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Chapter 37: A Zombie Attack For These Soldiers!
Part 1
"Oh! You sure are improving a lot, Dustiness-senpai."
Lia-san said, complimenting Darkness on her improvement.
…Although 'improvement' might be a bit of an exaggeration.
Darkness wiped the sweat from her brow as she set the naginata down.
"Um, am I really improving?"
Even Darkness herself couldn't believe Lia's praise.
"Well… Compared to how you were before…"
Lia-san left it at that.
The captain rubbed his chin.
"Hmm… There's a competition coming up. Do the newbies want to apply for it?"
"Yeah, I don't mind."
I said, confidently.
As for Darkness…
"T-There's no way I can do it at my skill level!"
At least she was aware of her limitations.
Rather, it was impossible not to be aware of them.
You'd have to be Aqua levels of dense for that to happen.
I leaned over to whisper to her.
"Oi, our stats will probably rise a lot if we enter a competition."
"...I'll just be publicly humiliated."
I stared at her blankly.
"Why are we even pretending as if you don't live for that?"
"We've been over this so many times! I have my limits, and it's not like my fetish applies to every single aspect of my life! I'm not gonna humiliate myself in a new school, in front of my club senpai!"
"...Just do it. You're never gonna improve at this point."
She sighed, but she knew I was right.
"F-Fine…"
I turned to Lia-san and the captain.
"We're both completely fine with competing!"
"...Dustiness-senpai doesn't seem too happy about it."
Lia-san said, pointing at Darkness.
I smiled and wrapped my arm around Darkness, pinching her discreetly.
Darkness smiled through gritted teeth as I pinched her hard.
"...I'm looking forward to it."
"You clearly aren't."
The captain clapped his hands together.
"Great! I'm sure we'll have a good showing this year!"
"How do we normally do in competitions, anyway?"
There were only two members before Darkness and I joined, so I didn't have high expectations.
"Lia and I score very well, despite the size of our club. We'll probably suffer score wise with two rookies joining."
"Ehh?! Aren't we total liabilities?!"
Darkness said, staring at the captain in disbelief.
I was also surprised that he'd even sacrifice his results just to accommodate us rookies.
He gave us a thumbs up.
"It's not like I care about that stuff! I just want you rookies to get some good experience!"
This guy… He was an amazing senpai, wasn't he?!
Lia-san sighed and shrugged.
"...I'm not sure about sacrificing our club's reputation, but I don't care about my scores, either. I'm just doing this for the love of the sport."
What exemplary club members.
Meanwhile, I was just doing this to raise my stats, while I was waiting for soccer club activities to return.
I felt kinda bad for the difference in enthusiasm.
…
…
After that conversation, Darkness got motivated to return to the dungeon.
"...I can't let my senpai down!"
She said, before charging at a goblin.
"You're too excited. Calm down."
I said as she blushed after completely missing the mark.
While Darkness was doing her thing on the first floor, I went to my garden to apply the monster deterrent Wiz gave me.
Thankfully, the deterrent didn't keep me away as well, since I was the one who used it. I suppose it wasn't a completely defective item.
After I applied the deterrent all over the fence, I looked at my plants.
"That's right, grow well, my darlings."
I was getting strangely fond of my plants.
Since I was already close to the pond, I also chose to fish.
When I thought I caught something, I pulled the rod.
Only to find a boot with metal studs on it.
"Hmm… This seems to be high-level equipment from the higher floors, Kazuma-san."
Appuri-chan explained to me.
"Don't tell me it's that same idiot!"
"It could be!"
This was the last straw for me.
I teleported to the fourth floor and looked for Mary.
"Oh, Kazuma-san, hello again."
She said, while she was looking at her nails. Somehow, she managed to paint them pink.
"...That crazy app-user who is dropping high level loot everywhere, have you seen him recently?"
"Yeah. I actually talked to him just now. You just missed him."
So he was on this floor, huh?!
"Where did that jackass go?!"
"...I kinda don't wanna tell you since you have that scary look on your face."
"Don't tell me you befriended that guy…"
She glanced away, scratching her cheek.
"What, I can't make friends?"
"...If you help me look for him, I won't beat him up too much."
"Hah? What makes you confident you can even beat him? You're only on the fourth floor, while he's from the high-level floors!"
"I'm the hero who beat four demon king generals as of now! I'm a big shot, got it?! I'm not scared of some punk!"
She sighed, not willing to argue with me.
"Fine, I'll get in my pot."
She climbed into the pot with soil we used to transfer her. Then, I picked her up and carried her to the Brutal Alligator area.
"...Wait, how do I cross this place without Aqua?"
I said, remembering the debuffs I'd get from entering the filthy water.
Not to mention the potential diseases.
Mary grinned, shrugging her shoulders.
"Guess you gotta give up."
"...Never!"
Not when I'm so close to confronting that guy!
I thought about the most efficient way to travel across the swamp, but it was hard to top the heli idea.
Eventually, what I came up with was…
I gathered a bunch of dead wood near the entrance and used [Smithing] to create a sail boat.
Once Mary and I got on…
"[Wind Breath]! [Charge Spell]!"
I charged up wind breath to propel myself at a fast speed across the filthy water.
"Whoa! This is pretty fun!"
Mary said, as we shot through the swamp, wind blasting around us.
"Grrr…!"
The Brutal Alligators were attracted by the movement and attacked us.
A lot of them surrounded us, fangs revealed, ready to tear me to pieces.
"[Freeze Gust]!"
I froze the swamp water around the Brutal Alligators, preventing them from attacking us.
Mary looked impressed.
"Hmm… Maybe you really are as good as you say."
"Heh… You shouldn't have doubted me."
"...Don't get a big head."
She said, when I started showing off.
Your bond with Mary has deepened!
Mary (Tranquility Girl), Bond Rank: 4
At Rank 4, Mary is starting to become impressed with your capabilities. She is willing to obey more of your commands, although she doesn't completely trust you yet. She does trust you to help her survive in the dungeon, but beyond that, she is still quite cautious of you. Putting your trust on Mary even more will deepen your bond.
Bond Reward: You learn the [Growth] skill!
[Growth, Skill Rank: 1, Passive Skill
Your stat cap limit now exceeds 100 even without an advanced class. At rank 1, your limit for all stats increases by 10.
Part 2
I left the boat at the entrance to the next floor and carried Mary to it, pot in hand.
Cautiously, I opened the door and stepped inside.
I felt a surge of relief as I saw the familiar stone walls and floors.
"No more of that stinky swamp!"
"I didn't really mind the smell."
"...Do you even have a sense of smell, Mary?"
"Of course I do!"
I placed her against the wall.
"Alright, you know the routine. Start mapping out this floor. Oh, but before that, look for that app-user if he's still on this floor!"
"So demanding… Fine…"
She sighed and leaned against the wall, letting her roots embed themselves in it.
I watched as the roots quickly spread through the walls.
"Oh? Seems like it's faster than last time."
"Fufu… I'm a genius, after all."
"Careful. You'll end up like Aqua if you're always arrogant like that."
