Ch.6464. Worrying Only Delays the Conquest!

Thinking about it carefully, isn’t that right?

Though they’re called octopus tentacles, the octopus ultimately uses them like its own hands.

So this situation where octopus tentacles keep approaching me could essentially be considered countless requests for handshakes.

“Ah, thank you. Thank you.”

“Ludion? Are you okay?”

When I briefly acted out a fan meeting scenario, Celia started looking at me with worried eyes.

Yes, I know. This is crazy behavior.

But this thing had to be incredibly creepy. I felt like I needed to escape reality by doing something like this.

Doesn’t Celia think anything of this when she sees it?

“Huh? I only see strange energy clusters…”

As it turned out, the creepy appearance was only visible to my eyes.

Wait, so it wasn’t actually shaped like this but was some kind of visual effect?

That was the moment I realized that having “game eyes” could sometimes be harmful.

But isn’t it usually the opposite? Shouldn’t it make creepy things look cute?

Well… it’s not bad since it’s easier to deflect when I can see it clearly, but still…

No wonder Celia didn’t understand the handshake event and looked at me strangely.

Or maybe she wouldn’t have understood the handshake thing even if she could see it.

Anyway, as I continued deflecting the approaching octopus… strange sounds started coming from around us.

“Grrrr-“

“Screech! Screech!”

“Wooo, wooo.”

When I turned my head slightly at those sounds, all sorts of monsters detected by Grain’s ability were approaching us.

Usually they don’t come looking for you just because they’ve been detected… but it seems the detection was so intense—giving the sensation of being scanned from head to toe—that they involuntarily entered a hostile state.

‘Detection abilities that are too strong can also be problematic.’

They’re charging at us even though we didn’t attack them, just located them.

Grain was defenseless, and I was busy fighting the octopus monster, but I wasn’t worried at all.

Because we still had one high-level person with free hands.

“Celia! You can use magic now! Please take care of those things!”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

After that, it took less than three seconds for the approaching monsters to be annihilated.

BOOM-

A fireball the size of a fist shot by Celia created a massive crater where the monsters had been.

…Didn’t you even set up a magic circle? That was remarkably fast.

If you had set one up in advance, it probably wouldn’t have even taken a full second.

“…What did I just witness?”

If even Grain, who had been quietly keeping her mouth shut, said something like that, it must truly be an impressive level.

It means the level is so high that she couldn’t properly comprehend it even with the power of her ability.

Turning my attention away from the now-safe surroundings, I refocused on my tap dance with the octopus.

Pop, pop.

Each time I burst a tentacle, it transforms into black mist and returns to the hole.

The burst areas writhe as they create new tentacles.

From Celia’s perspective, it’s just a process of energy flows dispersing and regathering. This process repeats continuously.

I burst them, again and again. I moved with maximum concentration since it could be disastrous if they touched Grain even for a moment.

Shortly after, as if she had deactivated her ability, the octopus monster was sucked into a hole that opened in midair, which then closed.

Grain carefully opened her eyes and took a small deep breath.

“Inhale, exhale. This is the first time I’ve used my ability so freely. It feels really refreshing.”

“Just in case, let me tell you—don’t do this when I’m not around. It could be really dangerous.”

Let me say it again: this is a parrying gimmick. No other attacks work on it.

Since I’m the only one in this world who can use parrying, if she tried to use this method when with others… I don’t even want to imagine what disaster might unfold.

“I know. I briefly thought about learning how to do it and trying it out, but I gave up because I couldn’t figure it out even after watching for a while.”

Grain seemed to understand and expressed slight disappointment.

…Wait a minute. “Couldn’t figure it out even after watching for a while”?

“Senior? What about my request…?”

“That? I figured it all out in a few seconds.”

So after that, she was just watching me dance with the octopus on the shell?

No wonder it took unusually long. I thought it was because the rift was wide, but that wasn’t it.

I didn’t particularly want to say anything about it. It wasn’t that difficult, and the situation wasn’t particularly dangerous.

She probably knew that and wanted to observe my trick a little longer.

“But I couldn’t figure anything out… so I just made you work for nothing.”

The result didn’t seem very successful.

But she seemed to have successfully figured out what I asked her to.

She picked up a nearby twig and began drawing on the ground what she had figured out.

Scratch- scratch-

The drawing emerged at a rapid pace.

Even if she had used her ability to memorize it, it’s incredibly difficult to comprehend and remember the positions of a hundred randomly placed structures all at once… she must naturally have an extraordinary mind.

