Captain Defeated

With her weapon hanging in the air, I mustered all of my remaining strength. If I swung the great sword, hopefully, I could draw some of my true power behind it. That was the plan. I needed Astra to take my bluff.

I let out a cry, releasing all my energy into the attack. Astra sat on the ground, wary of my strike. She had no time to avoid it. As the blade dropped towards her, her eyes widened.

Memories of her last battle with Mr. Satori filled her mind. She couldn’t erase the image of him killing his sister. Fear quickly held her. She had to know Mr. Satori’s true strength; that’s why she was terrified.

“No, wait!” she pleaded quietly, completely falling for the bluff. “I need to avenge her!”

That didn’t feel right. I knew the captain had to be eliminated for the sake of peace. However, I never killed anyone before.

I hesitated at the last second. The sword was already in motion. I couldn’t stop it. Anojin fell to her right side after they bumped, so I managed to move the attack slightly to her left.

As the blade closed in, she lifted her hands to protect herself. Luckily for her, it brushed her left arm as she moved it.

The tip of the sword touched the ground, splitting the ground under it. The force of the weapon released a powerful gust of wind, more potent than her Split Divider attack.

She let a pitiful cry before the pupils in her eyes faded away. She fainted from the sheer shock. She admitted defeat.

…

There was no crowd to congratulate us anymore, which I preferred. After I finished my attack, I released the sword, in shock at its power. This attack wasn’t her Split Divider… this was something else. I gazed at my hands marked with calluses, wondering, “Is this the power of Mr. Satori?”

“That was awesome, Takumi!” Amada admitted as she sprinted to me. “Your plan actually worked!” She tossed herself on me like she was performing a high jump.

She happily wrapped her arms around me, giving me a warm hug. “Didn’t think you had it in you! Maybe you stole Mr. Satori's intelligence like his power.”

My body creepily twitched in response to her slick comment. “You think I’m that stupid?” I awkwardly asked, obviously hiding my anger.

She planned to insult me but then brush it off with a hug. Hmpf. I knew her true intentions.

“I got to give it to you, that was a good attack!” Anojin calmly attested, with his chin resting on the ground. He never saw me hold the weapon because his head was facing away from me. All he saw was the result of the strike.

Before I could give him my thanks, he interrupted me, “Now… can you get me up!”

Oh yeah, I forgot he couldn’t move. A displeased gland secretly ran down my face. Amada hurried to Hinabe to wake her up. After kicking her awake, they rushed to Anojin’s aid.

“You lovely angels helping me, I must be in heaven.” Anojin cheerfully exclaimed. “Thank you, Miss Amada and Miss Hinabe. I’ll cherish this moment forever!” He secretly narrowed his eyes in hatred, “Just you wait! You’re dead meat when I recover, you hero wannabe!”

While they tended to Anojin’s injuries, my eyes dozed off on my hands for minutes. “Alright, you’re completely healed, Anojin.”

“Umm… Miss Hinabe. I still can’t move my body.” Anojin informed her as he tried moving around. He forced his charming tone, preventing his anger from slipping out.

Hinabe’s soft-spoken words forced me to regain my senses. Witnessing Anojin still lying flat on the ground, I let out a sigh, “Alright, Hinabe, you can heal him completely now.”

“I’m sorry. I was always completely healing Anojin. I didn’t want to heal him halfway.” She turned her attention to the lying Anojin. “Sorry, Mr. Anojin. I managed to heal your injuries completely, but not your paralysis.”

“Wh-!” As Anojin desperately tried to hide his anger, he let out a twisted smile. He refused to show anger towards the woman, so with every ounce of power he had, he continued his lover boy persona. But I saw right through him.

I couldn’t hold in my laughter. I attempted to cover my mouth, but my laugh seeped through my fingers. “Haha!” I pointed directly at him and made sure he saw me as I mocked him. “So, you're stuck like that for the rest of the day! This day couldn’t get any worse, haha!”

My laughing enraged Anojin to his limit. His face hastily turned bright red from embarrassment.

