Chapter 601: He’s fine when he’s acting serious
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
…Was Seiji in the right or in the wrong?
No, this wasn’t a problem of being in the right or wrong.
Senpai knew what he was doing, and faced it head-on with resolution. He didn’t believe himself to be in the right or wrong. He simply did what he wanted.
Something flashed in Hoshi’s eyes after he confirmed his own thoughts.
“I think that… although Senpai did something terrible… Senpai is still Senpai.”
Seiji blinked upon hearing this.
“Of course I’m still me.” Seiji smiled. “Thank you for your understanding as well, junior.”
Hoshi also smiled.
The person before him wasn’t perfect. However, Seiji was still his idol. This part hadn’t changed.
Honestly, it was truly astonishing to hear that Seiji now had three beautiful girlfriends at the same time, including even student council president Natsuya Yoruhana!
‘Not only is Senpai amazing at the good things, he’s also amazing at the not-so-good things.’ Hoshi was inwardly impressed.
“Rion, what should we do?”
“Kotomi, should we give up?”
“Giving up just like this feels like admitting defeat.”
“Actually, we’ve already lost once again.”
“Seiji Haruta is truly strong.”
“He made us taste the feeling of defeat yet again.”
“But, it’s not over yet, Rion.”
“Indeed, it isn’t over yet, Kotomi.”
“As long as we don’t give up, things haven’t truly ended.”
Inside their bedroom, the twin sisters came to a decision.
Later that night.
Seiji and Shika met up with Kazuko. They then all headed to the Juumonji Group together.
“This is the place where you took Kazufuru to dispel the cursed item from him.” Kazuko recognized this location.
“Yeah. The temporary acting commander here is my companion.”
“Temporary acting commander?”
“You’ll meet him very soon.”
Seiji, Shika, and Kazuko went to the dojo where they saw Hisashi waiting for them while already wearing his new spiritual equipment.
“I’ve finished my preparations, Lieutenant!”
“Lieutenant?”
Kazuko was astonished to see that Seiji’s “companion” was dressed like a special forces soldier and referred to him in such a manner.
“Harano-kun is actually in the military?”
“No, he’s just joking.” Seiji waved his hand in denial. “Allow me to introduce him. This is Hisashi Juumonji, one of my Spiritual Ability user teammates. He’s also the temporary acting commander of the Juumonji Mafia Group. Hisashi, this is Kazuko Ooike, the one who came here previously to have a curse dispelled. She’s another personality of my classmate Kazufuru Ooike… think of her as a twin sister who shares the same body as him.”
“A twin sister who shares the same body?” Hisashi blinked.
“It’s like this…” Seiji explained the situation.
“A gender change… such a precious living example!” Hisashi’s eyeglasses flashed after he heard this. “It’s my honor to meet you, Kazuko-san. Let’s get along well with each other in the future!”
Kazuko looked towards Seiji.
“I should add that he’s an otaku who also loves to mess around,” Seiji gave an additional explanation.
Kazuko adjusted her eyeglasses and asked directly, “If such a person is the temporary acting commander… is this Juumonji Mafia Group really alright?”
“He’s fine when he’s acting serious.”
“Thank you for your praise, Lieutenant!”
“I don’t think that he’s praising you at all.”
Still, Kazuko politely greeted him after commenting.
Hisashi was very interested in Kazuko, while Kazuko kept her distance from Hisashi… Seiji pretty much expected such a situation.
No more chatting, it was time to begin!
Kazuko opened up her Domain and allowed Seiji, Shika, and Hisashi to enter.
Seiji’s vision darkened as he began to feel everything around him starting to spin. He heard faint sounds around him… based on his past experiences, he should have soon been able to see the Domain.
However, this time the darkness lasted far longer!
Just as Seiji was beginning to wonder what was going on, his consciousness suddenly became hazy and he felt his body dropping, until the faint sounds suddenly became clear…
“Lloyd…”
“Lloyd… careful…”
“…Danger behind you!”
Lloyd was able to use his shield to block the black wolf’s surprise attack from behind just in time due to his female companion’s warning.
Lloyd ground his teeth and fought against a wolf pack with his longsword. Although he could easily kill off all these monsters by activating his Skills, they required precious Skill Points, or SP, that he needed to conserve as much as possible for the unknown, possibly long trip ahead.
‘If only my companions were still by my side…’
The moment he thought this, Lloyd forced himself to stop thinking about it. First of all, he was still currently in battle. Secondly, he didn’t dare to think too deeply about it. He was scared of imagining the prospect of his friends dying.
“Rrraaaghhhhhh!!!”
In order to shake off the fear in his heart, he shouted in a low voice and ferociously swung his sword, cutting another black wolf in half!
The girl next to him was fighting as well. She treated her mage staff as a bludgeon, viciously smashing another black wolf’s skull.
Her violent actions… were so well-practiced that she didn’t seem like a student at the Sage Academy at all. She seemed more like a veteran female adventurer.
After a fierce battle, the two successfully killed all the black wolves.
“Are you alright, Lana?”
“I’m uninjured. How about you, Lloyd?”
“I’m fine as well.” Lloyd sheathed his longsword and then went over to pick up the magic stones that the magic beasts left behind.
“They’re actually dropping so many magic stones… the drop rate is more than fifty percent. As expected of the Gallo Ancient Palace.” Lana sighed.
“Gallo Ancient Palace?”
“Yes, that’s the name of this forbidden district.”
“Could it be related to the Gallo Kingdom?”
“You know about the Gallo Kingdom?”
“I know a little… My father once told me a few legends that he heard from his teammates back when he was an adventurer.”
“What exactly did you hear?”
“What I can remember is… that a human princess and elf prince fell and love and got married to each other, and then created the Gallo Kingdom.” Lloyd did his best to recall. “The humans and elves lived together peacefully in this kingdom. However, the human princess eventually died, having a much shorter lifespan than the elf prince. The elf prince missed her so much that he turned to dark magics in order to try and revive her. He sacrificed so many humans and elves, causing the kingdom to be destroyed in the end.”
“That’s just a legend. Actually, all of it is wrong,” Lana informed him. “The real story is that—”
Lloyd suddenly raised his hand and stopped her from saying anything else. He then crouched down on the ground and laid his ear against the earth.
“There’s more magic beasts approaching. We need to hurry and leave!”
They didn’t even have time to rest after slaying the earlier pack of black wolves. Lloyd and Lana hurriedly left the area.
This was a forbidden district—a land of death that they shouldn’t have entered.
They entered here accidentally and didn’t know if they could even survive this place.
Lloyd hoped that both himself and Lana could make it out alive. He also wished that his lost companions were all safe and sound. However, he knew that it was likely too much to wish for.
Just trying to suppress the anxiety and fear in his heart was already a huge burden on him.
‘May the Holy White Goddess protect us…’ Lloyd prayed in his mind.
Suddenly, Lana stopped in her footsteps.
“What’s the matter?”
“I suddenly sense… something…”
The girl from the Sage Academy looked all around her. She finally focused on an area to the boy adventurer’s left as if she saw something there.
Lloyd followed her line of sight but didn’t see anything at all.
Just as he was getting confused, a faint white flash suddenly appeared. He then saw a tall figure wearing strange attire!
What was this!? Lloyd reflexively was about to unsheathe his sword.
“Who… are you?” Lana focused her full attention on that formless figure.