Chapter 61

Chapter 61 \n\n 

“—Why in the world is this cave so long”

 

Said Class Rep in a somewhat fed up tone.

After that double Mantis battle, we’ve been going through insect cave after stone dungeon after insect cave. We’ve gotten pretty used to fighting in the caves, but well… As Class Rep just complained about, the one we’re in right now felts like it’s been going for ages.

 

“This is sort of like, we’ll be meeting a boss soon”

“We could… A giant spider, the Rook Spider was it?”

 

For some reason, the cave monster series seems to be prefixed with chess vocabulary. The Ants are Pawn Ant, Mantis being Knight, and the spider type monster is designated Rook. This was all from updates on our notebooks. So obviously, there’s gonna be the Bishop, Queen, and King types… But I don’t want to meet them if possible. We didn’t get any info on those, so I’ll be praying that they don’t live in this part of the dungeon.

 

“— Uwah, spider nests! Ryouko-chan look, it’s gotta be heree!”

 

Natsukawa-san, who was walking ahead, let us know that our suspicions had come to fruition. As I mustered my courage and caught up to her, there, as expected, I could see a giant spider’s nest.

The grandness of the area was very telling of its status as a boss room. Despite being an underground passage dug out by the Ants, it had swelled into an atrium so large, you couldn’t see the cieling. The place had enough breadth and height that the light elemental’s brightness didn’t reach very far at all.

We could see dozens of spider webs lined along the walls of this giant pit. No doubt, there’s going to be a Spider here. And it’s going to be stupidly large enough to match up with its nest.

 

“Rep”

“I know Momokawa-kun. Alright everyone, if this Rook Spider boss really does come out, you know the plan”

 

So she says, but it’s really nothing special.

The spider webbing is likely very tough, but that’s where our flame imbued weapons come in. Kenzaki-san and Natsukawa-san have, respectively, their Red Saber and Red Knife, so they can handle it. Mei-chan’s the only one without any attribute imbued arms, but with Souma Sakura’s Holy Enchant, she should be able to compensate.

The rook represents a castle, or perhaps a tank in modern terms, so I’m expecting the spider to be much larger than the Mantis that was only a ‘knight’. Our magic arrows didn’t do much to the Mantis, so the Spider, which may as well have a harder exoskeleton will be even more resilient to offensive spells.

Basically, we’re having all 3 of our fighters go in, with the mid-guard protecting those front-liners by barraging the creature with spells. Meanwhile, if we get any stray Ants coming in, me and Takanashi-san in the rear-line will have to manage the situation. Fundamentally, we don’t let the vanguard get distracted.

If the Spider happens to be unreasonably tough-shelled, or if it starts bringing Mantises into the fight, we retreat. period.

 

“Now, let’s do this, people. Sakura, anytime”

“OK— Summon Lux Elemental ”

 

Souma Sakura created a fairy of light one magnitude brighter than the ones we’ve been using up until now, and released it into the chamber.

This fairy, that looked like a basketball sized bulb of light, lit up a much wider range, and after confirming that there was nothing suspicious on the ground, we entered the pit.

 

“I have the feeling the Spider might come down from the webs on the ceiling, be caref—”

 

Class Rep was in the middle of cautioning us when,

THUDD! A heavy impact grasped our ears.

 \n“Uwah! Isn’t this too fast!?”

 

There, was the arachnid monster that left no doubt in mind about its identity being the Rook Spider itself. Its exoskeleton was gray and spiky like an Armor Bear’s, and its 8 legs and giant abdomen were covered in red hair. Quite the toxic color palette. I could imagine that just touching those hairs could inflict paralysis.

Huge, brutal-looking mandibles that could eat a person whole lined its mouth, and those 8 crimson eyes were looking— Wait, what the, there’s no life in its eyes.

I mean, yeah, bug eyes always look lifeless, but Pawn Ants and Knight Mantises had eyes with a gleam to them. Enough that you could see them looking at you in pitch darkness. But that feature, was clearly lacking here.

 

“… Is it dead?”

 

After calming down a bit, that statement turned out to be fact. The Rook Spider had all its 8 legs sprawled out and its body was planted on the floor. Not a twitch from the tip of its legs to the edge of its mandibles.

Wasn’t it supposed to get the jump on us by swooping down from above? How come its dead?

No rather, who actually killed this thing?

 

“—BuFuh—, the hell, who turned on the damn lights?”

 

It was a voice. Not a sound let out by a monstrous spider, but no doubt, a man’s voice in the Japanese tongue. No actually, I had a good idea whose voice that was.

 

“W-wait… Yokomichi-kun?”

“Bufuh, the shit man, looks like company’s finally here!”

 

Creeping up the Spider’s back, the guy jumped down full of energy, landing in front of us with an impactful thud.

