Narrator POV 

  

  

  

  

"huff- huff- huff- Hurry up Seth!" <Mother> 

"But mother, that sister, is she going to be alright?" <Boy> 

"I don't know, Let's pray that she'll be Okay. For now, we must get to the plaza and find help." <Mother> 

  

  

As the two were escaping and going to the plaza they notice that two people were walking lavishly toward them. 

At first, they looked odd since they were wearing unusual clothes. 

One was a Little girl while one was a Beautiful Lady 

For some reason, the mother knew that those two were adventurers. 

Maybe it was because she was working next to the adventurer's guild as a fruit vendor, she has developed the ability to judge a person by just looking if he or she was an adventurer. 

  

  

"Uh... sorry but are you two adventurers?" <Mother> 

Just to be sure the mother still asked the two. 

"Yes, we are miss... are you alright? You seem to be in a hurry. did something happen?" <Little Girl> 

"Oh, thank goodness!" <Mother> 

The mother felt relieved by the fact that she met these two on her way. 

She immediately told them the situation, about the ghoul and the girl who was fighting it at the moment. 

  

  

"OK, we understand! leave this to us we'll definitely save that girl. For now, just focus on getting into the plaza and get into the shelters." <Beautiful Lady> 

The soothing voice of the beautiful lady made the mother at ease. 

"Thank you, adventurers, please! Please! save her!" <Mother> 

"Got it." <Little Girl> 

"Leave it to us" <Beautiful Lady> 

The little adventurer replied to the mother, although she had a monotonous voice. 

The beautiful lady replied in a very charming and alluring tone. 

The monotonous voice and the charming voice of these two were devoid of "fear". 

Something about their presence itself makes a person forget about such worries. 

  

  

[If it's these two, things will be alright.] <Mother> 

The mother could not help but think this way. 

  

  

"Hurry! now. GO!" <Little girl> 

Said the Lady adventurer. 

This was while the little adventurer nodded at them with a straight and unchanging face. 

  

  

"We wish you luck!" <Mother> 

She pulled her son and run to the plaza relieved. 

  

  

"... don't worry we'll save her... but not right away." <Beautiful Lady> 

Said the lady adventurer in a soft voice that could not reach the mother and son. 

She was smiling but dark shadows were over her face. 

  

  

"Uh... Luna, can I ask you a question?" <Beautiful Lady/ Stella> 

"What?" <Little Girl/ Luna> 

"I was not going to ask this but... is that expressionless adventurer act you put up really necessary?" <Stella> 

"What's that all of a sudden... huh~... No, it's just I was thinking of an "ICE QUEEN" like role-play! I always admire those kinds of characters in the stories I read back on the other earth." <Luna> 

"Ah... so you wanted that kind of image?" <Stella> 

"Yep! I love the concept of it! I could just imagine when my reputation would have risen to the top. When other adventurers see me they'll say "LOOK IT'S THE ICE QUEEN! HER EXPRESSIONLESS FACE IS REALLY COOL LIKE ALWAYS, something like that!" <Luna> 

Luna said while impersonating the adventurer's tone and action that was in her mind. 

"I get what you're up to... -sigh- Is it fun?" <Stella> 

Luna thought about it for a bit and then nodded. 

She was convinced of what she was thinking about was true 

"Well, It is fun in a way..." <Luna> 

"I suppose... maybe I should make do a role play for myself too..." <Stella> 

Luna nodded at her sister Stella. 

