Chapter 9: Swordsmanship, and Liars

〈TIPS〉The Anchor can use Bluffer (Matoi) Wearing once the Affinity Level with the target Matoi reaches Level 2.

I had gotten quite used to standing on the battlefield as an Anchor.

Even without any special power, I could at least defend myself if I wielded a sword.

And by using Bluffer Wearing, I was even capable of defeating a "Fictional invaders" on my own.

At present, there were three Bluffer I could perform Bluffer Wearing with: Hazuki, Raika, and Mana.

As for Victoria and Hibari, it seemed I would need to deepen my relationship with them a little more before that became possible. That said, they had been quite happy with the gifts I gave them the other day, so our relationships weren't exactly bad.

Hazuki, dressed in a hakama, held her sword in a proper seigan stance.

Her sharp gaze was fixed straight ahead, her posture ready to launch an attack at any moment.

Facing her were three small "Fictional invaders." Their humanoid forms looked like what one might call goblins.

She was surrounded, but I couldn't imagine Hazuki losing.

"Illusion Style──Whirlwind!"

Her body sprang into motion, unleashing an almost artistic sword technique.

Her horizontal slash cleanly cut through the enemy's body.

With a single swing, Hazuki had cut down all three enemies at once.

That settled one part of the battle. But there were still enemies remaining. Hazuki called out to me from behind in her clear, carrying voice.

"Shota! Keep the enemy on the right occupied!"

"Got it!"

Hearing Hazuki's command, I glared at the "Fictional invaders" towering ahead of me on the right.

It was a giant straight out of mythology. Its legs alone were already longer than I was tall. As for its head, I had to tilt my neck back considerably just to see it.

The monster glared down at me with eyes filled with murderous intent.

And there were two more of them: the one I'd been assigned to keep occupied, and the one Hazuki was currently attacking.

If this had been me before I gained my powers, I probably would've looked up at the sky in despair. I wouldn't even have had the courage to challenge an enemy of this size.

But things were different now.

I had been given the power to fight back.

"That which is the dream of maidens──Illusion Requisition."

I borrowed Hazuki's power. The bravado she wore was "The Spirit of the Warrior Class."

The heart of a warrior who never turned his back on the enemy and continued fighting until the very moment of his death.

Apparently, the ideal she admired was that of the warriors of the Bakumatsu era, who swung their swords while believing in their own sense of justice and fought to open the way toward a new age.

For a coward like me, it was the perfect power.

"RAAAAAAAH!"

Power surged through my entire body. By the time I made my move, the giant had already launched its attack.

"Kh!"

My sword, swung upward from below, collided with the giant's right fist as it came crashing down like a falling boulder. A tingling vibration shot through my palm.

I could barely manage to block it. I didn't have the skill to counterattack with some brilliant technique that would sever its right arm in two.

Unlike Hazuki, I couldn't defeat an enemy with a single strike.

If I had to compare it to baseball, it was like a weakly hit grounder straight into the infield.

Even so, I'd managed to buy us a moment.

"Hazuki!"

"──Leave it to me!"

Like a meteor glittering across the night sky, a dull silver flash streaked through the darkness.

She had already cut down the first giant with a single stroke. Then, with a single bound, she charged straight toward the giant in front of me, using her momentum to unleash a powerful thrust.

"Illusion Style──Wild Charge!"

"──!"

The giant, Hazuki's sword buried in its abdomen, let out a scream that rattled my eardrums.

It wasn't anything resembling words, but I could feel the giant's fear.

"Illusion Style Secret Technique... Hm?"

Hazuki was about to deliver the finishing blow with the momentum of her attack, but when she noticed the change in the giant's behavior, she leaped backward.

The giant began wildly swinging its long arms around, as though swatting away insects.

Its movements were far too agile for something that looked like it was on the verge of death.

Even if its actions were nothing more than blind desperation, the combination of its tremendous strength and reach made it dangerous.

If we approached carelessly, those tree-trunk-like arms would send us flying.

Hazuki and I refrained from attacking and instead watched for the enemy's next move.

Most likely, this was what humans would call "desperate strength"──the kind of power one finds in a life-or-death situation.

The giant, which had been frantically waving its arms as though frightened, suddenly changed.

The moment it spotted us, it charged straight at us without the slightest concern for a counterattack.

A tackle from something that massive was like having a cannonball fired at you.

We avoided it by leaping in opposite directions.

"Tch... A final attack before death, huh? What a pain."

Even Hazuki, who had landed such a magnificent blow moments earlier, seemed unable to find an opening. She couldn't figure out how to press the attack.

For starters, this giant possessed an incredible amount of vitality. Unless we finished it in a single strike, it could counterattack while wounded and defeat us.

