The well-Balanced Yamamoto-san Gets Caught up in a Death Game

Chapter 82

Fier’s Perspective

What was that just now?

I couldn’t shake the scene I had witnessed, trying to recall it clearly.

But all that remained in my memory was a white shadow.

I vividly remember my beloved steed Shun’ei attempting to trample that disrespectful woman.

Yet in that instant, something white seemed to cross my vision.

And in the next moment, the woman had vanished.

Shun’ei lowered his foot that had struck nothing but air, letting out a disgruntled snort.

Probably Shun’ei couldn’t comprehend what had happened either. For a moment, I too couldn’t grasp the situation.

I realized – or perhaps noticed – it because there was only one person wearing white attire among those present.

That woman stood by the roadside as if nothing had happened, seemingly observing us.

She remained standing there from start to finish, as if to say she hadn’t moved at all.

Concealing her face with a parasol, her elegant poise was that of a sheltered young lady.

But I know from countless battlefields that appearances can be deceiving.

I was tempted to use [Appraisal], but it’s generally considered impolite to do so without permission.

However, accurately gauging potential threats is also the duty of those protecting this country.

So I employ a loophole to measure her strength.

[Mana Sensing].

While this skill is meant to locate mana-bearing entities without relying on sight, it also varies in brightness based on the amount of mana.

In other words, without relying on [Appraisal], I can roughly estimate someone’s strength by gauging their mana levels through this luminosity.

However, this method has the drawback of being less accurate in assessing the threat level of physical-oriented classes.

Still, it’s worth trying.

I use [Mana Sensing] while keeping the woman in my sight.

“Gh!?”

…I shuddered.

What I saw was the sun – a sun.

A blinding amount of mana that dazzled my eyes.

A terrifying mass of mana far surpassing even Dry, the Third Knight Order Commander who specializes in magic.

A presence so overwhelming that just being nearby eclipsed everything else around it.

If I hadn’t cut off [Mana Sensing] reflexively, I might have lost my vision and fallen from my horse.

That white-clad young lady was shrouded in such an immense amount of mana.

Cold sweat involuntarily seeped from my entire body.

And that wasn’t all.

Desperately suppressing the urge for my whole body to tremble, I fled from that place.

While concealing my fear from the knights under my command, I maintain the mask of a dignified Knight Commander.

That one is dangerous.

Rather, I have no desire to become involved with her.

But as the Royal Knights responsible for national defense, we can’t simply ignore her existence.

We need to sound an alarm, if only to alert the kingdom’s knight orders.

Yet I wonder if that’s truly the right course of action.

Ainz, commander of the First Knight Order tasked with guarding the royal family, is undoubtedly capable but frivolous.

Even if I warned him, he’d likely disregard it entirely.

To begin with, he’s aligned with the First Prince.

Depending on the situation, he might try to recruit that white-clad lady.

He’s known for his womanizing ways and is said to be popular with women. If the white lady were to be swayed by him, I can’t carelessly hand over this information.

Then what about Zwei, commander of the Second Knight Order guarding the royal capital?

He’s the opposite of Ainz, a serious type who might heed my advice.

But he too is aligned with the First Prince.

I can’t dismiss the possibility that he might suspect this as false intelligence.

It’s questionable how seriously he would consider it.

What about Dry, commander of the Third Knight Order protecting the port town of Second?

While he’s aligned with the Second Prince, he’s also an ambitious man.

If he heard this information, he’d likely try to contact the white lady by tomorrow.

But he’s also arrogant.

The white lady is a blazing sun.

I can only foresee a future where he tries to embrace that sun and is instantly incinerated to the bone.

What we need is preparation for unforeseen circumstances she might cause, not the optimism to think we can recruit her.

Then, how about Funf, commander of the Fifth Knight Order who, like me, patrols the entire continent to protect the country’s peace… hmph, protect indeed.

He’s wise.

So he’d likely understand the threat correctly, just as I do.

But he himself is nothing but a deviant.

If the white lady were to feel disgust at his actions, wouldn’t a clash with the Royal Knights be inevitable?

In that case, we should have Funf continue to act calmly on the surface as he has been.

I don’t want to pique his interest by carelessly passing on information and stirring up unnecessary trouble, but it’s too much for me to handle alone. I should discreetly inform him.

And then there’s Zex, commander of the Sixth Knight Order guarding Firth.

He’s the only one aligned with the Third Prince.

It’s natural, given that the Third Prince directly controls Firth, but he’s an eccentric who doesn’t participate in factional disputes.

However, the white lady possesses enough power to instantly redraw the map of factional struggles.

To prevent him from harboring unnecessary ambitions, it might be best not to pass on this information.

Lastly, there’s my lord, the Second Prince Deen…

I’ll report to His Highness, but I must conceal details about her strength as much as possible.

He has a personality that can’t stand not being the strongest.

If I report someone stronger than Prince Deen, he’d likely mobilize the Third to Fifth Knight Orders to hunt down the white lady.

That would throw the country into chaos, setting Farland Kingdom back two or three generations.

I want to avoid such a foolish situation while we’re in the midst of planning a decisive battle against the Demon King’s realm.

It would be wise to issue a gentle warning.

Prince Deen excels in martial prowess and commands the army well, but his occasional displays of youthfulness can be troublesome…

Still, he’s far better than the weak-willed First Prince Eric.

“Sir Fier, is something the matter?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

It seems my subordinate keenly noticed the sigh I let out unawares.

My elite troops, the finest in the kingdom…

Prince Deen’s hot-blooded nature is welcome in providing them with battlefields to prove themselves.

Following him, there’s a sense that he might eventually conquer even the Demon King’s realm.

