Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #77
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 77:
The First Day of Training Camp (2)
"It's no
fun to let Anna win all by herself. So let's bet a piece of candy on each
other."
Just as I was about to summon my
cards, Oribe said so wisely.
That reminded me, we are supposed to
bet on the candy first before we fight....
I was careless. Certainly, only Anna
would be happy if we bet it all here......
I nodded and used the communication
function on my badge to tell my Teacher about my duel choice and that I was
betting one candy.
Then .......
『Maro, one candy bet. Oribe, three
candy bets. Maro, summon three cards, Oribe-san, summon four cards.』
“Huh!?”
When I looked at Oribe in shock, she
smiled wickedly.
"Oioi,
come on, this is a mock race, remember? No matter how
cute your younger opponent is, of course you have to be wary of this kind of
thing."
Damn it, I've been had. But Oribe was
right. This is a mock race to ensure that this kind of thing will not happen in
the real thing.
...Well, I still can't deny that I
felt like I was taken for a fool.
"Ah, I
just want to show Senpai that this kind of thing can happen. It is true that I
want to know how good you are. So, I'll fight with three cards too. And please
think about why I bet three candies instead of two later."
Oribe saw my frown and summoned three
cards.
The first card was a Dullahan, which I
also have. It was an essential card at the professional level, and also a very
natural choice for a woman who loves horror movies to have in her arsenal.
The second card was a beautiful
white-haired young woman, dressed in a kimono. What is this card? The
atmosphere seemed too alluring for a Yuki-onna1... The way she wore her kimono
and exposed the cleavage of her ample bosom reminded me of a nighthawk from the
Edo period.
As I was staring at the second monster
card, she smiled at me and said,
“It has been
a long time, Kitagawa-dono2."
"Hmm? ......
Don't tell me, you're the Tsuchigumo?!"
I was surprised to hear the
old-fashioned way of speaking and the remark that she hadn't seen me in a long
time.
"I see,
you've ranked her up to Jorogumo3!"
"Correct.
As expected of you, you know a lot about girl cards."
Is that
perhaps sarcasm.....?
But ...... I didn't expect that creepy
Tsuchigumo to change so much with a rank-up....
Well, her
current appearance might be a kind of mimicry to lure men.
With this in mind, I turn my attention
to her last card.
The third card was another typical
Oribe card.
A humanoid black mist ...... seemingly
like rain clouds with thunderbolts clinging to them.
"Is it
Honoikazuchi no Kami4 over there? Could this possibly be a rank-up of
Yomotsushikome?"
"You are
right again."
Jorogumo and
Honoikazuchi no Kami.......
I'm not familiar with their details
myself, but they're both powerful cards that have the skill to summon
subordinates.
......This might be a little tough.
Does Oribe prefer a proliferation party?
Especially the Honoikazuchi no Kami,
one of the most powerful cards in the C-rank, which wields powerful [Eight
Raijin5] skill. If I tell you that its price is close to 100 million, even
though it is not a girl card, you will know how strong it is.
It will be very tough if it keeps
summoning subordinates endlessly while being defended by Dullahan.
To beat them, either make a quick
victory by brute force or counter by using subordinates too.
After much thought, I summoned Eliza,
Renge, ...... and Athena.
When Oribe saw this, her face warped
in disbelief.
"A, Athe
......na?! How in the world did you
......?!"
"Hehe,
actually... I won her from a pack from the Guild."
"Don't
tell me it was one of those crazy packs that cost 10 million per pack? How
much did you buy?"
"Eh,
heh, heh......, four, hundred million."
Hearing this, Oribe's body swayed as
if she was dizzy from standing up.
"Senpai......
as expected, I will pull back for a moment."
"……………………………"
"But, I see,
with the Guild pack. And you bring her out at this time...... Plus, that
for......, I see."
Ugh, I have a
feeling that she already knows that Athena can't use very many skills.
It would be a bad idea to give her any
more time to think over this.
"Athena,
summon Nike."
"Uuh
...... is, is it a battle?"
At my words, Athena looked at Oribe's
cards and my face alternately in dismay. So I spoke to her softly,
"...Athena
doesn't need to fight. Just summon Nike and it will be fine."
"I- I
know that! I was not afraid to do it! Utamaro,
if you are going to do this, you must dedicate your victory to this Athena! Is
that clear?!"
My words may have hurt her pride as
the goddess of war, but she summoned Nike, despite her face turning bright red.
Seeing that my side summoned Nike,
Oribe also moved quickly. Clad in Dullahan, she took a large distance and
ordered Jorogumo and Honoikazuchi no Kami to summon their subordinates.
Jorogumo transformed into a giant
spider nearly five meters long and gave birth to more than a dozen baby
spiders, which instantly doubled and tripled in size, growing into giant spiders
almost three meters in length.
