I woke up to the sound of Yorina moving right beside me.
“I’ve been thinking, and I think…”
”…What is it?”
“If the girl whose shift comes the day before an event can’t goof off with Soutsuke in the morning, isn’t she missing out?”
It was likely a joke meant to break Raid’s tension, but it felt like there were genuine emotions behind it.
“As long as you’re okay with it, Yorina, let’s set aside some time later.”
”…Promise, then.”
She murmured in a small voice, sounding pleased.
“Yeah, it’s a promise. But right now—”
“I know. First things first—Chiyu has to do the ‘Purification,’ right?”
”…Yeah, that’s true.”
Maybe that was something we absolutely had to take care of before dealing with Behemoth.
Me and Serrina both sweated a lot, too……
That was the tenor of our conversation.
“——”
An earthquake struck.
No.
If the mountain were alive, perhaps this is how it would scream.
That was how loud and deep the roar accompanying it was.
The ground wasn’t shaking; it had been shaken.
Due to the steps of Behemoth, an extra-large monster.
I rushed to the window and flung it wide open, my scream echoing through the house.
“I’ll manage the gear placement myself! Everyone, just get outside!”
I immediately used Rearrange Storage to change into our spare clothes with Seryo, then headed out of the room.
Almost everyone burst onto the hallway at once.
Without exchanging more than a word or two, we first sprinted toward the front entrance.
The shadow was moving.
Like a massive cloud engulfing the sun, the light dropped sharply.
It seemed to be enveloping our base of operations.
Seeing it, I remembered the Giant Ancient Dragons in monster-hunting games.
I mean, Behemoth is an elephant, but we’re talking scale here.
In the game, the hunter—your avatar—would dive at the Giant Ancient Dragon’s feet and wildly swing their weapon… In reality, that seems impossible.
“Kazun-kun.”
Chiyu took my hand.
Right. It wasn’t time to be stunned into a trance.
“Let’s jump on Mikuron and Mashiro and make a break for it!”
I immediately stowed the house and everything around us.
I felt bad about it, but we couldn’t take the chickens with us.
At the very least, by storing only the shed, I would free them to flee on their own.
Mashiro arrived just in time, along with Sazuko, Shiine, Umemaru, Loah, and Genchu.
Chibi landed, and Senjuu, Fukuma, Professor Luminas, Seri-ma, and I each leaped onto his back.
The shadows completely engulfed us.
I looked up to see Behemoth’s foot closing in on us.
—Because of the barrier, Behemoth shouldn’t be able to “detect” us.
Which means he was just standing there by chance, and that’s all that happened—taking just one more step forward.
“Worst possible starting position…!”
I couldn’t help but curse under my breath.
Both Mashiro and Chibi were pulling away from Behemoth at full speed, but the enemy was so massive that our sense of scale was distorted; it didn’t feel like we were gaining any distance at all.
“Hey. Since you’re building your own harem, I’m a little jealous, you know.”
Senyuu was operating on autopilot, but her body was trembling.
“It’s not Soosuke’s fault!”
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! If only I hadn’t asked the Kunou kids to…!”
Mifupo shielded me, while Professor Luminus blamed herself.
“None of us are to blame, aren’t we? More importantly, at this rate, we’re going to get crushed!”
Yuri named called out.
It turned out that even her barrier couldn’t withstand Behemoth’s trampling… wait a second.
“Yurina! Can you set up a barrier within the barrier?!” ”…Hah! I’ll try!”
For example, if she deployed the barrier in five layers, wouldn’t the remaining four sheets support the pressure borne by the outermost one?
Since her barriers were invisible, we couldn’t grasp where those ceilings were.
But I felt, just for a moment, that the approaching black soles had stopped.
”~~~! Sorry, seven is my limit for now…! Besides, they’re going to break soon!”
“Mashiro! Mikron! Please!”
Shouko called out, her voice tinged with prayer.
The two phantasmal beasts accelerated beyond their limits.
“We’re done for!”
Terina screamed as Behemoth’s foot moved again.
But—just in time!
We managed to escape the reach of Behemoth’s soles.
“Terina! Sorry, but I need one more!”
“I got it!”
Terina immediately deployed a new barrier.
In the next moment, the ground shook violently again, trampling and crushing the surrounding trees, sending them flying into the air.
Dust billowed up, but at the boundary of our barrier, all of it was deflected.
She must have configured the barrier to reject anything other than us.
It could repel not just living things, but specific substances as well.
And since we were inside the barrier, Behemoth couldn’t spot us.
Without noticing our presence, it hung its long nose down, tore up a section of the forest as if gouging into the earth, and carried it into its mouth.
That area would take four times the normal amount of time to regenerate.
Even if Behemoth wasn’t targeting us, we couldn’t just leave things as they were.
I took a deep breath and looked around at my companions.
Besides me and Yorina, everyone else was wearing their sleepwear.
When I had stowed away the house, their outfits had been included in the storage.
I stored each person’s current clothing and instantly reorganized their uniforms into place.
Like a dress-up feature in a game, I switched their attire in the blink of an eye.
It was a technique I had mastered by repeatedly using Storage and Reconfiguration.
By the way, I left Loa in her maid outfit.
For Miss Luminas, the only adult present, I properly dressed her in her teacher’s uniform.
”……With Sou-kun handling things, we’d be stripped naked in an instant?”
“Haha, don’t flatter me.”
Chia acting as if nothing was wrong was a relief.
I acted the same way, pretending everything was normal.
“Hehe, it’s so convenient.
It might just be a matter of time before I say, ‘As expected, you’re impressive, Souzou-kun.’ ” Shion smiled softly.
“Souzou-zou-souzou!”
It was probably just forced cheerfulness, but Moushi went along with it too.
”…Thank you, Mr. Souzou. Going outside in my pajamas is quite unsettling.”
Fukaho also smiled as he calmed his breathing.
“It was a shock, but the job doesn’t change. Let’s get ready right away—let’s take down Behemoth!”
Everyone nodded with determination.
Everything will settle back into our usual “Chill Life on a Deserted Island,” so please rest assured.
I hope you enjoy watching how Souzou and the others handle this event.
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