“They tend to run away fast, so I’ll just beat it up a little first.”

Tia, the Holy Sword spirit, said it as casually as if she were talking about the weather—and then leapt lightly into the air. Kagurazaka Chizuru could only gape with her mouth half-open, unable to do anything.

First of all—what even were the demonkin?

Chizuru had never seen a demi-human species with skin discolored to a pale purple like that. After the World Fusion, almost all of the newly appeared demi-human races were supposed to be catalogued.

The most conspicuous were elves like Irselia, common ones included dog- and cat-beastkin, and rarer still were dragonkin, whose skin bore scales in patches. There were also kobolds that looked like stuffed animals, and a few tiny, thirty-centimeter-tall fairy folk with wings on their backs.

But if such demi-humans existed, they would stand out. And if they were that powerful a race, there was no way they could go unnoticed.

Then, the person Tia called a demonkin must be—

Before she could think it through fully, Tia smashed the “stone cage” that Souma Kengo had conjured, using her holy sword.

Like the wolf blowing down a straw house in a fairy tale.

Effortlessly destroying S-rank explorer magic.

Chizuru shivered and instinctively glanced at Kengo, the one who had cast the spell. He had no time to adjust the brim of his hunting cap; his expression clearly betrayed panic and frustration.

In other words, he hadn’t even been holding back with weak magic.

There was no need to wonder—this pale-purple man was a formidable mage. Chizuru herself hadn’t gone all out, but neither had he. Even an S-rank like Souma would have poured significant mana into constructing that stone cage.

And yet, Tia had undone it so easily…

Chizuru couldn’t have done that. Maybe a full-power strike could work, but nothing remotely so effortless. Most explorers would have found it impossible.

The dragon-slaying swordswoman, Tia.

“Wha—! You—ugah! Bgah! Bwe! You—! Gah!”

The ‘demonkin’, freed from his cage, showed a fleeting expression of confusion upon seeing Tia, but immediately succumbed to excruciating pain.

In the few moments he took to fall from the air to the ground, Tia had landed a rapid series of strikes. Every slight shake of the holy sword sent multiple tiny meteor-like blows into it—an unrelenting assault. By the time he hit the ground, she had probably struck it more than forty times.

A light thump marked Tia’s landing, followed almost immediately by the heavy doh of an adult male’s weight hitting the earth.

Then, Tia unleashed a flurry of sword strikes onto the demonkin’s legs, leaving its knees down in a terrible state. Only after seeing that did she speak, in her usual casual tone:

“Sorry, the demonkin don’t listen and run off right away, so I had to neutralize you. Once I know you’re not a bad guy, I’ll cast a healing spell on you later.”

Silence fell naturally over the scene, broken only by the patter of raindrops on the ground.

“Uh… I don’t really get what’s happening here…”

Tooru muttered. That was enough to make Souma and Maisaka spring back into action.

“I am S-rank explorer Souma Kengo. You must be ‘Cursed Blade user’ Tooru Hayasaka, correct? I’ve come to determine whether you are worthy of wielding the Cursed Sword and the Holy Sword. I apologize for the trouble, but I need you to answer a few questions.”

Souma walked forward alongside Maisaka, glancing at the demonkin intermittently. Chizuru had met him several times before, but had never seen him so tense.

Tension—and caution.

After all, his stone cage had been effortlessly destroyed, and the ‘demonkin’ that had given Chizuru trouble had been utterly annihilated in an instant—by Tia, wielder of the Holy Sword. And there was her master, Tooru Hayasaka.

“Huh.”

Tooru, the one being receiving that wary, let out a small sigh and scanned the surroundings with a slightly puzzled expression. It wasn’t so much caution as sheer confusion.

“Yes or no. Affirmative or negative. Just answer like that. Name: Tooru Hayasaka. Until recently, you were a cleaner in that Sugai Dungeon over there. By coincidence, you became the wielder of the Holy Sword and the Cursed Sword. Is that correct?”

“Huh… ah, well, yes.”

Souma fixed his gaze briefly on Maisaka, and the gloomy-haired woman gave a small nod.

“Do you harbor any desire for revenge?”

“…Huh?”

“A sense of retaliation toward the world or those around you. Do you want to get back at people, make them suffer, give them the same pain you’ve endured?”

“Ah… uh, that would be a no.”

“Do you care about the public welfare? Do you think it would be better if your surroundings, the world, and more people were happier than they are now?”

“Well, better than the opposite, I guess. Yes.”

