Upon Returning Home As A Military Major General, I Was Told To Attend School, Even Though It’s Quite Late Now - Chapter 118

Chapter 118. The Child Who Wears Herself Down

“Misuzu!”

By the time I realized, it was too late to stop her.

Misuzu had already dashed into the burning building.

I tried to follow her in a panic, but—

“You mustn’t, Yuu-sama! Jumping into the flames recklessly is dangerous!”

“Let go, Hayami-san! Misuzu’s in there!”

I was grabbed from behind by Hayami-san, who was panicking herself.

“If someone goes, it should be me. I can teleport!”

“That’s even more dangerous! If you go in without a mask or oxygen tank, you’ll pass out after inhaling just one breath of toxic gas!”

“That applies to you too, Yuu-sama! Please calm down!”

Hayami-san’s words helped me regain a bit of composure.

[Kon, we can’t put out the fire ourselves, can we?]

[With Saturation’s power, we could either increase the oxygen concentration and make the flames burn even more intensely, or fill the space with non-combustible gas to extinguish it, but either way, the people inside would die.]

[Damn it, what a limited ability!]

Cursing under my breath, I started racking my brain for a solution.

What do I do…

Should I ask Natori-san to deploy a protective barrier around me?

But deploying barrier spells around moving targets is extremely advanced magic, and I’ve heard it takes up a significant portion of one’s Soul Armor resources.

In the current situation, where they’re preventing the fire from spreading to nearby buildings, it’d be a bad move…

“Ho ho, Kamiya-dono, I just hacked into a real estate agent’s server and pulled up the layout of this house.”

While I was still stuck without a plan, Dr. Kirigaya was calmly taking useful action.

As expected of a seasoned leader.

“Thank you, Dr. Kirigaya! Looks like we’ll have to go with the straightforward approach. Can I borrow your lab coat?”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

I took the lab coat Dr. Kirigaya handed me and soaked it thoroughly under a faucet, which seemed to be intended for watering the adjacent building.

“Now for this!”

I filled a bucket with water and dumped it over my head.

“Yuu-sama! Please stop, it’s dangerous!”

“I can’t afford to lose someone as important as Misuzu here! This is my decision!”

“Kuh… Understood.”

Silencing Hayami-san with my authority, I covered my mouth with a wet handkerchief.

The smoke had grown even thicker since we first arrived.

I took a deep breath.

[Here I go!]

Steeling myself, I charged toward the burning building’s entrance.

(Creak)

“Ah, Yuusuke.”

“Huh!?”

Just as I was about to storm in, the door suddenly opened, and Misuzu peeked her head out, causing me to stop dead in my tracks.

“Misuzu! Let’s get away from here first!”

“Okay.”

I scooped Misuzu into my arms and sprinted away from the fire.

Once we reached a safe area where the others were, I set her down.

With the front door now open and allowing more oxygen in, the flames raged even harder.

“There’s no way we can go back in now.”

“It’s fine. This was the only one left.”

She showed me a fluffy white ball of fur she was cradling in her arms. It was trembling, likely from fear, resembling a spitz dog.

“Haku! Haku! Oh, thank goodness… You’re safe…”

A person from the crowd of bystanders collapsed to the ground in tears.

“Is that the owner?”

“Yes! Thank you so much for saving Haku!”

As Misuzu gently handed over the dog, Haku seemed to calm down,

licking the tears off its owner’s face as they cried in relief.

“Well done, Misuzu. How did you know a pet dog had been left behind?”

“I saw something white moving near a window on the third floor.”

“Inside the building, with all the flames and smoke? How’d you manage to find it?”

“I deployed my clone. It searched every corner while burning in the flames.”

Seeing Misuzu with hardly any burns or soot, I figured she must’ve used her clone.

“I see. That’s a handy ability.”

“Yeah. But I’m tired, so give me a piggyback ride.”

“Alright.”

“I’m so jealous of Yuu-sama’s piggyback ride…”

Ignoring Hayami-san’s envious gaze, I hoisted Misuzu onto my back.

While we waited, the firetruck finally arrived, and the firefighters began hurriedly setting up hoses and other equipment.

“We’ll stay here a while longer to prevent the fire from spreading further, Kamiya-dono. You and the others should leave.

It might be hard to explain Misuzu’s involvement to the firefighters.”

Dr. Kirigaya’s suggestion made sense. If they questioned Misuzu about what happened, we might have to reveal her Soul Gear abilities.

It was best to follow his advice and leave the scene.

“Got it, Dr. Kirigaya. Sorry about ruining your lab coat.”

“It was an emergency, don’t worry about it. Though it is getting chilly now, I might catch a cold… Ah-choo! Maybe Natori-san could warm me up…”

“Why don’t you warm yourself by helping the firefighters on the front lines?”

Smiling wryly at their usual banter, I left the scene with Misuzu and Hayami-san.

“Hey, Misuzu. When you say you’re tired, does that mean you made a lot of clones?”

We’d parted ways with Dr. Kirigaya and the others, but since we were still in the shopping district, we headed toward a quieter spot where Hayami-san could use her teleportation magic to take us home.

While walking, I casually asked the Misuzu on my back.

“It wasn’t that many, just a few. This fatigue is from phantom pain.”

“Phantom pain? Wait… Misuzu, did you not block the pain from your clones?”

Her unexpected words made me stop in my tracks.

“I couldn’t rely on my sight in the smoke and fire, so I had to depend on my sense of touch. That meant I couldn’t block out the pain.”

“…You mean, you searched while letting yourself burn?”

“Burns are extremely painful, but right after getting them, you can still move. I had to deal with the pain of multiple severe burns flowing back to me, so my body’s exhausted.”

“That’s insane! Why would you do something like that?!”

I couldn’t help but yell, setting her down as I scolded her.

“…? This was the only way to save that child without any casualties.”

“You were a casualty! You!”

“I don’t understand. Look, the original me isn’t burned at all. The clone was close enough that I could absorb it without anyone noticing. There’s no harm done, and no secrets were exposed.”

Misuzu looked at me with a truly puzzled expression, and something clicked inside me.

I finally understood why I was so angry.

“Misuzu. This isn’t a battlefield anymore. You don’t have to wear yourself down like this.”

I crouched down to her eye level and hugged her.

“…Why is Yuusuke crying when he’s angry?”

“Huh… Why am I?”

I hadn’t even noticed I was crying until Misuzu pointed it out. I hadn’t realized how overwhelmed I was.

“Yusuke. There, there.”

She gently patted my trembling back.

“Man… I was supposed to be scolding you, but this got flipped on me.”

A strange mix of embarrassment and comfort washed over me, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“I’m the big sister, remember? You probably saw me and thought of your younger self, didn’t you? When you used to cry.”

Her words hit home.

So that’s it.

Seeing Misuzu, who thought nothing of her own pain, I had unconsciously overlapped her with the younger version of myself who’d fought through the battlefield while gritting his teeth.

“Wow… I really am lame.”

“Nope. You don’t need to be cool all the time.”

“Misuzu, you really are the big sister.”

“Yup. Took you long enough to realize.”

Misuzu’s voice sounded a little more cheerful as she spoke.