Chapter 46 Mission Complete!
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
With the human army arrayed below, we finished our preparations. We donned gear to obscure our faces, tucked the house into Storage¹, and began our descent.
We stayed low, weaving through the mountain passes to land on the far side of the stone wall. They likely hadn’t spotted us yet. I approached the others and signaled.
”Alright, let’s wrap this up quick. Any questions?” I asked.
”Does it… have to be non-lethal?” Amelia asked, her brow furrowed.
”No. Just try to show some restraint. Compared to your lives, they’re worthless. Don’t forget that,” I replied.
”So, we only pull our punches if we’re not in any real danger?” she asked.
”Exactly. We need them to retreat, and that won’t happen unless we put the fear of God into them. I’m just hoping the bulk of the casualties fall on the Kingdom of Dole,” I said.
That was the goal. I wanted them to realize they had been crushed by an overwhelming force-and that they’d lost their Heroes in the process. Weakening the standing of the Kingdom of Dole would make it much easier to bring the other nations to the negotiating table later.
Since I planned to reveal our identity eventually while moving the Heroes, I wanted to keep the collateral damage managed.
”Besides,” I added, “if they try to complain about this later, I’ll just hit them with the fact that they aided the Kingdom of Dole in using enslaved Heroes as weapons of war. That’s a war crime in itself.”
”Ah, I see your vision now, Lord Ibuki,” Erina said softly. “With both status and power on our side, that level of justification will be impossible to ignore.”
”If you didn’t get it, you should have just asked,” I muttered.
”Ufufu, thank you. I’ll be sure to ask from now on,” Erina replied.
”Yeah, do that. You were probably just thrown off because our Sensing² abilities are so far apart. Honestly, you guys know our capabilities better than I do-you’ll probably come up with better plans than mine soon enough,” I said.
I looked at them expectantly, but they all just shook their heads in frantic denial.
Standing around talking wasn’t getting us anywhere.
”Let’s move,” I commanded.
As I told them I was about to remove the stone blocks, they drew their weapons and shifted into combat stances. Once I was sure they were ready, I sent the wall into Storage.
”This is the first official operation for the Knight Order of the Azure Breath³! Give it your all!” I shouted.
Wait… what? Was that supposed to be our name? I wanted to ask, but the enemy was right in front of us. I scanned the field for my old seniors.
The enemy camp was pure chaos. Commands were being screamed as over ten thousand soldiers ran around like headless chickens. It didn’t look like the Heroes had reached the front lines yet.
As I wondered how to draw them out, Shirley took a step forward.
”Master, I recognize the armor of the Kingdom of Dole. Permission to head in first?” Shirley asked.
”Go for it. Rearguard, get ready to provide cover. If things get hairy, feel free to just level the whole area,” I said.
Shuri and Meena nodded. The three of them began their march.
”No point in stealing Shirley’s thunder with her old rivals,” Shuri said. “We’ll go poke at the other national divisions.”
”Right. Master’s safety is in your hands, okay?” Meena added.
Shuri and Meena shot a look at Rosanna.
”I’ve got him,” Rosanna replied. “You two be careful.”
The girls took off, sprinting after Shirley. As we closed the gap, the enemy launched a massive volley of magic and arrows. I reflexively reached out a hand to throw up a barrier, but Amelia caught my arm.
”That’s nothing to worry about,” Amelia said.
A split second later, a massive wall of ice erupted from the earth. That was Lotte’s magic. The barrage of projectiles slammed into the monolithic frost barrier, but it didn’t so much as vibrate. The girls kept moving, and the moment the ice wall shattered, they lunged into the enemy ranks.
Shirley punched through the front line alone. A group of melee soldiers swarmed her, their swords raised.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A dozen blades hit the dirt simultaneously. Shirley had sliced through their weapons-and their composure-in a single blur. She didn’t even bother finishing them, simply stepping past as she dove deeper.
