Beyond my dumbfounded gaze was a single-horseman chariot dashing through the sky.
The chariot was pulled by 2 horses and left behind white, mist-like trails. It was currently headed toward us, and I locked eyes with the one person on it.
Clad in silver armor, they looked like some kind of knight with a large build. They were probably over 2 meters tall. Their armor was decorated in a rather flashy manner, but looking at the joints and whatnot told me that it was actually geared more for combat.
With a light swing of the reins, the chariot soon landed at a relaxed pace in the riverbank.
“My favorite steed!!! Are you alright!!??”
“So loud”
I thought my eardrums, which had just healed back, might burst again.
But this voice…and this perplexing way of talking…no, there’s no way…
“Hanazono…Karen-san…?”
“Yes!! I’ve come to save you, Silver Lily!”
“Sorry, you got the wrong person”
Still at a loss on what was going on, I replied so almost reflexively. Right as I did so, she gently raised her right hand overhead and gigantic metal mace appeared. Hanazono Karen held this mace in one hand with ease even though it was taller than her. The tip of the mace was shaped rather peculiarly, as though it was a combination of blocks.
I had seen the “meteorite”, or rather, its afterimage for only a split-second, but the mace’s tip was a match for it. My mind couldn’t wrap itself around the truth it deduced. But such was the world I lived in now. Though I still found it hard to believe, I entertained the possibility in the meantime and asked a question.
“Ahm…could it be that you were the one to take down that dragon?”
“Yes, I did. I did say I’ve come to save you, didn’t I?”
She said so in a light tone, as though what she told me was the most trivial thing in the world. There wasn’t a trace of fatigue in her either.
Her win wasn’t because of the enemy getting caught in surprise or anything. It was just that for Hanazono Karen, winning against that dragon really was nothing. And that previous attack was probably nothing more than her throwing her mace against the dragon…
I was at a loss for words. Nevertheless, I forced the next words out.
“Ahh, then thank you very much.”
She had saved me.
That truth could not be overturned. As such, the only real course of action for me was to thank her with all sincerity. Even if the other party was a suspicious person with a couple of screws loose, not thanking her was simply discourteous on my part.
To stoop so low as that was pretty much saying I didn’t place much value to my life as well as Layla and Yukine’s, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
“Please. It’s only natural for a holy knight such as myself to protect her allies and favorite steed, no? But let’s leave it at that for now. Silver, take those two and withdraw.”
Hanazono Karen gently swung her mace and looked up at the sky. Up there were a large number of Wyverns and a Fire Drake headed our way.
Normally, that would have been quite the hopeless sight. But strangely, with Hanazono Karen here, it didn’t seem threatening at all.
…by the way, the horses tied to her chariot have been licking and biting me for some time now. One was licking me through my helm and soaking me in saliva, while the other was biting the shoulder part of my surcoat.
Like, what the heck?
“Fufu, they seemed to have taken a liking to you, Silver.”
“I don’t think…actually, speaking of, I see you already have some horses.”
So, why the heck are you calling me your favorite steed? Do you want me to pull your chariot alongside them or something?
“What, you jealous?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Geez…let’s leave it at that for now.”
“Huh, wait a minute”
Why are you treating me like some troublesome kid??
“Well then, I’m off to mop up the monsters here in order to protect the yet-to-be-discovered and the yet-to-bloom Yuri among the people. Let’s talk about Yuri again the next time we meet!!”
“You say that like we talked about Yuri at all”
“Hi-yo!!”
““Hihiiiiii!!””
I saw her off like that. As her chariot rose in elevation, it gained more and more speed. In no time at all, I could hardly follow it even with my improved eyes.
The Wyverns were soon sent flying as though they were merely pebbles by the road. The Fire Drake meanwhile unleashed a breath attack that flashed so brightly that it made everything else seem to disappear. But in the next moment, I saw its large head lopped off and flying.
…let’s, let’s stop thinking for now.
“H-how about we resume our escape”
“Yes…”
“I feel so exhausted…”
I stood up while lending Layla my shoulder. We then made our way to the other side of the black dome in a rather leisurely manner. No Wyvern or Fire Drake came after us. In fact, by the time I noticed it, the only thing flying in the sky within a few hundred kilometer radius was her silver chariot.
