Volume 4, Chapter 1: What sort of hobby is the extermination of the human race?

The ability of instant death isn't so much of an issue by itself. ōtori Haruto had been thinking something along those lines.

This is because instant death is already feasible when there's a large difference of ability between two people.

The same stretch of logic applies to many situations. If someone wants to kill a faraway opponent, there are a multitude of different ways to go about doing it.

In other words, the ability to cause instant death isn't exclusive to Takatou Yogiri.

It's likely that there are several people in this world who are capable of instantly killing Haruto. Instant death alone is certainly a threat, but that isn't the most threatening aspect of Yogiri's ability.

That said, if there was any problem in particular, it would be his ability to sense when he's being targeted by someone else's killing intent.

Indeed, that was the real issue here. In order to deal with Yogiri, one would first need to find a way to deal with this ability.

However, the rules behind his ability to sense killing intent are just too vague. If Haruto was to go and challenge that vagueness, he'd simply end up as a corpse the moment he pressed the issue too far.

First of all, it was necessary to investigate to what extent he's capable of sensing killing intent. Otherwise, it'd be impossible to strategize on what to do next.

Normally, regardless of whether or not someone was able to understand his ability, they would end up with no choice but to give up in despair.

However, Haruto has the Consultant class. The impression that the name gives off isn't great, but this class has a pretty unusual ability.

The ability of problem-solving.

The ability isn't as simple as just having the solutions to your problems given to you. Instead, it grants him the ability to refer to information that will ultimately be necessary to solve the problem.

The time was late at night. Haruto had gone to the forest outside of town. This was for the purpose of escaping the ability-sealing powers of the king; to use his ability in the best condition possible.

He was wearing a business suit in order to raise the power of the Consultant class's abilities and holding one of the torches that the class had been using for their exhibitions into Hell. It was a stick-like tool that absorbs the souls from the surrounding area and uses that energy to produce light, a relatively common tool for the kingdom.

When Haruto arrived at an opening in the forest, he stabbed the base of the torch into one of the nearby trees and secured the location.

"Ah. I wonder if it's alright for me to come out here like this? We were told to take action as a group, and the groups are supposed to be separated by gender…"

Beside Haruto was a girl dressed in a cheerleader uniform, Yui ōtani.

"There aren't any restrictions when it comes to personal situations like this one. As long as you're okay with it, there aren't any issues, right?"

"Yeah…"

Yui's face turned red.

Haruto knows that his physical appearance makes it easy to gain favor with girls, and he was skilled at using that quality effectively in order to get what he wants.

Haruto only wanted to make use of the ability that she possesses, but he thought that it'd be fine to be affectionate with her afterward if that's what she's hoping for.

"Well then, I was wondering if you'd be willing to use your ability to help me with something."

"Alright. I can do my best."

Yui started to dance. While it's strange to see someone doing a one-man cheer routine in the forest in the middle of the night, the dance is needed in order to bring out the effect of her skill even more, so it can't be helped.

Her ability as a cheerleader really was quite noteworthy. She was able to dance perfectly, without any embarrassment, even when she's in a situation where she's alone and there's no music playing.

After a while, Yui finished her dance and wiped the sweat from her brow.

Haruto applauded in response, praising her efforts.

"Thank you. Every time I watch you, I'm only able to think about how amazing you are at that."

"I-I guess so…"

"Then, please hold on for a moment."

Haruto used his problem-solving skill. There wasn't any need to do anything flashy like Yui. All he needed to do was push up his glasses by the brim his finger.

And while it's a bit ridiculous, the skill's effectiveness rises when you perform its corresponding action. Therefore, he couldn't afford to be shy.

A white light suddenly filled Haruto's eyes.

Through the use of the system, he accessed the archive that retains this world's information.

There was an innumerable amount of information accumulated inside. The sheer quantity of information was so enormous that he wouldn't be able to find what he was looking for if he searched for it blindly. However, this was where the problem-solving skill's true power shines. The skill goes through everything and filters out anything that isn't related to your problem.

The only thing necessary was to find information related Takatou Yogiri.

While it's necessary to know what he's done since coming to this world, it was difficult to extract all the important information all at once. He had to narrow it down the bare bones of the matter.

Haruto decided to focus on situations where Yogiri would have perceived someone else's killing intent.

He extracted the condensed information and converted it into something understandable. Then, the scenes where Yogiri has used his power were displayed to him like a movie.

