CH 114

Chapter 114.1 : Crusher Reina

「Thanks, I feel a lot better.」

「Is that so? Just tell me if it’s still hurting or something. I can heal your wound thanks to my 『Healer』 vocation after all.」

Thanks to Yamajun, my mind regained its clarity.

This Yamajun, YamaYmakawa Junichiro was neither your average joe nor was he your super cool guy. This medium build, bespectacled with rimless glasses, fluffy, frizzy hair was the kind of guy that never stood out amongst the rest of the class – the sort who blended with the surrounding amongst the unique line up in class 2-7.

But his gentle smile and kind words made him into a Bodhisattva-like student.

And this amazing man could basically communicate fairly at ease with someone from the top caste like Souma Yuuto right up to the bottom caste Yokomichi Hajime. This matter was as clear as the day with how I called him 「Yamajun」 like it was a normal thing to do.

I mean look, he wasn’t nervous when facing Souma’s riajuu’s group, not cowering when he spoke to Higuchi or Tendou-kun, moreover, he was being sincere and speaking with a bright smile to otaku’s group like me or Shou who had a relatively low standing in the class. I mean, even that Yokomichi was willing to hear him.

And, his amazing communication prowess was also reaching toward the female students. Though unlike the boy’s case he could speak normally with someone like a class rep or Souma Sakura who stood at the peak of the class caste in the female students’ group.

And yet, Yamajun had built a personal virtue to the point that he wasn’t glared at by the other boy in the class like Kousaka-kun, Souma-kun’s buddy.

To be honest, it was a mystery to everyone why Yamajun wasn’t the one to become the class rep instead of Hugashi-kun. Well, in fact, when we chose the male class rep, everyone recommended both Higashi-kun and Yamajun. However, the latter then willingly stepped back for the former with a smile on his face, end of the story.

Anyhow, that’s the reason why I could let my guard down around Yamajun. The matter of him becoming a 『Healer』 who healed wound was absolutely no coincidence. You might say that our god’s patron could discern the true inner attainment of everyone.

Changing place, we’re currently inside one of the available rooms in the tower. Though it was a vacant room with several skulls, there’s a fallen pillar that had just the right size to become a chair. I was sitting in there while receiving treatment from Yamajun.

The quartet of men and Reina went to the fairy plaza located at the top of this tower. This was all the classmates who gathered in this area. There were no other comrades. That’s why it’s just me and Yamajun here. He kept the other classmates away, but his main reason might be to let me cool my head.

「Thank you … You’re covering for me, right?」

The wound on my back wasn’t that big. It was at the level that ointment A was all I needed to patch it up. That’s why I was really grateful for Yamajun to separate me from the rest of our classmates.

Yamajun’s face first looked surprised and then changed into a reassuring smile.

「Ahaha, busted huh! Normally, I just distract with vague talk.」

「No, I understand with just that brief exchange … Reina A Ayase, that bitch is the most powerful one and the most uncooperative one amongst us, right?」

「You beat me there, Momokawa-kun. To think that you’ve guessed that far…」

He then explained the present situation of the party with a sigh.

「At first, I was always moving along with Yamato-kun.」

Needless to explain that even Yamato-kun, the catcher of the baseball club who wasn’t that popular in our class, was quite close to Yamajun. That’s why their journey was a rather smooth one.

「A while later, we met with Ueda-kun and co. That’s why Ayase-san joined up just recently.」

See, because she moved along with Higuchi till then, maybe she’s buttering up to Yamajun and Co. after she pushed me out of that transfer magic circle.

「How should I say, it’s Ayase-san, it’s because she’s an extremely charming girl….」

「You treated her like a spoiled princess?」

「Yeah, That’s right. Especially Yamato-kun, he has a thing for Ayase-san since a long time ago.」

Yamato-kun must be a hardcore lolicon. He was a lolicon despite having that kind of appearance, well it might be close to impossible for him to marry his ideal woman.

「Haa … It’s the worst.」

I couldn’t help but feel disheartened by this situation.

In short, this six-man party never even considered about their own well being. I might not be able to see it, but I was sure that the atmosphere in this party was similar to a fan club in which almost everyone was trying to have themself placed higher than others for that bitch whose brain was filled with flower field. Winning the attention of that bitch might be more important to them than clearing the labyrinth.