It was a little tough to take that our hard-fought victory was easily surpassed like this, but…well, it is what it is.
“Yukine…”
“Yes, dear?”
“Be ready for a real scolding later.”
“…Very well. I suppose you really do love me, huh.”
“Is that not obvious, you idiot…”
The 3 of us huddled together as we continued our walk to the outside.
And just when we had stepped outside of the dome, the dungeon’s expansion stopped completely.
* * *
Three days had passed since that day. The incident had been disclosed to the public, though only a rough description of the damages was given.
Over the course of the weekend—a mere two days!—about 7 dungeon overflow incidents had occurred all over Japan. From C rank dungeons all the way to A rank dungeons.
As a result, over 30,000 cases of deaths and missing persons had been confirmed thus far. Considering the ranks of the dungeons involved, one might argue that number was rather low…not that anyone would say that to the face of the victims and bereaved families.
There had been quite the fuss in the National Diet and on TV about launching an investigation to find out who was to be held accountable for the lack of knowledge on the whereabouts of the dungeons involved. Possible future countermeasures were also being debated.
But in all that fuss, one group stood out.
<<Ladies and gentlemen, the world as we know it has changed.>>
A man with no distinguishable facial features aside from his shaved head stood on a platform and recited so. This man in a black kimono similar to those meant for mourning was Koyama Kosuke, the founder of the Society of the Sage. He was more often referred to as Akatsuki-sama by his believers though.
<<I pray for the souls of those who passed due to this horrible, tragic event. However, we must not content ourselves with simply grieving. We must carry on in the present, after all.>>
<<We have to learn something, anything from this disaster. How is it that we managed to limit the damages and casualties to this level? What is the reason we have survivors>>
<<If you ask those who were rescued, they would answer quickly and without hesitation. Just what, or rather, who drove away those malevolent monsters? Who was it that quelled this disaster?>>
<<Was it the police? No. I wouldn’t discredit them by saying that they didn’t do anything at all, but let us be frank, the most they were able to do was provide guidance to those escaping. They lacked the means to resist against those powerful monsters.>>
<<So, was it the JSDF, then? No, it wasn’t them either. They weren’t even in the relevant sites. They should be thanked for their efforts in providing temporary shelter for those that managed to escape, but as for taking action in the battlefields, they didn’t because they weren’t even there.>>
<<So, who then? The answer is simple: the Awakened Ones>>
<<The ones who defeated the monsters and protected the escaping populace were the courageous Awakened Ones present on the scene. Please don’t forget about this fact.>>
<<But do not misunderstand. I’m not here to demand gratitude from the populace or anything as shameful as that. I am here merely to impress upon you all the truth that Awakened Ones will be what our society will need most from now on.>>
<<The currently available weapons, tactics, and whatever else do not work against the things we call monsters. From here on, the only ones who could act as guardians of our society, our world, are the Awakened Ones!!>>
The founder spread his arms in an exaggerated manner. To his left and right were Awakened Ones clad in their Magical Attire.
<<I beseech you, Awaken! For that is the only way to survive in this new world of ours! Train with us, and be prepared for the end of times that is fast approaching!!>>
* * *
As the world was abuzz by things like that, I met up with my friends around early evening in the park we usual went to.
Because my 2 friends were on their way from school, they still wore their uniforms. It was only me who wore casual clothes. That’s right, I didn’t go to school.
“It was…as great as I thought it would be”
I looked up at the sky where white clouds drifted by and recalled a certain scene. That precious…splendid scene…
“Ahh, boobs pressed together…it’s just the best”
“Come again?”
What’s wrong, Kumai-kun? Why do you look like a gorilla hit by a peashooter or something?
“I said boobs pressed against one another is just the best”
“Oh, ok. Glad to know my ears aren’t messed up.”
“Yeah. If anything’s messed up about you, it’ll have to be your fetish.”
“Why you, I’m going to smack you. Come here.”
“Eh?”
He looked at least half-serious when he took a punching pose, so I held out both my hands to calm him.
*pow**pow**pow*
“Listen, do you really think that’s what you should say to people who came to talk with you out of worry?”
“Sorry. It’s just that I didn’t know how to react when you looked so serious.”
