The Death Mage Who Doesn’t Want a Fourth Time

Side Chapter 51: Reincarnated individuals fly

Traveling through the skies on a military transport aircraft would normally be a fairly comfortable experience.

But the ‘Druid’ Joseph Smith was anything but comfortable.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Or rather, it’s way too ominous that me and these people are all being put on the same plane,” he muttered as he looked around at the Bravers that were about to board the aircraft with him.

“Joseph, it’s the first time we’re seeing each other since your return to work, so stop saying such terrible things! Maybe you should become a babysitter after all,” said Derrick Sander, unable to hide his irritation.

Derrick was a reincarnated individual with the codename of ‘Chiron,’ and on Earth, he had been the homeroom teacher of a different class from Vandalieu’s.

As a teacher, he had been in charge of the same field trip as the ‘Chronos’ Murakami, but unlike Murakami, he didn’t care about being called ‘Sensei.’ He also didn’t treat his former students like students. But still, he had always approached the other reincarnated individuals with the same enthusiasm as he had on Earth.

If asked, he would look after people, and if people put distance between him and themselves, he would get involved in their affairs but maintain that distance. If Banda were to describe him, he was like an Asagi who understood the concept of interpersonal distance.

Even now, his words were causing Joseph to glare at him. But this behavior had just become a habit for him after he became a Braver, as he had often worked as an instructor for soldiers, police, and rescue squads. Behind his words was a genuine worry for Joseph, whose mind had suffered in the past from missions that he wasn’t suited for… though his words were still unpleasant to Joseph nonetheless.

“I’m not concerned about you, Derrick. I’m talking about the other two,” said Joseph.

“What? Haven’t you guys been hanging out a lot lately?” said Derrick.

They looked at the other two – the ‘Asclepius’ Nanamori Misato and the ‘Sandman’ Youdou Masaki.

“You’re not the only one, Joseph. I was thinking that it’s ominous for all of us to be here too,” said Nanamori.

“Yeah, I’m in agreement,” said Youdou.

On Earth, both Nanamori and Youdou had been students from another class than Vandalieu – Amamiya Hiroto. And like Joseph, they had encountered Vandalieu in their dreams.

Though Nanamori hadn’t suffered as much as Joseph, she had been very stressed and considered retiring from the Bravers. Youdou had been conducting his missions without a problem, but… in private, he had been tormented by suicidal ideations.

They had encountered Vandalieu in their dreams, received fragments of his soul, and were guided. They were now allies of Joseph and had recently been volunteering to take shifts guarding Mei and Hiroshi.

But the three of them had nothing else in common.

“This choice of personnel is too strange,” said Joseph.

These three had very different cheat-like abilities, mission history, skills, and knowledge.

Joseph’s ‘Druid’ was an ability that controlled plants. Nanamori Misato’s ‘Asclepius’ was an ability that doubled the effects of healing magic. And Youdou Masaki’s ‘Sandman’ was an ability that caused living creatures to sleep and become unable to act.

In combination with her own magical skills, ‘Asclepius’ allowed Nanamori to save fatally wounded people if they had even a one percent chance of surviving – though there was no guarantee that they would make a full recovery with no lasting damage.

Youdou’s ‘Sandman’ stopped the movements of any human, plant, animal, or even bacteria and viruses that were invisible to the naked eye, with a range of about a hundred meters as long as there were no obstacles in the way.

None of these three had abilities that could be considered suitable for combat. They were still sometimes recruited for missions involving combat, but not very often.

And Derrick’s ‘Chiron’ was an ability that targeted those he taught. It consisted of two abilities: Increasing the learning ability of the target and promoting the target’s improvement.

If he were a private tutor, any motivated student under his instruction would be capable of entering a prestigious university and graduating at the top of their year. If he were a coach for athletes, he would be able to produce world-class sports stars one after another.

His ability had so much potential that before the Bravers were founded, he had been worried about the effects and results his ability might have and settled for working at a gym and making more people successful at dieting… and the reason the Bravers had been able to become so highly capable after only several months of military training was because he had become their instructor at some point.

