Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #10
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode
10 Please don't come out of the picture book
“Speaking
of which, is there a girl you like?
"What
is it, suddenly?"
"Just
tell me. Don't tell me you like men more?”
As
we made our way through the forest, we started chatting with each other without
either of us knowing where we were going.
However,
it doesn’t mean we were letting our guard down.
Coosie
was always on the lookout for enemies with her nose, and Zashiki-warashi was
also killing every rat she finds. I was also well-equipped and had a tear spray
in my hand.
The
reason I was talking uselessly like this was to keep my mind from being
overwhelmed by the tension.
“No
way. Well, I do have a crush. But it's an unrequited love.”
"Whoa!
What kind of girl is she? Is she cute?
“Hmm,
she's pretty cute even in the whole grade. Even at the national level, she has
a beautiful face. She has a quiet personality and smiles quietly in the
group. I've never once seen her bad-mouthing anyone or saying anything bad
about anyone. And most of all, ......."
Again,
.......
I gritted my teeth as I spotted a dead child out of the corner of my eye.
A
young blonde girl, probably not even in elementary school yet, was dead, slit
from the throat down to the navel. Her insides had been cleaned out and she was
staked to the surrounding trees. The mixed smell of blood and feces was
terrible.......
I
subconsciously imagined myself as the one in that scene and hurriedly looked
away.
Don't
worry, me. I won't be like that. I've got a zashiki-warashi with me.
"Most
of all?"
“She's
petite and slender, but she's got huge breasts. Probably the biggest in all
grades."
"......
That's what it comes down to, huh? Pervert.
Any chance with her?"
Zashiki-warashi,
with a disgusted look on her face, kicked the rat that had been creeping up to
my feet at random to death. A stench like boiled ditch water dispersed into the
surroundings.
“There's
no such thing. To be honest, I've only talked to her a few times.
"Yeah? And yet you like her? You
only love her tits, don't you ......?
“Oh,
no....... I'm not sure if I love her. It's a little bit different from that. It
might be closer to admiration. But, I just thought that it would be great if I
could go out with such a girl.”
"Oh,
I see. I see. So that's what it's.”
A
boy who has been stripped of all his skin. A girl with her head stuffed into
her stomach. A skinny boy who died with his arms clamped around himself. A girl
whose arms and legs have been stretched to nearly three times their original
length.
An
exposition of crazy corpses.
"Kyaha
ha ya ha ya ha ya ha ya ha yaa haa yaa haa yaa haa yaa haa yaa haa yaa haa
ha!"
“Shut
up! Who the hell is laughing?!”
"Um,
Master ......?"
Coosie's
confused voice brought me back to myself.
Zashiki-warashi
was staring at me with quiet eyes. No one was laughing. But I can hear them.
The laughter of countless children.......
Is
it an auditory hallucination? ...... No, I'm
still normal. Then this is the gimmick of this dungeon. If the others can't
hear it, then it's a trap that only works on the master. Perhaps they are using
the souls of the children who seem to be trapped.
......
Okay, I'm calm. I'm still able to think.
“Oh,
where was I? ...... Oh yeah, it's not like I haven't done anything, you know? I have become an adventurer, and that's part of it. Ah, just between us, I'd like to give it a shot
at Christmas.”
"Oh,
so you're going to put yourself in danger and make yourself a better man, huh? Well, if you die before Christmas, I don’t care.”
“That's
not funny under this circumstance. Seriously.”
“I'm
just kidding. How can you die when I'm with you?”
In
this space where I felt like I was going crazy, the casual exchange with
Zashiki-warashi kept my mind at peace.
By
averting my eyes away from the corpses and talking foolishly, I could feel as
if I was in a classroom talking with a friend.
I
knew it was a kind of escape from reality.
In
movies and cartoons, characters joked around with each other in times of
crisis. I had wondered if I could actually say such a witty thing in such a
situation. I just wondered. I thought it was too
unrealistic, even if it was for dramatic effect. But now I understand.
Because
I would go crazy if I didn't make even one joke.
Even
directors and scriptwriters are not fools. They must have at least interviewed
soldiers and battlefield journalists when they were in danger of death.
They
must have studied the psychological fluctuations of people at that time to make
their movies.
......
Oh, my thoughts are drifting off in a strange direction again. Is my escapism
from reality getting stronger? Is this some
kind of strange, calm analysis of the situation? What
do you call this kind of thing? I saw it in
some movies. Ah, I remember now. Normalcy
bias1. Yeah, that's right.
"M,
Ma- Master!"
Coosie's
crying voice brought me back to myself.
“What's
wrong?”
“The,
the dungeon boss is close. We will meet in a few minutes.”
“Really
......."
