It was the Date show after that. It was pretty simple. Since coming to this world, he hadn’t used his Divine Blessing once. He’d only been using the skills he already had, and with those, he was strong enough to take on five knights by himself. Actually using his Divine Blessing would only amplify his abilities. As I watched the scene unfolding before me, a single word came to mind: domination.
He deflected the swords of the knights as they came at him, then counterattacked by striking very precisely between the gaps of their armor, rendering them unconscious. If they charged him, their attacks were parried, and they were knocked off their feet. If they used magic, he evaded their spells.
His swordplay could not be described as beautiful, not even by an amateur. It was unrefined and lacked grace, almost barbaric—but also polished and incredibly accurate. It was an efficient sword style, entirely focused on slaying one’s opponents. Forget about being beautiful—it was so brutal it made me want to look away.
After a few minutes had passed, Date was unscathed—and as for the knights, none of them were left standing. He walked over to Lily, who was cowering in a corner, and stomped the wall right beside her head.
“Eek!” she screamed.
After becoming heroes, our physical abilities had grown to superhuman levels. His kick was strong enough that it cracked the wall.
“Listen up. We’re heroes. You summoned us here and asked for our help. We’re risking our lives to fight the demon king.” He glared right into her eyes. “If you’re asking us for a favor, you better treat us right. Even kids get that. Understand?”
Lily could only shrink back against the wall, trembling. There was nowhere for her to run. At her reaction, he pounded his foot into the same spot on the wall.
“Eek!” she screamed again. Her face grew pale, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. Moisture was leaking from her skirt—an incredibly unbefitting situation for someone of her status.
There was another explosive sound as Date kicked the wall once more. The crack grew larger. Lily was completely speechless.
“I asked you a question. Understand?”
Like a bobblehead, Lily nodded.
“Fine. Whatever.” Done leering at her, Date turned back to us. “Huh? What’s the matter, you two?” he asked, as we recoiled from him.
Tanaka was so scared he couldn’t even move. All he did was tremble. I was scared too, but at the same time, I desperately wanted to make some kind of comment on how he’d claimed he wouldn’t attack an unarmed person, yet was fine inflicting this kind of psychological damage on them. He was totally acting like a yakuza. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the words out of my throat.
At any rate, Date had really saved us back then. We eventually also learned that he did have something to do with the yakuza. Before this incident, that would’ve surprised us, but now we accepted it easily.
The carriage creaked as it rolled down the road. The bumpiness wrenched me out of my thoughts of the past and back into the present.
“Something happen?” the guard asked the carriage driver.
“A kid suddenly jumped out of nowhere.”
“A kid?” Here in the mountains? But then I recalled the village we had seen coming up here. We exited the carriage, and, about ten meters ahead of us, we spotted the figure of a kid.
“A girl?” Tanaka asked quietly.
It was just as he’d said. She looked to be about ten or so years old, with silver hair and red eyes. Her clothes were tattered and torn, and there was a small horn growing out of her head. No sooner had we noticed that surprising fact when we heard a rustling from the thicket, and two guys emerged.
“Finally. You saved us the trouble.”
“You little thief!”
The two men hadn’t seemed to notice us and closed in on the girl. Both of them were carrying axes that rested against their shoulders. It was very clear they weren’t playing around.
“The hell you two doin’?” Date barked, stopping the two men in their tracks.
“Who the hell...? None of your damn business,” one of the men snapped, finally noticing us.
“Like hell it’s not. What’re you gonna do to her?”
“What does that have to do with you?” The man glared back. It was a staring contest between thugs.
“Everything. If you’re tryin’ to hurt her, you’d better think twice about it.”
“What—you know her?”
“Nope.”
The man was incredibly confused by Date’s answer. “Then what’s your problem? You some kinda...‘ally of justice,’ or somethin’?”
“What’s it to you if I am?”
The other man spoke up. “If you’re fightin’ for justice, then you oughta know—we’re justified in what we’re doin’.”
“Yeah! This kid stole from our shop! So she’s gotta pay the price.”
Upon closer inspection, it certainly did seem as though the girl was carrying an apple in her arms.
“‘Pay the price’?”
“Normally, we’d kill her...but we’ll settle for an arm or two.”
The girl let out a silent scream, clutching her arms.
“All that for a measly apple? That’s dumb.”
“Hmph. I’m sure a rich boy like you wouldn’t understand, but apples are scarce here. Just one of ’em goes for a high price. Plus, this ain’t her first time. She’s stolen from us over and over. She’s gotta learn her lesson...and it’s gotta hurt.”
“And it ain’t like she’s human. She’s a demon. There’s no need for us to hold back.”
He was right about that much—the horns on her head were proof enough.
