Chapter 7 (202): Hikigaya on the Blade's Edge
Old Man Rom staggered back a few steps, his expression softening. In truth, he wasn't afraid of death. Having lived this long, working this trade meant risking his life every day among discarded trash.
But Felt was still so young. Growing up in the slums, she still had a long future ahead of her. She could have escaped this place.
Rom couldn't bring himself to treat Felt, whom he saw as family, as a bargaining chip.
If that insignia truly carried such danger, then the correct choice now was to withdraw immediately.
Hikigaya seemed to read Rom's thoughts and spoke directly: "There's nothing shameful about retreating. When faced with danger, everyone instinctively prioritizes their own survival. And clearly, Old Man Rom, you've made a very wise choice."
Rom's expression remained stern as he glared at Hikigaya and Emilia.
"If what you said is really true, then we won't get involved with that insignia, and we can't. No, from the very beginning, we didn't even know such an insignia existed."
Hikigaya shook his head and showed a meaningful smile.
"It's too late, Old Man Rom. You've already heard something you shouldn't have. From this point on, you can only be on the same boat as us. But honestly, that's not a bad thing. If you don't completely erase the enemy's existence, then even if you and Felt run to the ends of the world, do you really think you'll be able to live in peace?"
Rom's expression twitched uncontrollably as he focused his gaze entirely on Hikigaya.
"You… used me?"
"No. I've made it very clear. From the start, you had no way out. The only choice was to be on the same boat as us, because the enemy's target is all of us. And you should understand this clearly, the thing binding us together isn't some lofty sense of unity, but the existence of a powerful enemy."
Rom: "Then how am I supposed to trust you?"
Hikigaya: "You don't need to trust me. The one you should trust is the Royal Selection candidate standing next to you. You know who she is, right? She's the one qualified to hold the insignia. If she becomes queen in the future, everything here could change under her rule. Helping her is the same as helping yourself."
Rom looked once more at the cloaked girl. Though he couldn't see her face clearly, after receiving her nod, he could only let out a helpless sigh.
From the very beginning, he had never truly had a choice.
Still, if it was for Felt, if it was for everyone here, then even if this was a black ship, he would have to board it.
[Puck: "Lia, Hikigaya really killed two birds with one stone. Not only did he solve the problem of manpower, he even secured support for you."]
[Emilia: "It's a debt I can never repay… yet the me in the video knows nothing about it. It feels like I owe Hikigaya-kun so much."]
[Hikigaya: "Don't think about it that way. When you blocked that blade for me, you probably never thought about wanting anything in return. You acted purely on instinct. If anything, the unrepayable debt is mine."]
[Emilia: "Even so…"]
[Hikigaya: "There's nothing to dwell on. If I only had one life in this world, I would've died long ago. What I'm doing now is nothing more than a drop in the bucket."]
[…]
---
With Rom's agreement secured, the three quickly began discussing their strategy.
After suffering once already, Hikigaya was keenly aware that their enemy wasn't just some ordinary assassin. Her speed was absurd, far beyond what a normal person like him could even perceive. On top of that, there was something even stranger: when Puck had transformed into a giant beast and clearly crushed her, she had still reappeared in front of them afterward.
Hikigaya didn't understand the magic systems of this world, but he was certain it was something akin to substitution techniques or escape skills, some way of shedding her body.
"Puck, until we confirm her death, don't let your guard down."
Puck replied in his usual carefree tone, "Relax, I'm very cautious!"
'Somehow… Puck still feels unreliable.'
"Old Man Rom, we'll temporarily leave and wait outside. Just lure her into the warehouse. Once she's inside, her speed will be severely limited. You don't need to tell Felt about our plan. When the transaction reaches the halfway point, we'll come in and surround her, then force information out of her."
Rom: "Sounds good. But will this really work?"
Being questioned like that, Hikigaya was momentarily at a loss for words. Although he believed they had enough cards in hand, he had no clear idea how strong Elsa truly was, or where their own strength ranked in comparison.
