I Came Back from the Dead, Quit Being a Holy Hero, and Just Wanna Shake My Hips in a Harem

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Chapter 25: Trust Between Comrades

In the back alleys of the city, a shadow darted from darkness to darkness.

A mysterious man in a gas mask—

The one known as “The Man Who’ll Absolutely Destroy the Goddess Armor”—

And beneath that mask… Haruya Arden.

Yeah. Me.

Holding my breath, I melted into the shadows between buildings.

A moment later, a man dressed head-to-toe in black, wearing a monkey mask, stepped up to me.

“…Boss, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Subordinate A—everything going according to plan?”

“Yes, sir… There’s no sign the armor’s been moved anywhere else.”

I grinned at his report.

Then, from another shadow, a man in a wolf mask appeared.

“Boss… just like you ordered, we’ve got our people in position.”

“Subordinate B… good work. You two—let’s deliver humanity’s light to the world.”

““Yes, sir! We humans are the true light!””

Subordinates A and B formed a triangle with their fingers as they spoke.

Now, you’re probably wondering—who the heck are these guys?

Well, they’re a pair of Tera-cult fanatics I… let’s say aggressively got acquainted with not too long ago.

Remember when Lily and I were talking about how the whole “salvation through Light” thing splits into different doctrines?

Some sects put the gods at the center, others put people first…

These guys? They’re from the People-People Faith—a group that preaches salvation entirely by human hands.

They’re kinda like the Grand Goddess Church… except they reject even the goddess’s guidance.

Hardcore human supremacists who believe in tech over divine miracles, and—being a newer faction—some of them are flat-out extremists.

Back in my previous life, I’d butted heads with the extremists when they tried using magic-tech recklessly.

But after the Demon King croaked, there wasn’t much need to weaponize magic-tech anymore, so most of them went quiet.

…But c’mon, if there’s one thing I know—extremists don’t just vanish.

And since I still remembered their secret signal… maybe I could sniff out a few.

So I searched the city and—bingo—found one of their hideouts down in the sewers.

Naturally, I slapped on my gas mask and barged right in.

“Who the hell are you!? The goddess sent you, didn’t she!? I’ll kill—GUH!?”

I knocked out the guy who looked like the boss, then told the rest:

“So yeah, starting today, I’m your new boss. Nice to meet ya.”

“Quit screwin’ arou—GUH!?”

Once I floored his right-hand man too, they seemed to get the message.

Maybe they realized just how strong I was…

Or maybe my burning, heartfelt desire to destroy the goddess’s armor really spoke to them—

Either way, they were in.

“That’s a great idea, New Boss! With your power, we could even burn down the chur—GUH!?”

“How about we break into the vault? We could grab some extra treasu—GUGYA!?”

“To make the job easier, why don’t we take some of the church brats as hosta—GUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!?”

Any fanatic who suggested something that dangerous… got promptly “shown the door.”

And by “shown the door,” I mean beaten into the pavement and left hanging in a row from the bridge over the Granule River.

“My only target is the Holy Armor Flora! The Grand Goddess Church might be out there searching for a Hero candidate, but the light that guides the world should be forged by our own hands!”

Guess my sincerity struck a chord, because a few of the People-People Faith believers decided to follow me.

Not because we were suddenly best buddies—just because we shared the same end goal.

…Of course, if it came down to it, these extremists were nothing more than disposable pawns.

Fuhahahahaha! I’ll use them in every way I can!

“Let’s go, Subordinate A! Subordinate B! For the light of humanity!”

““Yes, New Boss! For the light of humanity!””

When I swept my cape around and dashed forward, Subordinates A and B followed close behind.

We’d split the squad into two groups—one for infiltration, one for distraction.

The handy, quick-fingered duo A and B came with me. The rest handled the diversion.

I probably wouldn’t be able to get into the vault so easily on my own.

Why?

Because I trust my comrades.

We zigzagged through the back alleys until the path opened into a wide stretch of land.

Several buildings belonging to the Grand Goddess Church stood within the grounds.

Being the dominant sect, they sure had space to spare—well-kept gardens, spotless walkways… you could tell the faithful worked hard to keep it pristine.

Timing it with the moment the moon slipped behind the clouds, we slipped onto the premises.

Using the cover of the trees, we crept toward the modestly built grand cathedral.

The vault we were after was inside that building.

As I moved toward one of its windows, I signaled my subordinates to hold position.

“…Boss, aren’t we going in?”

“Just watch, Subordinate A.”

I picked up a small pebble and tossed it lightly toward the window.

