Heroine-Saving System: Reborn In A Third-Rate Manga As The Protagonist-Chapter 107: Calm Before The Storm

’What the fuck...?’ Koya skidded backward and his muscles were still zipping with electricity.

「Hoho Host~ Seems like your sword is weak against the Silkstrike Mink」

His eye twitched at the revelation and then he threw the sword to the ground. Sure, he was not supposed to kill Familiars but these were monsters.

It seemed the Dean wanted students to subdue them rather than coddle them.

Koya took a fighting stance and looked at the Mink, which had retracted its fur back to its body and was watching him from a distance with its head slightly tilted.

’I only picked you because you’ll enhance Yuna’s ability even further.’ Koya thought. Akemi was a brute-force fighter and that worked for her.

Yuna was different... she was faster, more efficient with mana gathering and had the kind of build that rewarded agility over impact.

A Silkstrike Mink was a natural fit.

’So you better show me something good.’

He immediately sprinted and he wasn’t going to open with Speed Blitz on something like this... that would be embarrassing.

"Sillll~"

The Silkstrike stood on two legs and several whips of fur shot out from its forearms toward Koya as he closed in.

The first one curved at him and before it could connect he ducked under it, it passed above his head and buried itself into the ground behind him with enough force that the earth cracked where it landed.

Several more came immediately after and he wove through them, sliding under one low enough that he felt the electricity discharge crackle the air above his face and he closed the distance.

The Silkstrike jabbed its weasel arm directly at his face. Koya moved his head to the side but something in the way it committed to the strike felt a bit deliberate.

He had a fraction of a second and he used it to push mana into the lining of his ears and seal them off.

The Sonic Burst detonated in a shockwave around them.

The force of it flattened the flowers in every direction and pushed the air outward in a visible ring.

With his ears sealed it hit him as pressure rather than sound... It was uncomfortable, but his eardrums stayed intact and the Silkstrike blinked.

That was not the expected reaction.

Koya’s fist found its face before it could adjust. The punch landed straight and clean and the Silkstrike went rolling backward across the flower field, tumbling through blooms and grass and leaving a trail of crushed purple behind it for several meters before coming to a full stop at the edge of the open patch.

Koya opened his right hand.

Tiny sparks of electricity were dancing across his knuckles. The Static Coat ability was doing exactly what it was supposed to... every point of contact with the Mink’s fur charged him whether he wanted it or not.

He shook the hand once and the sparks disappeared.

’Not like a little shock ever stopped me.’ He thought, and moved forward again.

The Silkstrike had gotten up.

This time instead of going for the distance attack it dropped to all fours and ran at him directly closing the space between them in a straight line.

Right before they met it launched off the ground, spun in the air with its body fully extended, and brought its tail down... the tail had extended new fur in the spin wrapping outward like a flail, and it came down on him like a whip from directly above with the full rotation behind it.

Koya flipped out of it.

The tail hit the ground where he had been standing and the impact produced two things simultaneously... a shockwave of lightning that scorched the earth black in a wide radius and a concussive soundwave that traveled outward with it in the same instant, the two effects stacking into something that rattled everything within range and sent flower petals spinning in every direction at once.

’It’s fused the Sonic Burst into its physical attacks.’ Koya thought, watching the scorched circle in the ground.

That was a level of technique refinement he hadn’t expected from a Familiar still in its prime years. It had taken two completely separate abilities and compressed them into a single motion. ’I almost want to keep it for myself.’

But he wasn’t about to go looking for another one.

The shockwave faded and the Silkstrike turned to look at him except... the sole of Koya’s shoe hit it in the face.

He had closed the gap in the half-second the Mink spent reading the aftermath of its own attack.

The kick connected flush and sent the Familiar spinning upward and backward, rotating twice before it crashed into a tree branch.

The branch cracked and the Mink hung there for a moment with the breath knocked completely out of it, and then slid down to the base of the tree.

"I think that should be enough." Koya walked over and the Silkstrike Mink had raised its right hand in the air which was a sign of surrender.

"Hehe." He squatted down in front of it. "That was a nice match."

It gave him a small nod, still catching its breath.

"Silll~ Sill sill~"

"Well, I do want to form a contract with you but I want to give you to one of my students." Koya said.

The Familiar’s expression shifted immediately into something deeply indignant with its ears flattening and eyes narrowing out.

It let out a sharp series of sounds.

"Sill~ SILL sill sill~"

"Sure she’s not as strong as me but come on." Koya said. "I’m not going around fighting another one. If you moved around like the others we wouldn’t have even found you this early."

He kept talking and the Mink kept responding, the back and forth settling into something that looked like a negotiation.

Mio watched from behind her binoculars.

’How is he even speaking with that thing?’

The Cindervix pup had migrated from Koya’s head to hers at some point and had made itself completely comfortable there.

She didn’t particularly mind it... though the pup had been close enough to Koya last night that she smelled like him. ’Homewrecker.’

