Chapter 3: Enter the Demon Blade User

《Momoka’s Side》

The name’s Asama Momoka, and I’m a first-year high school student.

More importantly, I’m the next head of the prestigious 【Asama】 house—a distinguished lineage famous for producing elite Demon Blade users.

...Not to brag or anything, but I’m the cream of the crop—a bonafide super-elite.

Whenever the Practitioner Executive Bureau runs into a crisis they can’t handle, they come crying straight to me.

Everyone relies on me. Practically speaking, the future of Japan rests right on my shoulders.

Compared to the other eleven small-fry Demon Blade users out there—well, okay, I’ll acknowledge a select few of them—I’m a once-in-a-generation prodigy in a league of my own.

And tonight, this very prodigy—the great Momoka-sama—had come to Oota Ward in Tokyo.

“Around here, right?”

Perched daintily atop my shoulder was a small fox kit.

Her name was Kuzunoha, the hereditary Shikigami who had served the Asama family for generations.

‘Yes, indeed... I catch the scent of Sakuya-chan and that remarkably strong boy lingering right around this neighborhood~’

Kuzunoha had an uncanny nose. She could track targets across town and gauge an opponent’s strength by scent alone. Honestly, she was a ridiculously capable Shikigami—the best partner I could ever ask for.

And at my hip rested my Demon Blade, Scarlet Blade 【Ume】.

Even among the legendary Twelve Blades of Deathly Blossoms, its supernatural ability stood head and shoulders above the rest.

With Scarlet Blade 【Ume】 in my hand and Kuzunoha at my side, I was undisputedly the strongest Demon Blade user alive.

...Which meant nobody stronger than me was allowed to exist.

‘My, my... you’re awfully worked up tonight. If you lose your cool, you’ll end up badly hurt, you know?’

“Hmph. As if I could ever get hurt.”

‘Is that so~?’

Kuzunoha casually glanced over my shoulder.

Without even turning around, I drew Scarlet Blade 【Ume】 from its scabbard.

CLANG!

“Hmph...”

Behind me, a swarm of lunging Chuukai froze solid in midair.

I had flash-frozen every last one of them with Scarlet Blade 【Ume】’s supernatural ability.

‘One, two, three... ten of them in total. As expected of you, Momoka-chan—freezing ten Chuukai in a single heartbeat.’

“Hmph! Flattering me over small fry like these doesn’t make me happy at all.”

Leaving the shattered ice sculptures behind, I strode on down the street.

Kuzunoha was guiding me toward Kirigamine Sakuya’s house—since that girl and I weren’t friends by any stretch, I didn’t know her address myself.

‘...Momoka-chan! Stay on your guard... I smell fresh blood ahead—along with the scent of a formidable Demon.’

“—! Heh...”

A fearless smirk tugged at my lips. Finally, an opponent worthy of a super-elite like me had shown up.

Following Kuzunoha’s directions, I sprinted straight toward the scene.

“Ugh...” 

“I-it hurts...” 

“My arm...”

Several Practitioner practitioners lay sprawled across the pavement, groaning as black wisps of negative energy seeped from deep, ragged gashes across their arms and legs.

‘Momoka-chan! Incoming!’

Riding in on a howling gust of wind, a lone Demon dropped into the street.

It resembled a giant weasel, except its tail curved into a wicked, jagged blade—like a harvesting sickle.

‘It’s Kamaitachi! A Named Demon!’ Kuzunoha warned.

Demon possessing extraordinary, anomalous power were assigned individual designations by the Bureau and classified as “Named.”

“.........”

Sweat prickled across my palms, and a faint tremor ran through my limbs. Don’t get me wrong—I’m just trembling with excitement for the fight.

“Hmph! About time an enemy worthy of my blade showed its face!”

I leveled my Demon Blade at the beast. Slaying a Named Demon solo would elevate the prestige of the Asama house even higher!

Mother, my older sisters, my younger sisters—watch me from heaven and rejoice!

“Come, Kamaitachi! Face me fair and square!”

Unlike Sakuya’s sword, Scarlet Blade 【Ume】 had no physical-reinforcement form. Even so—it possessed an invincible supernatural ability that made brute strength unnecessary!

Riding the wind currents, Kamaitachi hurtled toward me at breakneck speed.

‘Kamaitachi commands the wind! It rides air currents to deliver high-speed slashing attacks!’

Formidable as it was, its ability was already documented in the Bureau’s records.

CLANG!

“Gigi...?!” the beast squeaked.

“My, how sluggish~” I taunted.

I parried Kamaitachi’s sickle-tail effortlessly, despite its supposedly blinding velocity.

“Too bad for you! This is the power of my Scarlet Blade 【Ume】!”

With a sharp crackle of frost, white rime crept rapidly up Kamaitachi’s tail and across its fur.

“The ability of Scarlet Blade 【Ume】 is 【Thermal Control】! Its First Form, 【Frozen Heavens, Snowbound Earth】, drains every drop of heat from any enemy that steps inside my domain!”

And every bit of stolen thermal energy was channeled directly into my blade.

“Now die...!”

In a single flash, I robbed the beast of its heat to freeze it in place, then cleaved it clean in two with a superheated crimson slash—

“Scarlet Blade 【Ume】 truly is the strongest of all!”

Shattering into fragments, Kamaitachi dissolved into dust and vanished.

‘That specimen just now... had devoured at least fifty Practitioner users,’ Kuzunoha murmured.

“Is that so...”

It had been a dangerous foe. Closing my eyes, I offered a brief, silent prayer for the fallen practitioners.

Mother, older sisters, little sisters... Rejoice. I have avenged another tragedy tonight...

“Well, well~ Aren’t you a strong little lady?”

“—?!”

Strolling out from the shadows of the alley was a man dressed in a dark samue work robe—looking almost human at first glance.

‘Run, Momoka-chan! That man is... Kamaitachi’s main body! The beast you just slew was merely a detachment!’

A Demon’s main body was always leagues stronger than a detached clone.

“Looks like one of my sickles just snapped,” the man drawled with a leering grin. “Not bad at all. I do love a strong, feisty girl.”

If that weasel had been forged from one of the five claws on his hand... then this main body had to be at least five times stronger.

“Nothing gets me going quite like listening to a proud, spirited girl scream and beg for mercy~”

An icy chill shot down my spine. This wasn’t excitement anymore... I was afraid— No! Pull yourself together, Momoka!

“【Frozen Heavens, Snowbound Earth】!”

A freezing domain of subzero air burst outward around me.

“Take one step closer and I’ll freeze you solid!”

“Which means as long as I don’t step inside your little circle, your trick is useless, yeah~?”

A razor-sharp gust of wind shrieked through the night air.

Thud...

“H-kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”

My arms...! Still gripping my Demon Blade, both of my forearms had been severed clean below the elbow and dropped onto the asphalt!

“Hahaha, now that’s a pretty scream~”

‘Momoka-chan!!’

Kuzunoha leaped forward in alarm, yet as a spiritual Shikigami, she had no way to physically block the monster—and with my Demon Blade severed from my grasp, my freezing domain had already collapsed.

“Every single finger and toe on my hands and feet turns into a wind-sickle, see?” Kamaitachi sneered. “That detachment you beat earlier was just a single pinky nail.”

One twentieth... That means his true body is twenty times stronger than the beast I fought earlier...!

‘Momoka-chan!’

“...Kuzunoha, run,” I choked out, collapsing to my knees in a pool of blood. “Get back to the Executive Bureau and warn them...”

‘As if I could ever abandon a child of the Asama house and run away!’

“Just run, you idiot!”

So cold... With so much blood pouring from my stumps, all the warmth was draining rapidly from my body. Death was staring me right in the face... No... I don’t want to die... I’m scared...

“Time to finish you off...!”

Kamaitachi swung his sickle-blades down toward my neck.

CLANG!

“...Huh?” I blinked through my tears.

Standing casually between me and the monster was a high school boy with black hair.

“Hey, now. What’s with all the racket right outside somebody’s house?”

He had caught the monster’s descending sickle effortlessly between two fingers—reading the invisible wind-blade’s trajectory to perfection...!

“Who the hell are you, bastard?!” Kamaitachi snarled.

“Just a passing high school student.”

“Whatever—just means one more piece of meat on the menu!”

Kamaitachi yanked his arm back to wrench his blade free, only to freeze—

“—?! I-it won’t budge! What kind of monstrous grip strength is this...?! Damn it!”

With a casual twist of his fingers, the boy snapped the monster’s sickle-claw in half, sending Kamaitachi stumbling backward.

“Brute strength won’t save you! No human alive can match the speed of the great Kamaitachi!”

Kicking off the asphalt, Kamaitachi vanished into the night wind.

‘He’s too fast! Even my nose can’t track his movements!’ Kuzunoha cried.

The monster had completely erased its presence. High-ranking Demon possessed techniques to meld into the wind and strike from blind spots—proof that this enemy was bad news. Kuh...!

