<.

I was just relieved to know that I had been saved by Usato. However, as soon as Usato landed on the ground, he jumped to the side to avoid me.

The next moment, a single-edged sword slammed into the spot where he had been, sending a huge cloud of dust flying.

"Amako, hold on, ......!"

"I've already got you."

Seeing me clinging to him with my hands around his neck, Usato, who had his right arm free with his cage deployed, flicked the tip of the sword thrust out of the cloud of sand with his fist.

A sharp slash came at my neck from an angle, but Usato instantly burst the magic from his cage and retreated with the momentum of the slash.

"He dodged it! Not yet!

"It's coming!"

Jinya, caught by surprise, swung his sword at Usato with a deft movement that did not match his large frame. The attack was made with the prediction magic to anticipate Usato's move, but now he has me in his arms.

He anticipates the attack with more foreknowledge than Jinya's move, and tells it to Usato.

"Cut up from the lower left, kick the sand and blind him,...... you can counterattack."

"Oh, shit!"

You're not supposed to do that. ......!

At my words, Usato unleashed his fist, which was imbued with healing magic, without the slightest doubt.

The fist was blocked by Jinya's defensive arm, but he slid to the ground and was pushed backward. Finally, taking a breath, Usato lowered me to the ground and turned his attention to Jinya.

"That really came out of nowhere, didn't it? The fact that he attacked me without hesitation suggests that he doesn't like what's happening.

"......, why do you come here again! Why did you come here again?

"Because we have our own reasons for not doing so."

Usato replied, looking behind Jinya and frowning.

Behind Jinya, a Kondo soldier lay bleeding. One of the Kingsguard soldiers controlled by Nair ...... had tried to seize Jinya, but his sword must have cut him down.

Seeing this, Usato creates a healing magic bullet and throws it at the fallen soldier. The healing magic bullet hits the fallen soldier and spreads throughout his body, and his face, which was distorted with pain, becomes calm.

Jinya, who had been silently watching Usato's action, brushes off a little blood on the sword in his hand.

"That's very kind of you. It's repulsive."

"...... your people. You could have knocked him out without hurting him."

"We don't need a liability who is manipulated by the enemy. I don't need you, a stranger, telling me how I should treat my men."

"......"

Usato's eyes are becoming more and more swarthy.

He is understandably angry because ...... Jinya's behavior is what Usato seems to dislike the most.

Jinya, completely oblivious to Usato's mood, readied his own weapon.

"Jinya!"

Just as Usato was about to ready his fist without saying a word, Hayate in his armor came out from the chaotic surroundings. Behind him, Aruk-san was holding off a soldier who was trying to attack Hayate with his sword in its scabbard.

"It's you this time, Hayate."

After regaining his breath, Hayate opened his mouth, wiping the sweat from his face.

"Jinya, give it up already. Your plan has been destroyed."

With my rescue, Jinya's plan has been foiled.

It was already a foregone conclusion that the project would fail when Nair took control of the researchers who were the key to the plan.

However, Jinya's answer to Hayate's words was cold to the core.

"I refuse."

"Don't you think anything of this!!!!"

Hayate indicated behind him with his arm, where a scene of fighting between his men and the soldiers here was spreading out. But there was no anger on the soldiers' faces, only sadness and hesitation.

A near senseless conflict with their own people.

And depending on the outcome of that conflict, it could determine their fate to form an alliance with the demon tribe and go to war with the humans. For the beastmen who have been living peacefully in the depths of the forest, this can never be a good thing.

This is a battle I started! Still, I have to say it! Jinya, not everyone here wants to fight! So ...... if only you would give up fighting ......"

"That's a stupid question. I'm here to do what I'm meant to do."

"Why ....... What is it that drives you to fight so ......?"

I'll ask you the opposite. Why do you put up with it?

In contrast to Hayate's voice, Jinya tilts his head with a blank expression on his face. Hayate's reaction is so strong that she is absolutely mortified.

"Humans have mistreated our race. For a long, long time, we have been treated like livestock by humans. Nowadays, the slave trade of beasts is rampant, and people throw stones at us just for being beasts. Why do you put up with such treatment ......?"

"It is true that some beastmen are treated badly by humans. ....... But that is no reason to deprive Kanoko and Amako of their lives. Do you understand what you are saying? The measures you are taking are the same as what those people are doing to you."

After a few seconds of silence, Jinya answers Hayate's point.