"You mean, like you?"
"Don't compare me to Aqua ever again if you know what's good for you."
Sensing that I actually felt offended by that, Mary closed her mouth and focused on her task.
Eventually, her eyes widened.
"Ah, he's still here! …Actually, I think he's in a bit of trouble."
"Eh? I thought he was a high-level app-user?"
"I'm not sure how, but he got caught by some female orcs."
"Hah?!"
So there were also female orcs on this floor…
The fact that they'd be stronger than previous floors made me hesitate to confront them.
But at the same time, I didn't want this guy to meet a gruesome fate.
"Fine, tell me where he is."
Mary gave me some directions, then I headed over to rescue that troublesome guy.
I followed Mary's directions as accurately as I could, but I only ended up in an empty hallway.
"Hmm… Where are they?"
I was about to move on, until I heard a faint, muffled scream behind the wall to my right.
I then remembered how the kobolds were hiding in tunnels on the walls.
Sure enough, when I knocked on the wall, I heard that it was hollow.
I looked around everywhere for some kind of clue, poking Chunchunmaru all throughout the wall for some kind of secret button.
Until I happened to hear a click.
Then, the wall slid to the side, revealing an entrance.
So it was some kind of female orc secret base.
I snuck inside the tunnel, and found myself in a spacious cavern. It was a lot like the kobold community, a cavern area with tents and tools in it. Many Female Orcs were gathered around a campfire, and I saw a log arrested on the ground, held up horizontally. There was a Japanese teenage boy tied up on that log, and he was kicking his legs around. He was only down in his underwear.
"Kieee?! Please let me go, I haven't done it with a girl, yet?!"
He cried, pure despair in his voice.
A female orc smiled, drooling from the corner of her lips.
"Ehh… But I'm a girl, aren't I, hubby~?"
"Why are you already calling me hubby?! I'm not your hubby! And you barely qualify as a girl!"
"You're right… Because soon, I'll be a woman! Be mine, hubby!"
"Nooooo?!"
Before a horrific scene could take place, I summoned an ice arrow and loaded it up into my bow.
"[Rapid Shot]!"
I then proceeded to fire multiple arrows one after another at a quick pace, felling multiple orcs at the same time.
However, with that, the element of surprise was gone and there were still a lot of them left.
"Sniff… Sniff… Oh?! I smell the scent of another man!"
"Over there! There's a good-looking onii-san over there!"
"Hey there, cutie! Want a quickie with me? Or we can go much longer, if you want~!"
The tied up app-user saw me and said,
"Y-You there! I'll give you whatever you want, so please save me! I'm begging you!"
I was intending on saving him anyway, so I put my bow away with a voice command to Appuri-chan.
With all of these orcs against me, I needed a boost in power, fast.
It was time to use that skill I learned from my max bond rank with Mitsurugi.
"[Lightning]!"
After a bolt of lightning appeared in front of me, I absorbed its magical energy.
"[Rune Warrior]!"
I took on the characteristics of lightning magic itself.
Electricity cackled around my body, which let out a radiant, golden glow.
The female orcs surrounded me.
"Appuri-chan, spear!"
"Spear is coming out!"
I brought out the spear of thunder and kept the orcs away with a wide-arcing [Side Slash].
Sparks of electricity leapt out from the spear and hit the orcs attempting to attack me as I struck them. They cried in pain and fell down, black, electric burn marks all over their skin. There was a scent like burnt bacon in the air.
While looking at the electricity all around me, I decided to try something.
"[Control Spell]!"
I channeled the electricity around my feet, making it propel me forwards with a blast of electromagnetic force.
The experiment worked. It was almost like I disappeared in a flash of speed and appeared in front of a group of surprised orcs.
"[Power Slash]! [Side Slash]!"
I combined my warrior skills with the lightning magic, instantly cutting through the orcs with a spear that not only blew them back with a thunderous blow, but also fried them with lightning magic.
The orcs started to panic once they saw me mowing them down.
"L-Let's retreat! Grab that first man and let's go!"
"Eeeek?! Help meee?!"
They decided to cut their losses and escape.
As soon as the orcs picked up that guy, I decided to throw my spear at them.
It didn't hit, but the orcs were blown back when the spear hit the ground and they were electrocuted as well.
"Owww! Oi, you're getting me in the attack, too!"
"Sorry, but it's better than being those orcs playthings, right?"
I said, running over to untie him.
While he was rubbing his wrists, I knelt down and absorbed mana from the floor with [Drain Touch, then returned the spear to my inventory.
"There's still a lot of them left, so we have to escape."
I told him, to which he nodded, not even arguing.
"Yeah, let's do that! Quick!"
He was eager to leave.
I couldn't blame him.
"Whoa, what are you doing?!"
He said, when I picked him up princess carry style.
"...I hate doing this to a guy, too, but just shut up and swallow your pride! Unless you want to be an orc's boy toy for your whole life!"
"P-Please rescue me, my prince!"
"There's no need for that! Just shut up and don't make this any weirder than it has to be!"
With him in my arms, I channeled more lightning into my feet.
Then dashed with lightning trailing behind me as I made my way to the entrance.
The orcs couldn't possibly all spill out of the tunnel, so I ran straight to the entrance heading to the fourth floor.
There were faint, desperate cries from the orcs as they futilely tried to chase after us.
"Don't steal my hubby from meeee!"
I ignored those cries as I shut the door.
Part 3
"Thank you so much for saving me!"
The guy hugged me as we travelled through the swamp area with the sailboat.
I pushed him off me.
"...How did you end up in that situation, anyway? You should be stronger than those orcs."
"They managed to trap me…"
"Don't tell me you got seduced."
"Do you really think I'm desperate enough to be seduced by those orcs?! They tricked me! I was just walking through that floor when I heard voices beyond the wall! They sounded like girls in danger!"
"Hah? There's so many monsters here that can speak like humans, so how did you fall for that?"
"Well, that's the thing. They told their names to me, and they were Japanese names. They even told me they were from Tokyo."
If the orcs did that to me, I doubt I could have seen through their lie. I guess I couldn't really blame him.
"...How did the orcs learn so much about us?"
"Probably from their victims."
I shuddered, imagining how the orcs got that information.
This was bad. The intelligent monsters were starting to learn more about their prey.
Power differences aside, even someone as strong as Mitsurugi could be deceived and captured if he lets his guard down.
"There must be a way to differentiate a monster's voice from a human's. In fact, it's not like they can even speak Japanese, the app is just translating their words for us."
He nodded, rubbing his chin.
"Usually, you can tell when the app is translating someone's words, since the voice doesn't often match the way their lips are moving."
I noticed that as well, when I first talked to Darkness, when I met her and Chris in the dungeon while they were fighting those slimes.
To think that this issue would arise from the way the translation feature worked…
"I'll figure out how to deal with that. In the meantime… Oi, you're the one leaving all those high-level gear in the lower floors, right?!"
"Ah, did you benefit from my charity work? You're welcome!"
"Hell no! Stop doing that! Don't you realize that the monsters are picking up your gear since you just leave it around in random areas?!"
