【Adventurer Mitran】Life in This World

“Waaaaah! Wait! Wait a second, Emi-chan!”

I called out desperately from behind Emi-chan as she faced off against the trio of villains.

Why am I so desperate, you ask?

Because I'm scared!

I'm shrinking back, and my whole body's shaking too!

Emi-chan's asking stuff like ‘how do you want to die?’, and she's obviously all set to kill them right here and now!

“For now, just, um, rein in that 【Intimidation】 a little! Leseida-san's gonna get caught up in it and diiie!”

“............”

At Leseida-san's name, Emi-chan finally gave a little twitch of a reaction and flicked a glance our way.

Those eyes...... were cold.

Her expression is no different from before...... but that's how it felt to me.

In other words, that was the kind of vibe she was giving off, I guess.

“Hey, let's calm down, okay? Emi-chan...... your eyes are scary......?”

Those were eyes that felt nothing at all about hurting someone.

They were eyes that thought nothing of human life.

I've only been traveling with Emi-chan for a short while.

She's a strange girl—a bit eerie and hard to pin down—but I know that at times she's very human, with enough humanity to care about Leseida-san.

Maybe that's why it made me sad.

Because Emi-chan's...... those eyes.

They're exactly as cold as the villains' eyes......

“Don't, get in my way.”

Emi-chan listened to me and eased up on her 【Intimidation】, but her murderous intent doesn't seem to be settling down one bit.

Saying only that to me, curtly......

Mishii!

Making a sound like that, putting big cracks in the stone floor...... she closes in on the villains, one step, then another.

“Hieee!”

“S, stay awaaay!”

Of the three, the eyepatched pair are so terrified they can't even hold on to their weapons anymore, and sit shaking on their backsides.

The biggest of them, the shaggy-bearded one, is somehow keeping his big machete raised, but his face is deathly pale.

Big fat drops of sweat are pouring down him.

“Murderous intent, beyond the ordinary...... did Emi-kun have some kind of grudge against them......”

“Leseida-san!”

Swaying a little on his feet, Leseida-san came up beside me, while I stood too overwhelmed by Emi-chan's presence to even call out to her anymore.

“Wh, what do we do, Leseida-san? At this rate...... Emi-chan's going to! She's going to kill those guys!?”

I spoke to Leseida-san in a great panic.

If this keeps up, Emi-chan's going to end up a murderer!

......But.

“......? And what of it?”

Leseida-san's answer was terribly cold.

“Eh......”

“I see...... Mitran-kun, you're...... kind, aren't you.”

Leseida-san gave the dumbfounded me a troubled sort of smile.

“Mitran-kun, they are villains. You saw it, didn't you? The scene in the upper levels of these ruins...... where they were killing people. They have already crossed a line from which there is no turning back.”

............I see.

That's right, this isn't...... Japan.

It's another world.

Life...... isn't respected simply because it exists.

And all the more so when it's dangerous villains.

Emi-chan and Leseida-san, being people of this world, have no hesitation about killing those villains.

That way of thinking is rational.

Leave them alive, and somewhere down the line they might catch you off guard and attack.

So, you kill them.

As an adventurer...... this is probably a moment where I ought to see it that way.

Right here, right now.

“But...... but......!”

Is that okay?

Is that really okay!?

They're villains, so it's okay to kill them.

Is that really true!?

Is it really okay to let Emi-chan become a murderer!?

I don't know.

I just don't know......

The time I've been given to reach a conclusion is just far too short.

While I just stand there, stunned and frozen, Emi-chan.

One step, then another.

Walks on toward the villains.

And at last, that fist of hers.

That fearsome fist that smashes even the walls of the ruins.

......she brought it up before her chest.

But it was then.

“............!!”

Emi-chan was the first to notice.

Emi-chan flicked a glance toward a door other than the one we'd come in by...... then moved away from the villains again, hopping back, ta, tan.

“!? Emi-chan”

What's wrong?

It was the very moment I went to ask her that.

Pishi, pishi!

Sharp sounds rang out...... and suddenly, X-shaped cracks raced across the metal door!

And then!

DOO!!

This time, the door was blown wide open with incredible force!

“What is it!?”

Leseida-san cries out, throwing an arm over his face in spite of himself.

Dust clouds billowed up.

From within them, kotsu, kotsu.

Footsteps ringing out, the one who appeared.

Holding in his hand a long, thin, eerie sword, its blood-red blade gleaming...... was “Ruins Plunderer” Ibrabarleg.

“O, oh! Misterrr! Is that the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ you told us about!?”

At Ibrabarleg's sudden appearance, the villains perked right up!

The big shaggy-bearded man shouts happily.

“Alriiight! Ain't that one crazy weapon! We're saved!”

The long-faced eyepatch man is back to his old self and hopping for joy.

“Hehehe, hehehehehe! Misterrr, go on and show those guys what that sword can do! Hehe, we were in a bit of a pinch, see! But now that you're here, we're safe and sound!”

The square-faced man with the eyepatch ran up to Ibrabarleg, grinning as he bowed repeatedly and wrung his hands.

“Hmm, show the power of the sword...... very well.”

Ibrabarleg, smiling a gentle smile.

Hearing those words, the square-faced man with the eyepatch grew even more emboldened!

“Hehehehehe! Hey, you hear that, you punks! This here's, uh, the, whatchamacallit, some kind of amazin' demon sword! Hehehe, you saw it, right? The mister cuttin' that door clean off just now! Hehehe, hehehehehe! You punks are done for nooow! Better brace yourselves!!”

He turns to face us, spraying spit as he rattles on!

But.

That man's twisted grin didn't last long.

Because.

“Eh...... huh......?”

In the next instant, from his chest.

Sakuri, just like that.

A bright red blade came jutting out.

“Wh, why......?”

Not understanding anything, the square-faced eyepatch man trembled, coughing up blood as he asked that question.

Of the gentlemanly employer standing behind him, hat pulled low, goatee neatly trimmed.

Of “Ruins Plunderer” Ibrabarleg.

Of the man who had suddenly run him through, though they were supposed to be on the same side.

But Ibrabarleg.

Without answering that question.

After letting a single string of drool trail down.

“......Ihihi”

He laughed eerily.