Chapter 154: The Assembled Combat Power
As Kobayashi arrived at the entrance hall, a wolf-dog walked out from the shadowy corner.
It was Yomi.
Seeing it, he asked curiously, "Where did you go? At a time like this, as Frey's second 'mother,' shouldn't you be by her side?"
"Wasn't this old one just creating an opportunity for you?" Yomi grinned, or what could be considered a grin.
"...That was unnecessary."
"Really? This old one saw that little kiss, you know."
"Peeping is not something an elder should do."
"I was just worried that my daughter would be deceived by a bad man."
"Stop lying. You just wanted to watch."
He saw through its lie but didn't blame or complain too much. His emotions were stable, as always.
The man and the dog stared at each other for a long time.
After a brief silence, Yomi said, "Boy, you seem to be lacking a guide. Although this old one is aged, I should still be of some help. Of course, if you think this old one is a hindrance, you can also refuse."
"What are you talking about? An elder in the house is like a treasure. Not to mention, you're also a wolf-dog type automaton. You're more than enough to act as a guide," he said, not refusing its kindness.
Yomi let out a light snort, wagged its tail, which was mixed with a few white hairs, and slowly walked to his side.
It lowered its head, as if expressing submission.
He also wasn't polite. He aimed his right hand at it, and a surge of mana flowed into its aged body, establishing the connection between a puppeteer and an automaton. At the same time, he used healing magic to repair its dilapidated body.
Thanks to the D-Works workshop using a wolf-dog (a biological being) as a template, the healing magic was able to take effect smoothly.
"Woooof~~~~~"
Yomi let out a low growl, suppressing its voice.
After its lusterless fur was healed, it glowed with a white light under the moon. The scent of decay from its body was gone, and its aura had surged by a notch.
Having been imprisoned for several years, its body was extremely weak and decrepit. Although this healing did not return it to its peak, it would definitely not be a burden.
If Yomi could also enter the field in this state in the future, then at least Frey would not be defeated in the bottom-bracket matches.
It seemed the cowardly girl's safety was guaranteed.
"Let's go."
"Wait."
A sudden female voice stopped him in his tracks.
He turned around. A blonde girl wearing a beret, with a dragon automaton on her head, stood under the moonlight.
"Charlotte."
"It's me."
"It's so late and you're still not resting? Are you admiring the moon with elegant leisure, or are you planning to secretly do something bad?"
"I think the one who wants to do something bad is you."
She stood in front of him.
The girl narrowed her eyes and asked sharply, "Where are you going in the middle of the night like this?"
"If I said I was just about to go back to sleep..."
"Liar. You're going to the D-Works orphanage, aren't you? You're planning to snatch those wolf-dogs before they're disposed of, right?"
"Oh my, has your intelligence also reclaimed the high ground, Charlotte?"
"You idiot, give it a rest."
His teasing was met with the girl's angry scolding. She rubbed her temples, making a gesture of enduring a headache.
She sighed, looking very helpless.
She opened her eyes again and said to him, "The D-Works workshop is a power that belongs to Bronson, who almost touched the throne of the Wiseman. Do you know what that means? You saw that scene just now, right? Those are a group of people who can easily do that kind of thing."
"Oh? Then what will they do to me?"
"You'll be turned into a honeycomb, you fool! And guns are just the appetizer! They'll also bring out their combat automatons!"
"It's fine. As long as the enemy is an automaton controlled by a puppeteer, I will stand undefeated."
He spoke with an overly confident tone.
But this made her even more agitated.
She said urgently, "That's why I'm saying you're an idiot! Before you even reach D-Works, you'll be discovered by the guards here. If the matter of you taking an automaton off-campus is exposed, it's not something that can be settled by just having your student status revoked! That child might even be confiscated and dismantled!"
"As long as I'm not discovered, it'll be fine."
"…You've offended the Kingsfort family before. You might have even offended the government that's likely backing them. The people who want to kill you—the people who are eyeing you like a tiger—there are a lot of them!"
"It's fine. I don't care."
Even if he were to cause a great disaster and do something irreversible, or be targeted by an unbeatable, powerful enemy, he could always just cross back to the world of Konosuba.
This was the source of his confidence.
"...I won't let you go."
She let Sigmund land on her arm, and with a threatening surge of mana, said, "If you insist on going, then you'll have to get past me first."
