Tensei Shitara Slime Datta

Chapter 94: The Mastermind

Sakaguchi Hinata feels lucky to meet Izawa Shizue.

Although the time they spent together was really short, only for Shizue Hinata was able to truly open her heart.

One month.

In that short period of time, he had stolen all his skills and abandoned them.

He's afraid of rejection. Because his ability to steal is terrifying.

In fact,

「We're interrupting Shizu-san.

Associations are not so rich as to support people who are not working.

So, do you want to cooperate with me? 」

A boy from his world said.

He understood that he was just trying to recruit her, but his words – that it bothers – hurt him a lot.

That's when Hinata decided to leave.

When he departed, these were the farewell words of the boy,

「We will definitely meet again! When we do, help me! 」

He took those words literally.

Having no information, Hinata opens her heart to the boy just because he is a World Traveler.

So he nodded at her words without hesitation.

And start the journey.

A world filled with despair, where life could be taken away easily, such a world.

He gained the strength to survive.

The country where he lived was attacked,

By the Catastrophe-class monsters, leaving many dead. There are many people who are fighting to protect children.

Adults will not run away, but will go to great lengths to protect their children.

Even though he thought they would escape without a second thought trying to save themselves.

The battle was called the Knights Templar (Sacred Knights).

Sometimes they pass through this city to patrol, protect the people and uphold justice.

"That's where I want to stay" Hinata felt.

And therefore without doubt …

Ten years have passed.

Although Hinata did not believe in Gods, she had attained one of the highest offices in the church.

An ironic tale may be, but he undertakes a sacred duty to protect the lives of the people and citizens of the Holy Kingdom of Ruberion.

Hinata did not doubt anything, and believed this was her justice.

Living for others. Even at the cost of your own life.

If you do, then everyone can be happy. Similarly, monsters must be destroyed.

Because every time, it was a monster that threatened the happy lives of the people.

Although the capital was protected by a barrier, the same did not apply to the towns and villages in the region.

The patrolling knights reduced the number of casualties while fighting the monster attacks every day.

Unlike the monsters in the Jura Forest region, this had no other food source.

The barren land spread west.

The result of a battle between two demon creatures like a king.

This land had many dense poison areas where monsters laid their eggs. Thus, the knights manifested the hopes of the people themselves.

There were times when the knights had been deceived and killed by monsters.

Because of this incident, the church decided to deal with the monsters strictly forbidden.

This creed conveys the wisdom of hundreds of years of knights who have survived while protecting people.

And at some point, Hinata has decided that people's happiness is directly related to this belief.

Although he initially did not believe in the creed, he was won over by its logic.

And, at some point …

He decides that protecting the creed is his justice, a truly ironic story.

The days were spent fighting monsters.

When did he find this routine boring>

On the day he became the squad captain and began to devise a plan, the number of casualties was greatly reduced.

It was thanks to his Monster Spawn point prediction and Casualty prediction. Communication method, and patrol time.

So people began to see the results of their optimization of the system.

This is why the knights have so much confidence in Hinata, he thought.

This was why he absolutely could not break the creed.

He has a responsibility, a mission to protect the people.

After receiving the trust of his subordinates, he created a place to return.

Even Nicholas confessed to love her …

In the end, Hinata was just scared.

Even though he was trying not to be attached to anything, he was still afraid of losing everything.

People can live happily only under complete control.

Hinata was so trusting.

And the existence of the Ruberius Controlled Society only proves its point.

That's how it's supposed to be.

That's why, as always,

He just needed to defeat the monsters; it was all .

Simple points. But that's how it is.

Protecting the creed is the reason for its existence, its fairness.

Such is his heart that is bent so that it never knows the love of parents.

This confidence was the only thing that supported his heart.

To protect that trust, he decided to fight.

And now .

It was so bad, he wanted to laugh.

But as a result, he made a breakthrough.

He just stopped worrying, stopped thinking.

Is he right, is he wrong? It doesn't even matter anymore.

He could not see the amount of enemy power before him even with the skill 『Mathematics』.

The enemy is clearly on it. The world was separated from its previous strength. He could only wail for letting her escape last time.

The days are boring, though,

Now it's gonna be over.

Fighting in a losing fight is foolish. Even so, Hinata was very excited.

(Am I wrong? In this case ... prove it, Demon Lord Rimuru!)

He pulled the great sword, the Dragon Slayer, from its scabbard to fight the demon lord.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

And with an excited heart, the sword pointed towards Rimuru, he advanced.

＊ ＊ ＊

I am again considering my fight with him.

This girl left no gap.

Thanks to the acceleration of the mind, I am currently able to perfectly accept his hit.

After a short exchange, although my attack did not even scratch it, his seemed to be able to claw me.

It's not that they're not — I can't be proud of that.

That is why, we are currently trying to take advantage of opportunities or mistakes made by others, but nothing has come up yet.

Hinata is really a beast to be able to fight with me like this even after I woke up as a Demon King and had Raphael's support.

To be honest, I hope that I will beat him.

He seemed to be able to easily read my sword, and block it without fail. And, responding with an accurate slash.