“Another question on public welfare: Do you think some patience and compromise are necessary for the public good? And would you accept such patience?”

“Yes. Personally, I think people who can’t endure or compromise shouldn’t be let loose in society. If everyone ignored the rules—like not waiting quietly in line at a register, or not stopping at red lights—it’d be like a zoo out there.”

At that, Souma’s lips lifted slightly at the corners. Even from the side, Chizuru could see the tension in the air ease a little. Perhaps something had resonated.

Souma’s tone and demeanor were far from pleasant, yet Tooru didn’t seem offended. Chizuru couldn’t quite pinpoint why Tooru wasn’t irritated—it left her vaguely unsettled.

Unfazed by Chizuru’s internal puzzlement, the questions continued.

“Do you possess common sense? For instance, do you think the idea that ‘as long as it’s legal, anything goes’ is not acceptable?”

“Now we’re talking morals, huh. Affirmative. I’d say those kinds of people are why laws keep piling up and making life complicated.”

“Interesting. I agree. Next question: If your dignity is violated, do you think it’s acceptable to retaliate? And, in some cases, would it be justified to kill?”

“Yes.”

The answer came instantly. Even holding his plastic umbrella, Tooru’s expression darkened slightly.

However—Maisaka shook her head.

“Mixed. He doesn’t believe it’s okay to kill in every case.”

“…Well, yeah. That’s obvious. It’s situational, obviously.”

“That’s truth.”

“Alright, final question. With the power you’ve gained, do you have any desire to stand above others? To look down on people and take pleasure in it?”

“No… I don’t. Maybe it’s not completely zero, but going out of my way to climb high just to look down on others? That seems pretty boring to me.”

“Truth.”

“I see. One more question, if you don’t mind. Something personal this time… Right now, you believe you have the ability, if you wanted, to kill me. Yes or no?”

“…Yes.”

“Truth.”

“You’re a monster, huh. Ah—sorry to have taken your time. That’s all the questions. Tooru Hayasaka, if we had judged you a dangerous individual, we planned to take the Holy Sword and Cursed Sword from you. Since the swords are linked to your soul, that probably would have meant killing you to take them. Good thing it didn’t come to that.”

Souma let out a quiet breath and a wry smile, tracing the brim of his hat with his fingers. The faint tremor in his hand was probably not imagined.

The S-class explorer Souma Kengo—was afraid of Tooru Hayasaka.

To Chizuru, that was a strangely prideful feeling.

“The verdict: safe. Tooru Hayasaka is not disqualified as the wielder of the Holy Sword and Cursed Sword. From this point forward, I, Souma Kengo, commissioned by the Dungeon Agency, guarantee that you are the rightful owner of both swords. In other words, no matter who challenges you for it, there is no need to obey. Not even to the Prime Minister.”

“Haa… yeah, I get it. But that shitty elf said she came to check if I was dangerous or not… so, is this like, a double check?”

“No, that shitty elf is just overstepping as usual. Her opinion was taken into account, but the decision was mine. This was an official request from the Dungeon Agency. The gloomy woman over there is Maisaka Risa—she possesses the ‘Skill’ to discern lies in others.”

“Ohh… Then what if I say something like, ‘I only tell lies,’ or—”

“Ow ow ow ow! It hurts! What the hell did you do that for all of a sudden?!”

Maisaka suddenly clutched both temples with her hands and burst out in anger, startling Chizuru quite a bit. It was the first time she had ever heard this woman raise her voice like that.

“I was just wondering what would happen with a paradox… my bad.”

“I get a splitting headache, that’s what! You suddenly blurt out something that’s not truth, not false, not even mixed—seriously, that’s creepy! Souma, this guy’s dangerous!”

“…False. Not dangerous.”

“Damn it! Don’t imitate me! Every last one of you treats me like some convenient lie detector! Why do I have to deal with this kind of walking disaster—Phew… Right. Well, this man doesn’t seem dangerous, at least.”

“You know, that gloomy introvert act isn’t really gonna fly anymore…”

Tooru’s cold remark cut through the air, but Maisaka ignored him, her cheek twitching.

I see—Chizuru had thought she was just a gloomy woman, but it had been an act. Why she had been putting it on, though, she had no idea.

And then—

“Heyyy. You done talking? I think you should deal with this problem over here too.”

Right beside the thoroughly beaten “demonkin,” Tia spoke while casually juggling the Holy Sword with her foot. She must have been bored.

“J-Just a moment, please! We would be most grateful for a little more time!”

