Smashing this robot is making me hungry! Mm, to be more accurate, thinking of ways to smash this robot is making me hungry! I finally figured out how Ilya can stay so skinny despite never moving her body. According to her, the brain is like a muscle, so if one uses it, they’re using up energy. Since I’m thinking so hard, it absolutely makes sense for my stomach to growl! As for Ilya, she basically has ten people sharing her brain to think about things. It’s weird how she never comes to me for food when she has to eat for a party of ten every day.

Speaking of Ilya, on the off chance that this fake-Atlantis-descendant person really is related to her, then wouldn’t he be at least a little smart? Maybe he’s a teensy bit smarter than me, and not only that, but he has the help of more people inside the puppet. Combined, their brainpower should be greater than mine. In that case, isn’t it nearly impossible for me to trick the puppet into hurting itself? They know I can’t hurt the puppet, and they should know the only way for me to hurt it is by making themselves hurt it. This is like when the ruler trained me in the advanced version of leap all over again. I have to think of ways to counter the ways they’re thinking of that counter my original way of thinking! I think.

Then, if those demons think I’m going to trick them into hurting themselves, they’ll do everything they can to not hurt themselves while getting rid of me: forearm sliding, flicking, slapping, shaking. What’ll they do next? …How in the world would I know? No wonder why Ilya says it’s important to understand an opponent’s techniques. Without knowing them, I can’t counter them! This type of combat is exhausting, and it’s making my head really, really warm. The heat generated by my brain is going to bake my own brain! Ah? The ruler did ask me if I thought about baking the opponent, but I thought she was making fun of me because I like cooking.

In that case, I’ll try baking this puppet! Even if I can’t burn the armor, it’ll get uncomfortably hot inside, right? That’s right, soldiers might not be afraid of arrows when they’re wearing full plate armor, but they’re still afraid of fire! “Super-Awesome Technique: Squirrel Flames!”

“Hey, don’t those flames remind you of our vermillion flames?”

“How can they be vermillion flames? She’s not a vermillion bird.”

“It’s obviously not vermillion flames. Are the two of you deaf? She clearly stated they were squirrel flames.”

“I didn’t know squirrels could produce flames.”

“And you didn’t know your wife was cheating on you with your brother, so what?”

“My precious dewdrop is doing what!?”

My goodness, birds are chatty in every realm I go to, huh? “Quit your yapping and help me out! If we work together, we’ll bake the demons inside of this puppet in no time!”

The seven vermillion birds exchanged glances with one another before flying towards me. Surprisingly, they didn’t breathe out fire like Mrs. Feathers. They flapped their wings, and vermillion flames appeared in front of them before bombarding the puppet like a shower made of fire.

“What are the rest of you doing?” Mrs. Mu shouted. A stream of talismans flew out of her sleeves and attached themselves to the giant puppet. How many did she even have? Did she make them herself? Surprisingly, the talismans didn’t explode like they normally did. Instead, they glowed with an orange light and heated up extremely fast! “If you want a share of the treasures of Atlantis, you have to contribute! If you can’t increase the temperature, attack the puppet’s ankles. Make it waste its energy elsewhere!”

A bunch of colorful lights appeared as the beasts and dragons attacked the puppet’s ankles. Despite that, the puppet didn’t seem like it’d be defeated any time soon. In fact, it was acting a bit too relaxed! It stabbed its swords into the ground in front of its feet, blocking all the attacks aimed at its ankles, and it crossed its arms over its chest, completely ignoring me and the vermillion birds trying to set it on fire. Where were the flames even going? Instead of billowing out and around, it feels like my squirrel flames are being absorbed directly upon contact with its armor.

A red glow, even stronger than the orange glows from Mrs. Mu’s talismans, appeared on the puppet’s chest. The color reminded me a bit of the vermillion flames currently bombarding the puppet. Mm, not just a bit, but the shades of red were exactly the same! The puppet uncrossed its arms, and with a loud roaring sound, a huge pillar of vermillion flames shot out of its chest and into the room Mrs. Mu and the other beasts were attacking from. It must’ve absorbed our flames and used it to power its own attack! I’m starting to think the ruler was making a joke and not offering a solution.

“Yep.”

Teacher, couldn’t you have confirmed it for me before everyone was set on fire?

“Nope. Rule of fun.”

What’s fun about my underlings being set on fire!?

“Have you ever seen a furless bear before? They look hilarious.”

…

“No, seriously, look.”

Is the ruler nudging my divine sense with hers right now? Is that something that can even be done? Mm, alright, I’ll follow where her divine sense wants mine to go. She wants me to look at my underlings in the other room. It looks like most of them turned back into their beast forms to resist the flames, and one of them happens to be a bear with his fur burnt off. Alright, compared to normal bears, he does look pretty funny, heh-heh. …But this is no laughing matter! I took your words seriously, Teacher, and because of that, look at how pitifully I’m doing! How am I supposed to beat the puppet now that all my underlings are burnt?

“Alright, alright, I’ll give you a hint on how to beat the puppet.”

Ah? Guilt-tripping the ruler actually worked?

“Stop thinking so hard, and just do it.”

…I’m being bullied.