The Clash (1)
“Th-this is a phase-dimensional space…!”
Riena, following my gaze and scanning the surroundings, murmured with a note of panic.
“A phase-dimensional space… So that means we’ve been trapped in a special subspace created by Demon King Kanan.”
“Yes. This is a subspace of Demon King Kanan, by Demon King Kanan, for Demon King Kanan. Here, he can wield powers far beyond what he’s capable of in normal space!”
“Yeah, I remember. We got stuck here once before. It was hell getting out—I haven’t forgotten a second of it.”
This was Demon King Kanan’s other signature move—the one he used during our final battle in the other world to trap me and grind me down.
Kanan, the master of space manipulation, could reshape the battlefield itself to gain the upper hand.
Once again, I was struck by just how formidable an enemy he really was.
“Hey, Shuhei-kun… Why did you get in my way just now?”
“Whoa, whoa, Hasumin—your target’s me, the Hero, right? Riena’s got nothing to do with this, does she?”
“Oh, I’m definitely going to kill you too, Shuhei-kun. But first, I have to kill that girl.”
“What the hell for? You’ve got some kind of grudge against Riena? You’ve never even met before, right?”
My question was casual, offhand—
“It’s obvious, isn’t it!? That girl stole you from me!”
Hasumin suddenly twisted her face in fury and screamed.
“Stole me? What are you even talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb! A week ago, you took her to a love hotel!”
“Ugh… Don’t tell me—you saw that!?”
“What do you mean, ugh!? You went into a love hotel with her and did nasty things, didn’t you!? That’s what those places are for! You… you had se-se… SEX and everything!”
“No, no, you’ve got it all wrong.”
“What’s there to be wrong about!? I saw a lawyer on a talk show this morning say that if you go into a love hotel together, that’s enough to presume an affair! They even use it as evidence in civil court!”
“You’ve been skipping school ever since you became the Demon King, and that’s how you’re spending your time? Watching talk shows about celebrity scandals?”
The image of the Demon King lounging in the living room watching daytime gossip TV popped into my head, and I couldn’t help but comment.
“That’s not the point right now! Don’t change the subject! And what exactly is so misunderstood about it!?”
“See, it’s like this—Riena didn’t really understand this world. She mistook the love hotel for a high-end hotel.”
“She mistook it?”
“That love hotel looked like a medieval castle, right? I guess it’s time I stop hiding things. Before the second semester started, I got isekai’d to another world—Orphermaus—and castles like that were totally normal there. So when Riena saw it, she thought it was a renovated luxury hotel and just booked a room.”
“Oh please, who’d believe a half-baked story like that!? And even if it wasn’t a love hotel, you still went in with her, didn’t you? That’s already too close for comfort! You lied to me—you said you were meeting your parents! You lied, Shuhei-kun… You liar… You liar… You liar… That’s so cruel…”
“You’re right. I really am sorry. But what else could I say? ‘I’m meeting someone from another world’? No one would believe that. I had no choice. And Riena… it was nothing romantic. She’s more like a work colleague.”
“…What?”
“Back in the other world, when I was the Hero, Riena supported me as the priestess who received divine revelations. Our relationship wasn’t romantic. It was strictly professional—a Hero and his oracle.”
“Is… is that true?”
Hasumin’s face softened ever so slightly—but then—
“But I love the Hero, you know. And he told me he had feelings for me too.”
Riena said it as calmly as if she were commenting on the weather.
“——!”
Hasumin’s expression contorted again, twisted by rage and heartbreak.
Her once-cute face was now a ruin of pain and fury, unrecognizable.