In the darkness, the spider
moves silently at high speed.
It's amazing. Maybe it's because it has eight legs, but
its center of gravity doesn't waver at all, even when it's moving at high
speed. There was almost no vibration at all. And――
" I see something that looks like a green layer.
......
I felt a sense of unease at the physical wind pressure and
activated my ability to check it out. Then, I saw a translucent green layer
around the spider as if it were a barrier.
Is this membrane suppressing the wind pressure?
It's probably just a bug, but it's convenient. With this,
there's no problem even if we' re running at speeds that "humans"
can't withstand.
Now that I'll met up with Tamamushi and the others later,
what should I do? I'll have to rethink my plan.
――I hope there is a way to keep in
touch with Tamamushi and the others even after they enter the barrier.
Marina's voice echoed in my brain.
That's it, isn't it? Even if we join up, there's a high
possibility that we'll lose communication with Marina once we're inside the
barrier. But even if we, the later group, wait without entering the ward, it's
useless if we can't communicate with Tamamushi and the others.
――We don't have much time.
Suzuhara-san, as usual, do you have any cowardly, devilish, or wonderful ideas?
I heard Marina's voice, and her eyes turned grim.
I don't know whether she's praising or disparaging me for
my cowardly, devilish and wonderful ideas.
I'll leave it at that.
――Do you have any ideas?
Yeah, well.
I can't say for sure without trying, but there might be a
way to keep in touch without using Denshin.
――Other than Denshin?
Yeah. There's a good chance that the barrier is something
that disables the communication ability system, right?
――Yes.
There was a barrier that Tamamushi used once that
prevented her voice from leaking out. Tamamushi said it only kept the voices
out, no physical protection.
――So?
Physical and non-physical. If there was a barrier that
could block out all things, she must use it. But such a universal thing is
either difficult to use or difficult to create. Either way, things don't work
that well.
――Well, that's true. If you want
to get a great benefit, you have to pay for it. If you want to put up a
universal barrier that blocks out everything, you'll need a certain amount of
technology and preparation time, or it may be impossible to create such a universal
thing.
Right?
――Wait a minute. I'll ask
Tamamushi-chan.
Ooh, Denshin is really useful, isn't it?
――I got a reply. As Suzuhara-san
guessed, it's very difficult to set up a universal barrier. It's possible to
put up a universal type, but the performance is not worth the effort, she said.
In short, it seems that the all-purpose type has low performance overall, while
the one-point specialization type can only be used for the intended purpose,
but has high performance.
I knew it. If that's the case, this ward might leak things
other than "communication abilities" to the outside. For example, the
unique power of a certain race.
――The unique power of a certain
race? What's that?
It's the insect energy of Tamamushi. Nanafushi operate by
using the insect energy of Tamamushi. For example, if only Tamamushi enter the
barrier and send insect energy to Nanaefushi without any abnormalities, it
means that the barrier cannot block the insect energy. Then, we can make the
insect energy that Tamamushi send to Nanafushi stronger or weaker. It's like
Morse code. If we can do that, it will be possible to keep simple communication
between inside and outside of the barrier.
――I see!
That's great! I think I can use that!
I won't know until I try it, though.
――That's great! You're the best in
the world at cheating!
Marina raised her voice in admiration, but her words were
clearly poisonous.
If you're going to praise me, praise me honestly.
――But then, does that mean that
only Tamamushi-chan will be inside the barrier? I'm sorry to say this, but I
think Nanafushi-chan is the right person for the job, in the sense that there's
little danger to her life if something goes wrong, but it's Tamamushi-chan
who's being summoned.
Yeah, you're right. I can't leave Tamamushi out of this
role. But if Tamamushi gets hurt or killed, we'll lose Tamamushi and Nanafushi,
two of our major assets. That's why I can't just let Tamamushi inside the
barrier. After all, she's capable but stupid.
――Then, who's going to go inside
the barrier with her? Don't tell me you're going to put Rikka-chan as her
escort? I'll admit that Rikka-chan is strong, but to put it bluntly, I don't
think Rikka-chan is capable of doing anything alone. Her sister, Kazehana-chan,
has a high ability of application, but Rikka-chan lacks in that area. The only
time Rikka-chan can use her power to the fullest is when she's trying to
protect you, Suzuhara-san.
