Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V4 Chapter 70: "Did They Come From Kyoto or Something?" ②

Chapter 70: “Did They Come From Kyoto or Something?” ②

“How did you know, Natsuki-kun!?”

“Eh, just a hunch?”

“It was a hunch!? That’s actually amazing though!? These people are super shaken up right now!”

Kazuto couldn’t hide his surprise after Natsuki guessed the identity of the group that trapped them in the barrier.

But for Natsuki, this kind of situation was more or less expected.

“I already made contact with the Abe family from Kyoto back in Tono. So I figured they’d come eventually. Didn’t know how they’d show up, but now that they’ve trapped us in a barrier and brought along a bunch of sword-wielding uncles, I’ll take that as an attempted hit.”

“Hold it.”

Just as Natsuki started getting fired up, the woman who seemed to be their leader stepped in to stop him.

“You’re kinda quick to jump the gun, aren’t you, boy? How about hearin’ us out first?”

“Not interested. If you want me to listen, bring a gift box, bow your head, and ask politely.”

“…What a cheeky brat you are.”

The shrine maidens and men in black clearly didn’t like Natsuki’s attitude—they all shot him sharp glares.

But Natsuki had faced gods and demons. There was no way he’d be intimidated now.

Even Kazuto, while understandably uneasy about being surrounded by adults, didn’t feel the same fear he had when facing threats like Mammon or Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

That probably said more about how messed up their standards had gotten—

But still, better to be numb than frozen in fear.

“Let me be nice and say this up front. I’ve got zero interest in Shuten Doji. If you wanna fight him, go ahead and do it yourselves.”

“…The oni have harmed the people of Kyoto—”

“Yeah, don’t bother with that kind of talk.”

“What was that?”

“Auntie, do you really think I’m the type to nod along to some self-righteous excuse? You reek of oni and yokai blood. You don’t want to kill Shuten Doji for someone else’s sake—you’re doing it for yourself. But since you know you can’t beat him on your own, you’re out here scrambling to gather pawns. Ugh, desperate adults are the worst.”

Back in the other world, there were people who did the exact same thing—

Using the excuse of “justice” to hide their selfish desires.

There was a man who claimed he was fighting demons to protect humanity.

But behind the scenes, he was a scumbag who’d capture weak demons just to toy with them for fun.

Naturally, Natsuki wasn’t the type to let that slide.

He cut that man down with a single, clean strike.

The woman in front of him now… reminded him of that kind of person.

“You’ve got a sharp nose for a kid. Fine, I’ll lay it all out for you. We do want to kill Shuten Doji. That much is true.”

“Yeah, yeah. And?”

“Once we take out that pain in the neck, we’ll take control over the oni.”

“Sure, go on.”

“Then we’ll use the oni, crush the Abe family, and take over Kyoto.”

“Look, hate to ruin your big villain speech, but—how about you keep all that nonsense in Kyoto! Don’t drag it to Mukaijima City!”

It was a completely reasonable complaint—

But the woman just laughed it off.

“You met Madoka Abe and Shinonome Abe, didn’t you? Madoka Abe’s completely consumed by revenge, but she still won’t join us. And Shinonome Abe… well, who knows what her deal is. Either way, the Abe family is a problem. They’re just some crusty old bloodline clinging to their ancient name.”

“Right, so how about you settle your local drama locally, hmm? That’s what Nacchan thinks.”

“We’ve got allies all over the country. Not just in Kyoto. Plenty of psychics who hate the Institute’s rule would benefit if they sided with us.”

“The Institute’s top is my underling. Which means I’m the real top.”

“If we grow our power in Kyoto and take over Kansai, we can finally challenge the Institute. Then, psychics will no longer be bound by their rules. They can use their powers freely, purge the non-humans, and create a perfect world!”

“Would you shut up and listen to me already!?”

In the end, all they really wanted was to use their powers however they pleased—without rules or restrictions.

They probably thought taking down Shuten Doji would give them credibility.

But even without thinking too hard, it was obvious that plan wasn’t going to work.

(Besides, there’s no way a bunch like this could unite an entire hardliner faction. I’m calling it now—there’s definitely some so-called “mastermind” pulling the strings behind the scenes, pretending to be smart but actually a total idiot!)

“I’ll make you some rice with tea. So how about you go home already?”

“…Little brat… You act all high and mighty just because I was being nice. You don’t have any real options here. Be grateful I’m even giving you a choice—obey, or die.”

“Yeah, sounds about right. But are you sure about that?”

“What?”

Natsuki gave her a cheerful smile.

“You’re fine keeping this barrier up like this?”

“What do you—”

Before she could even finish the sentence,

The leader and all the shrine maidens suddenly coughed up blood and collapsed.

“You really thought you weaklings could suppress my magical energy without consequences? IDIOTS.”

〜〜Afterword〜〜

Natsuki is strong even when he does absolutely nothing!

A quick promo—

Volume 2 of the manga “The Reincarnated Mage Who Will Eventually Become the Strongest” is now on sale!

I’d be super happy if you gave it a read. Thanks so much for the support!