"Un~ you should think about something for yourself too!" <Luna> 

"Yeah, I’ll think about it... I don't read stories as you do but I'll think of something later." <Stella> 

  

  

"Hey, can I ask a question to you too, Stella?" <Luna> 

"Sure? what is it?" <Stella> 

"What did you do with the mother just now? I felt that you used your god's ability, I was just wondering, what did you do?" <Luna> 

"Ah... it's nothing I just made sure that she would not ask for anyone else for help other than us. It would be problematic if other unnecessary characters would join up the fight with that thing." <Stella> 

"Oh~ I see... you're as meticulous as always, Stella." <Luna> 

"Meticulous?? Not really. I just dont want my fun to spoiled." <Stella> 

  

  

"Now then... shall we watch that child for now?" <Stella> 

"Got it... but just watching is boring you know. Should we have a game?" <Luna> 

"Game?" <Stella> 

"Yep, a Guessing game" <Luna> 

"Hmnn? What should we guess about?" <Stella> 

"fufu~ how long would Themis' Favorite girl last against that thing?" <Luna> 

"Oh... Hmnn~ let's see... maybe 3 minutes? 5 minutes at most." <Stella> 

"Hoho~~ aren’t you looking down on her too much?" <Luna> 

"You think so? I am just confident about the abilities of the things I make. What about you? how long would you think she’ll last?" <Stella> 

"... let's see, I think she could defeat it if you don't boost its abilities." <Luna> 

"Hee~ aren't you overestimating her too much?" <Stella> 

"I guess? we just have to wait and see?" <Luna> 

"fufu even though you could just go and look into the future yourself. You still choose to watch and see without doing so, you sure hate spoilers~" <Stella> 

"Indeed! I surely hate spoilers." <Luna> 

Luna proudly declares with her chest held up high. 

  

  

The two leaped over the roof of the building and watched the battle between Kazue and the Unique Ghoul. 

They watched from a distance, away from anyone's detection. 

  

  

**************************************** 

Kazue POV 

  

  

  

A minute has passed since the mother and child escaped from the ghoul who was in front of me. 

[What am I doing?] 

I asked myself as I desperately exchanged sword swings with the ghoul that was in front of me. 

I could barely match its attacks on my own and most of the time I am just parrying and dodging the ghoul. 

It was not as if I was escaping or was I just buying time. 

I was trying my best to defeat the enemy in front of me. 

But it seemed that this monster is just too much for me. 

  

  

"Tsk" <Kazue> 

I clicked my tongue out of irritation from the fact that all I could do was defend myself. 

I tried my best to turn the battle around and yet, every time I tried to push through, the undead pushes me back. 

The undead’s movement does not resemble any of the undead I've seen so far. 

It was agile and was wielding its weapon skillfully and with a purpose. 

  

  

[At this rate, I am sure that the ghoul will eventually break through my defense and lose.] 

As I was thinking of a plan. 

I remembered the crystal in my pocket. 

[Should I just give up and let the ghoul take the crystal and run away? No, No! that's a bad idea. As long as I don't know why this monster is after this crystal, I could not let that happen. There's a possibility that this ghoul might use this crystal to summon more undead into the city after all.] 

My mind was busy thinking about leaving the crystal behind and running. 

  

  

The ghoul feint an attack. 

I was hit by a kick. 

[What?! that's cheap!] 

I bit into the feint and tried to block, as a result, I was wide open for a kick. 

Sure enough, I was not able to dodge and just gobbled up the kick to my side. 

"kuhk!" <Kazue> 

I rolled on the ground to dampen the effect of the kick but crashed into a wooden door of one of the houses in the area. 

  

  

-Huff- -Huff- -Huff- 

I was hyperventilating from the pressure of the battle and the exhaustion of the non-stop exchange of fast-paced attacks. 

It was as if my mind was floating in the air. 

I could barely think straight. 

My heart was pounding so fast that I could even hear it in my ears. 

All of the hair in my body was standing up. 

  

  

It's this feeling once again. 

It was the same as at that time. 

The time when I was left alone to fight an Undead Knight by myself after I got left behind by accident inside the dungeon. 

It's that same kind of feeling. 

[Funny, Last night I was wondering what this feeling was.] 

  

  

I stood up from the rubble while staggering a little bit. 

I placed my left hand over my face and felt that my lips were curling upward. 

[What the hell, my life is in danger, and yet why am I feeling this way?] 

This feeling is most definitely exciting. 

  

  

[But why am I doing this? Seriously…] 

It's not a lie that I wanted to take revenge for Shunsho. 

