Chapter 12 (1/2)
Chapter 12: Futaba Meiko part3
It was se to traverse the dungeon solo, now had gained allies: The Thief, Natsukawa Minami, and the Archer Satou Aya They seemed practically invincible
Minami had a coether with her vocational skills, hter As for Aya, she was, as she appeared, of average talents but, her vocation instantly enabled her to enter battle
‘Aith and accuracy of the bow
‘Concentrate’: Can draw the boithout faltering of mind’
‘Fletchery’: Can make arroell[1]
Though nothing blatantly overpowered, needing just a bow, attack and a room for improvement; they were a well balanced set of novice skills
Luckily, Aya had cleared the first big hurdle of procuring a bow early on Aya had o from the God of archery
And now, a few hours after leading the do hysterically
“—Eh, let ht, so this means only three of us will be saved!?”
“C-calht!”
Even Minami, whose cheerful serous dungeon battles, voiced those words tinged with impatience and unease
“W-hat do we d-d-do”
Quivering with all her plus sized body, Futaba Meiko was all too quickly in tears
It wasn’t uncalled for them to fall into so much disarray Since, when they checked on the updated inforic circle, they wererule
The transfer gate located at the deepest part of the dungeon would only allow a maximum of 3 people to enter— that is, there was a limit to the number of people who could escape
“We don’t know the veracity this information So let’s not think too much about it”
Only one of the four, Kisaragi Ryouko, was cal to put everyone at ease
“Don’t think about it, then the heck are we supposed to think!”
Apparently ‘Concentrate’ only had effect when using the bow, in other ti ofthe validity of that stateued back
“We have to get a lot ate It’s been quite easy up till now, but who knohat’s to co”
“But, then wh—”
“What we need to do right now, is hope”
Aya looked at the class rep, who said all that with a straight face, as if she was talking to a mental case
“So you’re just gonna give ared up lines even now”
“They aren’t just pretty words Since e really do have a hope”
Ryouko proclaientle smile of an utter confidence, no, a conviction one could say Taken slightly aback from that bold counter, Aya asked the standard follow, ‘What would that be?’
“Souma Yuuto and Tendou Ryuuichi If it’s those two, they can definitely overcome this, yes, even this crazy place”
Not one of theh at her answer Most likely, not a sin
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“Look, even we can fight those monster with our vocations I bet those 2 with this poould easily become real superheroes”
Ryouko’s words were not to be considered pitiable or faith based absurdity Anyone would think so if they knew those two Anyone would believe
“We’re headed to the same place, so if we continue on like this, we’ll absolutely convene with Souma-kun And then he’ll save you, and everyone else too”
“S-Souma-kun will save me”
Perhaps she was iure as he leapt head first into danger Aya’s cheeks blushed cerise, and her face dissolved into rapture
Ryouko wouldn’t condeirls of class 2-7 would show the same reaction
Like the boys ould fall for Souirls would have a si for Souma Yuuto Satou Aya, she too was one of those who had secret feelings of wanting to be near him
“Yes, believe me, Satou-san Souma-kun, will come save us”
“—Fha! Y-you’re right Souma-kun’s the type who can really do it”
Aya quickly agrees, saving face as if she had only been logically convinced
“Yup, well said, we’ll be just fine with Souame world, so rather than superhero, he’d be like, a warrior hero?”[2]
Silver armor and a cape fit hie play at the school cultural festival the previous year The piece was Snow White His role ive kiss, but his presence, et the whole tragedy that was the brunt of the story
“But rather than Sou is more like Tendou-ku—”
“H-hey, stop that Minami! We’re not like that ok!”
Ryouko reacts just like Aya did a few rin In these situations, even the cool class rep is an open book
“Nihaha, I’ll leave it at that then”
“Why— you little!”
“Hey, ow! Wait, no violence please! And no using ic eitheer!”
Her pretty face dyed red, Ryouko one-sidedly catfighting her friend, was an ie distant frorade-schooler
In that fashi+on, these girls had notissue That is, not yet
The 4 resumed their journey
It had been 10both their strength and vitality, at the fairy square, at which point their next encounter with monsters was upon them
What appeared was a pack of wild dogs with blazing red fur At a size soh panting and blood-shot eyes plainly displayed their savage nature
“—Sorry! 3 inco!”
Mina at the neck with the chef’s knife in her right hand 4 others had gotten around past her with the vigour of a fireball, but she had back-thrown the knife in her left hand, hitting one dead on the back As a result, like Minauards
“Futaba-san, you’re on!”
Sharp instructions froi Ryouko and Archer, Satou Aya The Knight, Futaba Meiko was to be together with Mina anyone expected of her, so she was put at the aard position of uard
Though she, as a Knight, should be at the very forefront, tanking the eneiven the kind and considerate task of stopping even just one of the ones getting past Minami, a Thief
“Kya—! Waa—!”
