"Talking about disappointing, Ping..", said Shirogane Hayai in Oriental, as he emerged from the dark bowels of the Minami excavation site. "I was hoping to get my hands on those supplies from Nerima already."
As the Oriental man named Ping cowered in fear while kneeling bound in front of his patron, a rare bone chilling breeze tickled his spine. Contrary to the day's activities, Minami was completely deserted, and the heat of the summer, that was once there, was completely frozen by the petrifying atmosphere. Being in the presence of the most feared man in the country, it was truly a terrifying experience, most especially if one does not meet his demands.
"Please forgive me, milord..", the Oriental man pleaded in his native dialect, as he bowed to put his forehead on the ground. "They were just probably delayed by something. I'll do anything to make it up to you, milord. Please."
"Oh, you did not know? My scouts told me they were captured by soldiers..", answered Shirogane, while his hand crept on the hilt of his sword. "Poor you for being misinformed. However, I already gave you your last chance to prove yourself."
Before the pleading man was able to beg for his life, his head got separated from his body with Shirogane's swift slash. It was so fast that no one was able to see him unsheathe his sword. The corpse even disintegrated before it landed, meaning the Oriental man died immediately.
"Buki no Jutsu (Weapon Art).. Sacrilege..", Shirogane recited while sheathing his katana.
A fully armored "Samurai" approached Shirogane shortly after. "You should've let him commit 'sepukku' instead for disgracing you, Shirogane-sama."
Shirogane smirked upon hearing his subordinate. "He was not of this land, Akisu. It would've been a disgrace to Jihon instead. Besides, I gave him a merciful death as promised."
After a few moments, Shirogane went to where the Oriental man was to pick the only thing the disintegrated corpse left. It was a wedding band.
"Lovely..", said Shirogane, as he smiled deviously. Then, he threw it towards one of his Oriental thugs. "Bring that 'relic' to Ping's family. But make sure to get it blessed by a priest of 'Hygyros'."
"The patron of shadows.. a thief until the end, huh?..", said Akisu to his boss while following him. "Do these Orientals even worship something, Shirogane-sama?"
"Everyone prays when in dire need. The poor man had always been a smuggler all his life..", answered Shirogane while turning his attention slowly to the rest of his small army. "Call for reinforcements in Nerima. And make sure we get this 'key' this time. I'm tired of waiting here all day."
"Not so fast..", before the small militant group was able to respond to the Yakuza boss, Yanagi Shinsuke announced his arrival with a blast of "chain lightning". The high voltage attack jumped towards multiple targets at once, that it rendered almost half of Shirogane's group unconscious.
However, it still left Shirogane unfazed, as he looked up smiling towards the levitating and highly electrifying Shinsuke. "Yanagi Shinsuke-senchou! What gives me this honor to meet you again? Though I was hoping to give you a more accommodating environment than this."
"It warms my heart to learn that you remember who I am..", said Shinsuke while preparing his next spell and with Satsuki and Haguro emerging from the bushes. "Unfortunately, I'm going to have to place you under arrest for letting my precious kouhai witness such a horrific crime."
"It truly is a shame then..", Shirogane answered, as he smiled and shook his head, and turning his gaze towards his men afterwards. "However, I don't feel like being under anything right now. Men.. bring their heads to me."
The small Oriental militia, that the Yakuza brought along, charged towards Yanagi's unit the moment the order was given. Being heavily outnumbered, Satsuki and Haguro drew their swords, while Shinsuke charged another lightning spell. Direct confrontation was already unavoidable at this point.
"Kinjou-kun, Haguro, find a way to apprehend Shirogane..", ordered Shinsuke, which caused the two to prepare to engage immediately. "Himiko-kun and I will do a little crowd control."
As soon as Shinsuke casted his next attack, a massive mix of a tornado and a blizzard appeared, engulfing most of the foreign outlaws. With that done, more space was created for Satsuki and Haguro to move forward. However, some of the stronger Orientals survived and prepared for a counterattack right after.
Shinsuke looked up to Himiko, who was hovering above him, while giving the signal. "Himiko-kun!"
"Hai! Senpai.. -sama..", Himiko responded, as she drank a potion and prepared a scroll. "Witch Scroll fifty two.. 'Yuki no Oni' (Snow Demon)."
With the semi winter state of the surroundings due to Shinsuke's spell, the conjured "Snow Demon" of Himiko felt right at home when it mercilessly drove the armed men away. Swinging its massively sharp and frozen hands relentlessly, the Orientals were flung hopelessly all over the place. Some of them actually died and turned to dust immediately.