“Hmm…well, you don’t seem like you’re just putting on a brave face, at least. I honestly thought you’d be a lot more depressed.”
Uoyama-kun adjusted his glasses as he tilted his head.
It seemed like there were quite a number of students from our school who also got caught up in the dungeon overflow incidents. In the 3 days since then, it wasn’t unusual for those students to skip school. Considering that, it made sense that I also took days off from school and felt rather listless.
“I mean, I kind of am. After we made it out and got to receive the protection of the JSDF, I finally got to relax for real. But it was also then that I remembered the faces of all those who died in front of me and all those times I could have died. I almost passed out from all that, you know.”
“Hmm”
“No surprise there”
“And when I got back home, I immediately gave my parents a big hug. All tension finally left my body right then and I cried so hard. It sounds pathetic, but I cried like that until I fell asleep. But then a nightmare woke me up and made me throw up in the toilet.”
“…man, that’s rough”
“Yeah, you really had a difficult time. Nothing about that sounds pathetic, definitely.”
“Thanks. After that, I got hungry and ate the breakfast my mom prepared. Then, I took a shower”
““Hmm, hmm””
“Around noon, I ate some ramen”
““Hmmmm???””
“And when Layla and Yukine let me do the S-word with them in the evening, my mental recovery was complete.”
“Wait, wait, wait”
“Yeah, I get that”
“Huh!?”
Uoyama-kun and I pointed to each other as though to say, “right?”
“Wait, wait, wait. You, are you sure you’re alright now?”
“I don’t know if all that made me alright or whatever, but I think it’s more like I’ve come to terms that it really happened. I’m not saying I want it to happen to me again, mind you.”
“It has happened twice already, so there’s likely a third one, right?”
“Hey, stop being an idiot. We say ‘third time’s the charm’ for a reason, you know.”
“Wait, forget about that for a second. I was more worried if you have some trauma or something from the whole ordeal.”
“Kumai-kun…do you really want me to suffer that much?”
“Yeah, aren’t we friends? Why do you have to be like that to him, you gorilla”
“Why are you talking like I’m the one who’s strange here…?”
I lightly shrugged at Kumai-kun, who still refused to accept the universal truth that he had the face of a gorilla crossed with an old man.
I understood what he was trying to say though. I would likely be confused too if someone told me a story similar to what I went through.
“Well, I do wonder about that too. But well, the girls and I are safe; no one close to me has passed away; and I’ve cried, slept, vomited, ate good food, had a hot shower, and got comforted by beautiful women. So, with all that in mind, I’m a bit calmer, more stable now, I think.”
“So it’s like that, huh? You sure you’re not just pushing yourself?”
“Yup!”
I didn’t say it out loud, but I also found having these silly talks with my friends to be quite soothing.
I did think I suffered some trauma. And the new doctor that Togo-san referred seemed to agree.
But at the risk of sounding defensive, all those deaths were not my fault. I really believed this. Even the people who ran away to that alleyway but got ambushed by a diving Wyvern…it was awful to say, but I felt no guilt over that.
I mean, why should I? The tragedy that day was the fault of a natural disaster. It wasn’t caused by men. So, humans, much less individuals, shouldn’t take the blame for it.
…but then again, maybe I was actually just an unfeeling person. But, see, I was [alive].
“As long as we’re alive, we humans get hungry, get sleepy, and get horny”
“What the heck is that last one”
“Oh shut up. Any healthy high school boy is going to have some lust in them. You can’t remove that from them.”
“Tch, that makes sense. A lot of sense”
“Yeah, can’t argue that”
One shouldn’t underestimate the so-called 3 great desires—which were sleep, food, sex. They were a part of being alive, hence the moniker.
Personally, I believed that it was precisely because we wanted to live that we could achieve peace of mind simply by satisfying those 3 great desires.
“Oh, I remembered something. There’s a rumor going around related to the dungeon you got caught up in.”
“Oh? What kind of rumor?”
As though to conclude the previous topic, Uoyama-kun took out his phone.
“The kind that’s popular in online forums of people saved by Awakened Ones.”
“Hoh…”
Oh…can it be? Is it finally my time to shine? I did save a lot of people back then. And thinking back on it objectively, I performed magnificently in all sorts of ways.
When Uoyama-kun did a sliding gesture on his phone, I couldn’t help but smile smugly.
