The Guild Master Whose Hobby Was Helping People Found Himself Surrounded by the Strongest, Overly Attached Members - 21-22

Chapter 21: Happy Moments

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Shin’s blade never struck the man. No—it did not even collide with his body.

“Guh, ahh… Ka, hahh… Aaaaaaahhh!”

A voice that sounded like his throat was being torn apart escaped him. It was a pain like having his internal organs crushed by bare hands. A sensation as if his nerves were being seared away one by one.

“Gahh, hahh… Kuh…”

A voiceless scream leaked out between his teeth. Blood was still flowing from the wound in his abdomen, but even that sensation grew distant as the searing heat consumed his body.

“…Ahh, you didn’t notice either, huh? What a shame.”

The man spoke in a whisper. In his tone lingered faint disappointment and a thin trace of delight.

“I’ll reveal the trick for you. This dagger was made by shaving down the fangs of my friend.”

He murmured in a dreamy voice.

“Anyone who is wounded by him, and by this blade, is cursed. If they try to harm me, searing pain will tear through their body, pain so great it feels like death itself. Wonderful, isn’t it? Perfectly reasonable, really.”

His words carried the same cadence as one introducing a work of art. Sera was struck speechless at the sight of Shin writhing in agony.

“No way, Leader…!”

At that moment, Ragnar returned from behind the church. When he saw the devastation in the square, he understood in an instant what was happening.

“LEADEEEEER!”

His booming roar split the night air. With the force of someone stomping through the earth itself, he charged toward the man. But—just as his massive frame was about to leap upon him—

“Stay back…!”

Shin bellowed. Even amidst the agony burning through his body, he forced out the words. At that voice, Ragnar instinctively stopped in his tracks.

“Wh-why… Why, Captain!?”

“…Y…You said it, didn’t you…? Pain that feels like… Dying…”

Instead of answering Ragnar, Shin questioned the man.

“Ahh, yeah…This pain won’t kill you. You’ll suffer until death itself feels preferable, and in the end, either I’ll kill you—or I’ll feed you to him.”

The man wore a rapturous smile as he explained.

“As for the one lying there… I saw potential in him. I let him live, forced him to think and think again, just so I could crush it all and kill him in the end. That’s why I spared him. But… I suppose I overestimated him.”

“Hah… Haha… I see…”

Shin let out a breath of laughter. Blood bubbled up in his throat, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth and eating away at the edges of his thoughts. And yet—that smile never vanished.

“…What’s so funny?”

Strength gathered in Shin’s knees. The muscles of his entire body screamed. Coughing up blood, he pressed his hand against the ground.

“M-Master… No more… Please…”

Sera whispered. Her eyes were wide open, brimming with tears about to fall.

“Don’t stand up anymore…!”

And yet, Shin’s legs slowly, surely, pressed against the ground. The sight of Shin rising—so reckless it bordered on madness—froze the man’s expression.

“Y-you… Do you mean to die!?”

For the first time, the man’s voice faltered. As if he had just witnessed something beyond his expectations.

“…Shut the hell up.”

His voice was barely audible, yet within it rang a solid core. Then, gripping the dagger tight once more, he swung the blade toward the man—

“Gwaaaaaaaaahhh!”

The curse’s pain rampaged through his body.Agony like red-hot iron stakes piercing his brain. Every nerve screamed at once, and his vision exploded into red and white. But still—

“Wh-why won’t you stop!?”

The man stumbled a step backward. The strike missed, the blade cutting only through air.Even so, Shin kept swinging, writhing in agony.

“Please! Stop already!”

“Forget about us—just stop…!”

He was trying to protect them. But the sight was too unbearable—Leon and Iris pleaded. Better to lose their lives, they thought, than to keep watching this.

Yet Shin continued to swing his sword.

“Why—why won’t you give up!?”

At those words, Shin’s movements stopped dead. With eyes sharper and stronger than before the battle began, he pierced the man with his gaze.

“If I… If I didn’t keep swinging my blade here—”

He turned his eyes toward his comrades, the siblings who were surely worrying about him.

“—It would all end, wouldn’t it!?”

With that roar, Shin’s strike—repeated countless times… And finally, he tore through the man’s skin. Some had their hearts shaken. Some were astonished. And some widened their eyes in understanding.

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Chapter 22: Two Skills

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The system of the world Shin had reincarnated into was a jumble. It did not follow a single law; rather, countless “rules” coexisted in disarray. One such example was abilities. They could also be called skills. 

There were those, like Lisette, who had no innate skill, but through hellish training infused with their will, had carved out an individuality of their own. There were also those, like the man Shin now faced, who honed a “Physical Enhancement” skill, pretending to be a mage to lure his opponents into carelessness before striking.

So then—what kind of skills did Shin, a reincarnator, possess?

At the moment of his reincarnation, he had obtained two abilities.

The first was a passive skill Shin himself was not even aware of. Even if he suffered grievous damage, he would not die so easily, and help would arrive in moments of mortal crisis, the skill of Survival.