Shinsuke scratched his head, as he smiled awkwardly at Himiko. "Oh.. they got killed. Not exactly what I had in mind, but that'll do, Himiko-kun."
Himiko turned as red as a tomato when she gazed downward towards her senior. "Just doing my part, senpai.. -sama."
All of a sudden, the towering ice golem that Himiko summoned earlier vanished. It was hit by an ethereal arrow from the Yakuza's ranks. Without giving a moment's rest, a flurry of elemental spells went towards Shinsuke and Himiko's direction. Fotunately, the young "Battlemage" was able to set a barrier up in time.
"As expected from the Yakuza, they have a 'Witch Hunter' and some mages with them. This is going to keep me busy for a while..", said Shinsuke while keeping the barrier up. Then, he gazed towards the ground near the two charging "Swordfighters" of his unit. "Erida-kun! You're up! I'm counting on you."
From a place surrounded in complete darkness, Seijurou thought of his next plan of action, while he kept an ethereal shield above him to hold the unstable roofing. "Counting on me, huh? This is becoming such a drag. Do I really have to confront them too?"
Without warning and emerging from underground with his magical shield above him, Seijurou began running to back his two comrades up. He drank a potion that Himiko concocted, as soon as he arrived within a few paces behind Satsuki and Haguro. "Seinaru no Jutsu (Holy Art).. Aura of Protection."
A pleasant sensation and a somewhat powerful boost engulfed Satsuki and Haguro's senses. It was as if the aura that Seijurou just casted unconsciously told them that everything was going to be alright. With the instantaneous surge of strength, the two sword specialists hacked their way through the Yakuza towards Shirogane.
From a distance, Himiko smirked smugly while still hovering up high. "Not as strong as the one that 'Priestess-chan' did in the preliminaries, but with the 'holy water' I made.. I guess that's enough."
Indeed, it was not as strong as Kasumi's aura since a sword managed to pierce through Seijurou's. The good thing was he still instinctively blocked the stab with his armguard. More strikes followed as more counter defensive measures came from him as well. The flurry of attacks from left and right, magical or physical, seemed endless while pushing through the enemy.
And then, a thought came up to Seijurou. "Wait a second. I must protect them too."
However, as he glanced up front, Satsuki and Haguro seemed to have eliminated everyone who went against them. And at the same time, they dodged, blocked, and countered everything that was thrown to them.
Seijurou's expression went blank for a moment. "Not that they needed protection, anyway."
As the battle raged on and with the enemy continuously hurling magic spells at his unit, Shinsuke sighed in frustration. "This is taking too long."
Without letting go of the barrier with one hand, he casted another spell with the other towards Himiko. "Himiko-kun! I've made you temporarily invisible. Fly as high as you can where they can't hit you. I'm letting the barrier go and take the battle to them. Then, proceed as planned when I give the signal. Got it?"
Himiko nodded upon hearing her senior's order. And then, she flew up. The moment she got out of range, Shinsuke vanished along with the barrier, letting the offensive magic of the enemy through. A massive explosion came after, obstructing everyone's view.
"Oh no. What happened to Yanagi-sama? Is he alright?..", thought Himiko, while she worried. But as soon as she realized that she was still invisible, she knew that Shinsuke was still fine. "I guess he's still alive. But where did he go?"
Almost instantaneously, Shinsuke reappeared in the midst of the clueless mages of the enemy front. Right before he was noticed, he reached out his fist a little in an underhanded manner, leaving his pointer and middle fingers unclenched. As soon as he lifted those fingers up, multiple "storm specters" appeared from thin air, engaging the enemy in close combat.
"Did he just teleport? No.. that's not it..", Himiko said to herself, as she hovered above the battlefield. She blushed and hearts started to form on each of her eyes. "Sugoi! He just went there so fast while being invisible. And then, he did multiple summonings.. all of it with no incantations, sugoi, sugoi!"
With Shinsuke taking most of the enemies' divided attention, Satsuki, Haguro, and Seijurou were able to breeze through the rest. Mediocre swordsmanship from some of the Yakuza's thugs was meaningless against the Heiress and her senior. And with the offensive magic spells off of their backs, Haguro was able to slash through the last obstacle before Shirogane.
