Yea, Futaba-san curtly replies. Her face being clouded to the utmost, I can tell without looking back.
We advance through a now-all-too-familiar stone passage in that slightly strained and awkward atmosphere.
Having rested and slept, not really feeling like diving into this hopeless dungeon, we decided to head in nonetheless.
Futaba-sanâs depressed state had shown no changes after having woken up. For the time, I did do my best on the follow up, saying that I didnât mind about the failure with the Red Dog; since I felt it couldnât be helped, and then, also explained what I thought about Psyche Skills.
I mean, thereâs no way a girl would cheer up with just those words⌠so I said something like we can get it on the next try, and with that, we return to the present of us traversing the dungeon, ever so cautious.
And so, weâve been walking nearly an hour. Weâve passed many a stone passage, going left and right at intersections, sometimes passing through Forested Domes like before; we kept walking.
All the while, we havenât encountered a single Monster; what is this even? Not even a Fang Rat. Maybe thereâs the Class Rep party, or some other classmates preceding us, eliminating all the monsters on their path?
Though well, we heard cawing from a crow-like bird in a Forested Dome, so itâs not like the place is completely devoid of fauna.
May be that itâs plain good luck. If everythingâs started going us, Iâd gladly take this opportunity, and hope we can be blessed with a wonderful levelup right about nâ
âAhâ
I let out a sound just as we were approaching a bend in the passage. Just as we were turning, and the scape of what lay beyond entered my field of vision, I backed away to escape from the âthingâ that caught my eye.
âStopâ
Her large body trembling, Futaba-san managed to not scream out, and with a start, halted her steps. Displaying a hand sign to âwaitâ behind me, I slither towards the bend and take a peek.
ââŚGomaâ
Thereâs no mistaking that filthy, black body akin to a cockroach.
Beyond this bend, there is a large path with a width similar to a 2-way road. Both sides were lined with numerous trees like in a Forested Dome. Of course, they werenât being maintained at all, and the twisted, overgrown branches took over a significant amount of the space. To pass through, we had to traverse the meter~3.3feet of gap right in the middle.
And beyond that overrun, treelined path, looks around 30 meters~100feet away, there was a single Goma.
âE, GueEEEâŚÂ GeaAAA!â
âHii!?â
I hear Futaba-san leaking a scream behind me. I mean, when I heard the Gomaâs cry from all the way over there, even I thought my heart stopped.
âItâs okay Futaba-san, calm down. That Goma, isnât gonna attackâ
âE-eh⌠how can you tell?â
âItâs fallen overâ
Yes, that Goma, it was collapsed face down.
I checked to make sure one more time, but it was indeed powerlessly keeled over. Since we heard its cry, thereâs no doubt itâs alive⌠though looking closer, I saw a pool of blood around the Goma.
âI think, itâs fatally injured and canât anymoreâ
Futaba-san comes sliding towards the corner to peek at the state of affairs herself. My eyesight isnât bad enough to warrant glasses, and Futaba-san isnât of the meganekkoglasses-girl archetype either. We wouldnât mistake an injured Goma.[1]
Having completely made sure, within tension and unease, I make a warped smile and say,
âItâs here, our 2nd chanceâ\nâEh, thatâs⌠you donât meanâŚâ
âWeâre gonna kill that Gomaâ
Just when I thought they werenât coming at all, a weakened, solitary Monster, the ideal prey was right there. We canât let this chance go.
âItâs ok, if we do it like with the Red Dog, itâll workâ
âB-but⌠IâŚâ
Her big-bodied trembling and tears collecting around the eyes were, eh⌠canât be helped. After all, we havenât solved the problem of mental fortitude at all. If we do it like last time, her spear will definitely stop yet again.
And I havenât found any ground-breaking âHow to Stab: even Futaba-san can do it!â method either.
âOkay, then this time, we can stab it togetherâ
The two of us on our first joint mission, I dub it, letâs cut that cake, stab it to shreds. I know itâs an offhanded and spontaneous naming, but couldnât youâve done better, me!
âY-yeah⌠Alright! I can, if itâs with Momokawa-kun, I can do it!â
Eh, for real, you really got motivated from this lamebrain method? I mean, I did say it but⌠yeah, just as she said, this time, sheâs positively burning with fighting spirit, so Iâll gladly take that.
Now, before the passion subsides, weâll finish it in one go. Perhaps after this bout, all our problems will be solved, with a wonderful levelup and all.
First, and I had completely forgotten this with the Red Dog, I pop in a Power Seed.
Itâs recommended to swallow the tiny, red berry without chewing. Since the juice is extremely sour.
ââ!? -!â
Iâll just pretend not to notice Futaba-sanâs acutely puckered face. I had previously cautioned her, but itâs easy to imagine her biting down hard from all the tension.
Any, weâre now ready and set.
âAlright, now or never, letâs go!â
Look right, look left, look right again, no other enemies sighted, affirmative. Futaba-san and I leap out into the path in synchronous, and close in the collapsed, bloodied Goma.
Heat rising from the center of my body came from the quick-action effects of the Power Seed. Itâs not like a fever, but feels more like the kind of warmth you get after a good set of warmup exercises.
Thanks to which, disregarding the fatigue from walking all the way here, my feet on the stone paving feel immensely light.
âOO! GebUReaA!?â
âKyaaâ!â
We had no Assassin-like techniques to conceal our presence, and were boldly running through the path, which the Goma immediately saw. The muddy yellow eyes glaring at us, it shouted, I donât know if in a language or just shrieking, but in an aggravated tone nonetheless.
Futaba-sanâs own cry, was perhaps from seeing the menacing reaction from the Goma. Or maybe, a branch had caught on her grand body, multiples of my size.
