"Body?"
Saeko Busujima froze when she saw the trade condition appear before her.
Her gaze instinctively flicked toward Haruto Amakawa.
Haruto didn't flinch beneath her eyes. He only gave a slight shrug, his expression helpless.
"Don't look at me like that. The 'body' means exactly what you think it does." His tone was calm, casual, like he was discussing the weather.
He tilted his head slightly, voice steady but helpless.
"But this is because it's the only thing you have left to trade."
Her lips parted, but he cut her off with a sharp glance.
"Of course, if you don't accept, the trade won't happen." His eyes swept over not only Saeko but everyone watching, making sure they understood. "But remember—trades are about what you want and about what you have."
The words carried weight, like a cold blade pressed against the neck.
"..."
Saeko's throat tightened. Other than her swordsmanship, she truly had nothing else of value left to offer—except the one thing she had never surrendered: her untouched body.
"Damn it, are we really going to die here?" Takagi Saya's bitter, trembling voice rang in her ears.
Saeko's grip on her sword slackened for an instant.
It was just a body, she thought. Flesh and skin. Nothing compared to their lives.
In the silence of her own heart, she made her decision.
[Ding! Trade initiated!]
[Trade Target]: Saeko Busujima
[Trade Content]: Rescue Miyamoto Rei and the others, ensuring their safety for a set period of time!
[Trade Condition]: Saeko Busujima's body usage rights.
[Duration]: 3 hours.
The moment the notification settled, Haruto moved.
In a blur, he ripped through the undead blocking his path. One heartbeat, and he was standing before Miyamoto Rei, who was frozen in terror as the dead closed in.
A gust of wind brushed past her face.
The next thing she saw was not the gnashing jaws of the undead—but a tall, unyielding back.
Haruto clenched his fist. The very air seemed to tense with him.
Takagi Saya and the others shivered without knowing why.
Then—
Boom!!!
A surge of killing frost erupted from Haruto's position, blasting outward like a frozen tide.
Where the cold touched, the undead turned to lifelike statues of ice, their last expressions locked in silent death.
"What… what is that?" students peering from the shattered windows gasped, eyes wide with disbelief.
The frost spread in waves, devouring the field, until the entire area before the school gleamed with ice. The groans of the undead were silenced, replaced by brittle stillness.
Crack!
Even the glass panes of the classrooms split and shattered from the sudden cold.
Only the circle around Haruto remained untouched.
Takagi Saya's lips trembled. "This… this is impossible… completely unscientific…"
Haruto hadn't even drawn a weapon. He didn't need to.
His status rose again. He smiled faintly, as if pleased with himself—but there was no joy in it, only sharp satisfaction.
He scanned the frozen battlefield. Not a single undead stirred. Yet the clock was still ticking, and he had over five hours left that couldn't be wasted.
"Hey." His voice cut through the daze like steel. "Snap out of it and follow me. Saeko Busujima traded her body so I could save you. Don't stand there waiting to die."
Miyamoto Rei just stared, stunned. Haruto frowned. Without ceremony, he reached out, grabbed her like deadweight, and slung her at his side as if carrying a sack of firewood.
Then, without looking back, he strode toward the school gates.
Saeko soon caught up, her steps light despite the weight in her chest.
"Saeko-senpai!"
Takagi Saya's voice cracked with a dozen unspoken questions, but Saeko only shook her head with practiced calm.
"Now's not the time. Follow me."
Takagi Saya and Shizuka Marikawa exchanged glances, then nodded silently.
"…All right."
The livestream ended abruptly, but the chat group erupted.
Sakurajima Mai: "Did I just see a body trade?"
Frieren: "Yes. The notification was explicit."
Sakurajima Mai: "…Body. It means that, right?"
Alone in her bedroom, Mai's face flushed. She had been terrified watching the undead swarm like something out of a nightmare—but the words body usage rights sent her thoughts spinning in a very different direction.
Between men and women… wasn't that what it implied?
Haruto Amakawa: "Yes. It's probably what you're thinking."
Mai's eyes widened.
The group chat fell into an odd silence.
Stella: "…Selling your body?"
Sakurajima Mai: "What kind of chat group is this—an escort service?"
Haruto Amakawa: "What do you think?"
His response carried the same tone as when he spoke in person—calm, casual, impossible to read.
Haruto Amakawa: "You saw the stream. I crossed into another world. In that situation, Saeko Busujima had nothing else left to offer."
Sakurajima Mai: "…But the term 'body usage rights' is just too weird!"
Haruto continued moving, freezing any undead that approached with casual flicks of frost, eyes never wavering from the path ahead.
Haruto Amakawa: "The trade isn't forced. She accepted it. Beyond that, I won't pretend it's more than what it is."
Saeko Busujima: "Yes. It was my decision. I'll bear the consequences."
Mai fell silent at those words, biting her lip.
Akame: "…Body usage rights. What does that involve?"
Stella: "Don't ask such indecent things!"
Frieren: "Is it indecent? Isn't procreation between human partners considered necessary and sacred? That's what I've been told."
Her tone was cool, neutral—an elf's long perspective making her indifferent to the heat of human shame.
Stella: "But… but they aren't doing it for that reason!"
Her cheeks flushed scarlet as she typed, frustration bubbling in her chest.
How could they all speak of this so easily…?