Ch.92Angry NPC (3)

“KYAAAA?!!”

“What are you doing?! Don’t look away!!!”

The scenery around changes with a single punch. A crater forms on the ground as if a bomb had exploded, and walls crumble as if hit by a cannon.

Thick pillars that look like they could support the sky bend like heated taffy. Monsters nearby are simply swept away by this disaster, disappearing as bloody chunks.

Moreover, the source of this disaster kicks off walls as it flies, relentlessly continuing its bombardment toward me.

And as I’m thrown into this ongoing, unreasonable violence, I think:

‘W-wait. Is he just trying to kill me?!’

Until just moments ago, in front of the dungeon, he said he would make me stronger, that he would give me the power to respond to unreasonable violence. This gray-haired man whom I love is now enthusiastically throwing punches and kicks at me.

-WHOOSH!!

“Eek?!!”

“I told you not to close your eyes?”

“B-but!! If I keep watching, I’m so scared I might wet myself!!”

“Then just wet yourself. After showing me all kinds of embarrassing things already, why worry about that?”

Groundskeeper Jack stops his fist right in front of my face, creating a gust of wind, and indifferently tells me to open my eyes, pointing at his own eyes.

This crazy… I don’t think I’ve shown you anything embarrassing in *that* way, yet you say such outrageous things so casually.

And when you actually tell me to do it, it somehow makes me want to wet myself!! What kind of perverted wall-loving freak am I?!

“Now. Again. Keep your eyes open and watch my attack until the end.”

“N-no! W-wasn’t this supposed to be like what Ray does?! Why does it feel like you’re hunting me instead of monsters?!”

“The activation condition for your skill is to see an opponent’s attack and replicate it exactly. Your physical abilities are already sufficient to follow through.”

“Say something that makes sense! Do you have any idea how fast and powerful your attacks are?!!”

I wish he would say something reasonable.

Jack, the man I’ve set my sights on, is incredibly strong—so much that the word “very” seems inadequate. Of course, he’s the man who single-handedly took down the Seven Deadly Sin demons.

I didn’t see it directly, and I only caught glimpses of him taking down assassins, but considering he returned without a scratch that day…

It was clear he wasn’t even using his full power against the Empire’s elite assassins.

‘But experiencing this directly is beyond unreasonable for a human!!’

A human can’t defeat a typhoon or tsunami. And right now, in my eyes, he’s just a disaster of the same magnitude.

Just a little bit… I’m starting to feel slightly sorry for the humans who were hostile to Jack, and as that thought crosses my mind, I unconsciously lose strength in my waist and try to sit down, when—

-GRAB.

“Where do you think you’re sitting? We’re not done yet. It’s not time to rest.”

“Please. Let’s rest a little before continuing. You’re really too intense! At this rate, we won’t be able to do anything at night?!”

“What business do you have at night? Stand up before I give you an order.”

“Ugh… I’ve been asking you to handle me this forcefully normally.”

“……”

Jack’s expression changes to something awkward at my words.

And seeing that expression, I finally understand I went too far.

He was originally doing this out of concern for me, trying to resolve the “inferiority complex” I felt while being with our companions. If I just throw out such selfish, honest remarks, of course he’d feel bad. Ah, I really am…

“Um, Jack. I’m sorry, I’ll work hard. I’m really sor—”

“Fine. I’ve changed my mind. I was going to go easy on you, but I need to set a condition.”

“Huh?”

As I hurriedly try to apologize, Jack looks at me and raises the corner of his mouth. Huh? That expression is definitely the one he makes when thinking of something bad…

“Ragni. If you can’t activate your skill by the end of today, I’ll call Ray to a different room ‘tonight’ and punish him.”

Hearing the condition he set, I learned for the first time what it feels like when the world crumbles around you.

*

“No, from today onwards, every day. If you can’t activate it, I’ll call Ray ‘late at night’ and punish him for each day you fail. Obviously, a punishment ‘worse than that drunken night.'”

“W-wait a minute!! I’m the one failing, so why is Ray getting a rewa—!! I mean, punishment?!!”

“You’re right, if you fail today, let’s first dress Ray in a cat outfit. The same outfit you wore that day. It would surely suit Ray well too, wouldn’t it?”

“Jack?!!”

“Of course his bottom, and well, maybe I’ll give some more intimate places a few ‘slaps’ too? Ray likes me as much as you do, so he’d surely enjoy it, right?”

“W-wait a minute!! Anything but that!!!”

If you’re going to be like that, I can respond in kind.

I’m not mentally weak enough to be constantly swayed by your and Ray’s provocations.

Besides, I’ve lived for over 40 years including my past life. It’s pathetic to keep getting flustered by sexual jokes, isn’t it?

“Hmm, I’m getting hungry, so it must be close to lunchtime. Let’s try for one more hour, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll head back. There are other things we need to do besides developing your skill.”

“W-wait a minute!! You said ‘by the end of today’! Suddenly it’s just one hour?! There’s still plenty of time left in the day…!”

Indeed. As soon as I mentioned punishing—or rather, rewarding Ray in the way perverts would enjoy—Ragni, who had been pretending to collapse from exhaustion, rushed over and grabbed my clothes.

-GRAB.

“Wha—!? J-Jack?”

“Alright. The limit is one hour. I’m throwing you.”

“Uh, what?! KYAAA?!!”

After grabbing Ragni’s arm that was holding my clothes, I put my hand on her thigh and throw her. Despite screaming, she manages to land properly.

The fact that her landing resembles how I jump off walls is evidence that her skill is already partially manifesting.