“Run while you still can!” I shouted at the boy’s back. “You can’t beat a Named Demon like him!”

“Yeah, sorry, can’t do that,” he replied easily.

“Why not?!”

“What kind of guy walks away and leaves an injured girl bleeding on the ground?”

...Nobody has ever said something like that to me before.

“Besides, look at your arms,” he added. “We’ve gotta patch you up right away.”

“GYAHAHAHA! DIIIIIIE!” Kamaitachi materialized right behind his blind spot.

Without even looking, the boy casually flicked his open palm backward like he was shooing a fly.

SMAAAAAACK!

“FUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!”

With a single open-handed slap, Kamaitachi was blasted clean down the street and obliterated on impact.

“Man, what an annoying pest,” the boy muttered. “Like a giant mosquito.”

“...No way,” I breathed.

He just swatted the main body—twenty times stronger than that detachment—like an actual mosquito...?!

“Wh-what even... are you?”

“Me? Just an ordinary high schooler.”

“There is nothing ordinary about a high schooler who does that!!”

☆

Earlier that evening, for the first time since I’d learned her secret, Sakuya had asked to take the night off from hunting Demon. Apparently, she wasn’t feeling too hot.

【“...I wanna die... So depressed... Once the clone dispelled, all the memories of me kissing onii-chan and yelling ‘I wuv you♡’ flooded into my head... I wanna die...”】

Or something like that, judging by the incoherent muttering I’d heard through her bedroom door. Embarrassing memories? Well, everyone has days when they just can’t muster the motivation for work. Can’t blame her.

So tonight, I had decided to head out on patrol around the neighborhood in her place.

According to the Demon King’s mana sense, ‘There are no particularly strong presences tonight...’—or so she’d claimed, right up until I was strolling down the street and...

bumped straight into another girl who looked like a fellow Demon Blade user. Since she was about to get skewered by a wind-weasel monster, I’d stepped in to lend a hand.

‘My, how chivalrous of you~’ Angra Mainyu teased.

‘Hey, if she’s a Demon Blade user, that makes her Sakuya’s coworker, right? As an older brother, I can’t just let my sister’s coworker get killed on our turf—it’d make things super awkward for Sakuya at work later.’

Anyway, first things first.

“You doing okay there?” I asked, crouching beside the girl.

She had taken a pretty nasty hit—both of her forearms had been severed clean off.

“...If I look ‘okay’ to you like this, you need your head examined,” she groaned, pale-faced.

“Huh? Oh, relax, you’ll be fine in a sec.”

“..................Excuse me?”

She stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Was that weird to say?

‘Honestly, for warriors who risk their lives in battle, making such a fuss over losing an arm or two is rather dramatic,’ Angra Mainyu remarked. ‘In the other world, a severed limb is barely a flesh wound.’

Yeah, I kinda forgot Earth doesn’t have healing mages on every corner.

“Since your severed arms are right here in one piece, I can reattach them good as new,” I assured her.

Picking up both of her forearms from the pavement, I paused for half a second. Wait—is it okay to use healing magic in front of her?

Well, she wasn’t an ordinary civilian, and she was one of Sakuya’s fellow Demon Blade users. Having her report me to the Executive Bureau would be a pain, sure, so I could just ask her to keep it under wraps—or wipe her memory if she refused. Aligning her severed arms with the stumps, I channeled my mana.

“【High Heal】.”

“Wha—?!”

The girl’s eyes bulged wide open as bone, nerves, and skin knitted seamlessly back together in a warm glow of light.

“There we go, all patched up. Try flexing your fingers—everything working okay?”

“Y-yeah...”

Slowly, she clenched and unclenched both hands in disbelief.

‘Incredible...! That was just like real magic!’

A small fox kit standing beside her piped up in amazement. Wait, who’s this little furball...?

‘Judging by the flow of its spiritual energy, it is a Shikigami—much like Kicho,’ Angra Mainyu noted.

Gotcha... Though it wasn’t “like” magic—it literally was magic.

“All right, good as new. Here—this sword’s important to you, right?”

Picking up the crimson-bladed katana lying on the asphalt, I slid it back into its scabbard and handed it over to her.

“Th-thank... you...”

Timidly accepting the sword with one hand, the girl pressed her other hand tightly against the front of her chest.

“Whoa, what’s wrong? Did that monster hit you in the chest too?”

“N-no, it’s not an injury...! I-I’m fine... my heart is just pounding really fast, that’s all...”

“Huh...?”

Before I could ask what that meant, the little fox Shikigami trotted up to me and bowed her head politely.

‘I do not know your name, young sir, but thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving our young lady’s life.’

“Oh, don’t mention it.”

The fox kit bowed a second time with remarkable poise.

‘You are our benefactor and savior. Please allow us to repay this debt properly.’

“Nah, seriously, don’t sweat it. I barely lifted a finger.”

‘Even so, the Asama house cannot leave such a debt unpaid...’

Right at that instant, a spike of raw, murderous intent pricked against my skin from the far end of the street.

“Heads up—get down!”

Reaching out, I tackled the girl by the shoulders and pushed her flat onto the ground beneath me.

“H-hey?! Wh-wh-what do you think you’re doing all of a sudden?!” she squeaked, her face turning beet red.

VWHOOOOOOOOM!

A split second later, a vacuum blade tore through the exact spot where her head had just been, gouging a deep trench out of the asphalt and concrete wall behind us.

“I-if you want to do stuff like this, we have to follow proper steps first... Starting with introducing yourself to my parents...” she mumbled dizzily.

‘Momoka-chan, snap out of it! Look ahead!’ the fox cried.

Oh, so her name’s Momoka.

‘Another Demon is still here!’

“Wait, another one?!”

Getting back to her feet, Momoka readied her crimson Demon Blade—which looked slightly shorter than Sakuya’s katana, closer to a kodachi.

Down the street, the battered Kamaitachi—who had somehow survived my slap by shedding its skin—was glaring at us with bloodshot eyes. Still, no need to drag this out.

“You’re in the way. 【Wind Edge】.”

ZUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

A crescent blade of compressed wind towering three stories high roared down the street, shearing clean through Kamaitachi, the asphalt road, and every utility pole in its path.

...And in the wake of that gale, not a single speck of the monster remained. Literally nothing.

“..................”

Beside me, Momoka froze like a statue.

‘Un... believable...’

The little fox kit looked equally thunderstruck.

“.........”

Slowly, Momoka lowered her sword and took a step toward me. Uh-oh... Wait a second. The first time Sakuya saw me obliterate a Demon, she had assumed I was a humanoid monster and tried to take my head off. Please don’t tell me we’re doing Round Two of that...

“Sooooo cooooool~♡”

“........................Huh?”

With literal hearts practically floating in her eyes, Momoka threw herself straight at my chest and hugged me tight.

“You’re amazing♡ So cool♡ Seriously, ridiculously cool♡”

“U-uh, thanks...?”

Wait... she isn’t scared of me? And I don’t sense an ounce of hostility from her either.

‘My, my... Momoka-chan has always had a weakness for strong men~’ the fox chuckled.

“Hey, hey, darling♡ Listen, I have a tiny little favor to ask you♡”

“Y-yeah? What is it...?”

Looking up at me with sparkling eyes, Momoka beamed.

“Will you become my groom♡ And give birth to my babies for me♡”

“...Momoka.”

“Yeees♡?”

“Guys... can’t give birth to babies, you know...?”

She had just looked me dead in the eye and asked me to give birth to her babies.

Last I checked, I was a biological male, which made getting pregnant physically impossible...!

“Huh...? Did I say something weird...?” Momoka tilted her head.

‘Please forgive her, boy,’

the little fox kit said with a wry smile.

‘As you can see... this child is a bit of an airhead.’

“Ah, gotcha... An airhead, huh.”

‘Indeed. From the day she was born, she has been raised and trained for the sole purpose of wielding a Demon Blade.’

Which meant her general common sense had been completely left by the wayside...

“Just out of curiosity, Momoka... do you actually know how babies are made?” I asked.

“Haaah? What kind of question is that?! Are you treating me like an idiot...?”

“Ah, sorry, my bad. Obviously a high school girl knows at least—”

“When a boy and a girl who love each other climb into the same bed and count the stains on the ceiling together, a baby crawls right out of their tummy, obviously! If it’s a baby boy, it crawls out of the guy’s stomach, and if it’s a baby girl, it crawls out of the girl’s!”

“That’s terrifying!!”

She had just described a scene straight out of a body-horror movie!

“Hey, Miss Fox Shikigami...” I said, turning to her partner.

‘My name is Kuzunoha, boy♡’

“...Right, Kuzunoha. Seriously, what happened to this girl’s schooling...? She’s around high school age, isn’t she?”

‘My apologies~ You see, this girl’s highest educational credential is kindergarten.’

“A kindergarten graduate?!”

‘Yes. She stopped attending regular school right after graduating kindergarten.’

“Oh, man...”