Last time, I really wasn't a threat.

Besides, he didn't even come out last time.

While lightly blocking his attack, I observed Hinata.

A faint smile on her lips, she looked straight at me.

But, his eyes do not reflect our movements. His eyes move like sensors trying to observe the entire area around us.

His posture did not waver, he was able to maintain a natural pose that was ready to counter any attacks.

His movements did not depend on strength and seemed to have originated out of nowhere.

I'm not sure how he could have easily predicted my attack, but obviously he knows.

As for me, when I saw his attack, I was just trying desperately to avoid it.

Of course, I am the one with a lot of futile moves.

Since I have enough strength to defeat him, I can dodge without being hit.

Our proficiency level cannot be compared to – Hinata much higher.

Even so, he did not disappoint her.

At this point, all his tricks and skills had become meaningless, so he fought me with a sword wrapped in his fighting spirit.

That spirit from Sacred Affinity, I might get hurt if I get hit by it.

According to Raphael, that sword special ability will let him break through my barrier.

Well, I guess depending on a reliable sword rather than on striking skills is what I expected from Hinata.

In reality, other than me, only Hakurou can defend against his attacks.

But, Hakurou would not be able to win by relying on magic attacks.

Whereas Hinata had decided that the magic attack would not be effective against me, hence decided not to use it.

He is a genius in battle.

Even if I sent my clone to fight, he would probably cut it in a second.

One of the only drawbacks to the ultimate skill is that only the true body can use it.

In other words, even I had to project a copy or create a clone, he said,

While I can use skills by moving my consciousness to them, many "me" cannot.

I can't leave the highest skill on the clone.

The same goes for unique skills, although the copy does have some true body skills, these are not copied perfectly.

Souei was already proficient at this and could only impart useful skills to his clone.

At a time like this, where I fought with the support of the best skills, the cheap clone would quickly be hit and disappear.

It would be great if a clone could create an opportunity for me to attack him, but if it backfired.

A simple plan is to focus on Hinata's endurance. I mean, I'm never tired.

Even if none of us land, time still passes.

But, it seemed like the battle around him had been completed.

Some people were lying down, others were sitting on the ground, all looking exhausted and unable to move.

But, their eyes are fixed on our battle.

They certainly can't keep up with our attack, so are they just trying to ascertain the result?

Anyway, I don't have time to look around.

I have to fight Hinata with all my strength.

The ground was filled with the sounds of our clashes.

The sword Hinata was holding, which was as big as her, had an end that looked like it was made of blue crystal.

It was a beautiful sword.

As if not feeling its weight, with an unimaginable speed for its size, Hinata held it freely.

He might rely on some skill for it, but it was still an incredible swordplay.

And his expression,

Now ...it was an innocent girl, a smile on her face.

Not the cold scorn he had brought before.

He just swung his sword. Without thinking about anything else, focus on the battle.

A genius, yes.

If I think about it, I'm lucky.

I had a lot of problems, but after being born a monster, I made friends and had fun.

What about Hinata?

I didn't realize it before, but there was something strange about this.

Will Shizu-san really let Hinata go alone? That's what I think is weird.

And that's true.

Strength that is too strong for a girl with the mind of someone who is going through puberty or just finished.

Is it because I am an adult that I realize it?

Aside from Hinata like her now, in an unbalanced state she was given a Dominant-type skill.

Can you let him go?

Considering this suspicion, and using the other information I have gathered, I asked Raphael to analyze.

The result is a truly questionable possibility. That is, Hinata's thought process has been restricted.

It was only possible in the first months of his arrival to this world.

Although I haven't gotten all of Shizu-san's memories, the real Hinata is rather meek.

Suddenly decided to travel after a month …

Moreover, given the presence of one more person by Shizu-san and Hinata's side …

「Hey, why did you decide to leave Shizu-san's place?」

I asked as if taking a breath during our sword fight.

I'm used to the time. Blocking his attacks is not much of a challenge right now.

I think I have plenty of room for improvement.

In comparison, Hinata did not dwell, but sweat appeared on her face.

An obvious result considering he was fighting with all his strength.

In fact,

「Why are you asking so now? I don't want to remember it, but let's see …

Since I don't want to be troublesome, I thought 」

He answered honestly.

I didn't expect an answer, thinking he would ignore the question, so I was surprised.

But when I heard the answer, I felt pain in my heart.

Hm? Pain in my heart? A strange sensation.

Thinking that it wasn't a problem even if I ignored his response, I put more power into my sword. Our clashes are now creating a shockwave.

「Shizu-san has never considered you a hassle?」

(Yes. I never thought so ..)

「Fu, now all the time .. And please don't talk about Shizu-san」

He increased his attack.

It seems he hasn't been out yet.

Let's see .

While desperately blocking the sword and retaliating,

「But, he's worried! That he makes you lonely! 」

(True .. I'm worried. But ... There's someone else I should be worried about)

Eh?

I didn't just hear things past, did I?

Hearing Shizu-san's voice …

"Ha! Don't say it like you know! What can people like you understand !! 」

My words made Hinata calm.