"I-I didn't realize. I don't really fight the monsters in the lower floors…"
How irresponsible was this guy?!
"Anyway, stop doing that."
"Sorry… I just wanted to be like those YouTubers who give away free things to strangers."
What a weird thing to aspire to.
"If you really wanna help out, then why are you just leaving items around in random places? Just leave them by the teleporter, because it seems like monsters don't go to those areas!"
"That makes sense, actually…"
It made me sigh, the fact that he didn't even think about that.
To show him an example, I used [Smithing] to create a box near the teleporter for the fourth floor. We also labelled the box as a 'community box', where high-level players can leave equipment they don't want anymore.
"So, you can leave some items here now."
I said, once the box was constructed.
"...Well, the orcs stole the gear I was wearing, so I don't have any now."
I couldn't handle spending another second with this guy anymore.
…
…
I went back to the first floor to look for Darkness.
She finished her training session and went to the Giant Toad area to spend time with her adoptive toad, Pocky.
"How's Pocky-chan doing?"
I said, while watching Pocky nuzzling against Darkness, who looked fondly at the toad.
"She's doing well! She seems a bit hungry, though…"
I looked at Pocky's frame and noticed it was slimmer than the other Giant Toads.
There were Giant Insects all around, after Chris gathered some eggs at her own time and repopulated the insect population in the Giant Toad area.
"I don't get it, there's plenty of food around here…"
"I observed her, and Pocky doesn't seem interested in the Giant Insects."
Maybe because she was raised like a human, she developed finer tastes from the other toads.
To collaborate this idea, when one of her peers extended its tongue out to grab a Giant Insect, Pocky-chan seemed to turn her head away in disgust and contempt.
…What a spoiled child.
"So, I guess we need to find another source of food just for our picky child here…"
Darkness blushed, glancing at the grass under us.
"Kazuma… If you say it like that, it sounds like she's our daughter and we're both her parents…"
"Y-You just had to make it weird, huh?!"
"J-Just ignore what I said!"
We were both blushing at this point.
Food… Aside from insects, what would a Giant Toad eat?
It seemed that they had quite an omnivorous diet, as they ate everything from Green Onions to humans and insects. Aqua even told me they ate livestock in the other world.
"I guess we'll just have to present a bunch of different things to see what she'll eat."
"It seems like it…"
And so, Darkness and I scavenged the first floor to look for some food.
I went back to the pond and fished, returning to the activity I was focusing on before I fished up that boot.
Once I caught a couple fishes, I walked around and encountered a goblin.
Not discounting that she might like to eat a goblin, I used [Bind] to capture it.
Then I also gathered some critters, making sure not to take too many like Megumin did, and also gathered some Green Onions.
When I returned to the Giant Toad area, Darkness eyed the tied up goblin I held.
"Kazuma… Do you really think our daughter will like that?!"
She said, looking offended at the goblin I dropped before Pocky.
Since when were we the parents of that toad?
"What's the matter? Her mother likes goblins a lot, right?"
Darkness blushed to her ears in shame.
"My Pocky-chan is pure unlike her mother!"
So she admitted that she was impure herself.
However, Darkness seemed to have a point, since Pocky-chan turned her head away dismissively from the goblin.
"See? I told you!"
"Yeah, yeah… Let's just see what else she will eat."
We presented the other options to her, but this picky brat rejected all of them.
Until she saw the Green Onion.
She let out a happy sound and her tongue snatched the Green Onion and she ate it.
"Ohhh! I guess it makes sense that Pocky-chan likes Green Onions, since she was raised to eat them!"
Darkness said, rubbing Pocky-chan's head as she ate the bundle of Green Onions.
"...The only problem is that we can't grow Green Onions anymore around here, or the other Giant Toads will get too big. They're not tamed like Pocky-chan."
That was the only reason we cut off the original supply of Green Onions and reintroduced the Giant Insects here.
"Maybe we can just make an enclosure for Pocky-chan? To keep her away from the other toads?"
Darkness suggested, as if she was bringing up the idea of homeschooling her daughter.
There really isn't a big enough blockade we can use to keep the other Giant Toads out. They're not small like they were before.
"Hmm… Then what should we do?"
After a few minutes, I got an idea.
"Ah, how 'bout this? We transfer her to the goblin area."
"Kazuma… I already told you that she doesn't wanna eat a goblin, right?"
Darkness gave me quite the accusatory look. Her protective, motherly instincts were sure on fire right now.
"Just hear me out first. We have good relations with the goblins in that forest, right? We can just have them take care of Pocky-chan and feed her Green Onions that we harvest. Pocky-chan isn't interested in goblins, anyway, so it's not like she'll eat them. And those goblins know that we can just annihilate them all if they harm Pocky-chan in any way."
"I suppose that's true… Ah, but I'm so nervous about leaving her to others!"
"Just think of this as sending your child to daycare."
"I don't think a goblin tribe counts as daycare…"
It took a while to convince her, but Darkness eventually relented, since we didn't have other alternatives.
There was just one problem, though.
"...How do we transfer Pocky-chan to the forest?"
It wasn't like she could fit through the tunnels.
"Eh? It was your idea, Kazuma!"
She was quick to pin the blame on me.
"Relax. Let's call Yunyun and see if her teleportation works on a monster."
"Don't call my daughter a monster."
Her maternal instincts sure were on overdrive.
"Well, let's take care of that another day. It's not like we can call Yunyun here whenever we want, just so we can make use of her teleportation."
I wanted to learn that spell someday, although I knew that it was a rather high level spell.
Part 4
Darkness and I walked home after taking care of Pocky-chan's relocation.
"...I must say, walking home like this is quite the experience."
She said, while looking around at the evening scenery creeping in, shadows lengthening as people hurried home. Cellphone screens illuminated the faces of passerby and street lamps casted a pale radiance on their slouched backs.
"How is it an experience? It happens everyday."
"I guess it's different where I'm from? I did not walk home, as my family's driver would always pick me up from school, or my other appointments."
"I get it, you're quite the ojou-sama. Stop showing off already, you privileged aristocrat."
"I'm not showing off! And I'm not an aristocrat!"
"It sure feels like it!"
"S-So what if I'm rich?! Do you forget that you're rich now too?!"
"Don't compare my new money to your old money! Who knows how many people your lineage screwed over to get those riches!"
"T-That's an unfair assumption! I'll have you know the Dustiness clan has a very well respected history!"
"According to who, your bookkeepers?"
"My father says they're trustworthy sources!"
Lately, I had been arguing with Darkness at the same frequency as I did with Aqua.
Whether that was a sign of us getting closer or drifting further apart is up to interpretation.
When we arrived at the mansion, we saw Sena waiting for us.
"What's the matter, Sena? Wanna drink again?"
After that night, I developed quite a liking for alcohol.
"...Maybe later. We have news about the surveillance, Kazuma-san."
Darkness raised a brow.
"What's this about?"
It just occurred to me that I didn't tell anyone else about this.