Are you kidding me...? The body of a high school girl, and the brain of a kindergartner. That’s the exact opposite of a certain famous anime detective...!

‘Putting that aside, boy—’

“Cut it out with the ‘boy’ already. My name’s Kirigamine Yuji—Sakuya’s older brother.”

‘My, my... Yuu-kun, is it~?’

And now I’m ‘Yuu-kun’...

‘So you are Sakuya-chan’s older brother. Still, how curious... According to the Bureau’s registry, Sakuya-chan’s brother is supposed to be an ordinary non-practitioner, is he not?’

...Kuzunoha’s fox eyes narrowed shrewdly as she studied me.

‘She is probing you, Hero,’ Angra Mainyu noted.

Yeah, figures. Sakuya was one of only twelve Demon Blade users in the world.

Naturally, the Practitioner Executive Bureau had run background checks on her immediate family.

“Look, do me a favor and don’t pry too deep into my background,” I said.

If the Executive Bureau found out about my powers and started hounding our house, my peaceful daily life would go right out the window.

Of course, if they refused to keep quiet, I could always just overwrite their memories right here...

‘Understood♡’ Kuzunoha replied immediately.

“Huh? Just like that?”

‘Of course. Anyone can tell you would rather not be pried into.’

“...Thanks. I owe you one.”

‘Don’t mention it♡ We are the ones who owe our lives to you, after all. Thank you again for saving Momoka-chan, Yuu-kun♡’

Thank goodness her Shikigami has a good head on her shoulders.

“Hold on a second, Kuzunoha!” Momoka piped up.

Whoops—I was talking out loud instead of using Telepathy, so Momoka heard that whole exchange...

“What’s this about ‘fried pie’?” Momoka demanded.

“........................”

Fried pie...?

Did she seriously mishear ‘pry’ as ‘fried pie’...?

‘He was just saying we should get together for tea to thank him, and that I’ll bake some flaky, crispy scones and pies for him at our estate♡’ Kuzunoha lied without missing a beat.

“—! Nice thinking, Kuzunoha!” Momoka beamed.

Wow... she bought that hook, line, and sinker...

‘This kindergarten graduate is even more hopeless upstairs than I imagined...’ Angra Mainyu muttered.

Never underestimate a kindergarten education, I guess...

Stepping right up to me, Momoka grabbed my hand with both of hers and tugged.

“Well then, let’s go♡”

“Go...? Oh, right—see ya later, then.”

Now that the Demon was dead and her arms were healed, my work here was done.

“Not ‘see ya later’! We’re going to my house right now♡”

“Oh, that’s what you meant... Look, it’s already late at night.”

If I stayed out much longer, Dad and Sakuya would start worrying.

“Oh, right. Good point.”

“Glad you understand.”

“Then let’s just go to a hotel instead♡”

“HEY!! Who taught this kindergartner to say stuff like that?!”

Is the Practitioner world seriously okay letting a girl this clueless walk around with a lethal weapon?!

‘Momoka-chan, stop troubling Yuu-kun. Besides, you haven’t finished your job here yet—we need to clean up the damaged street and buildings.’

Oh, right—my Wind Edge sliced up half the block earlier.

“I know, I know, Kuzunoha,” Momoka huffed.

Raising two fingers in front of her chest, Momoka began chanting.

“Unbind this earth, this hour, and this sky. Restore the eyes and ears, the voices and footsteps of the outer world, and release our battlefield from the laws of creation—Fuuzetsukai: 【Close】!”

At her command, the invisible spatial dome enveloping the neighborhood dissolved into fading ripples of light.

And as the barrier vanished, every gouged wall, severed utility pole, and cracked slab of asphalt returned instantly to its untouched state.

“Whoa—how’d the street fix itself?” I blinked.

‘She dispelled the Fuuzetsukai barrier,’ Kuzunoha explained.

“Wait, dispelling a barrier automatically repairs all the property damage inside it?”

‘A Fuuzetsukai is a virtual overlay space constructed through Practitioner,’

Kuzunoha continued.

‘Aha, I see,’ Angra Mainyu murmured in my mind. ‘We were fighting inside a mirrored pocket dimension layered over reality. No matter how much destruction occurs within the virtual space, the real neighborhood remains unscathed once the barrier is closed.’

‘Precisely, little Shikigami inside Yuu-kun~’ Kuzunoha replied aloud, her ears twitching as she picked up the Demon King’s telepathic voice.

Apparently, Kuzunoha assumed the Demon King was my contracted Shikigami. Well, since she was my servant familiar, that was close enough—no need to complicate things.

“Still, I’m impressed you memorized a long incantation like that, Momoka,” I remarked.

Especially with a kindergarten education...

‘It was a grueling ordeal getting her to memorize it... truly grueling...’

Kuzunoha stared off into the middle distance with a thousand-yard gaze. Sounds like she went through hell tutoring her...

“Yuji,”

Momoka called out my name, stepping up in front of me.

“Yeah?”

“I’ll head home like a good girl for tonight.”

Oh, nice—she’s actually backing off without a fuss. What a relief.

“Didn’t expect you to give up that easily,” I admitted.

“Well, Kuzunoha told me to go home.”

Surprisingly obedient when it comes to Kuzunoha, huh...

“Next time, we’re having a date at my house, okay? It’s a promise!”

“Yeah, sure... if I can make time.”

“Cross your heart, okay?!”

Flashing me a bright grin, Momoka waved and began skipping down the street.

Perched on her shoulder, Kuzunoha dipped her head in one last bow.

‘Thank you again, truly. I promise we will repay this kindness properly.’

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I was just out patrolling in my sister’s place, and helping you two happened to be on the way.”

Sniff, sniff... Kuzunoha twitched her nose softly.

‘You genuinely mean that from the bottom of your heart, don’t you? How remarkable... To possess such overwhelming power without a trace of arrogance. You are a rare, wonderful young man—no wonder Momoka-chan fell head over heels for you.’

“U-uh, sure...”

Having her praise me that earnestly out of nowhere made my ears burn a little.

“Hey, Kuzunohaaa! You were the one who told me we had to hurry home!” Momoka called back.

‘Farewell for now, Yuu-kun. Until we meet again♡’

With a soft poof of white smoke, Kuzunoha vanished into thin air.

“See you soon, Yuji!”

Waving both arms energetically overhead, the self-proclaimed kindergarten graduate disappeared into the night.

“Are all Demon Blade users total weirdos or what...?” I sighed.

Talking to her for five minutes had left me way more exhausted than fighting that Named Demon.

‘Shall we head home ourselves, Hero?’

“Yeah, let’s.”

And then—

The very next morning.

“All right, class, settle down... I’d like to introduce a new transfer student joining us today.”

Standing right beside the podium at the front of our homeroom classroom... was an all-too-familiar girl.

Behind her on the chalkboard, the name “Asama Momoka” was written in big, childish hiragana characters.

“Starting today, I’ll be attending this school! The name’s Asama Momoka!”

“.........”

I buried my face in my hands. Sure, she said ‘See you soon’ last night, but come on...!

Less than twelve hours later is way too soon!

“Yuji!”

Spotting me right away, Momoka hopped off the podium platform and marched straight down the aisle to my desk.

“Let’s get along great!”

“U-uh, yeah...”

“Teach! I’m sitting right next to Yuji!”

Momoka declared, pointing at the desk beside mine.

Whoa, hold on... You can’t just hijack the seating chart on your first day. Surely our homeroom teacher would tell her no, right?

“YES, ma’am! Sit wherever you’d like!” the teacher agreed instantly with a stiff bow.

“What?!” I blurted out.

How the heck did that get approved?!

‘Sorry about that, Yuu-kun~’

With a silent poof, Kuzunoha materialized atop Momoka’s shoulder, invisible to the rest of the class.

‘The Asama house happens to be extraordinarily wealthy—and wields considerable political clout.’

...Ah. Money and political strings, huh.

No wonder the school folded in half a second.

“.........”

From two rows over, Sakuya was boring holes into the side of my head with an icy glare. Ow, ow, ow... Sakuya, your eyes are stabbing me...

“Well, well. If it isn’t the ordinary-bones. You go to this school too?”

Crossing her arms with a haughty sniff, Momoka glared right back at Sakuya.

“Your presence is so faint I didn’t even notice you sitting there~”

“...Shut your mouth, kindergarten graduate,” Sakuya shot back coldly.

“Hmph! ...Wait, what’s a ‘kindergarten graduate’?”

...Wait, Sakuya calls her that too?!

“There’s no way someone who stopped school after kindergarten can keep up with high school classes,” Sakuya said sharply. “Why are you even enrolled here?”

“Because I heard Yuji goes to this school, obviously!” Momoka declared proudly. “When we get married in the future, I wanna be able to look back on our sweet high school memories together~!”

Twitch, twitch, twitch. A visible vein throbbed on Sakuya’s temple.

“WHAAAAAT?!” “Married to Kirigamine?!” “What the hell did you do, you gloomy loner bastard?!”