”…Is that all they’ve got?” Fran asked, looking genuinely bewildered.
”Yeah. The grunts are usually about that level,” I said.
On another part of the field, Shuri and Meena were having a field day. Shuri was cracking skulls with the blunt end of her spear, while Meena was kicking soldiers into the air like ragdolls.
”They’re totally playing around,” Charlotte giggled.
”Man, I should’ve gone too,” Maria added, looking slumped.
”Hey… this isn’t a game,” Rosanna sighed. “Don’t take a war lightly. You never know when some legendary-tier artifact might pop up.”
”Right, the Heroes are here,” Erina added. “It’s possible they’ve been given some high-level gear.”
”It’s fine,” Amelia said, her gaze focusing. “Even with legendary gear, they’re still small fry compared to us. You can relax until Master has to step in.”
”Whoa, Amelia, look at you acting like the big sister. Cute,” I teased.
”Stop treating me like a kid!” she huffed.
”Master Ibuki, is Shirley going to be okay that far in?” Fran asked. “What if the Heroes surround her…?”
Just as Fran spoke, I spotted them. Shirley was facing them, but the positioning was all wrong for them. The only real threat was the Senior Sage, but in this mess, he couldn’t fire off any large-scale spells without vaporizing his own allies.
”Everyone, on me! Run!” I commanded.
We sprinted forward, finally coming face-to-face with my old seniors. They were pale. Since our faces were hidden by our helmets, they clearly thought they were about to be slaughtered.
I signaled my front-line team to pull back.
”Sorry, but I’m taking you into custody,” I announced.
The Senior Hero’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “I-It talked?!” he shrieked.
”Yeah, we speak the same language. Imagine that,” I replied.
”Eh…?” the senior muttered, dumbfounded.
The three of them were frozen in shock. I slammed a hand to the ground and laid a hundred meters of steel rail along the road.
”D-Demon King…” the soldiers whispered in terror.
I pulled a massive iron cage out of Storage. It was fitted with wheels and wind-magic propulsion. The floor of the cage was hollowed out right where the seniors were standing. The moment the cage slammed down, I sprinted to the back and kicked the magic tool into gear.
”Push!” I yelled.
We launched the cage down the rails. The seniors lost their footing, tumbling onto their backsides. Once we hit top speed, I hopped onto the roof of the cage.
I began connecting new rails ahead of us while simultaneously pulling the used ones back into Storage. To cover our tracks, I pulled the stone blocks back out and walled off the road behind us. Within minutes, the battlefield was nothing more than a speck on the horizon.
”Alright! Mission accomplished!” I cheered.
”I… Ibuki?” a voice wavered from inside the cage.
It was the Senior Sage. I pulled off my helmet.
”Hey. Came to bail you out. Though, I can’t actually let you out of the cage until I break that Enslavement⁴ spell,” I said.
”W-Wait, Ibuki! You don’t understand!” the Sage cried. “We’ve already sworn ourselves to the Kingdom of Dole…”
”Yeah, about that. If you want to go back to them after I break the spell, I won’t stop you. But just so we’re clear: if you go back, you’re my enemy. Genuinely,” I replied.
The Senior Hero went dead silent.
”The Kingdom of Dole sent assassins to murder me,” I said, my voice cold. “So, if you choose to side with them, you side against me.”
The two of them groaned and clutched their heads in pain.
”That’s the mental suppression,” Olivia explained. “It triggers when they try to resist the absolute nature of the Enslavement.”
”Ibuki! It’s not too late!” the Saint cried out. “I can talk to the King for you! Let’s just go back and apologize together, okay?”
I stared at her. “Uh… does anyone here have a clue what she’re talking about?” I asked my team.
”I assume… she means apologizing to the Kingdom of Dole?” Erina offered.
”Don’t group me in with her! Being from the same country was an accident!” I snapped.
I’d known she was a walking disaster, but this was next-level.
”H-How can you say that?!” the Saint shrieked.
