Reincarnated in a Shounen Manga

Chapter 142: Secret Admirer

Chapter 142: Secret Admirer

The figure revealed themself to be Uwabami, with her long dark hair, white kimono, and snake-like eyes. She looked at Agon with a proud smile, that reminded me of an aunt who had just heard good news. But the glint in her eyes was like a protective cat.

"You were here all along?" I raised a questioning brow. "You could have helped us solve this whole thing easily if you were here."

Uwabami responded with a smile. "Of course. Did you think I was going to let Master Orochi's son die?"

Wait, so Agon would have been safe this whole time? If I had known, I would have entrusted him to Uwabami's protection and avoided all this danger. But then again, Uwabami had made it clear that while Agon was under her protection, the rest of us were fair game.

I couldn't help but think that this was the so-called plot armor of the main character. It made me jealous, even though I knew it came with a lot of misfortune.

But one thing still worried me. When the ultimate class demon had entered Sei's world, he had seemed panicked. I glanced over at Sei, who was lost in thought, staring at his own hand.

This wasn't good. Sei was growing too fast, and this kind of development should have taken at least another year. Dealing with Agon's outbursts was easier than dealing with the monster inside Sei's mirrors. It was subtle and could take over someone without them even realizing it.

Sei wasn't mentally mature enough to handle the monster inside his mirror world. He hadn't solved anything when he came to his mother, and he still might have trouble keeping his sanity.

I knew I had no tools or techniques to handle something like that during these times. There was Temperance, who could temporarily stop him from rampaging, but her ability was needed elsewhere. And with Sei, I wasn't even sure if her ability could even be effective against that thing.

With these thoughts in my mind, we retreated in an orderly manner, and Uwabami left as we got closer to the human frontlines.

Whatever Shuten Doji had promised her, it was probably something she was willing to risk more than her life for. It therefore made sense that it was likely related to Yamata No Orochi. Fortunately, despite Agon's loose tongue, it appeared that Uwabami's deduction abilities didn't match her strength, and she didn't see through his status as Orochi's son.

Either that, or she was intentionally acting dumb. Perhaps she was deluding herself due to the pain of losing her master and wanted to believe in this. Discovering what was going on in someone else's head was difficult.

Thankfully, as we retreated, we didn't encounter another ultimate-class demon. It seemed that even a shounen protagonist's bad luck had its limits. But even before we could make contact with any patrol members, we saw the crimson red barrier surrounding the camp.

As we approached the camp, we didn't encounter any patrols, which was already strange. The first exorcist we saw was a nerdy-looking guy with glasses that reflected the sunlight, and he had a smile on his face. He was the Moon Exorcist.

"Congratulations, you have done an amazing job, and I have prepared the rewards I promised you all," he said, smiling brightly.

"Oh, hey glasses guy!" Agon waved at him.

The others remembered the words I had said after we set off, and those who had joined us after that were too anxious to meet someone of such a high rank. Ironically, Velma, who ranked higher than him, looked the most anxious.

When the Moon Exorcist caught sight of his fellow Special Exorcist, he gasped in surprise. "Oh, I hadn't expected you to find Temperance. You have truly outdone yourself."

It was difficult to tell if this guy was genuinely surprised or not. He was the kind of person I would never want to get involved with.

"So we're all Elite Exorcists now?" I asked carefully, while preparing to summon my Ord at a moment's notice. I didn't have much charge left with Perfect Me, but since I had a big team behind me, we should be okay.

"Of course," he nodded. "The higher-ups are also very proud. Although you were outshone a bit by The Star Exorcist, as she was able to make an ultimate-class demon retreat."

What the hell had happened while we were away? Also, there was no way in hell this guy wasn't omitting a lot of details. Exorcists haven't been able to defeat a demon of that caliber in a while, and my group was only able to do so because I had the literal main character of this world and his rival on my team.

"Where is the Star?" I inquired. He seemed suspicious, but I wasn't going to show him any signs I knew anything.

"She is injured," he answered without hesitation.

The speed of his response made me wonder if he had pre-prepared answers. I decided to assume the worst for now and work from there.

As I pondered the situation, the Moon Exorcist walked towards Velma and took her hand. "Temperance, from now on, you will be the key to the future of humankind. Only with your ability can we defeat the vile ultimate class demons!"

Velma blushed when she noticed he was holding her hand. She was clearly smitten with the nerdy guy who had a similar sense of fashion to hers.

However, in doing so, he revealed a weakness. Someone as intelligent as him shouldn't make a mistake like this unless he had no choice. Was there someone back in the camp he was anxious for us to meet, or maybe someone who threatened his authority?

Even at times like these, I couldn't stand the political bullshit from the human side. With that in mind, I approached them both and 'accidentally' bumped into Velma, causing her glasses to slip off her face.

Suddenly, a silver gleam caught everyone's attention, and I backed off as Chariot went on the attack. Even the Moon Exorcist was caught off guard, but unlike me, he hadn't been prepared to dodge. Chariot's sword stopped an inch from the man's neck, as if an invisible barrier was blocking the attack.

From my angle, I got a better look at the Moon Exorcist's face and saw that his eyes were wide with surprise. It seemed that he didn't know that Temperance was also Chariot; a secret only a few knew. Either that or he was faking the whole reaction.

"Ah, sorry if I acted impolitely," the Moon Exorcist apologized, trying to act harmless.

But Chariot wasn't even listening to him. She ripped the top of her oversized shirt, revealing cleavage. "How can that girl even breathe in a tight outfit like this?"

No matter how charming the Moon Exorcist tried to be, it wouldn't matter because Chariot wasn't into guys. She was only into sadism maybe.

Though I wasn't going to tell him that, instead, I observed from the sidelines and watched him try.

***

Meleo was in his tent with a throbbing headache. He had been reinstated as the commander of the front once again, and finally, all the countries had come to an agreement to send an equal amount of forces and not take advantage of weaker nations. A person with a special ability had facilitated this absolute contract, putting on the line the lives of all leaders in each country so they wouldnt betray each other.

Meleo was relieved that humanity could finally go on the offensive. Each country had their own weapons and trained fighters, like Agon and Temperance, who were ready to battle ultimate class demons.

He regretted how much he had tried to impress others in his younger days. He never thought he would become the commander of a multi-country army of exorcists and manage people who were younger and stronger than him.

"I should have faked my death," he sighed. When he was hit on the head by a rock during the ultimate class demon attack, he had the perfect opportunity to disappear. But he felt responsible for his students, who were now part of the army. He saw them as his own grandchildren. He didn't think his life was as valuable as someone younger because he already had one foot in the grave.

"But you knew you weren't going to leave the Moon Exorcist to his shenanigans," said the bandage demon wrapped around his bald head.

"Yeah, he probably is buttering up to the newcomers, Meleo sighed. He reminds me of myself when I was younger, except worse."

Recently, some mountains in the distance had been destroyed, and a towering gate appeared and disappeared.

As he was lost in thought, the flap to his tent opened, and a sharp presence permeated through the room. It was the Dark Sword clan head, in charge of essentially cleaning up after the war. They had unchecked power, which was dangerous.

Even before the Dark Sword clan head said anything, Meleo knew why he was there. He wanted Kon to join the rest of the family at their "clean up" job.