Saying that, Futaba-san rushes over to me innocently smiling ear-to-ear. Making vigorous splashes on the puddles of blood underfoot.
āAh, yupā¦ You sure didā¦ā
With an expression of mute amazement, I welcome back a Futaba-san whoās frolicking over as if she was a pet dog in high spirits after its owner came home after a long dayās work.
Calm down. Right now in front of me, the concaved heads, the smashed faces, the torn apart and scattered limbs, all these utterly massacred corpses of Goma floating in pools of blood, theyāre things to be happy about. Itās a scene you ought not to be simply happy about as a sane human being, but this is the very thing, the thing I wished for from the bottom of my heart.
Yes, I, just moments ago, witnessed the absolutely awe-inspiring power of Futaba-sanās new vocation,Ā Berserker.
āYup, youāre awesome Futaba-san!ā
āFue, e, eheheā¦ Thankyou, Momokawa-kunā
Futaba-san was reddening at the cheeks as if her beloved had complemented her homemade cooking, but really, is that the appropriate conduct for a girl of age being praised on her killing technique?
Still, Futaba-san herself had been deeply worried about her state of powerlessness, so being this happy might just be as expected.
āYou really were! To think you could fight that goodāā
Our location: that fateful T-junction where I laughably fell into a trap set by the Goma. The very same place where Futaba-san went berserk due to drugs and annihilated hordes of Goma, and here once again, she had conducted a festival of blood featuring Goma.
The reason we expressly returned back here was because of Futaba-sanās strong request to try fighting using the power ofĀ Berserker. In short, battle testing.
I myself am also greatly interested in that power. The person herself is willing, and there was no reason to stop her either.
The weapons I had overexerted myself to carry back along with the collapsed Futaba-san, equipping her with the at-a-glance usable axe and dagger, ones with little rusting, we ventured forth and arrived here. Rather than blindly searching for targets, we figured weād find some friends of those Goma coming back to scout out the situation, or maybe to retrieve their gear.
If they came back with a huge number of reinforcements, we had plans to retreat immediately, but lucky for us, the ones casually greeting our eyes were a small 5-man unit. Looked like they were only here for scavenging gear. Literally no intention to provide relief to the injured. Well, looking at the bodies, you canāt really judge anything other than instant death though.
We then surveilled our surroundings looking for signs of ambush. Making sure that those 5 are the only ones there, we went for it.
Going all out, I preemptively usedĀ Blackhair BindĀ to entwine one of them by the feet. At the same time, Futaba-san rushed out with a momentum unbelievable considering her mass, and headed towards the enemy without the least show of indecision or doubt.
Thereafter, the fight ended in the blink of an eye. As if my shabby support was completely unneeded, Futaba-san smashed the Goma one after the other.
No matter how many Power Seeds she pops, those little things bringing out this level of strength is blatantly outside predictions.
Luckily, the Goma were fairly spread apart for purposes of equipment retrieval. Before they could gather and display any teamwork, Futaba-san nimbly and orderly buried them.
The axe swung down to split their skulls like butter, and the fist thrust into their faces, pulverizing them. Aimless swings would make the limbs of the thin Goma blast off. With simple kicks, theyād dance in the air like a soda can, heading towards the tree branches lining the sides of the passage, getting skewered.
And with that, we get to the part were Futaba-san goes āYaayā with a smile and comes back towards me.\nāStill, even without any psyche type Skills, you sure did it wellā
You sure killed āem good, maybe saying that would be appropriate.
I had thought that Futaba-san, with here gentle and cowardly personality would be hopeless in fights without a Psyche Skill likeĀ ConcentrateĀ which made you forget fear.
Still, Futaba-sanĀ changing jobstenshokuĀ into theĀ vocationtenshokuĀ Berserkerā¦ erm, Iām gonna trip up those wordsā¦ anyway, her getting new powers, and consequently not requiring any Skills that mettle with the psyche, is something Iām already aware of.[1]
Still she, displayed an almost refreshing level of carnage befitting one titled Berserker. Really, what astounding of change of heart, or maybe I can call it growth?
Donāt tell me, thereās still some residual effects of the drugs?
āYep, you know, Iā¦ if itās to help Momokawa-kun, I can do itā
As if sensing something, Futaba-san declared so with a bright smile.Ā Iāll fight to protect someone, itās like the mentality of shonen manga protagonists.
That would make me the heroine? If the strong and cool MC will go ahead and unfailingly protect a cumbersome and hysteric bitch āācause sheās the heroineā, then Iāll gladly become one.[2]
āUh huh, but, itās not scary? Also, the blood or dead bodies, youāre ok on that?ā
āA bit scary yeah. But maybe because Iāve run wild once alreadyā¦ I feel like Iāve gotten more used to itā
I see, indeed Futaba-san hadnāt voluntarily killed a Monster even once before rampaging like that. Is it like, having done it once, itās no big deal anymore?
āAnd for the bodies, they donāt bother me at all. Iām used to them from cooking, also, work collecting cores from when I was with Class Rep, it wasnāt that badā
On dismantling bodies, with her prided real-world cooking skill, sheās already top class. Nevertheless, considering the average extent of cooking, thereād be no way sheās familiar with large bodied animalsā¦ but perhaps, she may just have experience stripping whole cows or pigs.
āAh! Thatās right, now that weāre here, Iāll go get the cores!ā
Maybe because Goma are fated to be simply mob Monsters, we donāt have much hopes of getting many of those crystals of mana AKA cores. But itās not like thereās none. Of course, the ones we get would all be fragments smaller than pebbles. Well, itās better than nothing.
