Mob Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni
Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #165
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Translator(s) note: We're entering volume 8 with this chapter! If you just clicked on this chapter, don't forget to check out the previous translated chapters we updated today too! Happy reading~
Oh, we forgot to mention, there's a bonus chapter before this that you can read on our Patreon. Everyone can read it, so feel free to access it. Here's the link for you: Bonus (164.5) A Taste of Nostalgia
Volume 8
Episode 165: Empires Tend to Play the Villain
in Various Works (1)
"Senpai, did something happen?"
"...It seems humans have invaded Oragashima."
I put my call with Yujin-san
on hold to give Anna a brief answer.
Instantly, Anna and Oribe’s
expressions grew grim.
“I, see... So, the war between humans has
finally...” Anna muttered.
“This soon… or maybe not.”
I nodded inwardly at Oribe’s
remark.
From our perspective, it
hadn’t even been two months since Angolmois began… but in areas where time
flows faster, several years have likely passed.
"Also, during the battle with Gugalanna,
some of my cards became Lost...”
They must have suspected this,
given that the Dullahan Card Keys themselves were Lost. Though there was no
surprise on their faces, they were clearly still shocked—their complexions
visibly paled.
Anna timidly asked,
"W-well… specifically, which ones?
Who?"
“Eliza, Yuki, Mea, …and Acedia, the Kimaris.”
“But they’re core members!?”
At the names I mentioned, a
shriek-like cry escaped Anna’s lips.
Eliza and the others were the
core members who had walked alongside me from the very, very beginning.
The fact that they’d all been
Lost at once likely made her grasp the abnormality of the situation I’d
encountered.
“Even considering it was an AoE Absolute
Attack… what on earth happened?”
I explained a concise version
of what had gone down:
That Gugalanna’s AoE Absolute
Attack was a multiple-shot type, and its cooldown was ridiculously short. That
in my haste to end the fight, I used Eliza’s Absolute Attack to deliver the
finishing blow, only for Yuki and Mea to be dragged down with Gugalanna too by
the Trinity Deity effect...
"A repeatable AoE Absolute Attack,
combined with a Forced Lost that take others with it…” Anna repeated.
“Is this like the legend of Gilgamesh losing
his best friend Enkidu…? Are you telling me that when it becomes an A-rank
skill, it becomes that absurd?” Oribe seemed appalled.
The two who heard my story
groaned, their faces grimacing bitterly.
"...Revival items… how many do you have
right now?" Anna asked.
"Four Phoenix Tail Feathers, one Soul
Revival Pill, and one Asclepius's Staff. Since I have a Succubus card for Mea,
I can bring everyone back for now."
"I... see."
At my answer, Anna heaved a
sigh of relief, then asked with a serious expression,
“So, how do you plan to proceed from here,
Senpai?”
"... I can’t turn my back on them. I
will go to Oragashima――――"
“Please don’t.”
Anna cut me off.
Then, she bowed her head
deeply.
“Please don’t… I beg you.”
She repeated herself once
more.
“Anna…”
“With your Lost cards, with almost no revival
items to spare, and with the enemy’s strength on Oragashima still unknown…
going there to provide reinforcements is far too risky.”
"……………………"
“……I truly hate to say this, but Oragashima
isn’t essential to us. Neither Senpai's nor any of our families are there, and
it’s not a base we absolutely can’t let go of. It’s just convenient to have.
Please, in this case……”
What Anna was saying was
right. Oragashima wasn’t indispensable to us as a whole; in fact, given the
potential for conflict with other factions, it was even a liability.
Unlike Ikebukuro, no family of
mine was on Oragashima, and for Anna, it was likely nothing but an unnecessary
risk.
“Sorry, even so, I still want to go help them…”
“H-…! May I ask, your reason?”
At my reply, Anna looked
momentarily shocked, but she quickly regained her composure and asked that.
I hesitated slightly before
answering,
“Because if I abandon them here, I feel like
I'll genuinely stop being human...”
Going to save Oragashima was
nothing but high risk and low reward. But I feared that if I judged things
solely based on the size of the interests involved, I would drift further and
further away from being human.
If I turned my back on them
now, I’d lose my moral compass...That's the feeling I had.
"...............I understand."
Anna stared at me intently for
a while, as if trying to fathom what I was really thinking. Eventually, she
nodded with a sigh.
I
was internally relieved, thinking that while she might
not agree with me, she at least understood. But then...
“If you absolutely insist on going, Sayo and I
will also be going."
“What?”
These utterly unexpected words
had me meeting Anna’s gaze.
Looking at her again, I realized
she had the face of someone who was cornered.
“You’re coming with me...? Then what happens to
the school’s defense?”