Now that the Bravers organization was taking responsibility for the possible consequences of his instruction, he was now helping produce exceptional soldiers, police, rescue personnel, and mages all over the world.

In other words, Derrick was extremely unsuited for combat in terms of his ability, regardless of his rugged appearance. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fight at all, but… he was nothing more than one capable soldier.

It made even less sense to send him to the frontlines than Nanamori.

“Well, I get what you’re trying to say. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a dangerous mission, too. But I’m sure they rounded us up because the other members happened to be busy on their own missions. Besides, this mission is important, but it’s just a guarded escort. Don’t be so uptight,” Derrick said, slapping Joseph’s shoulder as he got onto the aircraft.

There was some reason to what he was saying. But…

If Rikudou knows that we’re his enemies…

But it would be bad to abandon this mission now.

Joseph and the others exchanged looks as they followed Derrick and boarded the aircraft.

And so, the transport aircraft took off. Several minutes after it left the airspace of the Federal States, they could hear shouting coming from the cockpit.

“Has something happened?” asked Youdou.

“There’s a friendly aircraft on the radar! But we’ve detected a lock-on! There’s a missile coming at us!” the pilot shouted.

“Ah, so a fighter aircraft of the Federal States has fired a missile at us. This is a tougher situation than I anticipated,” Youdou said, grimacing.

He had been prepared to deal with most unexpected situations that occurred after takeoff… such as a bomb in the plane, the pilot being a subordinate of Rikudou’s and ejecting after making the plane’s flight controls inoperable, or Derrick attacking them.

“What’s the matter? What’s happened?!” asked Derrick.

“A missile will hit this aircraft in a minute’s time,” said Youdou.

“That will be quite difficult to deal with,” said Joseph.

“What?! Can’t we fire decoys?! What about the parachutes?!”

The two pilots were flustered and Derrick was panicking, but Joseph, Nanamori, and Youdou remained calm.

“We should assume that the parachutes have been sabotaged. We can’t rely on the decoys, either,” said Joseph.

“Even if we were able to jump out, we can’t maneuver while we’re in the air, so we’ll be sitting ducks for bullets,” said Nanamori.

“… Man, I hate bullets. I’d rather take on the missile,” said Youdou.

Even in the world of Origin, where magic existed, modern military weapons were terrifyingly lethal. Given that these weapons were required to defeat enemies that were capable of using all kinds of magic, it was possible that they were even more powerful than the military weapons used on Earth.

This missile was an example of Origin’s exceptional military weapons, and it was aimed at a completely unarmed transport aircraft in mid-air. But even so, any combat-experienced Braver would likely be able to survive this situation.

However, three of the Bravers here were certainly not combat-experienced, and Derrick was an exceptional instructor but had little experience in real battles. None of them would be able to protect the transport aircraft from the missile.

“Damn it, we have no choice but to jump out! We’ll freefall until we’re close to the ocean, then use magic to decelerate or glide to land safely, and we’ll have escaped from the enemy aircraft!” said Derrick.

Any ordinary person would normally give up and share the transport aircraft’s fate, so it was impressive that he was even coming up with a plan to survive.

“I’ll do something about the pilot! You babysitters worry about looking after yourselves! Don’t try to be a hero, got it?!” Derrick shouted.

He began moving to have the two pilots eject without parachutes. He was certain that this was the plan with the highest chance of survival for himself and the pilots, as well as the mentally unstable Joseph and the other two.

But Joseph and the others weren’t obeying him. In fact, Joseph grabbed Derrick’s shoulder to stop him.

“Let’s not do that. Tighten your seatbelt and brace for impact,” Joseph said.

“What?! What the hell are you saying –” Derrick began.

“No, Derrick, you should go and give some words of support to the pilots. It might not be much, but ‘Chiron’ might have some effect,” said Youdou.

Before Derrick could give an angry retort, a report came from the cockpit that extinguished all hope.

“The missile is coming!” one of the pilots screamed.

Derrick shut his eyes tightly and pictured the face of his lover, whom he had intended to propose to after this mission was over.

A dull thud echoed across the aircraft and it lurched to one side briefly; if anyone had been standing, they would have staggered and fallen over.

