◇[Ayaka Sogou]◇
It happened suddenly.
A huge chorus of monster cries.
Roars.
They came surging in noisily, overlapping and drawing closer.
The sound of feet stomping the ground and countless creatures crawling across the dirt without pause.
The faint tremors that shook the soles of their feet.
Trees were mowed down as a giant monster appeared.
"IiiiiiigiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeEEEEE—!"
Medium and small monsters followed behind it.
Ayaka Sogou quickly assessed the situation.
It was not just in the area where they were.
Monster swarms were also moving in distant locations.
What was happening?
The monsters that had appeared seemed to be heading toward some specific destination.
Some of them noticed Ayaka's group and stopped.
But most appeared to be drawn by something else.
They paid no attention to her group and single-mindedly headed somewhere…
It was as if they were being called by something.
In that case—
Could they hide and let the swarm pass?
Ayaka pointed in one direction.
"Everyone, hurry and move that way! Suou-san, please take the lead!"
She issued instructions to her companions.
Right now, the priority was to get away from that monster swarm.
It would be dangerous if they were noticed.
As a result, her judgment proved correct.
Some monsters did notice them and attacked.
But Ayaka easily subdued them.
And so the storm-like great migration passed by.
Ayaka's group was unharmed.
However,
"——No way."
A quiet voice slipped out.
Ayaka let out a hollow sound.
Two dead.
Two people had died.
Both were male students from 2-C.
One had been crushed under a giant-sized monster.
The other had been killed by a medium-sized monster that noticed them and attacked.
The two who died had been in Yasu's group.
Ayaka bit her lip.
She hurried over to Yasu, who was standing beside the bodies.
"Yasu-kun…!"
"Hm? Oh, it is you, Ayaka."
Yasu remained calm.
The bodies had been laid out and covered with cloth.
She did not have the courage to check their faces.
If she looked… the heavy reality might become too much to bear.
The death of classmates.
Her senses still felt somewhat numb.
When it had happened with Touka Mimori, the reality had felt even more distant.
She had not even witnessed the moment of the transfer.
They had simply… died.
Ayaka suppressed her agitation and spoke.
"Did Hirooka-kun and Sakuma-kun… fall behind while escaping?"
"That might be the case."
"—Eh? Yasu-kun… you were not with the two of them?"
"One must protect oneself. The top priority is the safety of this body, which belongs to a superior hero. For the time being, I made the best possible decision. Looking ahead, one of the few superior heroes cannot afford to take unnecessary damage here."
Yasu looked down at the bodies of his two classmates.
He shook his head as if to say "what a shame."
"It goes without saying that the two who fell behind were at fault."
There was no weight to the word "death."
His reaction to the deaths of the two was far too light.
Ayaka glanced at the other heroes in Yasu's group.
She could tell they were all shocked to varying degrees.
But their leader, Yasu, acted as if it had nothing to do with him—
"W-what do you mean it goes without saying…! Those two were in your group, right? When the monster swarm appeared, you did nothing!?"
"...What are you trying to say, Ayaka?"
"You are A-rank and yet…"
"Yes, I am."
Ayaka pressed closer to Yasu.
"Do you not think you have an obligation to protect the classmates in your own group!?"
After saying it, she thought,
"That sounded exactly like something a model student would say."
For some reason, an emotion similar to frustration welled up inside her.
Yet Ayaka could not stop the main flow of the words pouring out.
"The children in your group are relying on you and staying together… so you have to protect them…"
The students who had not been accepted into Kirihara's group or Asagi's group.
Being with Ayaka Sogou would make them targets of the Goddess and Kirihara.
Fearing that, those students had no choice but to join Yasu's group.
But—was it right to blame Yasu here?
She asked herself inside her head.
The students who had gone to Yasu not because they wanted to, but by process of elimination.
Blaming Yasu like this felt somehow off.
Even so—
She had wanted him to protect them.
Even when she had called out to them, they had left her side.
That was why,
"Yasu-kun was the only one who could have protected them…!"
Yes, that was all she could say.
Then, Yasu suddenly grabbed both of Ayaka's shoulders.
He spoke while looking down.
"Da-da-da—"
"Yasu… kun…?"
His grip was painfully strong.
"Shut uppppppppppp! Shut up shut up shut up! Shuuuut uuuup Ayakaaaaaaa!"
(…Eh?)
"What the hell!? Aaaaaah!? Why are you still looking down on me like that!? Why do you always act superior!? What is with that sense of hierarchy!? Wake up already!"