The only reason I can act
freely is because Anna and the others are taking on the duty of protecting the
school and our families. I’d be in trouble if they dropped that job. ……I know
it was selfish of me, but still.
“Then we should take Senpai and Sayo’s families
too…”
“And abandon everyone else at the school?"
“……Then let’s start organizing an evacuation to
the island right now.”
“There’s no time. I’m sure you know that, don’t
you?”
Seeing Anna act like a child
throwing a tantrum—which was so unlike her—I spoke to her in a soothing tone.
……Was the Lost of my cards
such a shock to her? Maybe, in Anna’s mind, I had become some kind of
invincible being.
I’d defeated even A-rank
Irregular Encounters, and even after we were separated, I’d returned safely. I
even had Absolute Defense, Pseudo-Safe Zone, and the ability to teleport when
needed. She probably thought that if it were me, there was nothing to worry
about—that I wouldn’t even suffer card Lost.
But then an enemy that used
some nonsensical skill—Forced Lost that dragged others along—appeared, and my
cards went Lost. When she found out that the culprit was a subordinate monster,
the image of Utamaro Kitagawa she held in her mind must have begun to waver.
He’s not invincible after all,
she must have thought.
...Can't be helped, I guess.
I sighed inwardly.
"Okay then. I'll send only my cards to the
island."
"Only your cards?"
Anna, who had been looking
down, snapped her head up.
“Yeah, to be honest, I do want to go myself,
but now that enemies with AoE Absolute Attacks have shown up, I’ve started
thinking that having the Master tag along would only be a disadvantage. So,
except for places like dungeons where I absolutely have to be there, I’ll stay
here as much as possible.”
At my words, the two girls
nodded, murmuring, "I see..."
“I am absolutely in favor of you staying here,
Senpai! Let's definitely do that going forward. So, which cards will you send? If
you dispatch everyone, wouldn’t it be a problem if, by any chance, they
couldn’t return?”
Anna spoke, likely recalling
the circumstances that led us to send our clones to Oragashima.
I pulled a single card from my
Card Holder and showed it to her,
"Don't worry about that. I'll use this."
"The Tamatebako?"
“Yeah. I just figured this out the other day,
but apparently, if I use the Tamatebako while cards are summoned, they get
pulled into it no matter how far away they are. And when they exit the
Tamatebako, they appear near me instead of where they were originally.”
“So, it's like a pseudo-teleportation!”
Oribe exclaimed, her voice
brimming with excitement.
I nodded.
This was a trick I’d figured
out while pondering inside the Tamatebako—back during the time when Eliza’s
Transfer ability had been sealed and I was trying to figure out how to get my
cards back to me after I’d started dispatching them to the Ikebukuro area on
their own.
Using
this would also likely make it possible to bring my cards back to me even if
they lose their way due to the dungeon’s Teleporter Traps1,
although I hadn’t tried testing it yet.
...As for why I didn't use it during
the battle against Gugalanna? It was simply because there wasn't sufficient
time —and because it would have reset the battle, rendering Audrey and the
others’ sacrifices meaningless.
From opening the Tamatebako to
entering it, the interval was several seconds, and in a battle of
cards—especially against an A-rank opponent—that was far too long.
“If so, the risk doesn’t seem high. …Well, I
wish you’d mentioned it sooner, honestly."
Perhaps ashamed of her earlier
childish tantrum, Anna’s cheeks flushed slightly.
With a light laugh and an
“Sorry, sorry,” I ended the call hold and called out to Yujin-san,
"Yujin-san, are you there?"
"Kitagawa! What’s the update?!"
With the sounds of battle
serving as background noise, Yujin-san responded immediately.
I told him that, although it
would only be a card-only dispatch, I had decided to send reinforcements.
"...So, it’s too difficult for you to come
yourself, after all?"
After groaning for a few
seconds, Yujin-san asked to confirm.
“Yeah… I’d really like to go myself,
personally."
"I understand. I’m grateful just for the
reinforcements. But I have one request. If you have a card with a
Transformation skill, can you have them transform into you? ...Please."
"Ah... I see. Of course.”
It was likely related to the
political dynamics on the island. Seeing no reason to refuse, I agreed.
If I have Suzuka transform
into me and use Ibaraki-doji’s Authority of Deceit, we shouldn’t be easily
exposed. Suzuka’s Spiritual Recurrence would soon wear off, but Pruflas had
proven that the effects of the Authority of Deceit would persist even after
Spiritual Recurrence ended.
If I activate Synchronization,
it would be no different from me speaking myself, and it would essentially be
as if I had gone there in person.
『Oi, about time you revive
Eliza and the others and brought us back.』
『Ah, yeah.』
Nodding in response to Renge’s
telepathic message, I took out Eliza and Yuki’s revival items.