I
could feel my stomach grow heavy. My shivering legs lost even more strength.
The ground, which should have been hard, felt soft.
“I'm
sorry, Master!"
Suddenly,
Coosie slammed her own head into the ground. She kneeled on the ground and
begged for mercy.
"Plea,
please bring me back. I can't be a fighting force!"
“……”
"Uh,
I can't move my legs any further! I know I have to fight---! But, even though I
think so, if I face the enemy, I won't be able to fight...! I know it
myself!"
The
fur all over her body stood on end, her tail curled up and she let out a sob...
I gently stroked Coosie's back.
It
smells like the sun. It was a comforting smell.
"Master
......?"
I felt like
I could really understand how she feels now.
The
actual fact was, I was thinking how useless she was when I saw her not being
able to fight.
I
had told Zashiki-warashi that I would raise her as a scout, but secretly I
thought that I would replace her when I got the money.
But
now that my life is on the line, I finally understood how she felt.
Dying
is scary. It's the same for humans and monsters.
I
had continued to let them fight without understanding such a natural thing.
"You've
endured your fears and guided us well until now. You can go back."
"Ahh!”
At
my words, Coosie scratched her chest and slammed her head against the ground.
From the bottom of her belly, she howled,
"I-I...
I'm so pathetic!! I want courage...!"
In
her lamentation, I saw another version of myself.
The
reason I had been able to dismiss Coosie as a coward was that I had let the
strong cards fight for me, protected by a safe barrier.
Through
a TV screen, I would sneer at a frightened character being attacked by a
monster.
While
I myself was safe, I had been mocking those who were facing their fears with
only their bodies to protect them.
But
when I was confronted with the fear of death for the first time in this way, my
skin was peeled off.
And
there I was, not a new adventurer, but just a kid who was so scared that he
puked himself to death.
I
want courage. The courage to face threats with a strong will.
---That's
why, Coosie… Let's be brave together, little by little.
I
told her inwardly and put her back in the card.
"You're
so sweet."
I
hear the laughter of Zashiki-warashi behind me.
"Are
you trying to be a kind Master who cares about your cards? Isn't it a waste of time and effort just to switch to cards
that are stronger and easier to use later anyway?"
Contrary
to the content, her voice was terribly kind.
I
turned around and said,
“No.
I'm going to keep using her. I'm going to keep her, enhancing her, upgrading
her, for a long, long time.”
I
didn't say, "And you, too," of course.
I
didn't have to.
As
we got closer to the enemy, I could hear the sound of a joyful flute.
I
already have a guess as to the boss' true identity. A crazy amount of rats,
dead bodies of little boys and girls, and the sound of a flute ...... Without a
doubt, the identity of the enemy is the [Pied Piper of Hamelin].
It
is not the most famous of the irregular encounters. Probably because it did not
cause that much damage in Angolmore. However, this does not mean that it is a
small fry. Rather, we should be wary of the lack of information because of its
minor status.
Even
so, if the enemy is the [Pied Piper of Hamelin,] I have a vague idea of its
skills. It was better than nothing. I was at least a bit prepared.
Take
a deep breath.
Perhaps
the fear has been shaken out of me, but my thoughts were getting clearer and
clearer.
“Let's
go.”
I
told the others shortly and rushed toward the source of the melody.
Zashiki-warashi
had already gone out of sight. After much discussion, it was decided that she
would be free to move as usual, and I would concentrate on Ghouler's orders.
We
got closer and closer.
The
place was by a forest. At the edge of a fast-flowing river, a man wearing a
striped suit of richly-colored clothing was playing his flute with single-minded
devotion. Countless lumps of meat were lying around, and rats were devouring
them.
I
held my breath for a moment at such a picture of hell, but I quickly regained
my composure and gave instructions to Ghouler.
“Go,
Ghouler!
“Yes,
Master."
Ghouler
drew her slingshot and fired it at the flute blower. I couldn't see the bullet
as it was fired at high speed, but I knew it was blocked by something before
hitting the target. Failure. But I did see something. I see something like a
barrier made up of countless musical notes appear in front of the monster for a
brief moment.
We
need to remove that thing first.
Is
it a barrier against physical attacks? Or
a nullification of damage below a certain level? Even
those notes aren't just a design. Sound ...... the flute?
“Oh
my, oh my, this is a quick-tempered customer! But
payment must be given after the performance is over!”
“?!”
I
was prepared to be surprised, but to be honest, I was taken aback.
It
was not because the enemy started talking. If it was about that, my card
monsters talk too. It is normal for monsters to talk. It is no different for
the enemies.
What
surprised me was simply the appearance of the enemy. I didn't notice it when he
was blowing his flute with his eyes closed, but now his face was so hideous
that it could only be described as a monster.