First, there was a scene with Hanakawa. Hanakawa had been preparing to use a chant-less magical attack when Yogiri sensed his killing intent and warned him. He had been concentrating his soul's energy in his right hand, ready to release it the moment he saw an opening. Hanakawa's offensive spells aren't a big deal, but they're more than enough to kill a human who hasn't been strengthened by the system.

Next, there was the Dominator, Yuuki Tachibana. He died almost instantly after he commanded his slaves to kill Yogiri. In which case, it raises the question of whether or not he can sense killing intent if someone only asks, not orders, someone else to kill him. However, if that was true, it would follow that both he and Shion would be dead by now due to Shion asking him for help with killing Yogiri. Or is it instead that both of them would die the moment he attempts to kill Yogiri?

Even though he needed to confirm it, Haruto judged that he wasn't in a good position to do so. The Dominator simply had special circumstances.

The connection between the Dominator and the slave is absolute; one where the Dominator takes full control of the slave's soul. They're forced to unconditionally follow any of their master's orders. In other words, the slave can be thought of as an extension of the Dominator.

The moment when Yuuki died, a large amount of enslaved insects were preparing to surround and kill Yogiri.

It was treated as though Yuuki himself was planning to kill Yogiri. In this case, Yogiri didn't resolve the situation by simply killing the attacking bugs. Instead, he killed the problem at its source. By killing Yuuki, he put an end to being targetted by his servant's killing intent.

The situation was similar for the Devil at the Sword Saint's tower. The miasma that was drifting around had the potential to harm or kill Yogiri. Because Yogiri was calmly moving through it anyway, he must have been killing the miasma itself as he went. However, the miasma was constantly gushing forth from the Devil. He must have decided that the only way to fundamentally solve the problem was to just kill the Devil.

There were other scenes as well, such as killing thieves and bandits along their journey, without even taking regard for their appearance, simply because they were aiming at him with bows or magic.

Haruto was able to come to another conclusion after watching these scenes. That simply thinking about wanting to kill Yogiri wasn't enough for him to be able to sense something. These thoughts needed to be accompanied by some form of plan or action.

Yogiri considers actions and events that put him in harm's way as though they were murderous intentions. Yogiri has been killing who and what he's killing in order to eliminate the possibility that he'll die.

The limit of his Consultant ability came just as he thought about this, and his consciousness was returned to reality.

"Haruto-kun, are you okay?"

Yui asked anxiously.

He had reached his time limit for being connected to the archive, so he looked like he was in pain. At some point, without his knowledge, he had sat down on the ground.

"Yeah. I overdid it a little bit, but it isn't that big of a deal."

He answered her while standing back up.

"I need to do an experiment…"

Haruto muttered idly.

There was a possibility that he may die in the experimental stage of his plan if he goes about this poorly.

However, despite the fact that he has this information now, he still doesn't have the whole picture. In order to deal with Takatou Yogiri, it's absolutely critical that he determines exactly to what extent he's able to sense other people's killing intent.

＊＊＊＊＊

Hanakawa was dumbfounded.

This was Hell, and the Devil should've been sealed in the lowest layer, so they had come this way in order to break the seal and let the Devil free. However, standing right in front of them was the Devil they had come to set free, smiling ear to ear.

"Um… May I please be permitted to ask a question?"

"That should be fine."

The Devil, Mana, passively responded. Even though she was a Devil, the feeling she gave off wasn't, in any way, an overpowering one. Even though she was as beautiful as a Goddess, apart from that, she just looked like a young girl who had just barely reached adulthood.

"Uhm, aren't you supposed to be sealed?"

"That's right. I was sealed by my Onii-sama. I don't understand why though, and that ignorance is immensely painful for me. However, because my Onii-sama is the one who sealed me, it's obvious that I'm the one who's done something wrong, or else he never would have sealed me in the first place."

"But then how did you reach all the way here?"

"Well, of course. My Onii-sama is a kind man. There's no way he would ever tie me up and pack me away. That's why he purposefully applied a loose seal so that I'd eventually be able to escape on my own."

"…Is that really the case?"

Hanekawa asked Lute in a low voice.

"No… My lord had intended to seal her away in the deep depths of the earth, so he used the full force of his power to do so…"

Lute's expression stiffened as he answered. Fortunately, Mana was ecstatically recalling memories of her older brother, so it doesn't seem like she overheard their comments.

