CH 155

Chapter 155: The Bridge

“It’s about time. Let’s head for the next Fairy Square.”

“Ok!”

Right, so we had an Arachne Mk. II, and a couple days later, I decided it was high time we get out of here.

We filled the treasure boxes chock full of Roylopse and Jaja meat, along with a lot more meds than I can usually carry and lots of other bits and pieces.

Plus, since I finally got myself a new Arachne, I had the privilege of collecting her Arachne poison aplenty. I now had more Spiderfrog’s Anesthesia in my arsenal. Though now, the frog poison had become the bottleneck.

In addition to that, I used Witch’s Cauldron to dilute the potent paralysis concoction and made something that instead only dulls pain.

In other words a Painkiller. I get absolutely useless when I’m in pain, so this is mostly for my benefit.

And, let’s see, we also got a fair number of spare weapons from hunting down the Goves in this area, so that’s about all the stuff we were carrying.

Finally, I made another Mud Doll Rem, so Rem #3. This seemed to be the maximum number I could efficiently control.

And, actually it’s been a while since we’d done this, but we used the good old compass to guide us to our destination.

We’d done a lot of exploring in these parts, so for a while, we walked through known territory.

“Ueaaaaaaahhhh!!”

And lookie there, it’s our favorite High Zombies. Punctual as ever. I sometimes wondered where they all come from. My best guess is they’re like Skeletons, spawned out of somewhere or other.

“Get back, Kotarou-kun.”

“Sure, but you two, Mei-chan.”

“Wait, what?”

“I want to see how the Rem team handles this level of threat. Let’s leave it to them.”

“Oh, alrighty then. Go get ‘em, Rem-chan!”

“GRR, GAGAGA!”

Heeding my expectations and Mei-chan’s cheers, Rem and Rem #3 ran ahead and engaged the pack of High Zobs.

Arachne Mk. II on the other hand was on rear support, webslinging away.

The High Zombies who only knew ‘charge’ and nothing else were hit and bound by shots of spiderweb, falling face first into the dirt.

That was where Rem and #3 came in, chopping off their heads one by one.

“Uvoooaaaahhh!!”

The dumb High Zombies, because they were indeed dumb, took no hint at how the ones before them were taken out, and charged in the same way.

Rem held them off well enough until Arachne came in with the webs and then finished off the Zombies efficiently. Rems 1, 2, and 3 were all one in the same soul, so their teamwork was nothing but perfection itself.

The strongest Rem, the one made with Goliath parts was simply stronger than your average High Zombie, and she was dual wielding a sword and axe to easily end any Zombie that came her way. As for Rem #3, she was made with lower grade parts, yes, but I guess because I put in other good parts over the High Zombie and Gove base body, she could hold her own too.

“Nice, well done, Rem.”

“GUGAGAGAAA!!”

After a while, the High Zombies were all cleaned up, and Rem let out a triumphant victory cry.

Looking good, looking very good. This way I don’t have to rely on Mei-chan so much.

Satisfied with the Remtastic results, we went on ahead, following the compass.

We had three more monster fights after that, all of which the Rems made quick work of.

And around mid-day, we’d arrived at an area cleared of any buildings.

“Looks like, a lake?”

I questioned since it wasn’t exactly the picture of a lake with plants and trees growing around it. The body of water was enclosed in hard concrete-like stone walls, making it a man-made lake going through the ruined town.

There was a few meters fall down to the lake’s surface, and it looked like the people who may have once lived here also saw this as a danger, as they’d made iron fencing go all around the edges. Well, not very functional fencing at any rate, since it was rusted over everywhere with bits and pieces missing even.

“Kotarou-kun look, there’s a bridge over there.”

“Hrm, and it looks like that’s the only way across too.”

The concrete construct was connected by a long suspension bridge. This sturdy bridge was wide enough to handle 4 lanes of vehicle traffic easily.

I looked to my left and right, nothing, only this bridge. Both sides ended in this geofront’s walls, so it seemed that this was the only way to the other side.

“Yeaah, something about this doesn’t feel right with me.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Big open area with only one available path. Call me crazy, but this just screams ambush.”

“Ah. I can kinda see that.”

But in the end, we had to get to the other side somehow, so we needed to cross the bridge.

Plus, I don’t see any merit in something like Goves camping on the bridge, since all their food and resources were in the more building dense areas.

This was an FPS problem, and shouldn’t be one for us.

“… Coast does seem clear.”

We didn’t dare let out guard down. Mei-chan focused her senses and also found no monsters or anything around.

If we’re lucky, we can get this over with fast.

“Alright, here goes nothing.”

“―― Stop, Kotarou-kun!”

Just as I took some steps across the bridge, Mei-chan yelled out to me, and in the literal blink of an eye,

Fwoob!

Something just pierced the concrete like ground in front of me, digging into it.

A very obvious something, in fact. One with a head, body and tail. An arrow.

“What in the, what, where――”

“―― Stop right there!”

I heard a male voice from I didn’t know where.

