Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.04

Kunihiko

I’ve got memories of my previous life, see. 

A life where I grew up on a planet called Earth, in a country called Japan. 

Hate to say it, but in that life, I was pretty much your average, run-of-the-mill high school boy. 

Basically the only notable thing about me was that I had a childhood friend. 

It’s not like my childhood friend, Asaka Kushitani, and I were especially close or anything. 

At the same time, it’s not like we didn’t get along, either. 

If I had to pick one, I guess I’d say we got along pretty well? 

We lived in the same neighborhood and attended the same school from kindergarten to middle school. We went to the same high school, too, and even wound up in the same class, although we didn’t plan it that way or anything. 

Basically, we were stuck with each other. 

She never came over to wake me up in the morning, and we didn’t usually walk home from school together, either. 

If anything, I usually left for school pretty late, so most of the time, meeting in the morning wasn’t a thing. 

On the rare occasion that I woke up early enough, we’d run into each other and walk to school together once in a while, but that’s about it. 

But weirdly enough, I had the vague feeling that I was probably gonna end up marrying her one day. 

For some reason, it just felt relaxing to be around her, like she understood me even if I didn’t say anything. 

Yeah, I knew I was half-assing it, and that if I kept trying to play it cool, then eventually some other schmuck would probably come along and steal her away. 

But I just kept putting it off, dragging my feet and staying as nothing more than childhood friends. 

It was so casual that we barely had anything connecting us except the fact that we were childhood friends. 

Not like I minded that, of course. 

“Normal’s not a bad thing” and all that. 

But I guess I did feel like something was missing. 

I wanted to go on an awesome adventure in a faraway land. 

To have something exciting happen to me, like in a game or a light novel. 

And yeah, I knew that wasn’t gonna happen, ’cause all that stuff is bullshit. 

…Or so I thought. 

But next thing you know, I wound up getting reborn in this world. 

I’m gonna be honest: I don’t remember dying, and I don’t remember much about the moment I was reborn, either. 

It’s like I was dozing off or something, and next thing I knew, I was a freakin’ baby. 

When I woke up, I was like, WHA?! 

Like, come on, the last thing I can remember from my old life is just sitting there in classical lit class, y’know? 

Not exactly a thrilling end. 

What the hell even killed me? 

And then I was a baby somehow. 

Who wouldn’t be weirded out after going through that?! 

But the reason I didn’t totally panic is that Asaka was lying there beside me. 

Yeah, that’s right. 

My classmate and childhood friend, Asaka. 

For some reason, she got reincarnated, too. We were childhood friends all over again. 

She looked different—I mean, we were both BABIES—but for some reason, I could tell right away it was her. 

And when I asked later, she apparently had the exact same feeling. 

Not much crazier than that. 

But more importantly, I figured this had to be fate. 

Like the gods were telling us to stick together or whatever. 

So while there was this vague distance between the two of us in our old lives, after reincarnating, we became super close. 

Asaka couldn’t forget our old lives and was afraid she’d lose sight of herself if I wasn’t around. 

And having Asaka meant I had someone to talk to about finally getting to go on a real adventure. 

The world we were reborn into is some sorta fantasy setting, with monsters and adventurers—exactly the kinda thing I’d wished for back in my old life. 

So I didn’t hesitate to announce that I wanted to become an adventurer and travel the world. 

If Asaka wasn’t by my side, I dunno if I could’ve been that bold. 

It’d be scary as hell to suddenly get shoved into an unfamiliar world where you don’t know a soul. 

Seriously. I’m so lucky to have Asaka. 

As soon as I was able to talk, the first thing I did was confess to her. 

“I can’t live without you. Please marry me someday.” 

I blurted this out in the middle of the day, with our moms watching and everything. 

It was a public confession, but to hear Asaka tell it, it was more like a public execution. 

Okay, yeah. In retrospect, I was getting a little ahead of myself. 

Our moms just looked at me funny, saying stuff like, “They just grow up so fast.” 

To be fair, there’s no way they could have known that I was actually a high school student from another world on the inside. 

Maybe it was for the best that they just saw it as a kid imitating a confession for fun. 

Asaka did seem super embarrassed and all… 

But miraculously, she gave me the okay on the spot. 

In our old life, I always figured I’d have to talk to her properly someday, but I never found the right timing, so our relationship was always stuck in limbo. 

I never imagined that’d change when we got reincarnated or something crazy like that, but I guess it all worked out in the end. 

In terms of dramatic timing, getting reborn together is about as good as it gets. 

Thanks to that, even someone as dense as me managed to be honest about my feelings, so I kinda thought being reborn wasn’t so bad after all. 

