The commotion outside the alley was getting closer and closer. Claire's furious, tear-choked roar was loud enough to make the surrounding houses tremble.
"Kazuma Satou! Even if you run all the way to hell, I'll cut off those filthy hands of yours and feed them to the dogs! GIVE IT BACK TO ME!!!"
Kōichi Hayashi looked at Kazuma's horrified expression, which practically screamed, Why is this thing in my hand?! The corner of his mouth curled upward into a calm smile, the kind only possible now that his Intelligence had returned to its peak.
He leisurely straightened his wrinkled collar and even gave Kazuma a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"My, my, Kazuma. I suppose this is what they call returning something to its rightful owner."
Kōichi Hayashi's voice was full of barely concealed delight at Kazuma's misfortune.
"After all, [Steal] is your skill. Naturally, the owner of the skill should take responsibility for the spoils. Tsk, tsk. Sounds like Lady Claire has already tracked you all the way to the entrance of the alley by scent."
"Hey! Kōichi! You bastard, that's way too underhanded!"
Kazuma sprang up as though someone had set fire to his backside, wildly shaking the underwear in his hand as if it were some kind of venomous creature.
"You were the one sniffing it earlier! You were the one making that disgusting face! And now that we've switched back, you're just going to pretend none of it had anything to do with you?! Hurry up and think of something! If I get caught with this, my social life is genuinely over!"
Instead of helping, Kōichi Hayashi took a large step backward, crossed his arms, and grinned like a Devil who already knew he had won.
"What are you talking about? I'm Kōichi Hayashi, the hero who helped save the Royal Capital. The only reason I'm here is because I'm pursuing the evil thief Kazuma Satou, who snuck into the royal palace in the middle of the night to steal a female Knight's underwear."
Kōichi Hayashi paused, a wicked gleam flashing through his eyes.
"Looks like somebody's destined to have a very bad night. Oh, right. To make this performance a little more convincing..."
Kōichi Hayashi suddenly took a deep breath and shouted toward the entrance of the alley.
"Lady Claire! Over here! The pervert who stole your precious possession is right here! He's about to do something even worse with that underwear, so please deal with him immediately!"
"KŌICHI! YOU BASTARD!!!"
Kazuma let out a shrill scream of betrayal.
At that exact moment, the darkness at the alley entrance was ripped apart by a raging dark red battle aura.
Claire's beautiful face, now filled with enough murderous intent to destroy the world, looked especially terrifying beneath the moonlight.
Her eyes immediately locked onto Kazuma Satou, who was frantically trying to stuff the underwear into his clothes.
"Ka.zu.ma. Sa.tou... I. found. you."
Claire's voice was so low that it seemed to rise straight from the depths of hell.
The longsword in her hand gave off a faint, ominous hum.
Claire slowly raised the blade, now surrounded by a blood-red aura. The air itself seemed to thicken under the sheer weight of her killing intent.
Kazuma Satou's fear-twisted face looked almost comical beneath the moonlight. He desperately tried to shove the lace underwear into his pants and destroy the evidence, but his fingers were trembling so badly that the harder he tried, the more tangled everything became.
Kōichi Hayashi had already turned around.
He was just about to walk elegantly into the night and disappear without taking any credit for his contribution.
Then an image suddenly appeared in his mind.
Kazuma, battered and bruised inside an interrogation room, pointing at him while screaming, "The one who sniffed the underwear earlier was actually Kōichi Hayashi!"
Kōichi Hayashi stopped dead.
Wait.
If someone as shameless as Kazuma got arrested, then in exchange for a lighter punishment, he would absolutely spill every last detail about the soul swap.
That included everything Kōichi Hayashi had done while wearing Kazuma's face.
At that point, simple social death would be the least of his problems. Her Highness Iris would probably stare at him the way someone looked at a cockroach, while Claire hunted him to the ends of the world.
"Tsk. What a troublesome burden."
Kōichi Hayashi muttered a curse under his breath.
Then, in an instant, his expression completely changed.
He spun around, his face suddenly radiating almost saintly compassion and determination, and strode toward Kazuma, who had already resigned himself to execution.
"Stop! Lady Claire! Don't hurt my dearest friend!"
Kōichi Hayashi gave a righteous shout and threw himself in front of Kazuma like a guardian deity.
His broad back looked unusually heroic beneath the moonlight, leaving Kazuma, who had practically started composing his will, staring in disbelief.
"K-Kōichi...? You bastard... did you finally grow a conscience?"
Kazuma sniffled, tears of emotion welling up in his eyes.
"What are you talking about, Kazuma?! We're comrades who fought side by side in Axel! We're dear friends who've faced life and death together!"
Kōichi Hayashi shouted without looking back, his tone so impassioned that even he was almost convinced.
"I was only testing your courage earlier! How could I possibly abandon you for real?! Lady Claire, there must be some misunderstanding here! Kazuma actually... actually found this and was just about to return it to you!"
"Mis...understanding?"
Claire forced the word through clenched teeth.
She looked at Kōichi Hayashi, then at Kazuma standing behind him while still clutching the white lace underwear.
The veins on her forehead were practically throbbing to a rhythm.
"Kōichi Hayashi, if you insist on protecting this shameless thief... then don't blame me for what happens next! Move!"
"I won't! Not unless you step over my corpse!"
Kōichi Hayashi roared with absolute righteousness, wearing the expression of a man defending humanity's final hope.
Claire's patience had clearly vanished along with her missing underwear.
She let out an angry cry and slashed her slender sword through the air. A fierce wave of sword energy shot directly toward Kōichi Hayashi's face.
"Then I'll teach you a lesson too! [Swift Strike]!"
At that critical moment, Kōichi Hayashi did not panic.
Instead, a sly, calculating smile flashed across his face.
He thrust out his right hand, palm facing downward, and compressed a massive surge of magic in an instant.
"Now! Wind Blade. Full-Power Diffusion!"
Rather than releasing the usual cutting wind blade, Kōichi Hayashi forcibly detonated the magic the instant it left his hand.
The sharp wind element immediately went out of control inside the narrow alley, transforming into a violent blast of air.
It swept up the piles of dried salted fish, rotten vegetable leaves, and thick layers of dust covering the ground.
BOOM—!
With a dull explosion, the entire alley was engulfed in a gray cloud of smoke saturated with an overpowering fishy stench.
"Cough! Cough! It stinks! What kind of technique is this...? Kōichi Hayashi, you actually resorted to such a dirty trick!"
Claire's eyes watered from the sudden blast of foul-smelling smoke. Whatever elegance she possessed as a Knight vanished completely as she swung her longsword wildly through the haze.
"Save the complaints! We're leaving!"
Through the smoke, Kōichi Hayashi accurately located Kazuma, who had activated [Lurk] but was turning bright red from holding his breath against the stench.
Kōichi Hayashi had no intention of treating him gently.
He grabbed Kazuma by the back of his collar, tensed the muscles in his legs, and exploded forward.
"Waaah! My neck! My neck is going to snap! Kōichi, ease up!"
The invisible Kazuma dangled from Kōichi Hayashi's hand like a torn sack.
Under the cover of the foul-smelling smoke, the two became a blur and vaulted directly over the crumbling earthen wall at the end of the alley.
Still carrying Kazuma, Kōichi Hayashi raced across the maze-like rooftops of the Royal Capital.
As he ran, he listened to Claire's screams growing steadily more distant behind them.
Even from that far away, they were still filled with murderous intent.
Kōichi Hayashi silently thanked his luck.
***
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