I didn’t stop because of the voice, but because of what it seemingly implied. That arrow had literally shot through concrete. If I’d taken one more step, it would’ve shot through my foot and both me and my mystery sniper would be in for some hardcore pain.

“Who are you! Come out and face us!”

“It’s Sakurai. Momokawa, that last shot was a warning. Try crossing the bridge and I won’t miss.”

Sakurai. So, Sakurai Touya.

He was in the archery club like Souma Sakura, but unlike many of the boys who joined, he was just in it for the sport. He was pretty good too, Nationals level even, and not only that, he had the looks to be called handsome. He was also above the average in school and sports, but Souma Yuuto dominated in all those, well something like that. On the other hand, if we consider Souma Yuuto an exception among exceptions, Sakurai could be considered one of the very high spec boys in class.

Just my luck. These sort of blessed people always got a tonne stronger when they got powered by their Jobs.

Case in point, he already had me on lock-on, he could kill me any time of his choosing. Basically, he’d already gotten the tactical victory.

“Fine, we won’t cross… You’re actually lucky, Sakurai-kun. If you’d killed me with that you’d get killed too. It’s a skill.”

“Doesn’t sound too convenient if you have to die too.”

You can say that again. But at least now, he won’t just shoot me in the head all of a sudden. It was too much of a risk and I’ll bet he wasn’t willing to take it.

“Alright I’ll bite, what do you want?”

“Quick on the uptake, aren’t you, Momokawa.”

“I do it all the time.”

I’d avoided the headshot this time because his goal wasn’t my death. Him giving me that warning shot clued me in that he wanted something.

He could just want our cores.

Also, I not only knew he wanted something, I had a fair inkling as to his abilities too.

I couldn’t see where he shot me from which made it clear that he was a ways beyond the bridge at least. He could be camping out in one of the tall buildings I could see from here. Which also meant that he could should accurately from hundreds of meters away.

There was the fact that he possessed enough power and accuracy for that warning shot just now but here’s the kicker… How come we were conversing normally throughout all this?

I could sort of feel that Sakurai-kun’s voice was travelling to me by some sort of wind. I on the other hand was just talking normally, but he could hear me just fine.

In other words, this guy had sharp enough senses that he could hear someone from hundreds of km away, or he had some sort of magic to do it.

His tremendous power, accuracy and sensitivity to even the faintest sounds made him the absolute worst enemy we could possibly face in this wide open location.

“Momokawa, do you have a potion?”

“I’m assuming you mean that healing stuff you get from a treasure box?”

“That’s the one.”

I was wrong, it seems Sakurai-kun needs a potion more than cores.

Was he hurt? … No, not likely. I bet it’s for someone else.

“Just asking, but is Hinagiku-san hurt?”

“Hey! Why do you know that!”

“The only reason that I can think of for why you’d go around threatening people for potions, is if someone really important to you got hurt bad. And I can’t imagine that someone being anyone other than Hinagiku-san.”

Yeah, I was well aware of their relationship, like pretty much everyone else. We were in the same class, so I knew about them since 10th grade.

They were both really, like, really into each other. Even more hardcore than the pink atmosphere that the Souma siblings made. Heck, there was even that time when someone accused if they were really together, and they started making out right then and there, which was when a teacher had to come in and take them to the counseling room.

What I mean is, if you know about them, than it isn’t hard to imagine their predicament.

“Alright, you figured it out. Saya-chan’s hurt. She needs a potion.”

“I see. Sorry, we don’t have one.”

“I’m only going to say it one more time. You’re life is on the line so answer very carefully. Do you have a potion?”

“I swear I don’t have one. I don’t have any potions, but I do have a good healing ointment. Will you be willing to take that?”

“What do you mean healing ointment? You mean the clovers?”

“It has to do with my Job. I make them. And they’re better than clovers.”

“… No deal, I can’t trust you. If you can make healing stuff, I’m sure you can make poisons too.”

Right in the money.

And here I was planning to get them indebted to me with my meds and become allies. This guy was too over-cautious for his own good.

“If you really want to save Hinagiku-san, you’re going to have to trust me.”

“No, no I won’t. I’ve already drawn my bow at you once. And you’re not the type that let’s any enemy scott-free.”

“I, don’t think I’ve ever done you any harm, so what’s the problem, Sakurai-kun?”

“Yeah, I don’t hate you or anything. Well, it’s more like… I can see it on your face, Momokawa. You’ve been through some tough shit. You’ve probably killed people too.”

Holy crap, was he for real, or just bluffing with me? Or maybe it’s that, my face had transformed so much over my time here that people could just tell from a look.

“Let’s say I have then, I’m still willing to trade fairly. I just want to pass this bridge and I don’t want to have to fight you. Just trust me, Sakurai-kun. I don’t have a potion, but I have the means and am willing to save Hinagiku-san.”

“That’s too bad, Momokawa. I’m not in a position where I can afford to take risks. No potion, no deal. You want to pass this bridge, you bring me a potion.”

