Ch.373The Country of My In-Laws (13)

KWAAAAAANG-! KWAANG-!! KWAAAANG-!

Pinocchio began frantically running and disarming the booby traps with his entire body.

The area around the fortress was riddled with traps. Upon learning of the enemy invasion, Janson had quickly changed his strategy, setting up all kinds of traps around the fortress to force the enemy into a war of attrition.

“Hmm… is that some kind of familiar?”

Janson clicked his tongue as he assessed the situation. It was probably similar to a familiar controlled by that Shota fellow or whatever his name was. Moreover, it had a sturdy body. It had stepped on an anti-personnel claymore mine without getting a single scratch.

“This is troublesome.”

Pinocchio had already disarmed more than half of the traps. At this rate, there would be no surprise war of attrition through traps.

“I suppose… I’ll have to put that thing down.”

Janson aimed his pistol toward where Pinocchio was visible. Though Pinocchio appeared as just a dot from this distance, Janson’s eyesight allowed him to shoot without difficulty. In his life, Janson had never missed a target. This time would be no different.

TADADADADADADANG-!!

Janson quickly pulled the hammer of his revolver, emptying all the bullets in the chamber. How tough the enemy’s body was didn’t matter at all. Janson’s bullets boasted enough power to penetrate enemy armor.

SHPAAAANG-!!

The bullets cleanly sliced through Pinocchio’s body.

“Mas…teeeeer…!!”

Pinocchio’s body blurred and disappeared immediately after being hit by the bullets.

“Good. Now you have no more tricks up your sleeve.”

It seemed the others might have similar familiars, but they couldn’t operate them from a distance like that strange long-nosed familiar. In the end, everyone would have to come down from the outer fortress, just as Janson had intended.

———

“Pinocchio…!”

Pinocchio had suddenly been unsummoned. Having taken excessive damage, he had returned to his original world.

“Looks like he was shot…”

He would have blocked ordinary gunfire. However, Pinocchio had simply been shot and disintegrated. It must have been a penetrating attack that ignored defense and attributes, or fixed damage. Just from that, I could guess that the enemy was quite strong.

PICHIT-!!

Suddenly, the back of my neck went cold. I felt killing intent emanating from all around in the darkness.

“Damn it…”

It felt like the enemy could attack from anywhere.

“Shota… let’s retreat now.”

Violet spoke, having sensed the danger.

“No. If we run, bullets will fly at our backs.”

I sensed it instinctively. I thought we were the ones pushing them back, but it was actually us who were cornered. I’d seen it on the internet before. A case where a single sniper neutralized an entire platoon. It certainly made sense. The terror of bullets flying accurately from an unseen location was beyond imagination. Those on the receiving end couldn’t move an inch.

“Ufufu. You’re more strategic than I expected.”

I spoke in a deliberately calm tone while making Eri’s chest bounce.

“No… Shota. How long are you going to pretend to be a strategist? You just charged in mindlessly and got stuck. I don’t see a trace of intelligence here.”

Kana gave me a cold look as she complained.

“There’s probably something like a sniper over there. Plus, they have visual confirmation. We haven’t spotted them yet.”

I was honestly worried. What should we do?

While pondering various options, a brilliant idea came to me.

“Violet. That thing over there is also a Demon Lord or whatever, right? Can you locate its position?”

I asked Violet.

“Ah… yes.”

Violet nodded.

“I’ll lure him out. Can you open a dimensional gate under the Demon Lord’s feet when that happens?”

That’s what I wanted to ask Violet.

“It’s possible. Difficult, but I’ll have to do it.”

Violet sighed and concentrated.

“Okay. Here I go.”

After sighing, I waved my hand beyond the fortress wall, trying to appear as defenseless as possible. A master marksman wouldn’t be able to resist. A stationary target sticking its head out—there’s no way they could resist taking a shot.

When the enemy stopped to aim their gun, that’s when Violet would open a dimensional gate beneath their feet.

I turned my head conspicuously and buried my face in Eri’s chest.

“Um, Shota?”

Eri wore a slightly bewildered expression.

“This is to appear as defenseless as possible. Humans are most defenseless when eating. That’s why I’m sucking on Eri’s breasts right now.”

I made an incredibly convincing statement.

“Just say you want to suck on them…”

Eri stroked my head with a resigned expression.

“I have breasts too. I can let you suck them while I chant sutras to calm your mind?”

Aiko-san smiled as she opened her chest. She was really making the most of her expertise as a temple abbess.

“Please give me the Heart Sutra remix!!”

I immediately rested my head on Aiko-san’s chest.

“Naha bara…”

Aiko-san actually began chanting the Heart Sutra.

“Mom… you’re spoiling him too much.”

Aki looked at Aiko-san with cold eyes.

Just as I was deeply lost in spiritual distraction…

TAAAAAAANG-!!!!!

I felt a surge of killing intent as a bullet flew from the distance.