"Uh, so does that mean that we are all set for getting out of here? Shall we embark for the surface and uh… not destroy humanity?"

Even though it may not have been necessary to ask, Hanakawa dared to anyway.

"There's no way that I could leave without Onii-sama's permission, and would you please try not to get in the way of Onii-sama's hobby?"

Mana spoke as though she was saying something obvious. Hanakawa edged back a few steps, and Lute did the same.

"…What sort of hobby is the extermination of the human race? …Uhm, this Onii-sama, how should I put it, he's, you know… He seems like the type of person who mustn't be set free into the world…"

Hanakawa spoke to Lute in a low voice again. Due to the fact that he was together with Lute, Hanakawa managed to just barely fall into Mana's considerations. Though, it seems as though if he was alone, he would be treated as something less important than garbage.

"I think that's probably why…"

"Uhm, what is the connection between Lute-dono and this Mana-dono?"

"…We have no direct relationship. She should only think of me as an underling of My Lord, and to put it bluntly, I don't have that much interest in her either."

"If that's the extent of your relationship, Lute-dono has quite the sense of courage."

"By the way."

Mana suddenly spoke up, startling both Hanakawa and Lute.

"Yes? What can I do for you?"

"The fact that you smell of Onii-sama means that you're here on a matter related to him, right?

"Yes. I have brought the key to your seal."

Lute took a key out and respectfully presented it to her.

"Ah! Oh my, oh my, oh my! Oh how wonderful! Ah, I'm sorry. I got ahead of myself there. Of course, please use that key as instructed by Onii-sama, or otherwise, decide how to use it based on your own discretion."

That said, Mana put her hands on the wall of the cave.

The wall flexibly began to distort, and eventually, a gaping cavity appeared around where her hands had been.

"What is this?"

"I made a direct passageway to the innermost layer."

"That was unreasonably easy!"

"The seal is affixed to the door at the bottommost layer. Feel free to do as you please with it."

"…What meaning does that door really even have at this point…? Also, aren't you going against your Onii-sama's will by ignoring that seal in the first place?"

"Are you an idiot!? You! Why are you asking such disrespectful questions one after another!?"

"Based on Onii-sama's intentions, is it acceptable for me to move around the layers of Hell? If I wasn't allowed to, I don't understand why he would bother creating this place. There's no way he would have been alright with locking me away in a small, tight space like that. That's why he made it like this instead. My Onii-sama is a kind man, after all."

Lute was another story, but Mana didn't seem to take any offense to Hanakawa's questions.

After she finished answering, Mana walked into the cavity she created in the wall of the cave.

"We could run away now…"

"That's the only thing you ever have on your mind… besides, it's impossible."

Lute came to a decision and stepped forth into the cavity, Hanakawa reluctantly following after.

Their surroundings brightened up immediately. Hanakawa reflexively moved to shield his eyes.

"This is…"

He timidly uncovered his eyes as he adjusted to the light.

There were huge mushrooms sprouting up from the ground and trees dyed with unknown, unimaginable colors. Lined up one after the next, there were lovely, asymmetrical buildings akin to the ones that you'd find in modern cities like Perth.

It was like a small, growing city. Flowers were in full bloom along the side of the road, giving the area a fragrant smell.

People wearing many combinations of strangely-colored clothes walked about on the streets, and shopkeepers were doing their best to attract customers to come and take a look at their wares.

If someone was to look up into the sky, they would see the sun, shining in all its brilliant radiance.

"This place… Would it be right to call it somewhere straight out of a fairytale? A wonderland…? And who are all these people?"

"Every single one of them is a… family member Mana-sama."

"Yes. Me and Onii-sama. They're our cute, adorable little children."

Walking beside Lute, Mana responded

"Ah, I-I see? With Onii-sama… That's… quite immoral. Lute-dono's Lord must have been quite busy. Well, I guess it's not that unusual for Gods in stories to have those types of relationships with their relatives. I think I remember there being something like that in Japanese Mythology."

"…It's different… There isn't a chance that My Lord would ever play around with his younger sister like that… These people, Mana-sama gave birth to them with an unauthorized imaginary pregnancy."

Lute responded to Hanakawa in a low, bitter, voice.

"This woman, she reminds me of that from Magimon!"

As expected, Hanakawa got caught up on something unrelated.