Chapter 7

I was just forcibly brought along by these people, that I have nothing to do with!

Laguna's head was blown off, he collapsed with blood staining the area, and a man who looked like a thug claimed to be a Sage.

For Hanakawa and the others, it was hard to believe, but the adventurer's guild and tavern seemed to be operating normally.

In other words, this was an everyday occurrence.

-What are we going to do?

Shigeto Mitadera, Akinobu Marufuji, and Rei Kujima were standing still. They probably hadn't grasped the situation yet.

The first one to move was Hanakawa.

Hanakawa got down on his knees.

He weighed the Sage and his classmates and decided which side he should be on.

His conclusion was that the Sage won hands down.

In the first place, there was no way a Sage candidate could defeat a Sage.

If he could utilize the power of Shigeto, the prophet, he might have had a chance to defeat the sage, but he would be helpless if he encountered him before he was ready. The Omega Blade, the world sword needed to defeat the Sage, was not in his hands right now.

The fact that Hanakawa moved faster than the others must have been due to his experience with the Sages.

Hanakawa knew firsthand how terrifying the Sages were.

He must not go against them.

Before he antagonized them, he made them think he was a miserable existence that was not worth killing.

As a means of doing so, Hanakawa chose to get down on his knees.

He thought it was the best way to show that he had no intention of hostility.

It was a very smooth and splendid display.

Of course, there was the possibility that there was no point in getting down on the ground.

Depending on his opponent's personality, he may be more likely to be liked if he attacked with determination. Some might even think it is unmanly to surrender without a fight.

However, Yoshifumi was not a warrior.

Hanakawa thought that begging for forgiveness in a miserable manner would be more effective against a man who looked like a thug.

"I have nothing to do with these people, I was forced by them! I am a victim! I have absolutely no intention of antagonizing you! But these guys are actually planning to kill you! They are really terrible people!" (Hanakawa)

"Huh? What is it? You?" (Yoshifumi)

A man was sitting in a chair. The Sage, Yoshifumi, seemed to be in a daze.

At least he didn't kill Hanakawa out of nowhere, so he succeeded for the moment.

"You're here to kill me? But from the looks of your surprise, it seems you didn't know I was here." (Yoshifumi)

Yoshifumi smirked.

"I was just killing time by killing newbies in my spare time." (Yoshifumi)

"Hanakawa, you bastard. ..." (Shigeto)

He could hear Shigeto raise his voice in hatred. However, Hanakawa did not even look at him and continued to stay down on his knees.

"I knew the prophecy was sloppy." (Akinobu)

As if in response to Akinobu's words, the floor wriggled.

"Hiiii! I've seen this kind of thing before" (Hanakawa)

The floor that Hanakawa's hand was touching turned into something that looked like reddish-black flesh.

The building became alive.

It was a phenomenon that had also occurred at the lowest level of the demon world.

At that time, the bodies of the demon gods seemed to have fused and eroded, but it was due to Akinobu's power, the Creator.

It was the ability to turn anything he touched into a living thing and control it.

It could turn a fort into a giant. Turning a tavern into something else would not be hard.

"Just as well, if you have a Sage. All you have to do is to crush and digest him!" (Akinobu)

Uneven fangs sprouted from the sky and earth, a huge tongue wriggled, and a black cave leading to darkness appeared in the back.

It looked like the inside of some kind of mouth.

-Oh, this is the kind of thing that will kill you no matter who you are!

"Whoaaaaa!"

The customers in the tavern were shouting. They were confused by the sudden change in their environment.

Hanakawa did not move.

He chose not to move. It would have been a little more respectable if he could have said that he chose not to move, but in this case, he just couldn't make a decision and didn't move.

-No, even in this case, I just couldn't make a decision and couldn't move. No, if I continue to get down on my knees even in such a case, wouldn't I be evaluated as someone who is unfazed by the situation?

When he was thinking of something convenient, Hanakawa felt the hardening of the floor, which was soft before.

He looked at it and saw that the peach-colored meat floor had turned gray.

It was originally a wooden floor, so it didn't seem to have reverted to its original state, but it had become like stone.

"Huh? That's the countermeasure for that?" (Yoshifumi)

Yoshifumi seemed to have done this, but he sounded as if he didn't quite understand it himself.

"Yoshifumi. They're gone, aren't they?" (Hanakawa)

"What are you going to do? Leave us alone?" (Shigeto)

"That's ridiculous. I don't care about the Creator, but the Prophet and the Lady of Destiny can be troublesome if left alone." (Yoshifumi)

"Why? Can't a Sage neutralize a Sage's gift?" (Shigeto)

"What? Do you really think I have that complicated of a skill set?" (Yoshifumi)

"Really? Are you as stupid as you look?" (Shigeto)

"You know what? Have you ever seen me give away a gift in the first place?" (Yoshifumi)

"Oh, no, not really. I thought you were reluctant to give them out, but maybe you can't?" (Shigeto)

"There's nothing I can't do. I'm just not cut out for it." (Yoshifumi)

"What? What? That sounds like a good excuse! So, what are you going to do if you don't let us leave?" (Shigeto)

"Rena. You go and take care of it." (Yoshifumi)

Okay."

The woman called Rena left, and silence fell.

Hanakawa looked up.

The fanged, squishy, twisted walls and floor were still there, but everything had turned to stone.

"Is it petrified?" (Hanakawa)

"That's what it looks like." (Yoshifumi)

Hanakawa, not expecting a response, freaked out.

"No, no. You are indeed a Sage! I never thought you could defeat Akinobu-dono's creative skills like this!"

"You're so sneaky. I love it when you're a scared, cowering small fry."

"Haha. It's a pleasure."

Hanakawa rubbed his forehead on the floor.

Hanakawa was being humble, he decided that this was the only way to go.