Asaka did seem to miss our old world more than I did, ’cause sometimes she would remember it and cry and stuff. 

Whenever that happened, I just sat with her and comforted her in silence. 

I’m probably the weird one for adjusting so quickly, y’know? 

But Asaka’s got a good head on her shoulders, so she pulled herself together pretty fast. 

…Which is a little bit of a shame, since she was really cute and clingy when she was depressed. 

Still, I’m glad she was able to cheer up and all. 

I got reborn in the fantasy world of my dreams and managed to propose to my childhood friend. 

Definitely sounds like the makings of a bright future, right? 

I knew tons of fun times were waiting for us—Asaka and me, traveling the world together, having the time of our lives. 

I never doubted it for a second… 

…until that day came. 

“Ooooh, check it out. Here they come.” 

“Kunihiko…why do you seem a little excited about it?” 

As I check out the enemy army from atop the fort, Asaka frowns slightly at me. 

“You kidding me? C’mon! Look at that and tell me it’s not cool.” 

I point down at the giant army of demons. 

You’d rarely see armed forces in these numbers in this world, never mind Earth, and now a whole mess of them is marching right toward our fort. 

“Awesome.” 

“It’s not that I don’t get where you’re coming from, but you realize we’re about to have to fight all those people, right?” 

Asaka heaves a sigh. 

The demons have gathered their armies and are attacking humanity. 

Until recently, there was nothing more than a couple of quiet rumors, but once the guild started assembling adventurers to fight in the war, it all became very real very fast. 

On top of that, participation was mandatory for B-rank adventurers and up. 

C rank and below were given the option to decide for themselves whether to participate or not, but the guild made it clear that they wanted as many people as possible to enlist. 

Asaka and I are A-rank adventurers, so we don’t have the luxury of choice. 

All the high-rank adventurers are being sent right into battle, even the ones who normally protect towns and cities from regional monsters. 

That means those places will be temporarily unprotected, but that just goes to show how bad this war situation is gonna be. 

If that wasn’t proof enough, they’ve opened up the teleport gates, which are normally off-limits to ordinary folks, in order to transport soldiers and adventurers to the battlefield. 

Although this is all just me repeating what Asaka told me. 

I don’t think about stupid little details like that—I’m just gonna follow my orders and fight demons. 

“Heh! It don’t mean squat how many of ’em there are as long as you and I are on the job.” 

“Kunihiko, don’t get cocky.” 

Asaka sighs again, but she doesn’t look particularly worried, either. 

A lot of the other adventurers here are high-key nervous—I can tell. 

Can’t blame ’em, either. People say demons have better stats than humans, and there’s a hell of a lotta demons coming our way right now. 

From what I hear, it’s been years since any demons attacked, too. 

Before that, there were small scraps every couple of years, but then even those stopped, so the only humans who’ve ever actually fought demons are walking fossils at this point. 

In other words, this’ll be the first time most human warriors have ever faced a demon, not just youngsters like Asaka and me. 

Adventurers usually fight monsters, and occasionally some bandits or whatever, so we’ve never experienced battles like this. 

Not to mention, most adventurers don’t work well with anyone except maybe their own party, but now we have to form up in a big group and cooperate? Yeah, right. 

We’re not trained for that kinda crap. Not a chance in hell. 

But I guess the big shots on our side get that, too, so they pretty much just told us adventurers to do whatever we want. 

We’ve been gathered at the fort’s last line of defense, while the soldiers who’ve actually been trained for this are on the front lines. 

You’re allowed to stick around here and defend the fort if you want. 

Or you can go out on raids to take the fight to the enemy army. 

But if you do something crazy and get yourself killed, that’s on you! 

…Is basically the idea. 

Even if we don’t do anything crazy, I’m pretty sure lots of people are gonna die anyway, given how huge the enemy army is. 

Which is why just about everyone’s nervous. 

The only ones who aren’t are the ones like Asaka and me, who have total confidence in our own strength, or the veteran fighters who’ve been champing at the bit to stand on a battlefield like this. 

“Kunihiko, Asaka.” 

Hearing someone call our names, I turn around. 

“Hey, good to see ya, Master.” 

“It’s been a while, sir.” 

“Yeah, yeah. You don’t look nervous at all, though, Kunihiko. Dunno if that’s a good thing or not.” 

I already had an idea who it’d be before he said anything, but sure enough, it’s our adventuring mentor, Mr. Gotou. 

Gotou’s an A-rank adventurer who’s been looking after Asaka and me and saving our butts since we were kids. He showed us the ropes when we first became adventurers, too. 