Even though we emerged victorious, there was still a problem. Hinabe glanced at Astra’s unconscious body. She could have woken up at any moment. My laughing paused as Hinabe alerted our attention.

“Guys, what should we do about her?” she asked, hinting at Astra.

“I got an idea,” Amada exclaimed.

Without hesitation, she rushed back to the city. We waited patiently at the battlefield, wondering what she would bring. After several minutes of waiting, she returned with some standard rope. She untied the rope and tightly wrapped Astra’s body.

“There we go. Now, she can’t escape.” Amada assured as she clapped the dust off her hands. “We can leave her here until the authorities can pick her up.”

I found it hard to believe some rope could contain a captain under the demon king. However, I doubted she would wake up soon.

Now, with that problem out of the way, our fatigue slowly crept in on us.

…

We needed to leave the area, but we couldn’t leave Anojin behind again. “We should head back to the guild,” suggested Amada as she glanced at the blazing sun. She noticed my continuous laugh and pursed her lips, ticked off. “Alright, carry Anojin back to the guild.”

As she directed me to help Anojin, my laughing instantly stopped. “Why me?!” I protested. I don’t want to carry that bulk of metal! I’d rather clean up horse poop at a barn all day than help him out. Luckily, this was the one thing we could agree on.

“Yeah, I don’t want his help!” Anojin said, side-eyeing me with a disgusted look. “I would prefer it if you would carry me, my beautiful Amada!”

After hearing his lover boy persona, Amada grew tired of it quickly. “Sorry, Anojin, you’re too heavy for me to carry. Also, I have to carry Hinabe back home.”

But Hinabe isn’t sleeping,

As Amada pointed behind her, Hinabe fell back to sleep. The timing of her sleeping looked planned. What a coincidence!

Amada calmly strolled towards the sleeping Hinabe. She lifted the elf, giving her a piggyback.

“Takumi carried you before, Anojin. So there should be no problem!” she happily said, throwing a thumbs up towards us.

As the girls prepared to head off, I dragged my body towards Anojin. Neither of us wanted it to happen, but it had to be done. I forcefully lifted Anojin, without regard for his comfort, and gave him a piggyback ride. With everyone accounted for, we left the area and headed back to the guild.

…

Having him on my back while I strolled through the capital was highly embarrassing for both of us. It was the longest, yet awkward walk I had ever experienced.

Amada felt the awkward tension behind and said, “Don’t worry, you two, we’re almost there.”

We headed back to the guild and dropped Anojin off. I had no idea how he was going to get home, but that wasn’t my problem.

After leaving Anojin at the guild, we decided to complete some other quests. These quests were simpler ones that required less physical stress, which was great. Though they offered little compensation. We continued to complete the easy quests until nighttime.

As the sun set, I returned to my apartment to rest up. Amada and Hinabe quickly followed me. I had asked them in the morning why they didn’t go back to their place.

They explained to me that they lost their home because they couldn’t afford it. I slightly felt bad for them. But at the same time, it was their uselessness that put them in this position. They performed well today, so they should be rewarded for that.

I offered to let them stay with me, and they accepted without hesitation.

…

As we prepared to tuck into the night, I placed the extra comforters on the ground and tucked myself in.

Amada walked out of the bedroom in a white pajama onesie that she brought earlier. Her exhaustion caught up with her, and she exhaled a long, obnoxious yawn. “…Takumi. I think we should have Anojin join our group. We would fit in well.”

I clicked my tongue and turned myself away from her. “I’d rather die than let him join us! He’s so annoying.”

“But he did help us a lot against Astra.” Amada pointed out. “If he weren’t there, we probably wouldn’t have beaten her so easily.”

I remained silent for a moment. Amada made a good point. He did play an important role today. I had to give him his props.

Amada noticed my silence and headed back to her room. Before she entered the room, she finished her sentence by saying, “It’s just a thought. Good night. And thank you for letting me and Hinabe stay here.”

After finishing her sentence, she shut the door.

I lay on my homemade bed and contemplated inviting Anojin. I didn’t want to think too hard about it. I needed to rest up. So, I refrained from thinking about that idiot and went to bed.

However, I knew I would have an answer in the morning.

…