But was that reason enough for me to risk my life, the answer is NO. 

I knew from the moment I clashed sword with this monster in the forest that this monster was unquestionably stronger than I am. 

I knew that this monster would not hesitate to kill me if I gave it a chance. 

Yet here am I fighting it even though I could have let the other adventurers who were stronger than I am to defeat it. 

And yet here am I. 

  

  

  

[Hahaha, I admit it, I was just looking for entertainment.] 

In the end, I was just looking for an encounter that would make my heart pound this way. 

The reason "to have revenge for Shunsho" was just the secondary reason. 

[Maybe I just wanted an excuse, it just so happened that this was a perfect one to use to convince others and even more... myself.] 

Truth be told, on the first day when I arrived in this world, I felt excitement. 

I saw this as an opportunity to have a good time. 

[Good time? Haha... really what am I thinking...] 

  

  

Don't get the wrong idea. 

It's not as if I wanted to become the main character of a story or something. 

I know for a fact that I don’t have the main character's qualities of a virtuous person. 

Neither do I want to become a Hero that would save the world from the demon lord. 

To be honest I don’t like the attention a Hero gets. 

If I wanted to be a hero, I should have just joined Chiho and the others when they invited me to join their party before. 

Let Hano and the other girls become the main protagonist of this world. 

  

  

I also do not want to become some overpowered character of some cliche power-leveling story. 

Becoming overpowered means that all battles like this one would become pointless because you'll always have something to over-turn any situation. 

I am thankful for the fact that I was just above average in terms of strength and power. 

I just wanted to be strong enough to overcome bad situations. 

Yes, all I want is to have fun. 

  

  

I remember… 

Back in our world, experiencing this kind of excitement is very rare. 

Unless you intentionally look for it, it would not be possible to experience it. 

I only felt this once when I tried bungee jumping with my relatives during a family outing before. 

[That adrenaline rushing into my veins… fuuu!!!! I love it!] 

  

  

That is why I tried Kendo. 

I was hoping that it would give me the same kind of rush. 

In the end, we are just competing to win a title or something similar, our lives were not on the line so it did not give me much of that feeling, and in the end, I got bored. 

I tried playing games, but they would only give so much. 

It was not enough, the thrill of putting my life in line in exchange for the sense of excitement. 

[Wait... Aint I a psycho? NO, NO, NO it's not like that!] 

[Fufu~ It kinda reminds me of the testimony of those people who love to do "extreme sports" like sky diving, paragliding, kayaking, bungee jumping, and like] 

If I am correct, they love the feeling of the adrenaline rushing into them when they do such things. I feel that I finally understood what they were saying. It must be the same as what I am feeling right now.  

[Probably...] 

  

  

Normally If I did not have a chance of winning, I would have just run away. 

After all, I am not stupid enough to commit suicide, I have the confidence that I can still escape at the very least. 

Even though I was at a disadvantage, I feel that there is a chance for me to win. 

All I need was an opening, yes a single opening is fine. 

  

  

"Concentration" <Kazue> 

(Concentration) 

This is another one of the skills that I learned in the dungeon. 

(Concentration) in a literal sense, is a skill that boosts my concentration. 

I felt that all of my senses have been enhanced, and even my perception of time was slowed down. 

I left my body to my instinct and cleared my mind from other things. 

I even forgot why am I fighting this ghoul at that moment. 

All I had in mind was to defeat the monster in front of me. 

  

  

I used the (Aura Blade) skill and enveloped my sword inside a glowing aura. 

"haaaaaa~~~~" <Kazue> 

I let out a deep breath 

"Alright... I am ready for round 2" <Kazue> 

  

  

I lifted my sword and pointed it at the ghoul standing still, waiting for me to charge forward. 

I slashed my sword toward the ghoul who was standing still just a moment ago. 

As I expected It dodged my attack and countered with its own. 

I partially parried the attack and guided the strike to the side, creating an opening and kicking the side of the zombie. 