“Th-the missile misfired…?” one of the pilots murmured in bewilderment.

Derrick opened his eyes to see that they were all still alive, and the transport aircraft was still in flight.

“I made it misfire,” said Youdou. “I used my ‘Sandman’ to make the gunpowder and explosive chemicals in it ‘go to sleep.’”

The missile, which had been rendered an unexploded dud by Youdou’s ability, was falling towards the sea.

“What?! Your ability doesn’t work on inanimate objects, does it?!” Derrick said in surprise.

“It didn’t before I started babysitting,” Youdou said. “But its range hasn’t changed, so I’m glad it was a missile. Missiles are helpful in that they come towards us. Well, I stopped the explosion, but I couldn’t stop the impact because of how the law of inertia works.”

“That’s why I repaired the plane’s damage with magic with its effects doubled by ‘Asclepius.’ My ability has changed after I started babysitting as well, you see,” said Nanamori.

Derrick opened his eyes wide in shock.

The abilities that had been granted to the reincarnated individuals had room to grow. Whether an ability could be improved depended on the ability itself and the user’s efforts, but… it was no small feat to make an ability work on inanimate objects when it previously had no effect on them.

Derrick didn’t know of any Bravers who had improved their abilities to such an extent.

In truth, Youdou and Nanamori had never even considered that they would be able to do this. It had likely been impossible, in fact. But they had met Vandalieu in their dreams.

They had encountered Vandalieu, who was capable of guiding an Undead carriage to become able to fly through the sky, and received fragments of his soul. Such improvements and changes weren’t impossible anymore.

“We’ve managed to survive the missile, but we’re not out of the woods yet,” said Youdou. “My ‘Sandman’ won’t reach the enemy aircraft’s engine, since it’s too far away. It would be nice if they just gave up and turned around, but…”

“The allied aircraft… I mean, the enemy aircraft! It’s on the approach! It’s going to use its machine guns!”

“Ah, that sucks. I hate bullets,” said Youdou.

“What?! You did something about the missile, right?! How come you can’t deal with bullets?!” Derrick shouted.

Youdou frowned. “There’s nothing in bullets for me to ‘put to sleep.’ By the time they’ve left the barrels of the guns they’re fired from, their gunpowder has already exploded; they’re just lumps of metal that come flying our way. I can’t make them go to sleep. My ‘Sandman’ doesn’t sap the energy of objects like ‘Balor,’ it can only prevent the generation of energy.”

‘Sandman’ could prevent a missile from exploding, but it couldn’t do anything about bullets propelled by gunpowder that had already exploded. That was its weakness.

“Then we just need to keep repairing the aircraft’s hull –” Derrick began.

“I’m glad you have so much faith in me, but I’ll be out of Mana in no time if the enemy fires hundreds of rounds a minute,” said Nanamori.

She had used earth-attribute magic to repair the dent in the aircraft’s hull caused by the missile’s impact, and activated ‘Asclepius’ by forcing herself to consider it as ‘healing.’

What she was doing was similar to self-hypnosis, and the effort it required rapidly drained her mind and – more importantly – her Mana.

“Damn it. Then we need to eject. If we only open our parachutes at the last second, we might be able to get away,” said Derrick.

“No, I’ll do something about it. If the enemy is closing the gap between us, then I’ll be able to manage. But be prepared to eject,” said Joseph, opening the talisman pouch he had received from Banda and Mei, and activating his ‘Druid’ ability.

Although Joseph and the others were unaware of this, the pilot of the fighter aircraft was a reincarnated individual.

It was the ‘Sleipnir’ Nishikaga Yoshihiko, one of the traitors of the Bravers who had joined Rikudou’s side. His ability improved the functions and abilities of any vehicle or mount he rode and drew out their latent power.

If he were to ride a bicycle, he wouldn’t lose in a race even to a professional athlete riding a bicycle that was built for competition. If he were to ride a racehorse, he would come in first place in any race.

The fact that he was currently in a state-of-the-art fighter aircraft meant that there wasn’t a single enemy who could possibly best him in the air.

And yet, his missile had misfired. Nishikaga was surprised by this, but not shaken.

