Ch.124Summer, and the Sea (4)

“Kill that human!!! Make sure he dies!!!”

“Die!!!”

The orcs in medium armor immediately blocked my path.

The elven village was already in ruins, and orcs were everywhere.

“Die!!! You monsters!!”

I immediately charged my breath. I had already used up Kiryu Second during the ship battle, so using it again would be too much, but I could still use Flash Strike.

“Flash Strike Style Zero!! Armor Breaker!!!”

I swung my sword at the orc in front of me.

CLANG-!!!

The sword strike shattered the orc’s armor into pieces.

SWOOSH-!!

But the sword strike didn’t stop there. The blade I unleashed sliced through the orc’s flesh and muscles as it passed.

“What…..!”

The orcs seemed bewildered. They couldn’t imagine that their armor would be cut like tofu.

“KIEEEEEK!!!”

Being bewildered meant death. In a real combat situation, hesitation is fatal.

SWOOSH-!!

I smashed an orc’s head along with its helmet.

“All of you will die here!!! I’ll send you to the afterlife together!!!”

I swung my sword and advanced straight ahead.

——–

The dungeon was structured like a wide village, open on all sides. There were no complex alleys or anything like that. It was the optimal dungeon for a quick raid.

I headed straight for where the orcs had their tents. It looked like they had built a base camp after looting the village.

“You’re strong for a human. Hehehehe!!”

There were three orcs there who clearly looked like bosses.

The one in the center seemed to be the chieftain. He had a huge flag on his back and was wielding a massive greatsword.

The other two were wearing robes. Black magical energy was swirling in their hands. I could tell right away. Damn black mages.

“Your soul will be delicious to devour!!!”

The two black mages immediately shot hellfire flames at me.

WHOOSH-!!

Two fireballs flew straight toward me.

Being magic, they had no physical form. It seemed like they were forcing me to dodge, but…..

‘I cut through Nendo before. Why wouldn’t I be able to cut this?’

I already knew how to cut through formless, fog-like things. With Flash Strike, if I could read the breath, there was nothing I couldn’t cut.

“Hmmmph!!”

As I charged my breath, I could see the breath of the fireballs. Lines appeared on the fireballs.

SWOOSH-!!

I immediately swung my sword and cut through the fireballs. The key was to bring the sword to where the lines appeared.

“Foolish!!! Hellfire magic cannot be cut by a sword….!”

The black mage shouted loudly with a laugh.

But the black mage couldn’t finish his sentence.

SWOOSH-!!

The fireballs scattered and disappeared from my sword strike.

“Wh…what…?!”

The black mage’s expression immediately froze.

“There’s nothing a swordsman can’t cut.”

I closed the distance toward the black mage.

“You don’t seem to have met many swordsmen. Magician.”

SWOOSH-!!!

I cut the two black mages in half one after another.

“You bastard…..!!! For the Blood Tear tribe!!!”

Only then did the chieftain charge at me with his greatsword.

WHOOSH-!!!

The orc chieftain swung his greatsword. Such a large weapon was certainly threatening. However, that also made it slow. Having trained my dynamic vision to a high level, the speed of the greatsword swing looked like slow motion.

TAP-!!!

I immediately jumped onto the greatsword.

“Farewell.”

Right after that, I delivered a quick sword strike.

SWOOSH-!!!

The orc chieftain’s head was cleanly severed. Blood gushed out like a fountain from the cut surface of the neck.

DING-!!!

In response to defeating the dungeon’s boss, my status window reacted.

‘Level: 41’

My level had already reached 41. Dungeons at the appropriate level certainly make leveling up faster.

DING-!

But that wasn’t the end.

‘You have learned a new skill.’

Some great news appeared.

‘Toughness of the Reincarnated Hero’

A passive skill with an impressive name was unlocked.

‘Your memories of existing as a hero across numerous multiverses remain in your body. Basic defense increases by 50. Resistance to all elements increases by 30 percent.’

Hero? What’s that? I was filled with such questions. But… anyway, it meant my body would become tougher. That’s good enough. I closed the status window without much thought. Judging by the numbers, it was quite a useful passive. Sweet.

Anyway, I went outside through the dungeon exit.

Sasith had also finished his training. His body was drenched in sweat. And… he was shirtless. Hmm!! Excellent!!

“Looks like you cleared it alone.”

I said with a smile.

“Yeah. Somehow.”

Sasith said.

“Great!! Then let’s go one more round!”

I immediately got ready to repeat.

“O-one more time?!!”

Sasith looked at me with a surprised expression.

“We’re still far from being fully awake. We need to do one more clean round.”

I said with a smile.

“…..Impossible. I’m exhausted. Not my body… my mind.”

Sasith sighed as he spoke.

Hmm… is my stamina abnormal? I don’t feel like I’ve done enough until I’ve gone at least ten rounds… but it seemed I was the only one who felt that way.

“Well. Dawn is breaking. How about we rest for now?”

Bluebeard said, as if summarizing the situation.

“Ugh….”

I wasn’t happy about that at all.

And so, our dream dungeon run came to an end.

——

And morning came.

I opened my eyes immediately.

“Flash!”

