s eyes scanned over me as if checking me over.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Uh, no.”
“Are you really okay?”
“Yess.”
As I said that, I tried to stand up. But my legs were like jelly and wouldn’t obey.
“‘Okay,’ you say. You can’t even stand up.”
“No, this is just because I was startled…”
By the sword energy you unleashed…
I couldn’t bring myself to say that it was his sword energy that made my legs give way, so I just mumbled vaguely.
Besides, looking at His Lordship’s state, it seemed like he was quite… no, very worried about me.
Seeing his shaken black eyes made me feel a little strange.
“Let’s go for now.”
His Lordship picked me up, held me, and got back on his horse.
On the way back to the village with the barracks, His Lordship guided the horse very carefully.
After being silent for a while, he spoke.
“You must have been very scared.”
“Huh?”
“You were dragged all the way here by that demonic creature.”
“Uh… yes.”
I rolled my eyes and answered.
“I’m sorry. I should have… been more watchful.”
His low voice was tinged with self-blame.
Hmm… It seemed he was feeling some unnecessary guilt.
‘You don’t need to apologize.’
Seeing him like that made me feel a pointless sense of guilt, too.
And for good reason, because actually…
‘I wasn’t dragged here…’
I hadn’t been dragged here; I had come here on my own two feet.
I glanced up at His Lordship.
‘Hmm. If I tell the truth, I’ll get scolded, right?’
I remembered His Lordship’s voice, who had repeatedly told me to stay inside the barracks.
If I told him I had chased after it on purpose, he might get really angry. I decided to just keep my mouth shut.
‘Being scolded by His Lordship is a bit scary.’
…Seeing that sword energy earlier made me even more scared.
I made a flimsy excuse in my heart. You see…
‘I had my reasons.’
The reason I chased after it all the way here. It was because of what had happened earlier.
Earlier.
[I think something’s coming.]
Two-ri and I, who had been talking secretly, sensed something strange.
At Two-ri’s words, I sharpened my senses.
Through the senses connected to Two-ri, I could feel something approaching.
“Two-ri.”
[Yeah.]
“The presences… they’re disappearing one by one.”
As that ‘something’ got closer, the presences of the soldiers outside the barracks were vanishing one by one. What’s going on?
“Something’s weird.”
I gulped and cautiously lifted the cloth flap at the barracks entrance.
“Maybe something happened…”
I was about to ask the soldier guarding the front, but I stopped mid-sentence.
“…….”
But no voice answered.
Because the soldier had no reaction whatsoever.
His gaze was still fixed straight ahead.
I saw his empty, unfocused eyes.
What is this? It’s just like…
[Be careful!]
And at that moment, something came flying straight at me like an arrow.
“Ah!”
Instinctively, I quickly dodged and bumped into a table inside the barracks.
The items on the table clattered noisily as they fell to the floor. Ouch, ouch, ouch!
“What was that?”
I quickly looked up and saw that what had flown at me was a black, square piece of cloth.
“Huh?”
The cloth moved as if it had a will of its own. The fluttering cloth seemed almost like it was taunting me.
Seeing its cheeky behavior, something flashed through my mind.
“Uh, this is maybe…”
[It’s a Spirit-Stealing Cloth.]
Right. It had appeared in the original story.
The tale of a strange cloth that steals people’s spirits.
[The reason it got so quiet outside must be because it stole the soldiers’ spirits, making their presences vanish.]
“They say people who lose their spirits become like dolls and can’t move.”
As if only their empty shells remain.
[We have to steal back the spirits it took.]
At Two-ri’s words, I glared at the cloth floating in the air.
A Spirit-Stealing Cloth that drapes over a person steals their spirit, taking it away. We had to get it back.
“Get over here!”
I reached out to grab the cloth as it rushed at me.
But my hand caught nothing. The cloth fluttered here and there as if teasing me.
Is this for real?
“How did the protagonist deal with this?”
…I think she just swung her sword once and cut it down.
Truly, a solution befitting the future strongest in the world, second only to His Lordship.
“Anyway, I need to cut it. Something to cut it with…”
[It’s not just any ordinary cloth. If your attack doesn’t contain spiritual energy, it won’t work.]
“That’s true, too.”
I bit my lip and stared at the Spirit-Stealing Cloth.
What to do with that?
Although it looked trivial, the Spirit-Stealing Cloth was an object imbued with sinister energy. Simply cutting it physically was meaningless.
