Chapter 379
"… We're done." Abe Haruaki used the Chaldea communicator to inform the people who stayed in his office directly in front of the collaborator he had just talked to, "Can you please come here as quickly as possible… The location has been sent to you, you should be able to find it directly according to the map."
"I'll bring them here with me." Yagen Toushirou, who was sitting on the windowsill, answered Abe Haruaki, while staring at Oda Nobunaga and Lord Nobunaga, whose mood had finally become more normal, "Is there a time limit?"
"The sooner the better. No later than 24 hours." Abe Haruaki looked around at the swordsmen. "After all, they seem to have fewer people than us. The sooner you come, the more chances you have to save more people from the demons. Moreover, even if I have discussed everything, there are still some members who want to compete with you to determine whether you are qualified to cooperate with them."
"Then let's use the simplest method, right?" Ms. Okita asked Abe Haruaki while eating dango. "If we want to pursue speed, this method is the fastest - and, Lord Haruaki also has the ability to perform that technique directly, right?"
"For us, it's a very simple matter to dismantle each other's techniques and use them proficiently..." Abe Haruaki paused and confirmed with Ms. Okita, "However, because it is the use of gravity, there is a chance that it will be very uncomfortable - you should all be fine, right?"
"I made sure not to let her drink coffee milk." Ms. Okita answered Abe Haruaki very proudly.
"...You know I'm not talking about the time she had diarrhea and was forced to leave the exploration team." Abe Haruaki covered his forehead with his hands, took a deep breath, and decided on the movement method for everyone. "In short, the movement method is decided like this - I will find a relatively open location to establish a base, otherwise it would not be a good thing to demolish the house of a collaborator."
"To be honest, I've never met such a reasonable leader - the ones I've had direct contact with before were all troublesome people to me..."
"Can I take this as a compliment, Lord Haruaki?" The man, with half of his face covered in curses, asked Abe Haruaki with a smile.
"Of course it's an exaggeration." Abe Haruaki raised his eyebrows in surprise, turned around and looked at the man who almost didn't have the strength to sit up straight, "Are you the type who rarely gets complimented? By the way, in order to ensure that the buildings here are not destroyed, I need to move to a more open place. Can you recommend some suitable places for me?"
"Ah, of course. If the Demon Slayers are worried, you can follow me."
The pillars, whose thoughts were bluntly exposed by Abe Haruaki, calmed down at this moment - not because of the mutual blame-shifting that is typical of most human groups, but because these pillars were worried about anyone going out alone with Abe Haruaki.
"..." Abe Haruaki sighed helplessly and turned back to look at the group of pillars. "When I said you can come with me, I meant - 'all of you can come together'. But let me say this in advance. I know you must protect your lord, so it is impossible for all of you to come with me."
"Of course, if you don't care about the integrity of the building, I can start here."
Fortunately, the Pillar-class swordsmen all had strong decisiveness, and not long after Abe Haruaki finished speaking, they divided the group into the remaining group and the group that would follow Abe Haruaki out - two Pillars followed Abe Haruaki out, and the rest of the Pillars stayed by their beloved lord to guard against demon attacks.
After finding a sufficiently open space, Abe Haruaki stretched out his hand and used his magic power to draw the pattern of the magic circle.
"My lord, is there a problem?" The male swordsman who came out with him asked Abe Haruaki at this time.
"No, it's simply a matter of the number of people on our side." Abe Haruaki blinked, strangely understanding what the man really wanted to ask her. "If there were only one or two people, it would be easier to start right there - but this time there are too many people to pull over, and the technique used is like a rubber band slingshot, with no way to stop it in an emergency, so it's more convenient to go outside."
"Well, in this case, the formation is complete. Then, what is the mantra that guy chanted..."
"Cang."
A dazzling blue light burst out from the magic circle in front of the three people.
"I feel like I can update the data when I get back and say that 'Sou' is more reliable than 'Orange Journey' and 'Mirror' in terms of mobility." Okita-kun, who was wearing a blue-gray kimono, shook off the dust that might have stained his sleeves and turned his head to look at the other companions. "I think you all should be fine, right?"
"Uh... I..." Behind Oda Nobunaga and Lord Nobunaga, Yakiri Hasebe was grabbing a tree and vomiting, "No problem!"
"It's better to take a break now, right?" Yagen Toushirou pushed up his glasses and turned to supplement the comments of Okita-kun standing in front of him. "The movement of 'Sou' will give the transferred person a feeling of their internal organs being pulled. I'm not sure about the effects of the other two techniques, but I don't recommend using 'Sou' as a priority transfer method on a large scale for the time being."
