Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #73
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 73: Betrayal
The sixth day of
summer vacation.
I was meeting up with
the East-West duo in front of Nishi-Hachioji station, looking up at a rather
gloomy sky.
The sky was covered
with thick rain clouds, completely hiding the setting sun.
Around me, men and
women in yukata (casual cotton kimono) were also looking up at the sky with
identical anxious expressions on their faces.
Is it going to okay,
with the sky like this? It's not going to rain, is it......? Even though the fireworks display is today.......
"Yo, Maro!"
"It has been a while, Higashino. Oh, this is a
souvenir from my trip."
"Ooh! Thank
you!"
When I handed him the
souvenir from the trip, Higashino peeked at the bag happily.
"What's in it?"
"I'm sorry, but it's not that expensive. Cookies
made with local honey, honey sticks, and such. I got some delicious tea leaves
that was served in my inn too."
"No, it's plenty enough! Thank you."
Higashino said that
and quickly put away the souvenirs I gave him in his own bag.
"Oh, right. I saw the MonColo the other day. It was
a rare tag team match."
"Yeah....."
I remembered the last
match.
In the last match, it
was a tag team match, which was unusual for Catfight.
In a tag team match,
four players were randomly paired up to fight with two cards each.
The paired players
share one life, and if your partner is a sloppy player, you get dragged down.
My partner was a
rookie who was playing his second match (and suffering defeat in his first
match), while the other team was a pair of veteran players.
I managed to win the
match by covering for the rookie, but the problem was that they pulled out a
tag team match, a format that is not often used in Catfights.
Tag team matches are
mainly used to spread the odds when there is a popularity gap between the
players participating.
Using this method
meant that there were fewer and fewer suitable opponents for me to play
against.
Catfight is a program
in which three-star adventurers fight exclusively with girl monster cards. The
most common combination of cards used is a main C-rank card and two sub D-rank
cards.
The players who use
three C-rank cards are only a handful among the Catfight players, and the
number of player combination patterns becomes small.
This means that the
audience might easily get bored with the matches.
Catfight has a sister
program, [Catfight Pro!] featuring adventurers who are professionals, but it is
a bit difficult to bring in someone who is not a four-star.
Having a professional
license (reaching four-star) means that person has solo conquered a C-rank
dungeon, something amateur adventurers cannot compete with.
Even the average
person who does not know Link knows that there is a thick wall between amateurs
and professionals.
In other words, in a
match between a three-star and a four-star, the betting cannot be made, which
was the key point.
The tag team match
was a bitter pill to make the betting work by letting the popular players has a
drag when there was such a gap in ability (popularity) between the players.
Since I had a bit of
a hard time in that match, it was likely that tag team matches would be the
main event for me from now on.
At that moment, a
melody began to play from the speakers, telling that it was five o'clock in the
evening.
"...... Nishida's late. It's unusual for him to be
late."
"I wonder what's wrong with him. He usually arrives
five minutes early."
When we were tilting
our heads,
"Oii, Maro, Higashino!"
"You're...... late, Nishi, da ......."
I turned around and
was absolutely stunned by the unexpected sight.
Nishida, dressed in
yukata for male, had a girl in a yukata next to him.
A beautiful girl who
looked familiar, quite petite compared to her peers, and had a small
animal-like cuteness.
"Sa-Sakurai-san ...... why, with Nishida..."
Higashino uttered in
a raspy voice.
The girl that Nishida
brought with him was Sakurai-san, who was in my class last year.
In response to
Higashino's question, Nishida answered in a bashful manner.
"Actually... we started dating."
The shock was like
being hit on the head with a sledgehammer.
No way...... Nishida, has...... a girlfriend?
What kind of trick did he use? A hypnosis app?
"You're lying, right...? What kind of trick did you
use? ...A hypnosis app?"
Unlike me, who barely
managed to keep my mouth shut, Higashino's overflowing jealousy leaked out of
his mouth.
Honestly, it looked
pretty ugly from the outside, so I was grateful that I didn't have to say
anything.
"What a thing to say. .....Well, just through my
hobby."
"Hobby? I
didn't know you have a hobby that could make you popular with women."
I thought this guy's
only hobbies were playing video games and drawing loli pictures.
Sakurai-san answered,
fidgeting and looking embarrassed,
"A- actually, I, I enjoy cosplaying......"
"So I sent an illustration to the cosplay account on
the SNS that Rika was using. At the time, I didn't know it was Rika's
account."
S- such a thing can happen.......
I mean, a classmate who sends you a moe picture of
yourself is just plain creepy......
Did their wavelengths miraculously intersect? It's now a fateful connection.
"So I'm sorry to say this, but is it okay if the two
of us go around today?"
"Oh, ah ...... it can't be helped if you've got a
girlfriend. Right? Higashino."
"............................."
There was no reply.
He seemed just like a corpse.
"I knew Maro would say so. Let's go then."
"I- I'm sorry."
"......No, no, no. Oh, here, souvenir from my trip.