“By the way, what exactly are the topics?”
“Well, there’s a lot, but the common theme is: a silver-haired beauty with different-colored eyes and a black-haired Yuki-onna figthing side by side.”
So, it’s about Layla and Yukine, then?
The both of them were beauties and magic tended to be quite flashy, so it was more than understandable that they stood out.
“I see. Anything about me?”
“Let’s see…between the silver-haired beauty and the black-haired beauty’s complete trust for each other and their masterful cooperation, they’re the strongest duo ever, supposedly.”
This one was also about the two of them, no doubt about it. I couldn’t imagine anyone else there being able to fit the duo’s description.
“And, anything about me?”
“Another post is…a silver-haired, beautiful Awakened One with mismatched colored eyes and her familiar saved people escape and even challenged a giant dragon.”
Definitely talking about Layla and Yukine.
“And me?”
“…ahh, here. A silver-haired woman was bringing along something I don’t really understand. My best guess is that it’s a golem with a bucket-shaped head”
“And that golem’s supposed to be me?”
No matter how I looked at it, they were talking about me.
Huh…but…huh…?
“That’s weird though. As far as I could remember…”
“Kyaa! Sir Knight!!”
“You’re so cool! Please hold me!”
“HAHAHA! Layla and Yukine, it’s too dangerous here, so leave it up to me and make your escape!”
““Kyaaa!!””
“…things went something like that”
“Wow…your trauma has warped your memory, I see…”
“Oh you poor thing…no longer able to distinguish between reality and fantasy.”
“Shut up, you idiots!!”
I’m fully aware that wasn’t how it went down! I was just making things up. I’m not delusional!!
“Anyway. I’m guessing that you going all-out was too fast for most people to follow.”
“Yeah, that gives sense to the ‘was bringing along something I don’t understand’ portion of that last post. I’m sure you saved and talked directly to some people, but maybe those people aren’t really the type to post stuff like this online.”
“Dammit…dammit!!”
I didn’t want my personal information to be leaked online or anything of the like, but see, I at least wanted to to be recognize as a hero. I just wanted to get everyone’s attention and make them wonder “who the heck is that knight?”
Maybe it was my desire for approval at work. People have more desires other than the big 3, after all.
“Hey, Kyotaro, don’t get so depressed!”
“Kumai-kun…”
“Just look at it this way. Even if you somehow got popular, people will just be disappointed as soon as they see the face you have underneath your helmet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, you old-face!?”
You picking a fight!? Is that it!?
“There’s also…this rumor about strange knight who talked strangely and wiped out the dragons. But well, this one might just be a new urban legend. I don’t think there’s much truth to it.”
“Ahh…”
“Yield, yield, yield…!”
When I grabbed Kumai-kun by the collar and gave him a shake, Uoyama-kun said so in an inquisitive manner.
“That’s…that’s probably the self-proclaimed holy knight.”
“A holy knight?”
“I guess I could say she’s someone I should be thankful for this time, but then again…”
If the word suspicious was a person, she would be it. However, she did save my life. I owed her a debt of gratitude. One I fully intended to pay someday. To not do so, or worse to repay her with unkindness, would only serve to lower the values of our own lives.
…the only idea I had for now was maybe not reporting her to the authorities if she gave me another go of her weird solicitation.
“Freedom of religion and all that, I guess”
“Huh?”
“Hey, seriously, I yield, so…”
I looked up at the clear, blue sky and muttered so.
A white cloud looked a lily flower.
Taroppe-sensei(author)’s Q&A corner
Thank you for reading!
Also, please consider leaving some of your thoughts, a review, and bookmark the title over at the narou site (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7336ie/)
Your support is appreciated and I hope you continue doing so.
Q: Isn’t Kyotaro’s mental fortitude quite strong?
A: If I had to choose, I would say it’s more like he’s in an environment where he could easily recover mentally. [The presence of his family and friends]+[safe place to sleep and delicious food]+[proper consultation with a therapist]+[comforting sex with 2 huge-breasted beauties].
Additionally, he’s going to be praised for his efforts later on by adults he respected and relied on, so his wounded heart should have made an almost complete recovery soon.
…though to be frank, I simply didn’t want to write him having a lowered SAN points cthulhu-style.
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