Now, if she can just watch my movements completely and replicate my punches and kicks, she’ll be able to freely use [Heaven-sent Talent].

‘And when that time comes, I won’t be able to handle Ragni with my current specs.’

“Now, Ragni. If you don’t want Ray to get your ‘reward,’ you need to try harder than—”

“Never, I can never give it up.”

“…Huh?”

As I approach leisurely, Ragni, still in her landing position, is muttering to herself with her head down.

I can’t quite hear what she’s saying, but is she repeating “never, never”? Huh? Ragni?

“Jack’s first partner is me. I can never give that up. If I can’t even have that…”

“Huh? Ragni?”

-WHIP!!

“You prefer me more, right? Right?”

“…What?”

She suddenly jerks her head up to look at me.

Even though this dungeon isn’t particularly dark, Ragni’s red eyes seem to glow eerily, making me unconsciously step back. Wait, what? Ragni? What’s her condition?

“Wait. Ragni. Hold on, maybe you’re right, let’s take a break and—”

“Yes, the reason you set such a condition is obviously because you like me more. There’s no other reason. And a cat outfit? That’s what I wore! You must be thinking more about me that day, right? Right?”

“……”

Wait a minute, I think I’ve touched something I shouldn’t have? Like some strange switch has been flipped, Ragni is shaking her head and approaching me in a manner reminiscent of a ghost from a horror movie.

Moreover, because I just threw her, her hair is disheveled, half-covering her face, making her even scarier.

“R-Ragni? Wait a minute. What I just said was just to motivate you a little…”

“Yes, that’s right. So if I just activate my skill, then.”

“What?”

-CRACK!!!

“Holy shit!!!”

The ground beneath Ragni’s feet suddenly caves in, and in an instant, her body springs toward me.

This, has the skill already activated…?!!

“Then I’ll be the one getting ‘punished,’ right?”

“W-wait…!!”

-BOOM!!!

My voice wasn’t fully released, and the dungeon shook with the sonic boom from her fist.

*

Ragni, unable to withstand the recoil of her skill, collapsed, and I carried her out of there in a princess carry.

Why did I carry her out? Looking at her condition, it seems she has yandere tendencies in addition to being a masochist, so it’s a service. I tried to motivate her a little and ended up finding a strange switch.

‘If I hadn’t deliberately done this in the dungeon, we might have been caught by others.’

There were three reasons I chose a dungeon for skill activation training.

One was that I needed a space that could withstand my full power without being discovered by others.

Fortunately, the EP.3 dungeon, like the previous Imperial dungeon, was still in an unexplored state, and it was sturdy enough to withstand my power until now.

I was honestly worried because of what happened with the Imperial dungeon before. But perhaps because we didn’t disturb the dungeon boss, no collapse occurred.

The second reason was that Ragni needed a space to practice after acquiring the skill.

With the EP.3 dungeon, considering her level, if she could mimic my attacks and stats, she could have stably run the dungeon. Of course, I didn’t expect her to collapse immediately after activating the skill, so this part became meaningless.

And finally, the third reason:

[You have registered the mountain of this region.]

[Mountains under management: -Ponia- -Ottoman Empire- -Aigram- -Neti-]

[Mountain Manager Effect: All stats increase in mountains you manage.]

[Title acquired!: View details.]

[new!: Mountain Keeper with Animal Ear Fetish. Reincarnated Person Starting with Three Wives. Acquired Baldness Maker. Doesn’t Hesitate to Break Men’s Limbs. The Continent’s Mountains Are My Mountains.]

[View all titles: (…)]

To register Neti’s mountain.

I had been putting it off since the Veteran Mountain Keeper title was sufficient, but after hearing that Ira and Ragni were threatened somewhere I didn’t know about, there was no reason to delay, and I felt I shouldn’t. So I came to fulfill the monster hunting quota.

The geography check was cleared when I chased after Gibson last time, and only monster hunting remained, which I quickly completed.

And that choice was not wrong.

[-Occupation: Mountain Keeper NPC- Level: 401 Name: Jack. Age: 19.]

[HP: 309,150+???]

‘HP. It really decreased.’

My HP was clearly around 310,000. At the very least, there was no 1 in the last digits.

My arm that blocked her punch felt pain as if hit by a hammer, and I carried the collapsed woman while clearing the monsters inside to add to my Mountain Keeper stats. The pain subsided significantly, but my arm still feels numb.

“…My goodness. What a frightening princess.”

To think I would experience HP reduction from Ragni. Should I call this the power of a raid boss, or was I just being stupid? Perhaps both, but one thing is certain.

‘…I’m not invincible, and from now on, I really need to be prepared for my HP to decrease.’

My HP, which didn’t decrease by even 1 point against the Seven Deadly Sin demons. Now that it has been reduced by Ragni’s hand, I must neither be arrogant nor careless against the stronger humans I will meet in the future. And that means I can’t leave the women who follow me as they are.

“Leveling. I need to do that.”

Looking at the princess who is breathing heavily in my arms, who showed yandere tendencies, I smile bitterly and steel my resolve.

After this is over, I’ll need to find ways to increase my specs further.

For the sake of the future, for the current Ragni, for the future Ragni. And to avoid being caught and killed by future enemies.

Thanks to Ragni, I confirmed my limits and set my next goal.

*

“Yes! I’ll tell big brother about it!”

“Thank you! Miss Ira!”

“I-Ira miss?!”

[…Lady Ira.]

Jack, who is currently setting his next goal and envisioning a sound(?) future, doesn’t know what’s happening at the church in Neti right now.