Ch.436Troublemaking NPC (4)

The laboratory, which had been expanded over decades and was called the pillar of Aiti, and the building now known as Aiti’s Parliament, had been partially destroyed by a single terrorist.

“Piyak!!”

“Windria!! Aim at Piyak!!”

– BOOM!!!

Word spread that the security captain, Aiti’s greatest military power guarding the place, was defeated without even being able to put up a fight. Many had expected that the Chairman, said to be the strongest force in the city, would appear to capture or defeat such an enemy, but given the situation before their eyes, no one thought that anymore.

“Wind Riding Type 2!!”

“Haaaah!!”

-RUMBLE…!!!

While the steel sky remained intact, rocks appeared from nowhere and rained down, and from the empty ground, pillars of fire large enough to easily swallow a house erupted. Toward the man who seemed to have narrowly avoided these disaster-like attacks, the outsiders brought by the Chairman—

When the swords and fists of the two women who had recently made names for themselves in Dungeon Sports were swung, the buildings swayed from the impact, and the steel streetlights illuminating the streets bent, unable to withstand the shock. However, the masked man—no, the man who was presumably the terrorist—withstood their offensive and even counterattacked. And then.

“Here are the researchers from the underground who were captured by the terrorist. Please transport them to the hospital quickly.”

A fox beastkin, who had easily slipped through the cataclysmic battle, somehow levitated her sword in the air, and rescued many people from the partially destroyed building, handed the researchers over to the guards who couldn’t participate in the higher-level combat before rejoining the battle. Seeing this, it became clear to everyone:

-Aiti was under attack from outsiders, and other outsiders were fighting to protect Aiti.

The terrorist who attacked the Parliament was clearly an incredibly skilled individual. This was evident from the fact that he had easily subdued the security captain, one of the strongest in the city. But the skills of the outsiders stopping him were also incredible.

When her beautiful hair fluttered, it created gusts that were clearly not natural wind; a youthful voice shot up pillars of water where there was none; golden winds launched sword strikes too fast for the eye to follow; and a silver beast with tremendous physical abilities attacked the openings as if running through the sky. Even the crimson fox beastkin who had just joined the battle seemed to gently swing her sword once, yet created countless slashes from multiple directions, pressuring the terrorist. This battle that transcended comprehension, like something from a fairy tale or myth, felt to the people of Aiti like it lasted for hours. Of course, in reality, it hadn’t even been 10 minutes.

“Hyper Gravity!! Gravity Field!!”

“Wind Riding Type 4. Tracking Wind…!!”

“Fox Spirit Phantom Sword, Tsunami!!”

“?!!”

-BOOM⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!

“Fire…!!!”

“Wind Spirit! Create a whirlwind aimed at Grace!!”

– ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯!!!

The beautiful women, seemingly determined to finish off the masked terrorist they had gradually cornered, combined attacks of tremendous power, creating a harmony of massive explosions. As the citizens of Aiti watched the masked man disappear in the enormous explosion, they were completely captivated by the spectacular impact unfolding before their eyes.

“Haa, haa. This is unbelievable. Is there still such a gap between us?”

“…Did he dodge all that and escape?”

“Eek…!! Just wait, Oppa!!!”

“Ahaha… Iraya, you finally called me ‘Oppa’?”

“It doesn’t matter. No one will hear our conversation anyway.”

“As expected~ He’s the male we sisters have chosen~♬”

No one heard the voices of frustration from the women who had protected Aiti in a battle so incredible it would go down in history.

*

[Only a handful of people know Jack’s face or fighting style, right? Then there’s no reason not to use that situation. You play the villain attacking the research facility under the Parliament, destroy the gun, and incidentally raise the girls’ popularity with a flashy battle. The only ones who’ll suffer are those who made the weapon and those who failed to protect it. It’ll be a pleasant situation where we only gain benefits, don’t you think?]

The day before the operation, Ragni’s words, spoken with a hint of amusement, seemed like a risky yet worthwhile plan.

Moreover, since I have no magical power, there’s no way anyone could track me. Actually, Ragni suggested I should escape when they unleashed an attack powerful enough to make it look like I died, creating the perfect crime, and it worked perfectly.

Honestly, Ira’s gravity binding at the end was a CC skill so powerful that I couldn’t have escaped without completely destroying the ground with all my strength. And thanks to that, after taking all their attacks, I was treated as completely dead.

It’s quite satisfying to see that the electronic billboards, which had only been showing reruns until the start of the second half of Dungeon Sports Season 13, are now displaying yesterday’s spectacular battle and interviews with our group as the city’s saviors. What’s more, news has begun to break that the researchers Chikuyo rescued were conducting illegal research, creating lethal weapons not reported to the Parliament.

This was being written up as a reality stranger than fiction, explaining why the Parliament was attacked and what the purpose of “my” terrorist attack was, rather than the fictional theory that external agents had infiltrated due to hardliners preparing for war with outsiders. With this, the probability of the Chairman being involved with the gun dropped to less than 20%. That was Ragni’s overall assessment when she contacted me again today to deliver the results.