"I don’t know but he’s genuinely hot." Pale’s voice appeared from the astral realm with a very specific expression Mio didn’t need to see to know was there. "He’s like that main character we watched in that roman—"

’I get it. You don’t need to finish that sentence. I don’t enjoy romance anime the way the two of you do.’ Mio thought and kept her binoculars fixed on the scene which Pale had apparently already clocked, because the goddess leaned in close to her ear.

"I see... so you’re watching him but your binoculars are only focused on his lips... Bad girl. You want Koya to spank you, don’t you?"

Her face went red but she did not lower the binoculars.

"Come on." Pale’s astral voice dropped lower, somehow even more annoying at that volume. "Stop being shy and just do it... you’re out in the open, the Familiars can understand, think about the rewards from Master if you successfully conceive. Are you really willing to give that up to that blond halfling succubus?"

She always had an issue with the woman... right from time, sure when she got into Mio’s body, she could expand her chest size but there was a physical limit to it so that she wouldn’t look unnatural. Even the first time that she had been brought into this world by Hakai, her astral body was that of Mio with bigger breasts which made her wonder if this girl was her descendant but she had never experienced sex so no, she wasn’t but that woman had a perfect succubine body that was perfect for breeding with any man.

It made her jealous.

’Stop tempting me.’ Mio swatted at the astral form and her hand went through it completely making Pale let out a long sigh.

"If you’re related to me then you’re a wuss. No wonder your eggs are unfertilized." And with that she went quiet.

Koya blinked at the Silkstrike.

"You know where another one willing to come with me is?" He asked.

The Mink nodded fiercely, stood up with a small stagger, and let out a high-pitched cry.

Out of the bushes nearby rolled a smaller Silkstrike Mink that was still in its juvenile stage... it was rounder, softer-looking, and the trailing fur looked much shorter as well.

The older Mink kept talking and Koya pieced together that this was its little sister. He briefly wondered about the father but it didn’t matter.

Two minutes later both contracts were done... The older one entered his soul space and he kept the younger one at his side.

’That’s three permanent Familiars now. How’s my soul holding up?’

「As mentioned, Host... your soul can hold up to 9 Familiars without collapsing. This is because your soul overpowered the original Amagi Koya’s when you transmigrated. 10 is where strain begins.」

’I still find it hard to believe I overpowered the soul of a protagonist.’ Koya thought but he wasn’t complaining. Nine slots was room to work with.

The Cindervix cub came running toward him from Mio’s direction, moving fast across the flower field, and the younger Silkstrike immediately snapped into a full battle stance at the sight of it with it’s fur beginning to extend and electricity crackling at the tips then the cub reached it and licked it directly on the cheek.

The Silkstrike stood frozen for a full second then both of them started tumbling through the flowers together, rolling and chasing and completely forgetting anyone else existed. Koya watched them for a moment.

’They should enjoy it now.’ He thought. ’Because once we get back I’m working them into the ground.’

Friday evening arrival meant the Outer Zone was right there waiting and he had no intention of easing anyone in.

He walked back to Mio.

"Alright, I’m done for now. Let’s focus on what you want. Have you decided on your Familiar?" Koya asked.

Mio nodded and produced her guidebook, opening it to a page and holding it up.

The image showed an oversized black moth with crystalline-like eyes that caught the light in multiple directions at once.

"A Duskscale Moth?" Koya said.

"Yes Koya-kun. It fits my fighting style." She said. She would have said it fit her assassin nature but they were being watched... Pale had confirmed Misora was out there and Mirei was watching as well. "Though it’s very rare."

"I see. Then I’ll join you looking for it." He turned to the two Familiars at his feet. "Right guys?"

They perked up and cried in agreement and then another announcement cut through the entire forest at once.

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS AVAILABLE ON FAMILIAR ISLE! THE DEAN OF FAMILIARS WILL BE LEAVING THE ISLE SHORTLY. YOU ARE UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TO ENDANGER ANYTHING OR BREAK THE RULES WHILE THE DEAN IS AWAY!"

A harsh gust of wind pushed through the whole forest immediately after, rattling the canopy from one end to the other.

Through the tree line Haruki was visible briefly, ascending on one of the Dolderbirds with the barrier turning green ahead of him and closing blue behind him as he passed through.

"Talk about a recipe for disaster." Koya muttered. The Dean was the only thing keeping the nobles on either side from doing whatever they wanted out here.

Without him present, it was going to get hectic, and he had a specific feeling about who was responsible for the timing.

「Fate」 had a habit of arranging exactly this kind of setup. "Anyway Mio. Let’s get it before lunch."

...

"Well, we were very unsuccessful." Koya said, shaking his head as they sat in his room.

All the Familiars were out... the Silkstrike Minks were on one side in a shared meditative posture, the Embermane cub and both Cindervix cubs were play-wrestling in the corner, knocking into each other and rolling across the floor.

"I’m glad you came with me though, Koya-kun. We got a glimpse of it ten times because of you." Mio said. Today’s dish was oyakodon... chicken and egg over rice with a sweet soy broth and they were both eating from their bowls now. "We’ll have to wait until tomorrow. It doesn’t come out from late afternoon onward."