‘The important thing is a way to suppress the cloth’s sinister energy.’
Either overwhelm it with sheer force, or target its weakness.
Using something that acts as its natural enemy.
So, a way to beat the cloth…
Something that can defeat a cloth?
A good idea suddenly flashed through my mind.
“Two-ri! I’m going to use a spell! Help me out!”
[Huh?]
Just then, the cloth came flying at me again. The black cloth spread itself wide, flying towards me to capture my spirit.
I pointed my index and middle fingers towards the cloth, forming a scissor shape. And I shouted loudly.
“Rock-Paper-Scissors!”
At the same time, as the cloth rushed at me, I snipped my two fingers together, chop, like using scissors.
And in that moment.
The barracks tent, and the Spirit-Stealing Cloth. The cloth in the direction of my fingertips was cleanly sliced in two.
Snip—
The cloth floating in the air was cut in half, following the path of my fingertips.
Then, something began to fall out, one by one, from between the cut cloth.
Blue orbs of light, each about the size of a child’s fist. The spirits of the soldiers that the cloth had stolen.
“It worked!”
I laughed, shaking my scissor-hand. In the air, the two torn pieces of cloth fluttered about in confusion.
[Hurry, gather them!]
“Got it!”
The floor was now covered with the fallen blue lights.
Two-ri urged me on, and I quickly crouched down to pick them up.
Each spirit had a very thin, faint thread attached to it.
Following the threads led me to the owners of the spirits.
“Everyone looks like empty shells.”
They looked like wax dolls.
[Their spirits left them. If we put them back in and some time passes, they’ll return to normal.]
To the soldiers staring blankly with unfocused eyes, I returned their spirits one by one.
When I brought the blue light close, the spirit would slip into its owner’s body through their nose and disappear.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
I quickly looked for the next spirit’s owner.
It seemed it had stolen the spirits of all the soldiers who were here.
“How did no one notice until things got like this?”
[On the contrary, it’s often the weak, insignificant things like this that are dangerous. Detecting such a faint presence isn’t easy.]
There was a hint of pride in its tone. A voice like a boastful child. Suppressing a laugh, I said,
“Yeah, yeah. But our world’s strongest guardian, Two-ri-nim, noticed it swiftly, right?”
[Ahem, …I suppose so.]
“Our Two-ri is the best, right? The greatest? The strongest? The smartest?”
[Hmm, well. There’s no need to go that far….]
Through our mental connection, I could feel Two-ri’s pleasure. It felt like leaves rustling softly in the wind, and I giggled.
Meanwhile, I managed to return the last spirit I was holding to its owner. They would return to normal after a little time passed.
“Phew, is that all?”
Having handled the situation, I turned my steps back towards the barracks.
I could see the torn cloth wriggling furtively to one side.
“Get lost! If you don’t go, I’ll cut you into half of a half this time?”
After threatening the wriggling cloth, I confidently opened the barracks entrance.
But just as I was about to step in, I saw a thin, transparent thread right in front of my nose.
Huh? …A thread?
The single thread was connected to the nose of the soldier standing motionless by the barracks.
‘…Whaaat?’
And when I followed the thin thread with my eyes, at its end was…
The cloth?
Looking closely, a pale blue light was leaking from one corner of the torn cloth.
‘It’s a spirit!’
[There must have been one that didn’t fall to the floor!]
The moment I saw it, my eyes widened, and the cloth shot high up into the sky.
“Wait, is that thing… now…”
I gulped nervously at its ominous movement.
The cloth, having risen high into the sky, suddenly shot away like an arrow!
“Eeeek! It’s running away! Get back here! You spirit thief!”
I told you to get lost, I didn’t say you could steal a spirit and go!
And so, I ended up playing a game of tag with the Spirit-Stealing Cloth…
I did get the soldier’s spirit back, but I had the bad luck of running right into a real demonic creature…
‘Luckily, His Lordship found me at just the right moment, and nothing happened.’
His Lordship, who happened to spot it just then, defeated the demonic creature in one strike and saved me!
Well, anyway, the soldiers all came to their senses, and no one got hurt, so in the end, it all worked out.
“What is it. Where are you going.”
“To the bathroom…”
…But it seems His Lordship doesn’t see it that way.
Ever since a while ago, whenever I try to go somewhere, His Lordship asks me like that.
“Wait. I’ll go with you.”
“Huh? That’s a bit…”
It’s starting to feel a little weird. Is it just me?
‘He’s stuck to me like glue!’