I told Darkness about our cemetery stakeout, then Sena brought us to a van outside containing a group of agents keeping watch over the operation.
They saluted to me, then said,
"Sir, there is a gathering right now, and there are many app-users in attendance."
Just like the agent said, on the screen there was quite the sizable group of app-users surrounding a figure dressed in a cloak.
We listened to what they were saying.
"...Thank you all for coming again. Now, let us not waste any time. Share any intel you gathered on Satou Kazuma."
They were looking for me?
I guess this just confirmed that this person was part of the Demon King army.
To my surprise, I saw Dust was in attendance. I watched him step up and raise his hand.
"Um… I'm new here, but I actually know Kazuma. He frequents the succubus shop I go to."
"What is that traitor saying?!"
I almost punched the screen in a fit of rage when I saw Dust revealing my information.
The robed figure looked confused.
"...Succubus shop? What's that?"
Dust was about to respond, but he stopped. The robed figure sighed in displeasure.
"...The control is slipping. I guess I have to do this again."
She lifted her skirt and showed Dust quite the spectacular sight, revealing her black lace panties and her bare thighs.
"...This looks important. Zoom in. Enhance."
I said, instructing the agents.
Sena and Darkness gave me a blank stare.
"Kazuma… Now's not the time to get excited."
Who was I to deny a free strip show?
I didn't really know what happened, but after that peep show, Dust suddenly started speaking.
"I'll answer you right away, Serena-sama! The succubus shop is home to succubi from our original world! They provide dreams to customers for a fee!"
"Interesting… To think that succubi from our world showed up there as well… Wait, are you from the same world as me?"
"Yup! Look, I got an Axel Town guild card and everything."
This guy was telling her everything now.
"Is that pervert really betraying us just 'coz she showed him her panties?!"
"Kazuma, why are you acting like you're above such things?"
"I'm not that desperate!"
Sena watched the scene with a thoughtful look.
"I'm not sure why so many app-users would betray us, though. And we even achieved victory in the last conflict."
"They were obviously seduced by that lady with the amazing choice in underwear."
"...Are you sure you weren't the one who was seduced?"
Even Sena was beginning to doubt me.
She did bring up a good point, though. And it wasn't like all of those app-users were horny men. There were some girls there.
…Well, maybe they swung that way.
There wasn't really any point in speculating, so we simply took note of all the app-users who attended the meeting.
After that, I texted Chris and told her about what we learned.
Darkness saw me texting her friend and said,
"If you two are going to do some investigation, can I come?"
"...Do you enjoy being useless?"
"What did you say?!"
"It's not like you're built for stealth or scouting missions, so why even ask?!"
"So it's just gonna be you and Chris… I'm kind of jealous."
"Who are you jealous of?"
I couldn't tell if she was jealous of Chris because she got to spend time with me, or the other way around.
"Well, I haven't hung out with Chris lately."
So it was the yuri route.
"I'll tell her to hangout with you when I see her, how 'bout that?"
"...That makes me sound desperate."
"Oh, you aren't?"
Sena split us apart before we could argue even more.
"By the way… What was that succubus shop that the person in the recording mentioned? He also said that Kazuma-san frequents there."
"...?!"
As expected of a police officer, she sure picked up on that quickly.
"...I don't really know what he was talking about."
"You know, Kazuma-san, we could always make use of a lie detector…"
"Ahh…! I got a message from Chris, I should address this!"
I stepped aside as soon as Chris gave me a timely response to my text.
Based on the information I gave her, Chris decided that we should interrogate Dust.
I didn't want to reveal the existence of the succubus shop to Chris as well, so I gave her some vague instructions to meet me in the red light district to spring a trap for Dust.
"Ah, I gotta get going now!"
"Kazuma-san… You're obviously hiding something…"
I didn't respond to Sena as I hurriedly left the mansion grounds to meet Chris.
Part 5
When I saw Chris, I noticed that she looked pretty nervous. I also almost didn't recognize her at the start, since she was wearing a long coat and a hat.
"...What's with the outfit? We're in the middle of summer."
I said, eyeing the coat.
"Yeah, I'm kind of dying… But I don't want to be seen entering this kind of area!"
So she was embarrassed about entering the red light district.
I put my hand on her neck and used [Freeze].
"Eeep! What was that for?!"
"If you're not gonna take off the coat, we need to cool you down somehow."
"At least give me some warning! Fine… I'll take off the coat."
She placed the coat into her inventory, then said,
"So… What are we gonna do?"
I didn't want to lead her to the succubus shop, so I suggested scoping around the red light district until we came across Dust.
"Do we really need to walk around in this kinda place…?"
She said, warily looking around at the seedy attractions all around us, at bars, hostess clubs and soaplands, not to mention the love hotels.
She looked away from a love hotel after we passed it.
I grinned at her.
"Oh? Are you curious about those?"
"Of course not!"
"Ehh… You seemed to like all the stuff we did before, though…"
"Don't remind me!"
I placed my arm around her.
"Come on now, Big Boss! Don't be shy! You know I'm up to fool around whenever you want!"
"...Kazuma-kun… You sure can say the most ridiculous stuff with a straight face."
She didn't move away from my arm, though.
I wanted to tease her some more, but we did have a task to focus on.
Using [Farsight, I looked around the area for Dust.
Soon, I saw his blond hair among the crowd. Sure enough, he was heading to the succubus shop.
"There's our guy."
"That's him…? He looks like the bad sort."
"Yeah, that's about right."
We went over to Dust to confront him. I placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back.
"Hah?! Wanna pick a fight, punk?! Oh, it's you, Kazuma. Great, I've been looking for you!"
"You've been looking for me, huh?"
"Yeah, I want you to meet someone! Got time right now?"
"...Who is this person?"
He grinned lecherously and leaned over to me.
"A really hot girl wants to meet you! That's great, right?"
This was the most obvious trap ever.
He finally noticed Chris and said,
"Oh? Who's this guy?"
Since Chris was wearing a hat and had a rather lean figure, not to mention her short hair, she was mistaken as a guy.
I didn't want Dust to start hitting on Chris, so I moved the subject back.
"Ah, just a friend. So, this girl… Tell me more about her."
"Her name's Serena and she's so hot! You gotta meet her!"
"Uh-huh… And does this girl happen to be a member of the Demon King army, perhaps?"
He blinked, then looked at the both of us.
Before turning around and running away.
"Ahh…! This guy is trying to run! Go after him!"
I said, as Chris and I ran in pursuit.
He ducked into a dark alleyway. I used [Night Vision] to navigate my way and lead Chris.
After some running, we managed to trap Dust in a dead end.
"...Alright, Dust, time to give up and tell me why you betrayed us. We know about your meeting in the cemetery."
"Tsk… Serena-sama ordered me to defeat anyone who knows about the meeting, sorry about this, pal."
He leaned over and grabbed a metal pipe from the wall, displaying his strength as he ripped it off.
Before giving him the chance to attack, Chris and I glanced at each other and nodded.
"[Bind]!"
"[Steal]!"
We didn't waste any time in trying to subdue him.
