Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna
Source: Syosetu

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Chapter 233

　I ran from the spot as fast as I could and tried to make a preemptive attack on the commander of the second corps of the Demon King's Army ——— Koga, who had come to the place spontaneously.
　There is still a cloud of dust, and I cannot see clearly, but I know where he is because of the voice I heard earlier.
　Then it's easy to slam my fist into him!

"Eat this, Koga!!"
"That's how we greet each other, Usato!"

　As soon as the dust is cleared away, Koga's figure appears in front of me.
　We were less than a meter apart when we came into contact with each other, and we both let out a stunned "Eh?" We collided with each other with great force.

""Guhaa!?""

　After being hit with lariats by each other's swinging arms, me and Koga writhed on the spot, writhing in shock.

"T-They were crashing into each other like it was a prearranged show."
"It's self-destruction..."
"That's it. It's true that the musclebrains think the same thing."

　You three, shut up!!
　After glaring at Amako and the others, I shifted my gaze to Koga.

"W-What a surprise attack...!"
"Kuh, what a coward...!"
"No, I don't want to hear it from you..."

　I couldn't believe he was thinking the same thing as me...
　At my swearing, Koga held his neck and made a tsukkomi.
　At the same time, I hit the ground with my healing elastic fist and leaped while lying on the ground.

"There's an opening!!"
"Eh, jumping... it's dangerous!?"

　While spinning in mid-air, I try to heel-drop Koga, who is still lying on the ground, but he evades.

"Cih, I missed it, huh...!"
"Y-You've got some weird skills again...!"

　After all, this guy is troublesome to me.
　Just like Koga, I jumped backwards to get some distance.
　Koga, on the other hand, wipes his forehead with his sleeve and shows a fearless smile.

"What the Demon King-sama said was true. Indeed, for me, there is no better surprise than this."

　Could it be that Koga's presence here has something to do with Keira?
　As I step back to senpai and others, cautiously, I notice that Kazuki is directing his tremendous hostility toward Koga.

"Koga Dingal...!"
"Yo, Kazuki, the light magic hero, right? And that's the lightning hero who was fighting Amira. Hey, hey, what kind of a joke is this? Why are you guys in the Demon King's territory, and what's your business here in these ruins?"
"That's my line."

　Senpai, with her hand on the hilt, speaks to Koga in a calm voice.
　
"You say, what do you, the commander of the 2nd Corps, do in "this ruins"?"
"Hah, I don't have a particularly deep purpose. Just an order from Demon King-sama———"
"K-K-K-K-K-Koga-sa~n!?"

　The voice sounds out of place with the tense situation.
　Another demon woman emerges from the hole in the wall where Koga came out.

"P-Please don't leave me!? You're an escort, right!? And yet, you completely forgot about me just now, right?"
"You, take a look around you..."
"H-Hah? Ueeeh, humans!? First time I saw them!?"

　...She's an incredibly noisy person.
　Leona-san and Kazuki, who had been so wary, looked stunned.

"S-Somehow, isn't the situation a bit bad? ...Uhm, Koga-san, we should run away right now———"
"I don't know what the reason is, but this is a great opportunity. Let's have a little fun... Usato!"
"Listen to me! You battle junkie commander!!"

　Koga brilliantly ignored the woman's words and tried to use dark magic.
　The woman slapped him on the back of the head while crying.

"What is it, Ciel..."
"Uhm, do you understand? I'm a non-combatant, you know?"
"Don't worry. You'll be fine, so just stay back somewhere safe."
"Are you an idiot? You are an idiot, right? No matter how you look at it, we're outnumbered, right? How are you planning on winning? Or rather, who are these people!!"

　Koga put his hand on his chin in response to that question and pointed at senpai and Kazuki.

"Those two are the heroes of the Lingle Kingdom."
"———Eh?"
"And that's Usato. I told you about him before."

　The woman called Ciel looked at Koga like an unoiled machine.

"L-Let aside the heroes, Koga-san, you say that man is Usato, but from all appearances, he is a non-combatant just like me! He looks just like a human I've heard about! He's not at all like the rumors?"

　I wonder what on earth is being said about me within the demon king's army.
　I don't want to know, but I'm curious.

