Pasifista

――『Yomotsu Hirasaka』, a branch realm attached to the labyrinth of Perforation Realm, 『YGGDRASILL』――

――The『fourth』 stratum, 『uncharted』 domain――

「… The reparation cost for the blackboard.」

「You reap what you sow, I’m unable to say anything but this saying.」

As the depressed Touma pressed his hands against the dungeon wall, Shizuka poured salt on the wound from behind.

According to the rotation, it was after school relaxation day, but they changed their plans and headed to the dungeon.

Saki was so excited that if she was left alone, she might end up diving into the dungeon even by her lonesome, such was the reason for this change.

While they were at it, there was an appeal from someone who was burdened with debts.

「Even the classroom has finally reached the mood of: let’s just act as if we don’t see these guys.」

Mai, who wasn’t quite on board with the venture, grumbled while stifling down a yawn.

For Mai, who loved to laze about, she’d prefer to roll around and sleep in depravity rather than diving into the dungeon.

「What the heck did you want to do…? Do you want to put in place the guys in the class? Are you aiming to stand on the top?」

「You misunderstand.」

「Did you want to try saying: the women in the class are all my women, or something? Rather, the girl seated in front of you for example, I want to be at ease, so please ask Touma-sama to attack me already, or so she verbally requested me. Do you not feel sorry for her? Just get a grip already.」

「… Touma-kun, you’re the worst, like seriously.」

「I was just, stealth marketing.」

Stealth marketing referred to advertising activities that were not perceived as advertising, and it was doubtful whether a demonstrative act that ultimately didn’t amount to any advertising was qualified as one.

「Didn’t Midori-chan-sensei get blood drained from her face and look like she was about to pass out, geez.」

「With a bam, a tip of a sword popped out of the wall on the back of the classroom, so everyone turned all white.」

Miharu, whose classroom was adjacent to theirs, murmured with a faraway look in her eyes.

「The walls are too thin.」

「No. That’s not the problem here.」

Even as they engaged in such a trivial conversation, they swiftly lopped off the beads of the wandering monsters they encountered.

Their teamwork couldn’t be said to be excellent, but in terms of the number of places they had stepped on, they were undoubtedly the top in the class.

「Well then, let’s go. Let’s go and keep going. Search and destroy. I’ll cut them all in half!」

「Hime-chan, you ought to, cherish life.」

「Of course! I will slaughter them all with gratitude!」

Raising her katana in front of her eyes, she made an oath with a nice smile that had no trace of cloudiness.

「… Don’t you think it’s not really necessary to give Himecchi a better katana than her current one? Rather, don’t you feel like it’d be bad if we give her one?」

「Material found. Oraoraora!」

Saki, turning into a whirlwind, charged into the chamber.

◇ ◇ ◇

It was a beast that lurked in the dungeon.

Not only was it unaware of what kind of existence it was, it never harbored any doubt pertaining to its state either.

It did not remember the time when it came to as itself.

It was born there, ate its brethren attracted by the drifting and gushing forth miasma, and eventually rot away and was reconstituted.

This was samsara repeated over and over again, but it had no feelings about this matter whatsoever.

There might have been some individuals amongst them, or perhaps some transcendent individuals (overborder) who departed their dwellings and turned into roaming threats (wandering monsters).

However, it remained in the realm gate chamber as the guardian of the realm gate (gatekeeper).

*Gorururru* A growl that hadn’t resounded in a long time escaped from the back of its throat.

What it sniffed from the entrance of the chamber, which was its territory, was the smell of prey.

Originally, even without carrying out the act of predating, it would not necessarily starve.

Monsters were embodiments of miasma that were composed of miasma, and they could maintain pseudo-life activities as long as they were shrouded by a miasma concentration that corresponded with their level.

Even so, the craving raised by the body was both a fetter and a pleasure for the materialized monster.

The colossal body rose up slowly.

A pressure so great that it felt as if the chamber had shrunk, a colossal body incomparable to that of monsters that appeared on the same stratum.

The limbs, bulging with shapely muscles, were covered by pure white fur with black vertical stripes running through them.

Drool dripped from its gaping wide mouth, and huge, sharp, majestic saber teeth gleamed, jutting out from its upper jaw.

It was a figure worthy of the individual name of the guardian of the realm gate of the 『fourth』 stratum, the Saber Tooth King Tiger (Panzer Tiger).

Its saber teeth easily pierced through armor, and its hard body hair repelled thousands blades.

In an instinctive excitement for a hunt, Panzer Tiger opened its mouth wide and let out—

「Give me, your head!」

Even though it didn’t understand the meaning of the voice it heard up close out of the blue, it understood that its greatest weapon, the saber tooth, had been firmly grabbed.

The base of the sharply pointed, all-piercing saber tooth had been grabbed by a humanoid figure that appeared right in front of it in less than the blink of an eye.

Bewilderment that surpassed anger, it turned into an intense pain of its fangs and bones creaking.

「Give me, sen….」

The muscles of the arms, which peeked out of the uniform that for some reason was tattered like a rag, were pumped up.

「Aah, aahh, oaaahh, gaaaahhhh!」

Its body shuddered and the hair on its body stood on end at the roar that was more bestial than its own, and the moment it heard the dull thud of the angle of the neck going beyond its range of motion, all its senses went dark.

◇ ◇ ◇

「… Alright. Cheat work.」

Mai, with eyes drier than a Tibetan sand fox, offhandedly shows her appreciation.

I’d like her to stop with the careless *clap clap* applause.

Spare no expense since it’s a boss battle, Seiichi’s instruction should be something along those lines.

First of all 『don’t fly』, he told me, so I went with the concept of consuming all of my GP and activating Raijin-style high-speed maneuver that I’d sealed when the curtain was raised.

And sure enough, I ended up with an appearance like that of a gentleman with a glaring full body punk style.

It should return to how it used to be when we log out, and I’ll cry if it doesn’t.

「In a nutshell, it’s that. We should just take it as you using a time-limited invincible burst mode, right? Okay, there’s no problem with it anyway.」

The lines sound as if he is telling himself something.

「That’s not fair, Danna-sama! I wanted to zap it too.」

「Thank you, for your hard work.」

「『Heal』.」

「Thank you for your hard work. Touma-san.」

I get a towel handed to me by Shizuka, but this kind of act is a pattern where the real boss makes its grand appearance.

I’ve secured the cat-like animal headliner, but I think we shouldn’t let our guard down.

「As if. No matter how you look at it, it was the real boss, wasn’t it? … Rather, there’s no remains of the boss whose head spun 180 degrees and went thud, though?」

「Let alone drop items, not even its crystal was dropped?」

Come to think of it, I have a feeling that crystals were always dropped, even from small fry monsters like goblins.

「It’s okay. No problem.」

「I have nothing but bad feeling about your no problem.」

「… Maybe it’s okay.」

Yuki-chan doesn’t file a complaint, so I should have properly strangled it before putting it in there.

The field would be ruined if I put it in alive, so that seems to be a no go.

I’m a little curious as to what she’s cultivating in my Item Box.

It’s just, if my timing in putting it in is too late, it will end up vanishing as usual, so it’s quite a challenge.

I don’t know if I succeeded or failed, but if I take out the remains here, it will probably end up vanishing.

「Uuuu, it was a monster that seemed worth cutting….」

Saki, who is steadily treading on the path of battle freak-hood, has completely misplaced her means and goals.

It’s a good thing.

Let’s steadily increase the number of junkies.

Fighting, dominating, and conquering is what pleasure is all about.