All across the classroom, guys slammed their hands on their desks and glared daggers at me. Man, talk about sitting on a bed of nails...

“You heard me!” Momoka announced to the entire room, puffing her chest out. “In the future, I—Asama Momoka—am going to marry Yuji!”

“““MARRY HIIIIIIIIIIIIIM?!””” the boys howled in unison.

“And then... I’m gonna have Yuji give birth to my babies!”

“““GIVE BIIIIIIIIIIIIIRTH?!”””

Hey, question the biology of that second part instead of just screaming, you idiots...!

“...Unbelievable. I’m surrounded by idiots.”

Sakuya’s frigid mutter cut through the uproar like an icicle.

☆

And just like that, Momoka became our classmate.

Taking a breather between classes, I glanced over at Momoka again.

She had glossy, peach-pink hair tied up in bouncy twin-tails.

While she was decidedly petite in height, her chest was disproportionately huge—the textbook definition of a stacked petite beauty.

Her upturned eyes practically radiated headstrong confidence.

Add in her delicate, doll-like features, and Momoka was easily a knockout beauty on par with Sakuya and the Demon King’s human form.

Naturally, dropping a girl like that into a high school classroom resulted in one thing:

“Asama-san, where’d you transfer from?!” 

“What made you transfer in the middle of the term?!” 

“Hey, Asama-san, go out with me this weekend!”

The second the break bell rang, a mob of boys swarmed around Momoka’s desk.

Word had already spread down the hall, drawing guys from neighboring classes to peek through our doorway too.

...And how did Momoka respond to all that attention?

Sitting back in her chair with her legs crossed, she gave a dismissive snort.

“Sorry, boys, but I can’t answer any questions. I’m bound by a confidentiality agreement.”

Whoa, color me impressed. Since the Asama family operated in the shadows as Demon Blade users, and since Momoka was a total airhead who would blab family secrets if left unchecked,

Kuzunoha had clearly drilled that exact stock phrase into her head beforehand.

“A confidentiality agreement?!” 

“Whoa, mysterious and cool!” 

“Man, I used to be in the Ice Maiden Sakuya camp, but I might convert to the Asama faction!”

Somehow, her cold brush-off only made the guys swoon harder. High school boys are hopeless...

Besides, Sakuya is way prettier if you ask me. Bunch of amateurs with no eye for quality.

“.........”

Meanwhile, my sister had her chin propped in her palm, staring out the window as if the circus in the classroom were beneath her notice.

“Hey, Yuji! Next period is P.E.!” Momoka chirped, spinning around in her seat toward me. “Let’s hurry up and change so we can head out to the field together♡”

“U-uh, sure...”

After giving every other guy in the room the cold shoulder, Momoka reserved a radiant, hundred-watt smile exclusively for me.

“...Damn it! What does she see in that gloomy loner?!” 

“Quit chatting up gorgeous girls, you background character!” 

“Go sit in the corner and read a light novel by yourself!”

Man, the jealousy radiating off the guys in this room is physically painful...

Help me out here, Sakuya...

“.........”

Click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click-click!

...Staring straight ahead with dead eyes, Sakuya was mash-clicking her mechanical pencil so hard that three inches of lead were sticking out the tip.

Uh, why is she furious at me too...?!

‘Bwahaha! What a delightful spectacle~♡’

Inside my skull, the Demon King was cackling her head off. Thanks for nothing, partner. My misery isn’t your daytime soap opera.

A short while later...

After changing into our gym uniforms, our class gathered out on the athletic field.

Today’s P.E. unit was baseball.

The teacher split the class into teams for a practice game, putting Sakuya on the opposing roster.

On my team, however...

“Yuji, Yujiii♡ Let’s do our best out there together~♡”

...Momoka was glued to my arm like Velcro.

“Uh... Asama-san?”

“Momoka.”

“Huh?”

Leaning in until our noses were inches apart, Momoka stared up at me. Whoa... up close, her face really is ridiculously cute.

“It’s ‘Momoka,’ right?” she insisted.

“Well, sure, at night, maybe, but at school—”

“You called me ‘Momoka’ without hesitation last night, didn’t you?!”

“““WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!”””

...Every male classmate within earshot whipped their head around, their eyes bloodshot with pure murderous intent.

Why would you phrase it like that in front of a pack of hormonal high school boys, you airhead?!

“Last night...?!” 

“He spent last night with Asama-san?!” 

“Wait—they went all the way until morning?!”

How did you morons jump to that conclusion?!

“Come on, Yuji, say my name! Call me Momoka~”

“U-uh, look—oh, hey! I’m up to bat next!”

Grabbing a batting helmet and aluminum bat, I beat a hasty retreat to home plate.

“...Curse him...” 

“...Kill him...” 

“...Curse him to death...”

Behind me, the dugout sounded like a voodoo ritual. Yeah, I saw that coming...

Out on the pitcher’s mound stood one of the boys from our class.

“Die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die-die!”

Yikes, the guy on the mound is chanting death curses too...!

“KIRIGAMINEEEEE...! DROP DEAD, YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!”

Winding up with every ounce of strength in his body, the pitcher hurled a fastball straight at me.

...Wait a second, wasn’t that guy the ace pitcher of our school’s baseball team—a first-year prodigy who’d already made the starting lineup?

And right now, a full-power fastball from a varsity pitcher was screaming straight toward my temple!

Hmm... How should I play this? Dodging it would be child’s play, obviously. To a former Hero like me, a baseball thrown by an ordinary human looked like it was floating through molasses.

Even now, I could count the red stitches spinning lazily as the ball crept toward my face.

Still, if I casually sidestepped a point-blank beanball from the baseball team’s ace, everyone watching would start asking how a supposedly unathletic guy like me had pro-level reflexes.

Which leaves me with one option...

Guess I’ll let it graze my helmet and take a dive.

Timing it to the millisecond the baseball tapped the plastic shell of my helmet, I threw myself dramatically backward onto the dirt.

Since I had pulled my head back a hair’s breadth before impact, to any normal spectator it looked like a brutal direct hit.

In reality, it hadn’t even touched me—and with my Level 9999 Defense stat, taking a baseball to the bare skull wouldn’t have dealt a single point of damage anyway.

Thud.

“Yu—!” 

“onii-channn!!”

...Huh?

Before the dust had even settled around home plate, Sakuya was already kneeling at my side.

Wait—weren’t you standing all the way over on the neighboring diamond two seconds ago...?!

‘It appears she activated 【Dancing Blood and Flesh】 and sprinted across the field in a single breath,’ Angra Mainyu noted.

HEY, COME ON, SAKUYA!!

Don’t use your supernatural ability in the middle of P.E. without a Fuuzetsukai barrier up!

Covering fifty meters in half a second is gonna blow your cover to the whole school!

‘Rest easy—I have already cast an illusion over the onlookers,’

Kicho announced smugly as she fluttered beside Sakuya’s ear.

‘An illusion?’ I asked mentally.

‘Indeed. To the eyes of these ordinary students, it appeared as though you took a direct hit to the head and Onee-sama ran over at a normal human pace.’

Oh, nice save, Kicho...

Come to think of it, just like Kuzunoha had her scent-tracking arts, Kicho had illusion techniques up her sleeve.

Guess she wasn’t just an ornamental talking butterfly after all.

‘What an outrageously rude thought, you stupid brother!’

Meanwhile, back in reality...

With tears brimming in her eyes, Sakuya was frantically cradling my head in her hands.

“onii-chan, are you okay?! Please don’t die on me!”

“I-I’m fine, Sakuya, seriously...” I whispered.

“My invincible onii-chan’s voice sounds so weak and faint! Aaaah, that ball must have caused massive trauma to his brain!”

If I jumped up grinning after taking a fastball to the temple, that’d look way more suspicious!

Take a hint, Sakuya—I’m faking it!

‘Why not simply tell her through 【Telepathy】, Hero?’

Oh, right! ‘Sakuya, calm down! Your onii-chan is completely unhurt, I’m just acting!’

Hearing my voice in her head, Sakuya gently laid my shoulders back down onto the dirt.

Then, rising slowly to her feet, she turned toward the pitcher’s mound with a dark shadow cast over her face.

“...Unforgivable.”

‘U-uh, Sakuya-san?!’

“I’m gonna kill him...” Momoka growled, stepping up right beside her.

‘Not you too, Momoka-san?!’

Side by side, the two gorgeous girls began stalking toward the pitcher’s mound, radiating a bloodlust thick enough to choke a bear.

Crap, this is bad...!

“Death...” Sakuya whispered.

“Slaughter...” Momoka echoed.

‘Kuzunoha, stop Momoka! Kicho, hold Sakuya back!’ I sent frantically.

Yet both Shikigami sounded thoroughly resigned as they answered.

‘I’m afraid it’s no use, Yuu-kun. Momoka-chan has completely blown a fuse—once she gets like this, nobody can stop her.’