The pipe disappeared from his hands and went to mine, and the rope securely went around his torso.
But just when I thought he was captured…
"Gack!"
He suddenly leaped towards Chris and kneed her in the stomach.
"...?!"
I was so shocked seeing Chris fall to her knees, that I could barely defend with my arms as Dust hit me with a calf kick.
"...!"
I staggered back, unable to stand upright after that devastating kick.
"Spear!"
"Spear mode!"
Appuri-chan summoned my spear, and I used it to keep Dust away from Chris and I.
He rolled his eyes when he saw the spear.
"Out of all the weapons you could have used, you shouldn't have picked that."
I ignored his taunt and lunged at him with the spear.
"Too choreographed. You could have at least tried a couple feints."
He said, as he surprised me by moving in time with the spear lunge and using the side of his body to slide within the spear and knock it to the side.
Then he got me with a side kick to the gut.
I let out a cry of pain as I stumbled to my knees like Chris did.
"Now to get out of this… [Overwhelm]!"
I remembered seeing Mitsurugi use that skill before to shrug off defenders during a soccer match.
So it was some kind of skill that lets the user break free from obstructions and bindings.
I watched as the rope fell away from him as he freed his arms.
He then picked up the pipe again.
"[Steal]!"
Chris recovered and stood up while still clutching her stomach, stealing the pipe again.
"Ah, that's getting annoying."
Dust grabbed a trash can lid and threw it at Chris.
Then, before I could react, he charged and shoulder rammed Chris while her vision was covered by the trash can.
"Chris…!"
"Don't move, Kazuma."
I stopped in my tracks as I saw that Dust got Chris in a chokehold.
He got us.
I knew he was from the other world, and I didn't know his backstory, but he was clearly powerful.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was on Mitsurugi's level, or even beyond that.
"Nothing against you, Kazuma, just following Serena-sama's orders."
"...Why are you working for the Demon King army, Dust? What are they offering you?"
He tilted his head, as if he was trying to figure out the answer.
"Eh? Hmm… Well, these guys from the succubus shop told me that this hot girl wanted to meet me, then I met Serena-sama and she flashed me her panties, hehe…"
Was that really all it took?
"Hah? You're betraying me just because of that?!"
There must be something more to it.
Dust was stupid, but even he wasn't stupid enough to side with the enemy just for such a trivial reason.
Not just Dust, there must be some special reason why all those app-users were following this Serena person.
"Sorry, Kazuma, just obeying orders."
"...Come on, there must be a way to change your mind."
"I'm completely loyal to Serena-sama!"
I remembered the bond description I had with Dust saying he owed a big debt to the yakuza.
"...I'll pay off all your debts."
He stared at me for a while, before releasing Chris.
"You got yourself a deal!"
It was that easy?!
While I was confused, Dust looked at Chris, who was coughing after being strangled and said,
"Eh? Why was I doing that?"
I glared at him as I went over to heal Chris.
"...Are you trying to avoid responsibility for doing all of this?"
"No, I'm serious, Kazuma! I never meant to do all of that! It was like something was controlling me!"
Chris and I both glanced at each other.
Dust was a scumbag, but I really didn't figure him as the type of person who'd betray his friend.
"Didn't you say that you were doing this for Serena?"
He rubbed his head, then said,
"Ah, that's right! Ever since that lady showed me her panties, I feel like I haven't been in control of myself, like I was watching someone else control my body!"
It was beginning to sound like mind control.
That could also explain why all those app-users were obeying that Serena person.
Once Chris recovered, she had a thoughtful look on her face.
"...If the enemy is in control of all those app-users, this could be bad… Dammit! This is why I wanted to retrieve all those artifacts!"
If the Demon King army got their hands on all those cheat items, we were doomed.
"Dust, did this Serena person tell you where to find her once you accomplished her mission?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to remember.
"Ah! Yeah, she did! She gave me instructions to meet her at an abandoned building somewhere!"
Aside from the info, I was just glad that we managed to get Dust back to normal.
The way that fight was going wasn't in our favor at all.
"By the way, Kazuma… About the money…"
Of course he wouldn't forget about that.
Part 6
After paying Dust, we split up from him and called Sena to take us to the mansion. I didn't want to risk taking public transport now that we knew there were mind-controlled app-users around.
While we were waiting, Chris rubbed her belly.
"...I healed you, but are you alright?"
She gave me a weak smile and nodded.
"Yeah… I didn't expect to get beat up like that. Sorry, Kazuma-kun, I'm supposed to be your boss, but I couldn't really protect you."
She tried to laugh it off, but I could tell that it really upset her that we almost lost to Dust.
"It's fine, I get it. It doesn't feel good to lose to a bum like Dust."
"That's not what I meant! I just feel awful that I couldn't protect you!"
"...Isn't it a man's job to protect the woman?"
"So old fashioned! …That's sweet, though."
I smirked and wagged my eyebrows at her.
"Oh? Is Big Boss starting to fall for me? Wanna hit that love hotel?"
I received a hand on my face for my flirting as she pushed me back.
"...You're such a jerk sometimes, Kazuma-kun!"
"Well, if it really upsets you that much, I can stop…"
I wasn't the type of guy who'd force the issue, after all. If she really didn't enjoy my attention, I was fine with never doing it again.
She glanced away and rubbed her arm.
"It's not like I said that…"
"Oh? So you do like it?"
"I didn't say that!"
"So you hate it."
"...I didn't say that either!"
I narrowed my eyes on her.
"Are you some kind of tsundere, or something?"
"W-What do you mean by that?!"
She stuttered while blushing profusely.
"Listen, I hate the kind of girls who don't clearly express their feelings! It's fine if you hate a guy's advances, but why lead him on by saying you don't hate it?! Then when the guy continues to flirt with you, it's fine to act cold and push him away?! That kind of contradictory behavior is really annoying!"
"...Darkness told me that your behavior improved recently, was that a lie?!"
It seems that Chris was made aware of my efforts to improve myself.
"Of course my behavior improved. I don't call Darkness a pathetic, masochistic pig anymore, after all."
"I feel like you haven't made any improvements at all!"
She sighed before continuing to say,
"...It's not like I can say if I like it or not, because I'm not certain about it. Besides, what do you want to hear from me, a confession?!"
"Oh, you want to confess?"
"I didn't say that?! Stop putting words in my mouth!"
She was really cute, especially when she was embarrassed like this. It made me want to tease her even more.
"Come on, the sooner you confess, the sooner we can do lewd stuff again! Don't tell me you're not into that."
She opened her mouth, before closing it. A calculating look entered her eyes, and I started to get nervous.
"...Are you really that desperate to do lewd stuff to me, Kazuma-kun? Isn't that kind of creepy?"
"Um… I-Is it really?"
I didn't think she'd turn the tables on me, so I got caught off guard.
"You're being a sex pest right now, aren't you?! You totally are!"
I couldn't really deny that.
"...But Chris is the one who clearly enjoyed it last time, but you're acting like you're not interested at all."
