After climbing stairs for what seems like forever, I can finally see a wooden board up ahead. I push up the floorboard and crawl back onto the surface with Seiya. I survey the room. The walls are dirty, and the furniture is worn out… We find ourselves once again in an abandoned shack, but it’s different from the one we were in when we first met Father Luke.
I nervously approach the window and look outside, and the scenery is different from earlier as well. While we climbed up the same number of stairs, it looks like Eich’s earth magic connected us to another house. Beastkin gather in the distance, making a commotion. When I strain my eyes and look ahead, I see humans lined up with shackles around their necks and wrists. That must be the slave market Braht was talking about.
“Seiya, you don’t need to take what Braht said seriously. There is no way you can beat Bunogeos at your current level. The best thing you can do is find a way to save the slaves in the market. And the people of Little Light might change their minds about us if we can pull it off. Anyway—”
While looking out the window, I continue speaking to Seiya until I discover something unbelievable.
…He’s casually walking down the street with the rusty sword!
“Huhhhhhh?!”
I scream and immediately rush out of the shack.
“Heeeeey!! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”
As I grab his shoulders and shake his brains into mush, he stares back at me with a puzzled look in his eyes.
“I need to defeat Bunogeos, right? How am I supposed to do that without going outside?”
“No, that’s why you need to listen. We’re going to free the…slaves…”
Around a dozen beastkin curiously stare at us as we argue in the middle of the main road.
“Hey… Those humans aren’t wearing collars.”
“Are they strays?”
Ahhhhhhhhh!! We’re dooooooooomed!!
My heart hammers against my chest, but Seiya doesn’t seem to be concerned in the least.
“I was going to fight them anyway, so this saves me some time.”
Seiya breezily approaches the beastkin with his rusty sword leaning against his shoulder.
“Huh?! What’s wrong with this human?!”
As if creeped out by Seiya’s daunting behavior, the beastkin don’t even draw their weapons. Instead, they part like the Red Sea, making way for Seiya. I hurriedly follow behind.
W-wait. What? Are we really just gonna be able to waltz right in and free the slaves?
But after walking a few more meters, a fox-faced beastkin screams as if he knows what we’re up to.
“Hey!! Pull yourselves together! Stop them!”
“R-right!”
The fox person’s orders prompt all the nearby beastkin to surround us.
Y-yeah, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised… It was too good to be true…
A rhino beastkin with rugged skin stands before us, licking his lips.
“If these humans don’t belong to anyone, that means…”
The fox beastkin replies:
“Exactly. Nobody’s gonna get mad at us if we eat them…”
I prepare for battle as I listen to their vile conversation.
I-it looks like we have to fight!
I use Scan to check the stats of the rhino beastkin, the fox beastkin, and their three companions. It’s just as I feared. Everyone’s attack is over 30,000! They’re all really strong! But it appears they’re waiting for us to make the first move. Capitalizing on the moment, I tightly grab on to a fistful of my own hair and yank it out. While the move is painful, this is no time to complain.
“Seiya, here! Take this! You know what to do with it, right?”
“Of course.”
Seiya nods, then takes the strip of blond hair and attaches it to his bangs. The blond hair glitters among his shiny black hair, giving it just the right accent.
“No!!” I scream. “Those aren’t extensions, Seiya! They’re for synthesizing!”
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Synthesis! It’s one of your abilities! That sword is rusty, but it’s still a steel sword! If you synthesize it with my hair, you can make a platinum sword!”
I take his hand, then force the hair and sword into it. Thereupon, a blinding light radiates, instantly transforming the rusty blade into a divine, glittering platinum sword. Seiya’s face lights up just like the platinum sword itself.
“What a wonderful sword! I bet I could defeat the Demon Lord with this!”
No, probably not. In fact, I’m worried if he’s even going to be able to get himself out of this pinch.
It isn’t long before the fox beastkin loses control and yells:
“I got first dibs!”
As the fox beastkin leaps in to attack…
“Eek!”
I double over in fright, but Seiya lunges before me. Almost instantly, I hear something cracking in the hand in which he’s holding his platinum sword, as if his joints are dislocating.
“Eternal Sword!”
In the blink of an eye, countless afterimages of the platinum sword soar through the air, heading right for the fox beastkin. By the time the blur is gone, the enemy’s body is already sliced to ribbons. Blood spews into the air as numerous chunks of meat fall to the ground.
“Y-you’ll pay for that…!”
The other four beastkin lunge at Seiya to avenge their comrade! There’s no way he can use Eternal Sword to stop this many enemies at once!
However…
“Maximum Inferno!”
Seiya’s free hand is already engulfed in flames! Before the beastkin can even reach him, the crimson flames shoot off his arm like chains and swallow the enemies.
“Arghhh!”
Their agonizing cries ring out as they catch fire, burning as Maximum Inferno’s intense heat instantly turns them into charred corpses that fall lifelessly to the ground. Seiya raises his still-burning hand into the air.
“…Get out of the way or be reduced to ash.”
Seiya briskly walks ahead after the nearby beastkin, who were watching, timidly back away.
H-he killed four beastkin in the blink of an eye?! He only used Maximum Inferno in Gaeabrande to dispose of corpses and distract the enemy…so I never knew it was such a high-level spell!
While struck with admiration, I notice something… The rhino beastkin, covered in soot, was able to withstand the fire thanks to his tough skin, and he’s about to charge Seiya from behind!
“Seiya, behind you! He’s still alive!”
I shout out to him, but he doesn’t even look back! Even then, his fiery platinum sword is already under his arm, stabbing the rhinoceros monster between the eyes!
“Phoenix Thrust…!”
After witnessing their fellow beastkin fall to the ground…
“Wh-what kind of human is this?!”
“He’s too strong!”
The surrounding enemies seem to have lost all will to fight. I swallow hard.
He’s very reckless now…but he still has extraordinary fighting skills! I guess regardless of what his personality is like, Seiya Ryuuguuin’s talents are still one in a million!
Elated, I look ahead and see a few dozen slaves chained up.
“Seiya! We have to free the slaves over there! After that, we can head back to Little Light!”
Seiya and I rush over to the slaves.
“You’re all safe now!”
While Seiya keeps watch, I remove the frightened slaves’ wrist and ankle shackles. But by the time I free the last of them, the silence is suddenly broken.
“Heeeeeey! What’s going on over here?”
A chill creeps up my spine when I hear the familiar, drawling tone. A massive monster pushes through the crowd of beastkin.
“Th-this can’t be happening. Why now?!”
The orc—the ruler of this town—Bunogeos is headed right for us! After taking us in, he scratches the back of his neck, then casually says:
“Ohhh, are you the Hero and Goddess? It’s just like what that tawny-haired demon saaaid: ‘A messenger of the gods will soon arrive to free the slaves.’”
A demon with tawny hair? One who’s aware of what we’re doing? Was the werewolf who invaded the spirit world guided by this demon, too?
Beastkin begin circling around Seiya and me, seemingly relieved now that Bunogeos is here. It’s only a few seconds until there are dozens of them. However, Bunogeos shakes his hand at them.
“You guys can fall baaack. I’ll handle thiiis.”