”I said it because the thought of being associated with you makes my skin crawl,” I shot back.
The Senior Sage gave a weak, pained laugh. “Yeah… I guess you finally got a taste of her explosive personality, huh?”
”It’s not just that, Ibuki… we’ve basically become their lapdogs… Ugh! My head!” the Sage groaned.
”Look, I’m putting you somewhere secure. Once I crack the Enslavement, I’ll let you out. Just… don’t fight it,” I said.
”I-I told you, it’s no good… I’ll get in trouble…” Hero Senior-senpai said, his words cycling back like a broken record.
Presumably, leaving Dole-sama’s side was forbidden by his orders. Naturally, that likely applied to the removal of his Enslavement⁵ as well, so I had to be careful until the job was done.
”It’s okay, it’s okay. You don’t have the right to refuse anyway, Senior-senpai. I only explained it because I felt a little bad for you.”
As I spoke, I pulled out restraints made of reinforced Mithril⁶ and locked them onto him. I chose a set that was cruelly restrictive, intended to bind him completely. Handcuffs behind his back, leg irons, and a blindfold-once that was done, I chained him to a steel plate.
Shuri-chan watched, her cheek twitching. “Whoa. Even we couldn’t break out of that…”
With the seniors-senpai in tow, I took the plane back to the mansion and headed straight for the basement. I led Hero Senior-senpai into a separate room and began shearing through his clothes with a pair of shears, searching for the Slave Crest⁷.
”W-Wait a minute?! What are you doing?! Stop! Don’t cut them!”
”You’re as fussy as a girl, Senior-senpai… Are you sure you aren’t actually a woman?”
”Of course I’m not! Why are you still cutting my clothes?!”
”To make sure you’re actually a boy.”
”D-Don’t mess with me!!”
I gave half-hearted replies to his shouting as I worked. Eventually, I found the Slave Crest right above his crotch.
”Oh my… how adorable,” Lisha-san said.
”Truly… quite small,” Olivia-san added, both of them staring at his chinpo⁸.
”Kuh… That’s cold, Ibuki-kun!!”
”He’s right! There are some things you just don’t say!”
”I’m talking to you two!!” Senior-senpai wailed.
”Aw, come on… I was only thinking of you, Senior-senpai,” I said, already moving on to my next experiment.
I needed to find a way to drain the Mana⁹. Just as I’d heard, he wouldn’t accept any Mana I tried to send him. According to Erina-san, if you constantly bombard a slave with ideas that make them oppose their master, their Mana will deplete until they can be overwritten, but for a high-capacity tank, that could take years. I needed a faster way to pull it out.
As I experimented on the furuchin¹⁰ Senior-senpai, I tried to designate his Mana and pull it into my Storage¹¹. I felt a strange resistance. It almost went in, but then it snapped back. I felt the click of a bypass.
I didn’t let the resistance stop me. I hammered the Storage command repeatedly, and after several minutes, the Mana finally began to flow in.
”There we go… it worked,” I muttered.
”What did…?” Senior-senpai replied in a miserable, cracking voice.
”Alright, Senior-senpai. I’m canceling all your previous orders. Here is your new one: I forbid you from attacking us.”
I tested the command just in case, but there was no resistance. He was too broken to care.
”Can I just… put some clothes on now?” he rasped.
I realized I’d left him exposed. I removed the restraints and handed him his clothes. Once he’d changed, I took him to the living room where everyone was gathered around the kotatsu¹².
”Are you feeling better? Can you think for yourself now? Do you hate Dole-sama?”
”I… I think so. I’m grateful, really, but… did it have to be like that? Did you have to let the girls watch me like some exhibit?”
”Well, you are a Hero, aren’t you, Senior-senpai?”
”I’m not a Hero in that way!!” he shouted. He seemed genuinely traumatized by the ordeal.
”Look, it was a safety thing. If you’d been ordered to kill me, I would’ve been dead in seconds. I had to bind you and keep you distracted with nonsense while I broke the Enslavement.”