"And I told you that it's not like I hated it! But you can't just force these things to happen, it needs to happen naturally!"
I suppose since I had good luck with women recently, I unintentionally forced the issue.
"Sorry… I'll try to calm down."
She seemed surprised that I didn't argue.
"...It's fine. Again, I'm not saying I hated it, but let's slow down a little."
"Don't worry, I get it."
She smiled at me, seeming to appreciate how I understood her.
Your bond with Chris has deepened!
Chris (Silver-haired Thief), Bond Rank: 6
At Rank 6, Chris recognizes that she doesn't hate doing lewd stuff with you, however, she has stated her boundaries and respects you for following them. Continuing to show your respect to her will advance your relationship even more.
Bond Reward: 20 Speed
…
…
We gathered everyone in the mansion and I told them about the mind-controlled app-users. We met in the kitchen with Chris joining us for the first time. Aqua rubbed her chin and said,
"Hmm… Depending on how the mind-control works, I could use [Sacred Break Spell] to free the app-users."
"Let's think of other strategies, too."
"Hold on, I don't like the way you said that, Kazuma! It's almost as if you're expecting my plan to fail, so you're coming up with other plans, right?!"
Darkness raised her hands in a placating gesture.
"Now, now, Aqua. It's natural to come up with multiple plans, right?"
"Actually, Aqua had it right."
"...Kazuma, I was trying to defend you."
Before Aqua could attack me for my remarks, I turned to Iris.
"Iris, do you know anything about mind-control magic?"
I asked her, since she was the leader of the resistance in the other world.
Her face brightened and she rubbed her chin in thought, although it seemed like most of it was performative.
"...Well, if I were to reference my extensive experience in combat, I'd say that based on what I heard, this form of mind control seems to have a specific condition to activate it, rather than complete domination of a person."
That did make sense, since Dust was able to snap out of the mind control on his own.
We weren't sure what this condition was, but if we discovered its nature, we could counter Serena's power.
"I suppose we're going to confront this Serena person, then… And here I thought we could have a little bit of a break after the war."
Mitsurugi said, sighing in mild disappointment.
"Hm? It's not like we'll charge in first."
"...What do you have planned now, Satou?"
Based on how he was looking at me, he wasn't looking forward to hearing what I had to say.
"Why should we risk anything when we don't know anything about the enemy? We know where she is, so let's send in the army first."
"...Relying on other people to do your work… Kazuma, aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
Megumin said, looking at me like I was trash.
"Listen, if we go in there not knowing what the enemy does, and we get wiped out, then this whole world is in danger. Those soldiers will gladly risk their lives if they know it's for the greater good."
Chris sighed, crossing her arms.
"It sounds scummy, but Kazuma-kun makes a lot of sense, I have to admit."
I nodded to her appreciatively.
"I'm glad someone understands."
Iris smiled and raised a finger.
"I also understand the reason behind onii-sama's strategy. By the way, when it's our turn for battle, I believe that I should be in the frontline…"
"Not happening."
She paused, before looking at me in disbelief.
"I don't understand, onii-sama… If you're concerned about me, there's no reason to. I am incredibly powerful, despite appearances!"
"I know that's the case, that's why we can't afford to lose you in case we fail. Not to mention that you're very important politically in terms of our relations to the other world. We just can't afford to lose you."
Iris didn't seem happy about my decision, but she was mature enough to accept it, giving me a slow nod.
"Very well, I accept your decision, onii-sama."
After we got that settled, I had Sena make the calls to arrange military backup.
Part 7
"We're ready to move out, Cap'n!"
Marika-san saluted me, along with the rest of my troop.
There were many other units with us, equipped with recon gear and modified equipment.
"...This still feels dishonorable."
Megumin said, looking at all the JSDF soldiers surrounding the abandoned building where Serena was waiting for Dust.
"And what counts as honorable to you, Megumin? Blowing up the building before the enemy can react?"
"Obviously!"
"What's so honorable about that?! That's worse, isn't it?!"
Darkness shook her head and placed a hand on Megumin's shoulder.
"There's no use in arguing with Kazuma about honor. You know he has no honor."
I thought she was going to stick up for me, since she did that recently, but she just joined in on the bashing.
We went into the surveillance van, where Sena was monitoring the body cams the soldiers were carrying. This way, we could see what they saw in combat from multiple perspectives. They were all wearing earpieces to receive instructions from us.
There were also drones waiting to fly in to do the same thing.
"They're ready to infiltrate on your command, Captain."
Sena said, waiting for my affirmation.
I nodded to her, which she responded to by pressing a button.
"Operation is a go."
We watched as the soldiers efficiently infiltrated the building, relying on their night vision goggles to navigate through the darkness.
They silently communicated by way of hand gestures, which I had to memorize, since I was leading a unit of my own. All this stuff really cut into my studying for midterms, which I was halfway giving up on getting a good grade at this point.
After a few moments, through the body cams, we saw movement in the shadows.
Actually, there was a lot of movement.
Multiple forms emerged, staggering as they moved. They looked like ordinary humans at first, but when they got closer, we saw that while they were humanoid, these figures had gray, lifeless skin, rotted teeth and eyes devoid of any life. Tattered clothes hung from their bodies, as well as jewelry.
There were some that looked almost normal, mixed in with the other decayed bodies, but no matter how we looked at it, it was clear that these were corpses that were somehow able to move.
In other words, zombies.
The soldiers hesitated to fire, not knowing if these things were humans or not. Except for my unit, these soldiers had never stepped foot in a dungeon, so this was their first time seeing zombies.
Not only that, but something horrible happened.
"Wait… I recognize those clothes, that jewelry! That's my late wife!"
Some of the soldiers recognized their loved ones.
Hearing that, the other soldiers held their fire, and I couldn't bring myself to command them to shoot.
Another figure emerged, this time it was the mysterious cloaked being known as Serena. The soldiers immediately took aim, but she raised her hands.
"Hold on, don't do anything hasty. If you don't harm me, then I won't make these zombies attack you. It seems that some of them are the corpses of your loved ones, yes?"
Upon hearing this, there was a noticeable wave of relief befalling the soldiers, as they lowered their guns.
They even looked grateful to Serena for not having to make them fight their loved ones.
Serena held up her hand.
"Alright, those of you who feel as if they owe me a debt, step forward and come by my side."
Aqua raised her brow, crossing her arms.
"Hah? What is this bitch talking about? Why would any of our guys listen to her!"
I was about to have a rare moment of agreement with Aqua, until a majority of the soldiers actually walked over to Serena's side.
"Wait, this is it! This is the condition for her mind control!"
I said, watching as the soldiers immediately switched sides.
Megumin watched the scene unfolding and slowly nodded.
"Yeah, I get it, too. It seems that if the target feels like they owe something to this Serena person, they will become mind-controlled by her."
She intentionally raised zombies of the people in this area, banking on the fact that people will naturally hesitate to attack those who were once innocent people, especially if these were their deceased loved ones.
Then, by promising not to endanger these zombies, she managed to get the soldiers to feel like they owed her one.