“This is not the result of faulty maintenance or a mere coincidence. ‘Sandman’… He’s been hiding his abilities from us,” Nishikaga murmured.

Naturally, he knew the abilities of Joseph and the other Bravers aboard the transport aircraft. He could guess that it had been Youdou’s ‘Sandman’ that had caused his missile to misfire.

This ability wasn’t supposed to work on inanimate objects, but he didn’t pay too much attention to such intel. He could have tested it with another missile, but he was the type of person to trust his own intuition.

“Fine. I’ll sink you with my machine guns.”

Even if ‘Sandman’ had been improved to work on inanimate objects, it wouldn’t be able to target bullets fired from machine guns. Knowing that this would be the case, Nishikaga drew closer to the transport aircraft. Of course, he was careful not to fly within the range of the ‘Sandman’ ability.

Nishikaga was still in control. The only reason he had been sent in the first place was to counteract the fortunes that protected reincarnated individuals. If this task had been given to a human of this world, it was possible that Joseph and the others would survive due to their fortunes. Nishikaga was here to prevent that from happening.

It was a boring job – fly out and press a button to fire a missile. Or so he had thought. Now that his target was putting up an unexpected resistance, he felt excited rather than irritated.

“But it’s all over now. Your luck ran out when you became friends with ‘Druid.’ Die, ‘Sandman’ and ‘Asclepius!’ And while I’m at it, you as well, ‘Chiron!’”

He fired his machine guns at the transport aircraft. But although a countless number of bullets rained upon it, they stopped before they could pierce its hull.

“What?! Does ‘Sandman’ work on bullets as well?! Or has ‘Asclepius’ been hiding some tricks up her sleeve as well…? W-what the hell is that?!”

From the cockpit of the fighter aircraft, Nishikaga could see something that resembled grass growing on the transport aircraft’s surface. This grass had stopped and repelled the hail of bullets that the machine guns had spat out.

“Are those plants?! That’s impossible! Even ‘Druid’ couldn’t possibly make plants grow on the back of a transport aircraft that’s flying at this altitude…!”

But his surprised shouts were interrupted by an alarm that warned him of mechanical failures in the aircraft.

In a matter of moments, he completely lost control over the aircraft and the engine’s power output was rapidly dropping. There was something that looked like grass growing on the parts of the fuselage that was visible from the cockpit.

“This isn’t grass, it’s seaweed… No, mold! That bastard ‘Druid,’ he’s thrown mold spores at my aircraft!”

What Joseph had grown on the transport aircraft was a special mold that had been strengthened by his ‘Druid’ ability.

Nishikaga couldn’t understand how it was possible for the mold to grow at this altitude or how it could withstand machine gun fire. But he didn’t have the time to think about that now.

“Damn it, this thing won’t make it back to the runway. I have no choice but to eject!”

Nishikaga gave up on accomplishing his mission and activated his ejection seat. The pilot’s seat was ejected from the fuselage, and the parachute… didn’t open.

He gasped in shock as he realized that mold had started growing on his seat from the moment it was ejected. The mold was breaking down the metal and the parachute to sustain its own growth, which was progressing at a terrifying pace.

Nishikaga undid his seat belt and began reciting an incantation to use magic and fly on his own. In Origin, the ability to fly or float through the air using magic was a significant criterion used to determine the aptitude of fighter pilots.

He was capable of using fire-attribute magic to fly through the air like a rocket. This was more difficult than using wind-attribute magic, but even so, he would be able to make it back alive… But Nishikaga screamed in pain as he realized that the mold was using him as a nutrient source.

Nishikaga screamed in terror as he plummeted towards the sea while being eaten alive by the mold, his identity still unknown to Joseph and the others.

The transport aircraft’s pilots cheered and reported that the fighter aircraft’s signal was no longer on the radar. Hearing this, Joseph let out a sigh of relief and stopped his ‘Druid’ ability.

“What did you do? I thought your ability to manipulate plants would be useless at this altitude… Or did you use some kind of spell?” asked Derrick, confused.

