67 – Serious Mode ON From Today!

“He… He’s spinning sideways!!”

“Don’t come this way!!”

“Gyaaaah!!”

Takahashi, who picked a fight with me, went flying after slipping free, spinning vertically. Somewhere along the way, air resistance must’ve shifted his rotation to horizontal, and now he was barreling toward the group propping up Siegfried. The scene was a screaming, hellish nightmare.

It felt familiar… Then I remembered—it’s like that Dada Survivor game, disguised as a trashy ad but actually a time-sinking gem.

Wherever Takahashi passed through, pieces of what used to be people were scattered like pieces cut from a plastic model kit’s sprue.

The blood-soaked, gruesome scene was too horrific to describe, but I don’t want to die, and I can’t let any harm come to my sister, Megumi. If anything happened to the Freesia sisters, Minya might blow this entire continent away.

At the very least, a guy like Takahashi would definitely keep hitting on Megumi if left unchecked. I wouldn’t let a creep like him be her husband, her boyfriend—not even her classmate!

Megumi never talked about the boys in her class, so I didn’t know, but if I had, I’d have turned into a monster complainer and stormed her school. That’s how trash this guy is.

In my past life, my ambitions were cut short, but now, reincarnated, I want to pour my heart and soul into ensuring Megumi ends up with the best guy.

Fueled by rage at the weird bug buzzing around Megumi, I don’t even care about stepping over the corpses of the vassals and soldiers who once followed me.

The survivors…

“Prince Brad is furious!”

“He’s not gonna forgive the traitors!”

“Maybe if we apologize now, we can still make it!”

“No, this is Prince Brad we’re talking about—he might slaughter us all!”

They start arguing about their fate. Amid the chatter, one of the traitorous vassals got to the point.

“Who here can fight him and win?”

“““Tch, that’s…”””

All eyes turned to Takahashi, who’s wobbling to his feet like a boxer who just took a knockout punch.

“Healers! Hit him with [Heal] until your MP runs dry!!”

Medics wearing mitre hats and surcoats over chainmail swarmed Takahashi, casting [Heal] in unison.

In mere seconds, Takahashi’s unsteady gaze sharpened, and his shaky steps became firm.

Fully restored, Takahashi griped his two-handed Zweihander with one arm, pointing the tip at me and declaring:

“I was caught off guard last time, but not again! I’ll chop you into pieces like those guys over there!”

“Give it up. You’ll just end up friendly-firing again.”

“Shut up!! If I take you down, it’s all over, you brain-dead meathead!!”

“I’m not the one who crapped his pants, though.”

Mixed with the stench of blood, a foul brown toxic gas assaults my nose, nearly overwhelming even my high endurance. Megumi and the others, whispering in the carriage, shoot Takahashi disdainful looks.

“Trying to act cool and then soiling himself… Pfft!”

I tried to finish my sentence but burst out laughing, unable to hold it in.

“I’m gonna kill you!!”

“If you strain that hard, you’ll leak again. Squeezing out… Sorry, my bad. Keep it to squeezing out sword techniques. Any more leaks, and we’re in trouble.”

Takahashi, maybe about to leak again, hung his head, trembling like a frail old man.

“Brad, just beat him already! It’s annoying if that smelly guy gets close!”

Hearing Megumi’s cheers filled me with joy. I almost blurted out, “Megumi! I’ll do my best!” but quickly covered my mouth.

Takahashi looked up, glaring.

“Are you… covering your nose? Don’t mess with me!!”

Apparently, he took my gesture to silence myself as a provocation. That wasn’t my intention at all…

“That’s right, exactly! Like Megumi said!”

“Brad-sama, please, just don’t get hurt…”

I raised a fist in response to Lily and Freesia’s cheers.

“If you need to ‘pick flowers,’ I’ll give you three minutes. If you soil yourself again and go flying, Liebenrathia will be covered in crap.”

“Mind your own business!”

Takahashi started charging up his power.

Just don’t charge up your bowels, I prayed.

Three minutes passed, and, fully charged, Takahashi raised his Zweihander overhead and swung.

“This is my fastest, strongest, ultimate slash!!”

What is he, a grade-schooler?

Takahashi swung diagonally from above.

The momentum could probably take my head off in one hit, but since it’s good practice for surviving a guillotine, I decided to take it.

If a slash like Takahashi’s could behead me, a guillotine would make quick work of me too.

The groove of Takahashi’s Zweihander whistled as it closed in on my neck.

Suddenly, the world around me slowed down.

A thought hit me.

Could it be that, like him, I got cheats from reincarnating? And despite that, by training every single day, switching muscle groups, I broke through my limits?

On top of that, I voraciously read every book in this world…

My Intelligence is 25!

Compared to my 9999 Strength, my Intelligence is 25. Should I be happy it went up by 20? For reference, I checked a dog’s stats, and it was 20… So, I used to have lower Intelligence than a dog.

Goblins? 50.

My Intelligence is apparently half a goblin’s…

That said, I’m not particularly weak to status-effect magic. The only thing I can’t resist is Freesia’s [Love Prison Classroom]. When she gets in the mood, I’m dragged off and have no choice but to comply.

The sensation of Takahashi’s Zweihander hitting my neck felt like a shoulder-massage stick.

“Let me ask you one thing. That wasn’t your full strength, right?”

Far from painful, the attack (?) actually felt good, and I turned to ask Takahashi.