Ch.33Male Friendship (4)

The meeting place was a park at night.

I went out with my sword still in its sheath. I was worried about police checks, but surprisingly, the officers were quite relaxed.

“Ah, you’re Master Gonzaemon’s favorite disciple. Going out for some sword training at night?”

One of the officers said with a smile.

Well… it’s a small town. Rumors about the kendo dojo enthusiast spread quickly.

“Just don’t take your top off. Hehehehe.”

And among the police, rumors about the “Topless Man” had spread.

“I won’t!! Seriously.”

I was wrapped in a strange embarrassment.

Somehow… I felt like my image as the town weirdo had already been cemented.

“Be careful then!! Things have been unsettling lately!”

With the police’s send-off, I headed to the park.

Sasith was already at the park.

“…You came.”

Sasith spoke in his usual cool tone.

“By the way… you’ve become friendly with the police too.”

Sasith looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it.

“Of course!! They’re working hard for the city’s safety!”

That’s what I said.

“Really… you’re so sociable. Feels like you can get along with anyone.”

Sasith said.

Is that so? I’m not sure about that.

“Anyway!! Let’s have a hot night, just us two guys!!!”

I shouted.

“Let’s hunt monsters and have fun together!!!”

Honestly, my tension was rising. There’s a certain comfort you feel with friends of the same gender.

These days, both Umi and Eri are too touchy-feely. It’s only because I’m holding back that I haven’t caused any incidents. That’s what worries me.

“…That phrasing sounds strange.”

Sasith said.

“It’s just a figure of speech.”

I clarified.

“Anyway, Golden Week aside, we don’t know how much stronger our enemies will become. It would be good to build up our strength.”

Sasith delivered a protagonist-worthy statement.

“That’s right!! I want to escape from being the weakest!!”

I’m at the lowest level. My true desire was to surpass Umi in level. Lately, Umi has been strangely climbing up.

“Hmph. Good. Then let’s hunt monsters around here. First, you need to get used to combat.”

Sasith said.

“Let’s go!!!”

I immediately started swinging my sword.

And so, the hunt began.

———

At that time, Taiga was looking at her phone in her room.

She was reviewing her private chat with Shota.

‘I didn’t say anything weird… I made a cool date proposal, didn’t I?’

Taiga was relieved about that.

‘Come out on Thursday.’

It sounded somewhat like a challenge, but it was perfect for hiding her shyness.

The reason Taiga set up a date with Shota during Golden Week was simple.

‘He’s strangely popular with girls.’

First, Umi, that girl definitely had feelings for Shota. Seeing them happily engaged in trivial conversations, Taiga felt an inexplicable frustration. That’s why she made plans with him first.

‘And today… Nishikawa Eri, was it? That girl casually kissed Shota too.’

Taiga felt anger rising at that thought.

‘He’s my follower. He should only look at me.’

Taiga couldn’t help but feel a strange possessiveness.

Her heart moving ahead of her mind, Taiga had made plans.

‘Shota is simple anyway, right? He gets all flustered around pretty women with good figures.’

Taiga chuckled.

Honestly, Taiga was confident in her appearance. She was aware that she was quite pretty.

‘I’ll make sure to mark my territory this time.’

Taiga made a firm resolution.

‘But… what do you do on a date?’

Taiga didn’t know.

Perhaps because she’d lived as a delinquent since childhood, all she knew was fighting. She wasn’t familiar with sweet romance between men and women. Taiga only read battle manga.

‘Today… I’ll have to pass on monster hunting, unfortunately.’

Taiga decided to spend all her time today researching information.

Fortunately, Umi also seemed to be passing today. With just Shota and Sasith, she felt strangely reassured.

Taiga immediately searched for keywords on the internet.

‘First date’

‘Fashion men like’

‘Date courses’

Taiga was rapidly acquiring information related to dating.

——-

Umi was also making efforts.

She was receiving one-on-one special tutoring about romance from Asuna.

“I’ll let you use a room. Just pounce on him. You’re both young, after all. Once the mood is right, things will naturally progress.”

However, Asuna was a hardliner.

“What are you saying?!!”

Umi immediately let out a shriek.

“That’s how it was with Gonzaemon and me. Gonzaemon was very popular, you know. He was good at sports and handsome too. I had many rivals.”

Asuna said.

“Well… Dad is surprisingly high-spec.”

He was admittedly a handsome middle-aged man. Umi acknowledged that. Since Umi had inherited excellent genes from her father, she had no intention of denying it.

“Plus, Gonzaemon and I were childhood friends. Gonzaemon didn’t see me as a woman, you know?”

Asuna said.

“Childhood friends… that’s the attribute that always loses.”

Umi said. She had borrowed and read a few romantic comedy manga, so she knew that well.

Umi felt a renewed sense of respect for her mother. She had risen like a phoenix from a doomed position and caught Gonzaemon.

“Yes. The lineup around him was impressive. A transfer student who was a former idol, the student council president senior, and a female athlete who was set up as Gonzaemon’s rival… only strong contenders were gathered.”

