Ch.162New Comrade, New Hostage

As soon as we defeated the dungeon boss, a change occurred in its dressing room.

Whoosh-!! Pababat-!!!

The souls trapped in the clothing began to be liberated.

“Finally… I’m free…!”

“Thank you… thank you…!!”

The souls immediately flew toward the windows of the dungeon. This would temporarily suppress the shut-in phenomenon. It was truly rewarding.

“Phew… that was a tough boss,” Umi said.

I agreed with that statement. It wasn’t that its combat power was overwhelmingly strong. However, it possessed quite annoying debuff abilities. That’s why we struggled.

“A boss fight like this… I never want to experience it again.”

Sasits spoke with a liberated expression. This guy… he really had a difficult experience.

“Sagis~ Magic Panties!”

I immediately hummed a famous diaper commercial.

“Stop it!! I warned you!!”

Sasits shouted, his face turning red.

“I’m exhausted… let’s go back.”

Taiga spoke with a genuinely tired expression.

“The experience of becoming clothes wasn’t actually that bad. Being so close to Shota’s face like that.”

Tina seemed to have quite enjoyed the situation.

But as difficult as the boss fight was, there were rewards.

Ding-!!

The party members’ levels rose rapidly. In fact, this game generously gave experience points proportional to the dungeon’s difficulty as you progressed to the mid and late game. It was the game company’s consideration to minimize grinding.

Sasits, Umi, Taiga, and Tina all reached level 50.

I checked my status window just in case. However, my level hadn’t increased at all. It was still locked.

‘You said it would unlock when I push the main quest!!’

I wanted to protest like that. What exactly are the specific conditions? At least tell me that much. I really wanted to make such complaints.

———-

Anyway, it was time for everyone to head back.

“Before that.”

However, we couldn’t just return like this. Unfortunately, there was a mandatory event coming up next.

“I know you’re there. Come out.”

I spoke toward a corner of the collapsing dungeon.

“Hmph. Good instincts for a mortal.”

A girl with pink hair jumped out from a corner.

It was Frill, the final companion and heroine of this game. You encounter her after clearing the June dungeon.

“That one… isn’t human.”

Sasits said.

“Oh, Sasits. Good instinct?”

I said to Sasits.

“She’s too beautiful. That’s what’s inhuman.”

Sasits said, his face slightly reddening. This is interesting. I never thought Sasits would directly compliment someone’s appearance.

“Oh my. Does that mean I’m not human either?”

Umi immediately became an approval-seeking monster.

“No. Umi is a beauty at just the human level.”

Sasits said flatly.

“Shota!!! He’s so annoying!!”

Umi came running to me with a tearful face.

“It’s okay. To me, Umi isn’t human but a goddess. A goddess of beauty.”

I immediately began comforting Umi.

“Hehehe. But… I don’t want to remain just a goddess of beauty.”

Umi said with a smile.

“Once you graduate, I’ll make you pregnant right away and turn you into a goddess of fertility.”

I smiled and delivered the model answer.

“Kyaang! Shota, you’re so naughty!”

Umi pounded my chest.

“M-me too! You’ll evolve me into a fertility goddess too, right?!! Shota! Evolve me!!”

Tina shouted, doing an impression of a certain monster. I almost burst out laughing because it was unnecessarily accurate.

“Me too… after graduation, I won’t hold back anymore.”

Taiga said. Honestly, Taiga was the one most looking forward to post-graduation. She was already enthusiastic enough to buy parenting books.

That kid… probably longed for a happy family because she grew up as an orphan. Although she was adopted and gained a family, the grandmother who took her in also died. Thinking about that made my eyes tear up. I resolved to definitely make Taiga happy with my own hands.

“What are you all rubbing in my face!!! As expected of mortals… lower beings obsessed with breeding!!”

At that moment, Frill’s shout was heard.

Ah. I forgot she was here.

“And you!! Handsome guy!!! Don’t casually tell a woman you just met that she’s pretty!! It’s embarrassing!!!”

Frill said to Sasits. Her face was strangely flushed.

“Aha.”

I got the gist of it. This part was identical to the game. Frill was attracted to Sasits from the start. The setting of love at first sight seemed valid.

I glanced at Sasits. He also couldn’t take his eyes off Frill. It seemed… Sasits wasn’t indifferent either.

Based on his behavior so far, I had thought, ‘Isn’t this Sasits guy asexual?’ But apparently not.

‘Honestly, I thought he might be a woman disguised as a man.’

I had the occupational disease of thinking according to web novel rules.

I deliberately made him take off his top to check. Embedding methodical planning within madness is my creed.

To conclude, unfortunately(?), Sasits was a man. He had a properly muscled male body.

Anyway, I thought about playing Cupid in this opportunity.