Against an enemy that surpassed us in vitality, reach, and physical strength, the only viable strategy was a single, decisive killing blow.

The second charge came rushing toward us.

I could dodge it.

But I couldn't think of any way to counterattack.

As I glared at the giant, desperately searching for some kind of strategy, its enormous head suddenly exploded.

"Raika!"

"Sorry. My backup took a little longer than expected."

Raika's voice came from behind me. She was lying prone on the ground, aiming an anti-materiel rifle.

The giant, its head blown away, crashed to the ground with a heavy THUD and never got back up.

Raika put away her rifle and walked over to us.

"That was one hell of an annoying enemy. It wouldn't go down at all from handgun rounds, so I had a hell of a time with it."

"Yeah. Even after losing its limbs, it still came at us. I have to admire that much determination."

Raika's fed-up expression and Hazuki's solemn one made for quite the contrast.

"Shota's swordsmanship has improved quite a bit, too. If he can hold his own against enemies like the ones we faced today, I can hardly call him dead weight anymore."

"Hazuki... thank you."

She said it to me while turning her face away.

Being praised by Hazuki, who could practically be called my swordsmanship mentor, moved me deeply.

For one thing, Hazuki generally didn't praise other people. She especially almost never gave praise directly to the person who deserved it.

Raika would constantly tell me about the things Hazuki had praised me for, so once I said, "Why don't you just tell her yourself?"

She'd immediately snapped back, "As if I could say something that embarrassing!"

The tsundere act had reached its absolute peak.

It was cute, but such a pain, so I really wished she'd just tell Raika herself.

"Good, good. Looking great. I'm relieved you've properly gotten onto the right route."

Raika, who could be called my other mentor, nodded with a strangely satisfied look as she watched us.

Whenever she saw me getting along with Hazuki, she became ridiculously cheerful.

As usual, I had absolutely no idea what was going on in that woman's head.

"You and Hazuki are getting pretty well in sync, and you've gotten used to Bluffer Wearing, too. Think you're ready for Perfect Synchronization soon?"

There was another stage beyond Bluffer Wearing.

Perfect Synchronization.

It was a technique that temporarily synchronized me completely with a Matoi, allowing me to draw out power beyond what either of us could produce individually.

The Bluffer Wearing I was currently using only allowed me to borrow Hazuki's power.

With Perfect Synchronization, my power and the Matoi's power would supposedly multiply together, allowing us to draw out even greater strength.

In response to my question, Raika rested a hand against her chin and thought for a moment before answering.

"Maybe you could. But save it for when you really need it. If Perfect Synchronization fails, there's a chance both of you could 'Ascend: Flyout,' so it's risky. It's not something you practice just for the sake of practicing it."

As usual, Raika knew more about Anchors and Bluffer than anyone else.

Even if I asked her why, she'd probably just dodge the question with another lie.

"But if you're going to Perfect Synchronize, remember this.──Keep a strong hold on yourself so you don't get swallowed by your opponent's fiction. Remember your own origin. As long as you have that, you shouldn't lose your sanity."

Raika's expression was serious.

When she spoke like this, it was probably best to take her words at face value.

I quietly nodded.

Hazuki said something along the lines of, "I'm going to work up a sweat," and hurriedly left the area.

For the first time in a while, Raika and I were alone together.

I thought we'd gotten a little closer when we went shopping for everyone's gifts, but recently, we hadn't had many opportunities to talk.

Feeling a little happy about having her to myself, I spoke to her.

"Raika, you were watching me grow, right? Don't you think I've been working pretty hard?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. You've gotten quite the cocky look on your face."

I could tell that her inability to say it straightforwardly was her own way of praising me.

"Honestly, it's all thanks to you, Raika. I am where I am now because you've given me so much advice. Of course, Hazuki and everyone else have helped me too, but I feel like you've helped me more than anyone."

"......"

She didn't react to my words. Instead, she silently slipped a hand into her breast pocket.

"Well, it's like this. I saw it somewhere a long time ago, but apparently people save themselves on their own. I only gave you the opportunity. You were the one who actually did it."

She put a cigarette between her lips and mumbled the words.

"You're still smoking? You move around so much. You should quit."

"I told you, didn't I? A Bluffer's body is different from an ordinary person's. It doesn't have any negative effects."

She's lying.

I knew it instinctively.

But I didn't say it outright. Without any evidence, Raika would just brush me off and that would be the end of it.

"But at first, I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do. Now, though, I think I can somehow manage. Hazuki acts all prickly, but she really looks out for me. And everyone else is nice, too."

"I see. That's good to hear."

Her tone was indifferent, but she genuinely seemed happy.

"Now, I think I can finally live up to your expectations, Raika."

Maybe I could become the kind of emotional pillar she'd been hoping for.

