I'll even be your slave

Chapter 8 — I'll Even Be Your Slave! I

Definitely Won't Disobey!

"So...basically, you three defeated the Demon Lord and were sent back to our

world," Yogiri summed up, drastically simplifying the embellished tale that

Hanakawa had given them.

"Please refrain from describing my Alternate World Cheat Adventure in such

a grossly childish manner!"

"I didn't much care while I was listening, but I guess there was some useful

information in there. How did you guys get back to our world?"

While the current priority was to find a way to adapt and survive in this

world, their ultimate goal would of course be to return home. Worst-case

scenario, he hoped to at least be able to send Tomochika back.

"Ah, yes. In our previous adventure, we were summoned by the Magi of the

Kingdom of Iman in order to defeat the Demon Lord, and once the task was

accomplished, we were instantly returned. Unfortunately, I am unaware of how

we would accomplish the goal of returning home this time..."

Yogiri turned to Tomochika. "I didn't know any of these guys before, but

were they gone for that long?"

"Not that I remember. No more than missing a day here and there for being

sick, at least."

"Our adventure spanned the course of an entire year in this world; however,

upon our return, only a few short hours had passed. Perhaps the flow of time in

our individual worlds is not entirely aligned?"

That would be good news, at least. It was very possible that they would be

spending some time in this world, so he hoped they could keep the time they lost

back home to a minimum.

"So what exactly was this Demon Lord? If you defeated him, shouldn't the

world have become peaceful or something?"

"Kingdoms populated by the demonic are known as Demonic Kingdoms, and

thus their rulers are Demon Lords. But such Demonic Kingdoms are rather

plentiful. Our noble selves were called forth to dispatch the Lord of the Demonic

Kingdom bordering the Kingdom of Iman. As such, I imagine the people of Iman have indeed procured some modicum of peace."

As an aside, the grasslands they now occupied were in the territory of the

Kingdom of Manii. Apparently, it was quite a distance from Iman.

"So if we kill some Demon Lord somewhere, we'll be able to return to our

own world? Well, I suppose that's a question for the Sage that summoned us."

Perhaps some conditions had been set for their return when they'd been

summoned, but it hadn't been explained to them. And it was hard to believe that

any such conditions would be easy to accomplish. The Sage was looking for

someone who could become one of her own; there was no way she would let

them escape back home that easily.

"Not that I am especially concerned with the endeavor of returning home...I

have my dreams of an Alternate World Cheat Harem, after all..." Hanakawa

grumbled, apparently having become rather complacent with his situation.

"So why did you guys act so normal when you were back in our home

world?"

With the way they'd been acting earlier, and with the power they clearly

possessed, it didn't seem like they'd have had much trouble doing whatever they

pleased back home. But as far as Yogiri knew, they had done nothing that would

disrupt daily life around them.

"Naturally, our first inclination was to put our powers to the test in our home

world! But alas, they failed to produce results there."

"And when you were summoned again, your powers came back just as they

were before? Was there anyone else like that?"

"Apart from our three noble selves, I am unaware of any examples."

But if there were three, it wasn't hard to believe that there could be more.

Yogiri made a mental note of that.

"Can you see the Status of others easily?"

"Under normal circumstances, such a thing would be impossible, I imagine!

One must refine their skill in Discernment as I have to receive such an ability!"

With a proud smile, Hanakawa began to describe how he had increased his

Discernment skill, but Yogiri had stopped listening.

Even if most people couldn't use the skill, he had to assume there were those

who would be able to see his Status. It would probably be dangerous to try and

bluff his way through this world by pretending that he had a Gift.

"What is the rest of the class doing right now?"

"They began their second mission. I was told they set their sights on the

capital."

Apparently, upon reaching the city visible in the north, they had cleared their

first mission and were immediately saddled with a second. The objective of their

new mission was to accomplish great feats worthy of a Sage.

"What do you mean by 'great feats?'"

"Something incredible enough that they would be recognized by the general

public for it. There are a number of such exploits that might qualify, but in any

case, the cooperation of the royal family would be indispensable. They've

therefore decided to make their way to the capital while they build up their own

levels."

"So the three of you just broke off and left on your own."

"What meaning is there to us increasing our levels now? In our previous

adventure, after finally defeating the Demon Lord, we had grand designs of

building our own harem, yet instead we were forcibly transported away from this

world! How could we not take this chance to finally do as we pleased?"