Whatever the case, the unmoving Goma could do nothing but cry out, and without any way to obstruct our advance, we quickly got in range for the spear to reach.
âââBlackhair Bindâ!â
I had already finished the aria on the way here. And come now, invoked the binding Curse. Maybe because Iâve done it once already, I could form the image much more clearly and the invocation process went smooth.
Â
 \n<table>\nÂ
Â
The description coming to my head is this kind of useless thing, so itâs leagues better to field-test it to gain mastery. The already brief description amended with further incomprehensible flavor text makes it even more annoying.
Leaving aside the quibbling, as if proving the cast successful, âBlackhair Bindâ manifested with even greater effect than with the Red Dog.
From the pool of blood around the Goma, the bundles of hair sprung forth, entangling its whole body. Focusing on the arms, the Goma was made fixed to the ground. The dirty black-brown body was tightly wrapped in glossy black hair.
Both the constrictive strength and the quantity of hair tentacles had augmented. Itâs likely not a levelup but original specs of the Curse being brought out.
Thinking from the opposite view, it wonât get any better than this; but yeah, at present, this is definitely the Curse with the most immediate effect.
Anyway, with that, binding complete. Next, we stab. I guess this time I wonât use âRed Feverâ. After all, using it or not, wonât really change a thing.
âFutaba-san, just making sure, you canât do it alone?â
âU, uuu⌠C-canâtttâŚâ
While my spear is already raised overhead, edging to strike, Futaba-san was hugging hers with her log-like arms in a girly pose, trembling stalk still.
H-hot damn, that portion of the subtly thick branch-spear is completely buried between her chest, canât see it at allâŚ
âDunGaAAA!â
Woah, sorry Goma-san. Ainât no time to be starinâ.
âOkay, now, slowly, calmly⌠grab onto mineâ
By which I mean grab âmy spearâ. And without expressly offering that correction, I went from the overhead pose, to one where I look like Iâve about to dig the ground with a shovel.
With 1 spear to be held by 2 people, Iâm thinking this position is the best way to smoothly deliver a piercing blow to our grounded enemy.
âO-okâŚgyuu!â
I wonder if thereâs any purpose in her voicing out her grabbing sound effect. Maybe it strengthens her resolve, or sheâs just going with the flow, it doesnât really bother me. With a face on the verge of crying, Futaba-san tightly grasped my spear.
With one hand.
âRight now would be a good time to let go of yoursâ
âA, y-youâre exactly right!?â
The spear made a dry clanging as it was thrown away.
Once again, we use both hands. My twigs and Futaba-sanâs logs, a total of 4 hands grab on to the single spear.
âFuU, Uu,gubURUrUâŚâ
I hear the Gomaâs rough breathing, and indecipherable whinges. But, it feels like it strangely went quiet.
Futaba-san and I are grabbing the spear together, and holding that position. We had quite an awkward stance because of the difference in height, but thereâd be no problem stabbing this dying Goma.
\nAs if trying to tear apart its cheeks, the already large mouth stretched to the limit to scream out its loudest ever.
The tip of the spear was plunged quite deep into its flank. This crude spear, casually carved with the boxcutter had indeed torn the Gomaâs skin, impaled its meat.
The Gomaâs body was pierced through so anti-climatically, maybe Goma are actually pretty soft-bodied or it could be thanks to the Power Seedâs boost. Right now, I didnât have the composure to calmly analyse.
âAgain!â
As I draw out the spear, quite naturally, blood rushed out of the opened hole. Far from the familiar crimson, it was a muddy, red-brown tint. Maybe human blood is like this too, who knows.
The spouting blood gets on my indoor shoes, which are by now, completely dirtied from the dayâs walking, and it gets on the cuffs of my trousers, already smeared with mud and earth. Itâs pretty late to call it getting dirty, but other than the blood, the wound also produced a strange slimy gel-like substance, the sight of which gave me intolerable disgust.
Ah, feels sick, feels sick. So awful, fuck this, why do I, have to be here, the hell, do I gotta do this forâ
Forcefully holding back the sudden jolt of anxiety, the feeling of swallowing back vomit, I continue stabbing the Goma, wishing only to perfectly reap its life.
Again, Again. Another time, a third time⌠countless times. Single-mindedly, I stab.
âGI! iIIGeEEaA!â
Flank, stomach, chest, any big part I can lay my eyes on, I shred with the crude spear. Every time I do so with all my strength, the Goma raises agonizing cries as it writhes. Yet, the shackles of curse donât let it turn in the slightest.
I think I heard Futaba-sanâs screams mixed in with those of the pitiful Goma. Seems like sheâs shouting something, I think, maybe.
Maybe I was also shouting, donât really know.
âHaa⌠haaâŚâ
It felt more tiresome than the time with the Red Dog.
I got that impression when the corpse before my feet had already suffered atrocious slaughter. Red-brown, dirty blood and chunks of gore. It has already stopped letting out noises from my stabbing.
In a fatigue and breathlessness as if I ran a 400 meter~quarter mile dash at breakneck pace, after a pause, not after 3 good pauses, I replied to the sobbing Futaba-san.
âItâs over⌠The Goma, itâs deadâ
As I look, I see Futaba-san still has her eyes sincerely sealed tight. So you can shed tears even with your eyes closed. That, uselessly carefree impression floated to mind.
âI think, you shouldnât open your eyes yetâ
ââŚMmâ
âJust walk a bit back, as you areâ
âMm⌠mmâŚâ
This corpse, you donât need to see it. Especially since you had a hand in itâs creation.
While considering these ways to avoid reality, Futaba-san and I succeeded in our Goma killing.