This isn't good…
On the other hand, it was fortunate that we didn't charge in by ourselves, otherwise, we might have been her puppets by now.
"Sena, order the remaining soldiers to retreat."
"Yes, sir! All soldiers not affected by the mind-control, please retreat!"
The soldiers obeyed the command, turning around and sprinting for the exit.
However, more zombies came out to block their exit and only a few soldiers managed to escape.
"...Satou, it's a good thing you found out about the enemy's powers, but are we really going to abandon those other soldiers?!"
Mitsurugi said, horrified by what he was seeing.
"...It's not like we have a choice. We don't even know what other crazy powers this Serena might have."
We managed to beat Beldia and Sylvia with all their hax, but those two were more straightforward in their combat approach. Serena seemed more like a strategist who used her cunning to deceive her opponents, and her powers were a lot more complicated than anything we had faced so far. We couldn't just start fighting her while she had the element of surprise.
Not only that, but she must have a lot of information on us after questioning all those app-users.
And now, she had the soldiers not only as hostages, but as further sources of information.
"Well, I can't just sit around here! I'm gonna go in there to rescue them!"
Darkness nodded to Mitsurugi's words.
"Indeed. I can't just cower in this van when my allies are captured."
These two were getting ready to just charge in.
"...Start the van and let's head out."
"Satou…?! How much of a coward are you?!"
Just when I was about to justify my actions, Rin stood in front of me, arms spread out.
"...Everyone! Please trust senpai! Even if he seems like a cold-hearted coward who uses people as pawns, he always has everyone's best interest in mind, right?!"
Was she defending me, or insulting me?
Yunyun nodded her head and also stood up for me.
"Y-Yes! Even though Kazuma-san is the type of man who would not hesitate to abandon his comrades, please trust him!"
They were making me seem even more untrustworthy than before.
Somehow, this managed to get Mitsurugi and Darkness to calm down.
Chris sighed, while grabbing one of the grab handles hanging down the roof of the van.
"...Why does every mission with you turn out like this, Kazuma-kun."
It seems that my reputation was dwindling even more among them.
Not like it was high to begin with.
"Wait, the mind-controlled soldiers are following us!"
Sena said, when she noticed the humvees trailing after us. It didn't take long until they caught up to our van.
Soon, we received radio transmissions from several of them.
"Captain Satou, please step out of your vehicle. We don't want to shoot you!"
"Please surrender yourself to Serena-sama!"
"She promised to spare your life if you surrender peacefully!"
These guys were completely brainwashed.
I didn't want to have to harm them, but they were all pointing their guns at the van. Their bullets were all coated with dungeon material, meaning that we'd all be dead if they sprayed them at us.
And if Aqua died along with us, there was no hope for resurrection.
So, I had to take them all out in an instant without killing any of them.
"I hope this works…"
I took a deep breath and opened my palm.
This was a new technique I had been thinking of using.
It was still very much in the experimental stage, as in, I hadn't really tried it out outside of simulations in my head.
But there were no other options, rather than have Aqua try to use [Sacred Break Spell]. And there were too many of them for her to convert them all back to normal.
I used [Flash, but contained the light using [Delayed Spell], causing an orb of light to appear above my hand.
I used [Charge Spell], adding more mana into it.
"Kazuma… What are you doing? If you're gonna flashbang them, you need to go outside the van! You'll just blind all of us!"
Aqua said, already turning away from the ball of light.
With [Control Spell], I can manipulate how the spell behaves.
I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but if I charge the electrons with my mana and direct the energy into a different wavelength, I might be able to change the frequency of the electromagnetic wave.
Since this was a desperate moment, the only thing I could do was release the spell.
The orb of light disappeared, as I directed the invisible wave outside of the van.
Then, we heard the screams.
"Gahhh?! Why is it so loud?! Ahhh!"
If their eardrums didn't shatter, then they were at least disoriented enough that the humvees chasing after us all veered away, some of them spinning out of the road.
"Eh? What did you do, Satou?"
Mitsurugi said, as he was about to open the car doors and jump out, sword in hand.
"I hit them with an EMP converted from the flash spell."
They all stared at me.
"...Kazuma, you're really scary sometimes, you know?"
Darkness said, giving me a blank look of disbelief.
Megumin, however, was ecstatic.
"Wait, if light magic can be used that way, does that mean you can supercharge light magic and make it faster than light?!"
"...Don't be ridiculous."
Even if that was physically possible, there was no way a rank 1 skill would let me do that.
…At least, I'm assuming so.
I'd rather not mess around with that kinda stuff, though.
Not that I even think it's remotely possible.
Megumin blinked, tilting her head to the side.
"...Wait, you'd need to know how to do the calculations in your head to use [Control Spell] to control frequencies, right?"
"It's f = c/λ, isn't it? C being the speed of light."
Mitsurugi nodded his head.
"That kinda stuff is stuck in your head, too, huh?"
"That's midterm season for ya."
I nodded along sympathetically with him.
"Senpai, that's so cool how you figured it out!"
Rin said, being the first one to actually praise me for getting us out of that lose-lose situation.
I mean, Mitsurugi was about to jump out of the van.
"...A-As expected of Kazuma-san! I never even thought about using those skills that way! I only used that spell to flash everyone!"
"Thanks for the compliment, Yunyun. You're a very nice girl. That's why I'm gonna assume you didn't mean anything perverted by that."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
Rin sighed as Yunyun looked confused.
"Senpai… Just when I was praising you."
I managed to lower my reputation again.
I noticed that Chris was looking at me with something akin to concern.
"...What's the matter with you? Are you gonna say that I shouldn't have harmed the soldiers? I had no choice, right?!"
She shook her head.
"No, not that… I'm just thinking that Kazuma-kun could come up with some really dangerous applications for his skills, yes? Even without advanced level magic…"
Ah, crap. I knew what she was thinking.
Chris was a follower of Eris-sama, who believed that things like powerful artifacts shouldn't be in the hands of the people of this world.
What I did was pretty simple, when compared to something like explosion magic, but I bet she was thinking that I could come up with more dangerous creations in the future.
"...Oh, come on, Big Boss. Aren't I very trustworthy?"
"Do you really have to ask that?"
I guess not.
"Alright, we managed to shake them off, but we probably shouldn't return to the mansion."
Sena said, after checking the rearview mirror and seeing no other humvees following us.
But rather than behind us, it seemed that the danger was in front.
"...Wait, some winged thing is flying above us!"
Aqua said, pointing to the road ahead.
I didn't know what she was talking about, until I saw what appeared like a woman with large bat wings quickly gaining on us. The headlights swept over her, revealing that she had red hair and horns protruding from her head.
I didn't think it was Serena, since they were wearing different clothing. It must have been another demon king army member.
"...Wait, isn't that Arnes?"
Megumin said, coming over to look at the flying demon.
Just when I was about to ask her how she knew this demon, a barricade of ice formed before us.
"Ah, crap…!"
Sena could barely swerve and break in time before we crashed.
With the delay, we also heard the humvees in the distance catching up.
