Chapter 29 (1/2)

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Been a while, huh? Sorry about that.

Enjoy the chapter~.

TL: Thy Unsus

ED: Thy Unsus

Chapter 29 - Time for the Counter Attack

“I'll explain the strategy. We know for sure that there are 10 Black Death Knights approaching us. I'll say this now: 10 of them at once is impossible.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“Then, what should we do?” (Nanami)

I had to make them feel a bit nervous so they didn't ignore this. While everyone was silent from me basically having threatened them, Mikami jumped in.

“So we need a plan, you mean?” (Mikami)

“I see.” (Nanami)

Nanami and Mikami appeared to have understood what I was saying, but I wasn't sure about the rest of them.

What I had wanted to say was “If we have a plan then we can win, but if we move carelessly it will be fatal”.

“First of all, we're going to counter attack. However, we need to protect this door here, in front of the 6th floor's large room, as a defensive line.” (s.h.i.+njō)

I pointed at the middle pa.s.sage on the 6th floor on the map that Nanami had taken out.

The copy of the map I'd written was standard equipment for Nanami's group.

“Okay, but why there, s.h.i.+njō Wataru-kun?” (Nanami)

“There's only one path, no detours. This is somewhere they have to pa.s.s through. And, there is a gate that you can open and shut with a b.u.t.ton. Also, there's two of them. If we can't hold them back with the front gate, we can retreat and fall back to the back gate.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“I know that we'll be ambus.h.i.+ng them, but using a gate that can open and shut with a b.u.t.ton means that we can block them and run away if need be, correct?” (Nanami)

“Nope. Unfortunately, the Black Death Knights are humanoids, so they can press the b.u.t.ton and open the gate. The open and shut gate is used to slam the gate down on the monsters' heads. This deals a surprising amount of damage.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“I see. That means we can hold back the enemies while closing the gate with the b.u.t.ton.” (Nanami)

“That's right, the gate that we can shut manually is our ally. The other reason I've chosen this place for are the pitfalls that open with switches in front of the large room.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“Oh, for dropping them into the pitfalls and dividing them up.” (Nanami)

“You get it, huh? The enemies are coming in a group of 10, and they'll be on guard. If we can't deal with one at a time, we have to divide them. k.u.miko and I will do that.” (s.h.i.+njō)

k.u.miko was looking at the map, but she raised her head when I said her name.

“k.u.miko and I are the only ones than can run away and drop them down into the pitfalls. It's a big job after your reconnaissance, but can you do it?” (s.h.i.+njō)

“If I refused after you said ‘please risk your life', I'd be a disgrace of a woman, wouldn't I? Besides, if I'm with you, then refusing would be all the more disgraceful.” (k.u.miko)

“Alright, we'll drop two here. Actually, let's make sure to get four. If we do, then there will be six left. Next, we'll draw them to where the gate closes and trap them there. Two of them side by side will fill the pa.s.sage. We'll whittle down and kill the enemies that we can't stop.” (s.h.i.+njō)

When I said “that's all for the plan” and looked at Nanami, he nodded.

I was the one who thought of the plan, but Nanami Shuichi, the leader, was the one who made the decision.

“Alright, then it's settled. We'll go with this. There's no time to waste, we move now. The only ones that can fight directly against the Black Death Knights are me, s.h.i.+njō Wataru-kun, Kujo k.u.miko-kun, and Alice Adélaïde Alfonsina……” (Nanami)

“Nanami, call me Ussah.” (Ussah)

Thankfully, she introduced herself while walking.

Nanami's habit of calling people by their full names made me smile wryly every time.

“Sorry. The three of us and Ussah-kun will be one group, and the other will be Mikami Naotsugu-kun and them?” (Nanami)

“I can't determine the fine details of the Athlete Corps' power. If you think you can use them then go ahead, but the pa.s.sage is narrow, so only two allies and enemies can fight at once.” (s.h.i.+njō)

The Athlete Corps struggled against the mustard dragon, so honestly, I didn't think they'd be much help.

It hadn't been that long since then, so it wasn't like they got strong out of nowhere.

“There are 10 enemies. Even if we can divide them there will still be 6, so won't it be nerve-wracking with only 4 people?” (Nanami)

“Sorry to say this, but if they're below Mikami in rank, they can't be put ahead.” (s.h.i.+njō)

When I said that, Mikami's group started making noise behind me. Some of them spoke, “I don't agree” “What does that guy know” “We can also do it!”.

The Athlete Corps were reasonably strong, so their opposition was about what I expecte-……wait, was that last voice a girl's?

“What is it!”

“Ah, nothing.” (s.h.i.+njō)

When I reflexively turned back, my eyes met with a mannish girl. Now that I looked closer, it really was a woman.

I had thought that everyone in Mikami's group was a man, but there was a woman, huh? She was a little smaller than those well-built guys around her, but she was wearing firm steel armor, and she was carrying a large, brutal looking, double-edged hatchet. No wonder I hadn't realized that she was a woman.

She had light brown short hair and her features stood out, but there were women that looked like men because of their beauty. As it was sharp, it wasn't seen by women.¹

Contrary to this, there were also girlish men in the world, and they in particular tended to act like beautiful woman; it was seriously misleading. Women couldn't go out to the front too much².

“Kizaki, don't charge at s.h.i.+njō.” (Mikami)

“But!” (Kizaki)

Mikami jumped in and saved me.

