使徒Vs勇者
「アンタ......誰だ......!?」
勇者が、そう言った。
目の前に佇む、自然災害と同等な程と言うべき、圧倒的な力を持った白い少女に対して、誰もが沈黙を禁じ得なかった中で、震える唇を動かし、掠れるような声で絞り出した言葉。
彼の喉はその一言を紡ぎだすだけで、一気にカラカラに枯れてしまった。二の句を紡ぐことが出来ない。いや、寧ろ言葉を紡ぎ出す事が出来た時点で褒められるべきだろう。
それほどまでに、目の前の白い少女は神々しく、そして圧倒的だった。
何が圧倒的か、それは『実力』ではない。そんなものは相対しただけでは把握出来はしない。では『威圧感』? それでも違う。いや、それもそうだが、凪達が一目で理解したのは、圧倒的なまでの『存在』の差だ。『格』と言っても良い。格が違う。
「そうですね......自己紹介が遅れました。俗世間のことにはあまり詳しくないもので」
すると、精神的にも追い詰められている凪達に対して、そんなことは意にも介さず淡々とした口調でそう言う白い少女。
彼女は若干姿勢を正し、露草色の瞳で凪達を見据えると、その口を開く。そして、無表情のまま己の自己紹介を始めた。
「私の名前は、ステラ......序列第二位『使徒』、ステラと申します。どうぞ、お見知りおきを」
彼女は己の名前を、ステラと言った。そして、序列二位だと言った。それが、なんの序列であるのかは分からないが、自分自身の事を『使徒』と呼んだ。
それは彼女よりも上の存在がいるという事実と、彼女が人間の領域から逸脱している事を、凪達に嫌でも理解させる。
「......こういう時、自己紹介には自己紹介を返すものではないのですか? 私の思い違いでしょうか......」
「っ......あ、ああ......俺は、勇者の芹沢凪だ」
「セリザワ・ナギ......なるほど、では勇者セリザワ......これから貴方を浄化します」
凪の名前を聞いて、ステラは改めて青白い稲妻の槍を構えた。その圧倒的な力の奔流を感じさせる雷の塊に、凪達は息を飲みながらも咄嗟に武器を構えた。
そして、ステラが動きだす前に凪は口を開く。目の前の少女は何者なのか、そして何が目的で自分達に対峙しているのか、浄化とはなんなのか、それを知らないままに戦うことは出来ない。何故なら、相手が自分よりも圧倒的に強い上に、理由次第では戦わなくとも済む可能性があるからだ。
桔音の時は碌に話を聞かずに拳を振るったというのに、凪も多少は状況を把握する事を学んだようだった。
「じ、浄化って......どういうことだよ」
「ああ......そういえば、同じことをあの少年にも聞かれましたね」
「......少年?」
凪は、会話を続けて時間を稼ぐ。時間が出来れば、それだけこの状況を打破する策を考えられるからだ。自分はあまり知略を練るのが得意ではない。だから、セシルやジーク達がこの状況を打破出来る策を考える時間を作る。これは、凪がグランディール王国を出た後に、セシルに言われたことだ。
もしも、自分達よりも強い相手に出くわした時は、そうして欲しいと。
それを実行すると、功を為したのかステラは会話に乗ってきた。
「ええ、此処に来る前に......グランディール王国という所に寄った時、片目がない少年に出会いまして」
「っ! ま、まさか......きつね先輩、か?」
「名前は聞いていませんが......一緒に居た魔族が『きつね君』、と呼んでいたので、おそらくは貴方の考えている通りの少年だと思います」
目の前の少女と、桔音も出会っていることを知って、凪は目を丸くする。いや、凪だけではない。セシルも、そしてフィニアとルルも、驚愕の事実に目を見開いている。
あの『最弱の冒険者』である桔音が、自分達が束になっても敵わないであろう相手と、会っている。そこに何があったのか、気になるのは当然のことだった。
「戦った、のか?」
「はい」
「きつねさんはっ......きつねさんは無事なの!?」
「貴女は......思想種の妖精、ですね......ええ、取り敢えずは生きている筈です」
フィニアが前に出て、青褪めた表情で桔音の安否を聞くと、ステラは無表情のままそう答える。そしてその答えに、フィニアはほっと安堵の息を吐いた。ルルも、ホッと胸をなでおろしている。
だが、凪は別のことを考えていた。勿論、桔音が死んでいないことを残念に思った訳ではない。目の前の少女と戦って、桔音が生き延びられたという事実に驚愕しているのだ。
おそらく元の世界に居た頃の自分でも、桔音と戦って負ける気がしないというのに、何故桔音は彼女を相手にどうやって生き延びられたのか、それが全く分からない。
「話を戻しましょう......異世界からの来訪者がこの世界へやって来た事で、この世界に空間の歪みが出来てしまったので、私はその原因である異世界人を浄化しに来ました。簡単に言えば、貴方をこの世界から排除し、この世界の均衡を取り戻します」
そして、驚愕している凪に、ステラは更に驚愕の事実を突き付ける。
つまり、彼女はこう言っているのだ。『異世界人である勇者を、殺しに来た』と。
「意味が、分からない......! 俺は魔王を倒して、人々を救いたいだけだ!」