There’s no mistaking it, it was Yokomichi Hajime.

 

“Hii!?”

 

Yelped Takanashi-san from behind me as if feeling a repulsion on an instinctive level. But setting her, who wasn’t so strong willed to begin with, aside, I’m willing to bet Souma Sakura and Class Rep were having reactions not very dissimilar.

Nicknamed Porky, this guy was unanimously hated in class 2-7… Naturally, I too shared the sentiment as I too had gotten heated up with him at some point. This guy that literally everyone hates, this filthy otaku-type asshole, Yokomichi Hajime, had landed down before us. His mere appearance was enough to warrant screaming from girls.

Just look at him, this guy’s supposed to be wearing the same uniform (Gakuran) as me, but his looks so filthy. I swear, he’s never even looked for the soap fruit before has he? His clothes were absolutely soaked in third party blood, and he’s been going with it.

And he stinks. Bad.

 

“Oh, OH, UOOOOOOOOOOOO!? Holy fucking, Jackpot! Souma Sakura, Kenzaki, Class Rep… Oioi man, it’s all the Hottest Chicks all lined up!!”

 

For some bizarre reason, Yokomichi started laughing like a dog. He was pointing and laughing like he was having the time of his life.

Scary.

Honestly, it’s scary. No one, could say, anything. Even Class Rep, our responsible leader, had her expression frozen stiff. And seeing him buffawing like a buffoon, even I, as sub-leader, I wanted to do something here, but my body just wouldn’t move.

I was even thinking that fighting the Rook Spider would’ve been an improvement for my mental state.

Faced with a situation this far off our anticipations, we could only stand there, planted like trees.

 \n“Great, it’s fucking Great, now this is what I call Fate! Bufufuh, lets see, we got our Busty loli, Takanashi Kotori, the bubbly Natsukawa Minami and— Good lord, oi, who the fuck is she!? Those tits!! Even ginormous is an understatement!?”

 

Takanashi-san was quivering and had taken me as shield as she does. Yeah, completely justified this time. Natsukawa-san was also shivering like she’d been doused in cold water.

On the other hand, even while receiving such frank vulgarities from Yokomichi, Mei-chan held onto her halberd like she wasn’t even fazed. God she’s handsome.

Looking at Mei-chan back in front of me, getting ready to trash him, I got a few of my marbles back together.

That’s right. He may be the infamous Yokomichi Hajime… But he’s still just a guy from class. Before things get bloody, we should try and establish communication.

While the rest of the girls kept doing their tree impressions, I stepped out front.

 

“H-hey Yokomichi-kun, did you, umm, beat this Spider by yourself?”

“The who!? Oh it’s Momokawa. Filthy Casual Momokawa! Kaah! Do you Think I need a dude in this situation? Have some damn common Sense. Like seriously, traps are still gay, dammit!”

 

Fuck, I hate myself for actually understanding what he just said.

 

“Yokomichi-kun, just, calm down a bit, I just want to talk”

“Talk? I seem to remember Every one of You trying not so much as to even Look at me before, and what, Now you want to talk? Isn’t that a BIT FUCKING HYPOCRITICAL!”

 

Yeah we ostracized you, and you deserved every second of it. Not that I’d voice that.

 

“But see, we’re in a real state of emergency here, so let’s work together and—”

“BUHAHAH! State of Emergency! Found ourselves in a Pinch have we? Fuck off Momokawa, you’re just a Background character”

“… It’s true that the powers I got aren’t anything to write home about, But the risk of death is the same for every one of us”

“Like hell it is! I’m the MC here! Look at this, Main Character right here. I quit life (IRL) cause it sucks balls, and came to another world to become a Slave Harem holding, Cheat Power using ultimate Badass. I came here to rise up from nothing to the Strongest, just like in those template fantasy stories. And you what, I’ve Already done it!”

 

I’ll mention this a second time. I’m in serious cringe from comprehension.

The others were looking at Yokomichi like he was some gone-off-the-deep-end, drugged up, mental case, screeching and flailing in the middle of traffic.

Relax, me. The only one here with the ability to decrypt Yokomichi’s incoherent and incomprehensible howling is the only one who has the same otaku knowledge as him. That is, me. Right now, I gotta put real effort in translating him, to keep him talking, and most importantly, to get some info out of him.

 

“Yeahh so, Yokomichi-kun, I’m guessing you got a seriously powerful Job?”

 

He isn’t the kind of happy-go-lucky guy to be thinking that just being transported into an isekai is enough to get him a cheat power, that he’d get to live the hero life as if the difficulty of the world is set to ‘very easy’. The only reason Yokomichi’s been putting up this bizarre tough-guy act, has to be because he’s gotten himself enough power to make him think he is one.

