This time, I entrusted Mashiro with watching the house because I figured that relying on the combo of Mikroon and Highrow, who can fly in the sky, would give us the upper hand against the monsters.
“Rest easy, Sousuke.
We won’t make the same mistake again,” Rina said with a serious tone.
At this moment, she was projecting a barrier around the space surrounding Mikroon and Highrow. By setting the summon beast at the center of the barrier, it moves along with them.
As a result, the monsters couldn’t see us, but we could still see the monsters.
Incidentally, I was taking the lead this time, with Chiya riding directly behind me. Having her massive breasts pressed against my back gave me butterflies no matter how many times it happened, and it was a little nice.
The saga of a sad man.
“Rina-chan, you change your character when Sousuke-kun is around, don’t you?”
Momoe said with a mischievous grin.
There was a teasing ring to her voice.
However, Rina didn’t take any damage from such remarks.
“Unlike you, who uses a flirtatious voice with every single man, I’m just one-woman loyal to Sousuke. What’s wrong with that?”
“I-I’m not flirting! It’s just that I’m charming them!”
It was Momoe who flustered upon being counterattacked.
“Being charming is different from looking like a guy could do it himself.”
“What the hell! Momo’s a prude, you know?”
“If we get back to Earth, look up ‘prude’ in the dictionary.”
“That makes me sick!”
Hmph, no one was stepping in to break it up. But was this even a fight to begin with? It felt more like they were just play-fighting.
The guys do the same thing; despite getting along, they sometimes swap out threatening words. So if this was just the girl-version of that, I hesitated about inserting myself into it.
“Hmm. There’s no need to get angry. In fiction terms, Momo is a Virgin Bitch.”
“What kind of terrible thing are you saying!”
“Looks sexually promiscuous but has zero experience. The crystal of an otaku’s fantasies. Momo, be proud.”
“I don’t feel happy about that at all… Oh wait, Sōsuke-kun is an otaku too, right? Does that make you happy that I’ve never done it with anyone?”
Momo gave me a mischievous smile.
The target seemed to have shifted to me.
”…”
There was simply no way to answer that.
“If you tease Sōsuke, I’ll just eject you from the base’s barrier.”
“Stop saying such scary things!? I’m not teasing him! I’m seriously trying to get along with Sōsuke-kun!”
“Hehehe. You’ve been lacking in trust due to your actions so far, which is why it comes to this. I just can’t let you slide, Momo.”
“Nene, stop being annoying!”
Honestly, the noisy Momo was much more approachable than she had been back when we were still in the classroom.
Back then, her habit of “behaving in a way that invites misunderstandings” made it impossible to tell what she was really thinking.
Now that her emotional expressions are so straightforward, I found this version of her much easier to deal with.
“We’re approaching our first water source.”
At Mikimaru’s words, everyone straightened up and focused.
This was the body of water closest to their base camp.
It was reasonably spacious, though smaller than a school swimming pool.
“Mikimaru, chop down every tree near the water. Trolls can handle it, and we can store the lumber later.”
Trolls were human-faced trees that camouflaged as regular vegetation; while disguised, they were indistinguishable from ordinary timber.
Thus, the strategy was to indiscriminately hack down any tree in sight.
“Understood!”
“As for the Archvarks, I’ll taming them as much as possible.”
Inui’s Taming ability seemed to have a limit on how many creatures she could command simultaneously. Furthermore, certain monsters, such as Unique Monsters or Behemoths, were apparently untamable.
However, like her other abilities, this one grew in proficiency over time.
When we first teleported here, the limit was three, but now she could turn several dozen into allies.
Not many are left to garrison the base, so they can’t operate all of them at once, but they’re a reliable force.
“I-I’ll attempt to capture or hold back any unique individuals I discover.”
Yinshen’s ability to manipulate shadows is an excellent power as well.
“If it gets away, I’ll chase it. Leave that to me.”
Jifeng possesses the [Leg Strength Enhancement] ability. It boosts not only his speed but also the impact of his kicks, making him formidable in combat.
“I’ll support everyone. Fight however you see fit.”
Mikari serves as a sort of vice-leader for the Chenghuang party.
She is from the Archery Club and possesses [Archery Enhancement].
Her arrows are enhanced for penetration power and come equipped with homing capabilities.
If one only considered survival on an desert island, I think it’s a rather superior ability, but in the current situation, it seems insufficient in raw attack power against powerful monsters.
Presumably, because she is aware of this limitation herself, she volunteered for the support role.
“Momo won’t be doing anything.”
“Let the Chenghuang party know if anything happens.”
Though Momo says she won’t be doing anything, the information sharing between her clones means she stays in contact with her comrades even when separated, which is useful in itself.
Besides, given who Momo is—as far as I’ve seen so far—she’d be the type to use clones as decoys or protect her allies if things got serious.
Sena would handle healing and buffs, Serina would maintain the barrier and provide support elsewhere if possible, and Genchu would have beast-shift in reserve for emergencies.
I plan to give orders while contributing via rockfall attacks and such.
“Alright, let’s start.”
“Storm Blade!!”
As Shinpō swung his staff, countless wind blades descended upon the forest below, slicing through the trees.