"Precognition magic is magic that should be used in battle. Have the past generations of Wing Commander's done something great so far? They have not. That's why we should put an end to the useless Wing of Time and use it in a more meaningful way.

"......Oh, I finally get it."

It is true that the Wing of Time has not made any great achievements. But that is because the beastmen have lived in peace without any great calamity befalling them.

It is ridiculous to forget that and try to twist the way it should be.

Hayate held her eyes as if dazzled.

"I finally understand why you are so obsessed with the magic of prediction, and why you insist on fighting. You ...... just want to use it and wield its power. And you think you're right, with all the right reasons. That's why you and I are so far apart in our conversations."

"......"

"Jinya, I have been talking about the people. But you, from the beginning, have only talked about battles. Are the people you are supposed to protect nothing more than tools to you?"

Jinya is silent at Hayate's words.

Hayate took this as an affirmation, and looked up, her voice quietly and indignantly strained.

"Jinya, you are a child who flaunts the toy you have stolen from others, the magic of precognition. You want to show it off, and you have brought everyone around you into it. Do you know how selfish and stupid that is?"

Are you finished?

"...... Yeah, it's all over. I can't call you my friend anymore."

Just because you're in a higher position doesn't mean you can do whatever you want.

But even that word doesn't work with this person anymore. He thinks he is right and does not recognize how selfish his actions are.

I'm sure that even Hayate's words don't reach this person at all.

"It's not over yet. We just need to cut down all the traitors and return Amako to ."

"...... do you think I'd let you do that?"

"I'll kill you. I'll put an end to you myself.

As Jinya shows her willingness to fight no matter what, Hayate sadly lowers her eyes and puts her hand on Usato's shoulder.

"Usato, I'm sorry. This was my last chance to stop Jinya, but I couldn't ...... stop him."

"It's okay. It's okay. He's going to fight to kill me. So stay back and stay out of it."

"I'm so sorry. Amako, let's move you to a safer place.

Hayate says yes, but I shake my head.

This country is in such a chaos that there is no safe place to be found anywhere. I already knew the safest place for me.

I am with Usato. This is the safest place for me.

"...... I see. Okay, then. Usato, I'm going to go subdue the soldiers and beat the hell out of that clueless guy. I was his best friend, and I'm ...... asking you to do it for me."

"Yes, you're in charge."

Hayate saw Usato nodding his head and left.

The only ones left were Nea, who was controlling the people she had made her servants on the , myself, Usato, and Jinya, who was holding his sword.

"Amako, are you sure? Are you sure you want to be near me?

It's okay. I believe that Usato will never lose.

"Ha-ha-ha, I see. Well then, I can't lose.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, I move behind Usato.

Jinya glares at Usato, his intimidation sharper than before.

"I will kill you and complete <>. I will then use the most powerful unit I have to punish the humans."

"Then I will stop you as a lifeguard."

Jinya reacted with some surprise at the word "rescue squad" coming out of Usato's mouth.

"...... lifeguard? Well, when I heard that you are a healing magician from the Lingle Kingdom, something was bugging me......... I see, you are one of that group of freaks in the country. It's really a hard thing for you to come all the way here.

"...... a bunch of freaks...... a bunch of freaks for sure, but..."

As Usato was soberly depressed, Jinya released his posture and smiled wryly.

What is it? I thought, and I deeply foretold the future, and my face turned blue at the prospect of what was about to happen.

We are going to have a big problem.

I have to stop him before he does something stupid.

Usato, don't listen to him!

What?

There were brave men in the Kingdom of Lingle. Two very strong and reputed heroes.

"!"

Usato's eyes widen when Jinya mentions Suzune and Kazuki.

I think I've made a mistake and try to stop him, but Jinya continues to spin his words in a way that I can't interrupt him.

Brave" is a word that means a lot to us beastmen. A brave man who was persecuted by people and forced to fight against demons saved the beastmen. Such heroism has now become a title of decoration for the humans.

Saying this, Jinya cowered her shoulders in sorrow.

Usato's face tightens at this move, which seems to strike a nerve.

"Is this what you mean by 'this is disgusting'? You have forgotten your own deeds and have turned around and worshiped the heroes. I don't understand how ugly, stupid, and irredeemable it is.

"...... would be different now."

"No, it's not different. It's always the same. Power beyond human imagination is a terror to the ordinary man. Envy turns to fear. Fear turns to ostracism. It is human beings who make the same mistakes over and over again."

For this, Jinya's words are not wrong.

