Chapter 111

The Final Piece The self-governing dominion had previously seized prodigy inventor Ringo Oohoshi’s off-road truck, but the High School Prodigies had it back now, and their group loaded into it and left Yamato’s capital, Azuchi, in search of the Seven Luminaries’ origin and the elf village with deep ties to it. The truck’s passengers included all the High School Prodigies, except Masato Sanada, and Yamato’s new samurai general, Shura, who traveled with them as a bodyguard. The order for her to go along had come from Yamato’s new empress, Kaguya. Yamato owed the High School Prodigies a debt for helping liberate the country, so Kaguya insisted they be kept safe. However, that was only a pretense. Kaguya couldn’t come because she and her war council were busy preparing for the battle to maintain sovereignty, so she wanted Shura to go in her stead to investigate why the Prodigies had come to this world and the evil dragon’s identity. Tsukasa had already told Kaguya and Shura that he and the other Prodigies weren’t angels but humans who’d been summoned from another world by an unknown entity. Kaguya and Shura had every right to that knowledge, considering the huge number of lives they were responsible for and the potential threat. Plus, the Prodigies had no particular reason to hide anything from them. They welcomed Shura with open arms and headed for the elf village together. On their way there… “Urrrrrgh…” …one of the High School Prodigies, the magician Prince Akatsuki, groaned. Shinobu Sarutobi gave him a concerned look. “What’s wrong, Akatsuki? Feeling carsick?” “Well, there’s that, too,” Akatsuki said, looking decidedly pale. “But I mostly just haven’t been able to sleep. When I try, all the stuff I saw in the war keeps flashing through my head…” The clash between Mayoi’s dominion army and Kaguya’s resistance forces had concluded only several days ago. Akatsuki had seen a lot he wished he could forget when he’d stood on the front lines. People were cut down by katanas, while others were beaten to death by clubs. Akatsuki saw warriors pulverized under the weight of others charging over them. He never had to think about anything so horrific in his peaceful life in Japan. Akatsuki was still a sensitive teenager, and seeing those horrors left heavy wounds on his psyche that drove him to exhaustion. Between that and the carsickness, his body was reaching its breaking point. “Are you all right? I’d be happy to prescribe you some antianxiety meds or something to help you sleep,” Keine Kanzaki offered from the seat behind Akatsuki’s. “Thanks, but no thanks. If I slept, I’d just end up having nightmares…” “That’s rough, buddy,” Shinobu said. “Oh yeah, actually, that reminds me. Shinobu, what the hell?!” “Huh? Little ol’ me? What’d I do?” Shinobu gave her head an adorable tilt to the side as though to say, “Who, me?” “You seriously forgot?!” Akatsuki shouted indignantly. “You gave me those pills and were like, ‘My family’s passed down the secret recipe for these steelskin pills for generations. They’ll make your skin hard enough to repel arrows.’ And it was all a load of bull! You had me scared out of my mind!” Akatsuki had been shaking in his boots right before he and Shinobu joined up with Tsukasa and the rebel army for the assault on Azuchi Castle. So Shinobu had fed him a story to get him motivated to fight. Akatsuki had believed her to the point of standing in the line of fire, an act that proved deeply harrowing. When Akatsuki thought back on it, he grew furious with the Prodigy journalist. Unfortunately, Akatsuki was so ridiculously adorable that he didn’t come across as scary in the slightest, and as a result, Shinobu was entirely unrepentant. “Oho, you wound me. I wasn’t lying, you know—that is what my family told me when they taught me the recipe. I mean, I’ve never actually tried them, but still.” “Maybe you could’ve mentioned that before you talked them up! Ugh, just remembering it is making me scared…” “Nya-ha-ha. Sorry, sorry. To make it up to you, starting tonight, I’ll sleep with you until you’re tired enough to snooze like a baby. ” “What?! Hey, g-g-g-g-g-girls shouldn’t say stuff like that!” “Hmmmm? ‘Stuff like that’? I was just talking about lying in bed together and reading aloud until you dozed off. What did youuuu think I was talking about?” “~~~~~~!” Shinobu smirked, grinning as smugly as the Cheshire Cat. When Akatsuki realized she was messing with him, he teared up and cried to Tsukasa, who was sitting in the seat ahead of the magician’s. “Wahhh! Tsukasaaaa, Shinobu’s being a bully!” “Shinobu, don’t poke fun at Akatsuki. Unlike Merchant, he’s not used to that kind of teasing.” Shinobu stuck her tongue out a little at Tsukasa’s admonishment. “Fiiiine.” Not a moment later, she said, “Buuut,” and her impish smile returned. “If you do wanna do ‘stuff like that,’ Akatsuki, then I’d be down. You were pretty cool back there. You’ve got this girl head over heels. ” “Hweh?! Wh-wh-what do you…?” “He was pretty cool.” “You too, Tsukasa?!” Akatsuki’s eyes went wide over his ally’s sudden betrayal. However, Tsukasa wasn’t joking… “He gallantly arrived in our moment of need with the moon at his back, then distracted and neutralized an entire enemy watchtower. Between that and the smoke bombs he used to plunge the hostile infantry into disarray, he provided us with a huge amount of support. What’s more, he did so while fighting through his fear and not letting it show. It’s no wonder they call him Japan’s pride of the entertainment world.” “Wh-wh-wh—?” “Without you, our plan to storm the castle would have undoubtedly failed. You really are an incredible man,” Tsukasa concluded. “Oh, absolutely. You were so dashing back there, Akatsuki!” Lyrule agreed. “Th…thanks…Akatsuki…,” Ringo stammered. “I, uh… ~~~~~~~~” …and he wasn’t alone. Lyrule and Ringo had also accompanied the rebel army, and when they piled on the praise and gratitude, Akatsuki’s cheeks—which were normally as white and smooth as the driven snow—turned bright red. He was accustomed to adulation for his illusions, but praise for who he was as a person was different. For a moment, he was struck speechless by the unfamiliar embarrassment. “O-oh, hey, uh, Keine! Now that I think about it, there are still a bunch of injured people in Yamato. Are you sure it’s all right for you to come with us?” Akatsuki desperately shifted the topic and his gaze over to Keine in an attempt to escape. Shinobu grinned. “What, feeling a little self-conscious?” “Yeah! Yeah, I am! That’s why I’m trying to change the subject!” Keine gave the magician an understanding smile. “That’s a fair question. You’re certainly right that there are still many wounded, but now that I’ve gone through and stabilized all those in need of urgent care, I can entrust the rest to the Yamato physicians.” “But back in the Gustav domain, it took way longer to treat everyone.” “There, the underlying issue was the patients’ poor physical conditions. By and large, their bodies lacked the strength to heal. They required constant bedside attendance. In contrast, the people of Yamato are generally hale and fully nourished. With their wounds properly sterilized and bandaged, the majority of the wounded will recover on their own. Nobody is going to die on account of my absence.” “Oh, I see,” Akatsuki replied. “Well, that’s good to hear… I’m sick of people having to die.”