「It’s the worst, I did everything I could to change the situation but … Sorry, Momokawa-kun. Honestly, I think it’s only matter of time before this team breaks apart.」

「Uwaa, to think that even you, Yamajun, are helpless against this situation.」

Though I absolutely wouldn’t believe the lie that smell like stereotyped 「Relationship Lubricant」 of job-hunting university students, and those two words applied perfectly on Yamajun. He who could treat everyone equally was the perfect person to mediate any situation.

It was to the point that when we became sophomores, the incident in which Masaru called out to Yokomichi who at that point had been ostracized by the rest of the class only to have the latter snapped back at him with 「This is why I hate filthy casual!」. Naturally, even Saitou was angry at suddenly being treated like that and the situation quickly turned into a quarrel. The incident which made the other classmates look for Yokomichi anime otaku was quickly resolved thanks to Yamajun’s immediate mediation before the teachers who heard the commotion arrived at our class.

Naturally, though both Masaru and Yokomichi never talked to each other again after that, if Yamajun hadn’t mediated, their bickering might’ve turned into a brawl, according to the classmates who had witnessed the situation.

And now that very same impeccable mediator went as far as whining about the situation in the team, could it be that … It’s better for me to continue being a solo?

「Can I hear a more detailed situation? Treat me as your ally for the time being.」

Yup, following a momentary pause after I said those words with bitter smile on my face, Yamajun started telling me his story.

「First, regarding Ayase-san.」

Yup, she’s our greatest source of trouble for the time being. Our conversation couldn’t start unless I understood more about that bitch situation.

「This is nothing more than my own speculation but … In short, Reina has no ill will.」

「As I thought, do you have a basis for that conclusion?」

「Yeah. Take the previous incident, for example, Reina-san only screamed that you’re scary when you suddenly leaped at her.」

Even so, I absolutely had no intention to forgive that bitch.

「I understand your feeling, Momokawa-kun. I won’t say something like “Please forgive Ayase-san”, but allow me to give you a warning before you act recklessly, despite her problematic behavior, she’s the strongest one amongst us.」

True enough, she wasn’t a big deal if she was a mere frail, cute, and innocent highschool girl like before she received her vocation.

On top of that, if Reina’s vocation was as weak as my 『Shaman』, or composed of a useless and haphazard set of skills like Randou-san’s, she might’ve ended up as the monster’s food or Higuchi’s slave.

「What do you know about Reina’s abilities, Yamajun?」

「That’s a rather troubling question since the person herself doesn’t seems to understand the vocation system of this world when I tried to ask her before.」

Even the bitch herself had no clear grasp about her own power … In short, even if the current her was very strong, there might be a chance that she might awaken some sort of ridiculous power once she was driven into the corner.

「As far as I know, Ayase-san’s vocation is 『Spiritualist』 with three kinds of ability. Momokawa-san just saw two of the three. They’re known as 『Sacred Beast』.」

It seems the flaming red lion was 『Flame Lion Engard』, and the thunder falcon was 『Thunder Falcon Ramudein』. It seemed that the bitch always called them by their pet name instead of their proper name.

「The 3rd one appeared in the form of a woman who uses water attribute magic, 『Water Spirit Seyram』. This Seyram is as powerful as the other two.」

It seemed that Reina mostly used Engard, and added Ramudein when she felt anxious. It also seemed that Ramudein only got its turn when she was being surrounded by many enemies since Engard alone was enough to take care of the enemies if they’re in small number.

Since the forest around this tower was Goma’s living place, it seemed there had been a few occassions in which she’d summoned Ramudein when while being surrounded by many enemies.

It seemed that there’s barely any condition that would trigger Reina to call Seyram. There was only one-time Yamajun saw her called Seyram when they’re crossing over a big river in the jungle and suddenly got ambushed by a giant crocodile-like monster.

「Seyram might only be able to show its full power near the water source. I mean, it killed that giant crocodile-like monster in one strike.」

Sure enough, there’s no way its power was inferior to the other two sacred beast if it could round up an aquatic monster with water attribute magic.

