kscans

Chapter 322 - Recapturing the Castle and the Clown's Mask

"The castle has been occupied by Byakko, and we would like you to help us take it back..."

The princess of the Eastern Country, Benitsuru, said this as she bowed her head to everyone.

Last night, Byakko had leaped out of the folding screen and attacked Hayato and the others, as well as the people in the castle, but because they prioritized retreat, everyone was able to escape the castle without anyone being defeated. This was likely thanks to Benitsuru and Simon putting themselves on the line to let everyone escape.

Even if they were defeated, it was possible to resurrect inside the castle, but they would just be endlessly defeated by Byakko, so escaping was the right choice. Byakko didn't seem to want to come outside the castle, so it was safe outside, but the fact that it was wandering around without returning to the folding screen was a problem.

Yesterday, Benitsuru and the others had also stayed at the mansion Hayato and his group were renting. It took time to get everyone who was in the castle outside, so they returned to the mansion quite late. Hayato had stayed with them, so he was a bit sleep-deprived.

And then came the morning. Just as Hayato logged in, Benitsuru and Simon were explaining the situation to everyone and asking for their help in recapturing the castle.

"My apologies. We have brought you another problem. And just when you all had come to visit..."

Like Benitsuru, Simon also bowed her head apologetically. It looked like she might commit seppuku at any moment.

"Ah, um, it was my fault that Byakko appeared. It's not Benny-chan and the others' fault--"

"Master, no one thinks anyone is at fault. In fact, Cecil and Maris-sama are delighted."

When Esha said that, Hayato looked at everyone.

"As always, Hayato, you've got something special! This saves me from being bored!"

"That's right. Besides, we were planning to defeat the Four Divine Beasts anyway. I'm full of motivation. Oh, please let me do the taming!"

Cecil and Maris were motivated. They probably thought there was no problem at all.

Everyone else felt similarly, but only Lunaria had her arms crossed and a difficult expression on her face.

"L-Lunoscutchi, are you angry about something? S-Sorry...?"

When Benitsuru asked this timidly, Lunaria nodded and said, "I'm angry."

"Going to visit a home, I think I, as your best friend, should have been first. Yet Hayato-san went first. And at night, a time full of excitement. Benny-chan and Hayato-san, you should both reflect deeply, deeper than the sea."

"I didn't go there to play--"

"No excuses. Even if you didn't go to play, it's a fact that you went to her home. At the very least, I wish you had invited me. Even though Benny-chan and I are so close that we promised to form an alliance when we conquer the world."

"Don't form an alliance like that. You'll get scolded by Rosalie-san again, you know?"

Previously, Lunaria had tried to conquer the world and was scolded by Rosalie, Gil, and the others. She was even confined to her room.

At Hayato's words, all eyes focused on Rosalie.

Rosalie, undaunted, elegantly took a sip of tea before opening her mouth.

"If there is a chance of victory, we will do it, but?"

"This is the first time you guys have looked like a Demon Lord's Army to me..."

"Hmph, you're making me blush."

Lunaria said that, then looked at Benitsuru.

"So that's how it is. First, let's retake the castle. As the king of an allied nation, I'll do my best. By the way, I, as your friend, will be the first to visit Benny-chan's room. You will entertain me fiercely. And I will also receive a souvenir. I will say now that I like onsen manju."

Hearing Lunaria's words, Benitsuru's eyes welled up with tears, and she was moved.

"Uu, Lunacchi, you're the best best friend ever...!"

"'The best Demon Lord,' please. Well then, everyone, get ready. A white tiger like that, it's like... what is it? Maris-chan, do you know anything? A tiger's weakness. The only weakness I know of is its heart."

Maris, who was asked, crossed her arms and began to think, "Hmm," but she soon realized something.

"Since it's a feline monster, catnip-- might make it excited and increase its attack power, so how about a cat teaser!"

"Then Hayato-san, please prepare a cat teaser. A five-star one."

"Huh...?"

There was an item called a cat teaser. It was an item that any tamer who had a cat as a pet would surely obtain. Using it on a cat would raise your Taming Skill up to about 10.

The folding screen itself was about two meters high and two meters wide, but the Byakko that appeared was about five meters in total length. Hayato wondered if a cat teaser would even work on such a tiger.

"A cat teaser... Master, let's make one. This will surely advance my relationship with Siegfried."

"Isn't your objective getting lost?"

"Life is always a lost child."

"I'm not in the mood for weird jokes when I'm sleep-deprived."

Hayato cut off his pointless conversation with Esha and thought. Whether to make the cat teaser or not.