The tragedy that happened to the previous generation of heroes was exactly like this.

But what he said from now on was wrong.

"Those who deceive themselves in the name of valor are all fools who do not know their own size. They are not prepared, they are not strong, they are not even close... What kind of a brave man are they?

A creaking sound comes from Usato's right hand.

In his mind's eye, he must be thinking of the brave ice-crafters he fought with at Mearaq.

Usato was silently angry at the way he had humiliated her, who had suffered so much and finally found her own way.

"The Kingdom of Lingle is being invaded by the Demon King's army, and the two brave men belonging to it. They must be very important to you.

"......!"

Jinya smiles slightly at Usato's upset reaction.

Convinced of something, he uttered the decisive words in a tone of mocking exaggeration.

"When we attack the Kingdom of Lingle with the Demon King's army, the first thing we will do is decided.

No.

No.

Don't say another word.

Jinya's outrageous behavior made me look at Usato in panic, but it was too late.

"To make a bloodbath of two people who deceive the name of a brave man, and to kill them atrociously..."

Usato was already gone when I turned to look. Instead, there was a dull thud and an inaudible scream from up ahead.

As I fearfully turned my head forward, I saw Usato with his fist screwed into Jinya's stomach, crushing the sword he was holding in a careless manner.



It was immediately clear that this was an attempt to make Usato angry, to take away his composure and make his movements monotonous, after seeing the prediction.

Perhaps even the soldiers belonging to the Lingle Kingdom would have been outraged if Suzune and Kazuki had been disgraced.

But what was a miscalculation for Jinya was that these two brave men were Usato's two best friends.

"Gah, gah ......"

Usato grabbed Jinya's collar with the most expressionless face I had ever seen, even with his eyes wide open and blue streaks floating on his forehead, and it was obvious that he was more angry than I had ever seen him before.

It may be his innate kindness that he is still using healing magic, but from Jinya's point of view, it's not a pleasant thing to do. He had too much endurance to remain conscious.

"You monster!

"...... is..."

Jinya tries to cut Usato with a dagger drawn from his pocket.

He lets out a sigh of exasperation and lightly brushes the dagger away with his hand. Usato kicks the dagger far away from Jinya as it leaves his hand and falls to the ground, and gives Jinya a cold stare.

"Yo, foreknowledge is ......"

"If you predict where I'm going to avoid and attack, it won't be hard for me to respond if I keep reacting to it."

No, that doesn't sound right.

In other words, as soon as Jinya reads Usato's evasive maneuvers and attacks, Usato immediately responds to Jinya's movements. This is repeated dozens of times in a moment, and finally Usato is winning, which is strange.

Usato, who had easily subdued Jinya, who was two times larger than himself, was alone in his thoughts, ignoring Jinya's attempts to flail about.

"I can withstand it because I have a foreknowledge. Is this the only way to knock him out completely?"

Despite the gentle tone of his voice, there was no mercy in his words.

Gripping Jinya's collar once more tightly, Usato threw him as hard as he could upward at an angle. Of course, Jinya was not stunned by this, but was trying to adjust his body position to land skillfully.

However, the attack by Usato, who was staring at Jinya, was something that even I, who had seen it through foreknowledge, could not make sense of.

Looking up at Jinya, who was falling, Usato put his whole right arm, which was wrapped in a cage, in a basket of magic power and pulled it down to his waist. However, the distance between him and Jinya was more than ten meters, and there was no way he could hit Jinya with his fist from such a distance.

Still, he fired his fist.

"What does foreknowledge matter when you're in the air?"

Just as Usato thrust out his fist, Jinya's body in the air was blown away with the sound of the wind blowing.

"...... what?"

"What the hell?"

Jinya fell to the ground and rolled over two or three times.

His abdomen is clearly marked with the marks of his fists, from which the light of healing magic spreads like smoke. I let out a gasp of disbelief, but I could not understand what had happened when I saw it in real life.

"......I see, I should use it in this way with less power. It is not only a healing punch to get close and hit them. Let's name it ...... Healing Flying Fist ...... Healing Flying Fist from Healing Cannon."

"Usato?"

I called out to him fearfully, and he turned to me as usual.

However, he immediately fell into a state of self-loathing, clutching his forehead.

"Haaaa......"

"Hey, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not hurt. But it made me realize how immature I was to fall for such a cheap provocation. I can't believe that I was so bloodthirsty that I couldn't make a calm decision after being told about my senpai and Kazuki. ...... Even though I came to my senses after the first blow, I unnecessarily hurt Jinya-san."