The whole search had been like a game of catch.

While he was running with Speed Blitz even though it was a bit weakened and the Duskscale Moth was not the fastest thing on the Isle but it had a trait of literally vanishing... cloaking completely and stepping out of visual range and mana detection simultaneously, leaving nothing to follow and he had hit the ground face-first more times than he wanted to count trying to outpace the disappearance.

He had spent SP to track it through the System and gotten a location every time but tracking a position didn’t help when the target could cloak between his step and his reaching hand.

Sensory couldn’t read where it was going once the cloak it had was active. He had been chasing an afterthought for three hours.

"I’m mostly surprised at how calm everything still is." Koya said. He had expected the Dean’s departure to produce immediate chaos but everyone was still adhering to the rules.

The second-in-command left in charge was managing things quietly and nobody had made a visible move yet. "Seems like people want to bide their time."

"Don’t be fooled, Koya-kun." Mio set down her empty bowl on her lap... A small amount of broth had caught the edge of her lips. "I’m sure they’ll strike tomorrow."

He leaned over and used one finger to take it from the corner of her mouth and put it in his own mouth, then went back to his bowl like nothing had happened.

Mio sat very still for a second.

"Surely." Koya said. "And I’m sure the rumors are just to set Ryouma and Takeru against me. It’s not particularly harmful since we leave tomorrow... rumors are always rumors."

Mio bit her lip then she looked at him directly.

"Koya-kun... It doesn’t matter if they don’t believe you." She said, with a blush coming up. "I’ll believe you until the day I die."

Koya looked at her for a moment, then reached over and touched her hair.

"What?" She blinked.

"Sorry. I was checking if it was Pale saying this." Koya said. "I take almost everything she says as a joke after all. But since it’s you, I’ll take it properly."

"OUCH!" Pale’s voice rang from the astral realm and Mio snickered then there was a knock at the door.

Koya got up and opened it slightly. Ichinose was standing in the hallway looking at the floor with both hands clasped together.

"Koya-kun... please." She said, still looking down. "I wanted to apologize. You don’t have to let me into your room. You can come outside and listen to what I have to say."

He sighed, stepped out and closed the door behind him so she couldn’t see Mio inside. Ichinose kept her eyes on the floor.

"Well, Koya-kun... I want to confess something." She said.

"Go on."

"I lied. I don’t have a little sister that was in need of medical treatment. I use the money for manicures, lunch and manga. I’m sorry I lied to you and betrayed your trust."

He said nothing and she kept going.

"It was because of my lie that you were attacked by the Alpha Salamander and reduced to a state where you could almost be pronounced dead. I also didn’t pay my share of the fees for the public property damage and they charged everything to you. And I..." She paused. "I took your dagger. I wanted to sell it initially but..."

The dagger materialized in her outstretched hand from her storage ring.

"I get that you don’t want to talk to me again, but please... I’m asking for forgiveness." She looked up at him and her eyes were wet. "I won’t ever do it again and I won’t try to force you onto my streams anymore. I just wanted more viewers and you always got more when you were on screen so I—"

A small amount of snot had dripped from her nose.

’Is she telling the truth, System?’

「She is.」

That was all he needed. She came forward into a hug and he let her, standing still while she buried her face in his chest and got snot on his shirt.

"Please Koya-kun..." Her voice was muffled. "I won’t do it anymore."

"Sure sure. Just give me the dagger." He said and she handed it over and pulled back. "We’re not completely settled yet, but I’ll let you off with a warning this time."

He went inside and shut the door.

Ichinose stood at the door for a moment. Her expression trembled and more tears ran down her cheeks and dropped to the floor.

She turned and ran out of the Mega Bunk, crossing through the living room and out the front door, crying the whole way and running into the forest until she was far enough from the Bunk that nobody could see her.

She stopped, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped her face clean in two strokes.

’I can’t laugh yet.’ She thought.

She had been truthful... about the dagger, the fake sister, all of it and the crying had been real too, she had genuinely worked herself up to it but she called this take the fall to take the win.

So what if Koya wasn’t on her streams anymore? It didn’t matter.

She was about to top the number one charts on every platform simultaneously and make more money than she had made in her entire streaming career and the best part was that she wasn’t the one orchestrating any of it.

She turned into a section between two trees. The Familiars in the area scattered immediately, clearing the space without being told.

The young man with dark blue hair was already there waiting with his arms folded and watching her approach.

"Is it done? Or did you fail?" Sendou Hiroki asked.

She reached into her nostrils and removed the two small devices he had planted there... they had been uncomfortable the entire time she was in that hallway and she was very glad to be rid of them.

She held them out to him on her palm.

"Who do you think I am?" She said. "I got it done. I’ve held up my side of the deal... run up the rest of my payment and hold up yours. You promised me a full view of chaos tomorrow."

Sendou took the devices from her hand and looked at them for a moment then a slow grin spread across his face.

"Yes." He said. "It will be a massacre."