“… Alright, fine, we’ll find that potion for you. But on the off chance you change your mind and want my ointments, just send an arrow down with a letter saying you do. I’ll be glad to oblige.”

“You’ve probably guessed this much already, but I’m an Archer. Everything you see right now is within my range. Don’t you dare try and slip past me.”

“Roger that, well, I guess we’ll be back.”

“It might sound strange coming from me, but I do hope you can get that potion for me. I just want to save my Saya-chan, that’s it. I don’t want to get in a fight with you. Especially with Futaba-san over there. Even I can tell she’s bad news.”

Wowzers, what is this guy. Not only could he tell that this was Mei-chan instantly, he even caught a whiff of how strong of a Berserker she was. His instincts were at the level of a Thief Job.

We left the bridge, and now some distance way I dejectedly muttered,

“Sakurai Touya huh… he’s gonna be a pain to deal with.”

It was only after we got far away from the bridge blockaded by Sniper Sakurai that I could finally calm my nerves.

It was honestly almost suffocating talking with him on that bridge. I’m not badass enough to stay chill with a gun pointed at my face so bite me.

No, I know it was a bow and arrow, but with enough experience in the Archer Job, he might as well have a sniper rifle. Heck, with some bow based Battle Arts, it was probably more of an Anti-materiel rifle.

While I was chewing on the problem, we headed inside a random close by building, and having the Rems stay on guard, got some rest.

I sighed audibly as I rested my butt on a crate or something, which is when a pair of big bouncy boobies, I mean Mei-chan, came and stood in front of me.

“Kotarou-kun. I think we should go and defeat him.”

Eh, what was that? I was too focused on the boobies and didn’t quite catch it.

Uhh, ok, so I think she suggested a pretty violent solution just now.

“… Let’s not go there yet. I know we sort of butted heads back there, but I still think there’s some room for discussion.”

“No, you don’t get it. It’s true that I’m extremely mad at him for shooting at you, but that’s not the only thing… Basically, Sakurai-kun won’t become our ally. He only cares about Hinagiku-san and no one else.”

“You mean about the 3 people limit thing?”

“Yes. Sakurai-kun is dead set on using it with Hinagiku-san, no matter what. He’s absolutely ready to kill any of his classmates for that one goal.”

“I, kind of don’t want imagine he’s gone that deranged…”

But I wasn’t naive enough to refute the idea.

I could see where Mei-chan was coming from. While I took time to consider the ins and outs of the situation, Mei-chan had already sensed and deciphered that Sakurai-kun was a dangerous threat to us.

“It’s because Sakurai-kun loves Hinagiku-san just that much. He’s ready to do anything for her.”

“It’s not bad as a premise, but,”

“Yeah, it’s because he loves her that he’s ready to sacrifice everything else.”

Even love is dangerous now. Loving someone meant that you treated that someone at special and in comparison, everyone else was suddenly worth a lot less to you. I could even call it a form of discrimination.

Alright, enough of this useless philosophical hubbub. We needed to think up a plan for this bridge problem.

“Honestly, I really don’t want him as an enemy, you know?”

“Yeah, same here, I can’t do much against attacks from that far.”

The close range specialist Berserker vs the long range specialist Archer. That’s some compatibility alright.

“Oh well, let’s try finding another route across.”

I wasn’t even thinking about finding a potion for them.

Really, why would I? If we can get past him, then that’s fine and all, but if that means Hinagiku-san is recovered, that just bolsters their strength.

I just didn’t get why a 9/10 like Sakurai-kun is so infatuated with a 5/10 like Hinagiku-san. I mean, she was so normal looking that put amongst the other girls in 2-7 who were practically all high on the scale, I could even call her ugly. Plus, it wasn’t like she had good grades or anything. I don’t think she had any particularly outstanding trait at all.

But even an average everyday girl like her could prove to be a threat with a Job and its Skills. And with Sakurai-kun cheering her on, even that normal girl would want to try fighting with him instead of letting him carry her.

I’d have no problem if she was a weak little thing like Reina without her Spirits, but there’s always that what if. What if she was strong, and combined with Sakurai-kun, they became much stronger?

So basically, if we had to fight Sakurai-kun, it had to be now, as he was going solo, or around when Hinagiku-san dies somehow or other.

That was our game plan. If he keeps refusing my meds, than Hinagiku-san just has to die. We aren’t generous enough to give away a precious potion to save her even if we do find one.

I, realize this all sounds really cold and calculating on my part… but I wasn’t the one who drew his weapon first, Sakurai-kun did. If only he had the courage to beg us to somehow save her, I might have even sympathized and made plans to have them join our team.

Sorry, not sorry.

“But I don’t think we can circle around the lake without him spotting us. With his level, he can shoot at us even from that far.”

“I know. We really don’t have any good options in crossing over that lake. But what say you about crossing under it?”

“Under?”

“I’m talking about the sewers.”

That’s the plan. Sneak past the Super Sniper through the Sewers.