Looking at the drawing, it seemed she had identified six types of objects.

They wouldn’t be exactly the same… she probably grouped similar kinds together.

“Do you need me to explain in more detail?”

“No. This is perfect.”

Looking at what she had drawn, I started racking my brain for the first time in a while.

I looked at everything together, and then examined each type separately.

I scrutinized everything, wondering if there might be patterns that could be found in other maps.

Calculating six variables simultaneously was naturally difficult, but don’t they say practice makes perfect?

When you work on strategies, you develop a knack for these calculations.

“What can you tell from looking at this?”

“…”

“It seems like there might be some pattern… but would that be useful?”

“Grain. I think Ludion can’t hear us because he’s concentrating. Let’s be quiet and wait.”

“…Alright.”

I could barely hear what they were saying beside me.

To calculate accurately with my not-so-brilliant mind, I needed to focus on just one thing.

After considering various possibilities, the most likely one now is…

“1, 3, 2, 6, 3, 3, 4, 3, 1, 5, 2, 4…”

“Wow… he started muttering something creepily. Is that attractive too?”

“Hehehe.”

“What kind of ‘hehehe’ is that? You’ve really got it bad for him.”

…I should get to about this point and then use Grain’s chance one more time.

Alright. Let’s go.

“Let’s depart right away.”

“Huh? We’re going like this?”

Grain seemed to think I was being quite hasty and showed some surprise.

But I continued forward undeterred.

Hesitation only delays the strategy!

///

The Student Council’s exploration was slow.

A considerable amount of time had passed, and they had only just returned to a position where they could continue their exploration.

They had gotten quite lost, and with many battles occurring intermittently, it took much longer than expected.

If Grain had been there, they would have arrived much faster. Thinking that way was probably due to becoming accustomed to convenience.

Anyway, it seemed they would need to camp here tonight.

Accumulated fatigue is poison for a strategy with no clear end in sight. So they needed to focus on managing their condition.

Night never comes in the Rift so it remained bright, making “camping” seem inappropriate, but since it would soon be night outside the Rift, it wasn’t exactly wrong.

“Let’s unpack and take a short rest. Cain, I know you’re tired, but please check if the surroundings are safe.”

“Yes! I’ll go right away!”

After instructing the fastest and most discreet member of the Student Council to secure the area, she distributed food from the backpack.

After finishing their meal and rest, they set up tents for temporary shelter.

And… only then did she realize they needed to do “that.”

“Since Grain isn’t here, we’ll need to take turns keeping watch.”

Yes, keeping watch.

Keeping watch. A term she hadn’t used in quite a while.

When Grain was around, they could always respond in advance if anything dangerous appeared, so they didn’t need to do it, but not anymore.

Not keeping watch without her would be like proudly announcing, “We’re exposed to danger and doing nothing about it like idiots.”

Anyway, to keep watch, they needed to determine the order.

“Shall we decide by drawing lots?”

Though she asked, there was no one who would oppose the Student Council President’s words. Therefore, the watch order was decided by drawing lots.

Normally, she would have first asked if anyone had other opinions, but she didn’t seem to notice that she had proactively selected the drawing method.

She might not have felt the need to ask.

As always.

Everything ran smoothly with the Student Council President at the center.

A little later. When the first watch was deployed.

Behind the temporary shelter made of tents, a figure appeared.

It was the Student Council President, Alkine.

“…Sigh. I’m tired.”

She sighed softly and sat down on a rock there.

Rarely, she felt the sensation of heavy eyelids.

Normally, she could have endured much longer.

For her, this level of exploration was almost like a stroll.

For someone like her who was about to reach enlightenment, not sleeping for several days was no problem at all.

But perhaps because she was concerned about injuring Grain due to her own mistake? She had consumed quite a bit of mental energy in all the battles they had encountered on their way here.

The compulsive stress of needing to protect everyone ignored even her enlightenment and gave her fatigue, creating her current exhaustion.

In fact, this was why she had others take watch when she could have done it herself.

To alleviate her fatigue a little.

Still, she might have intended to endure a bit longer. She kept rubbing her eyes to stay awake, but eventually she dozed off without realizing it.

And… when she regained consciousness and opened her eyes, something had already gone terribly wrong.

“…Where am I?”

A cage-shaped iron bar in an unknown space.

When she opened her eyes, she was already trapped inside it.

“You’ve finally opened your eyes, President.”

“…Vice President?”

Right in front of the missing Student Council Vice President… Diggers.