"Well looks like there's no other way to go save for the excavation..", said Haguro while directing his sword towards Shirogane. "But the Dai-Taichou wouldn't do something as dishonorable as hiding in a hole, would he? Shirogane Hayai-san, you are under arrest for the visible act of murder."
Just with a wave of his hand, an invisible force coming from the Yakuza boss flung Haguro away for about a few meters. "Like I said, I don't feel like being under anything now. Akisu, deal with him. I'll take the Heiress for myself."
The "Samurai" Akisu went to engage Haguro, as more reinforcements arrived to help in the scene. Satsuki went back to her defensive stance, while Seijurou prepared to deal with the incoming mob members.
"Kinjou, watch out for that guy. He's got weird magic besides swordsmanship..", reminded Seijurou, as the first blasts of elemental spells went their way. "I'll watch your back and deal with these morons."
"Hai, Erida-kun! Don't worry, cheap tricks don't work on me..", replied Satsuki confidently while cocking back to charge through.
"That's absolutely right! Weak magic like that won't work on you. You really don't disappoint, yes?..", said Shirogane before letting out a demonic laugh. "So, shall we dance, Swordmaiden-ojou-sama?"
In a blink of an eye, Satsuki blasted through to take a slice out of Shirogane. However, the mob leader was able to block it by swiftly unsheathing his sword. Without letting another moment pass, she slashed again, and he parried once more. It went on from different directions with blinding speed, as wind blew out of them every time their blades clashed.
"I understand that opting for defensive countermeasures first would be the best course of action..", chuckled Shirogane teasingly while exchanging powerful blows with the Heiress. "But going for the kill right of the bat? You give me to much respect, Kinjou Satsuki."
But Satsuki just ignored her opponent's grumbling while dealing consecutive strikes in succession. It seemed that she had a upper hand in this duel currently, however, every single attack, even with blinding speed, was blocked.
"He's fast..", thought Satsuki, as she continued her assault. "I've never faced anyone this good besides Masako-sensei."
Suddenly, a gigantic blast of fire exploded behind Satsuki, causing some of the Yakuza thugs to back off. The enormous blaze melted the ice that Shinsuke created earlier, as it burned everything in its path.
"What was that?..", asked Akisu while engaging Haguro in swordplay.
Haguro smirked, as he dodged and counterattacked. "Looks like Seiji-kun's getting into it too.. a little off target though."
A heavily panting Seijurou appeared behind the subsiding flames, as the enemies began to recover from some minor burns. He took a deep breath before yelling in frustration. "You're all getting really annoying!"
A bead of sweat rolled down on each of the enemies' heads upon hearing Seijurou's childish rant. However, it also gave them a realization that if not for the boy's terrible aim, they would have been all burned to a crisp.
"They barely escaped my fire wall..", pondered Seijurou in his thoughts, while he observed the current situation. "This isn't like the 'Octagon' with minimal space. But at least I got them to back off a little."
Slowly, Shirogane's subordinates began to approach Seijurou again. The enemies' mages readied their spells, while the others assumed fighting stances. Seijurou prepared to receive a merciless flurry of attacks by stancing himself squarely, as if emulating a pose of not letting anyone pass through him.
"If I can't hit them, then let them come at me..", said Seijurou, as he weaved an "upload" sign with his hands.
Upon feeling the sudden surge of magic, Shinsuke's attention got caught. "Oi, oi, oi! What the hell are you planning, Erida-kun?!"
However, Seijurou was not able to hear his senior and carried on with his plan. "Upload Ho no Jumon (Fire Spell).. Blazing Cowl!"
A kind of wild fire engulfed Seijurou's body as soon as he finished with the incantation. It caused the charging mob thugs to hesitate for a moment. However, they still needed to fulfill their duties, so they pushed through.
"Hayama-sensei, said that fire won't hurt me, but it somehow stings a little..", Seijurou thought while blocking and burning, at the same time, the first of the enemies to attack. "And it drains both my magic and stamina constantly. I have to make this quick. Here it goes!"
The Yakuza seemed like moths flying too close to a fire, as they continuously charged at Seijurou. One by one, they dropped like embers coming from a large forest blaze, while all Seijurou did was to perform defensive movements. With this course of action, Seijurou was able to successfully hold back those who refused to come close to him.
Yanagi Shinsuke laughed in glee with his junior's feat. "Not what I had in mind, as well, but such ingenuity!"
Shortly after, Shinsuke dispelled his summoning, and then, hair strands appeared on the palm of his hand. He disappeared immediately again to everyone's confusion. A few seconds later, he reappeared levitating beside Himiko.