‘Onee-sama, get a hold of yourself! That idiot isn’t even dead! If you unleash your ability on an ordinary student in broad daylight, there’ll be hell to pay!’

Aw, to hell with keeping a low profile!

“Phew, man, talk about a close shave!”

Springing to my feet in one bound, I dusted off my gym uniform.

“Good thing I ducked at the last millisecond! Didn’t even graze my head—I’m fit as a fiddle!”

I flexed both arms in a showy pose to prove I was completely unharmed.

“Yuji...?! You’re really not hurt?!” Momoka gasped.

“onii-chan, you’re okay?!”

Spinning on their heels, both girls hurried right back over to me.

...Wait a second. Aren’t you two supposed to be elite Demon Blade users?

How did neither of you notice that I dodged the ball right before it hit my helmet...?

‘Because your feint was executed with divine precision, Hero,’ Angra Mainyu chuckled. ‘You shifted your head at the exact microsecond of contact—far too fast for their eyes to register.’

Oh, right... Even Demon Blade users couldn’t track my movement speed.

“W-wait a second... are you serious...?” a boy near the dugout muttered.

Suddenly, I froze.

“That fastball was aimed dead-center at his temple...”

“And he dodged it at point-blank range...?” 

“What kind of insane reflexes does Kirigamine have...?”

Whoops... In my rush to stop Sakuya and Momoka from murdering the pitcher, I accidentally outed my superhuman reflexes to the entire class...

“Worse yet, both Asama-san and the Ice Maiden were fawning all over him!” 

“Damn that gloomy bastard...!”

“Why the hell is the Ice Maiden Kirigamine-san calling that loser ‘onii-chan’ anyway?!”

...Hey, listen to yourself, pal. We literally share the exact same last name! Did none of you realize we’re brother and sister until today?!

After standing out way too much during P.E., a nagging sense of foreboding followed me all afternoon—and sure enough, right after the final bell, behind the school building:

“Hey, you gloomy little shit... Don’t go getting full of yourself just ’cause a couple of cute girls talked to you.”

“...Man, talk about triggering a cliché flag in record time,” I sighed.

Blocking my path behind the gym were five guys from my class—specifically, the pitcher and four of his buddies from the baseball club, who had cornered me as I was heading for the shoe lockers.

‘You could have easily slipped past these gnats and gone home,’ Angra Mainyu remarked in my head. ‘Why did you follow them back here?’

Normally, I wouldn’t waste five seconds humoring high school bullies.

‘Something about the way they were acting earlier struck me as off,’ I replied mentally.

‘Hoh... So you suspect foul play? Very well, then—I shall watch and see.’

‘Appreciate it.’

“You listening to me, you piece of trash?! Quit acting high and mighty!!”

Let’s call the five baseball players A through E. Player A—the pitcher from earlier—stormed up and grabbed me roughly by the collar.

“I’m really not acting high and mighty,” I said calmly.

“Bullshit! Showing us up in P.E. and having the hottest girls in school squealing over you—you doing that just to piss us off, bastard?!”

Look, the only one squealing over me was Momoka—and both she and Sakuya already left campus to handle an afternoon Demon patrol.

“I’m not doing anything to piss you off,” I told him. “You’re barking up the wrong tree.”

Snap! The veins in Player A’s temples bulged purple.

“Your whole attitude pisses me off!! Up until yesterday, you were at the rock bottom of the class hierarchy! How dare a bottom-feeder talk back to varsity baseball elites like us, GRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

‘Is this youth’s temper not unnaturally unhinged...?’ Angra Mainyu frowned.

‘Right? Glad it’s not just me.’

‘Hm...? Wait—what is that clinging to him...?’

Raising a metal baseball bat with both hands, Player A swung it full-force toward my skull.

“Let’s see... how did that chant go again? Oh, right. 【Sunder this earth, this hour, and this sky. Repel the eyes and ears, the voices and footsteps of the outer world, and seal our battlefield within the laws of creation!】”

ZWOOSH! In a fraction of a second, a perception-blocking dome expanded around the back of the school building.

‘Why, that is the virtual barrier those practitioners used—the Fuuzetsukai!’

‘Just copied it from watching Sakuya and Momoka yesterday, and hey, worked on the first try.’

‘Splendid as ever! Reading and replicating the flow of energy has always been one of your greatest gifts.’

Once you could read how mana or spiritual energy circulated during an incantation, reproducing the formula was simple. Having watched Sakuya erect a Fuuzetsukai and Momoka dispel one, I had all the pieces I needed.

“There. Now nobody will see if things get a little messy.”

“DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIE!!”

I had finished erecting the entire Fuuzetsukai barrier before his metal bat even completed its downswing. Now then...

“Hup.”

Swaying casually past the whistling bat, I tapped a light counter-palm into Player A’s solar plexus.

“Bwah—GERAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Player A went skipping across the dirt like a flat stone on a pond. As he rolled to a stop, a black wisp of miasma hissed out of his forearm, and something limp dropped onto the ground beside him.

‘That is... a Demon! Shaped like a snake—the exact same aura I sensed on him on the pitcher’s mound!’

Bingo. Even the Demon King hadn’t noticed the parasite until Player A flew into a murderous rage—meaning snake-type Demon that burrowed into human hosts masked their presence remarkably well.

“Looks like the rest of the parasites are dropping their cover too,” I murmured.

Coiled around the forearms of the remaining four baseball players were identical shadowy vipers, hissing with bared fangs.

“Easy enough to clean up.”

“Die, you gloomy bastard...!” “Stay in the corner of the classroom and oink like a pig!!”

Since we were inside a Fuuzetsukai barrier, I didn’t have to worry about witnesses. Sidestepping the wild bat swings of Players B, C, and D—

“Forehead... flick!”

“FUGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

With a crisp flick of my middle finger, Player B went flying into the wall, the impact vaporizing the snake Demon coiled around his arm.

KA-CLAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

“Gwaaaah! My arms...! My arms are brokeeeeeen!!”

“Ah... my bad. Forgot to turn off my passive shield.”

When Players C and D swung their metal bats at my back from behind, my Automatic Anti-Physical Barrier had deployed on reflex—crumpling their aluminum bats like tin foil and fracturing their forearms from the sheer recoil.

“There you go—【Minor Heal】.”

I mended their fractured bones in a flash, while the recoil shockwave had already obliterated the snake parasites on their arms. That left only Player E.

“E-eeeeeeeek!”

‘It seems this last one has lost all will to fight.’

‘Sure looks like it.’

“Hey,” I said, stepping up to the trembling boy. “Where’s the baseball team’s clubhouse?”

“Wh-wh-wh-why do you wanna know all of a sudden?!”

“The baseball clubhouse. Mind showing me the way?”

All I did was give him a friendly smile, yet Player E nodded his head like a frantic woodpecker.

“I-I’ll take you there! Just please don’t kill meeee! Eeeek!”

‘He clearly believes you are marching him off to his execution.’

Come on, I’m not gonna kill anybody. All I wanted was a peaceful life, and like I said before, bullying the weak wasn’t my style.

‘Indeed—having suffered the cruelty of the strong when you were cast out without a Sacred Weapon, you know that pain all too well.’

‘Exactly.’

After dispelling the barrier behind the gym, I had Player E lead me across campus toward the athletic clubhouse. If five members of the baseball team were all infected by the exact same snake Demon, the source had to be nesting in their clubhouse.

Before long, we reached the baseball clubhouse at the far corner of the grounds. Expecting trouble, I erected a fresh Fuuzetsukai barrier around the building, reached for the door handle—and froze.

“...Good thing I put that Fuuzetsukai barrier up first.”

“Huh? Wh-what do you mean...?” Player E blinked.

Tucking Player E under one arm, I kicked off the ground and leaped twenty meters backward.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

“Eeeeeek?! Th-the clubhouse just blew uuuuuup?!”

Before I had even touched the doorknob, the entire clubhouse exploded from the inside out, sending splinters flying everywhere.

‘Hoh... Fushuuu... To think you evaded my ambush... What a lucky little brat... Fushushuuu~’

‘A giant serpent monster, is it?’ Angra Mainyu observed.

Rising from the wreckage of the clubhouse was a colossal Demon with the upper torso of a woman and the lower body of a giant snake—just like a lamia from the other world.

‘Fushuuu~... So you are the mysterious practitioner who has been slaying my darling little snakelets~’

“Yup, that’s me,” I said, setting Player E down at a safe distance. “I figured those little snakes had a boss nesting nearby, so I came to clean up the source.”

‘Fushahahaha! Clean me up, you say~? Do you truly believe a mere human can stand against the likes of me?! Fushushuuu!’

Inside my head, the Demon King let out a pitying sigh.

‘What a foolish creature—utterly blind to the gulf between your strength and hers.’

‘Fushahahaha! I shall slaughter you where you stand! Feast your eyes on this!!’

The lamia’s slit-pupiled eyes flared crimson as it glared at me, turning the dirt and rubble around my feet into solid gray stone.