At that—Reiko, who had been silently observing from the rear, seized a break in the conversation and strode forward. Toward Chizuru.

She looked oddly angry… and that did not seem to be Chizuru’s imagination.

As far as Chizuru was concerned, she had no reason to be scolded by Reiko—who had been happily exploring the dungeon together with Chizuru’s sword god. If anything, Chizuru was the one who should be angry.

Perhaps because she felt that way, Chizuru planted her feet, crossed her arms in front of her chest, thrust out her chin, and glared back at the approaching Reiko—umbrella in hand—as if to say, Bring it on.

But Reiko showed no sign of intimidation at all and walked right up until she was only a breath away.

“Kagurazaka Chizuru! Just what kind of outfit are you wearing?! How indecent!”

That was what she said.

It was not the development Chizuru had been expecting—but then again, if asked what she had been expecting… she didn’t really have an answer.

“Inde—what? What are you talking about all of a sudden? What’s wrong with my outfit?”

“Under that cloak, you’re wearing nothing but undergarments, aren’t you?! You’re not some springtime exhibitionist! You are a member of Anthem, you know? Conduct yourself accordingly!”

Now that it was pointed out, she was indeed wearing only undergarments beneath her cloak—but it was basically like a track-and-field uniform. Chizuru herself did not consider it indecent. True, it was not something one would proudly display on a stage before the masses, but still.

“Y-You have no right to say that to me. And if you want to talk about indecency, then your outfit is the indecent one, Kujou girl! That dress practically flaunts your chest—and you were gripping Tooru-sama’s hand and bouncing them all over the place! I saw the broadcast!”

“My, what a vulgar opinion—like some lecherous old man! Besides, the fact that my chest grew larger is hardly my fault, and this dress is perfectly formal attire suitable for any occasion! And Toorubro-sama was not particularly fixated on my boobs, thank you very much. A true gentleman—yes, a gentleman!”

“Hmph! Perhaps he simply had no interest in your lumps of fat. There is nothing shameful about my outfit! What is shameful is—”

—Myself.

Chizuru could not help but be seized by a surge of intense self-loathing. Just because she disliked this woman—who had, in fact, been worried about her—why had she responded like this?

If she behaved this way, she had no right to reproach Irselia.

Her heated emotions collapsed all at once. From up close, Reiko peered at her with concern. A bitter sense of defeat washed over her.

It was not about chest size.

It was about the size of one’s heart.

As a person, she had lost to Reiko.

“You suddenly went quiet. In any case, that sort of attire can hardly be called ladylike. Jouichirou! The portable tent—”

“Already set it up.”

A listless voice sounded from behind Reiko. Standing in a way that deliberately avoided looking at Chizuru, the Kujou family’s butler pointed to a portable tent that had somehow been erected without anyone noticing.

“Nine Line brand. Just pull the cord and it pops open. Though yeah, these things are a pain to pack up. Miss Kagurazaka, do you have a change of clothes? Looks like you’ve got a magic bag on you.”

“…That is not something you say while pointedly looking away. Much obliged, Kujou. And to you as well, Butler. I do have a change of clothes, so I will gratefully borrow the tent. I must change into something that would not embarrass me before Tooru-sama.”

“Before Toorubro-sama…?”

“Indeed. He is a person equal to a god to me.”

With that, ignoring Reiko’s puzzled tilt of the head, she entered the portable tent. If it was Nine Line equipment, then it was surely designed for dungeon use: tall enough to change clothes while standing, and made of material that did not allow silhouettes to show through. In other words, if she could not see out, they could not see in either.

At any rate, she unclasped her belt, tossed it—sword and all—into her magic bag, then removed her undergarments and cloak and tossed those in as well. Taking out a towel, she briskly wiped her head and body, then slipped into fresh undergarments and a new top.

Everything was Nine Line brand under Kujou’s umbrella, which she found mildly irritating, but the quality was unquestionably excellent.

Once she finished changing and stepped outside, the butler held out a vinyl umbrella.

“Mm… my thank you. I shall gratefully accept it.”

“No problem. If milady’s rival turns into a wreck, that wouldn’t be very entertaining.”

The butler spoke with a suggestive tone, but Chizuru did not quite understand and let it pass.

—And then—

“Heyyy, is it about time? The guy I beat to a pulp is starting to sulk.”

Only then did Chizuru remember that there was still an unresolved problem.

A demi-human with pale violet skin.

If Tia was to be believed—a “demonkin.”

Fortunately, there happened to be a woman present who could see through lies.