ch1-ch20 · 018-inter2

Interlude: Hiyori and Mio — Walking Home Under the Moonlight

They'd decided that Sai would teach them magic.

After becoming disciples of Yamana Saito — Sai — and sorting out the details like lesson schedules and compensation, the two of them, Ichijō Hiyori and Kuri Mio, parted ways and were now on their way home.

"Man, even so, that old man... I mean, Sensei — turns out he wasn't a soldier, he was a returnee from another world, huh."

"Yeah. Honestly, I didn't really think he was actually from another world either."

When they'd heard about it from Sai's nephew Asai Kenji, both Hiyori and Mio had assumed it was about Kakuriyo — the hidden world within Earth. But no, it really was a completely different world. An actual other world.

"I half-expected the 'other world' to be a stubborn claim about being overseas, with the old man being an ex-military guy who became an adventurer as his next career."

Hiyori herself had only seen Sai fight through the stream archives.

The Sai on screen was clearly a veteran backed by years of combat experience.

Honestly, neither Hiyori nor Mio had ever seen someone his age move that well.

Of course, there were adventurers and martial artists in their forties and fifties.

But the more technically skilled they were, the more their stamina had declined.

As a result, it was hard for them to keep fighting for long periods.

People shouldn't be able to stay in high-tension situations for long periods and remain that strong.

How much technique and experience would you need to become that strong?

"Mio-chan, that might have been a real good job."

"Good job?"

"Yeah. Because our Shishou is probably on the level of Shinjuku Tower's top-tier adventurers... no, probably world-class top-tier, right?"

"From what we heard, he was trained in an environment where monsters appeared normally in the other world."

"Right. So I think we can get stronger than ever."

Ichijō Hiyori was a genius, a mass of talent.

But Hiyori's misfortune was that she'd never met someone who could polish that talent. Her grandfather and father could teach her exorcist techniques, but in pure combat experience, she'd already surpassed them both. To get any stronger, she had no choice but to learn and train through real combat.

What would happen now that she had Yamana Saito as a teacher?

A great rough gem of talent would be beautifully polished.

It would surely shine more brilliantly than ever before.

Thinking about it that way, Mio's proposal to regard Yamana Saito — Sai — as their teacher could only be called a stroke of luck.

If Mio hadn't said it, Hiyori would have missed the chance.

"I think both Hiyori and I can get stronger."

Mio said that and smiled.

"Demons are getting more powerful every year, so if we don't get stronger, it's gonna be bad..."

It wasn't publicly known, but it was a global problem.

There were reports of entities classified as "devils" attacking overseas. For now, the strong individuals were apparently still sealed, but if things continued like this, there was a good chance they'd revive.

If they didn't get stronger, the world would literally end.

"...If something happens, let's consult Sensei too."

"Hmm... I don't really want to think about getting Shishou involved yet. When I asked Mio-chan to join me, it caused a fair bit of friction too..."

Introducing Mio to exorcist work had drawn backlash from some exorcists.

Something about how it "violates tradition" and "what if it gets out to the public." If tradition could handle demon extermination, they were welcome to try. Of course, they had to be careful about public exposure, but wasn't the current situation demanding a strengthening of forces? Right now, everyone was struggling.

Some people said prayers could exorcise them, but weren't there more and more entities that prayers couldn't exorcise?

It was astonishing that people still existed who threw their weight around with nothing but the banner of ancestral glory — and that banner didn't work against demons.

They had to get stronger.

From Sai's remark when they were talking — "with this much mana in the air, evil spirits would appear too" — it seemed likely that he'd fought evil spirits and the kinds of things Hiyori and Mio called demons in the other world as well.

"Other-world evil spirits... in fantasy stories, that would be liches or specters, right?"

Like any ordinary high school girl, Mio also read manga and watched movies as a hobby.

Some of them had fantasy world settings, and that's where the knowledge came from.

"Yeah, I kind of want to hear more about the other world. Like what Shishou did over there."

"That's true. I think I'd like to hear about it too."

"Let's ask Shishou sometime!"

Yamana Saito — Sai. How had he lived in the other world?

Given the kind of guy he was, he probably wasn't a hero or anything, and it probably wasn't some epic tale. But still — how had someone who actually went to another world lived?

It piqued their curiosity.

Continuing their idle chatter, they kept walking home.

"By the way, Hiyori. Shouldn't we settle on what to call him? Shishou or Sensei?"

Ever since they left, Hiyori had been calling Sai "Shishou," and it bothered Mio.

"...Now that you mention it, I have been calling him 'Shishou' since a while ago..."

For a martial arts style, "Shishou" does sound cooler.

But the way he is, "Sensei" might be the better fit.

Okay, let's go with "Sensei."

Chatting about things like that, the two walked the night road home.

The night road was dark, but the moonlight pointed the way ahead.

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Thank you for reading.

Today also marks a two-chapter update.

Another update was made at 9 AM as well.

Thank you very much.

Update Info

2/2 — Made some small specific adjustments to the arrangements regarding teaching.