「そんなことはどうでもいいのです。私の立場から言わせて貰えば、貴方の存在自体がこの世界にとって害悪です。それに、一目見た時から感じていたのですが......貴方、本当に『勇者』ですか?」
「っ!? な、何が言いたい......!」
凪は動揺した。この世界にとって自分が害悪だと言われたことに対してではない。お前は本当に『勇者』なのか? という問いに対してだ。
何故ならそれは、桔音にも言われたことだったから。
―――お前の、何処が『勇者』なんだ?
―――貴方、本当に『勇者』ですか?
同じ異世界人である桔音と、圧倒的な格の差を感じさせるステラ、別々の人間から、同じことを言われた。勇者として、切実に人を救いたいと思っている自分が、何故勇者ではないと言われるのか、それが一番凪の心を揺らした。
「いえ......貴方の他にも、過去に召喚された勇者と何度か対面したことがあるのですが......彼らと貴方とは、大きく違う様な気がします。もっと、根本的な本質が」
「本、質......?」
「そうですね......私が過去に出会った勇者達は、『人を救おう』とはしていませんでした。でも、貴方は違います。貴方は、『人を救おう』としている......簡潔に言えば、そうですね......『善い人間になろうとしている』、といった所でしょうか」
人を救うのが勇者。凪はそう思っていたが、それは違うのか? ステラが過去に出会った勇者達と、今の自分とでは、何が違うというのか。凪には分からない、その答えが分からなかった。
ステラは言った。お前は勇者ではなく、勇者になろうとしている人間だと。ならば、勇者とは何だ? 勇者というのは、一体何を持って勇者というのだろうか? 凪には分からない。
ただの高校生で、ちょっと力を得て、勇者だと言われ、周囲の期待に応えようと勇者になろうと決意しただけのちっぽけな少年に、分かる筈もない。
勇者とは、そんなに簡単な存在ではないのだから。
「まぁ、そんなことはどうでもいいです。私は異世界人である貴方を、浄化するだけです」
揺れる凪に対して、ステラはくるりと青白い稲妻の槍を回す。話は終わりだとばかりに、ステラはその口を閉ざした。
そしてステラの青白い稲妻が空気に摩擦音を響かせ、甲高い音を立てて一瞬、膨張した。するとその先端から、彗星の様な光が一閃、放たれた。光の速度で放たれたその閃光の一撃が、未だに精神的に揺れていた凪に向かって迫る。
「ナギ様!」
「ッ!?」
だがナギに当たる寸前で、その彗星の一撃が何かに阻まれた。それは、セシルの展開した結界。
しかし、即席の結界だった故か、もしくはステラの一撃の破壊力が圧倒的過ぎたのか、もしくはその両方の理由で結界が砕けた。
とはいえ、どうやら結界はステラの一撃を防ぐことは出来ずとも、逸らすことは出来たようで、凪の心臓を狙った軌道は逸れて、凪の左肩を撃ち抜いた。
「あぐっ......ッ......!?」
「......大人しくして、今治すから」
茫然としていて躱せなかった凪は、肩を抑えて膝を地面に着く。
そこへ、フィニアが近づき、治癒魔法を発動した。勇者に心を許している訳ではないが、戦闘では協力すると言ったし、例え桔音から自分を引き離した原因であろうとも、目の前で人が死ぬのを見過ごせるほど、フィニアは冷酷にはなれない。
そしてフィニアの治癒魔法は、直ぐに凪の肩の傷を塞ぐ。完全に治ったわけではないが、それでも痛みが引き、多少動かせる程度には治った。
「......軽い一撃とはいえ、凌ぐとは思いませんでした」
「そいつは、どうも......」
「それでは次は、少し本気で行きます。何かするのであれば、どうぞ」
舐められている、そう思った。凪は勇者云々を考える前に、命の危機に対して思考を切り替える。買い換えたばかりの剣を抜き、直ぐに『希望の光』を展開した。まずは、あの稲妻の槍をどうにかしなければならないと考えたからだ。
しかし、『希望の光』が発動したにもかかわらず、稲妻の槍は消えなかった。
「なっ......その槍......スキルじゃ、ないのか?」
「んっ......どうやら、此方の力を制限する力みたいですね......私の槍が消えていないことを不思議に思っている様ですが......コレは『力』ではありません、こういう『武器』です」
そうでなくとも、ステラのステータスは凪のそれを大きく上回っている。スキルを封じた所で、意味は無い。
「それに、これは神を葬る為の武器......『
「それでは、世界の均衡を保つために......」
凪だけではない。セシルも、ジークも、シルフィも、一応フィニアとルルも、戦う準備は出来ている。
対峙するのは、白い使徒。
ステラはくるりと青白い稲妻を回して、静かに告げる。
「貴方を―――浄化します」
Apostle vs. Hero
[You... Who are you...?!] 
The Hero said so.
While everyone else couldn't help but keep their mouth shut in the face of the white girl standing in front of them wielding overwhelming power that could be said to be equivalent to a natural disaster, he moved his trembling lips and squeezed out these words in a hoarse voice.
