Chapter 128.2

Chapter 128.2 \n<h1>Chapter 128.2 – Reina A Ayase and The Men</h1>\nAiri was extremely frustrated to the point that she could commit suicide right now. And as her only ally in this situation, Yamajun kept embracing her without even grumbling or being frustrated at her selfishness.

「Seeing that we meet one classmate after another in a short period of time, I think it won’t take that long for us to meet another classmate in a while.」

「B-but, we still have no idea when that will happen.」

「I’m sure it won’t take that long, I mean, even normal students like us can advance deeper into this dangerous place because of the power of our vocation. That’s why let’s believe that the other classmates are also doing the same. Someday, I’m sure that all of us are going to gather again.」

「… Really?」

「Yes. Just take it easy and don’t think too deeply over this matter, Himeno-san. That’s why let’s do our best together until then.」

It was just as Yamajun had said, Airi must persevere.

Airi should do her best to ignore Reina’s matter and not be distracted by her. But, whenever she recalled those men who were attracted to Airi’s body until just a while ago showered praises to woo Reina, she felt an indescribable hatred boiling up inside her, the hatred towards Reina and the hatred towards her own ugly, charmless face.

But she had to bear with this kind of treatment. Because Yamajun encouraged her and slept while embracing her, whispering words of encouragement to Airi.

Even though her 『Succubus』’ instinct almost went out of control and compelled her to eat Yamajun in sexual means, her reasoning as the human called Airi stopped her instinct and just accepted Yamajun’s embrace, which was as gentle and kind as a mother.

Though Airi could barely bear the men’s unreasonable attitude while barely holding onto her pride as a woman as our group went deeper into the dungeon―― She finally snapped due to a certain incident.

That incident happened on that day when she had reached the limit of her patience.

「KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

Reina was screaming at the top of her lungs. Though her scream was as loud as ever, I had no reason to care about her in this kind of situation.

「KYOAAAAAAAAA!」

「BAW!BAWBAW!」

The monster that rushed in was raptor and gore. Were we actually leaving the dungeon and arriving in the nearby jungle?\nI was really surprised since they came right after we forced our way into a vast jungle that spread as far as the horizon.

The battle started with the flock of raptors that came from the front. To be honest, the four men were powerful enough to beat them. But then, the flock of gore came from behind as if aiming to snatch the raptors’ prey.

「UOOOO! ARE YOU OKAY, REINA-CHAN!」

The one who came to save Reina first was Yamada. Though he left the raptors to the other trio, stealing a head start to act like a hero who saved a damsel in distress called Reina for himself, the only one who could fight the gores from the front was a 『Heavy Warrior』 like him.

But of course, Yamada alone wasn’t enough to stop all of those gores.

「BAW! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!」

「NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!」

Airi screamed to the top of her lungs upon seeing the gore’s jaw in front of her. Since the four men were completely focused on protecting Reina, Airi was pushed back into a position in which she easily became the target of the monster.

「NOOOO! SAVE ME, I’M GONNA DIE! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!」

Airi was scrambling towards the safety zone in an unsightly manner as she cried.

The area around Yamada was dangerous. The area around the Totem Pole Trio who could barely fight back against the flock of raptor was equally dangerous. Though Yamajun fought back against the approaching gore with his light arrow, it was only a matter of time before he pulled the aggro from the gores.

Naturally, the safest place was right beside Reina who was positioned right at the center. The main reason for that was the powerful sacred beast called 『Engard』 which she summoned with the power of 『Spiritualist』, her vocation.

I mean, even if, for example, some of the raptors were slipping through the guard, I’ll be safe as long as Engard the lion used its extremely powerful flame. I mean, Reina’s safety was guaranteed since she has a more reliable bodyguard than Yamada, the 『Heavy Warrior』.

Airi, who fully understood Reina’s power while traveling with her, headed toward Reina’s direction at full speed.

「GAAAAAAAA!」

「HYAAAAAAAAA!?」

But, Engard, who mistook Airi’s intention, was baring its teeth towards her. Even though a human wasn’t supposed to understand spirit language, Engard’s intention was clear- “Don’t get any closer!”.\n「W-wait a minute, what’s this, save me too! I’m in pinch too!」

「No~, it’s scary~! Save me, Yuu-kun!」

Despite my desperate plea, Reina who should be in the safest location was bawling like a kid which made communication with her was practically impossible.

If Airi forced her way through, Engard might really bite her to death. I mean, Reina’s order was necessary to make Engard accepted Airi as its target of protection too.

But that Reina didn’t give a shit at all.

「BAWBAW!」

「UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! 『LUX SAGITTA』!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!」

Humans would do anything when they’re cornered. Right at this very moment, Airi fired her magic for the first time since her arrival in the dungeon towards the monster. This was her very first real battle.

「Haa~h, haa~h…」

By the time I snapped back, the battle had ended. It seems both the raptors and the gores fled as soon as they realized that they couldn’t beat us.

Airi was dumbfounded, she had no recollection of the battle at all. She only remembered that she kept firing her magic towards the approaching gore.

But she knew that the battle was real due to the sense of exhaustion that arose after she had used up her mana. Moreover, the terror of the death still lingered in Airi’s memories.

「Are you okay, Reina-chan!?」

""

「Sorry, you ended up seeing such a scary scene.」

I recalled the moment I heard the men’s voices.

Yes, it’s Reina, that bitch….

\n「There, there, Ayase-san! Let me take a look at your wound and heal it― ―『Lesser Heal』」

Though using healing magic to treat such minor wounds was rather exaggerated, Yamajun had his own reason.

If Reina kept on crying like this, her loyal servant, the sacred beast would appear to appease her. And when that happened, Himeno Airi’s life would be in jeopardy. In the worst case, she would become everyone’s common enemy for making Reina cries.

Though Yamajun knew that the sacred beasts had far higher intelligence than your run-of-the-mill monster since they listened to Reina’s words, he decided that it was impossible to talk to them since they originally couldn’t understand human language. In the worst scenario, they would be forced to fight the sacred beast without even given a chance to resolve the misunderstanding.

Even without that, Yamajun, who could see Reina’s mana flow, had concluded that Engard might rush in at any given moment.

Therefore, he prioritized the treatment of Reina’s wound with his healing magic but―― that action broke Airi’s heart.

「No way… Yamakawa-kun is also… on Reina’s side.」

Despite her rage, there was still a ray of hope in Airi’s heart. She had almost no way out in this situation after slapping Reina for almost leaving her for dead. The only one who would protect Airi in that situation was Yamajun.

But seeing Yamajun’s figure heading first and foremost to Reina who was bawling non-stop to use healing magic on her, had shattered Airi’s (selfish) hope. Why didn’t Yamajun come to Airi’s side? Why didn’t he say that Reina was in the wrong? Why? Why? Why?

That despair finally took away Airi’s power to resist.

「Fu-fufufu… Yes, why do I… for something like this… fufufufufufufufuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…」

Yamada and Ueda unintentionally relaxed their grip on Airi when they saw that she suddenly stopped resisting and was instead weeping.

Airi who was released from restraint, then sat down in her place, covering her face with her hands as she cried.

But neither Yamada nor Ueda was paying attention to her. They were completely focused on Reina.

「Are you okay, Reina-chan? are you still hurt?」

「It’s amazing that your cheek hasn’t swollen by such a loud slap.」

「And done, it shouldn’t hurt anymore after I used healing magic on you.」