“…As expected, a complicated technique also has its advantages. In this case, the ‘Mirror’ is the method of movement with the least side effects, although the initial preparation is also the most troublesome.” Abe Haruaki commented sarcastically.
"After all, that is the frameless spirit particle transfer." Ms. Okita spread her hands helplessly and asked Abe Haruaki, "By the way, where should we go next?"
"Let's go meet our partner first." Abe Haruaki stroked his chin and replied to Ms. Okita with a smile, "Then his team members will probably want to compete with you - I hope you can pay attention to the special skills they have mastered."
"Special skills?" Prince Nobunaga, who was walking behind, pricked up his ears.
"It has nothing to do with you two guys who started using firearms so early." Abe Haruaki said to Oda Nobunaga and Nobunaga-kun lightly, "It is a skill that their regular soldiers will master. I have discussed with their lord about learning that technology. I just want you to see if you can promote it to those magicians."
"After all, for our Master, having many skills is always a plus."
"We will pay more attention to it." Okita nodded and asked Abe Haruaki, "Any additional requests?"
"Ah, although my real name has been made public, I hope you can keep it secret for a while. It will be made public sooner or later, but it's better to keep it secret for a while." Abe Haruaki replied to Okita-kun with a smile, "But generally speaking, the Noble Phantasm is not useful in battles with humans."
When the group returned to the courtyard, Yagen Toushirou made a pertinent comment on the difference in numbers between the two sides.
"Master Harumi, I thought you were exaggerating when you said they seem to have fewer people than we do, but I didn't expect it to be true."
"I never follow the example of those other guys who make alarmist statements." Abe Haruaki snorted coldly and looked at the black-haired man sitting under the eaves. "I'll introduce myself to you once again, the lord of the Demon Slayer Corps, Uzumaki Yoshiya - as I said before, everyone standing in front of you is dead."
"Caster, Abe Haruaki, the Onmyoji who came from Heian-kyō a thousand years ago - I showed you my 'real name' in order to gain your trust, but it's different for others. 'Name' is the shortest 'spell' - this is true for everyone, and for those of us who have died, 'real name' is the most important insurance."
"Once our real names are exposed, it basically means that anyone can find a way to take our lives - so I'm sorry I can't tell you their real names. However, for the sake of convenience..."
"We have a kana that we are using now." Ms. Okita raised her hand with a smile, and continued introducing Abe Haruaki to everyone, "However, since Lord Haruaki mentioned Caster's words... it's better for you to call me Sakura Saber."
"Oh, so that means I can just call you Saber?" Okita-kun looked at Miss Okita with a smile.
"Compared to us, it would be more appropriate for them to call them Saber variants, right?" Ms. Okita turned her head and glanced at the swordsmen, and replied to Okita-kun, "Although I think some people may have the adaptability of Assassin. But in this case, there will only be two Archers on the scene."
"I don't think that guy would refuse to call him Archer directly." Okita-kun commented.
"I don't think Xin will give up the code name Majin Archer either." Ms. Okita agreed.
In short, regardless of whether the Demon Slayer Corps could distinguish them clearly or not, these four servants and the six sword men decided on each other's code names on the spot as if no one was around - and then, with the tacit approval of Kouyashiki Kōya, the pillars who were curious about the "dead people" took turns to compete with the Sabers who used swords.
Of course, it was a fairly normal competition, not like the one in Chaldea where a two-person competition could easily turn into a group fight.
"Although both Sakura and Saber are strong, their endurance is quite poor." Someone who fought two games in a row shared information with his companions as soon as he came back. "Basically, as long as you can block three moves from them, they will show obvious signs of fatigue. In addition, they are good at thrusting like Shinobu, the only difference is that they have enough strength to use other techniques besides thrusting..."
"Lord Haruaki, what you want us to pay attention to is the technique they use to change the color of the blade, right?" Yagen Toushirou, who was sitting outside the hand-to-hand combat field, asked Abe Haruaki, "According to my observation, their breathing is different from that of ordinary people - and although their breathing can be found to be different, it can also be found that the most essential frequency is the same..."
"Who's next?" Okita-kun sheathed his sword and scanned the swordsmen who were currently classified as Sabers. "Sakura and I have played two rounds. They should have discovered some problems in our swordsmanship... I don't want my true name to be seen so soon."
"Then let me go." Yagen Toushirou pushed his glasses, put down his notebook, and put on his combat outfit again. "It just so happens that going on the field in person will give me a clearer understanding of the situation than observing from the sidelines, right?"