Gah!
Yasu lifted his face.
"It is already just a tiny difference!"
"Wh-what are you— what are you talking about…?"
Ayaka was bewildered.
"There it is, there it is! This is it! Ayaka Sogou always does this! You act like you are not even aware of it normally! Natural! You naturally look down on people! That is the kind of human you are, Ayaka Sogou!"
"Wait? What are you really talking about? Earlier I was just saying that you should have protected them—"
"I do not care about that! Whether Hirooka and Sakuma live or die has nothing to do with me! Ha!? And why the hell do I have to save these guys anyway!? I survived because I am strong! They died because they are weak! It is that simple!"
"Those who have power have an obligation to protect those who do not—"
"Aaaaaaaaah! Where in the laws of this world is that written!? …Ah, see! Ayaka is naturally positioning herself as one of the 'haves' right now! That is exactly what you do! You unconsciously look down on others with that saintly face! You show the difference in stages without sounding sarcastic! That natural way you interact with people… just stop it already!"
"I am not a saint or anything, and I am not looking down on you… Besides, you are misunderstanding! I also lack things! That is why… someone who has what I lack can fill in the missing parts… and we can support each other that way…"
Ayaka appealed earnestly.
"There are things I can do, things you can do… and things other people can do! And earlier, there should have been something that only a superior hero could do… so that is why…"
"First of all, Sasaka and Sakuma deserved to die! You would not know since you were charmed by the Goddess and sent away… but when that trash Mimori was sent to hell, these guys were happily insulting him!? They were always whispering and making fun of me behind my back too! This is karma— fuhahaha, this is a world of karma! Or what!? The class committee president young lady who was born into a rich family and blessed both genetically and environmentally even feels mercy toward people like that!?"
"You might have some grievances against them… but… even so, I do not think there are people who deserve to die. Because I—"
I will not let anyone die.
I will protect them.
She had sworn that to herself.
That was precisely the obligation of those who possessed power.
Then,
"Too weak."
The one who cut in was— Takuto Kirihara.
"K-Kirihara…"
Did she have a slight aversion to Kirihara?
Yasu showed a bit of agitation.
"Yasu, do you know about vessels?"
Kirihara's gaze moved back and forth between Ayaka and Yasu.
It was the eyes of someone observing reactions.
As if measuring something.
"One of my father's friends often comes to our weekend home parties… and among the guests was a guy who made a fortune with cryptocurrency. He told me about vessels."
Ayaka could not quite follow what the conversation was about.
"The idea is that every human has a vessel of a certain size, and after success you can tell whether the person had a vessel worthy of it. Without the vessel of a king, success is only temporary and superficial."
Kirihara brushed his hair back from his forehead to the back of his head.
"Are you following the story? Basically, people who succeed purely by luck still carry the stink of being weak even when they reach a higher stage."
Kirihara sighed.
"A weakling who cannot handle success beyond their own meager vessel lives with cracks forming in their overflowing vessel, looking pathetic… but the person themselves does not notice their own ugly state. Only they think they have joined the ranks of the higher stage. From the perspective of those with large vessels, they just look like delusional weaklings showing off… Apparently such weaklings sometimes slip into parties where businesspeople gather to talk about investment techniques."
Grit.
Yasu ground his teeth.
"What… are you trying to say?"
"Your reaction is weak too, Yasu. Figure it out… The only meaning is that my vessel and yours are vastly different."
In an instant, Kirihara skillfully spun his sword in his hand.
He then pointed the tip of the blade directly at Yasu's nose.
"—Ugh."
Yasu took a step back.
"The classmate standing at the tip of my blade… there is no way that person is one of those delusional weaklings. It is about time you became aware of your own limits, Yasu."
Was it because of the tension?
Sweat had formed on Yasu's forehead and cheeks.
Kirihara continued without letting up.
"Your weakness was proven by that outburst earlier in front of Ayaka when you forgot your thin character act. It was so weak that it cannot even be defended."
Then,
"Buhoh! Bufuu!"
Suddenly, Shogo Oyamada, who had been behind Kirihara, burst out laughing.
"Coming this far and hitting rock bottom in stock price is seriously funny—! I wanted to let you keep showing off your delusional weakling moves for a while longer~! But you got too cocky and got shut down by Takuto! So what? You tried changing your character and acting cool, but~… Senior Yasu, you were totally floating awkwardly the whole time! Pufuu!"
Kirihara exhaled in exasperation.