It didn’t just end up as simple deforestation; it also produced muffled screams.
They were the death throes of the Trolls that had been mimicking the trees.
At the suddenly noisy water source, the Arvanks began to reveal themselves on the surface as well.
“So they’ve come out. Which ones shall I pick?”
Inubo smiled, and about three of the Arvanks stopped moving. In the next instant, they drove their sharp claws into their own kind.
A shrill beastly shriek echoed through the area.
Hmm. It’s reassuring to have them on our side, but that Taming ability is pretty brutal, isn’t it?
“Blade of the Gale… I see, then this side will too.”
The Shadow of Gloom stirred and took the shape of a sword.
They extended themselves until they were mere inches from the ground, then swung horizontally.
The Arvanks’ bodies split apart vertically and vanished as they died.
“Heh, Inimori-san. My forces are gone now, though.”
“I-I…! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” / “It’s a joke. I rely on you.” / “Shut up…!”
Maruha shot the Arvank in the forehead with expert skill while remaining mounted on Highrow.
The one fidgeting impatiently was Hayate.
This strategy avoided the risk of landing, but conversely, it meant a person who excels on the ground couldn’t be utilized.
He would have to wait for now, but I intended to rely on him when the moment came.
While crushing Arvanks with rockfall attacks using my storage feature, I continuously collected the trees Shinfu had cut down into my ‘Inventory’.
‘Wood’, ‘Wood’, ‘Wood’, ‘Trent’s Branch’, ‘Wood’—Oops.
It wasn’t a time for celebration, but I had acquired monster material.
Shinfu severed the branch of a Trent, and before that Trent could die, my storage caught it in time.
If they fall, the monster materials will vanish, so in this chaotic melee, securing a drop is pure luck.
Crafting with monster drops sounds appealing, but I should focus on the battle at hand.
That was what I was thinking when—
Countless spears erupted from the ground.
“No…! Is this… roots?”
Piercing through the earth and reaching toward us, a closer look revealed these countless projectiles to be tree roots with sharp tips.
This wasn’t a standard Treant attack.
“Ugh, gggah…! Sōsuke, this is bad!”
The roots were repelled by Seri’s barrier, but they immediately gained momentum and charged back in.
“Oh? We should be invisible to them, yet they seem to have deduced our position from the incoming attacks.”
Inui was right; the enemy had somehow pinpointed our location despite being unable to see us and was striking at us blindly.
“Seri, do you have any idea how many hits we can withstand?”
If we took those attacks just now even once, let alone three times, the barrier would have shattered. But it’s fine; this is a world where MP doesn’t exist, so we can just keep recasting it infinitely.”
“Ahh, I’m counting on you,” said Yūjin.
But the real problem lay in what came next.
“Sō-kun, is that thing a unique individual?”
“Probably.”
If three attacks from a unique individual were enough to break a single barrier, their base defenses couldn’t be considered fully secure.
While hoping for further enhancement of Seina’s abilities, they would need to swiftly exterminate any additional unique individuals that appeared.
“I can’t see anything.
Trolls should only be able to survive near water sources,” Fukumono said with a puzzled expression.
Indeed, the troll’s description stated that it required moisture.
But since Fukumono had shaved the surrounding area bare, if a troll were nearby, they should have noticed it by now.
No… if they can extend their roots, maybe the main body can survive even away from water’s edge.
It could simply absorb water from a distance through its extended roots.
If that was the case, finding one would be a hassle… no, let me test it here and now.
“Inshin! Grab one of the roots for me!”
“Yikes! Y-Yes sir! Carrying out Kouno’s orders right away!”
For some reason, Kage had a flush on his cheeks, but he executed the job with precision.
Forming his shadow into a giant hand, he gripped the root tightly to immobilize it. “Fukami!” “Understood! ‘Wind Blade’!”
He responded without needing an explanation.
The moment the tip of the root was severed.
“Store it!”
And I stored it in my 『Inventory』.
—『Root of the Needle-Demon Tree Troll』.
Alright, so even Unique individuals drop monster materials.
So, should I harvest as much material as possible before taking them down?
There’s a possibility some materials can’t be obtained again.
It was plenty of food for thought, but not the time to dwell on it.
The important thing is that we secured the material.
And my ability had acquired a new function.
I had gained an intuitive understanding of where I could acquire any material I came into possession of.
So, I know where to get the “Needle Spirit Tree Treant’s Root” from.
This very place is one such spot, and I can sense its presence even from places far away.
“Found it.”
“You really get into it when you’re doing that kind of stuff, don’t you?”
“Mm-hmm, I know. You’re cute when you’re focused on crafting-related things like that.”
Chiyu and Yurina seemed to be hitting it off.
“I’ve located a unique individual of the Treant! Mikron, fly in the direction I indicate!”
The black dragon Mikron nodded enthusiastically.
“It doesn’t look like there are any unique individuals of the Aervank here, so we’ll tag along. That’s fine with you, Nariu-san?” “Yeah.
Is that okay with you, Kunou?”
“Ah, let’s go.”
It was a hunt for a unique monster.
This is a supplementary update scheduled for March 6th.
The next regular update is expected on March 31st!
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