"...Satou Kazuma. Come out of the horseless carriage and surrender yourself."
If we weren't in such a dangerous situation, I would have laughed.
Aqua actually did end up laughing.
"Horseless carriage? Does she mean this van? Pfffft! What is she, some hillbilly from another world? Bwahahaha!"
Only Aqua could end up laughing like this. She had no common sense.
"...Let's take our positions and fight!"
Mitsurugi said, getting ready to jump out of the van again. At least it wasn't moving this time.
Ah, this guy sure was quick to leap to action.
"Finally, I can test my skills."
Darkness said, leaping out of the van as well and summoning her spear.
Everyone seemed to be readying themselves for battle. However, the most bloodthirsty one still had a confused look on her face.
"...Megumin, what's wrong? You aren't threatening to blow up the bad guy already."
"Well… That's not a bad guy. Arnes is also a follower of Wolbach-sama like me."
I never did get any clues about Megumin's patron goddess, the one who taught her explosion magic and gave her access to the app.
But now, I was looking at another follower of this supposed dark goddess, Wolbach.
"...If we're on the same side, why is she blocking us?"
"Maybe she's being controlled by Serena!"
That seemed like a likely explanation.
Accepting that, Megumin and I followed the others to meet this winged demon named Arnes.
Arnes landed, curling her wings together as she stood straight. By then, the humvees had already caught up.
The cloaked figure of Serena stepped out of a humvee. She walked to Arnes, giving her a nod.
"Well done, Arnes. I'm sure your Lady Wolbach appreciates your efforts."
Serena said, taking her hood off to reveal her face.
If we weren't in this tense situation, I would have admired her beauty.
She was in her twenties and had black hair like a typical Japanese woman, but she had western features like Darkness. They were pretty similar in physical profiles, too, especially the chest area. There was also a distinct beauty mark under her left eye.
Arnes nodded back to Serena.
"I hope you're right. I haven't been able to produce any results thus far, after all."
They finally turned to face us, and I made eye contact with Serena for the first time. She said,
"So this is Satou Kazuma and his cohorts. You've caused the Demon King a lot of problems."
I shrugged at her.
"Well, it's not like we're just gonna roll over and let him take over our world."
She chuckled at that.
"I guess you're right. So, you're gonna come with me peacefully, right? I do have all these hostages after all. That's not even counting all the app-users I have."
I glanced at Yunyun, but I knew that she couldn't teleport all of us out, since there was a limit on how many people she could teleport at once.
"...You know, it's not like I have much of a choice, so just do whatever you want."
"Hah?! Kazuma, you're just gonna give in like that?!"
Aqua said, getting mad that I was just going along with Serena's orders.
"Like I said, it's not like we have much of a choice. I do want to make a deal with you, though, Serena. You can take me if you let the others go."
She cocked an eyebrow.
"Excuse me? What makes you think that you have any leverage here?"
"I'm assuming that your mind-control only works once your subjects feel like they owe you something, right? That was how Dust broke out of your control. If you want to keep your hold over those soldiers, it's better if you cooperate with us to an extent."
She rubbed her chin in thought, glancing at Arnes, who gave her a nod in return.
"...To think you already figured out my power after only seeing it once. You really are dangerous, Satou Kazuma. Fine, for the sake of maintaining my control over everyone, I'll only take you."
Mitsurugi stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder before I could move.
"Wait, we can't just let you go like that, Satou!"
Darkness nodded and tried pulling me back as well.
"I agree! What kind of comrade would I be if I let you sacrifice yourself for us?! If anyone should be sacrificed, it should be me!"
"...Your true intentions are coming out, Darkness."
The others also tried to convince me to stay, but I told them,
"Listen, if we all get captured, what's that gonna do? This way, you all have a chance to rescue me."
"...I suppose that's right."
Mitsurugi said, unable to argue with my logic.
"...I'd be impressed by your bravery right now, Kazuma-kun, but you're shaking so much."
Chris said, pointing at my knees that were wobbling together.
It wasn't like I could keep my cool when I was essentially being taken as a prisoner of war!
Is this how that little demon Dante felt, when we captured him?
I owe him an apology.
Megumin, who had been eyeing Arnes this whole time, went up to her and said,
"Wait! What are you doing, Arnes? Does Wolbach-sama know about this?"
I still didn't know how they were related, but they sure acted familiar with each other.
Arnes nodded at Megumin with a neutral expression on her face.
"Indeed. This was the plan all along."
"...What? But Wolbach-sama gave me the app and explosion magic to defeat the Demon King army, right?!"
Arnes sighed, looking like she didn't enjoy what she was about to say next.
"Again, that was part of the plan. Didn't you notice something different about the way this 'app' of yours functioned? All of the quests you received involved the destruction of a public building, or causing chaos among the public, right?"
I remembered all those quests Megumin got before. Things like blowing up a building, unleashing an explosion in public and running away from police officers…
I thought those quests were strange, but if they were supposed to be acts of violence directed by the enemy, I could understand the reason for them now.
It hurt to look at Megumin as realization dawned on her. She was tricked by Arnes and this Wolbach-sama, given a false app to spread the agenda of the Demon King army.
"...This whole set up with the abandoned factory, was this a part of your plan, too?"
Arnes looked like she was thinking about whether she should explain it to Megumin, but she eventually said,
"Yeah. I don't get how the technology works, since I'm still getting accustomed to this world, but we can spy on you through your phone. We heard about your plan to infiltrate the temporary base, so we prepared ourselves to ambush you."
So that was how Serena was just waiting in the abandoned building with an army of puppet corpses.
We were totally outmaneuvered.
Megumin lowered her head, looking the most dejected I had ever seen her.
"...Wolbach-sama was also the one who gave me the hint of gathering food at the dungeon."
She said, slowly realizing all the ways she had been manipulated thus far.
"Yeah, sorry about that. We wanted you to destroy the dungeon's ecosystem. We had a couple of app-users already controlled by then, thanks to Serena, so we had a general idea of how the dungeon works. We know you have quite an appetite, so we steered you to do that for us."
Megumin looked like she was about to swing her fists at Arnes, but Yunyun pulled her back.
"I get that you're angry, Megumin, but please think about Kazuma-san's safety!"
That made Megumin calm down, but her eyes were glowing from her magic lenses, as she glared at Arnes.
Arnes shook her head solemnly.
"Sorry, it's not personal, OK? We really did like your company. Oh, it's not too late to join us for real. I'm sure Hoost-sama will want you to join, too."
"...No way I'm doing that! Just get ready to face a full-powered explosion to the face, OK?!"
Arnes chuckled as she placed a hand on my shoulder and firmly guided me away from the group.
"I'm looking forward to a real match between us."
I gave my last looks of goodbye to the others, while following Arnes and Serena into a humvee.
"You sure are brave, Satou Kazuma. Wait, why are you shaking so much?"
Once they had me sit in the humvee, they noticed just how much I was jittering.
"...I'm boiling with rage, that's why. I will surely take my revenge on all of you."
"...Why were your teeth clattering when you said that?"
I was unable to hide my fear.