"That's for kicking me a while ago! You still owe me another one." <Kazue> 

Unlike in the time when the ghoul kicked me, the ghoul was not helplessly blown away like what happened to me. 

It just staggered and somehow lost its balance. 

  

  

"Tsk" <Kazue> 

I carefully observed the ghoul's reaction. 

But to no surprise it did not act angry, instead, it came back to its fighting posture. 

I was trying to piss of the monster. 

"Hmph, no reaction... in the end, you're just an undead after all." <Kazue> 

  

  

I continued doing my best to defeat the ghoul with my own hands. 

Although I was hoping for reinforcement, a part of me did not want it to end just yet. 

If possible I wanted to defeat it on my own. 

The chances of me getting defeated instead were higher but I still wanted to push myself to the limit before I admit that it was my defeat after all. 

When help comes now, I could not proudly say to myself that I won. 

[But that's okay as well...] 

The best result is for me to somehow pull it off but as things are like right now, that would not be the case. 

"I'll lose" <Kazue> 

  

  

When I activated my skill, Concentration, and Aura blade at the same time I was able to overcome the gap in our stats. 

But the skills themselves were not enough to overcome the ghoul, at best I was only able to match it equally. 

Our battle continued. 

  

  

After sometime. 

I leap back and created a space between the two of us so I could think. 

The aura that was covering the body of the ghoul had significantly reduced compared to what it had before. 

It was unmistakably thinner than it was a while ago. 

My attacks seem to have some effect. 

[Thank goodness, it would have been pointless if it did nothing at all] 

I closed my eyes and feel my own body. 

[But, I am to reach my limit soon] 

-huff- -huff- -huff- 

  

  

  

The concentration and aura blade skills were constantly using up my mana. 

Without looking at my status card I could tell that my mana was somewhere under 10%. 

"Haaaaaaaa" <Kazue> 

To conserve mana, I decided to turn off the (Aura Blade) skill. 

I purposely left the (Concentration) skill activated since it takes up less mana compared to that of the aura blade. 

Also, I have no choice but to leave it activated, if I wanted to have a chance to defeat the ghoul, that is. 

The boost that I got from the skill was also the only reason I could react and counter the ghoul’s attacks after all. 

But without the aura blade, my attacks would surely be weaker than before. 

[OK, what to do... with the (Aura Blade) turned off I will have a lower chance to kill this thing. I guess it's better than me turning off the (Concentration) skill. I hope I can manage it with just this somehow.] 

  

  

"Uwah... I think it's about time for me to admit defeat after all...?" <Kazue> 

I muttered silently to the air. 

"Car-- la---" <Ghoul> 

"Huh? what? did that thing just talk?" <Kazue> 

"-I- Must--- go--- ho-ho--me..." <Ghoul> 

My eyes widen as I heard the ghoul talk. 

"Did this thing just say... I must go home?" <Kazue> 

  

  

But without a do, it attacked me once again. 

I was also a bit flustered about the fact that the ghoul started speaking all of a sudden. 

I was not properly prepared for its attack. 

"Kahk" <Kazue> 

Thankfully I still managed to block the attack but I was wounded on the side of my belly. 

"Argh! it hurts." <Kazue> 

I held into the part where I felt pain. 

I checked the hands that I used to touch the source of the pain and saw blood leaking out from them. 

It was not deep enough to be called serious but it was still painful as hell. 

  

  

I continued to fight the undead with my sides still bleeding 

When I turned off the (Aura Blade), I felt that the attacks of the ghoul were significantly heavier. 

I knew that the reason I was able to properly block the attacks of the ghoul up until now was because of the (Aura Blade) but I have no more mana to spare to keep it activated. 

All I could do was to receive the force of the attack with all I had. 

That being said I continued to fight. 

Small wounds have appeared on my body from all of my exchanges of blows with the ghoul. 

  

  

Soon enough. 

My (Concentration) skill was deactivated as well, this time it was not of my own volition. 