For Mea, I’ll revive her with
a Succubus card… As for Acedia’s revival, I’ll have to put that on hold for
now.
I do feel bad for her… but
with invaders already storming Oragashima, I want to conserve as many revival
items as possible in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Of course, as soon as things
settle down, bringing her back would be the first on my to-do list.
When I applied the revival
items along with the Succubus card to the cards of Eliza, Yuki, and Mea, the
gray cards began to regain their color.
This makes
it the third time for Eliza, the second for Mea, and the first for Yuki, huh?
If I hadn’t had that experience with the Hound
Master, I might've been as flustered as Anna... Thinking about it that way, I
guess that experience has become a part of me.
With that self-deprecating
thought, I summoned Eliza and the others.
“Master, are you unharmed!?” Eliza asked
urgently.
“What in the world!?” Yuki exclaimed.
“I just suddenly died!?” Mea clamored.
As soon as they appeared, the
three girls began shouting all at once. I explained the situation concisely.
“…I see, so it's a Forced Lost that also takes
others with it. It looks like the [Trinity Deity]’s Life Force Sharing
backfired on us.”
Yuki, having heard the story,
clicked her tongue in displeasure. That was a rare reaction for her.
“Next time we fight Gugalanna, it might be
wiser not to share life force with [Trinity Deity].”
However, the [Trinity Deity]'s
life force sharing came as a bundle with its summoning slot compression.
Summoning each of the three deities individually would create a problem with
the limited summoning slots.
Even if I only deactivate
the [Trinity Deity] for the moment we
deliver the final blow to Gugalanna, I’ll still need to decide who to summon
and who to leave out.
Should I go all-in with the
[Trinity Deity], or should I sacrifice summoning slots to prepare for Gugalanna’s
attempt to drag us down with him?
I’ll have to think this
through before our next battle…
"Well, let's put that aside for now.
Eliza, go pick up Renka and the others in Ikebukuro."
“Yes, Master.”
After having Eliza retrieve
Renge and the others, I had Suzuka transform into me, then sent the cards
straight to Oragashima.
“…Good. It looks like there hasn’t been any
damage to the city yet."
Synchronized with Suzuka, I
muttered to myself as I gazed down at the cityscape from the hilltop where the
city hall stood.
The modern cityscape, which
had now become as precious as a cultural heritage site, showed no obvious
damage.
However, the streets were
deserted, and the sounds of battle echoed from the direction of the stairs.
It seemed they had
successfully established a defensive line near the stairs.
They had mentioned that a
suspicious figure had come to scout the area, so Yujin-san and everyone else
must have been on the lookout for an attack.
“Now, let's meet up with Yujin-san first.
Eliza.”
“Yes, Master.”
We climbed into the magic
carriage Eliza had summoned as Selene and dashed to the battlefield from the
sky, where countless monsters were locked in chaotic combat.
『...This is tough. With all
this chaos, I can't tell who's friend or foe. 』
I could tell which side each
Master belonged to. Those wearing relatively neat, modern-style clothing were
on the islanders' side. The enemies were the ones with their backs to the
stairs, clad in leather armor like medieval soldiers.
The problem was the monsters.
At a glance, I couldn’t tell which card belonged to which Master.
I guess I’ll ask Yujin-san for instructions for
now.
With that in mind, I scanned
the islanders and spotted a dapper man with a goatee shouting orders at the top
of his lungs.
“Yujin-san!”
“Oh!? Kitagawa! …Is that you!? Don’t you look a
bit younger!?”
Yujin-san looked this way and
broke into a smile immediately, but then his face turned to one of puzzlement.
Ah— right. When I sent out my cloned version,
I’d sent it out in my older form…
Well, whatever.
“I managed to turn back the clock somehow! More
importantly, what’s the situation?”
“O-Oh. For now, thanks to Hephaestus’s power,
we’ve managed to hold them off. But the enemy has several B-ranks on their
side—it's tough! Can you do something about them?"
I scanned the battlefield once
more. From a quick look, I didn't sense any presence that exceeded the
boundaries of B-rank, like Ose. Since Yujin-san and everyone here still managed
to hold their ground, I’d say the enemy’s strongest combatants were likely just
standard B-rank level at best.
"In terms of force, I think we can handle
it. It's just... I don't know which cards are on our side..."
“Hmm, is that so… Is it possible to target the
enemy Masters directly? I’ll tell our people not to attack your cards, so you
can counterattack any cards that come at you, Kitagawa.”
“I see. Got it.”
I nodded and issued orders to
my cards.
First, let’s get the Trinity of Moon Goddesses
to thin out the enemy a bit... Wait, has Mea’s Spiritual Recurrence charged up
yet? She just got revived...