Sigmund's eyes glinted, and its wings spread fully. This was its battle stance.
She said, "You protected me. So, in return, I must also protect you. That's only fair. Of course, just this once. But, since it's just this once, no matter what means I have to use, I will protect you, even if you come to hate me for it."
"Why are you going to such lengths?"
"I should be the one asking! Why are you going to such lengths, Kobayashi?! To protect that child, disregarding your own safety and risking your life..."
"Because you two are very similar."
Both are trying to save their families, both are not good at socializing with people, always avoiding crowds, both are constantly pushing themselves for their own goals, and even if they are misunderstood by others, they still persevere. Both are carrying a huge burden on their small shoulders.
Except that one has a tsundere personality, and the other has a cowardly one, there is no difference between them.
"Because you two are very similar. So, just as I saved you, I will also save her."
Hearing his words, the tsundere girl's expression gradually changed, and she pouted as if in a fit of pique.
"How cunning... so cunning."
"Wanting to save someone"—she had no right to stop him from doing that, because she was also someone who had once been saved.
In the end, she relented.
"Hmph. Go wherever you want. Just go off on your own and die in some deserted field for all I care!"
"Yes, yes, I'll be careful."
At times like this, you have to take her words as the opposite. After all, her personality is tsundere.
And—
"Even if you stop me, I won't resent you, Charlotte. After all, you're also just worried about me."
"...Eh?"
"I am sincerely grateful to anyone who cares about me, so I would absolutely never resent you."
"Wh-who cares about you!"
Her face turned bright red, and her shy appearance was very cute.
He smiled, and then his figure, along with RyuZU and Yomi, disappeared, leaving only the tsundere girl's worry to drift in the mid-air.
"Idiot..."
The scenery changed.
The two of them and a dog appeared at the orphanage.
Yomi's dog eyes widened, its mouth opened, and it spun around several times on the spot, its nose constantly sniffing the ground and the surrounding air.
After a good while, it was finally convinced that it had really returned, and in just an instant!
"Hey, boy."
"What?"
"Is this your automaton's magic?"
"You can just think of it that way," he said ambiguously.
It wasn't that he was hiding it from it, but that it was too much trouble to explain, and now was not the right time or place for an explanation.
At this moment, the orphanage was brightly lit.
Probably because of what had happened during the day, the security had been tightened. Especially knowing that he and the others were not dead, the guards here had become tense.
It seemed that, just as Charlotte had said, coming here again was not a wise choice.
"Shall we sneak in, Master Kobayashi?"
"No, no, no. We are not thieves. We cannot do sneaky things."
"Hey, boy. Forcing your way in is not something a gentleman would do."
"What are you talking about? We're just going home. Of course, it's your home, Yomi. We're just visiting."
"Oh. In that case, there's no problem."
The two of them and a dog very plainly decided to break through from the front.
They walked through the main gate.
Suddenly, he felt a danger signal. Driven by instinct, the two of them and a dog jumped away on the spot.
A sharp weapon that fell from the sky was embedded in the ground.
It was a dagger!
At this moment, many dark shadows were looking down at them from the roof. Through [Spectator], he found that there were ten of them in total, half of whom were automatons. They were a force not to be underestimated.
...For an ordinary person, that is.
Seeing this, he was not flustered. "Let's have a blast."
"Yes, Master Kobayashi."
"Roger."
With a brief opening, the elegant attendant and the wolf-dog entered a combat state.
"Sonic Operation!"
Yomi opened its mouth wide, and a ball of air, larger and more powerful than Rabi's, rushed towards the puppeteers on the roof. Just a few seconds later, a deafening explosion was heard, accompanied by dust and rubble.
The puppeteers on the roof were all wiped out.
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "That was a bit of an exaggeration. If you had shown this kind of power earlier, those 'Garms' wouldn't have needed to be disposed of."
"...No, I didn't expect the power to be this strong either. I think it must be because of your mana."
Yomi knew its own limits very well, otherwise it wouldn't have been disposed of.
While they were talking, numerous enemies hidden in the surroundings, holding firearms, came to surround them. At the same time, daggers floated around them, clearly from angel-type automatons.
"It seems we can't escape... just kidding."
After applying a barrier magic, the two of them and a dog rushed in different directions. With the blessing of magic, the firearms could be completely ignored.