「Do those sacred beasts need some sort of incantation to be summoned?」

「Nope, they can appear on their own without being summoned when Ayase-san is in danger.」

There’re a few times when the sacred beast called Engard appeared on its own to protect that bitch when Gomas shot their arrows, or should I say that it was a stray arrow that was flying toward that bitch from her blindspot. From his story, I concluded that there’s almost no time lag for the summoning.

Chapter 114.2 : Crusher Reina

「… That makes her almost invincible, doesn’t it?」

「Yeah, her power is really amazing. It’s to the point that I think she can clear this dungeon just by walking.」

No matter what kind of monster she met, ambush or traps, I can’t imagine all of it would work against her three sacred beasts. And she was by no means slow as long as she rode on Engard’s back.

In short, the bitch called Reina A Ayase got spoiled not only by our nerdy boys. She who got spoiled by the sacred beasts was the epitome of a human blessed by luck. Even after we got summoned to another world and were forced to clear this dungeon, it didn’t change the fact that there’s practically an endless amount of things that wouldn’t just abandon her … Might be because Reina herself possessed some sort of 『Charm』 skill.

「But, maybe due to her spoiled nature she … can’t fight, and you can’t rely on someone like her in the battle.」

「I see now, the person herself didn’t want to approach the battlefield despite having such a powerful bodyguard.」

「Our fight will get easier even with just the help of one of her sacred beasts.」

I had expected this situation beforehand but it didn’t mean that I wasn’t having a headache after hearing about it from Yamajun.

That bitch had the worst personality.

That bitch made Souma Sakura look like a splendid person since she could fight for herself with her bow and arrow. With the exception of Takanashi Kotori, I mean she realized that she herself was useless in battle.

And yet, despite having such tremendous power to finish the battle without even the need for the person herself to enter the battle, not even once did she contribute to the battle of survival. That Reina bitch was simply a baggage while I who had finally managed to gather enough combat potential to get rid of the small fries after numerous hardship and lucky encounter in the form of Rem the 1st and Arachne Rem …. was wasted in front of her power just because they’re 「Scary」…

「An-Anyway, there’s no problem for the time being. Yamada-kun and Co. were trying to look good in front of her, so there’s no need for us to borrow her power for the time being. Moreover, Ayase-san should’ve started to help us now.」

I was more pissed off than I thought, huh.

I mean, Yamajun even tried to smoothen things up between me and the rest of the party with flustered voice but … Honestly, I didn’t feel like getting along with that selfish bitch and the unpopular nerds who tried to woo her.

To Advance beyond this, the power of the Totem Pole Trio+Yamada-kun alone wasn’t enough. In fact, they’re almost certain to get annihilated if not for my sudden intrusion in the previous battle.

And even if they’d sacrificed themself in the battle―― I don’t think that would’ve been enough to move that bitch’s heart.

Because that bitch didn’t even come to help Higuchi when he was in peril.

Thinking back, what would’ve become of me if she’d suddenly stopped me, who had barely won against Higuchi, from dealing the finishing blow to Higuchi. Because that bitch only made her move after I killed Higuchi and about to step into the transfer circle.

In short, after Higuchi died, and I was aware of her presence, was the moment she made her move.

And now, I think I was starting to understand Reina’s feelings at that time. My battle to the death against Higuchi was only at the level of quarrel for her. And the figure of me desperately trying to kill Higuchi invoked a sense of terror in that spoiled shitty bitch.

And then, seeing me, who came out as the winner, Reina who was so convinced that she was going to be silenced too for the sake of erasing any future anxiety decided to use that chance to escape. That could be why that bitch had finally managed to muster the bit of her courage to summon that sacred beast called Engard to escape from me.

Though that event led me to meet Tendou-kun and his gals’ party and gain a friendship with Randou-san, Juri, and Mari, THAT was THAT, THIS was THIS.

「I understand, I’ll make an exception this time due to her war potential …. So, any other problems aside from that?」

Although unwilling, I had no choice but to give in for the greater cause, or wait a minute, though it’s true that I was forced to take a hundred steps back with this case if I excluded that bitch from war potential due to her spoiled personality, this party was quite a balanced five-man party with three vanguard, one rearguard, and a healer. Though their individual power couldn’t be compared to a party with Mei-chan or Souma’s party, their party should be able to deal with the Gomas army as long as their vocation went through level up.