“I’ve heard the rumors about you two crazy kids, y’know. They say it’s only a matter of time until you hit S rank.” 

“Yes, just a few more years now.” 

“Whatcha think of that, Master?” 

“Damn, and you used to be such scrawny kids, too. Where’d the time go? Now you’re gonna pass me before I even realize it!” 

Mr. Gotou sounds just like an old-timer. 

Asaka and I have traveled the world as adventurers and taken on all kinds of tough quests. 

That’s how we wound up reaching A rank, and we’ve even hit all the S-rank requirements except the minimum number of active years. 

All we gotta do is keep going as adventurers for a little longer, and we’ll automatically get S rank. 

Which means we’d technically be ranked above Mr. Gotou, but… 

“If you wanted to, I’m sure you could hit S rank anytime, Mr. Gotou.” 

Mr. Gotou’s crazy strong, even for an A-rank adventurer. 

And that’s coming from me, a guy who’s been all over the world, so you better believe it’s the truth. 

We’ve even met a couple of S-rank adventurers out in the field, but let’s be honest, me and Asaka were stronger than the best of ’em. 

But anyway, Mr. Gotou’s no slouch next to any of them, either. 

After adding in the power of his magic sword, it’s probably no exaggeration to say he’s almost in the same league as the top S-rank adventurers. 

His nickname is Lightning Sword, referring to the power of lightning that lives in that iconic weapon of his. 

It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen—they say its lightning is on par with a grand magic spell. 

But there’s a downside: Some dumbasses claim that Mr. Gotou reached A rank only thanks to his sword. 

He didn’t even get that sword until after he hit A rank! Idiots! 

“Eh, too much pressure. My strength’s all thanks to this guy here anyway.” 

Mr. Gotou pats the sword on his belt. 

I know he’s simply being modest, but saying stuff like that just makes people even more jealous. 

“Besides, I only work in my hometown anyway, so A rank’s more’n good enough for me.” 

“I know I should keep my trap shut if you’re happy with that, but still…” 

Noting my dissatisfaction, Mr. Gotou grins. 

“That reminds me, Mr. Gotou. Wouldn’t Fort Okun have been closer to your hometown?” 

Oh yeah, Asaka’s got a point. 

The fort we’re at now is pretty far away from Mr. Gotou’s home turf at the base of the Mystic Mountains. A place called Fort Okun is a lot closer to there. 

And from what I hear, the demons are attacking all the forts on the border at the same time. 

Why didn’t Mr. Gotou go there instead? 

“Mm. Yeah, that’s true, but…” Mr. Gotou hesitates and looks around before continuing in a low voice. “This stays between us, but they’re gathering all the real strong adventurers here. See?” 

Mr. Gotou gestures with eye movements toward a few of the other adventurers. 

Following his gaze, I realize that every last one is a top-class adventurer, famous enough to have a nickname. 

“How come?” 

“…Because the soldiers here are weak,” Mr. Gotou whispers even more quietly, sounding frustrated. “The guy in charge of this fort is a buffoon who only became a general thanks to his social status. So obviously his troops are no good, either. Which is why they made sure to station extra-strong adventurers here.” 

“Seriously? What the hell?” I can’t help raising my voice. “I thought the empire was all about strength! Why would they put some bum in charge of a fort?” 

“In the old days, sure, everyone used to work together because of the constant threat of demon attacks. But ever since that danger went away, I guess there was some internal conflict.” 

Asaka and I both sigh openly. 

“The decline of the Vicow house was especially tough. You’ve heard about how the heirs and heads of the family died one right after the other, yeah? If they were still around, things might be a little better in the empire…” 

“…You seem very well-informed about all this.” 

As Mr. Gotou explains the situation in the empire, Asaka looks at him curiously. 

“Nah, not really. I hear this sort of stuff whether I want to or not. The amount of info that’s leaked about ’em is proof enough that the empire’s in shambles.” 

Mr. Gotou scowls and shrugs. 

“And it’s ’cause of that mess that I wound up out here.” He pauses and studies the demon army. “But this assignment ain’t so bad.” 

“It’s not?” 

“Sure. I told you the general here’s an idiot, yeah? Worst case, he might’ve used us adventurers as sacrificial pawns by sending us out to keep the demons busy, then shooting at the ensuing melee or something. He’s just putting us off to the side like we’re in the way, so we got off easy.” 

“Yikes…” 

In other words, this general is so inept that he might’ve gotten us all killed? 

Lucky for us that we don’t have to do what he says, then. 

