75. Need No Number Other Than One

Seeing Luffy who was too careless, Izumi could only shake his head. Then, he glanced at Kuroneko.

"What?" Kuroneko felt uncomfortable when Izumi looked at her.

"Took out your sword!" Izumi said calmly.

"Why do I need to?" Even though Kuroneko answered so, Kuroneko couldn't stand Izumi who glanced at her as if he was scanning her entire body.

"Fine, fine. I just need to take out my sword, right?"

Izumi only replied with a smile.

Just after Kuroneko took out her divine sword. Izumi immediately grabbed her hand and threw her toward Charlie.

"AAAAHHHHH… MIYAMURA, YOU BASTARD!!!"

Naturally, Kuroneko's scream attracted Charlie's attention who wanted to attack Luffy again. When Charlie turned his head back, he saw a girl spinning around holding a sword. The sword that Kuroneko was holding had a terrifying aura so Charlie didn't want to take that risk. Then, he jumped away.

Kuroneko tried to stretch her limbs to control her balance while in the air, then she plunged her sword as soon as she almost hit the ground.

Izumi, who saw Kuroneko, nodded. He didn't expect Kuroneko to be able to perform such acrobatic moves. He didn't know what Kuroneko was doing in the previous mission. But apparently, Kuroneko gained a lot of experience in terms of combat.

"Damn you, Miyamura! I shouldn't have listened to him! Doesn't he know that boys should treat girls with tenderness?" She grumbled to him in a low voice.

Kuroneko looked at Charlie who was wary of her. However, Kuroneko continued to grumble.

"How could he throw a beautiful lady like me in front of an ugly monster? I curse you, Miyamura!"

Not wanting to think about how cruel Izumi was to girls, Kuroneko focused on the enemy in front of her.

She wrapped her sword in lightning and wind elements, then manifested a sword slash in the combined form of the two elements.

*Splatter.*

Her attack speed was way too fast and Charlie didn't have time to react. Blood was already splattering out of his wound the moment he realized Kuroneko had unleashed an attack.

Charlie stepped back unsteadily.

"Damn it. To think she was even stronger than the rubber brat. My plan won't work this way."

Charlie cursed inwardly. Previously, he had planned to capture Kuroneko because she seemed to be the weakest in Izumi's party and use her as a shield to escape. Unexpectedly, Kuroneko's strength far exceeds what he imagined.

Izumi himself was stunned. Kuroneko's attack was too fast. Even if Izumi were in Charlie's shoes, he would have a hard time dodging it.

After seeing Kuroneko who has such abilities, he can conclude that Kuroneko's development is the fastest among the other chat group members.

Meanwhile, Charlie's wound caused by Kuroneko's attack slowly started to heal.

Unbeknownst to Kuroneko, Daniel dived down from the sky while swinging his weapon at Kuroneko. Charlie smirked.

It wasn't until Daniel was close that Kuroneko noticed something odd, so she looked back. Daniel's attack was only one meter away from Kuroneko.

"—Rifle!"

*Bang*

Luckily, Luffy came at the right time when Daniel's attack was about to hit her.

"Are you alright, Neko?"

"Well, thanks to you." Kuroneko nodded.

Then Luffy chased after Daniel. Meanwhile, Kuroneko seemed furious with what happened earlier. She began to take her anger out on Charlie by relentlessly attacking him.

While Luffy and Kuroneko attacked Daniel and Charlie respectively, there were three people who were none other than Lia, Erika, and Cielo came through the town gate.

Izumi raised his brows in surprise. Previously, he had not seen Lia's face. So, as soon as Izumi saw her face, he was surprised considering her facial features were Japanese.

Izumi snapped out of his daze. Then, he glanced at them. However, Cielo looked frightened when Izumi glanced at her. He had no recollection of ever meeting that girl, much less frightening her.

"Did I do something to scare you?" Izumi asked.

"Ah, sorry. She has Androphobia. Sorry if she made you uncomfortable." Erika was the one who answered Izumi.