"You idiot, Ciel. That's just for now. When you open the lid, you'll see that he is not a simple human, okay? He's the guy who brutally attacks you while casting healing spells."
"That’s just unbelievable!!"

　But she's a person with a lot of guts, ... this ... Ciel guy.
　She doesn't seem to be afraid even in front of senpai and others who have weapons...?

"But, it's been a while since I was treated like a proper human being..."

　Even in this situation, I felt happy.
　Perhaps they heard my muttering, Nea and the others behind me whispering in hushed tones.

"Aren't you sad?"
"It's pitiful that it's come this far."
"Poor Usato."
"Oi. Don't forget that you guys mostly treat me like a monster, okay?"

　I'm also aware that I can't help it if people say things like that to me.
　The situation is overwhelmingly in our favor.
　The woman behind Koga seems to be a non-combatant and doesn't seem to want to fight, so let's capture Koga and extract some information about the Demon King.
　While casually looking at Leona-san and the others, I extended my arm towards Ferrum in order to assimilate.

"Ferrum, assimilate———"

———The time has come.

"———"

　At that moment, I heard a voice that sounded directly in my head.
　As I frown at the pain in my head, it seems that besides me, senpai, Kazuki, and Koga are feeling the same head pain.

"There's a voice in my head..."
"Usato-kun, this is..."

　Leona-san and Nea must have noticed something unusual about us, and the next moment when they tried to rush over to us ——— something like a swirl of white light appeared at the spot where we were.
　Noticing the whirlpool of white light that appeared in front of me, I quickly pushed Nea and Ferrum, who were nearby, away from the whirlpool.

"Kya!?"
"Usato, you!?"

　However, Keira, who is small physically, cannot resist the power of the vortex and is about to be pulled into it.
　I grabbed her hand as quickly as I could, but even with my strength, I could not resist the vortex's pulling power.

"U-Usato-san..."
"Keira, don't let go! How about the others...!"

　It is useless. There's no time to check my surroundings...!
　Another vortex appeared near Senpai and Kazuki, but will they be okay?

"Hmph!!"

　I hit the ground with a gauntlet and force it to embed.
　I managed to hold Keira in my left arm and tried to move away from the whirlpool.

“Alright, keep it like this———"
"Kyaaa, why am I getting sucked in even though I'm just a maidddd!?"
"Oi, waitttt! If something happens to you, I'll be the one who gets scolded by Demon King-samaaa!"
"———Eh?"

　The next moment I tried to escape, Ciel-san and Koga were pulled into the vortex and crashed into my body.

""Ah""

　I and Keira were pulled into the vortex with Koga and the maid when we collided.
　The scenery drifted away, Amako trying to reach out to me, protected by Blurin.
　As I see them in my vision, I shout at the man, who was sucked into the vortex along with me.

"Kogaaaa!! Youuu!!"
"Hahaha, no, sorry!!"

　We were swallowed deep into the white light as I shouted at Koga, who was laughing gleefully.
　Whirling vision, a pure white landscape.
　As I held Keira in my arms to keep her from straying, I had no choice but to bear it with my eyes closed.

———Aah, Usato. This is the beginning of your ordeal.
———Gugyaooooo!!

　That voice echoes again.
　And then, the voice that echoed next———no, the roar was familiar to me.
　The war cry of the most evil and cunning dragon.
　———The owner of that voice was none other than my "nightmare".

●

--- seireitranslations.blogspot.com ---

　Me and Keira, Koga, and a mysterious demon woman, Ciel-san, were swallowed up by the white vortex.
　We were sent flying in a whirling field of vision for several tens of seconds.
　I was thrown somewhere out of another vortex with a momentary sense of levitation, and before I could check my surroundings, I checked to see if Keira, who had been blown away with me, was safe.

"A-Are you okay?"
"Y-Yes, I'm fine..."
"I see...but what exactly is this place...?"

　When we finally look around here at the place where we were thrown out, we are utterly speechless.
　After all, the place where we are now is not in the ruins, but in a town somewhere. The town was so crowded with buildings that it could be mistaken for a place where people had lived just a short time ago, which is unthinkable in the demon king's territory.

"D-D-D-D-Does such a large building exist... Fueeh..."