Technically, we’re under his command, but he told us adventurers to do whatever we please. He must’ve figured out that was for the best. 

Huh? Hold up. How would this dumbass general be able to reach that conclusion on his own? 

“Ah, this only got set up thanks to his much smarter aide making all those arrangements.” 

Mr. Gotou’s timely explanation clears up my confusion. 

He adds that this aide doesn’t have any personal ties to the general and was sent by the imperial court mages. 

Unlike the general, this guy seems to know what’s up, which basically makes the aide the one who’s really in charge. 

On paper, the general’s still technically the head honcho, so this guy is having trouble getting things done. 

“And why do you know all this?” 

“Oh, I just happen to know the aide, that’s all. She damn near chewed my ear off complaining about the general over drinks last night.” 

“I suspected as much. So you’re getting all this information by cozying up to some big shot, hmm?” Asaka shakes her head at Mr. Gotou. “And you said ‘she’—is this person a woman?” 

“Huh?! Wait, oh man, are you and her—?!” 

“What?! No! ’Course not!” 

I thought maybe Mr. Gotou was finally gonna get some romance in his life, but seems like I was wrong. 

Not surprising, I guess, since he’s pretty much given up on marriage at this point. 

“She’s practically a child compared to me. I ain’t thinkin’ about gettin’ hitched at my age. Though I gotta admit it would’ve been nice to have a partner picked out early on, like you kids.” 

He looks warmly at Asaka and me in turn. 

I hear a snort of annoyance from someone in the group. 

Since we were chatting away in the middle of a bunch of tense adventurers right before battle, I knew we were sticking out like a couple of sore thumbs, but I guess that line pissed off some of the forever-alone types. 

Glancing around, I see a good amount of guys glaring at us like we’re ruining the moment. 

Guess we better shut up. If we keep chatting like this much longer, they’re probably gonna really start complaining. 

“Hmm?” 

But among all the glares directed at us, I sense that one gaze is different from the rest. 

Following it to its source, I find a little kid in a robe. 

I can’t make out a face with the low-hanging hood in the way, but someone that short and tiny has got to be a child. What’s a kid like that doing here? 

“Damn, that doesn’t look good…” 

The thought gets pushed from my mind when I hear Mr. Gotou murmur in a stunned voice. 

“What the hell?” I blurt out. 

I just laid eyes on something so bizarre that I couldn’t help it. 

We’re not the only ones who are shocked—pretty much everyone else around is staring at the same thing with their jaws on the floor. 

In a word, it’s a spear. 

A huge jet-black spear suddenly appeared above the demon army. 

“Dark Spear?! No, wait! Is that a Black Spear?!” 

Black Spear, as in a Black Magic spell, the advanced version of Dark Magic?! 

Isn’t that a grand magic spell?! 

And even if it is, how’s that thing so damn huge?! I can feel my insides churning! 

“Asaka!” 

Just as I call out and start moving, the giant Black Spear shoots toward the fort. 

I draw the magic sword at my waist, charge it with magic, and fire. 

My magic sword has the power of lightning, just like Mr. Gotou’s. 

It’s a katana-style magic sword, made from the parts of a lightning dragon we defeated. 

At the same time, Asaka starts casting a spell. 

Her staff, sorta like my sword, is made from the parts of a wind dragon we defeated, so it’s a magic staff that enhances the power of Wind Magic. 

My lightning attack and Asaka’s wind spell both crash into the Black Spear. 

Those aren’t the only ones, either—another spell, probably the Light Magic spell Light Beam, shoots out from elsewhere inside the fort and hits the spear, too. 

The three attacks all counter the Black Spear, but it’s not enough to cancel it out. 

BOOM. 

From where I’m standing, I’ve got a clear view of the moment the Black Spear blows a huge hole in the front wall of the fort. 

It’s gotta be at least thirty feet around, I think? 

What’s left of the wall is already crumbling. 

“What in the…?” 

Mr. Gotou mutters under his breath. 

Big picture, the damage isn’t too catastrophic. The fort has several walls. 

Even if one is damaged, we can just abandon it, retreat to the next one, and keep fighting. 

This does mean that we can’t use that wall to attack the enemy without fear of retaliation anymore. 

Those guys are out of our range. 

No normal magic can reach that far. The Black Spear that just flew at us defies known logic. 

Especially since it managed to blow through three different counter-spells from our side and still damage the damn fort. 

If me, Asaka, and some other person hadn’t put up some resistance, it probably would’ve wreaked even more havoc. 

What’ll happen if a couple more of those come flying at us? 

We’d be toast in no time flat. 

“We gotta go out there and take ’em on.” 