So the mannish girl's last name was “Kazaki”, huh? As her appearance suggested, she was strong-willed. It wasn't just vigor; she had strength, too. She was probably the type that would get mad if you said “women should go to the back”.

“s.h.i.+njō is the only one who has actually contended against a Black Death Knight. He's said that even I can't have one as an opponent, so do you still plan on insisting that you can do it?” (Nanami)

“Th…but, even we can……” (Kazaki)

“Kizaki Akira, Mikami Naotsugu and I have decided to leave the plan to s.h.i.+njō Wataru-kun.” (Nanami)

“Then…I will follow directions from Mikami-san and them.” (Kazaki)

Despite saying that, Kazaki Akira was glaring at me with rebellious eyes, and snorted her nose in dissastisfaction.

Akira was a mannish name, it felt kind of nostalgic. If I thought “she's the opposite of Seki Midori”, it gave me a slightly favorable impression of her.

You think she'd get angry if I said that she had a mannish name? I was a little bothered by it, but I wasn't bothered by it that badly, so I controlled myself.

Now wasn't the time for causing discord by teasing the tomboy.

Besides, you couldn't choose your own name. I didn't like my name, either; a name was like a brand that your parents put on you.

Kazaki Akira's way of life may have been narrowed because she was given a mannish name. Let's not provoke her too much.

“Nanami, there are things that can be done by Mikami's group, too. They can fire long-distance attacks from behind and things like that. They might even need to buy time for us to retreat in case we high levels can't handle them alone. I'll get them to help.” (s.h.i.+njō)

I just said that to save them face; I had no intention of fighting so that happened. Mikami was the kind of person to say he could hold them off until the last moment, so the others below his rank couldn't do anything.

There was a saying, “Little knowledge is the basis of injury”. The Nanami Girls would run away quietly, but the Athlete Corps rashly bragged about their own ability. If they fought, casualties may appear. As long as they grew they would be promising, so I wanted to avoid losing them now.

“You! s.h.i.+njō!” (Kazaki)

“What, is there still something?” (s.h.i.+njō)

“I'll help you if you mess up.” (Kazaki)

“Um……well, I'll make sure to rely on you if that happens.” (s.h.i.+njō)

The mannish girl…Akira spoke to me proud-looking while pus.h.i.+ng up her thin chin. I struggled to hold back a laugh.

Maybe the Athlete Corps thought that I was proud-looking. I suddenly came in and crashed their party, saying they were second fiddle. I guess they wanted to say something cynical, too?

In the end, the difference of power could only be understood with their own abilities.

We finally arrived at the point where we would wait for the enemy.

“Um, Kurokawa Hotaru-kun and your group……you'll get in the way in battle, so why don't you fall back?” (Nanami)

“No way, Nanami-kun……” “We can do it, too!”

Nanami was completely cold when he looked at the 5 girls. They called out to Nanami as they clung to him.

Hmm…they should be usable as support magic personnel, though.

“That's true. Have them make bomb potions.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“s.h.i.+njō Wataru-kun, didn't you say that attack magic wasn't effective on the Black Death Knights?” (Nanami)

“Bomb potions are a bit different, you see. They deal damage via explosion rather than magic, so it'll just shave them by how many you throw. If they ama.s.s them and throw them in the beginning, they'll help by shaving the first few.” (s.h.i.+njō)

When I said that, Kurokawa and them sat down on the spot and started making bomb potions.

They were desperate to show their usefulness to Nanami and survive.

“You guys really know how to make bomb potions?” (s.h.i.+njō)

“MiddleMiddle　FlameEeya　LightningDin　HeatRaa.” (Kurokawa)

“You'll be using the potion bottles, so make it High level if you can.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“But……” (Kurokawa)

“It doesn't matter if you fail. Use gems if you don't have enough mana.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“……Alright.” (Kurokawa)

“Hou~? You're being surprisingly compliant.” (s.h.i.+njō)

“It's for protecting Nanami-kun, I'm not doing it for you!” (Kurokawa)

“Don't get the wrong idea, okay? Yes, of course, you tsundere”……when I muttered those things, I guess she heard me, as she gave me the death stare. Scarrry.

Though angry, Kurokawa and them obediently held onto the gems that I scattered from my rucksack and continued making bomb potions as directed.

A bomb potion was a single attack, and it would use up a potion bottle, something valuable inside of the dungeon. But, now wasn't the time to be stingy.

All that was left was to make as many high-level recovery potions as we could. The rate of recovery depended on the quality of the potion.

“Wataru-kun, this is useless now. Replace it.” (k.u.miko)

“Ah, my bad.” (s.h.i.+njō)

The chainmail I had given k.u.miko before had cracked, and was now useless.

k.u.miko took a new set of steel chainmail armor from the rucksack and put it on. The surface of it dimly glowed bluish-white.

It was pretty good magic armor.

Though it had a usage limit, it had strong defensive support magic on it.

“Thanks for lending me the mantle. This chainmail has a pants part so it's a bit heavy, but this is magic armor, isn't it? I think the defense effect is high. Now I just need a s.h.i.+eld, right?” (k.u.miko)

“You don't need one. But, you sure are good at holding onto things, huh?” (s.h.i.+njō)

Seeing as she could carry heavy equipment, it seemed that she'd gotten her hands on an infinite storage rucksack.

While k.u.miko's Ninja job was an advanced level job, she could handle the role of a thief. As she wouldn't miss an item, you could call her the “strongest support”.