I know, I know. I understand that.
――Then, by process of elimination,
...... no way.
Yeah, I'll go inside the barrier with Tamamushi. But
first, I have to make sure that Tamamushi can get inside the barrier and send
the insect energy to Nanafushi.
――Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
I'm afraid what are you going to do at the front line if you're only capable of
providing support! Tamamushi-chan,
Nanafushi-chan, and Rikka-chan can survive even with fatal injuries! But you're
different! Once you're fatally wounded, that's the end of the line!
Your voice is too loud. Calm down.
――How can I be so calm! Don't tell
me you're just desperate because you're about to die!? If that's the case, I
strongly disagree! Abort the mission! Since Tamamushi-chan has been summoned,
if we boycott this case, we'll sooner or later come into conflict with the
organization! Then this time, we'll throw all our forces into it and hit the
enemy at once!
Marina screams in my brain.
Oh no, Marina has lost her temper.
Please calm down. I'm not getting desperate.
To tell you the truth, I think the old me would have
thrown my life away at the drop of a hat. But I'm different now. I want to
live, if I can. But the fact is that I don't have time. That's why I want to
make the best use of this life. I have no intention of dying in vain.
As I replied to Marina in my mind, I heard her rough
breathing in my brain.
Don't get upset, idiot. You have Yuka by your side, don't
you?
Yuka is weak, but she hates her weakness.
If she finds out that something happened to me, she'll go
berserk for sure.
――I hate it when you treat your
own life as a thing, you know.
In between her ragged breaths, Marina raises her voice in
a hateful manner.
Has she calmed down to the point where she can spit
poison?
It's not that bad of a plan to throw in all our forces and
hit the enemy at once.
However, if we can't destroy the barrier that interferes
with communication, you and Yuka will have to go to the front lines.
Even if we can destroy the barrier, it will be difficult
to predict the situation if the enemy is aware of it.
We don't know what kind of abilities they have out there.
Besides, we need information about the enemy. And this
time, there are spies from the protection organization.
If we can get around them well, we might be able to get
inside information on both Kudan's organization and the Protection
Organization.
To do this, I want to capture some of them alive.
In order to do so, Tamamushi and I will enter the barrier
first. Once Tamamushi and Nanafushi are able to contact each other, they'll
pass the information on to you.
If Tamamushi and I can handle it, that's fine. If not,
I'll have Rikka and Nanafushi go in immediately.
If we can destroy the barrier, you can immediately check
our surroundings through my "eyes". Once you know the enemy after
using Denshin, you can use Yuka's ability to brainwash the enemy.
So, what do you think?
I explained my plan and asked Marina.
――Can't you at least have ......
Rikka accompany you?
After a short pause, Marina asked back.
I'd like to do the same if I could.
――Why can't you do that?
Nanafushi was the best choice, though. It looks human, but
inside it's an artificially created insect. There's nothing strange about a
wizard accompanying a worm. If they get suspicious, Nanafushi can transform
into an insect form. But it was no longer possible for Nanafushi to accompany
me.
I'm just a human. "Because I'm a weak human, I can
make any excuse I want to accompany Tamamushi, and the enemy won't be alarmed.
But Rikka is different. She is a beastman. If the enemy were to find out that
Rikka was a beastman, they would certainly be wary of her. Once the enemy was
alerted, there was nothing left but to fight. In order to avoid that, and to
get as much information as possible, we have to take some risks.
――It would be nice if the risk was
only a little.
Absolutely. I wish I could take the easy way out.
――I'm a little relieved. You've
really thought this through. If that's the case, I'll allow your plan.
That's great.
Marina seems to be convinced, so the first thing Tamamushi
and I will do is to infiltrate the barrier.
It's a good thing I brought a lot of tools. They may not
be useful in battle, but they'll be good if they help us escape.
If there's a problem, it's Rikka. She'll probably insist
on coming with me.
――You'll have to deal with that
yourself, Rikka-chan's brother.
Marina's voice echoed in my brain, making me stare at her.
Oh, dear.
As I was letting out a sigh, the spider's movement slowed
down.
It seems that the place where Tamamushi and the others are
waiting is close by.
Now, I have to convince Rikka.
_________________________________
Edited by kanaa-senpai. (www.tinytranslation.xyz)
NEW SERIES!!!
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