If you don't mind, you two can eat it together......"
"Oh! Thank
you!"
"Thank you, Kitagawa-kun."
The two of them left
with smiles on their faces, and I shook Higashino's shoulder.
"Hey, come to your senses."
"......................... Nishida's late. Maybe the
train is running late. Should I call him?"
"C- calm down. That wasn't a hallucination."
When Higashino's
vacant eyes returned to see reality, he fell to his knees with a thud.
"No, no way...... That Nishida has a,
girlfriend?"
"Honestly,...... I can't hide my shock either."
"I thought if ...... anyone was going to get a
girlfriend first, it would be Maro, so I was prepared for that. But this is
just so unexpected."
Actually, I also thought if anyone was going to get a
girlfriend first, it would be me. ....It was a big conceit, huh?
"......What are you going to do, Higashino? Wanna go see fireworks?"
"Two guys? Three guys would be fine, but two
is......."
"Right......"
I never expected
something like this to happen...
And then.
"Huh? Senpai, what are you doing?"
"...... Anna, Sayo!"
When I turned around
at the familiar voice, there they were, the two junior girls from the
Adventurer's club.
They were both
wearing yukata. Anna was wearing an indigo yukata and Oribe was wearing a light
crimson yukata, creating somewhat of a reversal of the two's usual image
colors.
"My supplementary lessons are over, so I came to
watch the fireworks display."
"I was invited by Anna."
"...Are you with your friend, Senpai?"
Anna's eyes seemed to
be saying, "Two guys going to see the fireworks together...?"
"No, actually, another guy was supposed to join us,
but he...... cancelled on us."
It was indeed too
miserable to say that he dumped us because he brought his girlfriend, so I said
so.
"Is that so? Then, since you're here, would you like
to go around with us?"
"By all means!!"
It was Higashino who
answered, not me.
"Of course, Maro is also willing, right?!"
"Y, yeah......."
Higashino's eyes
said, "If you don't say yes, I'll kill you," and I automatically
nodded my head.
I whispered
stealthily,
(Aren't you a little too desperate.....?)
(You idiot! When
did you become such a guy? You
weren't the kind of guy to pass up a chance to go to a festival with a cute
junior girl, were you? Or
have you seriously turned into a lolicon?!)
I opened my eyes wide
when Higashino said that with such force that he almost grabbed me by the
chest.
Certainly, the chance
to go to a festival with a beautiful half-Japanese girl and a cool-ish junior
girl was a situation that I would have rejoiced in a year ago!
(Higashino...... I was wrong.)
(Fu...... that's why you're my friend Maro. By the way,
can you hook me up with either one of them?)
(I refuse to do that.)
Until I get a girlfriend, you're going to have to stay
single.
"Speaking of which, what's it like to be in class
with Senpai?"
As the four of us
walked side by side to the fireworks display, Anna asked Higashino this
question as the conversation flowed.
"No, I'm not in the same class with him anymore. But
even in other classes, his fame isn't that low. In particular, there is nothing
that he did to be hated. After all, he was the hero who avenged the death of a
classmate."
"But that implies that there are also bad opinions
about him, right?"
Why are you so eager to hear about the bad opinions of
me, Anna-san? Why don't you just listen
to the good ones?
Higashino answered
with a wry smile,
"Well, if you stand out from the crowd, of course
there will be some backbiting. For example, people say he's gross because he
collects only girl monster cards. Or that he's making a harem out of cards
because he's not popular with humans. There is even mention that he's actually
hooking up with Kannadzuki."
T, they actually said such things about me behind my
back...... Putting aside the first two, I'm ready to firmly deny the last one!
"And...... ah, no, it's nothing."
"What the heck, let me hear it. It would be more
bothersome if it was hidden."
When I urged him to do so, Higashino then proceeded while
expressing concern for me,
"Well, I don't think you need to worry about this
one. ...... Then there's the other one, like how you left Shishido to die.
Like, the day Shinomiya-san was attacked and the day Shishido died were the
same day, so it was like you saved the girl but left Shishido, whom you hated,
to die. That it pisses them off that you’re raking the good things by ‘taking
revenge on Shishido's murderer’. ......Although only those who were close to
Shishido are saying that."
"........................"
...... Well, of course some people will say that.
When a close friend
dies, not everyone can easily dismiss it with a simple, "Oh, yeah, that's
right."
If I had not solved
the case, it would have faded away as an unfortunate accident or something that
couldn't be avoided, but because I was involved in solving the case, I could have
saved Shishido. Those
people couldn't help but think that I had the chance to save him.
If I had been in
their shoes, if it had been the East-West duo who died, and if it had been
Minamiyama who solved the case, it is possible that I would have felt that way,
even though it would have been irrational.
"But, well, those are only a small group of people
who have never actually talked to Maro. Most of them appreciate you, so don't
worry."