「And then, a charming girl appeared In the midst of those guys. Rather, I think it was strange that nothing happened so far.」

「A~h.」

I forgot about that fact since I was completely blinded by my grudge towards Reina.

「Seriously? That circle crusher didn’t cause any problem?」

「Well, I think she’s been like that since a long time ago.」

Ahaha, for some reason, Yama-jun’s wry smile seemed to have lifted the heavy mood that was hovering around us.

Sure enough, the problem regarding love relationships had always existed in humankind since our ancestors. And that problem was known as circle-crusher in the modern era.

[TL: A problem that breaks friendship]

Circle crusher was referring to a phenomenon when a girl entered a group composing of male-only, disturbing the harmony of the group which would result in a battle royale amongst those friends to win the affection of the girl, one event after another would finally lead to a catastrophe resulting in the male of that said group to go as far as unwilling to see each other eyes again.

In short, this current circle wasn’t club activities but it’s still the gathering of male youth. Though you might say that age had nothing to do with love, we’re at the age where we’re extremely sensitive when it came to the romance of others.

Now let’s say that a girl suddenly intruded inside that circle of boys in the middle of their puberty, it was only natural for them to be more aware of the girl’s existence. Even if that said girl was a fugly and unpopular girl, the boys would still be aware of her existence.

To say nothing if the said girl was … A transcendence beauty like that bitch Reina A Ayase.

「Now that Yamada-kun and Totem Pole Trio are going all out to get Reina attention, do you know how long it’ll be till the situation reaches the critical point?」

「As of now, Yamada-kun is in the lead, and I think the other three are envying his current position.」

「That’s … Are they following the pecking order from the strongest?」

「Yeah, that’s the only point worth of evaluation in this dungeon.」

Yeah, I agreed with him. In short, the one with most merit had the honor of leading Adelheid’s Knight Order.

I mean it’s clear from the previous battle that Yamada-kun with his powerful defense was clearly far more powerful than the Totem Pole Trio. He might be able to defeat the trio at once by relying on his powerful defense.

「Unfortunately, no matter how much effort they put to win her attention, there’s only Souma-kun in her eyes.」

「Ri~ght.」

In the end, it was those four who used their battle contribution to decide the value as a male amongst themselves. It’s not like that bitch watched those four battle nor could she decide who was the strongest amongst the four.

「Ayase-san basically didn’t even care about us. Yamada-kun, who doesn’t realize that is doing everything to catch her attention which worsened the party’s atmosphere.」

「Uhm, sorry to ask this but Yama-jun… Do you like Reina?」

「 I have a man I’m interested in. Whoops, not in gay sense.」

「I’ve been waiting for those words.」

If his reply was something along “Ayase-san is aiming for me”, or “You’re just over worrying about this matter, Momokawa-kun”, or “I’ll kill you (+Dark Smile)” I swore to myself to escape from this place as soon as possible.

「If I too fall for Ayase-san in this kind of situation, then this party is done for!」

The problem was the other four. No matter how bad their relationship turned out in the future, it wouldn’t change the fact that Reina was the safest one even without the four’s protection thanks to her sacred beasts’ protection.

「I see, so that means you, Yama-jun, are the one who is desperately holding the reins to prevent the circle crush from happening.」

Well, that bitch went and killed both my beloved Rems, no question asked.

That bitch wasn’t just destroying friendship, she was also ready to destroy you physically at any time.

「To be honest, I’m really glad to know that you’re the one who came, Momokawa-kun.」

「Eh, for what reason?」

「I mean, you’re one of the few who absolutely won’t fall in love with Ayase-san.」

「Why are you so sure about that?」

「I mean, you like ’em big right?」

Please stop iterating my embarrassing secret with such a refreshing smile on your face. Rather, where did you get that kind of information? Tell me the name of the bastard who sold me. I was really shocked at hearing Yama-jun know of my fetish.

「Just to make sure, no one knows about this, right?」

「Hahaha, don’t worry. If I really spilled all the secrets that I know, class 2-7 would basically be history even before our summoning to this world.」

Eh, what hell, that’s just too scary man.

Could it be that… Yama-jun was the real class 2-7’s crusher?

「Okee, Yamajun. Please take care of me then.」

「Yeah, let’s do our best to capture this dungeon with everyone, Momokawa-kun.」