Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 23: The Knight of Rage
“Haah… Haah… Haah…”
Kenya and Kaguya arrived at the outskirts of the slums.
“No… No way…!!”
What Kaguya saw before her was a scene of pure carnage.
Blood-soaked corpses.
Bodies crushed beneath rubble, their forms unrecognizable.
Kenya stood frozen, unable to find his voice.
“What the hell is this…?”
He had never seen anything like this before.
The most he had ever encountered were censored images of corpses on the internet, and even those had made him uneasy.
But this…
The scene before him was far too vivid.
Far too red.
Far too real.
“Ugh—!!”
The stench of gunpowder and burnt smoke filled the air.
And then, there was the scent of death—an unbearable stench that stabbed into his nostrils and made him vomit.
The cheerful old lady who always greeted him with a smile.
The gruff old man who, despite his intimidating face, always said “good morning” without fail.
The kids who had looked up to Kenya like an older brother, always begging him to play with them.
They were all dead.
All of them.
“Why… Why did this happen…?”
Another gunshot rang out.
Kenya wiped his mouth and raised his head.
His face turned pale as he looked in the direction of the sound.
“The orphanage…!”
The place where he spent nearly every night.
The place where the children he played with lived.
Kenya forced his trembling legs to move, slapping them as if trying to will them forward.
Kaguya, her eyes brimming with tears, understood what needed to be done.
She ran beside him.
They reached the orphanage.
It had been reduced to rubble.
In front of the wreckage, a group of trembling children stood in a line, clutching a woman who was holding them protectively.
Facing them were two KOGs.
“Attention, Resistance members! Please surrender immediately! If you don’t, all of these children will die!”
A woman’s voice blared through a massive loudspeaker.
Ymir Asgards. One of the imperial princesses.
Gasping for breath, Kenya took in the sight.
For a moment, he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
Then he heard the voice, and he understood.
“Stop… Hey, stop this…”
His voice trembled as he struggled to process what he was seeing.
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Because the machine gun mounted on the KOG’s shoulder—
Was aimed directly at the children.
And then—
It began.
“Three, two, one—”
A countdown to death.
“Stop it! Please, stop!!”
Kenya’s desperate screams made the children turn toward him.
There was Takeru, the lonely boy who had always pestered Kenya to play.
Midori, the clingy little girl who loved sitting on his lap while eating.
And Azusa, the little girl who called him “Papa” and cried herself to sleep every night.
They reached out to him—
As if begging for help.
“Zero. Goodbye~”
The gunfire roared.
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Lead bullets tore through their small bodies.
“NOOOOOO!!!”
“Kenya! Stop!!”
Kenya tried to rush toward them, but Kaguya held him back, embracing him tightly.
“Everyone! Kaguya, let go of me!”
“You can’t, Kenya! Please, you can’t… We have to run now!”
Kenya’s eyes were locked on the children.
Some of them were still breathing.
“Onii-chan…”
A tiny, bloodied hand reached out toward him.
If he treated them now, maybe—just maybe, they could be saved.
They were all reaching for him.
Begging for help.
If he didn’t grab their hands now—if he didn’t hold them and tell them it would be okay—
“They’re like cockroaches. So annoyingly persistent. We need to exterminate them properly.”
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But that reaching hand—
Stopped moving.
Another round of gunfire echoed through the air.
“A… Ah… Ahhhhh!!”
“Kenya!”
“Mmmghh!!”
Kaguya desperately covered his mouth, muffling his screams.
She pulled him away, slowly retreating from the scene.
Tears streamed down both their faces.
Their eyes were bloodshot, as if they were crying tears of blood.
Kaguya walked forward, determined.
Kenya trembled, as if in shock.
What separated them—
Was the difference in their resolve.
And the difference in their experience.
One of them had already been through hell.
The other had lived in peace until now.
He thought he had understood.
He thought he knew that this world was hell.
But he hadn’t.
Not really.
Not until now—when he saw how easily life could be taken away.
The peace he had enjoyed until yesterday had been nothing more than a fragile illusion.
“Hm? I thought I sensed something… Oh well. Let’s go, Gillian.”
“Understood!”
—
“Father!”
“You’ve arrived!”
At the warehouse where the resistance had gathered, Ishin and the others were waiting.
Kaguya and Kenya burst inside.
Isshin immediately pulled Kaguya into an embrace.