Asuna seemed to be recalling memories of her past battles.

“That’s why I used an aggressive move too. I called him out at night as usual and pounced on him.”

Asuna said.

“That’s a crime!!”

“There’s a love that sprouts from the body, you know? That creates a special relationship.”

Asuna said with a smile.

“That’s…”

“The results prove it. After that night, Gonzaemon immediately started dating me. When you satisfy him every night, love doesn’t cool down.”

Asuna said. Well, it was still like that. Umi recalled her past when she had to pretend to be asleep to ignore the sounds of Asuna and Gonzaemon making love every night.

“Ooooh…!”

Umi was immediately intrigued.

“So about the simulation for that day…”

Umi received crash course education from Asuna.

Because of that, it goes without saying that Umi passed on today’s monster hunting.

———–

Back to Shota’s perspective.

Sasith and I were walking down the street.

“Achoo.”

I sneezed right away. Is someone talking about me?

At that moment, Sasith suddenly spoke to me.

“By the way, Arigiri. Have you decided on one?”

Sasith asked a cryptic question.

“Decide? On what?”

I inwardly played dumb. He was clearly talking about women issues. Honestly, that was a variable. The Arigiri Shota I had possessed wasn’t originally such an attractive man, and I didn’t think there would be such romance-related events. Well… it’s a cliché in possession stories, but I didn’t know if that cliché would apply to me.

“Haah… you’re going to be in big trouble. Hurry and choose one. Otherwise, you might get stabbed soon.”

Sasith advised me with genuine concern.

“…I should.”

I couldn’t just dodge the question when Sasith was worried. I answered seriously.

———–

“Grrrr….”

“Grrrr…..”

Slimes no longer gave me experience points. They were too weak. Knowing they were no match for us, they didn’t even approach.

However, in this game, the field level increases according to the player’s level.

Naturally, stronger monsters existed.

“Grrrrrr!!!!”

Goat-shaped half-human, half-beast creatures blocked Sasith and me.

“Let’s fight.”

Sasith drew his sword.

“Alright! Leave it to me!! Pinocchio!!”

I immediately summoned my psycho-robot, Pinocchio.

“Master!”

As soon as Pinocchio appeared, I threw him right into the middle of the enemy formation. It was a pre-planned formation.

“Grrrr!! Grrrrrr!!!”

The monsters immediately had their aggro drawn to Pinocchio.

“Now’s our chance!!”

I immediately rushed in with my sword.

Slash-! Slash-!!! Slash-!

I cut down the monsters one by one with my sword.

However, the monsters no longer died in one hit. As stronger enemies, their endurance had increased.

But it had the effect of breaking the monsters’ stance.

In the end, I had to leave the finishing blow to Sasith.

“Sasith!! This one’s weakness is wind!!!”

I shouted.

“Got it. Tinkerbell!!”

With Sasith’s shout, a moth-like psycho-robot appeared.

“Windia!!!”

Whoooosh-!!!!

A wide-area wind magic engulfed the monsters.

Boom-!!!

With that, the monsters’ bodies shattered into pieces.

“Phew…..”

Sasith let out a sigh of relief.

Sasith had definitely gotten stronger. At this growth pace, he would be able to perform well in the next dungeon.

——-

After that, Sasith and I continued hunting.

I displayed the benefits of being an experienced player.

“This one’s weakness is fire!!”

Fwoooosh-!!

“This one’s weakness is lightning!!!”

Crackle-!!

“Ice!! Hit it with ice!!!”

Freeze-!!!

Combat was easy if you knew the weaknesses. Sasith was one-sidedly slaughtering the monsters.

With me present, combat stability was high. By roughly throwing Pinocchio in and engaging in close combat myself, aggro never went toward Sasith. Sasith just clicked away skills from the back.

“Come forth!!! Ice Seeker!!”

“Tinkerbell!!”

“Gladiator!!!”

“Goblin!!!”

Sasith fully displayed the protagonist’s privilege, handling various psycho-robots obtained during battle and putting on a spectacular magic show.

“…I’m jealous.”

Honestly, I was really jealous. That’s a protagonist for you. I was just a one-trick aggro holder.

Anyway, Sasith leveled up rapidly to 15. That was 2 levels higher than during the previous castle raid. He really levels up fast. If Sasith feels like he’s playing a modern game, I feel like I’m on a classic server. That’s how it was.

Me? I was still level 7. But I felt my experience had increased. If we hunt again tomorrow, I might reach level 8. I tried to stay optimistic.

Sasith and I decided to take a short rest on a bench.

Whoooosh-!!!

At that moment, a green door appeared in the middle of the park.

The Room of Souls had appeared.

“Hmm… is it time to fuse psycho-robots?”

Well, I knew the combination formula. I should give some advice now. This game is all about psycho-robots anyway. The sooner you create strong psycho-robots, the easier combat becomes.

“Let’s go! Sasith!”

I immediately pulled Sasith along.

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

Sasith nodded and followed me. Somehow, Sasith was having trouble controlling the corners of his mouth. He was probably recalling that bizarre show from before. That was my guess, anyway.