Chapter 47 - Evaporation
We moved as if crawling along the perimeter of the grounds, heading toward the thicket.
I had heard that trees were planted here as a windbreak because the sea breeze blows through this area.
Tall evergreen trees surround the grounds, as if protecting the students and the school buildings with their very bodies.
I am erasing my presence and sound with Concealment, but Kana is not.
In the first place, I don't even know if she can use it.
How can I finish this without increasing the number of unnecessary witnesses?
I need a place that isn't far from the school, yet can physically hide our forms.
That is why I chose this spot.
I am misappropriating the trees meant to protect children to shield us from the eyes of the outside world.
I was truly a bad adult.
"Hey. Are you planning on doing something weird?"
"That's not the case."
We have already come quite deep inside. Thinking it's about time, I stop walking.
I turn my whole body around and ask Kana.
"Why are you increasing the number of people?"
"Hm? Because it's fun."
Kana stated it flatly.
"I don't quite understand. Is increasing people interesting to you?"
"Since the humans I select are increasing, the world gets better and better. It feels good to watch, doesn't it?"
"...You want to make the world better? Then why are you causing such meaningless chaos in society?"
"Society? What's that?"
Kana says with a fixed smile.
"I'm a Hero, you know? Stronger than anyone in this world... or so I thought until this morning, but now I've realized that Nakamoto-san is the strongest. Right? You, the Level 227 Hero? But well, being number two is pretty much the same thing. I'm stronger than the police or the Self-Defense Forces. Actually, I might be stronger than any modern weapon. In that case, why should I care about the eyes of society? Rather, shouldn't society be the one worrying about my eyes? If they do anything rude to me, they'll be killed."
Brushing her hair back, Kana laughs.
"Besides, Nakamoto-san, why are you playing magician and such? You should just go on a rampage as much as you like."
"Are you being serious?"
"Isn't it obvious? Kill those you dislike. Take what you want. That's the way of another world, right? It seems like there's a Yakuza office around here, so if you like, why don't we go attack it together? If we just pry open a safe or something, we won't have to worry about money to play with for a while. We might even get a letter of appreciation from the police."
"Sorry, but I've already taken care of that. Though I didn't take the money."
"What, so Nakamoto-san is doing what needs to be done after all."
"We seem like we'll get along," she says, holding out her hand.
Is she intending to shake hands? I have no obligation to comply.
"You're no fun."
Kana turns her palm upward and shrugs as if to say, good grief.
"By what criteria are you choosing the people to increase? Is it based on ability, after all?"
"I guess so. Once I've increased a variety of talented people, next I'm thinking of mass-producing handsome guys."
"...And what will you do after that?"
"Well, I'll cull the ones I don't need. It would be unbalanced to just keep increasing them."
Did I mishear her?
"Cull?"
"Yes. I'll keep decreasing them. The ugly ones, the incompetent ones. I'll kill those kinds of people left and right."
"I wonder if it's okay to kill men who don't pay for a girl's meal," Kana said playfully.
"Just kidding, just kidding, I won't go that far extreme. Though I do think it's okay to kill men who commit domestic violence."
"Are you the one who decides which humans should live and which should die?"
"That's right. I'm a Hero, after all."
"Is a Hero really that great?"
"They're like Gods, aren't they?"
God.
The Summoned Hero I know and the Summoned Hero Kana knows seem to be vastly different.
As I remain silent, Kana spreads both her arms wide.
It is as if she is declaring with her entire body that she is about to begin a speech.
"Nakamoto-san, what do you think of this world?"
"Nothing. It's a plain and boring birthplace."
"Right. It's a boring piece of crap. Crap, crap, crap. It's pure crap. There's no magic, no monsters, and the men are all gross. I really wonder what's wrong with it."
"It's just not worth it," Kana says, kicking the ground.
"Compared to that, the other world is... just, the best! There are only beautiful white people, and everyone is obedient to me. If I didn't like someone, I could just burn them with magic, right? And I get away with it, too."
"Do you, by any chance, think about wanting to return to the other world?"
"Of course."
"Isn't Nakamoto-san different?" she asks back. Her face looks as if she finds it incomprehensible.
"But since I can't go back, I'm going to make Japan like the other world. Am I wrong about something?"
"Not particularly. You are free to do whatever you want with the power you were granted. By the way, can I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you increase Ayako Otsuki? She's neither a genius nor handsome."
"Ah..."
Kana took on an embarrassed expression.
I felt as though I had finally glimpsed a human side of her.
"Well, maybe it's for Yuta's sake."
"Does your Big Brother like Ayako-chan?"
"Yeah. Apparently, when things turned into something like a class meeting regarding Yuta's bullying, she took his side."
"...Ayako-chan did?"
"Yeah, yeah. That's why I thought I'd increase her and give her to Yuta. But a car passed by in the middle of it, so I lost her."
It is distorted to the extreme, but sibling love still remains.
What should I do?
I was agonizing over the treatment of Kana Saeki.
"You spoke about the criteria for culling men, but what about women?"
"Women?"
"You're keeping handsome men even if they aren't high-ability, right? So, I was wondering how you select women."
"Hmm..."
Kana placed a finger to her lips, wearing a contemplative expression.
"With Ayako Otsuki-san as an exception... I might kill girls who are cuter than me?"
"Then most of the women in the world would end up dead."
"Isn't that just sexual harassment?"
I'm sorry, but the girl from the other world whom I decided to look after has an incredibly well-formed appearance.
If she were targeted, she wouldn't stand a chance.
Therefore.
This is strictly a simple defensive instinct to protect my own kin.
"Forgive me."
I released a Light Sword from my palm and blew Kana's body away.
If it weren't a battle while protecting someone, there was no need to adjust the firepower.
I could evaporate her without hesitation.
As expected, the Light Sword is good.
Unlike attack magic, I like that it has nothing to do with explosions or cold air.
Since I can kill while minimizing vibration, it is a skill suited for assassination.
"I won't say that I am justice; it's just a collision of greed and greed."
"...You old bastard!"
Kana instinctively extended her Light Sword as well, but it was too late.
Even if she had made it in time, it wasn't large enough to block my sword.
Sizzle.
With a sound, Kana Saeki vanished.
It was truly anticlimactic.
There were likely no witnesses, and even if there were, they would have only seen Kana suddenly turn into gas.
They would think nothing of it but a disappearance.
Though I, who hid Kana, am no God. Unlike Kana, my self-awareness remains human.
Then, what did Kana experience in the other world that made her come to think of herself as an existence equal to a God?
"Damn it."
A girl who cared for her brother falls into corruption, drowning in power.
A Summoned Hero really is nothing but trouble.
Feeling a sense of emptiness, I set off on the way home.