His throat wound up withering dry at once just from putting together those few words. He couldn't put together a second line. No, if anything, perhaps he should be praised for being able to put together those words.
That was just how divine and overwhelming the white girl in front of them was.
As for what was overwhelming, it wasn't her{prowess} . Such a thing wasn't something that could be grasped simply by standing face to face. Then{intimidating air} ? That was not it, either. No, that was partly true, but what Nagi and the others understood at a glance was the overwhelming difference in{existence} . You could call it{rank} . Her rank was simply in another league.
[You are right... I'm late to introduce myself. As I'm not very well versed in worldly matters.] 
Then, the white girl said so to Nagi and the others, who were cornered mentally as well, in a nonchalant tone of voice, not caring about such things.
She straightened her posture slightly, stared fixedly at Nagi and the others with her dayflower-colored eyes, and opened her mouth. And then, still showing no expression on her face, she began to introduce herself.
[My name is Stella... A second-rank{Apostle}  Stella. Pleased to make your acquaintance.] 
She told them her name was Stella. She also said that she was second in the ranking order. It was unknown what kind of rank it was, but she called herself an{apostle} .
It made Nagi and the others understand, even if they didn't want to, the fact that there were beings above her and that she had deviated from the realm of humanity.
[... In these situations, aren't you supposed to introduce yourself back when someone introduces themselves to you? Or I wonder if it's just my misconception....] 
[!... Y, yeah... I'm Serizawa Nagi, the Hero.] 
[Serizawa Nagi... I see, well then, Hero Serizawa... I shall hereby purify you.] 
Upon hearing Nagi's name, Stella once again held up her pale lightning spear. Even as they caught their breath at that mass of lightning, from which they could sense a torrent of overwhelming power, Nagi and the others quickly held up their weapons.