No well, if I’d gotten Mei-chan level offensive prowess from the outset, I’d be one punching the shit out of that Armor Bear with my Pile Bunker, and might’ve also thought, ‘Hell to the isekai cheats yes!’

 

“Bufuh, Bufufuh! Wanna know, Momokawa? Ya reeeeeally wanna know!?”

 

Yokomichi was wriggling around being uselessly happy. This fat, dirty otaku squirming by himself looked so repulsive that, even as a guy, I’m almost ready to throw up. It’s to the level of making the insect residents of this cave look pure and untarnished.

 

“Tell me, Momokawa, what do you think of when you hear the word, Strongest?”

\n“Y-you’re pretty amazing, Yokomichi-kun”

“Always was”

 

Seeing as Yokomichi didn’t proceed to cut me down with that greatsword he’s carrying, which I assumed was his weapon, I can assume that for him, this must be like a light joke and/or a demonstration of his power.

No well, normally, if you’re getting yourself covered in disgusting webs regurgitated out by an ugly bastard, you could easily imagine yourself suddenly a target.

 

“Yeah, and I was hoping someone with amazing powers like you could use it to protect everyone”

“Buheheh, yeah, protect, I’ll protect ’em alright, I mean, isn’t that what MCs do?”

 

So I’m not a target, maybe, hopefully?

At a glance, Yokomichi Hajime seemed like the type of guy with a lot of admiration for one of those light novel protagonists who seems to be loved by everyone around him, especially a collection of cute girls, who he proceeds to woo and who fight over which of them gets to be with him. One may judge Yokomichi to be an idiot who can’t distinguish fantasy from reality. But in a way, this guy’s similar to me, in the sense that he too was a member of class 2-7. And he too saw that everyday scene.

That scene, consisting of the perfection that is Souma Yuuto.

Even I, fully aware of my place in the class caste, had often found myself feeling a spark of envy at those scenes. Yokomichi was tough, tough in a different meaning from Higuchi. Even when he knew we was being ignored and even shunned by the whole class, he would always talk down to people, and generally considered them plebs. Him calling me a "filthy casual" of an otaku and looking down on me because of that, would be him expressing that personality of his.

Anyway, he may be a huge pain in the ass, but if he says he’ll fight along with us, I don’t think taking him along is a bad idea. No actually, rather than getting hostile now and having this sort of guy coming after us, we should bear with it, and get him to be friendly.

 

“That’s great to hear. Right now, we’re not just aiming for the Divine Gate but also a way to get all of us out of this place. So honestly, we’ll need all the help we can get”

“Hmm, yeahh but, to be Real here, I don’t need any Other dudes around, you know… But, I guess I’ll need someone to show off my greatest harem to! So yeah, Momokawa, you’ll get the role of ‘friend’, in eroge terms”

“Gee, thanks”

“One more thing, I’m killing Higuchi”

“That, I’m down for, I’ll even help you out”

“Oh, nice man, you totally get me, Momokawa”

 

Am I supposed to feel good here? Looks like the deal’s set on Yokomichi Hajime joining our party.

If not for the fact that, this asshole who’s already the subject of nausea for every girl had become high on the fact that he’d gotten a dreamlike power like Skill Eater. And letting completely loose, he let his raw desires flow out in a barrage of heinous statements just now. Yeah, I don’t wanna have him anywhere near me either.

But no matter what my feelings on the matter are, the situation wasn’t getting any better. I had no idea how many skills he’s got eaten up. No, looking from where he defeated the Rook Spider all by himself, he might just have enough power to take us all on by himself.

Which would mean, making him an enemy was synonymous to suicide. And if it ever came down to that, I’d much rather have Souma Yuuto and Tendou Ryuichi on our side to fend him off. If it was those two, I had no doubt they could hold us together.

 

“Ok, so I take it that you’ll be working with us then?”

“Oi oi, you guys’re the ones begging me to protect you, right? That means, all of You gotta lower your heads to Me, and make a Proper request”

 

I take a peek behind. First, let’s see what the leader, what Class Rep says.

Swallowing hard after witnessing my negotiations with Yokomichi, she had quite the pale face… But in reality, she did seem to have a grasp of the situation, and though reluctantly, she gave me a nod.

In contrast to her, Souma Sakura was glaring at Yokomichi like she was harboring intense disgust. Her wariness of him was at MAX. Well, I guess I can concede that as being an obvious reaction from a girl. Mei-chan and Kenzaki were pretty much doing the same. And, looking absolutely freaked out was Natsukawa-san, who ironically seemed the most cute and girly of the bunch.

That reminds me, what about Takanashi-san, who’s supposed to be the most terrified of them all—

 

“N-No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

 

The moment I looked at Takanashi-san, she exploded in tears, and screamed like no tomorrow.