Kaguya felt a moment of relief at her father’s safety, but quickly stepped back to assess the situation.
“Isshin-san, lend me a KOG. I’m going to kill them.”
“Kenya-kun…”
The moment the situation was explained, Kenya turned to Isshin and made his request.
He was saying that he would fight.
“I never truly understood before. I didn’t understand this world. I didn’t understand war.”
His fists trembled as he clenched them tightly.
And yet—
Kenya was shockingly calm.
He had replayed the scene over and over in his mind.
Why?
Why did this happen?
The only conclusion he could reach was one.
“I was taught that killing is wrong. But right now, the only thing I feel is the desire to kill them.”
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Kenya was consumed by rage.
In his peaceful world, he had learned that revenge was wrong.
That retaliation was wrong.
He had learned that.
But—
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it.
The small hands reaching for him—hands he couldn’t grasp.
The children’s screams.
The blood.
The light fading from their eyes.
And so, Kenya was consumed by one overwhelming impulse.
To kill them.
To slaughter them.
“I can’t hold it back anymore. If I don’t kill them… if I don’t make them pay… I won’t be able to face everyone who died. I won’t be able to face Azusa.”
“Kenya…”
Kaguya tightly grips Kenya’s hand.
Even though it hurt, she didn’t let go.
“…I understand. Go, Kenya.”
“Father!”
“Unleash your fury. Revenge is wrong? There’s no one in this country—no Japanese—who truly believes that anymore!”
Isshin’s powerful words echoed.
When Kenya looked around, the soldiers surrounding him shared the same fiery gaze. They didn’t need to say it—he could feel it.
We all feel the same.
“We have been robbed—our country, our families, our loved ones. And we still haven’t reclaimed them… So go, Kenya!”
“Yes.”
Kenya took a trembling step toward the KOG.
Just then, Isshin stepped closer, clapping both hands firmly on Kenya’s shoulders, bringing his face close.
“But don’t forget one thing.”
Isshin struck Kenya’s chest—hard. As if forcing him to remember.
Just like that night. The night Kenya first piloted the KOG and took a life.
“What’s inside you? Remember.”
Kenya had come here every day.
Not just to protect Kaguya, but to protect the people here, too.
At some point, that desire had taken root inside him.
Had he grown attached? Yes.
They had lived together, eaten together, laughed together, slept under the same roof.
They had treated him like family.
It felt… warm.
Is this what a real family feels like?
The children who called him “big brother.”
The adults who looked after him like parents.
So this is what it’s like.
It was warm.
That’s why he wanted to protect them.
That’s why he hated those who took them away—so much that he wanted to kill them.
“This isn’t a fight to kill. This is a fight to protect. What do you want to protect? Who is still alive?”
The fire of vengeance burned in Kenya’s eyes.
But those words made the flames waver.
Then, he saw her—
A trembling girl, gripping his hand tightly.
Tears had swollen her eyes red as she gazed at him with worry.
Kenya remembered.
Why had he come to this world?
What was his purpose here?
(Kaguya…)
It came back to him.
The one thing that had always been inside him.
“Control your breathing. Take a deep breath. Clear your head.”
“…Yes.”
His mind, clouded by rage, slowly started working again.
Oxygen flowed through his blood, calming his thoughts.
Yes. Remember.
Why did I come to this world?
Why did I choose to fight?
“…Isshin-san, I’m sorry. I’ve calmed down a bit. And I remember now. I came to this world… to protect. To protect everyone. And—”
Kenya turned to Kaguya, locking eyes with her.
“To protect you.”
Isshin nodded.
He was ready.
This boy was no longer ruled by anger.
He was in control.
He had learned to harness his rage as strength.
And as long as he held onto that core inside him, he would not break.
“Go, Kenya. The KOG is ready.”
Kenya climbed into the cockpit.
He gripped the controls tightly, letting his fury settle into something quiet… something controlled.
He was heading to a battlefield.
Death was a real possibility.
He had been just a high school student. A shut-in from a peaceful country.
But not anymore.
Now, he understood the meaning of power.
If there was a reason he had come to this world—
It was to fight.
To resist the absurdity of fate.
Fire burned in his eyes.
“I’m off. Isshin-san, everyone… And Kaguya.”
There was not even a trace of fear in his gaze.
“KOG, activate!”