And then, before Stella could make a move, Nagi opened his mouth. They couldn't fight without knowing who the girl in front of them was, what her purpose was in confronting them and what this purification was. After all, as the other party was overwhelmingly stronger than him, depending on the reason, there was a possibility that they would be able to settle it even without having to engage in a battle.
Even though during the case with Kitsune, he swung his fist at him without properly listening to what he had to say, Nagi seemed to have learned to grasp the situation to some extent.
[P, purify... Just what do you mean by that?] 
[Ah... Come to think of it, that boy asked me the same thing.] 
[... Boy?] 
Nagi bought time by prolonging the conversation. After all, the more time they had, the more they could think of a way out of this situation. He wasn't very good at exercising ingenuity. That was why he would buy time for Cecil, Sieg, and the others to think of a way out of this situation. This was what Cecil told Nagi after they left the Grandile Kingdom.
If we run into an opponent stronger than us, please do so, she said.
As he put it into practice, perhaps it worked, Stella came on board with the conversation.
[Yes, before I came here... When I dropped by the place called Grandile Kingdom, I met a boy with one eye missing.] 
[! D, don't tell me... Was it, Kitsune-senpai?] 
[I didn't ask his name, but... The demon he was with called him{Kitsune-kun} , so I think he's probably the boy you're thinking of.] 
Nagi's eyes were wide open upon knowing that Kitsune had also met the girl in front of them. No, it wasn't just Nagi. Cecil, as well as Finia and Lulu, had their eyes wide open at the astonishing revelation.
That{weakest adventurer} , Kitsune, had met the opponent that they would not be able to match even if they were to work together. It was only natural that they would be curious about what happened there.
[Did you, fight?] 
[Yes.] 
[Kitsune-san is... Is Kitsune-san safe?!] 
[You're... An idea-type fairy, I believe? ... Yes, he should be alive for the time being.] 
When Finia stepped forward and asked Kitsune's safety with a pale expression, Stella replied, still with a blank expression on her face. And then, upon hearing that answer, Finia breathed a sigh of relief. Lulu, too, was relieved.
However, Nagi had other things running on his mind. Of course, it wasn't that he felt disappointed that Kitsune wasn't dead. He simply was astonished at the fact that Kitsune had survived the fight against the girl in front of them.
Even though he didn't feel like losing, even if the he from back when he was in his former world were to fight against Kitsune, he just couldn't understand why and how Kitsune was able to survive against her.
[Let's get back to the matter at hand... The arrival of visitors from another world to this world has ended up creating a spatial distortion in this world, and I am here to purify the cause of that distortion, the otherworldly people. Simply put, I am here to remove you from this world and restore the equilibrium of this world.] 
Then, to the astonished Nagi, Stella confronted him with an even more astonishing fact.
In other words, she was saying: {I've come here to kill the Hero, who is an otherworldly person} .
[I don't get, what you mean by that...! I just want to defeat the demon lord and save the people!] 
[I couldn't care less about such a thing. If I have to put it from my point of view, your very existence is harmful to this world. Besides, I have felt it from when I took a look at you for the first time, but... You, are you really a{Hero} ?] 
[!?! W, what do you want to say...!] 
Nagi was shaken. Not for being told that he was harmful to this world. But for being asked: Are you really a{Hero} ?
Because that was what Kitsune had told him too.
--Which part of you is that of a{Hero} ?
--You, are you really a{Hero} ?
He was told the same thing by two different people, Kitsune, who was similarly an otherworldly person, and Stella, who made him feel an overwhelming difference in rank. Why he was told that he was no Hero, even though he earnestly wished to save people as a Hero, that was what shook Nagi's heart the most.
[No... Other than you, I have also faced several Heroes who have been summoned in the past, but... I feel that there is a large difference between you and them. Like, in your fundamental nature.] 
[Na, ture...?] 