"These are all the enemies' hairs. Is this enough, Himiko-kun?..", asked Shinsuke while handing the strands of hair to Himiko. "Time to finish this."
Himiko nodded, as she blushed shyly and received the item from her senior. After that, she took another scroll from her back pouch. "Witch Scroll seven.. Voodoo."
A straw doll appeared to replace the scroll in Himiko's hand as soon as she finished her magical chant. Then, she tied the hair strands on the small toy. She proceeded to draw a tiny knife, and stabbed the back of the doll afterwards. And quickly enough, all the enemies' mages dropped paralyzed on the ground.
"That's precisely the reason why the Shogunate stopped the 'Witch Hunt' after the Edo Period..", smiled Shinsuke endearingly at his kouhai, which caused her to flush uncontrollably shortly. "You're all better off as allies."
Himiko then, watched Satsuki's duel with Shirogane Hayai. "Yanagi-senpai.. -sama, should we help Heiress-chan now that we're done here?"
From their location, only blasts of air and sparks from clashing steel could be seen, as the dance of swords continued. Himiko was not able to see Satsuki and Shirogane's movements. And even with the experienced eye of Shinsuke, he was only able to barely distinguish the blindingly fast skirmish.
Shinsuke chuckled, as he shook his head. "I'm not exactly the nimble type, and so are you, Himiko-kun. Let Kinjou-kun figure this out. We'll just get in the way."
Translation Notes:
Sepukku – it's the honorable death that a Samurai inflicts to one's self when a sense of shame is befalls. The process of doing it involves stabbing and slashing one's belly from side to side, while being "seconded" through means of a decapitation performed by another individual for a quick death.
Relic – an object left by a dying individual. In this story's world, after the person takes his or her last breath, the corpse turns into a form of sparkling dust, leaving only what the dead person considers as his or her most cherished possession. In this chapter, the wedding band of the Oriental man named Ping is an example of a relic.
Sugoi – an expression of amazement, awe, or the like. It could also mean, "wow", "whoa", "awesome", or "amazing".
Honorifics Guide:
Ojou-sama – a way to address a young lady of high stature.
Monogatari Concepts:
Hygyros – also known as "Hygyros the Fleet Footed", he is one of the "Revered Seven" and the messenger god of the "Elder Four". He is considered as the bridge between the gods themselves, and also between immortality and mortality. Due to him being the god messenger, he replaced the role of the vanquished, "White Rabbit", as the messenger of death as one of his duties. This role gave him the power to deliver the dead directly towards the path that Danaya left leading to the Underworld.
Although not necessarily, him being able to bring souls to the afterlife, led the people of Jihon to believe that he is also the "Shinigami", or the Soul Reaper. In Jihonian folklore, it is believed that he uses his divine katana to sever the connection of the soul to its body resulting in death. Due to his death bringing nature, he is patronized most especially by the assassins and those who work under the cover of darkness, giving him the title, "the patron of shadows". With this, he is also the patron of those builds who fall under the "Stealth Class", like thieves and their like. Also, with him being usually linked with bladed work, and with him strongly synonymous with his divine katana, he is considered as the "patron of Bladesmanship".
Character Description:
Hayama Akira – the homeroom teacher of the first years, or the class of year 2022. As an educator, he specializes in practical skill training and analysis. But besides being a sensei, he is also a soldier with the rank of colonel. Currently, he is the commander of the Fujiishima city's military Squadron.
At first conception, I imagined Hayama with long black scruffy hair and a beard shadow on his face. However, it strongly resembles "Eraserhead" of the hit Shonen Jump manga and anime, Boku no Hero Academia. So, it's sort of obvious where I got inspiration in making this homeroom adviser type character. Instead, I gave him a black privateer's trench coat with buccaneer guns and two scimitars equipped, but retaining that hair and beard, to avoid copyright issues. He's pretty much a fusion of Aizawa-sensei, from "Boku no Hero", and someone from that "pirate slash assassin" game (ahem.. Black Flag). He stands at 178cm and weighs about 65kg, and is at tip top shape.
Hayama has a very sly but serious personality, which is probably why he keeps on making lame jokes. He may rub anyone off with a nasty personality due to years of countless battles in the middle of the sea, however, he is actually very caring towards his subordinates, most especially his young students. Tough love is the only means of love he knows. The only things that he loves besides the sea and his students are rum and grilled tuna belly.