‘Fushaaa! How do you like that?! Behold the power of the great 【Stone-Eater】!’

“Huh. A petrification gaze that turns whatever you look at into stone?”

‘Fushasha! Precisely! Terrifying, isn’t it?! Dreadful, isn’t it?! If you wish to spare your life, kneel and become a host for my darling little snakelets!’

“Hard pass.”

‘Wh-whaaaat?! Why aren’t you turning to stone, you bastard?!’

“Because I cast 【Recovery】 on myself.”

‘Magic, you say?!’

【Recovery】 was a standard status-ailment cleansing spell that nullified petrification, poison, and curses on contact.

‘What nonsense is that?! My petrifying gaze has turned dozens of elite Practitioner users into stone statues without fail!’

“Well, I’m not a Practitioner user. ...So, is that the only trick you’ve got?”

‘Guh, nuh—DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!’

Whipping it massive serpentine tail through the air, the lamia slammed it down at my head—and I caught the tip cleanly in one palm.

‘Wha—?! Impossible! That tail strike can pulverize a dump truck—how did you stop it with one hand?!’

“Maybe Truck-kun works on fresh isekai protagonists... but a dump truck’s got nothing on a Hero who already came back from another world.”

Tightening my grip, I gave her tail a sharp yank—RIIIIIIIP!

‘GWYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! MY TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIL!!’

‘S-stay back! Take one step closer and this baseball player inside me dies with me!!’

Parting the scales along his abdomen, the lamia revealed an unconscious baseball team member embedded halfway inside her serpentine torso.

‘It seems the poor boy was absorbed into the Demon’s body to serve as its core host,’ Angra Mainyu remarked.

“Gotcha. So if a human stays possessed by a Demon too long, they end up swallowed whole like that.”

‘Fuhahahaha! Now you can’t lay a finger on me, can you?! If you kill me, this hostage blows apart right along with me!!’

“【Fireball】.”

KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

‘I-impossible... You fired without a second’s hesitation...? Even though I had... a hostage...’

As the smoke cleared, the absorbed baseball player lay gently on the grass without a single burn or scratch on him.

‘How... can that be...? Swallowed in an explosion of that magnitude... yet the human is completely unscathed...?!’

“Hm? I just shaped my mana control so the flames would incinerate only your body and leave the hostage untouched.”

‘Too bad for you, Demon,’ Angra Mainyu chuckled. ‘You picked a fight with the wrong opponent.’

‘D-damn... youuuu~...’

Crumbling into gray ash, the giant lamia Demon scattered on the wind and vanished completely.

“Yuji!” 

“onii-chan!”

A moment later, after I dispelled the Fuuzetsukai barrier, our two resident Demon Blade users came sprinting across the school grounds toward me.

“onii-chan, we just got an emergency alert from the Executive Bureau!” Sakuya panted. “They said an extremely dangerous Demon is nesting somewhere on campus!”

“Wait, seriously? There’s another one besides that giant snake lady I just torched?”

Sakuya blinked, her jaw dropping slightly.

‘Hold on, Yuu-kun,’ Kuzunoha piped up from Momoka’s shoulder. ‘Don’t tell me... you just fought a Demon with the lower body of a giant serpent?’

“Uh, yeah. That small-fry snake monster.”

Even Kuzunoha’s jaw dropped open.

‘Small fry, you say?! Have you lost your mind?!’

Fluttering out beside Sakuya, Kicho shrieked at the top of her lungs.

‘That serpent was the Named Demon 【Stone-Eater】—a calamitous monster that has petrified and devoured dozens of Practitioner practitioners and even former Demon Blade users!’

“Oh, yeah, she did brag about a name like that... Wait, that thing was supposed to be a big deal? She went down like total small fry.”

“That’s incredible, Yuji♡!” Momoka squealed, her eyes shining. “You took down 【Stone-Eater】 all by yourself?! Super amazing! You’re the coolest~~~~~~~~~~~♡”

As Momoka launched herself onto my arm again, Sakuya let out a long, exhausted sigh and muttered, “Honestly... my onii-chan is way too much of a monster...”

☆

Later that night, after the dust from the 【Stone-Eater】 incident had settled, the three of us headed out into the city for an evening Demon patrol.

“First Form... 【Dancing Blood and Flesh】!”

High above a quiet Tokyo street, Sakuya flashed through a flock of airborne Chuukai—Slash-slash-slash-slash!—cutting them down in rapid succession.

“.........”

Standing beside me on the rooftop, Momoka stared up at Sakuya’s display with her mouth hanging wide open, her own Demon Blade forgotten in her hand.

“Wh-what is... that?!” Momoka stammered. “Her movements... she’s like a completely different person!”

Grabbing my shoulders with both hands, Momoka shook me back and forth like a rag doll.

“What is going on with her?! Explain right now!”

“Explain what...?”

“That ordinary-bones used to move way slower than that! Plus, her First Form is supposed to have a strict daily limit—yet she’s been chaining 【Dancing Blood and Flesh】 non-stop all night!”

Up in the night sky, Sakuya bisected the last of the Chuukai in a crimson blur, and whenever her physical-reinforcement technique 【Dancing Blood and Flesh】 wore off, she immediately re-cast it and bounded across the rooftops without breaking a sweat.

‘That sudden leap in power is anything but natural,’ Kuzunoha remarked, glancing up at me from Momoka’s shoulder. ‘You did something to help her grow stronger, didn’t you, Yuu-kun?’

Man, Kuzunoha doesn’t miss a trick.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I helped Sakuya raise her level.”

“L-level...?” Momoka tilted her head, a big question mark practically floating above her twin-tails. “What’s a ‘level’...?”

“You know, like leveling up in an RPG video game?”

“Vee-dee-oh... game...?”

...............Oh boy. Has Momoka seriously never played a video game in her life?

‘Please forgive her~ As a purebred heiress of the Asama family, she was raised strictly without modern entertainment...’

Never even touched a game console, huh... Sounds like a pretty stifling upbringing.

Still... how much should I tell them? Is it okay to let them in on the alternate world stuff?

Well, Momoka always listened whenever I asked her to keep a secret, and Kuzunoha felt indebted enough to me that she’d never rat me out to the Practitioner Executive Bureau.

“All right, here’s the deal...”

A few minutes of explanation later...

“What kind of unfair cheat is that?!” Momoka stomped her foot. “Getting permanently stronger just by beating up monsters from another world?! That’s total cheating—unfair, unfair!”

Momoka puffed her cheeks out like an angry hamster. Meanwhile, Sakuya touched down beside us, casually pulling a clean towel out of her Magic Bag to wipe the sweat from her brow. Looks like she’s gotten completely used to that spatial pouch.

“And that bottomless bag from another world is super unfair too!” Momoka whined.

“...Honestly, I can’t even argue with you there,” Sakuya admitted. “From the perspective of any normal Practitioner user, my onii-chan is a walking cheat code.”

In Earth’s Practitioner society, slaying Demon never raised a practitioner’s base level, nor did anyone possess the lost art of forging true Magic Items.

Practically speaking, Earth’s Practitioner was outclassed in every conceivable way by the spellcraft and artifacts of the alternate world.

“So the only reason Sakuya got this strong is thanks to Yuji!” Momoka huffed.

“Yes... because onii-chan pulls monsters out of the other world for me to train against.”

Slowly, Momoka turned her head and fixed me with an intense, unblinking stare.

“Pretty please, Yuji! Do the exact same thing for me that you did for Sakuya!”

Looked like she wanted me to power-level her too. Well, if Momoka got stronger, that would take even more pressure off Sakuya during Tokyo patrols...

“On one condition,” I said.

“What is it?”

“Never call Sakuya ‘ordinary-bones’ again.”

Momoka had a nasty habit of looking down on my sister with that nickname, and as Sakuya’s older brother, I wasn’t gonna let that slide.

“Wait, that’s it? Just that?” Momoka blinked.

“Yeah. Promise me you’ll drop the insult, and I’ll train you too.”

“Deal! Easy peasy!”

Turning on her heel, Momoka marched straight over to Sakuya—who for some reason immediately ducked behind my back and peeked over my shoulder. (Wait, why is she hiding behind me...?)

“Sorry for calling you ‘ordinary-bones,’ Sakuya!” Momoka declared briskly. “I won’t call you that anymore!”

“.........”

From behind my back, Sakuya stared at Momoka as if she were looking at an alien life-form.

“Hey, don’t make that face, Sakuya,” I chided gently. “You two are comrades fighting on the same side. Try to get along.”

“...Getting along with her is impossible,” Sakuya muttered. “We’re rivals.”

“Rivals?”

Rivals in what—exorcising Demon? Protecting people isn’t supposed to be a competition...

“...Because Momoka is openly trying to steal my onii-chan away,” Sakuya whispered under her breath.

“Huh? Did you say something?”

“Nothing at all. Stupid onii-chan.”