His
eyes were arranged vertically, not horizontally, and there were more than a
dozen small eyeballs crammed into them. His mouth looked normal at first
glance, but when opened, it revealed double lips and teeth.
The
smell is terrible, too. In the beginning, I thought it was the smell of the
corpses -in fact, the scattered organs smelled of feces, urine, and blood- but
this odor, which seemed to condense the stench of the sewers dozens of times,
seemed to be wafting from his body itself.
I
was wearing goggles along with a mask. If I took them off, I might not even be
able to think normally.
Pied
Piper spread his arms in a grand gesture.
He's
going to do something!
Thinking
like this, I instructed Ghouler to keep firing the slingshots, but they were
blocked by the wall of notes that appeared in front of the Pied Paper yet
again.
So
it's not a barrier that only appears while he is blowing his flute?
The
Pied Piper began to speak loudly,
"From
now on, I would like to tell you about a tragedy that befell a certain town!
---There was once a very hungry man. This hunger cannot be satisfied by just
working normally. Thinking that, the man came up with a little trick. It was to
have tamed rats attack the city and then pretended to drive them away in order
to get a reward.”
As
soon as he finished talking, the Pied Piper gracefully put his mouth on the
flute.
Then,
all the rats in the surrounding area bared their fangs at once. At the same
time, the cries of the rats can be heard throughout the forest. It was an
extremely unpleasant polyphonic performance.
The
rats were approaching like a little tsunami, and Ghouler lifted me up on her
shoulders to evacuate me. From my perch, I sprayed the surrounding area with
the tear spray
that I was holding in my hand.
The
rats, exposed to the tear spray, let out deafening screams and thrashed about.
Good,
it's working!
But
rats kept coming out of the forest, one after another, inexhaustible. I kept
spraying frantically.
“The
rats that appeared devoured all the food in town and spread disease. The
townspeople set various traps and chased the rats with weapons, but the number
of rats never decreased. When the people were at a loss, a man suddenly
appeared and said, "I know how to get rid of these rats. If you give me
the reward I deserve, I will kill every last one of these rats.” When the mayor
heard about the reward, he was very worried, but he decided to hire the man. He
said, "All right, go ahead and do it. But if there is even one rat left, I
won't reward you.” Then please listen: [March of the Lemmings]"
With
that song, the rats' reinforcements came to a sudden halt. And that's not all.
Even the rats that had not been sprayed were returning to the forest as if
drained.
What? Why is he withdrawing his army? Is it possible that ...... he can only attack according to
the story?
"When
the man blew his flute, the rats in the town came to him. When the man went
straight to the river that flows outside the town, the rats jumped into the
river themselves and died. When the people of the city saw this, they cheered.
When he returned to the city, he said to the mayor: “I have fulfilled my
promise, now it's your turn." The mayor, however, was reluctant to give
him his reward. The rats were gone, and he was too relieved to hand over the
reward. “I won't give my daughters.” The man was furious at the broken promise
and blew his flute so loudly that it echoed throughout the city. Children from
all over the city, lured by the joyful sound, came out of their houses. Please
listen. [Invitation to the Circus]"
I
stiffened when I heard that.
It's
coming, it's coming! The most
famous scene in The Pied Piper of Hamelin!
The
Pied Piper blew his flute in high spirits. The tune was so joyful that it was
hard to believe that we were in the middle of a battle. Nothing in particular
...happened to us when we heard it.
It
was here that The Pied Piper looked doubtful for the first time. Seeing this, I
grinned.
It
seems ...... that the countermeasure worked.
When
I suspected that the enemy might be the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the first thing
I was wary of was a sound attack. The Pied Piper of Hamelin had been taking
away children of the city who did not reward him with the sound of his flute.
If so, I expected that he might have a means of attacking or causing
abnormalities with his flute.
As
a countermeasure, I had the monster
cards put on intercoms in advance.
The sound insulation was so strong that it completely blocked out any outside
sound, while still allowing my microphone to clearly transmit instructions. It
would have been bad if it could give an effect whether it was to be heard or
not, but it seemed to be fine as long as it didn't reach their ears.
By
the way, as long as a monster card is on the field, the master will not be
affected by the enemy's attacks, so there's no problem for me.
The
Pied Piper became enraged when he noticed the intercom stuck in our
ears. He bared his grimy teeth and bellowed.
“You
guys! What's with the earplugs?! Is that the way people listen to music?!"
“I
don't give a shit!"
I
retorted, throwing a tear spray
canister at him in return for a
twist.
It
was blocked by a barrier, of course, but it rolled right by him, just as I
wanted it to.
Now.
“Ghouler! Snipe the spray!”
