Instant Death

Interlude - Then, shall we try raising the degree of difficulty?

Translate: Thy Unsus, ED: Thy Unsus

A building which was quietly on a plot of land of the royal capital.

That place was one of Shion’s above ground bases.

That the building was a sage’s base was kept secret. It was because there were also those who opposed the sages. There wasn’t something like a person who could oppose the sages, but on the other hand, receiving attacks would be a troubling story.

Inside of that house. Shion was relaxing in the extravagant living room.

She was lying untidily on the sofa.

In front of the sofa, Yōichi—a follower of the sages—was standing

“The sage candidate’s capture of hell has reached the sixth layer. If it’s this trend, it’s probably just a matter of time before they reach the seventh layer.” (Yōichi)

“Is that right. It being too easy is troublesome.” (Shion)

It didn’t mean that Shion was saying ‘capture hell and kill the Devil’ or something like that, it was to obstruct the Empire’s invasion while thinking ‘for the sake of humanity’.

That was difficult, and it was appointed only because achieving it was close to impossible. Just achieving it had no meaning.

Even though they had the nature as a sage, their ability still had some way to go. They had to suffer more, be cornered, and awaken it.

“Then, shall we try raising the degree of difficulty? Let’s try to hinder them a little.” (Shion)

“No, killing the Devil itself shouldn’t be easy……” (Yōichi)

Yōichi knit his brows. He probably thought ‘I’m thinking about something worthless’.

“And, a deceased appeared in the sage candidates. The death itself isn’t very unusual, but the circumstances are strange.” (Yōichi)

“And, what was said?” (Shion)

“He was killed inside of the city. Apparently, someone seems to be aiming at them. It’s said that the student called Ayaka Shinozaki is the culprit, but this is a student who was left on the bus.” (Yōichi)

They who were left on the bus were those who failed to install the system.

She induced him to do so, and Shion confirmed it was like that.

“Among the four people who were left on the bus, three were alive, huh. If that’s the case, the fourth person is a point of concern.” (Shion)

“Aah. We went to look at the bus. The corpse of the male student was left inside of the bus. We collected it just to be sure, and disposed of the bus as well.” (Yōichi)

“Is that so. We should be cautious towards the ones who fail to install it from now on.” (Shion)

Fundamentally, an installation failure was only a problem of affinity, and it occurred on several people each time. There hadn’t been any problems in particular so far, but if problems caused by the failures occurred in succession, vigilance would become necessary.

“Don’t we need to deal with that guy?” (Yōichi)

“If she is moving towards her classmates with the goal of revenge, we should leave her alone. It’s perfect if the difficulty level goes up because of her.” (Shion)

“So, what will you do with that boy after all?” (Yōichi)

“That’s right. I’m hesitating still……” (Shion)

Yogiri Takatou’s whereabouts were known, and she roughly heard about his ability from Hanakawa as well.

She was thinking about several countermeasures, and she should be able to get rid of him with them, but she couldn’t sweep away the fragments of eerieness.

If there were no problems in particular, she also thought ‘maybe I shouldn’t make a move on him poorly’.

“Sage killing is an obvious problem, is it not? I think we can’t leave him alone.” (Yōichi)

“But, it also can be said that ‘if they seem to be killed, they were that extent’. There’s no problem if ability wasn’t brought with it. Besides, if it’s ‘killing sages’, then we need to deal with hedgehog as well.” (Shion)

In the first place, the origin was hedgehog. A completely black atypically, and blades were growing on its entire body. The sages decreased due to that, so they summoned sage candidates to replenish the sages.

Almost everything about hedgehog was a mystery, and they would have to advance the investigation regarding it as well. While she was thinking such things, there was a knocking noise from the door.

“What kind of thing is it?” (Yōichi)

Yōichi was suspicious. It was because the other side of the door was a bedroom, so there shouldn’t be anyone in there.

“I see. It’s the transporter’s door to door.” (Shion)

Shion prompted Yōichi to open the door.

What came into view, was a boy wearing a uniform.

“It’s Haruto ōtori, a sage candidate.” (Yōichi)

Yōichi supplemented. It was because Shion didn’t remember such things as the names of the sage candidates unless it was necessary.

“Certainly, you can come to here if you use door-to-door, but how did you find this place?” (Shion)

It was a skill which connected between buildings freely, but you needed to know both buildings to use it. However, this place was a secret refuge, and those who knew of its existence were limited.

“Oh yeah. A small troubling problem appeared, so I tried using the problem solving skill.” (Haruto)

Haruto responded to Shion’s question carelessly.

“I see. The consultant’s problem solving skill can do feats of that degree if it is about rank four. It’s very nice while having the touch of a cheat.” (Shion)

Even if she didn’t remember the names, she could know the class of the person before her eyes through the system.

As its name suggested, the problem solving skill was a skill that could understand the way to solve a problem.

The general also had a similar skill, but it was limited to tactics. The problem solving skill could understand answers more broadly.

Shion installed the system, but she didn’t know what kind of classes would manifest. The potential of the class ‘consultant’ was also unknown.

But, Sage candidates had to be like this. It was because if they could only do things within range of expectations, they wouldn’t attain ‘sage’ or anything like that.

“So, what do you have to tell me?” (Shion)

“Saying it frankly, there isn’t enough time. Please, may you extend the deadline?” (Haruto)

The time Shion offered was one month. She said to become a sage during that time.

“That’s right. It’s for pushing the deadline back, so if everyone doing their to aim at being a sage, there aren’t any problems in particular.” (Shion)

What she wanted to avoid was everyone living sluggishly and irresponsibly in the parallel world.

If they had the hope of becoming a sage, then their real motive wasn’t to mark off everything and finish it all by the deadline.

“Then.” (Haruto)

“But, just extending the deadline isn’t interesting. That you seem to be able to change the requirements so simply is also a problem……oh yeah. Then, how about we do it like this. Why don’t you deal with Yogiri Takatou-san?” (Shion)

“With Takatou, you say?” (Haruto)

He probably thought it surprising. Haruto’s face, which had been calm the whole time so far, became doubtful.

“Will you say something like ‘I cannot betray my classmates’?” (Shion)

“No, it was someone discarded once. He isn’t anyone all that useful, and I will do so once more.” (Haruto)

“Then, it seems like the deadline extension might be allowed with such a simple thing, right?” (Shion)

“I agree.” (Haruto)

“But, it isn’t something so simple.” (Shion)

Shion conveyed everything she knew about Yogiri Takatou.

“I see. He can’t be killed with normal means, and I’ll have the tables turned on me.” (Haruto)

“Can you do it?” (Shion)

No matter what would happen, they should look at the situation they’d do it in for now.

What Shion anticipated was his problem solving ability. So, she thought he’d think of a way to deal with Yogiri.

“I understand. I’ll do it.” (Haruto)

Haruto accepted.

He didn’t look like he was afraid of Yogiri. Apparently, it seemed that he’d already acquired a way to solve it.