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“PFT, ha… ha, ha…” Dark laughter wells up in me at the sight of the impending ruin that’s about to unfold. Every time I laugh, pain tears through my beaten torso, but I can’t stop.
Sakurako’s fighting the wizard.
At first, the ice nearly swallowed her, but one punch of her fist shattered it. Then she turned that same fist toward the magician.
Mages are all about defensive magic. They can’t really launch attacks. No matter how many times this wizard casts a spell to reinforce his defensive barrier, Sakurako keeps cracking that barrier with ease. I can’t help laughing; it’s hilarious.
I don’t know how much mana the wizard has stored up, but as soon as he runs out, it’s lights out for him. He’s shivering, his face as white as a ghost, cowering beneath the colossal existence that is Sakurako.
My brother, who was able to crawl to a corner of the room, is trembling with arms wrapped around his head.
“Easy. Are you out of it, too? Now’s not the time to laugh. Here, drink this.”
I feel the glass rim of a bottle being pressed to my lips, and liquid slides down my throat. Was that Kazuya? Is this a healing potion, maybe?
Thinking back, I suspect Kazuya dragged me to the wall so I could sit up when Sakurako started fighting the wizard. If I’d stayed where I was, I probably would’ve been a casualty of their battle.
I manage to swallow the liquid, and my pain miraculously subsides. A moment ago, even laughing was excruciating, but somehow, I’ve recovered enough now to feel like I might be able to get up. The healing potion he gave me has a powerful effect.
“Kazuya, I…didn’t know you had a healing potion as good as this… Where’s…my mother?” I wriggle to turn a little and see Mother lying nearby. That wizard cut her throat with his knife. I thought she was done for…
“Right now, she’s in shock and unconscious, but I used some medicine to stop her bleeding. I gave her a healing potion, too, so she’ll probably be fine.”
Relief sinks into me. Her complexion doesn’t look so bad anymore. And I hear faint breathing, meaning she’s breathing properly. He saved her!
“Thank you. Kazuya… Thank you.” I bow my head low with endless gratitude.
“Don’t mention it, really. And it’s not like I saved her for you.”
A loud crash echoes through the room.
“St-stop! Stay baaaack!” the wizard wails miserably. He’s depleted all his mana, and the final remnants of his defensive barrier have splintered into a million pieces.
Sakurako’s face in profile shows no emotion, but the stance of her body emanates rage. The seething of her palpable anger even reaches me, giving me goosebumps.
That wizard is damned. Sakurako is going to kill him. Followed by my brother.
My brother has always been my enemy, and it was he who hurt my mother, so he absolutely has it coming. My lips twitch into a smile as I imagine the scene that’s about to unfurl.
“God damn it. She’s gone off the rails. I’ve got to go grab her now.” Kazuya pulls himself to his feet.
I stare blankly. Why is he standing up? Is he going over to Sakurako? If so, he’ll only get in her way. “Are you going to help Sakurako? She doesn’t need any help. You’ll only weigh her down.”
Kazuya glares at me. “Obviously, I’m going to stop her for her sake.”
“You’re going to stop her? Why?”
“Don’t you know? Because she’s a normal girl!”
My eyes open wide. A normal girl? What are you talking about, Kazuya? She’s special. Uniquely strong. I don’t know what he means by calling her normal. “Normal…? She’s not normal.”
He reels in shock. “What would you know? She might be a bit too strong, but she’s a normal girl with normal wants and needs. If she kills someone… Even if they’re bad guys, I guarantee you she’ll regret it afterwards. Because that’s how kind she is!”
Kazuya leaves me and runs to Sakurako’s side. Watching his back grow smaller as he moves further away, I feel unmistakable, definite defeat.
I adore Sakurako. I love her. That’s the reason I told her how I felt as soon as we met up again. I thought that no one else could possibly ever love her more than I do.
But now I know. I am head over heels in love, drowning in hatred, and pathetic for never once trying to understand her, whereas Kazuya is the one who understands and loves Sakurako more than anyone else. And that’s just how it is.