Joseph held up the talisman pouch. “An acquaintance of mine put the spores of a special mold created through magic in this pouch and gave it to me. This mold can grow even in the stratosphere and is harder than steel. It even blocks radiation like lead and blocks magic like shields with the newest anti-magic processing applied on them. I sent these spores outside through the aircraft’s air conditioning, then used ‘Druid’ to make them grow.”

These spores had been created by Mei, who was learning death-attribute magic from Vandalieu. Originally, it had been nothing more than ordinary black mold.

“So that’s how you blocked the machine guns’ bullets,” said Youdou. “But are you sure that mold’s safe to spread? I mean, the enemy aircraft fell out of the sky because the mold spread to it, right?”

“Also, couldn’t you have just done that from the beginning when the missile was fired at us?” Nanamori pointed out.

Youdou and Nanamori hadn’t known about the mold, either. But Joseph hadn’t used the mold without thinking it through first.

“This mold is a very weak kind of mold that can’t survive in natural environments. Without my ‘Druid’ ability, it dies in less than a minute. The mold I released outside should all be gone already, without even leaving any spores behind. And even though this mold can withstand radiation and magic, it can’t withstand the ordinary heat given off by a missile. The spores wouldn’t have reached the enemy without them coming closer, either,” Joseph explained. “And the biggest reason is… Well, I suppose we should start thinking about jumping out of this plane now.”

The cheering of the pilots suddenly turned into screaming. A chorus of warning alarms was going off in the cockpit.

“H-hey, is this because of the mold?!” shouted Derrick.

“That’s right. I grew this mold in order to protect the aircraft from the machine gun fire, which means that it absorbed nutrients from the hull, so the hull is now too weak to sustain flight… I knew it would turn out like this,” Joseph sighed.

“Why are you so calm?! We’ve got to jump! Nanamori, use ‘Asclepius’ to repair the parachutes! Are you ready?! Remember your paratrooper training!”

About five minutes after the fighter aircraft fell into the sea, the transport aircraft followed it, breaking up in mid-air. But because the deadly mold was now gone, the pilots and passengers managed to escape safely.

Danger struck as the ‘Angel’ Amemiya Narumi, who was working with her companions to rescue the victims of an earthquake that had occurred in a city of an African country. Of course, this danger was in the form of an attack by armed insurgents.

For some reason, despite the Bravers, local government troops, and rescue squads from all over the world being present, the armed insurgents couldn’t be suppressed, and their fighting grew even fiercer.

The reason was because these armed insurgents were Rikudou’s subordinates. They were equipped with the latest equipment and able to cast advanced spells, and on top of that, they were completely aware of the equipment and positions of the local government troops and rescue squads.

A high-ranking official in the local government was also a collaborator of Rikudou’s, and he had caused a delay in the arrival of reinforcements.

Narumi and her companions were fighting a defensive battle, protecting the injured people they had rescued as well as those from the rescue squads and local government army who had been wounded in the fighting.

There were about ten Bravers here, all with abilities that weren’t suited for combat, such as Narumi’s ‘Angel’ that connected her thoughts to the thoughts of others and Baker’s ‘Hermes’ that allowed him to create objects. But even so, they were able to hold out.

However, they were in a position where they had a large number of people they needed to protect, so they couldn’t go on the offensive. They would be pinned down until reinforcements arrived. According to the plan, the local government troops and the international rescue squads would eventually become exhausted as they continued to fight from a disadvantageous position, and then the reincarnated individuals and limited death-attribute-magic users sent by Rikudou would move in and dispose of Narumi and the rest of the Bravers.

But suddenly, a flying car appeared.

“What is that?”

“Has ‘Sleipnir’ come in some strange vehicle?!’”

The Bravers were looking up at a black van. It looked sturdy, but there were no wings or rocket engines attached to it. However, there was a black object on its roof.

“J-Jesus…!” Baker muttered, praying to God at the sight of Banda, who was flying with the wings on his back while holding the van with the suction cups he had produced on the ends of his six jointed legs.

This certainly didn’t look like reinforcements; Baker could only assume that some new enemy that was even more terrifying than the armed insurgents had appeared.

It seemed that the subordinates of Rikudou who were dressed up as armed insurgents had thought the same thing. About an hour had passed since the attack on the Amemiya residence, but they had cut communications in the area so that Narumi and the other Bravers couldn’t communicate with the outside; they hadn’t been able to acquire any intel from the outside, either.

