Chapter 77: Chapter 74: All-New Harem Party

With the blue Lux Elemental guiding me, I had been running around in the dungeon in hopes of reuniting with the party I’d gotten separated from. I’d been anxious, worried, vexed even that even while I was on their trail, they must be going through tough battles one after another, and I ran with the utmost urgency―― And then, I’d found them.

The girls were in a large cavernous pit, surrounded on all sides by giant bug-type monsters, which I managed to quickly disperse with shots of my Cross Calibur, a Skill I was actually getting rather adept at using. I was so glad… so glad that the Goddess had given me the power of a Hero.

So glad that I’d made it in time, that I managed to save everyone ―― But I soon learned that I was wrong.

“Ken, zaki, Asunaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”

I’d taken the full brunt of the Berserker’s fist on my right palm. That strength, that weight, even now, after Sakura had completely healed the wound, I still felt the occasional pangs of phantom pain. The rage from that one blow, and the pain that opened my eyes, taught me just how much I was missing. About the truth, about what happened.

After that, Class Rep filled me in.

How those two, Momokawa Kotarou and Futaba Meiko, were under attack by an Armorbear and were in dire straights. How the girls had admirably saved them. How, even if the two students who never really stood out in class, even if they were barely acquaintances, they strived to work together, to help each other… with more news of deaths, we needed to do this together, help each and every one we can, and escape this dungeon together.

Be it me, Sakura, Class Rep, or anyone else, they’d think so too. Wasn’t that why they fought?

But that clearly wasn’t all there was to it. I was made to understand that hard truth.

I believed in Sakura, and I trusted Class Rep. I believed in Asuna’s strength of will, in Takanashi-san’s kindness, and in Natsukawa-san’s cheerfulness. I wanted to think that these bonds of trust would keep us strong.

“If I… if only I’d come back sooner…”

The constant battles, the harsh struggle for survival. I was loathe to admit that even those sweet, gentle and strong girls couldn’t remain the same within all that stress.

The friction between Sakura and Momokawa. The duel between Asuna and Futaba-san.

Maybe it was simply inevitable that they couldn’t trust Momokawa, what with him being the sole male among them. And Futaba-san considered him her savior. It wasn’t hard to imagine her being furious once that happened.

But there was also the fact that that one incident had caused Sakura and Asuna to completely mistrust him.

I wanted to think that it wasn’t any one person’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Yes, it wasn’t supposed to be anyone’s fault, but a crack had been already formed.

And it all happened under the stress for survival, when no one had the soundness of mind to attempt at healing that scar ――

“If I just…”

And as those emotions festered to a boiling point, another tragedy had occurred, this one I had no idea how to handle.

And yet, we were not allowed to stop moving forward.

Asuna had pushed Momokawa off the transfer circle. Futaba-san had flown into a rage. And Class Rep risked it all to calm her down.

Even with this fatal scar that led to the worst possible turn of events, we still needed to cooperate in order to get out of this dungeon. Thanks to Class Rep’s efforts, Futaba-san had been convinced to go together with us.

And so we advanced deeper into the dungeon.

We were currently in a familiar type zone, stone ruins, and no new strong monsters had appeared. Skeleton Troopers in the passages and packs of Red Dogs in the forest domes. All of which we could easily manage.

We knew how to fight these monsters, and were able to safely dispatch them. But it was so silent. Everyone only spoke when necessary but otherwise went about killing the monsters without much dialog.

Futaba-san was incredibly strong, and Asuna, who I was worried was suffering from psychological duress, had no issues in dealing with monsters. Sakura and Class Rep provided great magic support, while Natsukawa-san was adeptly dealing with any possible surprises. Even Takanashi-san who couldn’t fight was holding strong. As for me, I tried to fight harder than anyone, frustrated with how I didn’t want to lose anyone else, and practically venting it onto the monsters.

No, this wasn’t enough. Just feelings won’t be enough to save everyone. We’d now become, with the addition of Futaba-san, a party of 7. We were one party but we were far from being one.

It was easier now. But as we advanced in this state, as the zones got more difficult, as the Bosses got even deadlier, could we really overcome everything as we were? ―― The future didn’t look good, I was angry at my own powerlessness, and the rush to get stronger was boiling over.

“Quite the long face you have there, Yuuto-kun.”