Before he could answer, Puck popped out again and patted his chest.
"Relax! With me around, nothing will go wrong!"
Hikigaya: "Well, that's what he says."
Rom: "Alright then. Let's make this a big one. I want to see which bastard decided to mess with us."
Emilia clenched her fist enthusiastically.
"Yes! Let's do our best together!"
---
After some simple preparations, Hikigaya and Emilia left as planned and climbed a small hill overlooking the warehouse.
By the time dusk arrived, Felt finally hopped her way inside, wearing a smile that only a pure, innocent girl could have.
Watching Felt, Hikigaya felt her emotions rub off on him. Though what she did was wrong, the fact that she could still find joy growing up in such an environment showed how optimistic she was.
And yet… in that other timeline, she had been so utterly desperate.
Once again, Hikigaya swore that he would never let that hellish scene repeat itself.
The sun finally sank below the horizon. The afterglow of dusk faded from the sky, and as darkness fell, only the lights around the warehouse continued to shine.
...
Emilia: "Hikigaya-kun, what do we do? I can't see anything at all."
Hikigaya gently pressed a hand against Emilia's neck.
"Shh."
Emilia flinched, startled. Then, feeling the warmth at her neck, her cheeks instantly flushed red.
She leaned closer to his ear and whispered softly, "Hikigaya-kun… did you notice something?"
Hikigaya: "The rats are coming."
Emilia looked back toward the warehouse again, but still saw nothing.
At the same time, a faint smile appeared on Hikigaya's face.
"Let's go. It's our turn to enter."
Hikigaya took Emilia's hand and slowly stood up.
Emilia still looked confused. Her eyes had been fixed on the warehouse the whole time, yet she hadn't seen anything.
Puffing out her cheeks slightly, she asked in a huffy tone, "Hikigaya-kun, are you actually really amazing? Why couldn't I see anything?"
Hikigaya: "Some things can't be seen with just your eyes."
Emilia: "I don't get it… You seem to know so much, and the things you say are always so mysterious. Your logic is so clear, whether you're talking to me or to Old Man Rom…"
Hikigaya smiled faintly and replied with just one sentence: "One day, you'll understand. Some things are never as simple as they look on the surface."
With time pressing, Emilia didn't ask further. The two quickened their pace and soon arrived in front of the warehouse.
"Puck, ready?"
Puck: "Ready anytime!"
"Emilia, how about you?"
"I've been ready for a while now."
---
A few minutes ago.
Felt was sitting on Rom's counter, swinging her legs, clearly getting impatient.
"Hey, Old Man Rom… you don't think we're getting played, do you?"
"In this world, there's no one who dares play Old Man Rom."
Felt couldn't be bothered listening to his bragging and continued humming to herself.
The next instant, a shadow appeared, no one knew from where, and suddenly sat across from Felt.
"Do you have what I want?"
Felt jumped down from the counter and pulled the insignia from her pocket.
"This is what you're after, right? Where's my payment?"
Elsa casually reached into her chest and pulled out a pouch of gold coins she'd prepared in advance.
Without thinking much, Felt handed over the insignia.
The next moment.
Clang!
The collision of a sickle and a spiked club instantly snapped Felt back to reality.
Rom: "Felt, get back!"
Elsa smiled lightly.
"Oh? Fast reaction. Or should I say… you already guessed I'd betray you?"
Rom braced himself with all his strength, resisting her attack while sneering.
"Who do you think I am? These days, backstabbing clients are everywhere. You think you're the first?"
Elsa leapt back gracefully, landing atop a table. She slowly licked her sickle.
"Then let's see just how capable the so-called giant, Old Man Rom, really is."
Rom showed no fear. He slammed his club against the ground.
"You'll find out."
Felt clenched her teeth and glared at Elsa.
"You bastard!"