If they had been provided with the necessary intel, they would likely have fled as fast as they possibly could or thrown their weapons down and surrendered. But because they hadn’t, they pulled their triggers, taking aim at Banda and the vehicle he was carrying.

As bullets struck the vehicle and caused loud thuds to reverberate loudly inside, Hiroshi screamed as he clung onto Ulrika.

“Is it really gonna be alright?!” Hiroshi shouted.

“There’s nothing to worry about. This car was already bulletproof to begin with… and there’s a coating of my blood and exoskeleton around it now. And I’ve actually replaced the windows with my eyes’ lenses that have been stretched out to be very thin. Even anti-tank rifles can’t put a scratch on the car now,” Banda assured him.

“Anti-tank rifle?” said Mei, confused by these words she had never heard before.

“I’m talking about the guns that are shooting the bullets that make the loudest noises when they hit the car, Meh-kun,” Banda told her.

Hiroshi, Mei, and Ulrika were sitting in the car that Banda had improved, wearing seat belts made from his tentacles.

“I’m not talking about the car, I’m talking about Aunt Ulrika! She’s passed out!” Hiroshi shouted.

It seemed that Hiroshi was trying to wake her up rather than clinging onto her out of fear.

“… I forgot about that. Ulrika, I’m sorry, but please wake up,” Banda said gently.

Startled, Ulrika jolted awake. “W-where am I?!”

“Sorry, but I need you to use ‘Echo’ – right now, while it’s still just the armed insurgents that are attacking us,” said Banda.

“G-got it! ‘Echo!’”

The gunfire that had been focused on the car suddenly turned 180 degrees and returned to the men who were firing.

With that, Rikudou’s subordinates fell silent. Of course, there were still plenty more of them, as they had half-surrounded this city, whose urban functions had been paralyzed by the earthquake. However –

“Enemy reinforcements!” one of the mercenaries shouted.

“… It’s time,” said another. “Retreat!”

The mercenaries had never been ordered to fight against the Bravers, and they certainly hadn’t been ordered to exterminate this monstrosity. They began retreating in an organized fashion.

With that, the reincarnated individuals on Rikudou’s side and the limited death-attribute magic users who were supposed to eliminate Narumi and the others couldn’t make their move. There was no way they could win that battle while also taking on the local government troops, the international rescue squads, and the flying monstrosity as well.

They also retreated, hiding themselves among the mercenaries.

The local government troops were perplexed by these events, but they kept their weapons aimed warily at Banda. It was Narumi and the others who made them put their weapons down.

“Our friend, the ‘Echo’ Ulrika, is inside that car! That car is an ally!” Narumi said.

“R-really? Then is that thing on top of the car a special ability of one of your friends as well?” asked the commander of the troops.

“I think so. I need to communicate with Ulrika and find out. Until then, please don’t attack!” Narumi pleaded.

The commander nodded and ordered his men not to shoot.

People from all over the world had ill feelings and suspicions towards the Bravers, but it was fortunate that in this case, they had been rescuing people and fighting against a common enemy just moments earlier. Narumi and her companions had rescued a remarkable number of people, and the battle against the insurgents had created a sense of fellowship between them and the soldiers. This sense of fellowship prevailed over Banda’s grotesque appearance.

By communicating with Ulrika using ‘Angel,’ Narumi gained a rough understanding of the situation. She decided to explain to everyone else that Banda was one of the Bravers’ abilities, so he was accepted for now.

“I have mixed feelings about this,” Banda murmured to himself as he watched Hiroshi and Mei running over to be safely reunited with their mother.

“Well, it’s a mother and her children. I don’t think it can be helped –” Ulrika began.

“I never thought that I would be treated as one of the Bravers’ abilities.”

“Oh. That’s what you have mixed feelings about.”

“Yes. I would have been fine with being considered a part of your ability, or the ability of Joseph, Youdou, or Nanamori… Can I call you ‘master’ for now?”

“Please don’t. The responsibility is so heavy that I’ll be crushed to death.”

