The Old Man Who Saved Another World 15 Years Ago is Now Getting Caught Up In A Modern Fantasy - Episode 3

Mufu, a satisfied Sayohime.

Having realized that she is an incredibly kind demon who wants to act tough, I ask her one more thing that had been on my mind.

“Sayohime, what is this guy?”

“Wait, that’s right! This isn’t the time to be chatting, that guy! That guy is coming!!”

“That guy?”

Pointing at the giant octopus stretching next to her, I asked Sayohime what it was, and she started to fluster.

That guy is coming… what does that mean?

However, it was not Sayohime who answered my question.

The woman appeared.

“I found you, demon!”

“W-w-w-wait, I-I-I came here…”

The blue-faced Sayohime suddenly hides behind me.

The woman who saw that glares at me sharply.

“What the heck, you? Are you one of those demons?”

That woman was yet another strange woman.

Long black hair tied up, with fierce-looking, slanted brown eyes.

The strangest thing of all is that outfit.

The top is a kimono with a yagasuri pattern, and the bottom is a hakama with the obi tied at a high waist. The feet are in leather boots.

Dressed like a Taisho-era schoolgirl, wearing a cap on her head, and with a dangerous sword at her waist.

In this day and age, you can only see people dressed like that in Kyoto, right? But this is Kanagawa.

Are you a cosplayer?

“Uh, well, it’s not like we’re allies or anything… but who are you? From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you were chasing after Sayohime.”

“Ah! You know the name of that demon. You sly one. For a demon to make someone call its true name… You look like a human, but you’re definitely one of the demon’s crew!”

“Eh… eh?”

The woman glared at me sharply and, astonishingly, drew her sword from her waist.

And then, he thrusts the tip of the blade straight at me.

It’s real. In this other world where there are no laws against firearms and swords, my senses, honed by seeing and handling countless weapons, tell me so.

That sword is not a replica; it’s the real deal.

However, this is Japan, where there are violations of the Firearm and Sword Possession Control Law.

By the way, I’m just an innocent civilian who hasn’t done anything to earn her resentment.

“The Twelve Divine Generals, Rank Ten. Shirahane Shirakuri. Evil demons who bring enmity to the world. Are you prepared to die?”

“J-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju-Ju”

“Huh, what? You know, Sayohime?”

Woman—upon hearing Shirahane’s words, Sayohime is astonished.

The tenth rank among the Twelve Divine Generals. It sounds impressive somehow, but what exactly does that mean?

“The Twelve Divine Generals are titles given to the top twelve exorcists in the country. Each one possesses extraordinary power, making them the highest combat force of the Onmyoji Institute, capable of exorcising any demon. …I never thought I would be found by one of them.”

Sayohime trembling with fear.

Oni, yokai, exorcists, Onmyoji, Twelve Divine Generals.

I couldn’t keep up with the understanding or explanations of the words lined up in front of me, but for now, I at least understood that the person in front of me, Shiraha Kukuri, was quite impressive in various ways.

Even though she’s called a demon, Sayohime shouldn’t have committed any evil deeds.

The person is trying to act tough, but they can’t fool my eyes. Even so, it’s quite a sad story that they’re being targeted just because they’re a demon.

Sayohime is a demon, but she is not an existence like a monster with whom one cannot communicate.

It is unreasonable to unilaterally condemn someone as evil.

“I can’t overlook this.”

Besides, it seems like I’ve become a target due to a misunderstanding as well.

I stepped forward, shielding Sayohime with my back.

It’s not like I want to fight or anything.

If possible, I would like to clear up the misunderstanding and settle things amicably, but it’s difficult because they are on edge.

That said, I have no intention of being killed without a fight.

“Impertinent. You’re resisting, huh? You should just quietly offer your neck and die!”

“!”

I narrowly dodged the attack from the white feather that came slashing at me.

Super-fast.

I understood in an instant. For someone like me who has been away from real combat for 15 years, it seems like this opponent is not going to be easy to deal with.

“Hmph, you’re quite something. As expected of a demon, I suppose.”

“I’m not a demon. I’m human.”

“Deceiving people is the specialty of demons, isn’t it? I won’t be fooled by such words!”

Damn, this woman doesn’t understand what I’m saying.

I feel like my blood is completely boiling, and no matter what I say, it seems impossible to clear up the misunderstanding.

However, really strong.