“You guys… have been messing around quite a bit in our shadow world. Finally, orders came down to eliminate you. I have nothing personal against you, but you’ll have to die.”

Frill immediately took a stance.

“You’re the ones messing around in our world. You should get your facts straight.”

Sasits immediately drew his sword and took a stance.

“Don’t speak with such an unnecessarily good voice!!!! I can’t concentrate!!”

Frill shouted, her face reddening.

However, Frill regained her composure.

“Psychorobo…!!!”

Frill raised her hand high.

“Come forth!!! Pink Teddy!!”

With those words, a muscular teddy bear appeared. Everything from its fur to its body was pink. That was Frill’s Psychorobo.

“So this one uses Psychorobo too. How annoying.”

Taiga clicked her tongue while holding a baseball bat.

“Hmph. The Psychorobo ability originated from our side, you know? You humans just copied it.”

Frill said. Well, that’s correct according to the setting.

“Anyway, I’ll show you the original’s caliber!!”

Frill shouted and charged toward us.

———-

The process of recruiting Frill as a companion wasn’t smooth.

First encounter was at the June point, and after that, she would interfere or attack whenever we headed to dungeons. This made dungeon conquests difficult.

Eventually she would be moved by the player’s party and join as a companion, but it required an all-out effort to get there.

‘I’m not going to let that happen.’

Let’s just capture her here and make her a companion. That’s what I thought.

“Sasits. You don’t want to kill her, right?”

I immediately hit our leader’s weak spot.

“W-what are you saying!”

Sasits immediately blushed.

“Well… she’s an intelligent being, not a monster from the shadow world. It would be better to capture her alive.”

Sasits said.

This guy. So dishonest.

“Okay. Then let’s just beat her up enough so she doesn’t die.”

That’s what I said.

“Don’t look down on me!!!”

Frill seemed angered by that.

“Pink Teddy!!!! Go!!”

Frill immediately commanded her Psychorobo to attack.

“…Stance of Scorching.”

However, I had already charged my breathing.

Concentrating power in my legs, I immediately jumped high.

My target was one: Pink Teddy.

Whoosh-!!

Pink Teddy’s heavy fist came flying, but it was slow. I lightly evaded from the attack’s trajectory.

“Hnnnngh…!!”

Charging my breath in mid-air, I shifted the Stance of Scorching to my arms.

Adding the power of the Stance of Scorching, I immediately delivered a powerful horizontal slash.

Swoooosh-!!!

The blade wind greatly cut Pink Teddy’s waist. Fur and fluff scattered everywhere.

“Keeng!”

Pink Teddy was neutralized by that. Having suffered irreparable damage, Pink Teddy’s summon was dissolved.

“H-how can a human… defeat a Psychorobo so easily?”

Frill seemed bewildered by that.

“Rookies who rely only on Psychorobos don’t last long.”

I said with a smile. In the end, individual combat power is what matters.

Pat-!!!

Taking advantage of the opening, Taiga immediately closed the distance.

And she simply swung her baseball bat full force toward the ankle.

Crack-!!

“Kyaaaah?!!!”

Frill collapsed, tears streaming down her face. I didn’t expect her to calmly shatter a shin with a baseball bat.

“Hey! That’s too harsh…!”

Sasits shouted in panic.

“It’s fine! Umi! Cast heal quickly!”

Taiga shouted.

“Okay!!!”

Umi cast a healing spell on Frill as instructed.

Swoosh-!!

Frill’s leg was completely healed by Umi’s healing magic.

“I-impossible…!! For mere mortals…!!”

Frill shouted with a tearful face.

“Now. Surrender quietly. Our leader wants you.”

I said while holding my sword.

“Hmph!!! We’ll see about that!”

Frill said such a stereotypical line and immediately tried to pull something out of her hand.

Yes, it was a smoke bomb. Repeatedly throwing smoke bombs and running away when cornered was her pattern in the game.

“Do I look like a fool to you?!!!”

Did you think I wouldn’t anticipate that?

I immediately swung my sword.

Clang-!!!!

The sword strike cleanly reduced the smoke bomb Frill was about to throw into powder.

“D-damn it!!”

Tears welled up in Frill’s eyes. Now she couldn’t escape.

“Sasits. What should we do?”

I asked Sasits.

“For now… let’s take her to our hideout.”

Sasits said.

“Sure thing.”

I said that and then gave Tina a signal.

“Karate chop!!”

Tina immediately struck the back of Frill’s neck by surprise.

Thwack-!!

“Guhk!!”

Frill showed the whites of her eyes and fainted.

“Shota! This is what you wanted, right?”

Tina said, wagging her bottom like a dog wanting praise.

“Yeah… that’s right.”

I had no choice but to say that.

No, I just meant to grab her hand or arm to prevent her from escaping… Tina is surprisingly violent.

Anyway, we all retreated to our hideout carrying Frill.