I might never become a dependable leader like Raika, but perhaps I could stand beside her, at the same level, and worry about things together.

"......Ah, I did say something like that, didn't I? You don't have to live up to my expectations."

There was a faint trace of self-loathing in her words.

"Young people should do what they want to do. When you no longer need anything I said, forget it. That's probably for the best."

She tossed the still fairly long cigarette onto the ground.

It seemed our conversation was over.

"Raika, someday, let me hear your story too."

She stubbornly refused to talk about herself.

That bothered me.

"Yeah. If I ever feel like it."

A lie.

I knew it instinctively, but I didn't have the words to stop Raika as she turned her back on me and walked away without looking back.

〈TIPS〉A Bluffer's fiction and bravado are poison to other people. When performing Perfect Synchronization, there is a risk that the Anchor will become trapped by the Matoi's fiction and never return.

At two in the morning, Hazuki's soft, peaceful breathing echoed through the room.

I was sitting at the study desk, relying on the light from a desk lamp.

"So far, things have gone more or less as expected. ......There have been some miscalculations, but nothing outside the range I'd anticipated."

I muttered to myself as I summarized everything that had happened so far in my notebook.

The protagonist had managed to fit in with the Fox Squad.

His relationship with Hazuki in particular was going quite well.

Just as I'd planned.

It seemed Mana was also slowly getting closer to the protagonist. I wondered if the advice I'd given both of them had paid off.

......Actually, sometimes she gets a little too close, and the protagonist ends up flustered.

If someone suddenly grabbed your hand and started squeezing it with a completely expressionless face, you'd freak out too.

Victoria and Hibari were making progress at a decent pace, I suppose.

Well, the two of them would have plenty of interaction in Chapter Two, so they were fine for now.

That was also as expected.

The biggest concern of Chapter One──the problem of the protagonist becoming isolated──had more or less been resolved.

With this, Hazuki shouldn't need to push herself too hard either.

The miscalculations were mostly related to the protagonist himself.

If I assumed that this world operated according to the game, then he was the single biggest unknown factor.

"Who would've thought that someone who acts according to the justice in his own heart would say something like 'for your sake'?"

I let out a small sigh.

My mouth felt strangely empty, but I couldn't smoke.

Hazuki was sleeping in the same room.

I could go outside and smoke in the middle of the night, but occasionally running into Victoria would be a pain.

She's a chuunibyou, after all, so sometimes she'd go outside in the middle of the night solely for the sake of saying something like, "What a beautiful full moon.──But one day, it will wane."

The amount of effort she put into it was almost tear-jerking.

I'm the second biggest unknown factor after the protagonist.

For starters, there had never been a heroine named "Liar Raika."

In the game I knew, there was another member of the squad named "Savior Kanon."

Her role had been replaced.

Even so, I should have been able to proceed more or less according to the original story.

Improve the relationship between Hazuki and the protagonist.

That was to prevent the tragedy from happening.

After that, everything should have gone according to the original story......or so I thought.

I wasn't certain.

I've always been good at deceiving other people, but that doesn't mean I can completely read their emotions.

What I'm good at reading is their "anxiety."

What are they afraid of?

What are they wary of?

What are they afraid of that keeps them from taking that first step?

I'm good at reading things like that, but I can't read everything someone is thinking.

"......What a shitty talent."

The ability to deceive people was precisely the sort of talent befitting a villain.

Maybe the fact that I was destined to become a villain had been decided even before I was born, if I was cursed with something like this.

My thoughts had gotten sidetracked.

I scratched my head.

The long hair brushing against my fingers was silky smooth, as though it had been combed, which irritated me slightly.

"There may be unknown factors, but what I have to do shouldn't change."

The words sounded almost as though I'd said them to deceive myself.

R-[Sword That Cuts Down Evil] Taito Hazuki

ATK　Top-tier
HP　Average
IP (Finishing Move Gauge)　Poor Efficiency
Type　Close-range　Physical

Normal Attack　Illusion Style Swordsmanship

Passive　Pride of the Warrior Class　When engaging an enemy head-on, ATK ×1.2
"Being descended from the warrior class, she prefers fighting her enemies head-on."

Skill 1　Illusion Style──Waterfall　Deals damage to the enemy directly ahead　CT 3　Helmet Splitter

Skill 2　Illusion Style──Wild Charge　Advances up to 3 squares and deals heavy damage to an enemy in the square directly ahead　CT 6　Thrust

Skill 3　Illusion Style──Whirlwind　Deals damage to enemies across 3 squares directly ahead　CT 3　Horizontal Slash

Illusion Release　Illusion Style Secret Technique──Exorcise Evil　Deals heavy damage to the enemy directly ahead　Iaijutsu
"Hazuki's highest-damage attack. Takes time to prepare."