Banda had no misgivings towards the fact that Mei and Hiroshi loved their parents. It was a very wholesome thing, after all. Given that his objective was Mei and Hiroshi’s happiness, their family being amicable was something he welcomed.

Narumi walked over, accompanied by Mei and Hiroshi.

“Umm, are you Banda? Mei’s friend… the… person? Who helped Ulrika and Joseph-kun?” she asked.

“Yes, Meh-kun and Hiroshi’s mom. I’m Banda. I think it would be best for you to think of me as something like Meh-kun’s guardian spirit,” said Banda, introducing himself in a rather business-like tone. He was slightly surprised at the fact that he felt no emotion regarding the fact that he was speaking with Narumi. “By the way, what shall we do now? Personally, I think we should move to a safe location and treat the injured while we wait for everything to be resolved.”

He had no intention of revealing his true identity to Narumi. He didn’t care if Meh-kun’s mother were to realize his true identity herself, but he saw no point in going out of his way to tell her if she didn’t.

“No, if Rikudou-kun… if Rikudou has betrayed us and is trying to do something dangerous, it’s our responsibility to stop him,” Narumi said. “I don’t really know what you are, but… it’s true that you protected Mei and the others, so I believe you. Please take care of my children in the future as well.”

Narumi didn’t realize Banda’s true identity after all. But that was to be expected. There wasn’t a single thing in common between the appearances of Banda and Amamiya Hiroto, her former classmate.

Even his voice and tone of speech were different. If she were capable of recognizing him despite all this, she would have realized long ago that the ‘Undead’ was Amamiya Hiroto.

“I see… Well, I thought you’d say that. Very well. I will take responsibility and protect Meh-kun, Hiroshi, and Ulrika,” said Banda. “Now then, shall we go to where Mari-chan is, Meh-kun?”

“Huh? You’re going to protect Ulrika as well? I mean, I’m happy about that, but who is Mari-chan, and where are you going? And Mei is going as well?!” said a bewildered Narumi.

“Yeah!” said Mei. “We’re going to where Mari-chan and the others are! Gab-chan, Bo-kun, and Yukkie are there, too!”

“Mom, this guy’s normally a good guy, but he never listens to what people are saying, so you’d better be careful,” Hiroshi warned his mother.

Banda gave a dry laugh. “Hiroshi, you sure know how to hit me where it hurts.”

With that, Mei and Hiroshi walked towards the car to get back in.

“Ah, I have to go through this again!” Ulrika grumbled, but she got into the car as well.

“H-hey! Don’t think you can just do whatever you like! You think we’re just gonna let you?!” Baker shouted.

But to Banda, he was nothing more than a stranger, and his words wouldn’t stop him.

“You won’t let me. So what would that entail?” said Banda.

Baker froze, unable to say anything in response.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do about a monster that was completely unharmed after withstanding a hail of bullets.

When a monster stops hiding, it has nothing to be afraid of.

“Wait! I’m going with you!” said Narumi.

“Huh?” Banda said as Narumi got into the car as well.

“Mama, you’re coming to where Mari-chan and the others are, too?! Yay!” Mei said happily, removing Banda’s ability to refuse Narumi’s request.

“It cannot be helped. Well, Meh-kun’s father and his group should be there as well, so I’ll be counting on you to explain things and persuade him,” said Banda.

“I can understand explaining things to him, but… what do you mean by ‘persuade?’” Narumi asked.

“Let’s talk about that in the car. It’s a delicate matter that I would rather not have heard by soldiers and rescue squads from all over the world,” said Banda.

“Banda, that’s nice and all, but I’m hungry,” said Hiroshi.

“Ah, come to think of it, it’s well past time for a meal. Then I suppose we’ll stop by at a supermarket on the way,” Banda said.

“Stop by at a supermarket?! Are you serious?!” exclaimed Narumi.

“Yes, and you won’t have to worry about paying. I’ve got a credit card that I’ve taken from ‘Balor,’ and I know its PIN as well… It can be used in Africa, right? If not, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until we can get to a supermarket in Europe or the Middle East.”

And with that, Banda grabbed the car and took off once more, now carrying one additional passenger.