After thinking for a little while, he decided to make it since it wasn't much trouble. However, if this allowed them to fight advantageously, Hayato thought Byakko should abdicate its throne as a divine beast.

Now that they had decided what to do, Hayato returned to his room to make the cat teaser, and everyone else began to prepare to retake the castle.

"Hayato-kun, do you have a moment?"

As Hayato was making the cat teaser, Diite came to his room.

"Sure. I had something I wanted to say to you too, Diite-chan."

"Is that so? Then I will listen first."

"It's about the folding screen. I wish you had told me. That Byakko comes out of the folding screen at night."

"I thought it would be better not to spoil it. Besides, there should be documents in the castle that say it's dangerous to look at that folding screen at night."

"Is there a possibility that Benny-chan knew?"

"I wonder. There are quite a lot of books in the castle, so she may not have read it."

(Should I read through those documents one by one? It seems like various other problems could arise.)

Hayato thought so, but for now, he had said what he wanted to say, so he prompted Diite to speak next.

"So, what did you need me for?"

"It's about Surya-kun. I came because I wanted you to be careful when fighting Byakko."

Hayato was surprised by Diite's serious expression and stopped making the cat teaser.

He prepared a cushion and motioned for her to sit before sitting down himself. Hayato sat cross-legged on the cushion, while Diite sat in seiza.

"This sounds like a serious talk, but what's it about?"

"I was careless, but Surya-kun has a history with tigers. Of course, I'm talking about in reality. I think it will be fine, but I thought I should share this information in case something happens."

"A history... could you tell me specifically?"

"Surya-kun was attacked by a tiger in reality. I don't think he will remember it during the fight with Byakko, but I want you to be careful. If that happens, I'm sorry, but I want you to help Surya-kun. I mean, I'm always sorry, but..."

Diite's head drooped, and her words gradually became smaller. By the end, her voice was truly as faint as a mosquito's buzz, just as the saying goes.

"I'll help even if you don't ask, so don't worry about it."

"But, I'm always putting the burden on you, Hayato-kun--"

"It's not a burden. On the contrary, I'm glad you told me before something happened. So don't worry. I'll do what I can."

"...Thank you, Hayato-kun. I'm always being helped by you. I'll repay this debt someday."

Seeing the downcast Diite, Hayato deliberately spoke in a cheerful voice.

"Well, if you get the chance, pay me back with interest."

Diite looked a little dumbfounded, but a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"You're right. When that time comes, I'll pay you back with heavy interest, so you can look forward to it."

"Please do. But I might not be able to handle it alone... Should we share this information with Esha and Pat-san too? Since they're both rear guards, it'll probably be easier for them to respond than the frontliners if something happens."

"Indeed. I'll be careful too, but if everyone is paying attention, we should be fine no matter what happens. Well then, I'll go talk to them both. Sorry for the interruption."

Hayato said, "It's not an interruption at all," and saw Diite out of the room.

He immediately resumed production of the cat teaser, but Hayato thought about what Diite had said.

(So Surya-san was attacked by a tiger. It probably happened at the animal protection organization. Even back then, you probably wouldn't see a tiger unless it was something extraordinary. But...)

What bothered him was whether she could still like animals after something like that happened.

(Darn it. I didn't confirm what happened to the memory of being attacked by the tiger. From the situation, it seems the memory of being attacked by a tiger has been erased, but I wonder if she would come to hate animals if her memory returned? But she stayed on the spaceship for the animals, so that's probably not the case, right?)

He had a few questions, but he lacked information.

He thought he should confirm it before fighting Byakko, as he continued to make cat teasers.

On the way from the mansion to the castle, Hayato looked at Surya and thought about various things.

He had shared the information with Esha and Pat, but in the end, he also shared it with Ash's group and Ney's group, so all the members who knew about reality came to know.

Diite had only told Hayato, Esha, and Pat because she wanted everyone to prioritize having fun, didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and thought it was better not to give out too much unnecessary information, but Esha had said this.

"Diite-sama puts too much of a burden on Master. Let's all share it to reduce the burden. By the way, I also put a burden on Master in reality."

Hayato didn't think he was being burdened, but for some reason, Esha was competing with Diite. From the perspective of how much trouble she was causing Hayato.

Diite must have had her own thoughts on the matter. She was hurt by Esha's words but said, "You're right," and shared the information.

Ash's group and Ney's group also understood the situation and willingly accepted. And it was decided that in this battle, they would try to keep Surya from being attacked as much as possible.