”Oh… I see. You were risking your life for me. I’m sorry, Ibuki-kun…”
He bought it immediately. For better or worse, the guy was incredibly easy to win over.
The rest of the group watched us from the other table, looking touched by the scene. They all seemed to have a high opinion of him now, though they were looking at him like a pathetic lost puppy.
”Anyway, I’m going to go clear the Enslavement on Sage-senpai and Saint-senpai next. Are their marks in the same place?”
”I think Sato-san’s is… but is Kubo-san even enslaved?”
That stopped me. Was it possible the Saint was the only one who hadn’t been branded?
”Well, I’ll go strip her and find out. Charlotte-chan, feed some food into Senior-senpai while I’m gone.”
Hero Senior-senpai stared at me with wide, shocked eyes. “Ibuki-kun… you really are a Hero,” he said, drawing a burst of laughter from the room.
—
Summary:
Ibuki and his party ambush the Kingdom of Dole’s army to rescue his former seniors who have been enslaved as Heroes. Using his Crafter abilities, Ibuki manifests a high-speed rail system and a specialized cage to extract the Heroes from the battlefield. The mission is a success, but Ibuki must now deal with the fallout of the Heroes’ magical brainwashing and the Saint’s delusional worldview.
Ibuki uses reinforced Mithril restraints to forcibly take Hero Senior to his mansion to remove his Enslavement. By using his Storage ability to brute-force the extraction of Mana, Ibuki successfully bypasses the normal years-long process of breaking a Slave Crest. The chapter ends with the group relaxing at a kotatsu, while Ibuki prepares to investigate if the Saint-senpai (Kubo) is also enslaved.
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Trivia:
- Ibuki is technically a ‘Crafter’ class, but his abilities allow for large-scale infrastructure manifestation (like rails).
- The Heroes are under a magical ‘Enslavement’ contract that causes physical pain when they try to resist orders or speak against their masters.
- The Knight Order’s name was seemingly decided by the girls without Ibuki’s direct input.
- Ibuki was targeted by assassins from the Kingdom of Dole previously, which drives his current hostility toward that nation.
- Ibuki claims the extreme restraints and mocking comments were a tactical distraction to keep the Senior from killing him while the bond was still active.
- The standard method for breaking Enslavement involves psychological warfare to drain Mana over a long period.
- Hero Senior is male, despite Ibuki’s teasing and the Senior’s ‘girl-like’ reactions.
- The Saint-senpai (Kubo) might not be enslaved, which is an anomaly in their current situation
—
Character Insight:
Ibuki shows a colder, more pragmatic side by labeling the enemy soldiers as ‘worthless’ compared to his companions. Meanwhile, the Saint’s refusal to acknowledge reality highlights a deep-seated character flaw that contrasts sharply with Ibuki’s survivalist mindset.
Ibuki demonstrates a high level of pragmatism and ‘game-system’ manipulation, using his Storage skill in unintended ways to bypass world-building limitations. Hero Senior is shown to be gullible and quick to forgive, reinforcing his ‘puppy-like’ status among the girls.
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Behind the Scenes:
The author uses the ‘rail system’ as a humorous way to combine modern technology with fantasy world logic, a common trope in isekai series to show off the protagonist’s unique utility.
The use of the term ‘Hero’ is being subverted here; Ibuki uses the title to mock the Senior’s current helpless state, while the Senior eventually uses it to describe Ibuki’s ‘bold’ (reckless) behavior.
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TL Notes:
Notes:
• Amelia – Quiet, expressionless white short-hair girl with red eyes—smallest in the crew but arguably strongest—once robotic, now opening up, happy with Master’s food/clothes, craving to repay kindness. Ibuki’s loyal CQC bodyguard who goes full deredere lovey-dovey post-intimacy, struggles with personal dreams but sticks by his side.
