kscans

“Haah… haah…”

I laughed too much… We’re both breathing heavily. Still, our opponents don’t attack.

That’s the best proof supporting what I said. Even though they’re angry at being ridiculed this much, their reason is holding them back. They have things they need to consider before they attack.

“Phew… Want me to guess what you’re thinking? You’re wondering how much I’ve figured out, right?”

Their revenge talk is just a bluff.

If they’re exposed, serious types like them hesitate. They’re wondering,

“How much has this guy read into our plan?”

Since they don’t know, they can’t decide on their next best move.

Being serious is good, but in this situation, it’s become a hindrance.

“I pretty much understand. You guys are sacrificial pawns, aren’t you?”

“—!”

There’s a collective intake of breath from all around. Honest fools.

“Though it’s not like someone ordered you to do it. You chose to be sacrifices of your own free will.”

Judging from these guys’ reactions, they probably didn’t know about Persephone’s visit to Japan.

Either they were too busy preparing their objective to do proper research, or they didn’t think Persephone would give me such deep advice… Well, either way is fine.

“Persephone came to see me a little while ago. She told me that Hades’ divine powers hadn’t passed to her.”

The underworld’s operations haven’t been disrupted, but that’s unthinkable given Hades’ personality. It’s natural to assume someone else has inherited his power and authority.

“Whoever that someone is, they inherited the powers after Hades died, so they’re extremely inexperienced.”

They can’t do anything right away. But if they’ve inherited his will, they’ll eventually come into conflict with me.

“So your plan is to draw out even a fraction of my power for when that time comes, right?”

These guys chose to become sacrificial pawns for the successor. Or more accurately, their loyalty is directed toward Hades. It would be unnatural for them not to act in ways that might seem like betraying Hades when they’re so loyal to him.

“You set up here because I might use excessive force if children are involved.”

They’ll probably attack the children when they realize they can’t achieve results on their own. Despicable.

“…If you understand that much, then there’s no point in continuing this useless—”

“But too bad! As if I’d let things go according to your plan.”

“Oh? So you’ll flee with the children? Even if you escape temporarily, we’ll—”

“Don’t misunderstand, you idiot.”

Given their objective, gradually deploying forces won’t work. Having a separate role to involve the children when necessary would also be pointless. If they were hiding in such a position, I’d notice them, and they’d just be wasting their forces.

So everyone here represents all the fighting power they can currently deploy.

“Huh? Something seems strange, doesn’t it?”

“What…?!”

The night sky begins to peel away piece by piece.

And would you look at that? In an instant, our surroundings have transformed into a paradise-like scene bathed in sunlight with flowers blooming everywhere.

“Ohhh… What a nice location. Perfect for flower viewing.”

“What the…?”

“…You isolated the entire space without us even noticing. But still…!!”

“So you’ve confirmed I have that much power? How foolish.”

I reveal what’s been floating on both sides of me, dropping the camouflage.

“Is that… an incense burner? And a pot…?”

“Magic items. For a while, I was obsessed with stripping everything from the guys I beat up.”

The incense burner’s power created the false perception. The pot’s power formed this space. I haven’t used any of my own noteworthy powers at all.

“Well, I guess you could say you forced me to play one of my cards.”

“Big talk. For you, these are probably just unusual toys, right?”

“You get it?”

“I totally get it!”

“Kyahahahaha!!!”

I join in, laughing in a girlish way with exaggerated movements.

To be honest, maybe the old me would have used these magic items in a serious fight, but the current me wouldn’t. General recovery items like potions or medicine are one thing, but magic items are just hobby collectibles. They only see the light of day when I’m mocking opponents like now.

“What will you do? Try to force me to reveal more of my strength and then go after the children?”

“It would be pointless anyway, right?”

“Pretty much.”

I secretly created a clone before entering this pocket dimension. Even if there are people monitoring remotely, they wouldn’t have noticed.

“Y-you bastard…!!”

“Kekeke, you chose the wrong time and place.”

Now then, I’ll thoroughly beat them with my bare hands… but before that. These guys are definitely irritating, but this is also a good opportunity. Let me use some other rare items I haven’t used in a while.

“Here, catch!”

“Huh? What’s this, candy?”

“It’s a rejuvenation pill. The effect lasts about three hours? Since I’m in a good mood, let’s not just have teenage mentality but teenage bodies too.”

“You’re a genius.”

We both swallow the pills. Immediately, our bodies start reverting to our teenage forms. Takahashi transforms from a sexy older gal type to a sweet young thing. But it’s still not enough… Ah, I’ve got a good technique.

“Whoa!? Satou, why did your hair suddenly turn blond!?”

“It’s called hair dyeing magic. I just remembered some perverts using it a while back.”

As the time limit suggests, the pill is an imperfect item. When I say rejuvenation, I don’t literally revert to exactly how I was at 17. That’s why my hair stays black. It doesn’t automatically turn blond like back then.

“And now for this!!”

I take out several piercings from my youthful memories space in the alternate dimension. Then forcefully put them in!

“Whoa… forcing piercings through like that…”

“I’ll heal it later so it’s fine.”

Ahhh… this is good. So good. Maybe because I’ve returned to my old style, my mind feels even younger too. Right now, I’m completely a teen. A teenager.

“Standing side by side like this, we look like a couple of delinquents.”

“C-couple!? I-idiot! Don’t say weird things!!”

“Sorry, sorry. Looks like our friends over there have made up their minds too.”

“Oh yeah, I can feel their burning hostility. Bring it on!”

Takahashi and I crack our knuckles.

“Let’s go, ORAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”

“…Give it everything you’ve got! Draw out even a fraction of Satou Hideo’s power!”

And so, our delinquent night began.