On the other hand, Honoikazuchi no
Kami summoned five Yomotsushikomes. Each of the summoned Yomotsushikome further
summoned more than a dozen Yomigun.
In the blink of an eye, an army of
giant spiders and an undead army appeared in the small clearing.
In contrast, our side summoned a
chariot squadron of Eirei (spirits of warriors). Although the number of
chariots summoned at one time was only four, each chariot was of higher caliber
than those of the giant spiders and the Yomigun, whose fighting power was
estimated to be around a hundred or so.
The Yomigun and the chariot forces
clashed with each other. From the rear of the two groups, magic bombardments
and support from the various cards were flying in and out, making the battle
more like a war than a fight.
The chariots ran across the
battlefield in all directions, unilaterally slaughtering the enemy. But the undead
army (Yomigun) filled the holes in the battlefield instantly, and their numbers
did not seem to be decreasing.
However, there was a space limit, no
matter how infinitely they could increase. In that case, the difference in
quality is what counts.
While the Yomigun multiplied at an
explosive rate, the pace at which our side was beaten by the enemy was slower,
even though our numbers were smaller.
The opportunity to counterattack will
come when the enemy forces in the space become saturated. From there, we will
increase the firepower of Renge and the others to gradually reduce the enemy
and increase the proportion of our chariots to theirs.
If we get to
that point, I'm already as good as winning,.......
"....Hmm,
it's about time."
There was no way Oribe wouldn't
silently overlook such a plan of mine.
Suddenly, a column of black mist rose
from the area where she was, and in no time at all, a huge rain cloud covered
the sky above us. Numerous lightning bolts ran through the rain cloud, roaring
an ominous sound.
This......! And
when I turned my gaze in her direction, I could not see the Honoikazuchi no
Kami.
Then, this
is......! Oh no! Below is water! We're
going to get hit!
I quickly had Renge pull me up into
the sky and use protection magic cards on my monster cards.
At the same time, thunder rained down
from the sky ----, but only on the enemy.
"Wh,
at......?"
I muttered to myself, not knowing what
had happened, as the peculiar smell after a lightning strike hit my nose.
Neither I nor my cards received any
electric shocks through the seawater.
Instead, the Yomigun getting struck by
thunder had electric currents clinging to their bodies while their flesh was
blackened and scorched.
Self-destruction
......? No, it can't be. Oribe would never do
such a useless thing.
As if to prove this, the Yomigun, who
do not know pain, still attack the chariots as if they do not notice the damage
caused by the lightning strikes.
Fast......! It
was as if they themselves had become bolts of thunder.
Furthermore, the chariots that came in
contact with the Yomigun were severely electrocuted and suffered heavy damage
as if they had been struck by lightning. It continued in twos and threes, and
the mighty chariot squadrons rapidly dwindled in numbers.
"This is
......! Is this a skill that turns the Yomigun
into lightning bombs?!"
After finishing their suicide attack,
the Yomigun returned to the soil as if their role was over, but originally they
were small fry. Unlike our chariots, they were not much of a threat.
This strategy
boosted the strength of an army through sheer violence in numbers and utilizing
self-destruction. That Oribe is too eager to kill, isn't she......?!
『Can you hear me, Senpai? 』
At that moment, I heard Oribe's voice
through my badge.
I couldn't help but listen.
『The [Eight Raijin] of the Honoikazuchi
no Kami each rule over the phenomena caused by thunder.
The Great Raijin is manifested as the
mighty power of thunder, the Fire Raijin is manifested as the fire caused by
thunder, the Black Raijin is manifested as the darkness of rain and snow
clouds, Bloom Raijin is manifested as the lightning tearing apart large trees,
the Young Raijin is manifested as the blessing on earth after lightning strike,
the Ground Raijin is the manifestation of lightning returning to the ground,
the Sound Raijin is manifested as thunder that resounds, and the Concealed
Raijin is the manifestation of the way thunder hides behind the rain clouds.
The skills I just used are based on
the [Eight Raijin]. Now, have you figured out which is which? 』
『...... The first rain cloud was the
Black Raijin.
The electric current wrapping around
the Yomi was the Concealed Raijin.
The lightning-like speed was the Sound
Raijin.
The chariot troops touched by Yomi
were violently electrocuted because of the Bloom Raijin.
The intensity of the lightning was the
Great Raijin and the Fire Raijin.
The Yomi that returned to the soil
after the suicide attack was the Young Raijin and the Ground Raijin, which are
the demerits of the skills.』
『Fufu, you are mostly correct. However,
although the fact that they return to the soil after use is a reaction to the
skill, it is not a demerit. After returning to the ground, there is an effect
of rejuvenating the Great Raijin and Fire Raijin with the Young Raijin.』
I see, so
it's a cycle of an infinitely increasing number of subordinates into bombs and
self-recovery. It's so friendly huh, or rather... it's folly strong.