Huffing, Sakuya turned her head away. Even after living under the same roof for years, my little sister could still be impossible to read.

“There, I apologized!” Momoka said, bouncing back over to me. “Now train me, train me!”

“Yeah, yeah, coming right up.”

Pulling the World Door out of my Item Box, I reached through the mirror surface, grabbed a fresh Level 1 slime, and plopped it down onto the concrete.

Round, jiggly, and harmless-looking, it was the textbook definition of a beginner monster.

“Wha—?!” Momoka gasped.

“What’s wrong?”

“S-so...”

“So...?”

“SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE♡!!”

With hearts exploding in her eyes, Momoka dove headlong at the slime.

“What is this little guy?! It’s ridiculously adorable!!”

Squeeeeeeze! Scooping the slime off the ground, Momoka hugged it tightly against her chest.

“Aaaahn♡ So squishy and cute! Seriously the cutest thing ever~!”

“U-uh, sure...”

...In five years of hunting monsters in the other world, it never once crossed my mind to call a slime ‘cute.’

“So, what are we doing with this adorable little sweetheart?” Momoka asked happily.

“You’re going to kill it right now to get experience points.”

Momoka’s eyes flew wide open in horror.

“K-kill it?! How could you ask me to do something so cruel and heartless?!”

“Look, if you don’t defeat monsters, your level won’t go up—which means you won’t get any stronger.”

“There’s no way I could ever hurt little Pigyukichi! Never ever!”

And she already named it...

‘Quite a peculiar sensibility this girl possesses,’ Angra Mainyu mused.

‘Momoka-chan has lived a very sheltered life, you see...’ Kuzunoha sighed.

“By the way, Momoka, you really shouldn’t hug a live slime against your chest like that,” I warned.

“Huh? Why not?”

Sizzle, hiss...

“Because slimes secrete digestive acid to dissolve their prey—including clothes.”

Right before our eyes, the front of Momoka’s school uniform began smoking and melting away like cotton candy in water...

“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!”

With a horrified shriek, Momoka hurled the slime onto the ground—leaving her standing there in nothing but her lacy bra and panties as her uniform dissolved into scraps.

...Well, she might be shorter than Sakuya, but her proportions are seriously impressive. With her porcelain-white skin, she looked almost like a masterwork marble sculpture.

“.........”

Without a word, Sakuya reached over and pinched my side between two fingers with all her Level 10 strength. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...!

“DIE, YOU LITTLE SLIME BASTAAAAAARD!!”

Whipping out Scarlet Blade 【Ume】, Momoka brought the crimson blade crashing down on the slime—only for the edge to bounce right off its rubbery hide with a boing.

“Oh, right—Demon Blade blades have terrible affinity with otherworldly monsters unless I buff them—”

“Then I’ll just beat it to death with my bare hands!!”

Balling her small fist, Momoka drove a textbook karate straight punch directly into the slime’s core, blasting it to smithereens in a single blow.

Clink... As the slime evaporated, a small, glowing crystal tumbled onto the concrete.

‘Ooooh, even if a slime is the weakest class of monster, pulverizing one bare-handed without mana reinforcement is no small feat,’ Angra Mainyu remarked. ‘Her base physical stats are considerably higher than Sakuya’s were.’

Well, Kuzunoha had mentioned that Momoka was trained from infancy to fight as a Demon Blade user.

“Hmph! How was that?!” Momoka panted, hands on her hips.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

【Name】 Asama Momoka

【Race】 Human

【Level】 6

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Even before killing the slime, Momoka had already been at Level 6—still low by otherworldly standards, sure, but six times higher than Sakuya’s starting Level 1.

“Looks like since you’re already Level 6, a single slime wasn’t enough EXP to push you to Level 7,” I noted.

So she wouldn’t catch a chill standing around in her underwear, I wove a thin, warm barrier of mana around Momoka’s shoulders like a cloak.

“Aw, Yuji...♡ You’re so sweet and thoughtful...♡ Thank you! I love you lots!”

Still in her bra and panties, Momoka pressed herself happily against my arm. Please stop doing that... Sakuya’s aura behind me is dropping below absolute zero.

“Anyway, since one slime wasn’t enough, I’ll pull out a whole batch so you can level up properly.”

“Roger that! Urya-rya-rya-rya-rya!!”

One after another, I tossed slimes out of the World Door, and Momoka pulverized every last one of them with her bare fists. So much for “I could never hurt little Pigyukichi”—having her uniform melted off had clearly flipped her switch.

‘My, what is this little gem?’

Hopping down onto the concrete, Kuzunoha nudged the small glowing crystal that had dropped from the first slime with her nose.

“Oh, that’s a Magic Stone,” I said.

‘A Magic Stone...?’

“It’s a crystallized mana core that forms inside otherworldly monsters. Artificers over there use them as raw materials to craft Magic Items, or you can sell them to a guild for pocket change.”

Kuzunoha stared unblinkingly at the little crystal, her bushy tail swaying.

“What’s up, Kuzunoha?”

‘...For some reason, it smells... utterly delicious.’

‘...I completely understand, Kuzunoha!’ Kicho chimed in, fluttering down beside the crystal. ‘Just looking at it makes my mouth water...’

Both Shikigami were staring at the Magic Stone like it was a five-star dessert. Delicious? Since when do spirits eat rocks...?

‘Say, Yuu-kun... may I have this stone? I have a sudden urge to eat it.’

“Eat it...? Uh, it’s literally a solid rock, you know? Can’t imagine it tastes very good.”

Back in the other world, low-grade Magic Stones were dime-a-dozen crafting materials, and here on Earth they had zero practical use anyway.

“Sure, knock yourself out.”

With a dainty nom, Kuzunoha swallowed the Magic Stone whole—and the very next instant, her eyes flew wide open.

‘What is this...?! Power is... surging from deep within my core...!’

FLASH! Blinding golden light suddenly erupted from Kuzunoha’s tiny fox body!

Before our eyes, the silhouette inside the light stretched and swelled—until standing on the rooftop was a tall, drop-dead gorgeous woman with a massive bust, plush fox ears, and a bushy tail!

“What the heck just happened?!” I yelped.

“A-amazing, Kuzunoha! You achieved human transformation!” Momoka gasped.

“Human... transformation?” I blinked.

“She evolved enough to take on a physical human form!”

‘Ordinarily, Shikigami are purely spiritual beings without flesh and blood,’ Kicho explained in awe. ‘Only after accumulating centuries of spiritual training can a Shikigami incarnate a physical vessel and assume human form!’

Wait... so eating a single slime Magic Stone triggered a centuries-worth evolution in five seconds?!

“This is incredible, Yuu-kun! All thanks to you!”

Overjoyed, the stark-naked, impossibly busty fox-eared beauty threw her arms around my neck and buried my face straight in her cleavage! M-my face... mrgh... can’t breathe... suffocating...!

“L-let go, I can’t breatheeee...!”

‘The Magic Stone dropped from an otherworldly monster, and only the Hero can summon monsters to this realm,’ Angra Mainyu observed dryly. ‘Thus, her gratitude is well placed.’

A humble Magic Stone dropped by a Level 1 slime from the alternate world.

By consuming it, Kuzunoha had undergone an existential evolution and incarnated into a physical human body!

〜〜〜〜〜〜

【Name】 Kuzunoha

【Race】 Shikigami

【Level】 100 (Temporary Level Boost Active)

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Whoa... Appraisal says her level temporarily jumped all the way to 100!

Level 100 was roughly equivalent to a hundred slimes combined—a pretty solid mid-tier combatant even by otherworldly standards.

“Kuzunoha, look at you! You learned how to take human form thanks to Yuji!”

Still in her underwear herself, Momoka ran over and hugged the naked, busty fox-woman around the waist. ...Seriously, where am I supposed to look right now?!

Averting my eyes, I pulled a large blanket out of my Item Box and draped it around Kuzunoha’s shoulders.

“O-oh, my... Thank you, Yuu-kun...”

Now that the initial euphoria was wearing off, even the normally composed Kuzunoha looked a little flustered by her sudden growth spurt.

Beside me, both Kicho and Sakuya were staring in stunned disbelief.

“onii-chan, how is something like this even possible?” Sakuya asked.

“Beats me... I’ve never seen a spirit evolve from eating a Magic Stone before.”

In a flash of purple light, the Demon King materialized beside me in her voluptuous human form—wearing one of my spare T-shirts, mercifully.

“Wha—?! Who is this crazy-strong Shikigami lady?!” Momoka gasped, pointing at Angra Mainyu. “Wait... is she your Shikigami, Yuji?!”

“Uh, yeah, something like that.”

“Amaaaazing! She looks super strong and super cool!”

Momoka really is a simple creature—if it’s strong and cool, she loves it...

Stroking her chin, the Demon King inspected Kuzunoha from head to toe.

“I see, I see. It appears the spiritual physiology of a Shikigami is closely akin to that of otherworldly monsters.”

