Their time was up! Jacob entered the room! “Hey, guys! Were you able to come up with a good novel plot?”
Wataru, Aria and Resistance answered in unison:
“Yeah!!!”
“We did!”
“You betcha!”
“You all seem confident. Gotta say, I’m a little surprised. But, remember, I’m a best-selling author!” Jacob inserted a dramatic pause, then pridefully puffed his chest! “I’m not handing over the orb for some half-baked idea!”
Wataru answered by crossing his monstrously thewed arms! “Just you wait! That orb is ours, and Aria will never be yours!”
“As if! Aria’s gonna be mine! Gheh hah hah ha!!” Jacob’s hideous laughter echoed through the room! After a fit of mirth, he asked with the same condescending, crap-eating grin: “So... What’s it called?”
Wataru inhaled deeply before proudly declaring the title of their novel! “Hard-Core Melty Darkness Boy, Kakeru in Love!”
“Huh???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????” The best-selling orc author was the most confused he had ever been in his life! For a moment, he doubted that Wataru had even been speaking the same language they were all using! “Huh? What? ‘Hard-Core Melty Dark...’ What?”
“Here’s the synopsis!” Completely ignoring him, Aria began reading their synopsis, a chimeric concoction of their stories!! “Yo, my name’s Kakeru! (Hot-blooded!) Just an ordinary sixteen-year-old! ♥ One day, my adventurer father ~Pater Adventurous~ was murdered by the young prince of darkness! (Dark Smile!) That blasted off my red-hot grand adventure! (Hot-blooded!) We uncover the sketchy secrets of the royalty trapped in darkness, and fight for our lives over the legendary sword Excalibur! ♥ Can we win the Holy War ~Sanctus Bellum~ and avenge my adventurer father ~Pater Adventurous~!? (Dark Smile!?) Behold! This is the tragic yet beautiful chronicle of hot-blooded pure love revenge by a young man who had his soul chained by the Hot-blooded Chain ~Calidum-Sanguinem Torque~ (Hot-blooded ♥ Smile!)”
“Huh?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????”
Jacob was overcome with confusion! “Huh? What? What’s the story about?”
“Now’s our chance, Wataru!” Résistance called.
“Yeah!”
At Résistance’s cue, Wataru leapt towards Jacob and smashed his fist into Jacob’s cranium!
“Greaghhhhh!” Jacob was immediately knocked out! Out cold!! He collapsed onto the floor! Allow me to explain! The move Wataru had just deployed was Sky-High Brain-Rattler*!
(*Sky-High Brain-Rattler — The signature move of a renowned karate fighter in the Edo period, who worked as an assassin by night. The user leaps powerfully into the air, and slams their fist straight down onto the top of their target’s cranium. Anyone who suffers this attack has their brain rattled, immediately giving them a concussion. No amount of training can strengthen one’s skull, which is what made this move such a powerful and suitable choice for assassinations. That same martial artist performed a number of assassinations, using no weapons but his fist and the Sky-High Brain-Rattler technique, and eventually became the government’s elite contract-killer. [2])
“Boo-yah! Now that’s a mind-shaking story!!” Wataru had spectacularly solved their problem with brute force! It was much too blunt to call it clever!
“Now let’s steal the orb,” Résistance declared without hesitation! Who are the villains in this book again!?
“Wait a minute, you two!” Aria immediately spoke up! “This is too cruel!!” She reprimanded them for their decidedly unheroic approach!
“I know!” Wataru answered! “But we can’t pick and choose our means in order to save the people from the terror that is the dragon!!”
“W-Wataru...!” Aria let out tears of overwhelming amazement! She couldn’t help it when faced with Wataru’s manliness for resorting to cold-blooded tactics in order to save those people!!
Meanwhile, Résistance had rummaged through Jacob’s pockets and found the orb in his pants! “Here it is!” The orb shone blue like a sapphire when she held it up! It refracted the light like a calm sea!
“Hey, that looks pretty nice!” Wataru commented!
“I was scared for a moment there... But we made it.”
“Your story was still the worst, Résistance.”
“What did you say?”
✦ ✦ ✦
And so, Wataru and his team successfully obtained the second orb, with four to go! But they were yet to discover...! The terrifying foe that lay ahead...!!
To be continued in the next chapter: “The Fierce Battle Against the Gorgeous Elphabelle!”
*Sources:
[2] The Legendary Assassin of Awesomeness ~ Karate Man by Day, Hit Man by Night — Isekai Tensei Publishing