CH 133.2

Chapter 133.2: Strong Man

Definitely not someone who I wanted as an enemy. If possible, no, let’s try to recruit them as our allies.

「My vocation is 『Pyromancer』」

「I’m a 『Heavy Warrior』.」

I expected at least that much if we went by their stature alone.

Maybe because he left his gakuran in who knows where Ooyama was only wearing a bright red tank top on his upper half right now. Though it couldn’t be seen when he wore his uniform, he did have a fit body befitting a karate club member, or not, his body was clearly far beyond the level of a normal member of the karate club, it was a body that undergoes strict training. The chest part of his tank top was almost bursting out due to his incredible pectoral muscle, even his arms that weren’t covered at all had splendid muscles. His overall physique was taut, compressed which gave him a slender frame and sharp aura befitting the protagonist of a kung-fu movie.

Ooyama, who was really proud of his body, didn’t carry a single weapon with him. Since he only wore the school trousers and tank top, I knew that he didn’t have any kind of hidden weapon with him. If he used a hidden weapon, he had to wear extra clothes, such as gakuran.

Assuming that he didn’t summon his weapon from another space like Tendou-kun, Ooyama was definitely the type whose fighting style was relying on his own limbs. Assuming that it was a weaponless vocation, there was a high possibility that his class really was a sorcerer. Well, assuming that he wasn’t lying of course.

And then, moving on to Ooyama’s partner, Sugino, but his appearance… Honestly, I wanted to crack a joke upon seeing his appearance.

He was literally half-naked. Even though he wore his trousers, he was literally naked from the waist up.

The very thing that blew my sleepiness right away due to the impending crisis was none other than Sugino’s topless fashion.

The talk went uninterrupted until this point but… I was really glad that I didn’t interrupt the conversation midway. Their appearance was the very proof of that.

Sugino’s vocation was the same as Yamada, 『Heavy Warrior』. I mean, it was only natural for him to have a skill that increased his defense by twice with such physique. Since his body itself was as tough as steel, it was only natural for him to abandon armor or clothes.

But still, you could at least wear a shirt pleaseee! I can understand that your shirt might be torn beyond repair even with a mimic silkworm after a fierce battle but, BUT, you can at least put on some goma’s clothes RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT?

In contrast to Ooyama, Sugino’s muscles expanded fully, his muscles were comparable to a judo Olympic athlete.

As if such a mass of sickening muscle(for me) wasn’t enough, he equipped himself with a huge mace. Its handle was connected to a long, metal chain that coiled around his body… Yup, I don’t even know where to look.

「――The trio in turn from above were 『Swordsman』, 『Warrior』, and 『Aquamancer』.」

Yamajun introduced everyone’s vocation on my behalf. Meanwhile, I was thinking about our next move.

「Ha~h, well, that’s fit them I guess.」

「And then, Yamada is also a 『Heavy Warrior』.」

「Hee, that’s the first time I met someone with the same vocation as mine.」

「Lately, Ayase-san is a 『Spiritualist』.」

「What, there’s still another person? Come on, don’t hide yourse~lf.」

Ri~ght, stop hiding yourse~lf, shi*ty neet.

+++

「Well, it’s natural for her to get scared as the only girl, yeah.」

Wait a minute, stop pampering that fu*king neet. Doing that will make her get ahead of herself.

「Well, I think we should work together to escape from this dungeon. If possible, I want you two, Ooyama-kun and Sugino-kun, to join us but――」

In the end, I decided to cut to the chase and ask them without beating around the bush.

If possible, I wanted to have these two in our party. I mean, the fact that the two of them alone managed to arrive so far had already become the testimony of their strength. Even without that, I felt that Ooyama and Sugino, in addition to our team, would create a balance in our team. They would be able to counter Yamada and the Totem Pole Trio.

Yamada and the trio might have lost if the two sides fought. And if Reina didn’t join the fight, they wouldn’t have the chance to win against the two.

Now then, let’s see what they’re going to do when they meet their match. Are they going to fight, or escape? Since we could talk to them, it gave us another choice.

Everything would end up peacefully as long as they could reason like Souma Sakura by using friendship, peace, and justice, working together to get out of this dungeon. Their addition would help us a lot in traversing this dangerous dungeon.

In addition, from my perspective, Sugino was a leader whose leadership power surpassed mine. To be honest, I was tired of this position, it was slowly chipping away my mental strength. I managed to get away so far by snatching everyone’s initiative with my craft and glib of tongue, but I was afraid that it was only a matter of time before they would back-stab me due to my weak power. I doubt everyone in this party would always follow me of their own will.