At the same time, Puck and Emilia launched ice magic from behind the door, summoning sharp ice spikes. Even so, Elsa dodged them with her incredible speed.
The battle erupted instantly.
Unlike last time, Puck didn't transform into a giant beast. He simply hovered in the air, controlling ice magic to gradually wear Elsa down.
Hikigaya knew Puck was capable of far more, he was deliberately holding back, likely due to Emilia. The exact reason remained unclear.
But this was fine.
Once Puck transformed, everyone nearby, including Hikigaya himself, would eventually be turned into ice statues.
As an observer, Hikigaya stood behind Emilia, watching Elsa's movements closely.
While continuously launching ice spikes, Puck remarked, "For a girl, she's really good at fighting."
Elsa blocked the ice with her sickle, sharp sounds ringing out as metal clashed with ice. For the moment, neither side gained the upper hand.
Elsa looked relaxed, speaking as she dodged.
"It's been a long time since I was treated like a girl. How nostalgic."
Puck: "Most of my opponents look like babies to me. That said, your strength isn't bad, but doing things like this is really a shame."
Elsa leapt onto the wall, still talking nonstop despite being at a disadvantage.
"To receive praise from a spirit… I'm honored."
This war of attrition turned Rom, Hikigaya, and Felt into mere spectators. From the start, none of them had any room to intervene.
Rom: "Something's off. If it's a spirit, then the key to victory is how much time it can remain manifested. She must know that too, that's why she keeps dodging."
Hikigaya glanced at the clock on the wall. In his first death, he hadn't seen the moment Puck disappeared, Or rather, before the spirit's time ran out, he had already lost the chance to resist due to a sneak attack.
Magic always left traces. Puck didn't underestimate his opponent. Together with Emilia, he finally connected all the ice spikes that had been cast earlier, sealing off all of Elsa's escape routes in an instant.
"You didn't think I was just randomly casting magic, did you? Don't let my cuteness fool you, I do have a brain."
Elsa smiled meaningfully.
"Well, this is troublesome."
Puck turned to Hikigaya.
"Do you really think an enemy like this can be captured alive? To be honest, my time is almost up."
Hikigaya looked at the immobilized Elsa, then at Puck, and finally nodded slowly.
"If we kill her here, her employer can just send someone even stronger. If we can't strike at the source, then killing a few more like her is meaningless."
Elsa frowned and finally turned her gaze toward Hikigaya, the man who had barely shown any presence until now.
"You knew everything I would do, didn't you?"
"I just reacted to what came. In truth, I knew nothing. From the moment I arrived here, I was panicked, nervous, afraid, overwhelmed by anxiety. And even now, it's the same."
Elsa couldn't quite see through this ordinary-looking man. Still, it was far too early to say she had lost.
She twisted both legs until the bones snapped, forcibly breaking free with sheer brute force. Heating the ice spikes attached to her boots, she stabilized herself and landed.
Hikigaya: "Looks like some fights have to be carried through to the very end."
Though he didn't know what she fought for, one thing was certain, she hadn't abandoned her intent to kill.
And so…
As Elsa's speed dropped, Puck finally began to show signs of exhaustion.
Yes, his time was up.
After giving Emilia a few brief instructions, he vanished from sight.
Rom: "We can't keep this up. Let's all go in together."
Felt tugged on Rom's sleeve.
"Shouldn't we just run?"
Rom knew his strength well. Even if they escaped now, would they be able to run forever?
This time, he had to refuse.
For Felt's sake.
Hikigaya desperately searched for a way to end it in a single decisive blow. Just as Rom had said, Elsa was far stronger than expected. Dragging it out would only lead to mutual destruction.
He was still missing something.
A true solution.
The clashes continued. Even weakened, Elsa's speed was still impossible for ordinary people to dodge.
Emilia defended with magic, but Elsa had completely seized the initiative. This couldn't go on.
'There's still too little I can do. Even using everything I have, facing this overwhelming strength… what options do I even have left?'