"I see. No wonder."

Erika introduced her two friends and said that they were an idol group, Axel Hearts. And as Izumi expected, they weren't the characters told in the novels. At the very least, he had never read that there was an idol group written in the original novel.

"Anyway, Lia. I thought of something from the first time I saw you. Are you Japanese?" Izumi asked in a low voice. However, Erika and Cielo could still hear him. Unmistakably, Izumi asked what Kuroneko had said earlier.

Erika looked at Lia as if she was hinting at something. Understanding what Erika meant, Lia nodded. Then, Erika turned her head to Izumi.

"Izumi-san. Truthfully, Lia had lost her memories a year ago. He hopes to find out the truth of her identity. And from what you asked her, you seem to know where she came from. So, if possible, can you help her find out who she is?"

Izumi was astounded. Turns out she lost her memory a year ago. No wonder she didn't realize she was Japanese.

"I see. But sorry, I only know where she came from, not her identity." Izumi shook his head in reply.

Lia looked down in disappointment. Izumi guessed that she might be Japanese like Kazuma who reincarnated in this world. But somehow, she had an accident that made her lose her memory. Then, Izumi thought of the one person who might recover her memory as well as the person responsible for her reincarnation into this world.

"I can't help you, but that doesn't mean someone can't." As soon as Izumi said that, Lia immediately grabbed Izumi.

"Really? Is it true that there is someone who can restore my memories?" Lia asked eagerly.

Izumi looked down somewhat awkwardly when Lia suddenly clung to him.

"You're too close." Izumi said.

Spontaneously, Lia backed off by releasing him.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. It's just— are you sure you want to restore your memories?" Izumi asked.

Lia nodded. But then, Izumi asked once again to confirm.

"Are you sure? Worst case scenario, you were involved in such an unpleasant incident that you purposely erased your memories."

Lia shook her head.

"I've made up my mind. I want to know who I am. I don't want to be shackled by my obscure past."

"Alright. You'll come with us after your concert is over."

— — — —

The fight between Luffy against Daniel as well as Kuroneko and Charlie is still ongoing. However, the situation is not favorable for Daniel and Charlie.

Daniel noticed that Charlie couldn't handle Kuroneko due to her divine sword. Daniel wanted to flee, but shaking off Luffy was quite difficult. Although he realized that sharp objects were Luffy's weakness, he had no sharp weapons other than his nails and fangs.

Daniel looked in Charlie's direction. Under these circumstances, Daniel only thought of one technique that was so dangerous to his life. A fusion technique. This technique could shorten his life. Hence, he was reluctant to perform the technique. However, he had no choice. However, he had to keep Luffy and Kuroneko away in order to perform the fusion technique.

"Damnable rubber kid. You've obstructed my plan. You need to die!" Daniel desperately attacked Luffy. But, suddenly.

*Bang*

Izumi suddenly appeared by kicking Daniel. Then he said—

"Your plan? Then, what does that have to do with kidnapping people?" Izumi asked in a cold voice.

"You—"

"Has she happened to be your sacrifice?"

Daniel didn't answer Izumi's question. However, Daniel's silence made Izumi sure that his guess was correct.

"Do you want to get out of here as soon as possible? Or do you want me to put you to sleep forever? Take your pick! I'll count to three—" Izumi gave Daniel a choice. Then he started counting.

"One—"

At that moment, Izumi compressed the wind on his right palm, shaped it like a ball, and the winds spun in different trajectories at the same time and formed a ball just like Rasengan. He controlled it and thrust his palm forward.

*Swoosh* *Bang*

The compressed wind had been launched towards Daniel when Izumi had just counted one.

Daniel got blasted and rolled to the ground with a trace of omni-direction swirling wind on his chest.

Daniel tried to get up while looking at Izumi.

"Cough. You haven't counted to three yet."

"One who is going to conquer the world needs no number other than one." Izumi said such an unexpected thing that stunned everyone.