[However, we’ve lost track of Councilor Beretta.]

“That’s a bit unfortunate.”

“Oppa, what did you just say?”

“Huh? I-I was just talking to Gor…”

“Don’t you know you’re being scolded right now?”

“…I-I’m sorry.”

And what is the Dark Knight—me—doing now? Naturally, I’m paying the price for acting on Ragni’s plan without telling anyone in our group. I immediately apologized, knowing I’d done something worthy of scolding, but our group’s anger was far greater than I had anticipated.

“Jack, Ragni told you to do that, and you didn’t even give us a hint before acting that way. And now you have the nerve to talk with Gor alone? Huh?!”

“Ah, no, that’s…”

“Jack, you told me once not to do things that require apologies, that apologies have no value. Right now, we’re extremely angry at your actions. And your after-the-fact report and apology for deceiving us have no value. What matters to us is only your actions. Understand?”

“…Yes.”

“Oppa, put your arms down.”

“Yes, ma’am!!”

My punishment: carrying Ray on my left arm, Ira on my right arm, and Miho on my stomach, while acting as an invisible chair all day long. It was something I briefly made Ira do when teaching her martial arts before her level exceeded 100, but stopped because it was too hard for her. I never imagined Ira would come up with such a terrifying punishment.

At first, I thought holding two people wasn’t a punishment but a reward, but when Miho started poking the back of my knees to make me sit, a chill ran down my spine. I tried to resist slightly, thinking that doing this all day was a bit excessive, but Ira’s glaring eyes were the only response, so I’m continuing to accept my punishment. But it’s more bearable than I expected. Well, it’s been about six hours, and my legs are starting to go numb.

“Hmph~ Oh my, you’re still doing that~? Jack must have had his reasons, so shouldn’t we forgive him soon, Ira~?”

“Chikuyo unnie, be quiet!”

“That’s right! You’re only saying that because you weren’t provok…!! Because you weren’t targeted!”

“Unnie, if you talk back to Miss Ira one more time, I won’t speak to you for a week.”

“Aww… Jack, sorry~?”

“Oh, y-yeah. It’s oka—”

“It’s not okay?!”

“This really won’t do. Don’t think you’ll be able to sleep comfortably tonight!”

“I guess I’ll sleep on Jack’s stomach for once?”

“……”

Chikuyo, the only one I had targeted for provocation—and the one I didn’t mess with because she’d be too difficult to deal with if truly angered—smiled slightly and tried to free me, but her words only seemed to irritate the other three. Sigh, it was a divine move not to mention that I was her fan because I liked her, thinking it wouldn’t be a problem since my face isn’t known. Honestly, it’s already hard enough holding these three people; if Chikuyo were added to the mix, I might actually die.

“…So, Oppa. Do you like Chikuyo unnie more than me?”

“Uh, what? No, how could that be poss—”

After Chikuyo went to the kitchen with a smile, saying she would prepare dinner, Ira, on my right arm, asked with a sulky face while pinching my cheek, and I shook my head in response. Then Ray and Miho also glared at me with narrowed eyes. Wait, surely not?

“Then, who did you like best among us on the broadcast? And why did you wear Chikuyo’s mask?”

“That’s right. I understand wearing a mask to hide your face, but why only her mask? My glove-shaped merchandise is also available.”

“My staff came out too!”

“Well, that’s…”

As increasingly difficult questions continued and I tried to make excuses, Miho began tapping my increasingly numb thighs with her tail, and Ray poked my chest while frowning. To top it off, Ira, who was pinching both my cheeks, started puffing her cheeks as well. Finally, I…

“O-Of course I liked my cute little sister Ira the best! B-But it wouldn’t make sense for me to hold a staff when I can’t even use magic…?”

“Miho unnie’s gloves were also available.”

“…There was no reason to create an atmosphere of only using fists…”

“Jack, you definitely grabbed a fallen sword and swung it to block me, right? Anyone can use a sword, not just me, so it doesn’t matter, does it?”

“W-Well, that’s true, but…”

“Aha~ You just didn’t want to fight with the angry unnie. That’s it, right? Unnie~! Jack says he didn’t like you best on the broadcast~!!”

“W-Wait…!!”

-BANG!

“What?! Miho! What did you just say?!”

“It’s true! Oppa just said it! He liked me best on the broadcast!!”

“W-Well, that’s obvious, right? I know how much Jack loves his little sister, so—”

“Then, Jack? Who do you like best now? You shouldn’t have anything more to hide from us, so let’s talk openly? Hmm?”

-Ears perking up!!

“W-Wait! We agreed not to ask such things—”

“Just for the broadcast! Among us on the electronic billboard, who looked the prettiest? Excluding the young lady, who was it?!”

…I have a feeling my punishment time is going to be extended indefinitely.