'At this rate, we'll definitely lose. Damn it, Puck really is unreliable. A miracle dropping from the sky is impossible now. I'll have to think of something myself.'
'She targets the abdomen, has a cicada-shell escape ability, insane speed, damn it, she's practically a monster!'
Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to stall for time.
But now.
There was no chance.
Because Emilia was sent flying toward him by a kick.
Hikigaya reacted just in time and caught her, but no matter how he looked at it, they no longer had any means of counterattack left.
Facing the scythe that drew closer step by step, it felt as though everything had returned to that hell from before, a scene Hikigaya absolutely never wanted to witness again.
"Emilia, are you alright?"
Hikigaya held Emilia in his arms, and at that moment she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. As expected, that previous strike had already caused serious internal injuries.
She still tried to force herself to stand up, wanting to continue blocking in front of Hikigaya, but there was no way he would allow an injured Emilia to keep fighting. That would be no different from sending her straight to her death.
'Hikigaya, it's time to abandon those pitiful ideas of yours.'
'Accept it. Without the resolve to kill, it's impossible to survive in this world.'
'You should have understood this long ago. And now, you must make a choice.'
Hikigaya slowly stood up and placed himself in front of Emilia, who was half-sitting on the ground.
As Elsa pressed closer step by step, he did not retreat at all. Instead, Elsa grew increasingly curious about this young man and revealed a faint smile.
He casually picked up an ice spike. Just doing that caused his hand to turn bright red, as if frostbitten: "Elsa the Bowel Hunter… I'm honestly curious. How much money does it take to hire an assassin like you?"
Elsa smiled calmly: "That's not something you need to be thinking about right now."
Hikigaya: "To be honest, the old me wouldn't have wanted to get involved in matters big or small like this. But now, that hesitation doesn't exist anymore. After all, a person only has one life, even someone like you, an assassin, should understand that."
Elsa chuckled softly: "Hehehe… I admire your courage. But what exactly do you plan to use to stop me? You're just an ordinary man. A completely powerless ordinary man."
Yes.
There was very little he could actually do.
At the very least… he could repay that slash Emilia had taken.
Without any more empty words, Elsa showed no hesitation. She raised her scythe and swung it down.
"Slash!"
"Bang!"
The scene that followed left Felt, who had been watching the fight, completely stunned. Emilia was the same, she had no idea what had just happened. She was about to scream Hikigaya's name, only to realize he was standing safely beside her.
In contrast, Elsa had taken a full blow from a mace and was sent flying straight into the wall.
[Sudo: "What just happened? Did anyone see it clearly?"]
[Ryuen: "I only saw a flash of blade light pass by. Did this guy awaken some new ability again?"]
[Sotomura: "It's not that I underestimate Hikigaya, but isn't this a bit too ridiculous? I didn't even react in time."]
[Akito: "Oh, shut it, Sotomura. I saw it clearly, you closed your eyes from fear."]
[Sotomura, flustered: "Hey, don't spout nonsense! When did I close my eyes? I just got sand in them! What about you, why were you staring at me instead of the video? Don't tell me you were scared too?"]
[Akito: "Yeah, I was scared to death. So what? Who isn't afraid of dying? You think everyone's like Hikigaya? If I got sent to an isekai like this, I'd piss myself on day one."]
[Yukimura: "Crude wording aside… he's right. This isn't a gap that can be made up with intelligence alone."]
[Ike: "So who actually saw what happened?"]
[Koenji, wearing a confident smile: "At the exact moment Elsa swung her scythe, Hikigaya seemed to have already predicted her target. He took one step diagonally backward to the left, perfectly avoiding the strike aimed at his abdomen. The blow from behind was Old Man Rom's spiked club. The coordination and mutual trust between those two was quite beautiful."]
[Everyone listening was left dumbfounded.]
[This wasn't gambling anymore, this was licking blood off the edge of a blade. They were all high school students. How had this guy adapted so quickly?!]
(End of this chapter)