That’s why we need to use Prince Deen as our figurehead to once again elevate this peace-dulled country into a strong nation.

For that, the First Prince Eric lacks the necessary ability.

Eventually, change will come to this country.

Whether that white lady will make a move then is uncertain, but we need to be sufficiently cautious until that time…

■□■

Tennouzu Airu’s Perspective

Sigh…

A sigh escapes me unintentionally.

“Oh, Airu-chan, what’s wrong? Is it love~?”

“Yeah…”

“Ehhh!?”

My childhood friend Sayuri… no, Sayurin now… reacts dramatically and tries to spread this fact to the rest of the party.

After I nearly died back there, my party members dragged my dazed self back to the inn.

They probably felt it would be unwise to stay there and cause another scene.

Having fled back to the inn, we each voiced our reflections and worked on identifying areas for improvement.

Even then, I remained in a daze and couldn’t offer any opinions.

Or rather, I was too shocked to do so.

Basically, our PROMISE party consists of me, a streamer, my real-life friends Sayurin and Chick, and long-time devoted fans like Unkei-san, Shoji-san, and Dreadnought-san.

Originally, we planned to stream in LIA too, nitpicking various aspects to gain views through controversy marketing, but that plan crumbled in just one day.

Because the death game suddenly began…

Still, it was fortunate that I was surrounded by acquaintances and even had fans accompanying me.

I’m a controversial streamer, and showing weakness in front of fans would damage my image.

Truthfully, I wanted to hole up in the inn and tremble until the death game ended, but what little professional pride I had spurred me on.

So, with the strong feeling of being watched by my fans, I somehow managed to keep leading the PROMISE party despite my struggles.

Because I’m not myself if I’m not causing controversy, I prioritized maintaining my image among my fans. Although this made me an annoying presence in the adventurer community… I have no regrets about that.

I only aim to meet the expectations of those who believe in me and follow me, so I don’t care how the masses view me.

Besides, I’m a controversial streamer.

I’m used to being bashed.

However, given the death game environment, there’s a possibility that those who cause discord might be disliked and targeted for elimination.

So I decided to rely on Mitarai-kun from SUCCEED through connections from a past streamer collaboration project.

I thought that if people knew I was on good terms with Mitarai-kun, they wouldn’t easily eliminate me.

To begin with, I believe the producer said in the initial announcement that this death game won’t end unless someone clears it.

And there’s no doubt that the pro-gamer group SUCCEED is the closest to clearing the game.

They have a track record, after all.

So, while borrowing Mitarai-kun’s name, I decided to gather forces and information that could contribute to SUCCEED clearing the game.

I wanted to end this dangerous death game quickly, so even if it meant being seen as a nuisance, I aggressively gathered information that could help with clearing the game and passed it to SUCCEED, hoping they would end the death game sooner.

Yeah. I’m not stupid, so I understand that if I keep making controversial moves in this situation, I’ll eventually lose my life for real.

So I’ve been desperately trying to push the limits while not betraying my fans’ expectations.

In the midst of all this, a small trouble occurred—

Our opponents were the kingdom’s knight order.

They’re not the type to appreciate jokes.

I knew that, but like a habit from streaming, I couldn’t stop myself from making provocative moves today of all days.

Ah, this is bad.

Even though I thought that, my mouth moved on its own.

And even though the situation was so scary I wanted to run away, my stubborn side as a controversial streamer came out.

But NPCs don’t care about such things…

—I was killed there once.

No, I should have been killed.

But I survived.

At that time, I had no idea what happened.

But now I understand.

It was just for an instant, but the soft touch… that sensation of twin peaks… made me realize what had happened to me.

Yes, the only one not wearing armor there was that person—… let’s call her Onee-sama in my heart… and the only one with such splendid melons was Onee-sama…

So I understood.

Onee-sama saved my life.

She saved me with movements so swift that no one else noticed.

That’s why I know.

The one who defeated the named monster was probably Onee-sama.

Easily deflecting my [Appraisal], effortlessly defeating the named monster – it all makes sense considering those invisible movements.

A formidable individual indeed.

Probably even Mitarai-kun couldn’t move like that.

And such an Onee-sama probably… probably princess-carried and rescued me…

“Sigh…”

“Wow, this is serious…”

Sayurin says something, but it can’t be helped.

I’m always being provoked, made a scapegoat, treated like a punching bag that can take any hit, constantly criticized and bashed by those around me, you know?

It’s partly self-inflicted to gain views, but it’s become so ingrained as my style that people think, “That guy never gets depressed no matter what’s said to him! He’s got nerves of steel!”…

But that’s not true at all!

I do get hurt, I do get depressed…

Truthfully, this environment is painful and hard…

But I can’t stop either…

I’m doing my best in such a precarious situation!

But with all these painful feelings piling up…

Just when I thought no one would ever help someone like me…

If someone appeared and smoothly saved me… anyone would fall in love!

Even if it’s the same gender! Ah, even if it’s the same gender!

It’s not that kind of weird thing! It’s platonic! Waaah!?

“Ahhhhh…!”

“What, what? Now you’re making weird noises?”

“How fleeting this world is!”

“It’s no use. Airu-chan is really broken…”

“Well, she did have a near-death experience. Leave her be for two or three days, and she’ll probably recover.”

Ah, that’s not it!

I’m not broken!

I mean, I thought my prince on a white horse had finally come, but the reality that it was actually an Onee-sama in a white summer dress is just too much to accept!

“What should I do! What should I doooo!”

“For now, it’s entertaining, so just stay like that.”

“Don’t call it entertaining!”

Ah, Onee-sama!

Rest assured! I will never reveal your secret!

So, if possible, could you please allow me to get a little closer to you?