The enemy is way beyond our firing range, but somehow, we’re in theirs. 

That means we’re gonna have to charge ’em and close the distance. 

Since everyone’s gone dead silent, my voice echoes loudly. 

“You mean out there? Are you crazy?” The adventurer who snorted at me speaks up, looking pale. “Didn’t you see that thing?! How are we supposed to stand against that?!” 

“That’s why I’m sayin’ we gotta go out there and do something about it!” I shout at the wavering adventurer. “Let’s go! Anyone who can fight, come with me!” 

With that, I run out of the fort. 

Most are too damn scared to follow. 

In spite of what I said, I’m guessing most of ’em can’t fight right now anyway. 

But that’s fine. 

As long as Asaka is by my side, that’s all I need. 

“…We might’ve taken this all a bit too lightly.” 

“Yeah.” 

The two of us talk as we run. 

Me and Asaka are strong. 

The only times we’ve really come close to eating it were when we fought the lightning dragon and the wind dragon. Other than that, we’ve won every fight without a problem. 

When we heard we’d be fighting demons, we weren’t too worried. 

I figured there was no way they could be worse than those dragons. 

Even if we lost the battle, I kinda just assumed that Asaka and I at least would survive. 

Seeing that Black Spear changed all that in an instant. 

There’s a real possibility we could get killed here. 

But if Asaka and I run away now, then humanity’s gonna be doomed. 

You can bet I’d lose some sleep over that one. 

So we might as well fight for all we’re worth, am I right? 

I can see the demon army coming into view. 

Their spears are at the ready to fend us off as we come toward them. 

“Yaaaaah!” 

Charging on in anyway, I activate my magic sword’s power and bring lightning down around me. 

The furious bolts toast a bunch of demons, sending them flying. 

Then Asaka’s wind spell sweeps the rest of ’em away. 

In this world, high stats can make you crazy powerful, enough to take on an army. 

And I’m pretty sure Asaka and I are way past the limits of a typical human. 

The most legendary human warriors have stats around 1,000, but Asaka’s and mine are more than double that. 

Demons’ stats are supposedly higher than humans’, but it looks like they’re not much stronger than the two of us, if at all. 

We can take ’em! 

Which must mean that Black Spear was cast by a whole bunch of people together, right? 

…Nope. 

Even using Cooperation to cast a spell, all the people involved have to have the right skill to use it and be at the proper skill level, too. 

Black Spear is a Black Magic spell, the advanced version of Dark Magic. 

You gotta be really good at Shadow Magic to even get Dark Magic, so I seriously doubt that a whole slew of people all managed to reach Black Magic. 

No, there’s probably only a handful of users in the whole world who know that skill. 

So what the hell is going on here? 

“Ngah…uraaaaaaaaaah!” 

Trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest, I focus on just blasting as many enemies as I can. 

Nearby, I can hear similar lightning striking other enemies. 

I guess Mr. Gotou must’ve followed Asaka and me into battle. 

Maybe we’ll inspire some of the other adventurers to join, too. 

We gotta take a stand, right here and now. 

So we can crush whoever cast that Black Spear before they can whip up another one! 

As soon as that thought flashes through my mind, I sense a huge amount of magic power swelling from deep in the demon ranks. 

Another huge jet-black spear appears. 

“Kunihiko!” 

“I know!” 

As if we’d just stand here and watch! 

Ha! Thanks for showing us exactly where you are, stupid! 

“Let’s gooooo!” 

I unleash my magic sword’s lightning toward the source of the Black Spear in one powerful arc. 

It blows away any demons in its path without a trace, flashing as it reaches the base of the Black Spear, and vanishes. 

At the same time, the Black Spear melts into thin air without shooting forward. 

Got ’em! 

But just as I start grinning, I realize it’s too soon to assume we’ve won. 

As the dust clears, my smile quickly vanishes. 

My big attack hit the target dead-on—but the caster is still standing there looking cool as a cucumber. 

“Seriously?” 

That one word is doing a whole lotta work right now. 

There’s the shock that he withstood my attack without a scratch. 

Then add in the dread of knowing that the Black Spear was created by just one caster, not a bunch working together. 

And most of all, it’s the fact that I recognize this man. 

There’s no way I could ever forget him. 

He’s the bastard who showed up when I was a kid, destroyed my delusion that our lives were gonna be fun forever, and taught me what hell looks like in this world. 

It’s the man who wiped out the entire clan who raised us. 

“Who woulda guessed we’d meet again in a place like this! Merazophis!” 

My mortal enemy who I’ve never once forgotten is standing right before my eyes.