　Keira was agitated like a country girl who had just come to the city for the first time, but I was agitated by the cityscape in front of me in a different way.
　After all, I had seen this scenery before.

"Sheesh, I've had a rough time of it…!"
"Uuwh, you said there was no danger. Demon King-sama..."

　For a moment being stunned, Koga, who had been thrown a little further away, tried to get up.
　It's not like Koga did it... right?

"Oi, Usato. Where are we?"
"I know, but I don't know."
"Hah? This is no time for jokes..."
"It's true. I know this place, but there is no way this place could ever exist...!"

　It is no use.
　I'm confused myself.
　As I was holding my forehead and desperately trying to gather my thoughts, Ciel-san spoke to me from behind Koga.

"Uhm, excuse me... what are you talking about? I can understand things better than this person, so please explain clearly..."
"You're starting to feel less reserved to me..."

　Although we are enemies in terms of our positions, I cannot say anything about it at this point.
　Something so unusual is happening.

"This is Samarial Kingdom."
"... It's a country in the human territory, isn't it? Are you saying that we teleported here in an instant?"
"No, that's not it. This is not the nowadays Samarial Kingdom."
"? What do you mean?"

　There's no way I'll ever forget this place they showed me so many times, and the tragedy that happened here.
　The buildings, the fruit in front of the stalls, the chairs, and the tables are exactly the same.
　
"Here is———"
"Here is the Samarial Kingdom of the past."
""!""

　Third-party voice.
　The voice made me and Koga take a stance.
　In the center of the main street where we were standing ——— there was a blonde-haired beast girl.
　She wears a kimono, similar to a shrine maiden outfit.
　The face of the girl, whose age was not so different from ours, seemed similar to that of Kanoko-san and Amako.
　The girl looked happy and shy when she saw me move away, and then put her hand on her chest.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Kannagi."

　Kannagi, that name sounds familiar.
　
"Are you the person of the stone statue that was worshiped in the beastfolk's hidden village...?"
"It's embarrassing, but yes. You're right."

　A hidden village where we stopped before going to Hinomoto, the land of the beastfolk.
　There, I saw a stone statue of Kannagi, a beastwoman who once fought alongside the hero against the Demon King's army.

"Are you the real one?"
"Of course, the real one, okay? I am just a soul, though."
"..."

　Eh, so this person is a g-g-ghost?
　No, I don't know yet.
　Even if it's a ghost, I'm sure it still can have a beating judgment or not.
　I told myself that and regained my composure.

"I called you here because there was something I wanted to entrust to you. For that purpose, I decided to take a slightly more troublesome method."
"..."
"Yeah, of course you'd be wary. If there's anything you want to ask, you can ask me anything, okay?"

　I don't know if this person is an enemy or a friend.
　The trust that comes from her is genuine.
　But I feel like something is off.

"...Are you the one who entered Amako's dream?"
"That's right. It's been a long time since I've talked to someone, so that made her wary. It's been hundreds of years."

　Since she hadn't talked to someone in a long time, so she gave Amako a sense of distrust.
　If you don't talk to people for hundreds of years, it's not surprising if that happens ... No, I have one more thing to ask.

"Was it also you ... who misled Keira?"
"...Yeah, that's right."
"———"

　I stepped forward as if to protect Keira who was trembling.
　Keira might be in danger because of this person.
　Depending on the response, I would not trust this person.
　As I secretly clenched my fists, she bowed deeply to me.

"When I heard you guys weren't coming here, I had no choice but to do it. I'm really sorry."

　I had not expected her to apologize in the usual way, but when she raised her head, she continued to speak.

"But I believed in you."
“...I believed?"
"You will definitely save Keira's heart. That's why I did such a reckless thing."
"That's so selfish...! If something were to happen, what would———"
"No, you will not surely abandon Keira. Because that's the way you've always been."

　Saying that, Kannagi points to the gauntlet on my right arm.
　The previous hero's weapon that I was received from Falga-sama. She smiled slightly when she saw what was now a gauntlet.

"Did you know. I am connected to your gauntlet. So, I have seen your journey so far, and I know what kind of person you are."
"So far..."
"I have been watching you ever since you pulled the katana out of that hideous evil dragon. The curse of Samarial, the dragon man of Mialak, the deeds of Jinya of Hinomoto, and your battles in the war. I've seen it all.''