He looks very angry. Faster than I could think of the reason, though,

「You're off guard, this is my victory! Melting Slash !! 」

His swinging speed again accelerated into light itself.

That sword, wrapped in various types of magic,

Announcements. It cannot be blocked. It is impossible to avoid !! ≫

(Damn! It could really kill me?!)

The first time I heard Raphael's worried voice.

And, speeding my mind up to 10 million times the norm, I could only slowly see as the sword approached me.

At that angle, with such timing.

I couldn't dodge, obstacles were useless, but I guess I could try to move my consciousness into a clone.

But, because the attack shot out a light that wiped out everything. If I use that skill too late, I will be burnt to death.

Did he respond to make me drop the guard?

It didn't seem like it, but as a result he caught me.

Announcements. I propose annihilating it using the Gluttonous King Beelzebub. Please don't give up≫

Raphael suggested actions whose chances of success were highest.

And as Raphael said, I will activate Beelzebub.

When the sword touches me, I will have Beelzebub eat his sword and skill.

If that fails, I may disappear.

But there is no room for hesitation.

I trusted Raphael, and activated Beeelzebub at the right time.

…………

……

…

As a result, I survived.

I thought I was going to die, but I survived.

Hinata opened her eyes and looked at me.

For a moment.

He immediately prepared his sword and came to me again.

I, personally, am still in the process of being happy about survival, but I guess fighting him comes first.

Seriously, this girl, it's dangerous!

Honestly, when his skills touched me, a lot of my magic energy had disappeared.

If converted to HP, I would say about 50% is lost.

Well, I managed to survive …

I won't let my guard down anymore.

Actually, the only reason I did in the first place was because I started hearing Shizu-san's voice for some reason.

Meanwhile complain and block his attacks …

Announcements. 『Predicted Future Attacks』 has been obtained. Activating? [YA] / [NO] ≫

I almost screamed in surprise.

Suddenly, Raphael gained a new skill.

How great is Raphael.

While observing Hinata, I tried to predict her movements, so maybe because of that.

I hurriedly activated it.

A number of lights appeared in front of me. While this makes sense, I actually visualize it?

One light shot at me.

I moved my sword in anticipation of the light, and it was quite interesting that it blocked Hinata's sword perfectly.

It looks like that light

The light was coming from his posture and displayed the possibility of an attack that followed the trajectory displayed.

If he tries to do something, the lights go black.

In this case, a prediction is impossible, but it means a real attack is imminent.

In other words, tricks and the like can now be counted.

A master like Hinata could of course use an attack that could not be anticipated.

But the scary thing about this skill is that it does not predict attacks but results.

That is, even if the odds are low, only specific attacks can follow the prediction line.

If that's the case .. Hinata is no longer a threat.

All of his flowing attacks were predicted with 『Predicting the Future Attack』, I easily flicked his sword.

It's finally! I won't kill you, but I will make you feel pain!

While I was thinking this, I lowered my sword, only to have an unbelievable illusion appear before me.

His hands stretched out, Shizu san stood in front of me.

Without burn marks, the face of an adult without a mask.

His face was older than mine, and the aura was calm about him.

Hinata seemed to also be able to see this illusion as she angrily scowled at me.

And for both of us, though,

(Rimuru, and Hinata. There is no one else)

Not likely…

An illusion can speak?

Hinata seemed to be able to hear it, as she was just sitting there.

And ... Suddenly, my sword pressed against his neck.

At that moment, time stopped.

This ... despite the acceleration? And I connected with Hinata?

"What are you doing? What are you planning? 」

His eyes were red, Hinata asked.

I don't remember giving it to him at all.

But I'm the one who wants to ask.

"There's no idea! I want to know for myself! 」

Although it seems like she is about to disappear, I can see the shadow of Shizu-san.

A faint smile on his face, he told us.

(I'll borrow some of your time. Will you listen to me?)

The ghost began to speak.

His words dispelled all my suspicions, or rather, it justified all my hypotheses.

In other words, the original cause of all this.

Why did Shizu-san leave Hinata?

And, is Hinata's mind limited?

These questions .

All this was answered with his words.

(I'll be honest. I'm worried about Kagurazaka Yuuki.

I know that Hinata is strong. But even so, choosing him even I felt strange.

Now I understand . Limited mind. With his ability ..)

"No way! Yuuki would never do that! 」

Annoying Hinata, Shizu-san shook her head and continued.

(You're also affected, Hinata. Even now you ..)

He said in a sad voice.

Hinata said nothing in response.

That's what's expected. He had just been told that he had been manipulated until now.

However, these words confirm my own conclusion.

"Yes .." I said, satisfied.

Now the doubt is gone.

Because there is someone who deliberately manipulates a single girl who thinks that if she tries hard enough, one day someone will be nice to her.

The culprit is …

「In other words, Kagurazaka Yuuki is the mastermind behind all this?」

Surprised by my question, Shizu turned around and with a sad face nodded.

As I thought .

Now it all makes sense.

At this moment, a flame of anger towards the mastermind ignited within me.