As Higashino said
this as if to follow up, the junior who had raised the topic may have felt bad
about it and followed suit,
"Right right. It's perfectly normal to be talked
about behind your back a little bit. Then, there are also those who favor you.
They will naturally appreciate Senpai."
"That's right, I still don't have anyone to talk to
in class. I have contributed to solving the case, but I'm still not getting any
credit for it at all."
"...... Sayo, you really need to fix that tone of
voice at least.
When you're in the Adventurers' Club, it would be
fine."
Oribe, this guy
completely abandoned school life for the sake of her character. That
rocks......
"On the other hand, how is Maro's reputation among
the underclassmen?"
"In the first year? Not bad.
But, it seems that there are a lot of great adventurers in the upper grades.
...Well, there's somebody who is completely above Maro-senpai, so he's a little
overshadowed in the eyes of the girls."
"I can't compete with Teacher. In every sense of the
word."
When I sighed,
Higashino smirked.
"No no~. There aren't many Japanese people who can
beat Maro's Utamaro."
"You......!"
Do you usually say things like that in the presence of
girls?!
"Senpai's Utamaro ......? What do you mean...ah!"
Anna, who noticed it
late, blushed as she eyed my lower abdomen. Our club leader had a weakness for
dirty jokes.
However, Oribe
doesn't seem to be like that.
"Is Senpai's really that impressive?"
"I'll refrain from giving specific sizes, but let's
just say that Maro was the only one who was allowed by the school to wear a
commercially available large-size swimsuit instead of the school-designated one
during freshman swimming class......"
"Oh, that's the level he's on?!"
"Stop it! Swimming classes are just a trauma for
me!"
That feeling of
alienation when you were the only one wearing a different swimsuit, and the
shocked stares of your classmates when they found out why!
The boys may envy me
at times, but it's basically one of my complexes.
While we were talking
about such idiotic things, we arrived at the site of the fireworks display.
The area around us
was so crowded with men and women in yukata that it was difficult to move
forward.
In past years, I
would have joined those who were watching the fireworks on the side of the
road, but this year was different, as I had money.
Without hesitation,
we entered the paid viewing area, which was blocked off by a fence.
Anna, who had taken a
seat on a leisure seat that Higashino had brought out of his bag, pointed to a
row of food stalls and said to me,
"Ah, Senpai, there are food stalls. I've never eaten
from these kinds of food stalls before~. Senpai, buy me a candy apple or
something, please?"
"Even though you have money... Can't be helped. I'll
go buy something, so everyone please wait a moment."
"Thank you!" "Sorry for the trouble!"
"Thanks!"
While I was buying
the standard items like candy apples, chocolate bananas, yakisoba noodles, and
yakitori, fireworks started blooming in the sky.
Shoot...... I must have bought a little too much. I was
scratching my head while thingking like that when.......
"Senpai."
"Oh, Sayo."
"Let me carry some for you."
"Thank you."
I gratefully let her
bring me some candied apples and chocolate bananas.
"You can bring the stuff you already got back to the
others, if you want."
"No, I'll just wait in line with you."
"I see....."
I was also lonely on
my own, so I decided to take up Oribe's offer.
The two of us stood
in line and watched the fireworks burst into the night sky.
Unlike watching from
the viewing area, a portion was blocked by buildings due to the angle, but
strangely enough, it didn't bother me.
"......Senpai."
"Hmm?"
Oribe suddenly
muttered.
She seemed to have a
hard time saying something for a while and was playing with the tips of her
hair, which was neatly trimmed just at her jawline,...... and eventually,
"What happened to that ...... promise?"
"Promise?"
Was there any kind of promise between me and Oribe?
Oribe was blushing
more and more and whispered,
"That ...... horror movie, we're going to see it
together....."
"Ah! Aah!"
Come to think of it,
we had talked about such a thing during the investigation of the case.
Since we had not set
a specific date, I had assumed it was a kind of social conversation,.......
"Right... Is there an interesting horror movie
playing right now?"
When I asked her
that, she started talking as if she had been waiting for it,
"Actually, there is a remake of a Stephen King
horror movie coming out this summer. I loved the original one and have been
wanting to see it for a long time. It was supposed to be released last year,
but due to a series of unexplained mishaps among the cast and crew, it was
postponed for a year......
Oribe spoke quietly
but happily with flushed cheeks.
There was something
about that profile illuminated by the fireworks that attracted my attention
more than the fireworks.
[Tips] Card Ranks and Initial Combat Power (I know it's a
little late to write this, but since I didn't write any tips, I thought I'd put
it here......)
There are six general
ranks of cards. However, this is not something that is written on the cards
themselves, but is a rough classification made by humans based on initial
combat power and the hierarchy in which they appear.
Therefore, there are
cards that could be ranked one rank higher if their skills are taken into
account, and there are also cards that are evaluated as weak for their rank.
A. 1000 or above
B: 500 or more and 999 or less
C. 200 or more and 499 or less
D. 100 or more and 199 or less
E. 50 or more and 99 or less
F. 49 or less
***
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