Chapter 55: The Recoil of Magic

The Abystortas, split cleanly in two, did not twitch again.

No matter how powerful its healing ability might be, even it had surely died after its entire body was bisected.

“Wow… I can’t believe she cut the Abystortas—and its shell—in half with a single stroke. That was incredible!”

“Indeed. It was a sword strike more magnificent than any wielded by the swordsmen of history. I am honored to have witnessed such a blow with my own eyes.”

Rain and Gustav-san were right. It had been an incredible battle, though regrettably my eyes had barely been able to follow any of it.

“Kakeru, we did it!”

“Yuuka, you were amazing.”

As we spoke, Yuuka returned to us. Despite such a fierce battle, she still seemed to have strength left.

It was my first time watching Yuuka fight, and her power had been truly incredible. Aoi’s magic had been just as astonishing. I could not help thinking that the two women guarding me might genuinely be the strongest people in this entire world.

…Which made me wonder all over again whether it was really acceptable for me to have them as my bodyguards.

“Ah!”

“Yuuka!”

The red light surrounding Yuuka’s body vanished. At the same moment, she began to collapse, and I hurriedly caught her.

“A-are you all right?”

“Y-yes! Aoi’s spell must have ended. It feels as if all the strength left my body at once… Thank you, Kakeru!”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

I had moved so quickly that I ended up practically holding her in my arms. I was relieved she did not accuse me of sexual harassment.

…Even after watching her fight so fiercely, holding her like this reminded me that Yuuka was actually a slender, delicate young woman.

“Sorry to interrupt your fun, but we should leave immediately. Someone may come to investigate after hearing that roar. Gustav, recovering all the Abystortas’s materials will be difficult, but please retrieve its magic stone.”

“Understood.”

At Rain’s instruction, Gustav-san immediately ran toward the Abystortas.

We needed to withdraw before anyone discovered that we were the ones who had defeated it. Naturally, we could not possibly recover every part of such an absurdly huge creature, but we would at least take the magic stone. Materials from a monster more than a century old would probably sell for a fortune, though everyone except me was already wealthy.

Aoi had purchased several magic stones at a shop in the royal capital. Monsters possessed an organ known as a magic stone that served as the source of their mana. Larger stones stored more mana and could be used in all kinds of magic tools, so we could not leave this one behind.

“We should head back to the carriage first. Yuuka-san still can’t move properly, so I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to carry her on your back, Kakeru-kun.”

“!”

“Of course.”

The recoil from the spell had left Yuuka almost unable to walk on her own. Given how dramatically it had enhanced her physical abilities, that degree of backlash was probably inevitable.

Everyone had fought with all their strength to bring us this far. I needed to make myself useful too!

I had hardly exercised in my previous life, but I had spent all my time in this world performing physical labor. I should at least be able to carry a woman back to Soraval.

“Excuse me, Yuuka. Tell me at once if you’re uncomfortable.”

“…No, I don’t mind! Please, Kake—”

“Kakeru-sama, I’ve recovered some of my mana. Please leave this to me!”

I turned my back so Yuuka could climb on more easily. Just as she began resting her weight against me, however, she suddenly became completely weightless.

I looked behind me and saw that Aoi had lifted Yuuka with magic.

Yes, it probably was better for Aoi to carry her with magic than for a man like me to touch her body.

“You’re right. I’ll leave her to you, Aoi. Oh, I also need to gather the luggage that was blown away. Wait here for a moment.”

“Ah…”

The Abystortas’s attack had scattered the other supplies we had left nearby.

In particular, we absolutely had to retrieve the drone. Leaving that behind would cause all kinds of trouble. Since I was currently in the best condition, I would handle it.

“…Aoi, I’m seriously going to hold this against you.”

“I won’t let you steal a march on me. I contributed just as much to the battle.”

“Hehehe, this might be amusing in its own way! I knew things around Kakeru-kun would be interesting. I’d love to move to Berlia too.”

As I collected the scattered supplies, I heard the three of them talking behind me.

All three had worked together perfectly during the fight. We had defeated the Abystortas because of them. Killing a monster that no one had managed to defeat for nearly a century was an extraordinary achievement.

We had protected Soraval and preserved the pride of my benefactor, Bruno-san. I would thank all three properly later.

Author’s Note: The Abystortas arc has concluded. Next, it seems major developments are coming on the Japan side.