It was right after I dodged a charging attack from the ghoul. 

In the process, I also gave it serious damage after gambling for an attack thus I managed to cut off its free left hand. 

Then I noticed that the (Concentration) skill was deactivated. 

I tackled the ghoul to push it into a pile of trash and I immediately leaped back to create some distance. 

At that exact moment, I felt as if all of my strength left my body. 

I staggered and fell to my knees still holding my sword. 

  

  

"So that's it huh..." <Kazue> 

[S**t, to think that the effect of draining all my mana was this bad. I could barely stand... This is bad... I feel so dizy.] 

The reason I suddenly felt so weak must be from the depletion of my Mana reserve. 

  

  

"KAZUE-SAN!" <Someone> 

I heard a voice coming from where I came from before. 

I saw a male running to my side. 

It was Tamashiro Naofumi one of my former classmates. 

"Wow, what perfect timing." <Kazue> 

  

  

"Are you Okay Kazue-san?! you're bleeding all over!" <Someone/Naofumi> 

Naofumi pulled out his bag and looked for something within it. 

"Ah, Naofumi, I am fine. I am just exhausted from mana depletion. In any case, be careful." <Kazue> 

I directed my gaze toward the rubble where the ghoul was. 

It was there standing slowly. 

Naofumi notice the monster as well and pulled out his sword from the scabbard. 

  

  

I tried to stand but I could not. 

Naofumi reached out something to me. 

"Here drink this, It's a potion. It will heal up your wound and restore a little bit of your mana" <Naofumi> 

"for the meantime, I'll buy you time to recover" <Kazue> 

  

  

"Stupid! don't! it's too strong for you" <Kazue> 

"You don't know that for sure! Even if I look like this, I’m quite strong! Also, it seemed that you already cut off one of its arms so I should be able to manage somehow!" <Naofumi> 

  

  

Naofumi charged and attacked the ghoul with his sword. 

The ghoul easily dodged his attack and delivered a strong kick. 

He was blown away and collided with a wall collapsing it in the process. 

It reminded me of some relief side characters in some anime that I watched before. 

It was comical. 

  

  

"NAOFUMI!" <Kazue> 

[What the hell Naofumi?! you did not even last for 15 seconds?! did you just say that you're quite strong?! Was that a lie?!] 

  

  

The ghoul ignored Naofumi. 

It continued to walk toward me. 

"Uhhhrggg..." <Kazue> 

I pushed myself up while using my katana as support. 

Thankfully I was able to stand up. 

[Looks like the potion did have some effect at the very least. Naofumi was not completely useless.] 

  

  

"Concentration" <Kazue> 

I tried activating my skill but it did not activate for some reason. 

"It's no good huh... dammit" <Kazue> 

  

  

Without any warning, the ghoul dashed forward with its sword raised, ready to be swung down towards me. 

I prepared myself and anticipated the attack of the ghoul. 

But its attack never reached me. 

Instead, I heard a loud crashing noise. 

  

  

When I gathered myself and assess what just happened? 

I saw a lady wearing oddly familiar clothing. 

It was a gothic Lolita-like costume. 

"Oh, my, oh my, that was a bit dangerous isn’t it?” <Lady> 

  

  

"Icicle Lance!" <Girl> 

Before I could even talk, I heard another voice coming from not so far away. 

Another crashing sound echoed over the place where the ghoul was tossed aside. 

When I looked at where the crashing sound was, I saw that the ghoul blocked some magic with its sword. 

Its hands had chunks of ice all over them. 

  

  

"Hmnn as expected... That thing is quite sturdy, nee-san." <Girl> 

I fell silent as I stared at the two mysterious girls. 

Their face resembles each other a lot. 

[They must be sisters, right?] 

  

  

I somehow remembered seeing the little girl before in the plaza a few days ago. 

I remembered her clearly as she wears a very striking outfit. 

She was wearing Japanese Miko clothing and her figure left a big impression on me so I was able to remember her. 

  

  

"Who are these people?" <Kazue>