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“In the other world, when a monster devours the Magic Stone of a slain beast, it triggers an existential evolution.”

Momoka tilted her head again.

“And what does that mean?”

“Just as humans grow stronger by slaying monsters and absorbing their experience, monsters grow stronger by devouring the Magic Stones of other monsters.”

“Ooooooh~~~~~! I get it now!”

Now that she mentioned it, I remembered hearing adventurers talk about monster evolution back in the other world too.

“Still, how did eating a single Level 1 slime stone skyrocket Kuzunoha all the way to Level 100?” I asked.

“Because it is a temporary surge of incarnated mana,” Angra Mainyu explained. “Once the stone’s energy burns off, she will revert to her original fox form.”

Right, that matches the ‘Temporary Level Boost Active’ note on Appraisal.

Peering closer at Kuzunoha’s aura, the Demon King nodded thoughtfully.

“However, it seems a Shikigami can consume multiple Magic Stones in advance and store the mana inside their body for whenever they need to transform~”

“Whoa, how come Yuji’s Shikigami knows so much about everything?!” Momoka marveled.

I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Well, my servant here used to be the king of all monsters in the other world.”

“Wait—the King of the Demon?! AMAAAAAZING~~~~~~~! Making the King of the Demon your personal servant is the coolest thing ever!!”

Otherworldly monsters and Earth’s Demon aren’t really the same thing, but close enough.

“You really are the most incredible guy in the world, Yuji! Come live at my estate already so we can build a bright, happy family together♡ Come on, Yuji~♡”

Clinging to my arm, Momoka rubbed her cheek against my shoulder. Hey, I think you forgot you’re still wearing nothing but your bra and panties...?!

And uh, Sakuya-san? Why did your skin just glow crimson with 【Dancing Blood and Flesh】?

You aren’t planning to cleave your own big brother in two out of jealousy, right?!

“Say, Yuu-kun,” Kuzunoha asked, wrapping the blanket modestly around herself. “May I have a few more of these Magic Stones? I would love to keep a reserve stored inside me in case Momoka-chan ever falls into danger again.”

“Hm? Sure, take as many as you want.”

I had zero use for low-grade Magic Stones anyway. Oh, wait—that reminds me.

“While we’re at it, mind sharing half the pile with Kicho?” I asked.

‘Wha—?! Why would you offer them to me?!’ Kicho gasped, fluttering back in surprise.

“What, you don’t wanna get stronger? If you can transform and fight too, you’ll be able to protect Sakuya way better, right?”

‘Th-that may be true, but...’

Sure, Kicho acted prickly toward me every chance she got, but her devotion to Sakuya was 100 percent genuine.

After seeing how down she was on the school rooftop earlier about not being able to help Sakuya more,

I figured giving Kicho a power-up would make both of them happier—and keep my little sister even safer.

“Since these stones belong to Yuu-kun, I certainly don’t mind sharing,” Kuzunoha smiled warmly. “Go ahead and take one, Kicho-chan.”

‘B-but... accepting charity from this man after everything I’ve said to him...’

“Kicho-chan.”

Kuzunoha’s expression turned serious as she looked down at the little butterfly.

“What is the highest duty of a Shikigami?”

‘...To support and protect our contracted Demon Blade user.’

“Exactly. Ordinarily, we Shikigami cannot physically interfere with the world—haven’t you always lamented how frustrating it is to merely watch from the sidelines while Sakuya-chan bleeds?”

Unable to block a single blow or strike down a single Demon, a regular Shikigami could only watch helplessly if their master was cornered.

For someone who adored Sakuya as fiercely as Kicho did, that helplessness must have eaten away at her every single night.

“Why hesitate to accept a gift that lets you protect her? If you let petty pride stand in the way of your master’s safety... then you truly are a failure of a Shikigami.”

...Whoa. Kuzunoha doesn’t pull her punches when she gets serious.

‘U-um... well...’

Fluttering hesitantly through the air, Kicho hovered right in front of my face.

‘...I am very sorry for all the rude, horrible things I have said to you up until now.’

“W-whoa, what’s with the sudden apology...?”

Having the feisty butterfly suddenly act all meek and polite threw me completely off balance.

‘Please... For Onee-sama’s sake, I want to become stronger! So... would you please share a Magic Stone with me?’

She dipped her tiny butterfly body in midair as if bowing her head to me.

She had swallowed her pride without a second thought for Sakuya’s sake.

Man, Kicho really does care about my sister from the bottom of her heart.

“Please, onii-chan—from me as well...” Sakuya added softly.

“Hey, you don’t have to bow your head to me. I already offered, didn’t I?”

Picking up another glowing Magic Stone from the concrete, I held it out on my open palm toward Kicho.

“Here you go. Eat up.”

‘...Thank you very much!’

Fluttering down to alight atop the crystal, Kicho touched it—and in a flash of light, the Magic Stone dissolved and was absorbed straight into her tiny frame.

FLASH!

Just like with Kuzunoha moments ago, a pillar of radiance enveloped Kicho as her form transformed.

When the glow faded, standing before us was a girl who looked around thirteen or fourteen years old,

blessed with delicate features and a pair of shimmering, translucent fairy wings sprouting from her back.

Anticipating the wardrobe issue this time, I immediately whipped a second blanket out of my Item Box and wrapped it around her before anyone could shriek.

“Astonishing...” Kicho breathed, looking down at her human hands in wonder. “I really have incarnated into a human form...”

Right at that moment—

A stray Chuukai came skittering out of the shadows along the rooftop ledge, lunging straight toward us.

“Onee-sama, please step back—allow me to handle this pest!”

“Kicho...?” Sakuya blinked.

Stepping proudly in front of Sakuya, Kicho squared her petite shoulders.

“Right now... I can feel boundless power overflowing from deep within me!”

Smoothly, Kicho extended her small right hand toward the lunging insect monster.

Then she clenched her fingers into a tight fist.

Instantly, the Chuukai froze dead in midair as if seized by an invisible giant hand—

and with a sickening crunch, it was crushed into a tiny ball and evaporated into nothingness!

““WHAAAT?! A SHIKIGAMI JUST EXORCISED A Demon SOLO?!””

Both Sakuya and Momoka shrieked in unison, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.

Hm...?

“Why are you two acting so shocked?” I asked.

“How could we not be shocked?!” Momoka cried. “In this world, only a Demon Blade wielder can deal a fatal blow to a Demon! That’s an absolute, unbreakable law of nature!”

Oh, right... Kicho isn’t a Demon Blade user, yet she just squashed a Demon like a bug.

“Wait, I’m not a Demon Blade user either, and I’ve been blowing Demon up since night one.”

“W-well, yes, you’re the exception to every rule, onii-chan, but...”

Both Sakuya and Momoka looked thoroughly bewildered. Honestly, I didn’t quite get the mechanics either.

Beside me, however, the Demon King was nodding with a knowing smirk. “Aha, I see how it works...”

“You figured it out, Demon King?” I asked.

“Indeed. By devouring the Magic Stones of otherworldly monsters, Kicho and Kuzunoha have acquired true mana within their vessels. And as you yourself have proven, Hero, any being who wields true mana can annihilate Demon without need of a Demon Blade.”

Aha, that makes total sense! Eating a Magic Stone didn’t just give a Shikigami a human body—it filled them with real mana so they could obliterate Demon directly!

“Wait—doesn’t that make these cheap slime Magic Stones a total game-changer here on Earth?!”

“In this world, very much so,” Angra Mainyu agreed. “Even if they are little more than spare pocket change back in the other world.”

Talk about one man’s trash being another world’s treasure...

Before I knew it, both Kuzunoha and Kicho—now a pair of stunning beauties wrapped in blankets—dropped to their knees and bowed their heads deeply before me.

““We humbly beg of you—please grant us more of your Magic Stones! In return, we gladly offer you our bodies, our lives, and our eternal devotion!””

W-whoa, hold on... That’s way too heavy a pledge over a handful of slime drops!

“Relax, you don’t need to pledge your lives or anything dramatic like that! Harvesting slime stones takes me like three seconds flat.”

All I had to do was reach into the World Door, grab a few slimes, and pop them.

“Perhaps so, Hero, yet you are the only person in this entire world capable of providing them,” the Demon King pointed out.

Which explained why both Shikigami were looking up at me like I was a living god...

Well, either way.

“Sure, I’ll farm a whole bag of Magic Stones for you two,” I said.

Having both Kicho and Kuzunoha able to fight at Level 100 would make patrolling Tokyo ten times safer for Sakuya.

“Thank you so much, Yuu-kun♡!” Kuzunoha beamed.

“...Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Yuji-sama,” Kicho said reverently.

Wait—Kicho just called me ‘Yuji-sama’?!

“U-uh, you really don’t need to tack ‘-sama’ onto my name, Kicho...”

“No! From this day forth, I shall address you exclusively as Yuji-sama!”

Well... if it makes her happy and keeps her from yelling at me, I guess I won’t complain.

---

ToC