『Mea, did reviving you also
recharge your Spiritual Recurrence?』
『Mmm～,
nope. Looks like reviving doesn’t restore the energy for Spiritual Recurrence.』
『It seems the skill count doesn't
recover either, Master,』
Yuki added.
『I see...』
Hearing their reports, I hung
my head in slight disappointment..
Well, can't be helped. In that case, we’ll go
with a straightforward approach. Against enemies of this caliber, we should be
able to handle them even without the Subordinate Sealing.
I had Prima summon Persephone
to deploy the Legion Summoning. As the army of Sirens and Harpies ballooned in
an instant, drawing the attention of the entire battlefield with gasps of
“What's going on?!”, I activated the Celtic Trinity Deities' [Feast of
Destruction, Slaughter, and Victory]. Then, as the finishing touch, I topped it
off with Athena's Aegis for Absolute Defense.
And just like that, an
effortlessly invincible army with combat power exceeding 3,000 was complete.
At this point, the opposing
side must have realized these were enemy reinforcements. Attacks rained down on
my subordinates, but the shield of Absolute Defense let nothing through. If
anything, it just made it easier to tell who our enemy was.
While ruthlessly eliminating
any attacking opponents, the Harpy army marched straight toward the enemy
Masters.
Enemy cards went Lost one
after another under direct attacks. The enemy horde melted away almost
comically.
...Yeah, that’s right. This is the true power
of my cards. It’s just that the A-ranks and Gatekeepers, who use things like
Subordinate Sealing and Absolute Attacks as if they were commonplace, are the
ones who are strange.
I was lost in thought,
watching the enemies melt away like hot butter, when I suddenly felt gazes
fixed on me.
When I looked over, I saw Yujin-san
and islanders staring at me with dread in their eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-no… I just thought… you look so reliable.
Really.”
Yujin-san said this, beads of
cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Did they get scared seeing the enemies they’d
been fighting so desperately get wiped out so helplessly?
If I were to say, “Actually, my cards had just
been Lost a moment ago,” I wonder what kind of face they’d make?
With a self-deprecating laugh,
I asked,
“By the way, what about the dungeon Bosses on
this island?”
"Those guys, huh..."
Yujin-san's expression
suddenly turned bitter at my question.
“We asked those dungeon Bosses for
reinforcements, but they refused. They said it was not part of the contract.
Even the amicable ones stated they had no intention of getting involved in a
conflict between humans.”
……Hmm. Well, I mean, it really is outside the
contract, and I can’t say I don’t understand their stance of not getting
involved in disputes between humans, but…
“……In a situation like this, anyone who’s
neither friend nor foe isn’t worth keeping around.”
I muttered it under my breath.
Those who refuse under the pretext of it being
outside their contract are nothing but potential risks. Even the 'friendly'
ones who claim they wish to avoid getting involved in a dispute between humans—they
probably consider themselves allies of the human race as a whole, but put
another way, that’s tantamount to saying, “I don’t care who the inhabitants of
this island are.”
Then again, it's the same for us. If they're
not outright allies, then who the dungeon Bosses are doesn't matter a bit to us
humans either.
Now that I’ve returned to the island, the
momentum has shifted back to us humans. The dungeon Bosses will need to
understand that soon enough.
『Master, we’ve finished dealing
with the enemies. Not a single one escaped.』
Just then, I received a report
from Prima.
Sharing her field of vision, I
could see the enemy Masters bound tightly by magic ropes.
She captured them all? That’s Prima for you. I
don’t want to give them any information about us, after all.
“It seems we’ve captured all the enemies. Let’s
ask them a few questions.”
“Alright.”
Together with Yujin-san, I
approached the man who appeared to be the enemy’s leader.
The man was clad in armor
slightly more impressive than the others’.
Age-wise, maybe around thirty?
Unlike the others, who were grimy and smelled a bit, his hair was neat and he
was well-groomed.
The man, bound by glowing
magic ropes, glared at me and widened his eyes.
“You’re… Kitagawa!”
“Hm?”
Does he know me?
It didn’t feel like he
recognized me from TV. This was clearly the reaction of someone who had met me
in person.
“Tch, you don’t remember me, do you?”
Seeing my reaction, the man’s
expression contorted in a self-deprecating grimace as he spat,
"...I’m Saito. We fought in a MonColo
match a long time ago."
***
Notes:
1 Reminder: A trap that sends you to some place in the dungeon completely at random. If that is all, you may think it is not much of a threat when you have a transfer-type magic item, but the trouble with this trap is that it will separate you from the card you are summoning at the time. Since each floor in the dungeon is basically independent of the next, you won’t be able to reach the next floor by digging the ground. If the Master and the summoned card get separated by even a floor, the card will go into a sleep state. ↩
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