"As you pleased, huh? Well, fine. Are there any other cities nearby?"

"The closest would of course be the city to the north. There exists another to

the south, but its distance would make the trek quite a challenge on foot."

Yogiri continued his barrage of questions for some time. The world, the

Gifts...he asked about anything that came to mind, until he was satisfied that he

had enough information.

"Well, that sums up my questions. Anything you want to ask, Dannoura?"

"Huh? Me? Hmm... Hanakawa, you guys were pretty strong, right? Why

didn't you just fight the dragon?" Tomochika asked, giving him a bit of a

resentful look.

She must have thought that if they had just killed the dragon, they wouldn't

be in their current predicament.

"That was...out of fear, I'm afraid. Perhaps we might have slain a dragon, but

that Sage! Truly a terrifying individual! It was the Sage's will that we clear that

first mission of reaching the city, so there was naught we could do but comply."

"Sure, it was scary when she was shooting stuff out of her hands, but how

were you that frightened? Aren't you guys pretty strong too?"

"A misconception that can be forgiven for you, dearest Tomochika, as you

are unable to see her Status! Her level had surpassed one hundred million. And,

even more terrifyingly, her level continued to rise by the second, even as we

watched! There was no method by which we could stand against such a

monster!"

"Well, that doesn't really help us, does it?"

Hanakawa describing the Sage's level as "over one hundred million" didn't

help Yogiri pin down exactly how strong she was at all.

"Sir Higashida's level was perhaps around one thousand. My humble self is

only at ninety-nine."

"After hearing she was at a hundred million, double digits sounds kind of

pathetic, doesn't it?" Tomochika said, sparing him no compassion whatsoever.

Yogiri felt the same way.

"It is a thing beyond my control! For you see, the upper limit of a human

being in this world is only ninety-nine! Without a particular skill to exceed that

limit, or a class with no level limit to speak of, surpassing that number is simply

impossible!"

"One more question, then. For everyone to quietly follow Yazaki like that,

did he do something to them?"

"Ah, this is about Yazaki's skills, correct? Generals possess such skills as

Charisma, Command, and Tactics. Should anyone accept his plan as logical or

reasonable, they will find themselves unable to stray from it. Be that as it may,

its compulsive force is only moderate, and thus it is rather ineffective on those

who would be disadvantaged by the strategies set forth."

Tomochika's gaze dropped, frustration clear on her face. She must have been

remembering her friend, Romiko Jougasaki. According to Hanakawa's

explanation, that meant Romiko had accepted the plan to leave the powerless

classmates behind.

"I see. I guess we'd be the epitome of 'disadvantaged' in a plan like his, but

maybe we were just outside the scope of his skill in the first place?"

Most likely, the Command skill served to suppress unrest to a certain degree

and promoted group cohesion. That meant those like Yogiri, who didn't receive

a Gift, weren't a part of the plan in the first place.

"I imagine that would be the case."

As the discussion came to an end, silence settled over them. It soon became

clear that they had no further use for their traitorous classmate.

Yogiri raised his right hand towards Hanakawa. His power didn't require him

to speak, nor did it need any special hand motions, but it helped him to create the

right image more easily, so that was how he did it.

"Wait! Please, wait! You do not perchance intend to slay me, do you? With

your Eternal Force Blizzard?!"

"It doesn't have a weird name like that, but yeah, that's what I was going to

do."

"Why?! For what reason?!"

"I feel it could be a problem down the road if we let you live."

"So flippant! Do you not place any value on human life?!"

"I just don't have any issues with killing people who intend to hurt me."

Yogiri's gaze flickered behind Hanakawa. The proof of the truth in his words

still lay there, motionless.

"I won't! Really, I'm not going to hurt you at all! Please, please don't kill

me!" As Hanakawa fell to his hands and knees, begging, his speech suddenly

snapped from his haughty, pretentious style back to normal.

Yogiri hesitated. It wasn't like he was particularly set on the idea of killing

him. He just felt like it might be a bit troublesome to leave someone alive when

they knew about his power in such detail.

"I-I know! A slave!" Hanakawa suddenly blurted out a word rarely used in

everyday life. "I'll be your slave! I'll totally do whatever you say!"