『The interesting thing about the [Eight
Raijin] is that it is not actually an auxiliary skill, but a curse skill. The
first step is to curse the summoned subordinates and then transfer the curse to
the enemy. ...... By the way, are you familiar with the skills of Tsuchigumo,
Senpai?』
The skills of
Tsuchigumo? I don't know. ...... It's not a
particularly strong card, and I wasn't planning to use it myself.
When I was unable to answer, Oribe
told me in a slightly grumpy voice,
『......Since you apparently don't even
know what skills your pretty junior has on hand, I'll tell you. The main skill
of the Tsuchigumo is to serve poison on a plate. It is a skill that gathers and
condenses curses from the surrounding area to itself. She was able to carry it
over when she ranked up.』
......Don't
tell me!
I glared at the former Tsuchigumo, now
Jorogumo, standing in the distance. A black haze surrounded her, forming an
eerie skull.
『This skill is powerful, but it takes
time. Thank you for joining me in my stalling chit-chat.』
『........................』
『Now, there's not even one chariot
left. The suicide squad is still about half. If I hit with the curse skill that
we've developed so far, Senpai's cards won't be spared either. --Checkmate.』
Oribe advised me to surrender, and I
.......
『Fu, fufufu……』
『...... What is so funny?』
Oribe gave me a doubtful voice when I
suddenly started laughing.
『No, it's just, I didn't think that
Sayo was 'also' stalling for time. I thought we were talking to each other
while thinking the other was an idiot, but then things got a little weird.
“——Checkmate.”』
『What?!』
The closing declaration was made not
through the badge, but through Renge, speaking to her from behind her.
Oribe turned around in surprise and
saw Renge who had transformed into Kisshouten, she then turned around again to
stare at Renge standing next to me.
Then the Renge over here ...... along
with Eliza, disappeared like a haze, and a red-haired female demon appeared as
if replacing them.
"Whew~......
it sure is tiring to disguise myself as two people simultaneously."
Suzuka exhaled a big breath and then
leaned against me.
When Oribe saw her like that, she
clicked her tongue.
『I see. I guess I was deceived from the
beginning. This is quite the bite. 』
『A single strike from the Renge that
has become Kisshouten would also smash through Dullahan's defenses and inflict
heavy damage on the master. Surrender.』
『Hm...... can't be helped. I guess
there's no choice, huh? ---- To win straightforwardly.』
『What?』
At the same time that I tilted my
head, a light shock struck my back. It was a light attack at a level that
doesn't even trigger the defensive magic of the badge. However, it was
certainly a direct attack on me.
When I looked back fearfully, I saw a
black haze there, an E-rank monster, a Nightmare.
『Almost no damage, but it was also a
direct attack. I win.』
『What...... a fourth one?! A
foul......, or not, I guess? Dammit, you got me!』
『Fufu, ye, it's not against the rules.
I'm allowed to summon up to four cards. Of course, I've summoned mine before
you set foot in this place.』
『You really got me. ......Does that
mean I've been beaten from the very beginning?』
『Well, I guess something like this
might happen. I don't know exactly to what extent the rules will be applied in
the actual game, but something like 'cards could only be summoned after
deciding on a battle' shouldn't be there, because it is even allowed to intrude
in the middle of a battle with a monster. Most likely, the excess summoned
cards will be sent back according to the result of the bet. Like this, I am
sure there will be some who will hide monster cards or subordinates from the
beginning like this. And that wouldn't be a foul as long as it is within the
number of summoned cards.』
『I'm learning a lot......』
『Me too, I didn't think you could
corner me that far and make a turnaround. Well, I'm the winner according to the
rules. You'll have to wait here for an hour.』
After saying this, Oribe grinned and
walked away.
I saw her leave and plopped into the
seawater with a splash.
"Haa~, I
was defeated! I lost!"
I let out my frustration as I floated
around in the water.
The cold seawater cooled my hot head
and heart comfortably.
...I was
getting a little too confident because I've been on a winning streak lately.
In the match against Oribe, I was able
to get a bit further with my planning, but in the end, I was completely
defeated.
And I think
Anna is also getting stronger.
This training
camp may provide more gains than I thought.
And I, having lost an hour, naturally
came in last place in the race.
***
Notes:
1 Yuki-onna (雪女= 'snow woman') is a spirit or yōkai in Japanese folklore↩
2 Tono (殿 との), pronounced '-dono' (どの) when attached to a name, roughly means 'lord' or 'master' as a form of respect. It does not imply noble status although it is a term similar to 'milord'. ↩
3 A type of spirit or yokai that can shapeshift into a beautiful woman ↩
4 Honoikazuchi no Kami= Deity of fire and thunder, or it can be translated as ‘Flaming thunder god’↩
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