Chapter 127: The Bugle of Battle

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Lanser was merely a shameless otaku, not a bastard. This time, the fault was clearly his, which meant that no matter what the other party did, he had no right to retaliate. But then he thought about how awkward their next meeting would be if he failed to resolve things this time. Besides, according to what Lord God had said, this might actually be an opportunity. When an unexpected incident occurred, perhaps his favorability would instantly reach MAX!

Just as Lanser let out a strange exclamation, the mechanical voice he had not heard for a long time suddenly sounded beside his ear.

“Defeat the invading enemies—three targets!”

The long-absent mechanical voice was certainly no good omen. Still, Lanser had noticed a pattern. At least so far, whenever Lianhua issued an ordinary quest, she would chat with him a little. But compulsory quests like this left no room for discussion. That was when the mechanical voice came out to do its work.

“Fine. It’s not as though this is the first time Lianhua has set me up.”

With an exasperated sigh, he raised both hands, grabbed Suguha by the shoulders, and said, “Get inside. Quickly!”

Still utterly bewildered by Lanser, Suguha could only ask, “Why?”

Perhaps sleeping too long had affected his thought process. Habitually answering with a sarcastic quip, he said, “Because I like you, of course.”

“Oh, damn…”

Only then did Lanser realize what he had just done. Something incredible had happened moments ago, and now he had practically walked straight into his own grave.

“Really?”

Instead of the three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spinning kick Lanser had expected, Suguha—who had chased him out of the hospital room with her bamboo sword—came to an abrupt stop.

“Uh…”

Lanser finally came to his senses as well. Although a man’s ultimate goal in life was sex, he had already lived through several different lives. He was no longer a creature ruled entirely by his lower half. At that moment, however, he had no idea how to answer and could only remain awkwardly silent.

“Go back!”

Suddenly sensing that something was wrong, Lanser shoved Suguha forward.

Rip!

The sound was like a plastic bag being torn apart.

Suguha, who had still been lost in that strange atmosphere, had never expected Lanser to push her without warning. When she finally reacted, she saw something utterly unbelievable.

“Looks like you missed.”

A strange voice drifted down from the roof of the hospital building.

“I told you to aim properly.”

A rough, booming voice followed.

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“Looks like rookies really are useless.”

The voice sounded almost friendly, but after what had just happened, it was obvious that whoever had come was not there to have a chat.

“Could you seal off the surrounding area for me?”

Lanser suddenly spoke without explanation. Suguha had no idea what was happening, and the people opposite him could not understand why he had said such a thing either.

“Consider this a reward.”

A voice that no one else could hear echoed inside Lanser’s mind.

“Whatever.”

The blood at the corner of his mouth had already stopped flowing. Lanser calmly raised his head and pulled the green object from his body.

“Right now, all I want is to kill the few bastards standing in front of me.”

He had already encountered people in the game who were similar to these intruders. But that had been a game world, where true death was ultimately governed by Kayaba’s rules. The people before him, however, had clearly disregarded everyone around them. Their target moments ago had even been Suguha, an unrelated bystander.

If she had merely been a stranger, Lanser might have been furious, but he would not necessarily have resorted to anything and everything. Yet in the game, he had fought side by side with Kirito, even though Kirito would not truly die there.

Suguha was also one of the few people he knew well. After what had just happened, the relationship between them had become even more ambiguous. Lanser was enraged.

“Are you ready?”

When he saw the strange blue barrier appear around them, Lanser knew that Lianhua’s preparations were complete. Without the slightest hesitation, he launched his attack.

“Hmm? Ready…”

The man who had spoken first had not yet noticed anything strange in Lanser’s tone. He merely believed that Lanser had shown no particular strength during the ambush. Moreover, they had an obvious numerical advantage, so he was already preparing to taunt him.

But now that Lanser was angry, he was not about to stand there smiling while his opponent mocked him. Against such deranged enemies, he saw nothing wrong with attacking by surprise.

Bang!

Of the three men who had been acting so arrogantly only a moment before, one instantly became a corpse.

“Impossi—”

The man in the green suit could utter no more than a disbelieving cry before collapsing.

“This is…”

The other two realized that something was wrong the moment Lanser struck and immediately retreated. They were not fools, however. Even as they abandoned their “companion,” they did not forget to send Lanser a little “gift.”

Bang!

After an explosion, smoke enveloped Lanser on every side.

“Cough, cough!”

The smiles that had appeared on the two men’s faces when their attack seemed to hit vanished at once. Although they had clearly struck their target, the attack had evidently accomplished nothing.

“For heroes, you certainly rely on technological weapons. Should I be making fun of you?”

When the smoke cleared, Lanser spread both hands, displaying his exasperation.

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“How is that possible?!”

Both men cried out together.

They had known that a mission requiring all three of them could not possibly be simple, but they had never expected their opponent to kill one of them right at the beginning. Nor had they expected Lanser to emerge with barely a scratch after being hit directly by the “biological bomb” they had obtained.

Although Lanser appeared to be doing nothing more than mocking them, inwardly he was questioning Lianhua intensely. If the invasion of creatures from another world could be explained by his arrival having connected two worlds, then these men were clearly from his own world. Their appearance here was plainly unreasonable.

“Something wrong? Indeed. You should have realized it by now. But first, just kill those men. They are the sort of people whose deaths would hardly be a loss.”

Lianhua showed no surprise at Lanser’s question and merely urged him to finish off the two men before him.

“Really? I’ve already killed the one who attacked without hesitation. Are you certain the other two truly deserve to die, as you say?”

Lanser’s doubts were obvious. Though his hands had been stained with blood, he still had his own principles. His goal was not to become an executioner.

“Are you sure you want to know?”

Lianhua asked the question in a strangely serious tone.

“…”

Lanser did not answer. For some reason, he suddenly felt that Lianhua was very different from when they had first met—or perhaps she had simply become rather fond of acting cute.

“All right. I’ll send the information to you.”

Lianhua let out a laugh of unclear meaning.

Well, everyone, I’m finally free today! I finished my make-up exam yesterday. I had originally planned to update that very day, but my best friend dragged me out to have fun. By the time I got home, I collapsed straight into bed, so I’m sorry!

Also, the Sword Art Online arc is over. There’s still some time before the Alfheim Online arc begins, so in between, I’ll write about my favorite series, Fate. After all, everyone knows I’m a lolicon—but I’m also a devoted admirer of the King of Knights!

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