“Oh, Class Rep…”

We had gone past 2 more Fairy Squares, and were now taking a break inside the third.

This Fairy Square marked the end of the ruins area as the the other side led to earthen ground and an actual sky above. This Fairy Square seemed to have been constructed at the summit of a small mountain and I was sitting right outside, gazing blankly at the scarlet twilight sky and the deep jungle expanding out into the horizon.

“I’m sure you know why…” I continued, “I couldn’t do anything. I know we can’t keep going like this, but I just don’t know what to do.”

“I know, and it’s fine, this is one of those things where you can’t do anything even if you want to. We all just need time.”

“Still,” I tried to argue.

“I think, that it’s starting to get better, just a little. Well, not better, but back to normal I mean.”

“Y-you think so?”

“Yes… and it’s thanks to Futaba-san. I thought she hated all of us a lot more with how she was, but that girl has been nothing but cooperative.”

She was right. Futaba-san didn’t like us, to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if she got into constant arguments. Asuna’s actions had dire repercussions for Momokawa, but at the end of it all, we’d dealt no punishment to her at all. We could try explaining it all we wanted, about how this wasn’t the time to be fighting amongst ourselves, or how Asuna was an important vanguard for the party, but that wouldn’t erase the raging hate that Futaba-san felt towards my childhood friend.

And yet, despite all that, Futaba-san was acting as if she wasn’t bothered by it at all. She had almost no complaints and had been extremely cooperative with the party. She was not only a stronger vanguard than Asuna, she even took it upon herself to become the party’s cook.

Her snake roast was amazing. And currently, she’d gotten her hands on a lot of these Shrimpworm bugs, and was excited over having them freshly grilled. While Natsukawa-san, who was not too keen about suddenly being picked as assistant chef, was helping out with tears in her eyes.

“Honestly, you wouldn’t believe how relieved I am.”

“You don’t need to feel so responsible, Class Rep.”

“Oh yeah, then how about you help me out next time and calm everyone down instead?”

“Urk… sorry…”

Back then, I hadn’t even had everything explained to me, so I was completely at a loss as to why everything was happening. I had no way of helping Class Rep negotiate with Futaba-san, and could only manage to physically stop her from hurting Asuna.

“I can only hope that there won’t be a next time. If we made her that mad again, I don’t think we could stop it.”

“I don’t want to imagine having to fight each other…”

“Still, just keep this in mind, if we come to find out that Momokawa-kun died after all… well, I’m just saying be prepared for the worst.”

“―!? Hey, don’t tell me――”

“I’m just saying it’s a possibility. It’s one of the worst case scenarios. Yuuto-kun, I just want you to think about it.”

Having said what she needed to say, Class Rep turned her back to me.

“Also, try not to be that depressed in front of the rest of them. You don’t have to mean it, but just show a bit more energy. If you do that, then the rest of them will try to be optimistic too.”

“… Sure, I can do that.”

“And about Asuna, be there for her, alright? I’ll talk to Sakura on my end.”

It hurt a little to hear that last part, because I knew how important it was. I decided to sit here a while longer.

“Nii-san, the dinner’s ready.”

And I’d continued to keep to myself until Sakura called me in. I hadn’t found my answer, and the thoughts and worries only kept going in circles in my head―― but Class Rep told me to try, so I tried putting on a smile, at least for them.

Just the act of smiling more is said to improve one’s mood. If I looked depressed, I’d just keep getting more depressed.

“Uh, guys… do I really have to eat this?”

But as if trying hard to turn that smile upside down, there was now this big, piping hot caterpillar-like bug served in front of me. This must be that Shrimpworm I’d been hearing so much about. Sure it had that juicy red and white striped pattern that was a lot like shrimp, but overall, it still looked the shape of a beetle larva.

“These Shrimpworms are quite big, aren’t they? They look delicious.”

“That basin we found still has a lot left. I’ll be sure to go catch more later.”

Class Rep and Futaba-san were all smiles as they chatted while prodding the grilled worms with their chopsticks.

“Check it out! I used my new magic to make soy sauce, and even mayonnaise!” chirped Takanashi-san.

“I’m still amazed by how much it can do, that replication magic of yours,” Sakura chimed in.