After that, Hayato posed his questions to Diite and thought he had come to understand Surya and Maris to some extent.

"As for Surya-kun, the memory of being attacked by a tiger remains. Of course, I've changed it to a form where she was attacked by a tiger-type monster. I didn't erase it because she tried to protect animals even after that happened."

"So even if her memory returns, she won't come to hate animals?"

"That's impossible. Back then, animal lives were considered light. Surya-kun, who tried to protect them even after that, must have truly loved animals. She was trying to protect them with her life on the line."

"'Life on the line' is a strong way to put it. But animal lives were light?"

Hayato didn't quite understand the meaning of that.

Now, various animals are strictly managed in the colonies, and he felt they were treated more importantly than Hayato, who was in the working class.

"You might not understand, Hayato-kun."

"I wouldn't understand?"

"That's right... Hayato-kun, do you know which animal should be treated with the most importance?"

"What's with the sudden question? Is this a riddle?"

"No, it's a serious question."

"Um, what could it be? Dogs or cats, maybe?"

"I'd expect an answer like that from you, Hayato-kun. Esha-kun would know, wouldn't she?"

Esha nodded without a moment's thought.

"Humans, of course."

"Huh? Well, humans are animals, but is that the answer?"

"A hundred years ago, the human species was on the brink of extinction. In such a situation, there was no animal that would be treated with more importance than humans."

"Ah, so that's it. In other words, Maris and Surya-san tried to protect animals more than themselves. So 'life on the line' wasn't a metaphor."

The situation now and in the past was different. Maris and Surya, who had tried to protect animals from extinction in such circumstances, must have been working with considerable resolve. And Surya, despite being attacked by a tiger.

After hearing that story, Hayato had found himself staring at Surya on the way to the castle.

Naturally, Surya found his gaze strange.

"Hayato-san, you've been looking at me for a while now, do you need something?"

"Ah, sorry, um, I just forgot if I had given you the cat teaser."

"I received it, but I wonder if this will be effective."

"Just keep it as a good luck charm."

"You're right. I can't fight with Garland indoors, so I suppose I should keep even something like this as a small comfort."

Surya said that and then waved the cat teaser from side to side. When Hayato still didn't look away, she must have found him suspicious, and she opened her mouth again.

"It's true that my combat power drops without Garland, but I'll try not to hold you back, so don't worry."

"Ah, no, that's not what I was worried about. Besides, if you're going to say that, then I'm just holding everyone back by being here."

"The cat teaser aside, to say that after making so many medicines and dishes is a talent in its own way. Am I perhaps being made a fool of?"

"Huh? That's not--"

Seeing the flustered Hayato, Surya started to giggle.

"Just kidding. Seeing how you usually are, Hayato-san, I know that's not the case. But really, is something wrong? I'm getting a little troubled by you staring at me."

"I'm really sorry. Um, actually, it's your clothes, they've been on my mind..."

It was something he blurted out, but Hayato said it.

It wasn't a lie that he was curious. Knowing Surya's reality, that outfit seemed a little strange.

"You mean the clown suit?"

"That's right. And the mask too.

"Ah, this. It's quite mysterious, don't you think?"

"Mysterious...? Well, I guess you could say that... maybe?"

Since Hayato had met her, Surya had been hiding the right half of her face with a clown's mask. He had never once seen her full, uncovered face. It wasn't that you couldn't call it mysterious, but since she was a clown, the mysteriousness was halved.

"I suppose I can show it to you, Hayato-san."

As Surya said that, she removed the clown's mask, revealing the right side of her uncovered face.

"Huh? Ah..."

Under the mask, there were marks as if she had been clawed by something.

It had been completely hidden by the mask, but there were three scratch marks running vertically from her forehead, through her right eye, and down to her cheek. The marks were faint enough to be barely visible, and Hayato's impression was that they fortunately hadn't reached her eye. The proof was that her right eye was open normally.

You don't get hurt in virtual reality. In other words, a wound from reality remained as it was. It was probably the mark from a tiger's claws.

"The result of youthful indiscretion, or rather, being reckless when my Taming Skill was low. I don't really mind it, but it's a hassle, so I wear a mask."

Surya said that with a smile and put the clown mask back on.

Hayato shook his head with a serious expression.

"It might be a scar from being reckless, but you're amazing, Surya-san."

"Amazing?"

"I think it's admirable that you're a tamer and don't hate animals even after something like that happened."

Hayato said this based on what he knew of her reality.

Besides, Hayato had the experience of injuring his leg in an accident. It wasn't as bad as before, but it was still difficult to move it suddenly. Considering that, he felt something close to respect for Surya, who didn't let a scar on her face bother her.