"Shogo… if you keep throwing weak jabs like that, your rank will drop."
"Yeah yeah, I will be careful. Uhi—, Takuto's evaluation is seriously harsh."
Kirihara spun the sword skillfully around his wrist once more.
"You had better remember this well, Yasu."
The blade slid back into its sheath with a sound.
"Even if you obtain power beyond your vessel… if the vessel itself is weak, all you can do is expose your unconscious pathetic state. Tremendous power is dangerous without a vessel of a king like mine."
Yasu looked down, trembling.
He clenched his fists tightly.
His breathing was rough.
Fuu, fuu— his shoulders moved in time with his breaths.
However, Kirihara paid no attention to Yasu's state.
While fixing his bangs with his fingertips, he continued.
"There might be some room for sympathy regarding how you misunderstood after receiving an A-rank judgment, but—"
"Shut the hell up, Kirihara."
Surprisingly—Yasu pushed back.
And his expression was twisted in a way that was difficult to describe.
"[Sword Eye's Black Flame— Laevatein]."
Black flames rose behind Yasu.
Ayaka reflexively stepped back.
A vortex of black flames burned fiercely behind him as if to intimidate.
Oyamada's eyes narrowed unpleasantly.
"Huh? What the hell, you wanna go, Yasu? Also… why are you suddenly losing your shit? Annoying… Seriously, that kind of thing is annoying…"
On the other hand, Kirihara did not move an inch.
He remained silent with an expressionless face, without drawing his sword.
Yasu stepped forward.
He brought his face close to Kirihara's.
As if challenging him.
"What was that delusional way of picking a fight earlier, Kirihara? Were you that frustrated that I took the prey from you? Huh? Is that why you came at me?"
Kirihara lowered his gaze.
"—You really are at a hopeless level of weakness, Yasu Tomohiro."
"Heh… Do not get carried away just because you are S-rank. You are the one who needs to wake up, Takuto Kirihara…"
Yasu pointed sideways.
(…Eh? Me?)
For some reason, Yasu's fingertip was pointing at Ayaka.
"The existence of an S-rank hero who cannot learn an inherent skill… even though all the other S-ranks have acquired inherent skills. See, Ayaka's existence is proof of that, right? On the other hand, Asagi, who is B-rank, learned an inherent skill that surpasses Oyamada's mediocre one. You understand what I am trying to say now, right?"
Kirihara did not answer.
He looked at Ayaka sideways with an indifferent gaze.
Yasu twisted the flesh at the corner of his mouth hideously and bared his teeth.
"In other words, hero rank is not everything. Therefore, thinking you are superior simply because you are S-rank… is precisely the thinking of a delusional weakling! Just like how you left yourself wide open earlier and handed the finishing blow on the monster to me, right!? Kukiki! Which one of us is worthy of the vessel of a king—"
Zash.
As if making a declaration, Yasu approached right in front of Kirihara again.
"Someday this me will make you understand, you delusional bastard."
Oyamada stepped forward with cold eyes.
"Takuto, I am seriously going to crush this guy with [Red Fist Bullet]. He is way too full of himself. Even a mild guy like me is starting to feel cold."
Yasu turned on his heel.
"Feel free to stay cold."
He spat those words and moved to leave the area.
"You—"
"Leave it, Shogo."
Kirihara stopped Oyamada, who had been about to lash out.
"Huh!? What the hell!? You are not seriously scared, right!?"
"...Huh?"
"Ah— no, um… sorry…"
Goh!
"Ugh."
Kirihara jabbed Oyamada in the stomach with his elbow.
"Falling for cheap provocation would put you on the same level as a weakling. The weaker the dog, the louder it has to bark. However—"
Kirihara glanced at Ayaka.
"I have to admit there might be a person dragging down the S-rank… When it comes to an S-rank who does not match their position, it affects the overall morale. It is going to get bad soon if you do not understand your place, Sogou."
"I am sorry."
"I am doing my best in my own way."
Ayaka did not know how she should answer.
(But… it is certainly true that I am still lacking in power…)
She looked down at the bodies of her two classmates.
The heavy, overcast sky began to rumble.
Kirihara walked past the silent Ayaka.
Oyamada followed him.
Kirihara no longer seemed interested in the current Ayaka.
He was muttering to himself.
"Still, if someone like Yasu is showing up as a delusional bastard—"
Kirihara brushed his hair back forcefully.
"I will have to show the dull idiots the vessel of Kirihara the King in an even easier-to-understand form…"