There are no openings in his movements, no hesitation in his swordsmanship. All I can do is continue to defend and evade his attacks.

“Tch! You’re faster than you look!”

“It’s cutting it close!”

Enhancing physical abilities with magic to evade the white feather’s attacks.

It’s been 15 years since the last serious combat.

However, it seems that the skills I had acquired in the past were still there, and I gradually felt my body becoming accustomed to fighting.

The manipulation of magical power is rapidly becoming more refined, and along with it, the proficiency in body enhancement and agility is also improving.

“Whoa! This guy’s movements have improved…!”

“Could you listen to me for a moment?”

“Who do you think is the demon?!”

The onslaught of the white feathers is becoming even more intense.

Yet, not even a single sloppy sword strike.

Despite its formless and flexible movements, every attack aims to take my life without hesitation.

“—There!”

“!”

As my evasion falters, the white feathered sword strikes without missing the opening. I have no choice but to defend with my arm.

My arm is sliced through like a thin layer, and blood oozes out.

“Shallow, but I finally hit it! Take that!!”

“Seriously…?”

I was astonished to find that I had been injured, and I couldn’t help but mutter to myself.

No, it’s really amazing.

Right now, in addition to enhancing my body with magic, I am also wrapping my body in a thin film of magic like armor, creating a strong defense.

There weren’t many people in this world who could injure me while I was wearing this magical armor.

Nevertheless, the white-feathered sword easily inflicted a wound on me even through my defense.

Even the swordsmanship is incredible.

Among the companions who defeated the Demon King together in another world, there was one who was hailed as the greatest swordsman on the continent.

The White Feather Sword is the pinnacle of technique, second only to the Sword Saint in my experience.

A giant octopus and Princess Sayo.

Both of them feel quite powerful by otherworldly standards, and the cherry on top is this woman. Could it be that Japan is actually more of a magical realm than the otherworld?

I never imagined there were such fantastical beings in Japan.

I never saw that coming.

“So this is the Twelve Divine Generals. This is bad.”

“From my perspective, Yukimura, who can hold his own against those Twelve Divine Generals, is incredibly formidable. Wait, when I think about it, who exactly is he…?”

The words I muttered without thinking, and Sayohime behind me is saying something.

However, if things continue like this, we’ll be in dire straits.

It’s about time I’ve gotten some of my old instincts back, so I want to go on the offensive from here.

There are no gaps, no weaknesses.

It’s obvious, but going up against someone with a weapon is disadvantageous when you’re unarmed.

When facing a blade like a sword, you cannot choose to defend first. If you try to block a sword attack with your bare hands, you will just get cut.

In my case, I can defend with my magical armor, but it seems that Shiraha can penetrate this defense.

So, after all, defense becomes a bad move.

In that case, the response will be limited.

Since I can’t defend against the opponent’s attack, I have no choice but to somehow dodge it like I’m doing.

Even if I were to attack, no matter how I try, fighting barehanded would be disadvantageous in terms of distance. It would be great if I could close the gap to such a close range that weapons become unwieldy, but I can’t find any openings.

This is… I guess I’ll have to brace myself for a bit of pain.

“Whoa!!”

A storm of swordplay trying to chop me to pieces.

Until now, I had been focused on evasion, but here I deliberately stepped forward.

The approaching white feathered sword. But this is fine.

“Wha!?”

“Ouch…!”

Shiraha, with a look of astonishment on her face.

Her sword deeply pierces my arm as I step forward. A pain I haven’t felt in a long time.

But I’m used to this kind of thing; I was used to it 15 years ago!

“I can’t use the sword anymore!!”

“Tch!”

Fix the stabbed sword with muscle and magical armor.

With this, you won’t be able to pull it out, right?

However, Shiraha’s judgment was swift. Seeing that it wouldn’t come out, he immediately let go of the sword and tried to create distance.

“You’re not getting away!!!”

“Ugh!?”

Before they can create distance, grab the collar of the white feather and pull them down to the ground.

I pinned down the white feather lying on its back from above, restraining it so it couldn’t move, and pulled out the sword embedded in my arm.

And then, he placed the tip of the sword directly against Shiraha’s neck.

“It’s fine if I win, right? If you move even a little, I’ll kill you.”

Shiraha glares at me fiercely.

However, that movement completely stopped. There’s no way to turn things around from here, so we should slowly talk and clear up any misunderstandings—

“Don’t underestimate me!!!!”

Suddenly, a storm hit me.