　Eh, all the time? Through the gauntlets?
　I'm honestly taken aback, but Kannagi's expression doesn't change.
　I had no idea how much meaning was put into her words.

"That's why I want to see it with my own eyes."
"...About what?"
"I want proof that what I decided to entrust to you was not a mistake."

　At that moment, Kannagi raised her palm and a black figure appeared around her.
　These semi-transparent creatures look in one direction and run away while screaming in pain.
　The figures gradually become clearer.
　It didn't take long for me to realize that they were just ghosts of people from the past.
　After all, some of them were the same people I remembered from the dead people I was shown in Samarial.

"I've been waiting a long time since I woke up. All the time, all the time, alone. You were my only hope. That's why———"

　Kannagi's voice was drowned out by the flapping sound of a black shadow descending from the sky.
　The nightmare of the past is falling from the sky.
　An evil dragon that rots flesh with its fearless venom, tears with its sharp claws, and devours everything with its huge mouth.

"What the?!"
"Show me ...... proof that the Usato Ken I know would not be defeated by this level of adversity."
『Guyaaaaaaa!!』

　An evil dragon in its form before being sealed by a hero.
　A nightmare for me, a memory of the tragedy that happened in Samarial.
　When I immediately turned my attention to Kannagi, she was nowhere to be seen.
　Instead, a black dragon with its wings spread wide stood in front of us.

"C-Could it be the evil dragon ... that D-Demon King-sama was talking about? No way, as I recall, it has already been defeated and is no longer in this world..."

　In front of the evil dragon that screams, Ciel-san's face turns as pale as ever, and she hugs Keira, who is also frightened.
　A disaster befalls the city of Samarial.
　Originally, the previous hero was supposed to have sealed away the evil dragon and saved the people of Samarial.

"Oi oi, Usato! Who is this guy?! He seems like an interesting opponent!!"
"Koga! Lend me your hand!!"

　However, there is no hero here right now.
　The only people left are myself, the healing magician, Koga, the commander of the second corps of the demon king's army, and Keira and Ciel-san, who are frightened by the evil dragon.
　The only way to protect Keira is to join forces with Koga and fight the evil dragon...!
　At my suggestion, Koga smiles openly.

"Eh? As for me, I was hoping we could have a three-way battle with you and him."
"Ah?"
"Haaah, what are you talking about in this situation, Koga-san!! Are you an idiot!? Please cooperate with that person normally!!"

　Ciel-san turns a rather serious and disapproving gaze toward Koga, while I, on the other hand, remain expressionless.
　Without noticing me, Koga smiled cheerfully at Ciel-san, who was showing her anger.

"..."
"Haha, just kidding."

　Irritated by Koga's joking response even in such a situation, I retracted the consecutive impact fist that I was about to unleash.
　I thought I'd knock out his consciousness before he turns hostile, but it seems like he'll cooperate.

"Well, once we beat this guy, you and I are next. Don't forget that, okay?"

　I'm even more annoyed with Koga, who points at me while trying to look cool.
　That's it. I don't need to be reserved with this guy.
　I smile and suggest to Koga to cooperate with me, as if I am rearranging the exchange we had earlier.

"I don't like it, but cooperate with me for now, Koga! You and me, we'll take him down!"
"Well, I don't mind. Why are you holding my leg? Hey?"

　Without hesitation, I grabbed both of Koga's legs.
　If I had to fight Koga even after defeating the Evil Dragon ——— then I should have to defeat Koga together with the Evil Dragon.

"I need a big weapon. So you transform your armor into a weapon!"
"Gueh!?"

　I pulled on Koga's leg as hard as I could, held his leg aside like a nunchaku, and shouldered his torso.

"Teamwork is important!!"
"Y-Yo-You! What you're saying is ridiculous, and that can't be called cooperation!!"
"Let's gooo!! Get fired uuup!!"
"Ah, h-hold, s-stop———m-my bad, uwaaa!?”

　Boom!! While swinging Koga once, I headed toward the evil dragon that had landed on the ground.
　The second battle with the evil dragon.
　Moreover, this time, the evil dragon's body should be in a state that is boundlessly close to its prime.
　It's not an opponent you can ever let your guard down! We will go with all our might!!