The air in the room seemed to freeze for a full three seconds.
Kazuma, now occupying Kōichi Hayashi's body, stared blankly at himself for a moment before cautiously clenching his fist.
Crack.
As his joints popped sharply, a powerful surge of strength instantly coursed through his entire body.
"W-What... what's going on?"
Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, muttered to himself. But a second later, his slightly hunched back snapped straight.
The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably, twisting into such a depraved, maniacal grin that even Kōichi Hayashi's handsome face suddenly looked sleazy.
"Haha... Hahahaha! I get it! This is the legendary effect of a Divine Treasure! I'm Kōichi Hayashi now!"
Standing across from him, Kōichi Hayashi, trapped in Kazuma's body, nearly blacked out.
He tried to step forward and snatch the necklace off the floor, only to discover that this body felt as heavy as if it had been filled with lead.
"Hey, Kazuma! You idiot, calm down! Recite the incantation backward right now!"
Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body, growled through clenched teeth and reached for the other man's collar.
But Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, simply hopped lightly backward and effortlessly avoided the clumsy grab.
He looked down at "himself" sprawled on the carpet, his eyes gleaming with the dangerous satisfaction of someone drunk on sudden power.
"Recite it backward? Are you kidding me?! I'm not going back to that garbage body that can't even beat a Slime!"
Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, excitedly spun around once.
Then an idea suddenly struck him.
He clapped his hands together, his eyes lighting up with a dark and disturbing excitement.
"That's right! Claire! That stuck-up female Knight who looked at me like I was garbage in the banquet hall earlier! With this body... no matter how outrageous or humiliating my demands are, she won't be able to refuse me, right?!"
"Is your brain filled with non-recyclable waste?! Stop making that disgusting face with my face!"
Cold sweat broke out all over Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body.
He knew far too well just how little restraint Kazuma possessed. If this bastard used his face to harass noble Knights in the Royal Capital, by tomorrow morning the name Kōichi Hayashi would become synonymous with pervert.
"You can stay here in that useless body and reflect on your miserable life! I'm going to make that arrogant female Knight serve me tea, massage my legs, rub my shoulders, and then finish by making her cry and apologize to me! Hahahahaha!"
With an unbelievably obnoxious burst of laughter, Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, yanked open the door and shot out like a gust of wind.
He moved so quickly that only an afterimage remained in the hallway.
"Get back here, you bastard!"
Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body, roared and scrambled to his feet before stumbling after him.
But after barely making it a few steps outside the room, his lungs began pumping like broken bellows, and his legs went so weak that they felt ready to give out.
"Huff... huff... Damn it... What kind of scrap-metal body is this...?"
Kōichi Hayashi braced himself against the hallway wall and gasped for breath, deeply shaken by the reality of Kazuma's everyday physical condition.
With this little stamina, how the hell had that guy survived attacks from Demon King's Generals all this time?!
But there was no time to complain.
From the staircase at the far end of the hallway came Kazuma's footsteps. He was clearly trying to keep them quiet, but his excitement was impossible to hide.
He was obviously planning either to sneak into the royal palace or head straight for Claire's quarters to take revenge that very night.
Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body, gritted his teeth and squeezed every last bit of strength out of this pathetic body as he chased after him.
He had to stop that useless bastard before Kazuma used his body to commit some irreversible act of perversion.
And if necessary, Kōichi Hayashi was fully prepared to use Kazuma's body to knock his own body unconscious.
By the time Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body, stumbled and scrambled his way out through the mansion gates, the night had already grown deep.
At the edge of the garrison's neatly trimmed lawn, however, the solemn atmosphere was being completely destroyed by one extraordinarily irritating voice.
"Yo! Well, look who it is. Our proud, pure, nose-in-the-air Lady Claire. Still out patrolling this late at night? Your dedication is so touching I could cry. Pfft."
Kazuma, occupying Kōichi Hayashi's body, stood leaning sideways against a stone pillar at the entrance to the garrison with one hand shoved into his pocket.
He had even struck an obnoxiously flashy pose, despite it being the middle of the night.
Kōichi Hayashi's normally handsome face had been twisted by Kazuma into an incredibly punchable grin that practically screamed, Come slap me.
"K-Kōichi Hayashi?!"
Claire, who had just finished her patrol and was preparing to remove her armor, abruptly stopped in her tracks.
The normally cold and composed female Knight stared at him with an expression filled with confusion and disbelief.
"What... what are you doing dressed like that? And what is with that tone? Are you still drunk from the banquet?"
"Drunk? No, no, no. I'm perfectly sober right now. In fact, my head is so clear I could probably calculate exactly how many grams of fabric went into your underwear."
Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, openly swept his gaze over Claire's graceful figure beneath her silver armor.
He even gave a frivolous whistle.
"What's wrong? You were pretty impressive back in the great hall earlier, weren't you? 'An Adventurer should act like an Adventurer,' right? Well, come on. I'll show you exactly what an Adventurer looks like. If you kneel down and beg me right now, maybe I'll put in a good word for you with Her Highness Iris and get you excused from cleaning the toilets tomorrow."
"Y-You... What kind of shameless things are you saying?!"
Claire's pretty face instantly turned bright red with humiliation and anger.
She did possess a basic degree of respect for Kōichi Hayashi, but her pride as a member of the Royal Guard would never allow anyone to insult her like this.
Her hand snapped to the hilt of her sword, and her silver armor clinked sharply beneath the moonlight.
"Even if you are favored by Her Highness, insulting a Royal Guard Knight in such a manner is a serious offense! Withdraw those disgusting remarks immediately, or else..."
"Or else what? You're going to duel me right here?"
Kazuma, in Kōichi Hayashi's body, grinned even more arrogantly.
He even raised one finger and provocatively poked Claire's shoulder guard.
"Come on. Hit me. Right here. And if you lose, then tonight you have to put on that outfit I prepared, the one with barely any fabric, and pour drinks for me. How about it?"
"You insolent fool! You really have lost your mind!"
Claire finally reached the end of her patience.
With a sharp clang, she drew her sword. Although the blade had not yet fully left its sheath, the gust from the movement was already enough to ruffle Kazuma's hair.
At that critical moment, a breathless Kazuma suddenly came scrambling over the wall, looking as though he had just crawled out of a ditch.
"St-Stop! You... you horny idiot wearing somebody else's face!"
Kōichi Hayashi, in Kazuma's body, bent over with both hands braced against his knees, feeling as though his lungs were about to explode.
He looked at Claire, whose fury was seconds away from erupting, then looked at his own body, which Kazuma had already disgraced beyond recognition.
Only one thought remained in his mind.
If he didn't get revenge for this tonight, then his name wasn't Kōichi Hayashi.