Before it could hit the wall, it stopped midair, gave a faint crack, then dropped to the ground.

From beneath his monkey mask, Subordinate A’s voice trembled.

“The pebble got deflected!? B-Boss, is that… a barrier?”

“Looks like it.”

“B-But I can’t see any wall or anything…”

“They probably spread it thin and wide over the entire cathedral. That’s the work of a high-ranking priest.”

“T-The entire building!? There’s someone who can actually pull that off…?”

Nice work, Lily! I knew I could count on you!

Sensing danger and putting up countermeasures ahead of time—

That’s my comrade for you!

“The Holy Armor Flora… it’s really that important, huh…”

Subordinate A was clearly rattled.

Yeah, most high-ranking priests couldn’t set up a barrier with this kind of precision.

But knowing Lily from my previous life, I wasn’t exactly shocked.

…Although—

Isn’t her growth rate a little too fast?

Not that long ago, I pegged her at maybe Silver-Iron rank overall, Platinum rank at best if we were just talking holy arts.

Don’t tell me her past life memories are starting to come back…?

Anyway—focus.

Infiltration now, deep thoughts later.

Time to deal with this barrier.

“No need to worry. If the barrier’s spread wide and thin… that means there’s gotta be gaps.”

I scooped up a handful of pebbles and tossed them one after another.

Some got bounced back, but a few slipped through—one even clinked against the wall near the emergency exit.

Bingo.

We could get in through a window over there.

We exchanged a quick nod and moved forward, slipping through the gap in the barrier.

Quietly, we eased the window open and were just about to climb into the grand cathedral when—

“Wait.”

I froze, and Subordinate B’s puzzled voice came from under his wolf mask.

“What now, Boss? There’s no barrier here, right?”

“There’s another trap—look.”

I pointed toward several nearly invisible threads stretched across the window frame.

“Threads…?”

“Magical threads. Touch one, and you’ll get zapped with a nasty shock.”

Under their masks, Subordinates A and B both let out a startled little “Hii!” of fear.

It was Filio’s Chiave Cinque: Spider Thread.

Nice work, Filio! I knew I could count on you!

Sensing something off and putting up solid defenses—

Both of you nailed it‼

…Wait. Are we even really comrades?

Yeah, we are. Totally.

Because comradeship is all about trusting each other!

“The Holy Armor Flora… i-it’s really that big of a deal…?”

Subordinate B looked so spooked his knees were practically knocking.

I reassured them both.

“It’s fine. The threads are physical—you can cut them with tools. As for the electric shock… thick gloves will do the trick. There’s a chance they’ll notice from the slack in the threads, but… that’s exactly why I brought you two dexterous guys with me.”

Maybe it was hearing the word “trust,” but I could see a spark of determination light up in their eyes.

Subordinate B wasted no time pulling tools from his hip pouch and getting to work—making tiny adjustments so the threads wouldn’t loosen when cut.

While I was watching him work, Subordinate A spoke up.

“Thank you, Boss.”

“…Huh? For what?”

“For giving us a role like this.”

“You mean… breaking and entering?”

I didn’t get it.

Do People-People Faith extremists just love crime or something?

As I was wondering that, Subordinate A answered, looking oddly pleased.

“We’re not actually People-People Faith believers. We just got dragged into this.”

“…Oh? Really?”

“Our workplace… had ties to the extremist branch. Magic-tech industry, y’know. Me and him—we’re just tech guys. Even if we wanted to quit, the fallout would be scary. Honestly, Boss, seeing you take down those extremists all at once was so satisfying. The rest of the guys in there? Pretty much in the same boat as us.”

I just blinked at them for a moment.

“Ah… wait, so… you wanna head home? You don’t have to stick around.”

“Nah. Us magic-tech folks get pushed around a lot, so… just once, we wanna make them choke on it. This’ll probably be the only time, but we’ll stick with you to the end.”

Yeah, I’ve heard magic-tech workers get flak from all sorts of sects.

Guess it doesn’t mesh well with the whole “mystical” vibe.

I even had a few run-ins about that back in my past life.

“But why are you telling me all this now?”

This sudden deep dive into Subordinates A and B’s tragic backstory…

Really feels like a death flag, y’know?

And right then—

Subordinate B jerked violently, then collapsed to the ground.

“Subordinate B!? W-What happened!?”

I pulled off his mask to help him breathe.

His face was pale—like all the life had been sucked right out of him.

But he’d been wearing thick gloves, so if something got through… could it be a Drain attack!?