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WELP, looks like I’ve finally broken the annoying invisible barrier that was keeping me from laying my hands on the guy who hurt Leila. All that’s left for me to do is annihilate him.
“Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, I beg you…” the wizard says, shaking his head.
C’mon, don’t do that. You’re acting like I’m in the wrong here.
I haven’t done anything wrong. He’s the one who hurt Leila, right? I clench my fist—
Suddenly, Kazuya cuts in front of me. “Stop, Sakurako! That’s enough! These losers have given up already.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Don’t rush in like that, Kazuya, it’s dangerous.” I almost punched him!
“Leila and Luke are safe, so calm down.”
“…What? Leila and Luke?” I blink a few times, and my vision gradually becomes sharper. The hatred that was overflowing in me evaporates like a puff of smoke.
“There, see? Over there.”
I look where Kazuya is pointing. Luke is sitting against the wall, next to Leila, who’s sleeping on the floor.
“Y-you saved them? But there was so much blood?!”
“Yeah, they’ll be fine. You can tell by looking at them. Besides, I told you before I could probably save them. You just didn’t listen, and took off on your own again…”
I shrink at his exasperated chiding. Yeah! He did tell me that, I think! But I still let the blood rush to my head…
“Oh! What about the bad guys?” My voice quivers. “Did I, by any chance, k-kill them?” I don’t want to kill anyone. But since we came to this world, it’s been impossible to rein in my strength!
“They’re fine. Well… They might be dead on the inside.”
I look around. The wizard and the prince are sprawled on the ground. Each have thousand-yard, vacant stares, and they’re bruised and battered, but other than that, they look healthy enough.
Phew! Yep, it’d be awful to kill anyone. It’d leave a way worse aftertaste than this.
And seeing as both Leila and Luke are safe—Wait.
“How did you save Leila and Luke? I thought she was a goner.” I mean, her neck had been sliced open and there was so much blood pouring out.
Kazuya smiles proudly and takes a small vial full of green liquid out of his bag. “With this!”
“Is this the elixir you were working on making earlier?”
“Uh-huh. It’s a super-strong healing potion. All you need to do is drink it or pour it onto a wound, and it’ll heal almost everything.”
“What?! That’s awesome! That’s amazing! Kazuya! I’m so glad Ganzi taught you how to make stuff!”
“Yeah. Well, I figured it’ll probably be vital for us from now on, when we go traveling.”
I cock my head. “What do you mean, vital for us?” To tell the truth, I was never one for drugs when I lived in Japan. Does Kazuya want to live large?
“I mean, I can use it when you go on a rampage, like today. If I get caught up in your battles, I’m going to need a maximum-strength panacea.”
“Huh?! I wouldn’t let you get caught up! No way would I ever hurt you!”
“You say that, but when you lose your temper, you tune out of everything around you,” he points out.
That shuts me up. He’s exactly right.
I’m sorry.
“Still, I knew I was pretty good at compounding, but this potion exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t sure it would work, since this was the first time using it in actual combat, but watching it do its thing with my own eyes… It was almost scary.” Kazuya looks a little frightened as his fingers close around the vial.
I can’t help but smile. He’s worried, even though he was the one who made it!
But more than that, I’m overjoyed. Both Leila and Luke are unharmed, and things wrapped up without me killing the bad guys. If Kazuya hadn’t stopped me, I’m a hundred percent sure I would have slaughtered them, so I feel a huge amount of relief.
Kazuya said that he made the healing potion for himself to use if he got injured, but I bet there was more to it than that. I bet he thought that I’d need a potion to help anybody I might hurt out of anger, like I almost did this time. He knew that I’d be sad if I hurt people without meaning to, even if they were bad guys.
Thank you, Kazuya.
All along, I thought I was the one protecting him, but he’s the one who’s always protecting me. I wonder why I didn’t notice until now. He protects me so that I can be myself.
My heart throbs. It’s different than the heart-pounding feeling I get when I see Luke.
Maybe I like Kazuya much more than I thought.