Sword Meets Sword
“Ah-choo!”
A sneeze burst out of nowhere. My nose had started itching, and there was no fighting it.
“Hmm, has someone been badmouthing me, I wonder.”
If so, I'd have to track down the culprit. At this late hour, anyone obsessed enough to curse me had to be either the landlady I'd just parted from or Cento. The two of them gossiping behind my back? How outrageous. Well, “just” might be a stretch—we'd gone our separate ways after handling some business, and quite some time had passed since then.
Kieeeek!
“Even when I work this hard, no one notices. Such is the fate of a dark hero, I suppose?”
Muttering glumly to myself, I bisected the charging monster with ease.
Shwick!
Dried up like some withered fish, it didn't even slice satisfyingly. As the creature died, its blood on my blade and its severed corpse crumbled to ash and scattered. Satisfied, I sheathed my sword.
For some reason, it felt like I'd been busy all day in more ways than one.
“That makes ten now, right?”
Sure enough, monsters had been appearing more frequently lately. And starting from the night Kenichi awakened, their numbers were set to explode even further. Soon enough, they'd come swarming in numbers even I couldn't handle alone. With the ancient seals from the previous era breaking, the monsters rampaging through the city streets—that was the setup.
Monsters would keep multiplying, swelling in ranks until even all of Tokyo's sorcerers couldn't wipe them out completely. A few would survive each day. Those survivors would band together, forming clusters, and eventually... a massive horde. That horde would be the trigger for Episode 2 of Doomsday Lupco: Hyakki Yagyo.
A night parade of demons on a scale worlds apart from the tutorial-like first day. Recalling that insane monster wave, I grinned slyly to myself.
“Well then, shall we get ready?”
For the Hyakki Yagyo. Imagining thousands of monsters overrunning the school, hounding the main characters—it already sent thrills down my spine. Of course, I would be the one stopping them.
After that, classes apparently went off without a hitch, and I escorted home a noticeably lighter-spirited Cento. I half-wondered if they'd skipped the lesson entirely for more gossiping, but asking her outright would make me seem petty. Ever the magnanimous soul, I said nothing and tacitly approved of their little bonding session. Though I did consider casually asking her personal maid, Dokomo, about it later that night.
In any case, after pulling a mild all-nighter, I greeted the morning like any ordinary high schooler.
As the school's acknowledged model student, I arrived in the classroom even earlier than usual—and so did Cento, who walked with me.
Her fresh-faced expression from yesterday was gone; now she regarded me with a blank face and toneless voice.
“We're not even dating, so how long do you plan on waiting out front like that?”
“Come on, anyone overhearing might get the wrong idea! It was just a coincidence running into each other.”
“You're infuriatingly shameless.”
“Haha, thank you.”
Sawamura Cento, seated beside me, let out a deep sigh, and I finally turned my gaze forward.
Early as it was, our front-row seatmate—another stellar model student, Ichinose Hotaru—was already there. Frowning like she was in a foul mood today, she worked through a math workbook. Nine times out of ten, her bad mood stemmed from her childhood friend and desk neighbor, the protagonist of Doomsday Lupco: Kitagawa Kenichi.
I'd left them to sort it out yesterday, but it looked like that hadn't happened.
The original plan centered on Hotaru...
The combo of Kenichi—who nullified all abilities while boasting superhuman physical specs—and Ichinose Hotaru, the Fire Shrine Maiden who sealed and purified monsters—was powerhouse material. From the perspective of someone who hadn't cleared the final episode, I couldn't swear it was the absolute optimal route, but it sure felt like the orthodox one.
Somehow, though, I'd ended up nurturing the ancient weapon, Sawamura Cento, while leaving the plan's original centerpiece, Hotaru, completely in the dark.
She probably doesn't even know Kenichi's awakened yet.
