Ch.189July’s Dungeon, and Terror (12)

Anyway, things had gone smoothly so far.

Thumbs up!

I immediately gave a thumbs up toward Sasith and Pril who were on top of the fortress.

Sasith just stared at me in silence. Embarrassed by the thumbs up?

However, I felt a strange sense of competitiveness here. If I didn’t get a thumbs up in return… it felt like my resolve would crumble.

I was determined to get a thumbs up from Sasith. With that single-minded focus, I remained still with my thumb raised.

“Why… why are you feeling competitive about this?”

Umi said.

“This bastard… showing his weird obsession again. Pfft hahaha.”

Taiga trembled with laughter.

“There are things a hero can’t yield on… No. Shota. Just stop it.”

Tina tried to cover for me but gave up. Even for Tina, this seemed too awkward to defend.

Sasith also seemed determined, staring at me intently from atop the fortress.

Oh? So you’re going to hold out? Let’s see how long you can resist.

Just then, Pril approached Sasith and whispered something.

Finally, Sasith raised his finger and gave me a thumbs up.

That’s more like it.

Anyway, after acknowledging each other, we got back to work.

Our group’s task was simple. First, we needed to eliminate all enemies around the fortress. While reducing enemy numbers was one goal, we would eventually need to exit through the fortress gates. Securing an escape route was crucial.

Meanwhile, Sasith’s team would explore the interior and open up routes inside. It was an excellent strategy, attacking both outside and inside simultaneously.

——–

The area around the fortress was filled with nearly ruined buildings, occupied by the Master’s forces.

“Hut! Hut! Huut!!”

They were all training in the same way, repeatedly striking crude straw dummies with swords.

“Ohhh…..”

I’d never seen this sword technique before. Was this a multiverse-style swordsmanship? I was a bit intrigued.

“Shota. Focus.”

Umi nudged me.

Ah, getting distracted by my interests—that was the otaku’s curse.

“Anyway, can’t we just throw Pinocchio at them?”

Taiga suggested the tactic that had worked earlier.

“No. It won’t work.”

As a swordsman myself, I could roughly gauge their strength at a glance.

These guys were strong. Plus, swordsmen are usually sensitive to presence. Even if I threw Pinocchio, it would only distract them momentarily before they started searching for me.

But confronting them directly would be excessive. That would defeat the purpose and cause an uproar.

Sneaking up from behind wouldn’t work either. Such simple tricks wouldn’t be effective.

They were all bald eccentrics, but they were elite level 55 mobs. They lived up to that rating.

‘What should I do…’

Just then, I turned my gaze to a corner.

There was a small refrigerator. Wireless, no less. Is this the technology of the universe?

Anyway, it was filled with something.

Yes. Protein shakes.

Swoosh-!

I secretly took out a protein shake.

“This guy… what weird stunt is he planning now?”

Taiga looked at me with a smirk. But he seemed excited to see what I would do.

I immediately took out the shake.

And then… I rolled it gently.

Roll-roll-roll-roll!

The shake rolled toward the bald men who were training.

“Whoooa?!!”

Those who had been striking the dummies immediately reacted.

“This precious shake…!”

“Aah… the Master said only three bottles per person…”

“Hehehe! It fell on the ground, so it’s lost property. Finders keepers!”

The bald men stopped their training and started walking toward the shake.

As expected of training junkies… slaves to protein.

With their attention diverted to the protein shake, their awareness would be significantly lowered.

“Now.”

I nodded to Taiga, Tina, and Umi.

“Okay.”

We all approached the bald men from behind.

Slash-! Thwack-! Thud-!!

Swords and blunt weapons struck the backs of their heads. Even masters were finished once caught from behind.

“Gack!”

“Urgh!!”

The bald men met their deaths. They trained hard… now they could rest.

At that moment, I looked at something.

Twitch-!!

The antenna in the center of a bald man’s forehead caught my attention.

It was an antenna I strangely wanted to suck. I held back earlier… but now I couldn’t resist.

Slurp-!

I immediately started sucking on the antenna.

No!! Sucking alone wasn’t enough!!

Chomp-! Chomp-!

I chewed the antenna. Yes!! This is it!!

“What are you doing!! You crazy bastard!!”

Umi immediately smacked the back of my head.

“Guhk!”

That made me spit out the antenna.

“What the… why the hell are you sucking on that?!”

Taiga shouted in surprise.

“Since I was young, watching Dragon Ball, I always thought… I wanted to suck on Piccolo’s antenna!! That dream has come true!”

I expressed my burning desire.

How chewy would it be? Expecting that… I’d been constantly chewing jelly to somehow suppress my urge!!!

“You’re truly insane…”

Taiga now looked at me with a sense of wonder.

“I wish I was born with an antenna too… then maybe I could have been the official wife?”

Umi said something completely unhinged.

“So? How did it taste?”

Tina asked about the taste in this situation.

“Salty.”

Perhaps from sweat. The antenna was extremely salty and sour.

