Chapter 52 - Heaven and Hell
After descending into town, I used Yuta's smartphone to contact Kana.
Not via email, but a call.
Exchanging voices rather than text makes it easier to understand each other's emotions.
I wanted to convey that I was serious, and I also wanted to know what kind of mental state she was in.
"Hello, Yuta!?"
"It's me. It's Nakamoto. You understand the meaning of me calling from this number, right?"
"...Is Yuta still alive?"
"I'm doing great."
"Y-You're saying... I'm telling the police!"
Judging by her desperate tone, Kana seemed agitated.
"If you do that, Yuta will die. Please don't cause unnecessary trouble. I want to choose a method with as little sacrifice as possible."
"...You're crazy."
"Coming from you? I'll be waiting at the summit of Niibetsu Mountain. Apply Concealment Magic properly, and come with all the remaining Kana you can find. At a speed fast enough to shake off the media."
Having said that, I ended the call.
I put the smartphone back into Yuta's pocket and took a breath.
Niibetsu Mountain is a desolate mountain about two kilometers east of here.
Since it would be a hassle to carry Yuta all the way there, I tossed him into a stall in a public restroom.
I sat him on the toilet and closed the door.
Until his coma breaks, eyes will be needed to watch him.
Since it couldn't be helped, I decided to have Keisuke C and Ayako-chan come. I'll have the two of them watch the entrance.
Now then. What will happen when Yuta wakes up?
The moment he steps outside, he'll bump right into Ayako-chan.
And then she'll play dumb, saying, "I haven't been kidnapped or anything, you know?"
It was unknown to what extent Yuta would doubt his own sanity. Ayako-chan isn't the type to be very smooth-talking, either.
I can only pray that romantic feelings dull his judgment.
I sent a message from the smartphone to Keisuke C to convey the current plan.
The reply came back immediately.
'I just need to go there, right? I don't mind, but are you going to keep fighting the Kana continuously? If you're tired, I can switch roles with you.'
'I'm fine. For now, I have the highest number of engagements with the Kana. I'm the one who understands their reach and habits best. C, please focus on watching.'
'Understood.'
I wonder if he just wants to switch because watching is boring; I find myself doubting my own assessment. Since it's my own situation, I can understand his thoughts as if they were my own.
A few minutes later.
I saw Keisuke C, carrying Ayako-chan on his back, approaching at a speed that seemed to cut through the wind.
When I waved to signal him, I also took action.
"Shall we go?"
I commanded the captured Kana to join the party.
After all, right now, we are enemies. If I use Concealment Magic in this state, each other's voices and appearances would become indistinct.
However, if it's an ally character, that's a different story.
Even if a stealth-type status effect is active, communication between comrades remains possible.
[Hero Kana has agreed to join the party]
"Good."
Whether responding to a party leader's invitation, or joining spontaneously because they want to become comrades—those are the two conditions for Party Members to increase.
Because of that, sometimes people who are treated as comrades before anyone realizes it appear. Angelica, Rio, and Ayako-chan are examples of that.
That's right. As of now, I have three girls who have taken a liking to me of their own accord.
For their sake, I must harden my heart and subjugate the Kana.
"Conceal"
I reapplied the magic, making myself and Kana invisible once again.
It's time to move toward Niibetsu Mountain.
I picked up the Kana and ran, cutting through the wind.
With my leg strength, two kilometers is nothing.
That said, running in silence felt a bit odd, so I tried talking to the Kana.
"You think I'm a scoundrel, don't you? I won't deny it, though."
"..."
There was no reply.
She only directed eyes filled with fear and hatred toward me.
"Actually, I tried laying hands on my own clone once. After applying auto-recovery, I sliced myself clean through. I don't know if my brain was releasing endorphins at the moment of the cut, but I felt it wasn't a big deal. But now that I think about it, I'm getting scared. This is the kind of thing that hits you later."
"..."
"You did this until it increased to six people, didn't you? That's amazing. You're a girl with much more courage than I have."
The Kana answered nothing, just staring intently at me.
"Moreover, unlike me, your physical strength doesn't seem to be at a level that makes normal life difficult. It's just the right amount of physical ability. I think if you live like this, a rosy future awaits you. Is it really no good to utilize your abilities in some decent field? Why do you behave like a female Demon Lord?"
"..."
"You must still have enough human emotion left to go out to a battle with no chance of winning for the sake of your Big Brother. What a waste."
I wasn't particularly thinking about converting her through persuasion.
I simply spoke my honest impressions as they were.
I feel like this is just a phenomenon of aging.
When seeing young people wasting their time and talent, I can't help but think, "What a waste."
So, it was something like a monologue, a pattern of useless conversation that middle-aged men often engage in with young girls.
Thinking that listening to this wouldn't be fun at all, I closed my mouth.
In the first place, she is an opponent who was subdued by force. Listening to my voice must be painful for her.
From here on, I should just proceed in silence.
The moment I thought that, the Kana uttered words.
"...There's nothing at all."
"Nothing?"
"Because that's how it is. When I came back from the other world, there was nothing left for me here. I was a hero, almost like a queen, over there. I helped so many people, and I defeated monsters, you know? And yet, when I returned to Japan, no one knows about it. Starting over as an ordinary high school girl. Can anyone endure that? It's like all my efforts until now have been reset."
"And so you dislike this world?"
She asked if Nakamoto-san didn't feel anything about it.
"Me?"
"If you were acting as a Hero in another world, you should understand, right? That place was heaven. This place is hell. How are you supposed to like this world?"
"I don't know," I replied.
"The other world I was in was far from heaven. Anyway, I thought of nothing but wanting to return to Japan. My first battle was terrible to begin with. After having an audience with the King over there, I was suddenly told to fight an alliance of demi-humans. I was thrown into the front lines, and halfway through, our supplies ran out. I ate Orc corpses and somehow managed to survive. Those things tasted like pork, just as they looked."
"...What is that?"
"I actually hate cruel things. That's why, while I was staining my hands with atrocities to win, I eventually ended up hating myself the most."
The Kana made a grimace.
Perhaps she thought a middle-aged man's self-reflection was painful to listen to.
"There was a woman who loved me instead of myself, but she died too. And she didn't just die; I killed her with these hands. It can't be helped, can it? Because of that, by the time I returned to Japan, I had already become indifferent to many things. Even if I was treated like trash by society, I felt it was only natural. I felt that my value was just that much."
Having said that much, I suddenly realized something.
"I see. You and I are just moving in opposite directions; we're similar."
"...In what way?"
"In the other world, your self-evaluation rose too high. Mine fell too low. And because of that, we both became unable to adapt to society."
"We aren't similar at all," the Kana argued. Her expression was one of pure defiance, her rebellious spirit on full display.
It seemed she had regained a little energy.
For a moment, I hesitated on whether I should re-apply the panic.
But I decided against it.
My intuition told me that this would lead in a better direction.
"The other world's summoning is the one at fault. Let's decide to think that way. If you had just spent your time normally in Japan, you would have been just an ordinary girl who cares for her brother."
I don't know what she thought of my words.
The Kana silently looked down, biting her lip.
Niibetsu Mountain was almost there.
A faintly hazy, blue triangle. Wearing a pure white snow cap, it looked like a textbook "snow mountain."
It was a far cry from Mount Sagara.
Its altitude was several times higher than that one. For an ordinary person, it would be a demanding climb.
But fortunately, neither the Kana nor I were ordinary people.
Though there were differences in how we lived, we were both Heroes tempered in another world.
We would reach the summit in just a few minutes.
I set foot on the mountain path and ran up with momentum.
Changes in air pressure had no effect on my body.