———-

A few seconds before firing, Janson faced the greatest dilemma of his life.

The target on the fortress wall was blatantly engaging in lewd acts, as if a sniper was the least of their concerns.

‘Th-this is a trap!! It must be a trap!!!’

Janson was an outlaw who had been through it all. He knew this for certain.

During the frontier era, in a land where law and order didn’t exist, the only thing you could trust was your own gun. In such a lawless territory, Janson had survived to reign as the king of outlaws. He had been subjected to many dirty tricks, and likewise, had used many dirty tricks himself. The meaning behind showing such a tempting target was simple: it was a trap.

But… Janson had the instinct of a gunslinger. He had the instinct to shoot when he saw a defenseless target. The target was sticking their head out, shaking it obscenely and vulnerably. It was only human nature to want to blow their head off with a gun.

CLICK-!!

Janson’s finger was touching the trigger with tremendous force.

‘Ah… I want to fu—no! I want to shoot…!!’

Janson was fighting against his own desires.

‘Ah… should I just close my eyes and shoot?’

Janson was an outlaw, and he wasn’t used to restraining himself.

“To hell with it!!”

Janson held his twin pistols in an akimbo stance and fired with all his might.

TADADADADADADANG-!!

The guns in Janson’s hands spewed tremendous flames.

He had done it. The moment Janson was certain of this, the ground beneath his feet was enveloped in light.

“What…?!”

Before he could even be surprised, Janson’s body was sucked into the dimensional gate beneath his feet.

——–

WEEEEENG-!!

As a dimensional gate opened in the sky, a figure dressed in anachronistic cowboy attire fell through. He was holding pistols that were still warm from being fired.

“What…?!”

Janson seemed confused by the sudden change in his position.

“Hi, powder.”

I smiled as I drew my sword.

“Y-you…!!”

Janson shouted in surprise. He seemed to know me. But I had no memory of him. However, one thing was certain: he was someone who deserved to die.

FUSHAAAAK-!!

I immediately sliced the neck of the man who had been summoned through the dimensional gate in mid-air.

ROLL…

The cowboy’s head rolled across the fortress and fell off.

DING-!!

‘Past Nemesis 2 Defeated: Level cap increased by 1.’

The status window message confirmed that he was definitely dead. The enemy commander had fallen. The outcome of the war was obvious.

“GIEEEEK!!”

“GEGEGEK!!”

The creatures in the fortress all began to retreat at once.

“Good. We’ve taken one down… shall we head back now?”

I shrugged as I spoke. It was time to wrap things up. My girlfriends weren’t showing it, but they looked quite tired, and I was eager to get back and roll around in bed.

“Violet. Can you open a dimensional gate?”

I asked Violet, my dimensional gate shuttle… I mean, dimensional gate assistant.

“Ah. Yes.”

Violet smiled and opened a dimensional gate.

And so, we amicably entered the dimensional gate.

——–

At that time, in the witches’ stronghold to the northeast.

“Janson from the northwest was defeated?!! And at midnight?!”

The witches’ mood was deteriorating rapidly. Despite their ambitious preparations and coup, things were already looking grim.

“You’re the only one left!! Jackal!!”

The witch addressed the last remaining Demon Lord.

He was a man who had reigned as king in an apocalyptic world where nuclear war had led to mass extinction. Using his overwhelming physical abilities enhanced by radiation, he had pushed the hero of that world to the limit.

“Ah. Don’t worry. I’m different from those weaklings who’ve grown soft in civilized society.”

He smiled as he gobbled up the food on the table.

Having rarely eaten proper food in the apocalyptic world, he was going crazy over the warm food of civilized society.

WAGU-! WAGU-! WAJAK-!!

He devoured the food with tremendous momentum.

“Um… please stop eating…”

One of the witches tried to stop him.

“Come now. I’ll earn my keep, so stop making a fuss.”

Jackal stuffed meat into his mouth with all his might.

Having eaten so hastily, the meat went down his windpipe.

“KHEOK!! KEK!! KEK!!”

Jackal immediately began coughing as if he had choked.

However, the food lodged in his windpipe showed no sign of coming out.

“UKEEEK!!”

No matter how enhanced his body was by radiation, there was nothing he could do with a blocked windpipe.

“KEEEK!!”

Jackal collapsed face-down on the table and didn’t get up.

Jackal’s cause of death was choking.

“FUCK!!!! Not a single competent one among them!!”

The witches’ screams echoed everywhere.

——–

At that time, Shota was savoring the afterglow of a happy time spent with his girlfriends.

“Ah… this is nice.”

Shota was fully experiencing the fulfillment of being surrounded by women he loved.

DING-!

At that moment, his status window vibrated.

‘Past Nemesis 3 Defeated: Level cap increased by 1.’

“What’s this?”

Someone had died without his knowledge. Well… maybe there was some internal strife? Anyway, I had successfully taken down my third enemy.