āThen, Iāll leave it to you. Iāll collect the gearā
And for a short period, I busied myself scavenging through rotting flesh.Ā Wonāt these bodies suddenly disappear and leave behind some raw material and gold as drop items, I work while inadvertently thinking dumb things.
āDonāt worry, Iām not, Iām not lookingā\nThough I say that, if asked whether IĀ wantĀ to look or not, I want to. I totally want to.
āU, uuā¦ā
An embarrassed moan which sounds ever so close to crying. Along which,Ā rustle, the faint sound of clothes in friction. Futaba-san was, at this very moment, stripping. Live undressing highschool girl.
āā¦ā
Clear all thought. Calm down, Momokawa Kotarou. If thou, at this instance, looseth reason and turneth thy visage, what awaiteth thee is not but a face disfigured by the hand of ye Berserker. Yeah, I really donāt wanna be friends of those Goma turned meat lumps and blood pools.
Well, disregarding that, for the foreseeable future I need to make sure I donāt do anything to lose Futaba-sanās trust. So right now, I declare my vocation to beĀ Gentleman.
āK-kay then, letās concentrate on these medsā
I tell myself, as I grind away making Ointment A with a Fairy Walnut tree to my back.
After the battle with and highway robbery of Goma, we returned back to the Fairy Square. After getting our first loot since starting the whole dungeon capture, the top-notch feeling of satisfaction plus hope for the future, in addition to the convenience of it all, all of it gathered into one big sigh of relief.
And was it because of such a relief? We finally noticedā the smell.
A natural conclusion. Dropped into this otherworld, it has undoubtedly been more than a day. Right about now, itās probably the 2nd or 3rd day. In that timeframe, we havenāt changed clothes even once.
Moreover, Futaba-san and I both have experienced blood-soaken battle. Itās very clearly at a level much higher than our clothes being simply dirty. Even hobos would look pristine in comparison.
That being the case, our current 1st priority was bathing and laundry.
And yet, here we had neither a bathroom with hot tufts of steam, nor one of the three sacred treasures, the washing machine. No way we had em. The only place to procure sanitary water in this dungeon would be, thatās right, the fountain in a Fairy Square.[3]
It was neither a bathtub, nor a shower, but should be described as a natural pool.
āā¦!ā
From behind, the splashing sounds of water hit my ears. Futaba-san is, right now, right behind me, gratuitously exposing that plump body of hers.
I think, most of the guys from class would be like,Ā That fatty naked? yea, NOPE; blergh, someone get be a bucketĀ and raise their jeers butāĀ Fuh, foolish plebeians. In the end, man cannot resist his desire. The desire, to see boobs that is.
But right now, the hero inside me, with a saintly spirit, heās sealing away those wicked desires. To feast his eyes on Futaba-sanās that, that super-sized bust you canāt find even inĀ big titkyonyuuĀ pornosAV, heās sealing that desire.
āTh-this isā¦ perhaps my greatest trial yetā¦ā
And for a brief period, like a middleschool boy in front of a sealed porn magazine in a convenience store, I tasted heart-wrenching pain and anguish.[4]
āMomokawa-kunā¦ I, Iām done nowā
With Futaba-sanās voice, my ordeal finally ends. In reality, it probably hasnāt been that long at all, but an acute feeling of exhaustion drones over my body.
\nMyself being a man, having my upper half naked was not shameful. Well, exposing such a twiggish figure could be considered embarrassing in another sense, but it wasnāt like I was a woman and would naturally form a handbra in this situation. I am often mistaken as a woman, but inside itās all raw, unadulteratedĀ man. A young man in highschool surging in pheromones.
āY-yeaā¦ā
Nevertheless, if Futaba-san stares at my upper body with that much of a feverish gaze, even Iāll get embarrassed.
Fuh, Mālady, does a manās body pique your curiosity?Ā or some other line from a hardboiled dude wont be coming out of my mouth.
āFutaba-san, is there, uhm, something on me?ā
Saying something like āIs there something on my face?ā just made it even more awkward.Ā The hell do you mean something on you!Ā I thought, but then realized that under such an incomprehensible fixed stare of a girl, I canāt help but ask it like that.
āAh! So-sorryā¦ Uhm, the scar on your neck, isnāt, gone yet, I thoughtā¦ā
āEh, Ahh, you mean thisā
O-oh man, just a bit more and,Ā Can it be, Futaba-san, she has fallen prey to my physique?Ā Iād have misunderstood. I thought there was no way, but yup, thereās no way.
āWell itās not like it hurts anymore, itāll heal up one of these days, so donāt worry about itā
This wound on my neck is from the time the rampaging Futaba-san bit onto me. She says she remembers what happened, and itās about this gentle girl, so it isnāt hard to imagine sheās terribly concerned about me, an ally, being injured.
WithĀ Pain Return, she got the same wound on herself, but thanks toĀ Blessed BodyĀ itās been healed only on her end, is probably also making it awkward.
āIām truly, sorryā¦ There definitely, wonāt be a next timeā
Finally, with a slightly clouded face, Futaba-san took my shirt and headed towards the fountain. She had no more words for me. No more words, for this gym pants only, undie-less me.
Ah, sheās doing all the laundry meaning, under those gym clothes, Futaba-sanās also, got nothing on!
āSighā¦ on to the medsā
Dispelling the devil, for now , I went back to medication manufacture.