As if ripping apart that kindness fro Without having swung her meat cleaver even once, she siure exactly rese down a slope[3]
“The hell, are you do—ing!”
Her target set with ‘Concentrate’ Aya burst her shot with ‘Aio, fast approaching dog deeply right between the eyes 100 accuracy And, 1-hit-kill
“‘Ice Sagitta’”
Ryouko’s icicle was thicker and longer than an arrow, but certainly didn’t fire any slower then the bow Even without a specific skill, her ai’s torso
The 2 rearguards took out 2 of the dogs instantly, but there were a total of 3 approaching There was still one left Very close A 2nd arrow or icicle wouldn’t make it
The dog, as if assured of its kill, raised sparks as it clanked its jaws
“Ugh, shi+—”
“‘Ice shi+eld’”
Just then, a shi+eld of ice soundlessly appeared, and the dog, having jumped in,into it Raising a round
“Though I can’t rapid-fire attack ic, defensive ones don’t seem to have that limitation, looks like”
Explaining this to Aya with a chill expression, Ryouko shot the dog with another ‘Ice Sagitta’ before it got back up
“Ryouko-chan! Satou-chan! You guys ok!?”
At this point, the pack of red dogs was ive chase, and was running back, worried about her friends
“Sigh I’i-san with us”
“Satou-san, you beat enemies too, so you’re not too shabby yourself”
“Hey, I’ve got the highest kill count! So praise me more Ryouko-chan!”
“You don’t have to tellit your all at front that we in the back can actually attack, Minami”
At the cheerily bantering three stared Futaba Meiko, in all her ugly, dirt-sishly like a bovine after its afternoon siesta, she hoisted up her round frame
However, she didn’t have the courage to take a single step in returning to the other three
“Futaba-san, are you okay? hurt anyplace?”
Ryouko called out to a Meiko, hesitating at the corner of the rooentle voice
“Yes, I I’et the cores now”
No one was bla Meiko for her unsee at her with unobstructed scorn, but there were no hateful co made
But if anyone were to condemn her behavior, Meiko wouldn’t have any valid refutation She knew, knew exactly how inco with their lives on the line, while Meiko was so scared, so utterly terrified when enemies approached her, that she knew no action but to run In reality, she did run Not giving a damn about her allies, just herself
“Then, if you’d be so kind You’re in the cooking club, Futaba-san, so you see and the like”
“She’s like, the right woman for the job? Nihaha, It’s a bit too much for mee”
It was not enough to just defeatlike experience points that showed a solid nurowth, never old coins or iteic, that was too much to ask
There was no point in not collecting the core planted inside the cadaver If they reached the transfer gate and didn’t have enough to actually power it, that would be a real problem
“S-sorry There was just three”
Making full use of her set of knives, Meiko quickly finished dis the cores with the proficiency of a seasoned chef On top of her plump palms certainly rested 3 small cores like broken red marbles
The nu another 7 cores was not because she had failed to find the rats they had first defeated, not one of them contained cores
Meiko who had been dealing with all the monster bodies on their journey, could easily tell if they contained cores or not After skinning them a bit, she could somewhat sense them by presence Additionally, she could also feel out what spot they were located That is to say, core retrieval was a no brainer Even without Meiko’s culinary expertise, a novice could find it rando around
For this reason, the real proble cores
It was a scary thought, but ment-like cores in the first place That was one of the worse cases
“Can’t be helped, they were pretty weak monsters after all”
Ryouko received the 3 cores fro at it another way, there was no word of gratitude either
“At the pace we’re going, we’ll level up any tiasbord!”
“But I don’t wanna fight stronger o doith one arrow I just, no”
Minami tries to console the depressed and anxious Aya with her air-headed smile and optimism And while Ryouko looked over them with a smile, they made their departure from that area
Meiko, ing in shattering self-derision, followed the 3 from a step behind
It hen, another 3 battles after the red dog encounter, they were on their 4th struggle
What appeared were goe crowded in trees withered white It was less dense, and brighter than the forest dome where they teah blind spots
“—Ah!”
Cried Meiko She stood at the very rear Having been deemed completely useless in combat, she was naturally positioned in an only-to-be-protected rear, even farther back than the rearguard teae and Archer
However, that was the case only if the eneames, there are attack patterns where the enemy comes from behind And in real life, there was no way monsters wouldn’t be able to take a similar course of action
“KyaaAAAA!”
Aros
When Meiko turned and saw that suddenly appearing goht at her face, she had cootten to run and froze up
“GuobuBiBA!”
It caht, wide, horizontal swipe Meiko could clearly see the oma
With the Knight’s ‘Abandon’, she could achieve thethat attack with roonitively see with a faint white glow, the exact trajectory of that blade
She understood that the path of the blade iftly approaching her plump abdomen She could fathom it
There was roo
‘Repel’ would allow her to use thatstrike If she triggered it, the counter fro with its lightweight body, launching it straight to the ground