32. We Need to Talk
32. We Need to Talk
The original protagonist, Hayden Parker... Actually, the symbol of the Devil Slayer was a red anti-demon coat, a sword inscribed with divine words, and twin pistols.
The red coat, symbolizing the blood of a saint, possessed anti-demon power that blocked demonic forces,
and the sword, forged from mithril—the rare metal most effective against demons—and even inscribed with the words of God, could annihilate lesser demons on contact.
Up to this point, these were equipment commonly seen among the Church's Inquisitors, but the Devil Slayer took it a step further and used a weapon rarely seen in this world: a 'gun'.
In this world, guns were not mass-produced goods.
Firearms, crafted only by master artisans, were extremely expensive weapons.
Yet, because their cost-efficiency was lower than magic, they were treated as the eccentric hobby of the wealthy.
But the Devil Slayer noticed that if firearms were prepared in advance, they could fire metal bullets at will with little effort, and so used guns to shoot silver bullets that could harm demons.
In the entire Empire, there were fewer than 100 people who owned guns.
Among those gun owners, was there anyone likely to be here?
It might be different elsewhere, but this was the Academy.
Since the Academy's core subject was magic, if someone carried around a pistol, they'd instantly be rumored to be a rich eccentric with a vile hobby.
Then, as expected... was it Hayden?
The figure that emerged from beyond the pitch-black demonic energy was...
"...Amy?"
The one who fired the gun was neither Hayden nor anyone else; it was just Amy Parker.
Strangely, the way she appeared—the most unfamiliar sight—was incredibly familiar to me.
Because the red anti-demon coat, the twin pistols in both hands, and even the sword on her back... it was the very image of the Devil Slayer described in the novel.
But why Amy?
No, how did someone whose territory was in bad shape afford that money-eating hippo's full set of gear???
The situation didn't make sense.
I had thought Amy Parker was a different person from Hayden... Could she just be a female Hayden??
I believed it wasn't a TS drift at this point.
Amy's fate was different from Hayden's.
Hayden, who lost everything—family and territory—and burned his entire life to kill demons, and Amy, who enrolled in the Academy for her surviving family and territory, had completely different circumstances.
But regardless of my confusion, the pistols in both of Amy's hands spat fire.
A silver bullet whizzed right past my nose.
"Amy..! It's me."
Even for me, this was the first time I'd faced a gun.
Firearms occupied that kind of position in this world.
They existed, but it was rare to see someone actually use them.
It was a weapon I was facing for the first time, but I knew what kind of weapon it was.
Fundamentally, it was a weapon that fired projectiles... I had to close the distance while carefully avoiding its line of fire.
'Easy to say... it wasn't easy!'
It wasn't easy, but it was doable.
While Amy only had to flick her hand, I had to use my whole body to dodge, so I wondered if there was any hardship like this.
"Amy, it's me... Atlas!! Why are you doing this? This joke is going too far!"
Amy's demeanor after hearing me was strange.
She was biting her lip hard, just like before.
She looked very angry... and very sad.
It was clear she was hearing me, but she didn't answer.
"!!!!!"
Amy holstered her pistols and grabbed the greatsword she had on her back.
Compared to her slender arms, the greatsword looked burdensome, but Amy lifted it lightly with one hand and swung it down at me.
I had thought her basic physical strength was remarkable from the first time I saw her, but had she been hiding this much power all along?
Taking the hit without a fight wasn't in my nature.
I drew my longsword and met Amy's attack head-on.
-Kang!!!!
When the thick greatsword and the longsword clashed, a dull sound echoed.
We didn't engage in a contest of strength with the crossguards.
Because I had countered with the intent to blow her away, Amy was sent flying backward.
Judging solely by the mass of the weapons, it wouldn't have been strange for the greatsword to snap my longsword, but my longsword was intact.
"Amy, if you're being threatened or controlled by someone, could you quietly drop your pistols on the ground?"
I made a pointless joke and readied my stance again.
I didn't know what the circumstances were.
It seemed Amy had her own circumstances again.
I thought I had learned a lot about Amy from our conversation on the first day, but that was a big miscalculation.
"I don't know why you're doing this... whatever it is, it seems like a misunderstanding, okay?"
"Tch..!!"
A pale flame blazed on Amy's mithril greatsword.
She used Aura Blade.
Judging only by the clarity of the aura, it looked upper-rank, but I knew that the sword produced such power because it was made from a lump of mithril, a rare metal.
It was the same as Lemnos's Flamberge.
"Amy, you attacked first. Don't blame me if it hurts."
"!!!!"
Amy's Aura Blade closed in on me again.
My sword still had no aura around it.
No, I hadn't even raised my sword from the start.
