I honestly didn’t even know how to describe the scene currently unfolding before my eyes... well, not that I could actually see anything anyway.
"Hiee?! Kyaah?!"
It had been several minutes since the brawl between Ein-san and the Goddess of Time began. Both of them had vanished completely from sight; all that remained was the occasional explosive boom that sent tremors racing through the entire temple.
The shockwaves were likely intense, but since the walls, the floors, and even Lilia-san and I remained untouched by the pressure, I assumed they were holding back to some extent. Or perhaps they were just that precise.
The overall sensation was like being caught in a never-ending series of earthquakes. What exactly did we come here for again?
"Wait, why are you so calm, Kaito-san?!"
"Well... I’ve just reached a point where I'm used to incomprehensible things happening out of the blue."
"Please don't reach such a depressing enlightenment! Hiee?!"
Beside me, Lilia-san’s face was deathly pale. She let out the occasional shriek, her body trembling with a certain small-animal-like cuteness. The massive gap between this and her usual dignified composure really drove home how abnormal the situation was... though, come to think of it, I felt like she’d been panicking like this quite a bit lately.
Still, in a sense, her reaction was the normal one. If anything, I was the strange one for getting used to these absurdities—though ninety percent of the blame for that, including this incident, lay squarely with Kuro.
"How did it even end up like this?"
"I’m the one who wants to know that! Hiuuh?! K-Kaito-san, please do something!"
Clutching my clothes with trembling hands, Lilia-san turned her pleading, teary eyes toward me.
She was clearly in a state of total panic, desperately looking to me for salvation—but talk about an impossible demand!
In the middle of this clash of titans, what was a perfectly ordinary... or rather, a man slightly more frail than the average adult male, supposed to do?
"No, really, in this situation... we just have to wait for the storm to pass..."
"B-But... if it’s you, Kaito-san, maybe you could stop them..."
"..."
Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. It seemed Lilia-san genuinely believed I was capable of stopping those two. Just how high was her estimation of me?
A beautiful woman trembling with tearful eyes and begging for help—for any healthy man, it was a heart-pounding situation. If I met her expectations and played the hero here, my favorability rating would probably skyrocket.
However, the difficulty of her request wasn't just "hard mode"; it was an impossible game. It was like being told to charge into a battle between the final boss and the secret boss at level 1 with nothing but starting equipment. If this were a game, I would have smashed the screen in frustration.
But unfortunately, this was reality, and the impossible was—no, wait.
Charging into the fray was impossible. Stopping the two of them by force was even more impossible. My voice probably wouldn't even reach them... but if I just wanted to stop the fight, I might actually have a card to play.
With this method... the odds of success weren't low, and there shouldn't be any risk even if it failed.
To be honest, I would have preferred to just wait quietly for the storm to pass. However, the situation was becoming dire. Lilia-san, in her terror, was progressively tightening her grip on me... and as an unavoidable byproduct, a certain softness that no man possesses was being pressed firmly against my arm.
Before my reason—which had the tensile strength of a single kite string—could be incinerated by the contact with that soft fruit, my arm felt like it was about to be physically snapped by Lilia-san’s panicked strength.
I really didn't know where those slender arms of hers found such power, but my bones were starting to let out an ominous creak. I had to act now.
To protect my arm, which was on the verge of snapping like a chocolate biscuit stick, I steeled my resolve, closed my eyes, and began to knead my magic power.
The magic I was about to use wasn't something a beginner like me should normally be able to cast. Fortunately, as an otherworlder, I had an abnormal aptitude for this specific branch of magic.
Sympathy Magic... the power Kuro had discovered within me. It was an ability centered on sensing magic power; it allowed me to perceive the faint emotions embedded within mana that others couldn't detect. But it worked both ways.
I could imbue my magic power with my own emotions and force those around me to recognize them. That was one of the applications for Sympathy Magic that Kuro had taught me. To put it simply, it was like a forced form of telepathy. While I couldn't convey complex thoughts, Kuro said that if used well, it allowed for communication even with those who couldn't be reached with words.
"..."
And it was highly effective in situations like this—against opponents whose blood was up and whose ears were closed to voices.
A few seconds later, I released a pulse of magic power saturated with my desire for them to stop fighting. Immediately afterward, Ein-san and the Goddess of Time flickered into view, their fists pressed against each other in a stalemate.
"Was that... Kaito-sama?"
"...Hoh. You projected your emotions onto your magic power? You use interesting magic..."
Ein-san and the Goddess of Time turned toward me almost simultaneously. After a brief murmur, they both lowered their fists.
"My apologies, Kaito-sama. It is shameful, but I allowed myself to be swept away by my emotions."
"...I appear to have forgotten my original purpose. Miyama, was it? Forgive me. I offer my apologies as well."
"Ah, no, it's fine."
First, Ein-san bowed and returned to her position behind me. The Goddess of Time followed suit, offering a short apology with a slight nod.
It looked like it worked. If that hadn't stopped them, I was ready to give up and let fate take its course, but at least the life of my arm had been spared.
Spared... right? My arm was tingling so much that I'd lost all sensation. Was this actually okay?
"Lilia-san, it's over. They've stopped."
"K-Kaito-san? What exactly did you just do...? It’s hard to put into words, but it felt like your feelings suddenly washed over me..."
"Um, well, it’s a type of magic, apparently. Kuro taught it to me. It transmits my feelings to the surroundings..."
Lilia-san looked up at me with a startled expression. My heart fluttered at the sudden realization of how close we were as I explained.
She seemed to accept the explanation once I mentioned Kuro, nodding several times in admiration.
"A-Ah, so, Lilia-san... about my, uh, arm..."
"...Eh? Ah?! I-I am so sorry!"
Once Lilia-san regained some of her composure, I pointed out the state of my arm—which was reaching its limit in terms of physical durability. Lilia-san turned bright red, let go of me instantly, and bowed her head in a frantic apology.
It was something I’d thought many times before, but Lilia-san really was a beauty. She had a natural nobility—the dignified air of a high-ranking aristocrat—but she also had a friendly, feminine side appropriate for her age. Her chest was neither too large nor too small, but perfectly balanced. She truly was the embodiment of a princess’s loveliness.
I was incredibly lucky to have ended up essentially locking arms with such a woman, even if it was by accident. Having come to this otherworld, I had finally achieved the feat of walking arm-in-arm with a beauty—a privilege usually reserved for normies.
If the men of my old world saw me now, they would surely burn with the flames of jealousy.
No, really... I didn't know. I didn't know that when you lock arms, the blood drains from your hand so completely that it leaves white marks behind... Plus, I’d totally lost all sensation from the elbow down. It was still attached, right? I see. People often say that love is a battlefield, so I suppose romance truly is a life-risking act.
Normies must all overcome trials like this to win the right to be happy... Normies are incredible. Their arms must be made of titanium alloy or something.
Dear Mom, Dad—I managed to stop the fight using magic. And I don't know if this was a reward or a trial, but—I think I just took a step toward becoming a normie.