[Let me see... The Heroes I have met in the past didn't{try to save people} . However, you are different. You are{trying to save people} ... Simply put, yes... You are{trying to be a good person} , I should say.] 
The one who saved people was a Hero. That was what Nagi thought, but was it mistaken? What was the difference between the Heroes Stella had met in the past and the current one, him? Nagi didn't know, he didn't know the answer to that question.
Stella said. You were not a Hero, you were a man trying to become a Hero. Then what was a Hero? What was it that made a Hero a Hero? Nagi didn't understand.
There was no way that a tiny boy, just a high school student who gained a little bit of power, was told he was a Hero, and decided to be a Hero to live up to the expectations of those around him, could possibly understand.
Because a Hero wasn't such an easy existence to be.
[Well, such a thing doesn't really matter. I am only here to purify you, an otherworldly person.] 
Facing the shaken Nagi, Stella spun around the pale lightning spear. As if stating that the conversation was over, Stella closed her mouth.
And then, the moment Stella's pale lightning gave rise to a frictional sound in the air and made a high-pitched sound, it expanded. Then a flash of light like a comet was shot out from its tip. That flash strike, fired at the speed of light, loomed toward Nagi, who was still mentally shaken.
[Nagi-sama!] 
[!?] 
But just as it was about to hit Nagi, the comet strike was blocked by something. It was a barrier that Cecil had deployed.
However, the barrier was shattered, either because it was an improvised barrier, or the destructive power of Stella's strike was simply too overwhelming, or both.
Nevertheless, although it failed to block Stella's strike, the barrier seemed to succeed in deflecting it, and the trajectory aimed at Nagi's heart was diverted and shot through Nagi's left shoulder.
[Aghh... !... !?] 
[... Be quiet, I'll heal you now.] 
Stunned and unable to evade it, Nagi fell on his knees to the ground, holding down his shoulder.
There, Finia approached him and activated her healing magic. It wasn't that she had relaxed her guard around the Hero, but she had said she would cooperate with them in battle, and Finia was not so coldhearted as to let someone die in front of her eyes, even if it was the cause that pulled her part from Kitsune.
And then, Finia's healing magic immediately closed up the wound on Nagi's shoulder. Although not completely healed, the pain receded and it had recovered to the extent that it could be moved somewhat.
[... It might be a light blow, but I never expected you would be able to survive it.] 
[Why, thank you....] 
[Then next time I will go at you a little more seriously. If you want to do something, go ahead.] 
Pulled out his newly purchased sword, he immediately deployed the{Ray of Hope} . That was because he thought first of all, he had to do something about that lightning spear.
However, in spite of the fact that the{Ray of Hope}  had been activated, the lightning spear did not disappear.
[Wha... That spear... Is it, not a skill?] 
[Hmm... It seems to be a power that restricts the power of this side, is it not? ... You seem to be in a wonder as to why my spear hasn't disappeared, but... This is not a{power} , it is a{weapon}  of this kind.] 
Even if that wasn't the case, Stella's status far exceeded that of Nagi. So even if he were to seal her skills, it held no meaning.
[Besides, this is a weapon for burying God... {God-Slaying Lightning} . You will not be able to suppress it with ordinary power.] 
[Well then, in order to maintain the equilibrium of the world....] 
It was not just Nagi. Cecil, Sieg, Sylphy, and more or less, Finia and Lulu were also getting ready to fight.
Facing them was the white apostle.
Stella spun around the pale lightning and quietly announced.
[I shall -- purify you.]
I Kinda Came to Another World, but Where’s the Way Home?
【書籍化】異世界来ちゃったけど帰り道何処？
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/i-kinda-came-to-another-world-but-wheres-the-way-home/
Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Harem Shounen Slice of Life
Apathetic Protagonist Bullying Calm Protagonist Demi-Humans Demon Lord Demons Dense Protagonist Fairies Game Elements Ghosts Heterochromia Knights Level System Male Protagonist Murders Naive Protagonist R-15 Royalty R*pe S*aves Sword And Magic Transported to Another World Weak Protagonist Yandere
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2650bx/
こいし