"Yes,
Master."
Ghouler
heard my command through the microphone and shot the spray with a slingshot.
At
that moment, the gas inside exploded, scattering the agent into the surrounding
area. At the center of it was The Pied Piper.
The
contents of the spray seemed to be not considered an attack as the barrier did
not block it.
How
is it? ...... Ugh, damn! It
doesn't seem to have worked.
Apparently,
it seemed that the guy had a strong resistance to abnormal status.
“You
dare! I will not tolerate this! I myself will cut off your head!"
Furious,
the Pied Piper turned the flute around once, and the flute instantly
transformed into a scythe reminiscent of a grim reaper.
He
is switching to melee combat?
With
a wicked smile on his face, the Pied Piper, no, the Grim Reaper stepped
forward, and just then, out of nowhere, a light bullet struck the Reaper.
“Muh!”
"!!!!"
The
Reaper, who quickly turned himself around and evaded the bullet, was indeed a
master of his own. But I didn't miss that action.
He
ducked! He ducked! In
other words, that barrier only appears when he has the flute!
He
must have realized his mistake, for he frowned.
"You,
an ambush is smart!"
“He’s
coming! Ghouler, phase 3! Attack!"
Ghouler,
having received the order, approached the Reaper.
The
Reaper took up the scythe, ready to fight, but then the Zashiki-warashi's light
bullets struck one after another.
“Th-this…
ku, if only my power isn't limited!"
The
light bullets were fired from all directions, as if Zashiki-warashi was
attacking from different locations. The Reaper was on the defensive against the
invisible sniper.
Then,
Ghouler struck him with a stun rod with one hand. The Reaper ducked, turning
his upper body away from the sniper. A light bullet pierced his right leg,
which cause him to fall to his knees. At that moment, Ghouler's stun rod swung
down. The Reaper tilted his head to avoid a direct hit to the head, but the
stun rod strikes him in the shoulder. With a *bang!*, came a discharge of
electricity. The Reaper stiffened for a moment, just for a moment.
He
immediately swung his scythe, which was resistant to electric shocks---but that
instant was enough for the Zashiki-warashi.
“......
Idiot."
A
light bullet pierced the Reaper's chest. The Reaper's eyes widen in disbelief.
He leaned back, and then… disappeared.
“…………………………………………”
Silence.
Only the sound of my heartbeat was echoing loudly.
After
watching the situation for a while and confirming that nothing happened, I
finally understood.
"Did
we beat him ......?"
It
was almost a soliloquy, but a reply came quickly.
“Yeah,
we won."
I
looked at Zashiki-warashi, who had been by my side for some time. Ghouler, too,
was walking slowly toward me.
The
rats that had been slithering around had disappeared. I realized belatedly that
underlings had
also lost their lives due to the disappearance of the boss.
Then
it finally dawned on me.
We
won. We had survived.
I
survived.
With
a thud, I sat down on the ground without any strength.
The
first thing that welled up in my chest was not joy but relief. I was relieved
that I had not died. I was relieved that I had not lost my cards.
Before
long, a sense of accomplishment came over me. It was a sense of accomplishment
many times greater than when I studied hard and got a hundred points on a test.
It
also gave me confidence. I had defeated an irregular encounter in my first
major fight.
And
without any prior information at that. I felt like praising myself, thinking
that I might be pretty talented.
I
wanted to brag to someone about how great my cards were.
Finally,
a feeling of gratitude blew it all away.
If
it wasn't for these guys, I would have died for sure.
Especially
Zashiki-warashi. She really helped me along the way and during the battle. If
this little girl hadn't cheered me up, my heart would have been crushed before
fighting the boss. Even during the battle, she struck a light bullet at a
critical moment and solved the mystery of the barrier. She even made the final
blow.
Who
would think that she is a bad card after seeing that fight? Less than half the market price? Don't be ridiculous, everyone would want her even at ten or
even a hundred times more than the market price.
Really,
thank you. That's all I can say.
With
that thought in mind, I looked at Zashikiwarashi――――I froze.
The
Reaper was behind her, raising his scythe. He laughed savagely with his mouth
torn all the way to his ears.
“----Surppr~ize.
Entertainment should be unexpected!"
Stop---
Before
those words could be uttered, the scythe was swung down.
[Tips] Impression
Nutrients
directly related to the author's motivation.
It
is said that humans can survive without food just by eating ‘impression’. The
author is a weak creature who cannot survive without ‘impression’.
We
are looking forward to your impression.
***
Notes:
1 A cognitive bias which leads people to disbelieve or minimize threat warnings. Consequently, individuals underestimate the likelihood of a disaster, when it might affect them, and its potential adverse effects.↩
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