I felt that if I raised my sword in this mood, I would seriously hurt Amy.
The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
I didn't do anything wrong, so why did I have to be attacked like this?
I just killed some cultists, and suddenly I get this misunderstanding?
At first I was just dumbfounded, but now that I think about it, I'm angry.
I don't know the circumstances, but a misunderstanding is a misunderstanding.
I don't know what Amy is thinking, acting like that, but if she got seriously hurt while doing that, I would regret it...
'Then I just had to beat her up moderately.'
Reacting to Amy's movement, my body moved quickly as well.
I ducked under her, one hand grabbing Amy's sword hand, and the other hand grabbing the scruff of her neck.
"?!"
Then I kicked Amy's supporting leg with my right foot, collapsing her center of gravity... and slammed her to the ground.
-Kung!!!!!
"Kahak!!!"
As she was slammed back-first onto the hard rock floor of the cave, the air in her lungs was forced out of her mouth all at once.
"Kkh... ah... huff..."
In an instant, all the breath in her lungs was expelled, and Amy was in agony.
Her body craved oxygen, but the lost air couldn't be replenished all at once.
Watching Amy clutching her chest and gasping for breath on the ground, I ended up feeling uneasy.
"Amy..."
"..!!"
As expected, I felt sorry and went to help her up, but Amy vanished before my eyes.
"Ah, seriously, what the hell!!"
The last time I saw her, Amy was shedding tears.
"It feels shitty..."
I was the one who almost got shot, so why does it feel like I'm the perpetrator?
——————————————-
The next morning, Amy didn't come to morning training.
"Atlas, apologize."
"Now what..."
After morning training, I saw Liber again at the Academy, and she said that as soon as she laid eyes on me.
"She's not coming out of her dorm either?"
"She says she's not feeling well and isn't coming out."
Apparently, after morning training, she even went to Amy's dorm but Amy wouldn't open the door.
Since this was the first time such a thing happened, Liber was quite flustered too.
"About Amy. You don't have any idea?"
"Ah, that... um..."
If I said that last night Amy came at me and I slammed her to the ground, she'd get angry, right?
I briefly wondered how to explain it, and Liber's eyebrows knit together crossly.
"See! You do have an idea!! What did you do to Amy!!!"
"Wow, this is really unfair... Why do you assume I did something wrong?"
"Because it seems more likely that you'd raise your hand first than Amy."
"Sssspp... Even I have to admit that's true."
Considering my usual image, even I thought that, so it was truly unfair but I had no way to refute it.
"It does look like that, but it's not... It seems like Amy has some misunderstanding about me, and she's refusing to talk..."
"...Don't tell me you killed someone?"
"No, why would you think that?"
"I already saw you chopping people up, so if it's a scene that could cause misunderstanding, isn't it attempted murder??"
She just blurted it out, but her ability to pinpoint yesterday's events was impressive.
Wow, it's really unfair, but she's right that she saw me kill someone...
They were heretics who would be a problem if left alive, but no way, was it really because of that?
Come to think of it, that was the first time she saw me kill a person since entering the Academy.
Really?
Huh?? That's right????
Could it really be because of that??
"If it's hard to talk about, you don't have to."
Liber pinched my cheek long and hard.
A refreshing citrus scent wafted from her hand.
"You two talk it out, clear the misunderstanding, and apologize. Because Amy is precious to me, but so are you."
"I keep saying it's unfair."
"Then make up. You two fighting like this makes me anxious, you know?"
"That's true."
I'd feel sorry if I made her worry too much.
I should give her time to sort out her thoughts today, and if she doesn't come out, I'll have to barge into her dorm or something.
——————————————
In the end, Amy didn't come to school.
Even with one student absent, there was no problem with the Academy's classes running.
As scheduled, the time came to prepare for the dungeon exploration practical training.
They explained what monsters would appear inside the dungeon, how it was structured, how far they needed to go, and so on, as if it were a recreational activity.
But I wasn't excited at all.
'It had finally come.'
This was where things mattered.
Both Liber and Amy, who seemed to have protagonist-like destinies, were anxious.
It was better for me, who knew how the worst-case scenario could unfold, to move as much as possible.
First, my goal was to make sure not a single person died during the dungeon exploration practical training.
If anyone died here, the Empire would begin to crumble immediately.
I couldn't die yet.
There was a clear reason I couldn't die.
If I died now, my height would be recorded forever as 149.
At my funeral too, it would say 'Funeral of the dwarf Atlas of the short-statured Titan, height 149'...
In the records of future generations, I'd be remembered as height 149.
'I would never lose to those trash demons who steal souls and can't even grow taller.'
I'm small now, but I'll survive to the end and die at a height over 180.
That was my life's goal now.