I'd have to smooth things over between them before their misunderstanding snowballed and derailed their relationship. Sure, her firepower paled compared to a fully mastered Cento down the line, but Hotaru was still a key asset. The same went for the star mage Eris Betelgeuse, whose affinity with me wasn't high enough yet. Sending a creature to spy on me? Utterly outrageous.
“Guess it's time to make a move on her soon.”
“...”
As I muttered with a sinister chuckle, Cento narrowed her eyes and glared at me from the side. Was she mimicking me, perhaps? Her growing resemblance was a reflection of her opening heart—a fine sign indeed.
Yes, this was all good. Nodding in satisfaction, I was interrupted by—
Bang!
The classroom door flew open with a crash. Curious, I turned to see Kitagawa Kenichi there, panting heavily just like yesterday.
He locked eyes on me, bulging with shock.
“Ah, so you've finally figured it out.”
Looks like his necklace had turned into a sword last night. Him discovering his power was inevitable, so it wasn't surprising. Though me revealing my true self to him directly was a minor deviation.
Well, in a way, it was just shifting the early-game nurturing from Hotaru-Kenichi to Kenichi-Cento for smoother progression. Opportunities like this were one-shot deals, after all. But now that I'd intervened in the story proper, I'd have to raise him right. I might not have cleared the game, but I'd grinded hundreds of bad ends for research.
“Hey, Kenichi. What brings you here so early?”
Before the frozen Kenichi could approach from the front, I shot up from my seat and strode toward him with a sly grin.
Kenichi, who usually treated me kindly, now faced me taut with tension.
“...Shiki, you—”
“But Kenichi, that happened the day before yesterday already. Isn't your timing a bit off-beat?”
“...! You really—?!”
At my words, Doomsday Lupco's protagonist, Kitagawa Kenichi, jolted in shock. Clutching his necklace as if ready to draw his demon sword, he glared daggers at me.
But with his trembling eyes flicking to Hotaru—frowning behind me—and the other classmates, he couldn't bring himself to draw. Exposing his identity was one thing; he probably worried a fight with me might endanger everyone in the room.
In reality, the gap's so wide no one would get hurt.
It felt good reaffirming Kenichi's bold yet kind protagonist nature. Still, I wondered just what he took me for. Unable to charge in rage or chat casually like usual, he left me feeling a touch exasperated.
“No helping it. Looks like it's up to your senior to spoon-feed you.”
I now stood facing Kenichi, my back to the class—no one could see what I pulled from my sleeve.
Shring— In one fluid motion, I drew the dagger from my bosom and slowed time itself. Not just the classmates' movements, but their very perception crawled like sluggish caterpillars.
In this slowed world, only the protagonist Kenichi watched wide-eyed as I acted.
“...You!”
Tension maxed out, perhaps? Or did he judge he couldn't wait any longer? A fierce light erupted from the cross necklace in his grip.
—The Demon Sword of Nullification, transforming his necklace into a blade. Straight out of a movie, and utterly ridiculous. What if someone saw?
“No, we can't have that.”
Luckily, I was faster. Summoning my longsword from thin air, I grinned wickedly and drew it.
Then—
—Time stopped for everyone.
Everything halts.
Sawamura Cento, who had been watching with a furrowed brow; Hotaru, eyes wide; every other student in the room—they all froze.
“...”
In this halted world, only the sword's owner—me—and Kenichi could move.
Trembling all over in tension, he gripped his demon sword tight.
...Or had his instincts sensed the overwhelming gap? If so, maybe I should applaud his guts for standing his ground.
This run's Kenichi wouldn't flee mid-fight, at least. Nodding in approval, I flashed him a bright smile.
“Your stance looks good, at least.”
Now, time to advance the lesson.
Closing the distance in an instant, I grabbed Kenichi by the collar and hurled him out the window into the hallway beyond.
“Haha, let's change venues.”
Catching up to him midair, I slammed him down into the sports field.
Kabooom!
The protagonist nurturing plan had officially begun.