• Hero – Ibuki’s upperclassman from Earth—summoned as the naive Hero with emotional, mentally fragile personality. Empathetic yet reluctant and inadequate-feeling, lacking survival instincts and political skills. Currently in despair and terrified by his situation.
• Erina – A 17‑year‑old swordswoman and slave under Ibuki’s contract, originally from Paul, with drill hair, a refined noble‑like air and speech suggesting she was once a high‑born lady.
• Ibuki – Broke high‑schooler from Earth who got tossed into another world with the “Crafter” class he first thought was useless—turns out it’s totally busted. Black‑haired, germaphobic, and low‑key bitter but sharp as hell. Uses Synthesis, Processing, and Inventory skills to survive, craft gear, and haul loot while exploring. Currently a Level 10 otherworlder, wielding a stone axe, traveling the frontier forest with Charlotte, and just trying to stay alive long enough to find a bit of peace.
• Shirley – 14yo ex-knight family swordswoman, Ibuki’s 2nd slave (8-gold scapegoat from Karl), rocking long red hair, dignified cool beauty in tight white dress—shocked by the chill vibes at first. Fanatic loyalist, weapon tester, security guard, blunt questioner of his slave game, one of his 3 wives, combat/sales pro but can’t cook.
• Meena – A young girl and slave who is easily overwhelmed by Ibuki’s crafting abilities. An 18-year-old thief with a youthful appearance. Height is approximately 140cm (4’7).
• Shuri – 15yo tomboy lancer at 170cm, messy blonde hair, lean athletic build—worries about the Dole Kingdom beef heating up. Blacksmithing savvy, she’s the tough chick with a spear who’s all about that hands-on grind.
• Rosanna – Older ex-slave in the party, rocking that high-born noble vibe—volunteers for intel on dark orgs, spots the crew’s busted power levels. Loyal AF, scouts underground, bows deep with solemn grace while opening up on missions.
• Lotte – 12-year-old slave girl under Ibuki, a scaredy-cat blue mage (water/ice) standing just 130cm with fluffy light-brown hair and big watery eyes. Lacks magic confidence, gets shocked by his OP power, one of the group’s sensitive lil’ sis types dreaming of spell-slinging skills.
• Fran – A young member of the group who is easily flustered. Member of the group who expresses moral or existential concern over the ‘unnatural’ leveling process.
• Charlotte – Short, skinny late‑teen slave girl with messy brown hair, feline eyes, and a soft, slender body. Was an Ex‑Level 8 farmer, now Level 10 and bound to Ibuki, who she calls “Master” and calls herself his wife. Wears rags at first, then pretty clothes he makes, plus his bat‑wing hairband. Blushy, clingy, protective, and easily emotional, she follows him on runs, fights, and flights while always worrying if she’s useful enough.
• Maria – A 16-year-old swordswoman. Has long, lustrous red hair and a sharp, dignified facial structure. One of the new recruit.
• Olivia – A member of the group who asks about the ‘weird’ monster types with some technical/magic-tech knowledge who is stunned by the efficiency of Ibuki’s skills. Archer. Eldest of the new recruits. Height approx 160cm (5’3). Deep blue-black hair. Calm demeanor.
• Lisha – Mature native babe with killer curves, huge rack, long brown hair, big-sis vibes—polite shy type who hangs back gathering intel on other Heroes. Head of Sha-sha brand, acting chair, runs group logistics/training with authoritative feminine flair.
• Kubo – Female student from Earth—one of the summoned companions, upperclassman designated as the Saint. Naive and easily manipulated, believes kingdom propaganda and enamored with her caretaker. Prone to seniority outbursts, currently weeping in shock and despair within the dungeon.
• Sato – Female upperclassman summoned as the Sage—a Japanese woman grounded and cautious alongside the protagonist. Highly emotional, prone to sobbing while comforting the Saint, she hides fear but seeks mutual support. Exhibits jito-eye (scornful half-closed stare) when annoyed.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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