Surya showed a surprised expression, then laughed embarrassedly while scratching her left cheek with her index finger.

"I knew it was fine to show it to you, Hayato-san. I used to hide it because I often got pity, but I never thought you'd praise me just like Maris did."

"Maris knows too?"

"I showed her a long time ago. She praised me just like you did, Hayato-san. Since then, even though our views on pets are different, I've thought of Maris as a friend."

"So that's what happened."

He didn't know if it was a story from reality or virtual reality, but Surya must have felt that way about Maris since then.

For a moment, he worried that he had stimulated her memory, but Surya just seemed to be in a good mood, with no particular change. Hayato breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well then, since Hayato-san praised me, maybe I should tame Byakko today instead of Maris? This scar was from a tiger-type monster, so it'll be my revenge."

"No, no, that's dangerous, let's leave it to Maris."

"That's kind of cruel to Maris, you know. Besides, look, even if I enrage Byakko with taming, Hayato-san will protect me, right?"

"For one hit. After that, I'd have to be revived, but the MP efficiency would be too bad."

"...Um, Hayato-san, if you're going to act cool, I'd like you to see it through to the end."

"Huh? Was there anything cool about what I've said so far?"

"...Come to think of it, not really. It's kind of, a little lacking in many ways."

"Am I perhaps being criticized?"

"Quite a bit, yes."

Hayato headed to the castle while having such a conversation with Surya.

Around the castle were samurai standing guard to prevent Byakko from coming outside.

According to information from Diite, Byakko had a setting where it couldn't leave the field where it came out of the folding screen, so it wouldn't leave the castle. The samurai didn't know that, so they had posted guards.

The townspeople had also evacuated to a place a little away from the castle, making the situation quite troublesome.

Perhaps because of that, there were many residents cheering for Hayato and the others, and perhaps because of their festival-loving nature, they received quite a lot of encouragement on their way here.

"Well then, let's defeat Byakko to meet the expectations of the townspeople."

Everyone nodded at Hayato's words.

The first part of the strategy would be to move to the room with the folding screen, which was the easiest place to fight.

Anywhere else would be too narrow and difficult to fight in. Byakko was aggressive and would attack people on sight. They wouldn't have to go looking for it; if they were in the great hall, it would come to them. As long as they could move to the right location, their combat power wouldn't be a problem, in Hayato's estimation.

Hayato had confirmed Byakko's fighting style and other details while escaping yesterday. He recalled them and shared the information with everyone.

As expected, Byakko had many ice-based attacks and was weak to fire. And it didn't seem to attack based on Hate Value; it would immediately pounce on anything that moved, not just Benitsuru and Simon who were trying to draw its attention.

(Maybe I can build Hate Value with the cat teaser...?)

"Ash, after the taming of Byakko is over, try to draw its attention with the cat teaser."

"That's fine, but it will be effective, right?"

"Probably..."

"Probably, huh... Well, I'll do it."

Ash holding a cat teaser instead of a sword felt completely out of place, but they decided to give it a try.

With their preparations complete, Hayato and the others stepped into the castle. Then they hurried to the great hall.

The great hall was on the second floor. It was right after crossing a long corridor and going up the stairs.

Hayato and the others ran down the corridor towards it, but on the way, Byakko burst out of a room, breaking through the fusuma.

"Hurry!"

If they fought in the corridor, they would be forced into a small-scale confrontation and would surely lose. They all started running, trying to somehow escape to the great hall and fight there.

"Leave this to me."

While everyone was running, only Ash remained in the narrow corridor and confronted Byakko.

What he was saying was cool, but holding a cat teaser didn't quite look the part.

That said, Ash could arbitrarily nullify physical attacks for a certain period of time due to the set effect of his Death Dragon series equipment. He would be an excellent tank and decoy. And perhaps the cat teaser was effective, because Byakko leaped at Ash, who was waving it.

While Ash was being attacked, Hayato and the others arrived at the great hall on the second floor. Then they immediately formed a line to intercept Byakko.

A few seconds later, Ash came flying through the fusuma as if blown away.

Ash did a backflip three times, then stood up with the momentum and immediately drew his sword.

"Ash!"

"I'm fine! Here it comes!"

From where Ash had flown in, Byakko now leaped in. Seeing the many people in the hall, it showed a moment's hesitation, but then it looked at Ash and pounced.

(I wonder if it's my imagination that it looks disappointed that no one is holding a cat teaser...?)

And so, the battle with Byakko began.