The second was another form of Survival, a skill that activated when Shin was cornered to the brink of death. The limiter of his brain would be temporarily lifted—and he would unleash strength far surpassing his normal limits.

“—What!?”

The wound was shallow. Yet when the man saw the red blood pouring from his own body, the characters of pure shock appeared on his face. Shin closed the gap left by that involuntary step back, unleashing a furious barrage.

“HaaaAAAAAAAHHHH!”

It was nothing short of monstrous. His assault did not stop. Shin was clearly on the verge of death, blood spraying with each strike, yet his movements were becoming sharper, more refined.

The blade that should not have grown stronger seemed, impossibly, to sharpen with each clash.

“W-what the hell are you!?”

Panic reignited the man’s fighting spirit. Even as Shin’s strikes carved into him, the man drove a devastating body blow upward from below. Launched with overwhelming physical power, the strike landed squarely against Shin’s body.

However—

“I saw that coming!”

Shin leapt diagonally of his own accord, reducing the damage, and even turned the impact into rotational momentum for his counterattack. His physical abilities had already surpassed their limits. His current strength did not far exceed SS rank—but it rivaled A rank!

Harnessing his spin, Shin poured both gravity and speed into his blade. The sword came crashing down.

“GUAAAAAHH!”

The short sword tore into the man’s shoulder. Flesh split. Blood gushed forth.

“Ha… I finally landed a real hit…”

Landing on the ground, Shin’s legs wavered unsteadily. But he did not fall. The pain of the curse flared again, yet he smothered it with a trembling laugh.

“You damned dying bastard!”

The man’s furious fist came crashing down. But the sharpness was gone from his movements. A fist without calm was nothing but panic given form. The blow gouged Shin’s shoulder, yet Shin stepped in close and, at point-blank range, drove his short sword into the man’s abdomen.

“Gu…! W-why… Why can you still move…!”

Groaning in agony, the man muttered as if delirious. On Shin’s face—blood, sweat, and a smile were fusing together. And with one final strike—he leapt with all his strength and drove his blade into the man’s chest.

“Gah… Aah…”

This time, the blow struck true. The man’s body arched violently backward. The twisted delight in his eyes slowly faded away. He sank to his knees—and then collapsed.

Blood dripped from Shin’s entire body. It would not have been strange if he had fallen right there 

By all rights, he should have been dead already. Yet he still lived.

“…Did I… Win…?”

Shin’s murmur was so faint it was carried away by the wind. He stood, but not by willpower—his muscles were so locked in tension he could not even collapse. At his feet, a pool of dark, red-black blood spread wide.

Each labored breath scorched his throat, his seared lungs rejecting the air. Then, footsteps approached, slicing through the silence.

“Shin-sama!”

The first to rush to him was Lisette. Her silver hair gleamed in the moonlight of the night sky, her face unusually stricken with worry. Her maid uniform bore fresh slashes from battle, but she was unharmed. Proof that she had won a complete victory against the monsters.

“Shin-sama, forgive me for being late. I… I will heal you right away…!”

Dropping to her knees before him, she immediately raised both hands and began her chant.

“—Healia.”

A gentle golden light spilled from Lisette’s palms. Soft like the morning dawn, it wrapped Shin’s entire body. His wounds began to close little by little.

Shin raised a shaky hand, lightly grasping her wrist.

“—! Does it hurt!? Please, don’t push yourself…!”

Lisette’s composure faltered. Sweat, rare for her, beaded on her forehead. The emotion in her voice sent tension rippling through the air around them.

“…Just enough… Leave them half-healed… It’s fine that way…”

The corners of Shin’s lips lifted slightly. Lisette’s eyes widened at the expression that wasn’t even quite a smile, then she let out a troubled sigh and nodded slowly.

“…Truly… You are hopeless.”

Then, the rest of their companions approached.

“Master… Thank goodness…”

Tears filled Sera’s eyes as she gasped for breath, struggling to form words.

“I’m so glad… Really, really… That you’re alive…!”

She crouched down, wiping her tears on her sleeve, and grasped Shin’s hand.

“…I couldn’t be of any help again… I’m sorry…”

Shin’s hand was slick with cold blood, but she did not let go.

“Leader…!”

Ragnar dropped to one knee. Unable to contain himself, he lifted his face to the heavens.

“To think… To think you endured this…!”

His heavy voice echoed through the square. His fists clenched tight—not in anger, but in relief that his master’s life still remained. Finally, the siblings arrived.

“…Shin-san, um…”

Iris supported Leon’s faltering frame as they approached. Exhaustion was written all over Leon’s face, but his eyes remained locked firmly on Shin.

“…I don’t even know… What words of thanks could be enough…”

Leon’s voice shook. Not with anger, nor frustration, but with a heavy, unnameable emotion that quivered straight from his heart.

“Ah, no… Really, I only… Helped by chance. Don’t worry about it.”

Shin managed a faint smile as he spoke. At that, Iris lowered her head with a tearful expression. At last, only the sound of the wind returned to the square. But still, the night did not break.

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