Adding comic-like sound effects when opening your eyes doubles the refreshing feeling. This was a pro tip. It’s the same principle as making a “splurt” sound when pooping makes it come out better.

“Happy June!!!! Happy June!!!!”

I cheered as I got up, celebrating the first week of June.

Yes, it was now June. I was genuinely moved that I had somehow safely made it through May.

‘Well… I was originally supposed to die in March.’

But I survived safely. It was nothing short of a miracle.

“Ugh… so noisy.”

Umi complained, rolling herself up in the blanket.

“Hey… Umi. Don’t hog the blanket.”

Taiga grabbed the blanket and crawled into Umi’s arms. Then they both fell back asleep, half-embracing each other. Everyone had grown quite close from sharing the same bed every day.

“But… where did Eri go?”

I looked around.

“I’m right here?”

At that moment, Eri hugged me tightly from behind.

“Eri…. chocolate milk bottles….”

I immediately buried my face in Eri’s chest. These bouncy breasts… it was definitely our Eri.

“Really… looking for me as soon as you wake up, such a spoiled child.”

Eri chuckled as she spoke.

“But you’re all dressed up nicely? Are you going to a photoshoot or something? You look so pretty.”

I asked, looking at Eri.

“Hehehe. Your flattery is over the top again. I need to punish this shota’s sweet-talking mouth a bit❤”

Eri said that and gave me a series of kisses on my lips. It was the perfect example of a bird kiss. Just like a woodpecker!!!

“Shota, hurry up and get washed. We have somewhere to go.”

Eri said with a smile.

“Somewhere to go? Ah. A date?”

It had been a while since we went on a date, just the two of us. I also wanted to spend time alone with Eri.

“A date… we’ll do that too. But there’s another matter.”

Eri said.

“We’re going to the beach together this summer, right? I’m meeting my brother about that.”

Eri said with a bright smile.

Right. Eri’s brother, Shotaro, was pulling some strings to let us use a private beach.

“Yes. We agreed to meet at that café.”

Then, Eri chuckled and said to me.

“And my siblings… they’re going crazy wanting to see you. They must have really taken a liking to you.”

Eri laughed cheerfully as she spoke.

Is that so? Then I’ll have to play with them again. Giant swing, here we come!

Anyway, Eri and I decided to head out right away.

———

We agreed to meet Shotaro at the café where we met last time.

The appointment was at noon.

We decided to go to Eri’s house first to have breakfast and kill some time before heading to the café. It was a perfect plan.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Eri’s house.”

I said with a smile. Right after, I put my hand around Eri’s waist.

“My siblings… they’re heavy sleepers in the morning. They usually take a nap after breakfast….”

Eri whispered in my ear in a sweet tone.

“Let’s do lots of naughty things then?”

Eri said with a chuckle.

“Really… such a seductive woman.”

I immediately slipped my hand inside Eri’s dolphin pants and squeezed her buttocks.

“Do you dislike having a seductive girlfriend?”

Eri cutely tilted her head.

“I love it!!!”

I roared loudly.

“Shota! Hehehe! Don’t shout! You’ll wake the neighbors!”

Eri laughed as she playfully hit me.

Anyway, I entered the house right away.

CLICK-!!

As soon as the door opened, Eri’s siblings came running.

“It’s Shota oppa!!!”

“For short, Shoppa!!”

“Shoppaaa!!! Hug me!! KIEEEEEK!!”

The three crazy kids immediately threw themselves at me. Then they started climbing all over my body like a jungle gym.

“KIEEEEEK!!”

“Hehehehe!! It really is Shota oppa!! It’s really him!!”

“Oppa!! Play with us!!!!”

Somehow… they seemed more ferocious than before.

“Well… kindergarten has vacations too. They must be excited because it’s vacation time.”

Eri said with a troubled expression.

Well… kids’ power levels do increase during vacations. When I was a kid, I also went wild during vacations.

“Alright. Everyone hungry? I’ll make breakfast right away. Shota, can you help me?”

Eri headed straight to the kitchen. An apron was already prepared.

“Everyone, watch TV for a while, okay?”

Eri skillfully directed her siblings.

“But we want to play with Shota oppa….”

The three kids said in a dissatisfied tone.

However, the morning TV schedule is quite good for kids. A rerun of a magical girl anime for young girls was playing on TV.

“KIEEEEEK!! It’s PreCure!!!”

“Can’t resist this. Hihihi!”

“Sitting down!!! And proper posture!!”

The kids ran to the TV. By the way… their way of speaking was unnecessarily internet-like. Well, even kindergarteners carry smartphones these days. They’re exposed to memes from a young age.

“Now, Shota, shall we cook together?”

Eri said with a smile.

“Ah. You want a cooking competition?”

I said with a smile. After being thoroughly beaten by me last time, she must have been preparing for a revenge match. This cute girl.

“No I don’t!!! Just… like a newlywed couple… working together.”

Eri blushed and mumbled.

“Oh… I see.”

I was admiring Eri’s beautiful, embarrassed face before belatedly coming to my senses and responding.

Really… isn’t Eri too cute?

Anyway, Eri and I began our collaboration.