And so… my first love and admiration for antennas came to an end. It was summer.

———

Anyway, the protein strategy worked.

“Hruut!!! Hut!!”

Among the bald men swinging swords weighted with heavy loads, I rolled the protein.

“Huh?!! Protein…!!”

“Whoooa!!! Finders keepers!!”

The bald men immediately walked toward the protein as if entranced.

Meanwhile, we repeatedly ambushed them from behind and put them to sleep one by one.

But… such obsession with protein. Did someone lace the protein with drugs?

——-

We circled the fortress perimeter, taking out the training bald men one by one.

No more signs of life were detected around the fortress perimeter. The cleanup was nearly complete. We had secured an escape route.

I wondered how Sasith’s team was doing. Were they managing well?

“Sigh… Sasith… I’m worried about him.”

It felt like sending a child on their first errand!!!

“I hope he hasn’t turned into underwear again somewhere…”

I muttered.

“Hahahahaha!! That was so funny back then!”

Umi seemed to recall that memory.

“Well, thanks to becoming underwear, he ended up in a happy relationship with Pril, right?”

I tried to put a positive spin on it.

Back then, Sasith underwear had good wearability. Could I wear that legendary underwear once more…

“Pinocchio, fly to Sasith’s team and tell them we’ve finished our task.”

I picked up the wooden messenger, Pinocchio.

“Ehhh… I don’t want to…”

Pinocchio immediately made a displeased face.

“Want your… nose broken?”

I raised my hand toward Pinocchio.

“Okay!!! I’ll go!!”

Pinocchio immediately headed toward the interior of the fortress. Yes. Run along now.

——–

We decided to wait a bit until Pinocchio returned.

“Geez. Why isn’t Pinocchio back yet?”

Umi was getting angry.

“Maybe he ran away somewhere else like in the fairy tale?”

Taiga said.

“Taiga… you know fairy tales surprisingly well!!”

I said.

I thought Taiga would have only read fighting manga or something during his childhood…

“Of course I know Pinocchio!! What do you take me for?!”

Taiga shouted.

“The only book in the orphanage was… a tattered copy of Pinocchio. So I read it until I was sick of it.”

Taiga then spoke in a bitter tone.

“Sob!! Taiga!! I’ll make you truly happy!!”

I immediately embraced Taiga.

I really wanted to give Taiga a happy family. Well, I still wasn’t going to give up on my harem though.

“Pinocchio… a Western fairy tale, right? I’ve heard of it too.”

Tina said.

“But you’re Western too.”

I objected. Why are you talking about Western fairy tales like they’re foreign to you?

“In my country, we have a similar story to Pinocchio. It’s called Picokino.”

Tina said.

“……”

That smells strongly of plagiarism.

“It’s about a konjac doll named Picokino who comforted Grandpa Gepetto on lonely nights but then ran away. It’s quite touching in its own way.”

Tina said.

“What kind of deranged fairy tale is that?!”

I immediately objected. Seriously… something’s wrong with Tina’s country…

“He’ll come back if we wait.”

Anyway, I decided to just wait for Pinocchio.

After a while, Pinocchio arrived.

“Master!!!”

He came flying in a panic.

“What’s wrong?”

Surely… nothing bad happened, right?

“It’s… terrible!!”

Pinocchio shouted.

“Don’t tell me…”

“Sasith and Pril!! They’ve been kidnapped by someone called the Master!!”

Pinocchio shouted.

Damn… Princess Sasith got captured again?

“That Master… told me to deliver a message!!”

Pinocchio shouted.

“He says to come into the fortress!!”

Pinocchio said.

“The Master?”

The Master taking direct action was unusual.

“Yes. He said we can negotiate if you come…”

Pinocchio said.

“Sigh… how troublesome.”

Even with all our careful infiltration, we can’t avoid a direct confrontation… life is so futile sometimes.

“And he set a condition!! Arigiri Shota… only you are to come alone, Master!”

Pinocchio said.

“Alone?”

Is he challenging me to a one-on-one suddenly?

“……”

Honestly, my companions had grown quite strong, so I was planning to beat him up together… but he had to set this troublesome condition.

However, our leader and companion were hostages. We couldn’t ignore that.

“Alright. I’ll go.”

I said.

“He said to send the other companions away…”

Pinocchio said.

“Right. Tell him I sent them away.”

After saying that, I turned to my companions and said:

“Sneak into the fortress. And stir things up inside appropriately. As quietly as possible.”

I immediately gave instructions to my companions.

“Hehehe. This guy… has no intention of keeping his promise, huh?”

Taiga smirked.

“Using strategy against enemies… that’s what makes a hero!”

Tina’s eyes sparkled.

Well, Tina and Taiga were excellent combatants, and Umi was a healer in her prime. They wouldn’t die if I sent them in.

“Well then… shall we go?”

I entered the fortress with Pinocchio.

I planned to somehow negotiate with this Master and extract Sasith and Pril.