Furthermore, the coordination between the enemies was not smooth. The daggers they shot also flew in a straight line, and it took a long time to retrieve them. It was a world of difference from Loki, who could freely control Gabriel.
He and RyuZU coordinated their steps. One attacked the puppeteers, the other blocked the daggers. In just a few dozen seconds, they had disabled four angel-type automatons.
Yomi had also taken out a puppeteer.
Seeing this, the enemy had completely lost their will to fight and were clearly trying to escape.
"No, no, no. I can't let you escape."
He had no intention of letting them go.
To help a bad person do bad things... one must naturally accept the punishment. And for such a vile RT experiment, only death could be their atonement. As for whether they would be forgiven, he would let the goddess decide.
The fleeing enemies let out a wail:
"Damn it! They're too strong!"
"What do we do!"
"Quick, go get more puppeteers!"
While he and his group were mowing down the surrounding enemies like cutting vegetables, with a boom, a greatsword was plunged into the ground.
A person stood on the hilt, looking down at him.
"Lord Loki!"
"It's Lord Loki!"
"Thank goodness, we're saved!"
Hearing the cries of relief, he was almost starting to suspect that he was the bad guy.
Loki's pearl-colored hair swayed gently. With his back to the moon, he said, "I am both humble and tolerant... Of course, there are still three types of people I cannot forgive: those who order me around, those who defy me, and... filthy, ignorant rats."
Although it was an intimidation, in his ears, it had another meaning.
Did you come running out from the academy because you were worried?
The ability to fly was Gabriel's specialty. If it were just him alone, perhaps it could have carried him in flight.
Then, Loki jumped down from the greatsword.
He controlled the greatsword to rotate and then fly towards him. He stood still, as if he were scared silly.
Under the excited and expectant gazes of everyone, the greatsword viciously... scraped past him. The automaton that was surrounding him from behind couldn't dodge in time, its heart was pierced, and it fell to the ground, motionless.
While everyone was still trying to figure out the situation, Gabriel flew towards another automaton.
"What are you doing!"
"Wait, we're on the same side!"
"Stop!"
The surrounding enemies were fleeing in disarray, but Loki continued his slaughter without a word. The mercenaries, finally understanding the situation, let out a roar and began to attack him.
But they couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes. The daggers flying in the sky and Gabriel's longsword cut down those automatons one by one.
The surrounding enemies were instantly cleared out.
"Whew~" he whistled and praised, "As expected of one of the top thirteen. To take care of all of them in an instant."
"Don't talk so nonchalantly over there!"
Loki clenched his fists and roared, "You idiot! You really are a complete and utter idiot! Think about the consequences before you act! For a student to attack a commoner... if this kind of thing gets out, you'll be sentenced to capital punishment, you idiot!"
"It doesn't matter. As long as I can save Frey, this kind of thing is irrelevant."
"You...!"
Loki's bellyful of fire suddenly didn't know where to vent. After all, his answer had been completely beyond his imagination.
This guy... he can actually do this much for my sister?! Does he like her that much?!
For a moment, he couldn't help but have the thought, 'It wouldn't be so bad to hand my sister over to him.'
"You're the one. It was you, also a student of the academy, who would be sentenced to capital punishment if you were discovered. And... you were angry just because I didn't call you to come along, right?"
"Wh-what are you talking about? How could I..."
Loki, his thoughts exposed, turned his head away.
He let out a light laugh. "But let me make it clear. Frey is my pet. Grow up quickly and then let her go."
"...As I thought, that idea was a delusion. I'd better just kill you." Loki glared at him, annoyed.
Their eyes met.
A moment later, they both laughed at the same time.
"So what now?"
"This is your home, Loki. It's not really appropriate to ask me, a guest."
"I've never seen a guest like you."
"Well, you have now."
The two bickered as they walked through the orphanage, arriving at the central courtyard.
"Where are we going?"
"Isn't your goal to save those 'Garms'? Since that's the case, then before they are transferred and destroyed..."
The next instant, like a bolt of lightning, a sword descended from directly above.
It was very dazzling.
The golden sword body was very beautiful, but at the same time, it carried an ominous aura. Its appearance was very similar to Loki's angel-type automaton.
"L-Lucifer..."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Loki's forehead.
(End of Chapter)