“Hey, Date,” I said to him. “I think they’re in the right about this. If she’s a demon, there’s no need to stick your neck out for her.”
“Huh? What the hell?”
“I-I agree. She’s a thief. She committed a crime.” Before Date could protest any further, Tanaka agreed with me.
If she were human, I might’ve tried to save her, but she was a demon—in other words, our enemy. Her horns made me sick to my stomach. In my mind, there was nothing wrong with killing her right here and now. Taking her arms but leaving her with her life was a kindness. Despite having scary faces, these guys were surprisingly kind. Were they trying to go for gap appeal?
The two men nodded at our words.
“Now that’s settled...git outta here.”
“Mmngh!”
“This brat’s annoying. Shut her up!”
“Come on, Date, let’s get back into the carriage.” I tried to usher him away so we could leave, but he didn’t budge. He looked as though he wanted to say something to us, but didn’t. Instead, he turned back to them. In the next instant, he had placed himself between the girl and the men.
“D-Date?!”
“Huh? Outta the way!”
“No. This is justice.”
“Justice?! Nah—that’s us. Everyone here agrees!”
The other guy nodded, the carriage driver nodded, the guard nodded, Tanaka nodded, and so did I. The two guys might’ve had crappy attitudes, scary faces, and been vulgar barbarians...but they weren’t wrong. If anything, Date was in the wrong for protecting a demon girl.
“We ain’t exactly loaded. Even a single apple is a huge loss for us. If you’re really on the side of justice, you should be on our side.”
“God... Shut the hell up already.”
But even in this situation, Date smiled fearlessly. I’d almost forgotten what kind of guy he was. Even if everyone was against him, he’d execute his form of justice.
“You’re not layin’ a hand on her. I don’t care about your circumstances. I don’t care what reasons or justifications you have. Gangin’ up on an unarmed girl isn’t justice. It’s uncool.”
He wasn’t interested in what other people considered justice. And no matter what other people said, he wouldn’t betray his own justice.
“Watch it or you’re gonna get hurt, hypocrite.”
“Whatever.” Slowly, Date unsheathed his blade. “My justice isn’t just for show. Anyone who wants a taste of it, step right up. I’ll cut you down,” Date declared.
He was prepared to enforce his idea of justice for the simple reason that it was cool. Masayoshi Date was not one to ever turn his back on his justice.
“So what do we do with the kid?”
As expected, Date beat the two guys to a pulp, and now the demon girl was in our carriage.
“Demons aren’t allowed in the country, right? We’ll hide her horn and I’ll take her in.”
“Wh-What?!” The guard raised his voice in shock.
I don’t blame him for that reaction. Date taking in a demon was the same as the republic itself sheltering a demon.
“Chill. I’ll watch over her. Not gonna let anythin’ stupid happen.”
“B-But—”
“What? You still bitchin’ to me? A hero?”
“Eek!”
Suddenly, I flashed back to that scene of him beating all those knights...and I’m guessing the same thing happened to the guard. It had also traumatized all the nobles. Just him saying the words “I’m a hero” was enough to send them into a dissociative state. The guard had fallen silent at this point, but there was something that I wanted to ask.
“Can you take care of a little girl? I doubt anyone’s gonna wanna help you. Plus, she doesn’t trust anyone but you.”
Ever since Date had saved her, she’d been glued to his side. If anyone else came close, she’d hide behind him.
“I’ll do my best. Just give me some advice.”
I let out a heavy sigh. Once again, I found myself forced into a really annoying situation. The worst part was that I was the type of person who couldn’t refuse people’s requests.
“What’s your name?” he asked, looking straight at the girl.
Can she understand us? She hasn’t said a word this entire time. Can she even talk?
“Richu...”
Oh, she can talk.
“Richu? That’s short and easy to remember. It’s a good name,” Date said, patting her head.
Is that a compliment? But the girl closed her eyes, enjoying the hand on her head. Then she looked up at him.
“Thank...you,” she said with a smile.
“Hm? Sure...”
“I hadn’t...thanked you yet.”
Her smile was adorable, but it was apparently even more effective on the unsuspecting Date. His face went slack.
“S-So cute...”
Oh god, here we go again. He’d fallen for her. He fell for people so easily. He’d fallen for the goddess, for Lily, and now for this little demon girl. This had to be some form of infidelity. Girls needed to stay away from him. He might’ve been kinda good looking, but still. I made a mental note to put him on my dating blacklist. He kinda scared me sometimes, but in the end, he was a harmless, simple idiot who fell in love really easily.
I’ll save for another day the story of how, upon our return to the republic the next day, we discovered that Lily had awakened to masochism... A day a long, long time from now.