Just the other day, Takanashi-san had gotten a new Skill, Lesser Replicate. She’d used this new Sage magic to make copies of the small packets of soy sauce and mayonnaise she had in her lunch box.

This Replicate magic was, as Sakura said, really amazing in how it can make exact copies of things… But as it stood currently, with Lesser Replicate, she could only do small items. It also required varied amounts of mana depending on the thing being replicated, and sometimes even required supplementary ingredients.

It was a great Skill as a concept, but it wasn’t quite useful for bolstering our strength like her Upgrades did. But it instead proved to be extraordinary in terms of diversifying our food, since I didn’t think we would come across soy sauce of mayo any time soon in this world.

Takanashi-san was grinning ear to ear as she caked mayo all over her Shrimpworm, while Sakura on the other hand only slightly added soy sauce on hers. None of them had any qualms about eating this it seemed.

“It’s very good. The little bit of seasoning makes a lot of difference.”

Even Asuna, whom I was worried sick over, had on a small smile as she chewed on the literal grub.

“… Seriously, how are they all fine?”

It didn’t make sense to me how all these girls were so naturally dining on worms of all things. And it wasn’t like they were all fine with being around live insects from the beginning. I know that Sakura, for instance, wasn’t fond of bugs at all, while Takanashi-san used to run screaming if a slightly big one ever came up to her.

I myself didn’t have a problem swatting away cockroaches and the like, and thanks to the deep mountain training with my grandfather, I could handle eating snakes and other non-conventional food. I don’t mean to brag, but I do have a few more survival skills than your average high school guy…

“Souma-kun~, why are you not eating~?”

“Wait, hold on, Natsukawa-san!?”

I’d left my plate untouched as I watched, with a tinge of horror, how the girls were eating so nonchalantly, which was when, Natsukawa-san, with her sneaky Thief skills, had sneaked up close to me. Her eyes were scary.

“I, I was about to right now, don’t worry about it.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really. And why are you glaring at me like that?”

“I just want you to enjoy these Shrimpworms that I worked so hard to peel, that’s all~”

“Of course I will, I’ll have them now, in fact.”

Then I looked down. I could only see this thing is beetle larva.

Oh, no, I can’t let it get to me. I need to move my chopsticks now, or else.

“Souma-kun~”

“Yes, I’m eating them! I’m eating them, alright!”

So, just, please, give me a second to get ready for this…

“Hey guys~, it looks like Souma-kun doesn’t want to eat the nice Shrimpworms. Won’t you help me convince him~?”

“EH!?”

As though my hesitation had spurred her into action, Natsukawa-san seemed to see it as her duty to have me eat this one way or another. And she had no problem involving the rest of them too.

“That reminds me, this is going to be the first time Yuuto-kun eats the Shrimpworms, isn’t it?”

“That’s certainly true. Nii-san, please don’t worry, it may look like a worm, but the taste is oddly very shrimp-like I assure you.”

“Wait, Class Rep, Sakura, why are you two holding my arms?”

Exchanging a knowing look amongst each other, Sakura and Class Rep grabbed tightly on to my right and left arms respectively. Why are you doing this, let me go, I can eat by myself!

“Souma-kun, the Shrimpworm is so yummy, you just have to try it! With lots of mayonnaise!”

“You can’t keep eating only walnuts, this is for your own good. Eat.”

“I said I’ll eat! I promise, so you don’t need to force me alright!”

In addition, Takanashi-san and Asuna strongly recommended the Shrimpworms by each clutching on to my shoulders, further holding me in place.

“I think he should try it with just salt for the first time.”

“There you have it Souma-kun, say ahh!”

Futaba-san held up the plate with the fat grilled worm with a gentle smile, and Natsukawa-san grabbed it with a pair of chopsticks and brought it close to my face with an evil grin. The smell itself incited my appetite but the white jiggling meat so up close shoved my head back into thinking that this was indeed a worm that they were forcing on to me.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Nope, can’t do it. I don’t have the courage or bravery to take a bite out of this thing. And here I thought I was a Hero.

“P-please, I, I’m not ready for this!”

“Nihaha, neither was I, now open wide!”

“No, wait, no, I’m not―― aaaaahhh!?”

Kono [chapter 74] wa suponsā no [Nolan N.] no teikyō de ōkurishimasu.