I suppose it wasn't my fault that I doubted the fact that the first blow had brought me back to my senses.

Because his face was in full-blown anger the whole time.

"Is Jinya okay?"

"...... even though the attack looks like it blew up pretty badly, it's a bastard of a lineage enhancement, so its healing power is higher than normal healing magic. Don't worry."

"Yeah. I know Usato's crazy.

"Huh?"

But it ended with Jinya's self-destruction.

As a matter of fact, the measures Jinya tried to take were among the worst, so there was no need to force him to stop. After all, he had it coming.

"......What the hell! What the hell was that?

As if to echo my sentiments, Nea, who had jumped down from the <>, came up to Usato.

"You just sent something flying from a place that your fists obviously can't reach! And with such force that Jinya's body was blown away!

"The special technique . Also known as . Neah, this is the new flying healing punch.

"You're crazy! Why does Usato make up weird tricks whenever I take my eyes off him? I mean, does the first type even have two or three?

"The rest I just thought of and immediately sealed up. It's too dangerous.

"Scary!"

Nair's face turns pale.

I feel the same way, but I can't help but say that it's Usato.

So I've given up on that part. I can't keep up my own sharpness.

Looking around me, I saw that Jinya, a powerful and influential figure in the country, had been beaten so easily that the soldiers around him who were fighting had stopped moving.

Some of them dropped their weapons in relief, reminding us that they were not fighting for us after all.

"Nair, where are the people you manipulated?"

"I put them all to sleep. Of course, I had to carry the ones I knocked out.

At the edge of the plaza, the unconscious Kingsguard and researchers are lying on the floor.

There are no notable injuries except for the konoe that ...... Jinya slashed.

I was relieved inside, and then I saw Aruk, Bulrin, and Hayate running from the direction of the entrance of the plaza.

They must have come to see me because they knew that Jinya had collapsed.

Waving to them, I talked to Usato.

"I'm so glad you saved me, Usato.

Of course I'm going to help you. One of our most important friends was being held captive."

"No, it's not that."

"?"

Usato tilts his head, and with a wry smile, he recalls a memory from a few months ago.

First, the savior who would change the future of despair.

The next, a kind man who would do what I asked of him.

The next, someone who makes me feel at home.

"I never thought I would feel this way on the first day we met, but ...... I have really enjoyed my journey with Usato so far."

There were many hardships and inconveniences.

But it was more fun than that.

I, who had only known traveling alone, gained the joy of doing something together with someone else. It became an irreplaceable treasure.

That's why I ...... will continue to ......."

I try to spin the rest of the story, but I can't get the words right.

Just when I managed to gather up the courage to speak out, my words were interrupted by the flames that suddenly fell as if they were blocking us and Aruk-san's group.

"What?

Flames?

Flames burning like a wall. They flowed like a stream, surrounding the entire plaza.

Beyond the flickering flames, I saw Mr. Aruk and the others, who were just as shocked as Nair and I were. I quickly turn to Usato for a decision, and at the moment I look at his face, I realize that he is not looking at the flames but at something else.

"Usato ......?"

"Yes, I had a hunch. I knew I would see you again.

"What a coincidence. I was thinking the same thing. The truth is, there was no way we were going to intervene."

"What!"

Out of the corner of Usato's eye, the man was standing very close to the unconscious Jinya.

He was a man of the demon tribe, dressed in black. He naturally exchanged glances with Usato.

"Did you do this?"

"No, he's one of mine. Well, he's been stretched out here, and I had something to do with you, so I asked him to stall for a while."

The man pointed at Jinya and Usato and said.

Usato looks at the wall of flames with a sideways glance.

These are no ordinary flames. It is a flame made by magic, and it is filled with a great deal of magic power.

"What do you want from me?"

"No, first of all, you must introduce yourself to me for the second time, mustn't you? It's no use pretending to be an unknown person forever.

"......"

The man who clapped his hands with a smile so vulnerable in a tense situation pointed to himself as if greeting a friend as Usato silently squinted at him.

"Nice to meet you again, Healing Wizard. I am Koga Dingal, Commander of the 2nd Legion of the Demon Lord Army. Now, what is your name?

At that moment, the prediction passed through my mind rather than the word "Commander of the Legion.

I could not match the man in front of me, not from his appearance. But when I actually saw him, I was convinced that this was the man with whom Usato was fighting.

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