From here, Nana-san is going to launch the 『Circular Saw』 and cut the square timber I am holding in my hand.
Will it succeed safely?
……Well, to be honest, failure itself would be fine. It is fine if she fails to cut the timber, so please just do not hit me.
「Here I gooo」
「Okaaay」
From a distance of about thirty meters, Nana-san gave a casual signal, so I replied just as casually.
In reality, I am really scared. On the inside, I am freaking out.
「Then――『Circular Saw』『Circular Saw』」
「Hiu」
For some reason, two 『Circular Saws』 were fired in rapid succession and came flying toward me at high speed.
Watching the pair of 『Circular Saws』 rapidly closing in makes me want to throw the timber away and run. Also, why two of them?
「――Oh」
The 『Circular Saws』 hit the timber, and a light vibration traveled through my hands.
Then the 『Circular Saws』 neatly cut the timber I was holding into three equal pieces.
「That’s scary……」
I look at the cut surface of the timber I had been holding, and once again, it has been sliced cleanly and sharply. Scary.
「It went well」
「Yeah……」
With a slight smug look on her face, Nana-san jogged back over.
「Actually, this is what I wanted to show you, which is why we went out of our way to come to the training ground」
「I see……」
She is right. This is definitely something that should be done at a training ground. Launching 『Circular Saws』 in the garden at home is probably not a good idea.
「So, what did you think, Master?」
「Ah, yeah. It’s amazing. You fired it from far away, and it split it perfectly into thirds」
「Right, right. It was like Me◯al Man, wasn’t it?」
「Meta◯ Man……」
Well, for me it is an easy comparison to understand……
Me◯al Man, huh. I wonder if it has good power, firing speed, and efficiency like Me◯al Blade.
「By the way, how strong is it? I mean, the power, or the cutting ability. How good is it?」
「That’s the point, Master」
「Hm?」
「I am also curious how much 『Circular Saw』 can cut. I was thinking of trying it on harder wood」
「Harder wood? When you say harder wood…… something as hard as the World Tree?」
When it comes to hard wood, the World Tree immediately comes to mind. Of course it does. It is hard, unbelievably hard.
「As expected of you, Master. That is exactly it. I absolutely want to――try cutting the World Tree」
「……The World Tree?」
「I want to cut the World Tree」
「…………」
That wording sounds kind of ominous, so be careful how you phrase things, Nana-san.
I once said something similar and got frightened with a 『Why are you trying to defeat me? 』.
「By the way, that train of thought is what reminded me about the necklace」
「Huh? Ah, I see」
The World Tree necklace still hanging around my neck.
Apparently, when Nana-san thought about wanting to challenge the World Tree with the 『Circular Saw』, she remembered the necklace she had completely forgotten about.
……I am glad she did not just go with the flow and fire a 『Circular Saw』 at the necklace.
「So then, Master. Do you have any World Tree branches left over?」
「Hmm. I probably have a tiny wood chip or so」
World Tree materials are extremely valuable, so I should have kept even small scraps like that instead of throwing them away.
When I reach into my magic bag and rummage around――
「Found one. Though it is pretty small」
What I pull out of the magic bag is a tiny wood chip, about three centimeters long.
「May I cut it?」
「Sure」
It is fine, but can she really cut it?
Even if it is a small chip, it is still a World Tree branch. Its hardness is guaranteed.
Whether Nana-san’s 『Circular Saw』 can cut a World Tree wood chip or not.
『Circular Saw』 VS 『World Tree』――this is getting a little exciting. What will happen?
「But this is rather small. It seems it would be difficult to hold it down」
「Ah, right. If you do not hold it down, the chip will get knocked away by the 『Circular Saw』」
If this hard World Tree wood chip gets launched at high speed, that would be pretty scary……
If it hit someone, it would cause a seriously bad injury……
「Hmm…… Could you stick it in place with 『Varnish Coating』?」
「Hm? Ah, you mean attach it to a base with 『Varnish Coating』?」
「Yes. Could you do that?」
「Sure.――『Varnish Coating』」
I placed the World Tree wood chip on top of the piece of lumber I was using as a workbench substitute, and fixed it in place with 『Varnish Coating』.
「With this, I would like to strike it with the 『Circular Saw』」
「Yeah……」
Nana-san held down the makeshift workbench lumber with both hands. Just ahead of where she was holding it was the World Tree wood chip, stuck in place with 『Varnish Coating』.
She intended to hit that with the 『Circular Saw』.
……Will the varnish peel off?
Somehow, at the same time as 『Circular Saw』 VS 『World Tree』, this is starting to look like 『Circular Saw』 VS 『Varnish Coating』 as well……
「Then, here I go」
「Uh, good luck, Nana-san」
「Yes. Thank you.――『Circular Saw』」
Nana-san chanted the spell and created a new 『Circular Saw』.
Then the 『Circular Saw』 slowly approached the World Tree wood chip……
「Now then, will my 『Circular Saw』 be able to cut the World Tree――――awawawawa」
「Awawawawa」
The instant the 『Circular Saw』 made contact with the wood chip, a harsh metallic grinding sound rang out, 『Gagagagagagaga』, and a shower of sparks flew everywhere.
「This is getting crazy! ――Ah! More importantly, no open flames! This place is no open flames allowed!」
「Y-yes!」
「Stop it quickly――gah」
「Masterrrrrr!」
Something……
Just as the metallic noise and sparks stopped, something flew toward me……
「Master! Are you all right, Master!」
「Oww……」
「Master……」
「Ah, yeah. I think I am okay, at least……」
What was that? What just happened……?
「The 『Circular Saw』 knocked the World Tree wood chip away」
「Ah. I see」
So the wood chip that got knocked away by the 『Circular Saw』 hit me directly……
Which means, in other words, that 『Varnish Coating』 lost……
I got hurt, and 『Varnish Coating』 lost. Double the misery.
「It seems the wood underneath could not withstand it」
「Huh? Ah, you are right」
When I looked, the piece of wood we had been using as a makeshift workbench was lightly gouged.
And on the ground, the World Tree wood chip had some varnish and part of the workbench stuck to it.
I see. The World Tree and the varnish endured the rotation of the 『Circular Saw』, but the workbench did not.
It seems 『Varnish Coating』 did not actually lose, which personally made me a little satisfied.
「That surprised me. I ended up falling over. For now, it looks like I am not injured, but――」
「That seems to have protected you」
「Hm?」
What Nana-san pointed at was the World Tree necklace hanging around my neck.
Hm? What does that mean? At a glance, it does not look any different.
「The wood chip that got knocked away hit the necklace directly」
「Eh…… really?」
「Yes. I saw it clearly」
「I see, it hit the necklace…… Things like that really do happen, huh……」
A coin in a chest pocket or a pendant stopping a bullet is something you often see in movies or dramas, but I never thought I would experience it myself……
「That is good, Master. Your survival flag worked perfectly」
「So the necklace Nana-san gave me today was a survival flag……」
「Please be careful, you know? Those kinds of survival flags usually only work once」
「I see……」
Did I really use up something that precious on this?
……Or rather, was I about to die?
「By the way, what happened to the World Tree wood chip?」
「It does not have a single scratch. That is a little frustrating」
「The World Tree really is hard……」
After all that commotion, it does not even have a scratch.
As expected, it is far too hard.
……And that extremely hard World Tree almost hit me at high speed.
The more I think about it now, the more it feels like I really was about to die. Belatedly, I start to tremble.
next chapter: 『Glowing Paralyze Arrow』
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