But if the leader was Sugino whose power surpassed mine, he could at least rein in the party members from going overboard with his power. It was a primitive yet simple ruling class.

Well, my expectations aside, I wondered how these two would answer my suggestion.

「Haah, it seems you really are still half-asleep, Momokawa.」

「Yup, cooperating with you guys sounds wonderful indeed but… unfortunately, we’re not interested in working with you guys.」

「We think it’s pointless to form a party of more than five members.」

「Now then, what are you going to say next?」

「The reason we refuse isn’t that we’re afraid of you guys are going to back-stab us, you know.」

「If that’s the ca―― I see, your refusal is related to the condition to escape from this dungeon huh.」

「Correct. As expected of Momokawa-kun, it seems you’re not the leader of this party for nothing.」

Sugino’s mouth formed a wide grin. Almost at the same time, I felt a chill running down my spine. He looked like a carnivorous beast finding its prey, or rather, like a beast finding a rival in his territory.

It seems it was my fault for rushing in without beating around the bush, I should’ve prolonged the conversation, explaining our situation. Thanks to that, Sugino raised his guard against me.

In short, these two were unwilling to negotiate with us from the very beginning. The reason being only three people were allowed to leave the dungeon. Sugino and Ooyama were most likely planning to leave this dungeon with just the two of them from the very beginning.

If that was the ca– I see now… So the rumor about these two being a gay couple was right after all.

「Understood, we will not bother you more than this then. We’re going to leave this fairy plaza immediately. Otherwise, do you guys want to go ahead?」

「So that’s mean you want to avoid pointless struggle, huh?」

「You should feel the same way/」

「I wonder about that.」

「My vocation is 『Shaman』. Anyone who kills me will die in return.」

「Whoops, worry not Momokawa-kun. We’ve no intention of killing our classmates, you know.」

Sugino maintained his poker face smile. Dammit, even though finding a common ground is just the norm, why in the hell have these two refused to do so? Sugino, did he actually plan to fight us, or did he want to kill us?

Just what in the hell is this fu――

「OI! DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO TALK TO THEM, MOMOKAWA! THESE FU*KERS WANT US TO HAND OVER ALL THE CORES THAT WE’VE BEEN GATHERED SO FAR!」

I see, things have already reached this far huh. Short-tempered OOyama answered for me before I reached a conclusion.

「Well, that’s the case. What do you think, Momokawa-kun, are you going to hand over all the cores that you’ve been gathered?」

Even though we’re just focusing purely on defeating the boss or capturing the dungeon, we somehow had gathered a large number of cores. If they only thought about escaping from this place, then it was only natural for them to focus only on gathering as many cores as possible.

Well, our side was also gathering cores for that purpose. In my case, it was for the sake of strengthening Rem. Even though I planned to escape with everyone, there was no way I would just hand over the cores that everyone gathered together painstakingly.

「… Half of it.」

「Fufufu, being too greedy isn’t good for your health, you know, Momokawa-kun. I wanted to end this as peacefully as possible but――」

Sugino’s figure blurred for a moment, and by the next moment, he was already moving outside my field of view.

F-FAST!? How can he move so fast with such a figure? I tried to follow Sugino’s movement with my eyes.

「UWAA!」

「UOOOO!?」

Sugino moved so fast, and by the time my eyes caught his figure, he had already sent Ueda and Nakai, the peanut gallery, flying with a pinpoint tackle. Perhaps because he had no intention to attack, the two were only blown back without notable injury.

If that was the case, his aim must be――

「UWAA! OI< WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR BRAIN!?」

By the time I noticed that Yamada had already been caught by Sugino. Yamada had this painful expression on his face as Sugino’s arms went around his neck, locking it with a move that resembled a choke sleeper. [TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rear_naked_choke#%22Sleeper_hold%22_in_professional_wrestling]

「Now then, Momokawa-kun. Handover all your cores.」

「O-Oii, STOp, It’s hur………. U-UGH…」

Yamada, who was strangled to the limit, fainted before he finished his sentence.

+++

「Fufu, looking at your group, Yamada-kun must be the strongest in your group, right? The toughness of heavy warrior is something that I’m extremely familiar with.」

Sure enough, a pure martial artist could win so easily against an amateur. I mean, the fact that he incapacitated Yamada in just a moment.

「Well, that’s why I also know his weakness. Even if his body is as tough as steel, the inside is still flesh and blood. All I need is putting him into chokehold till he incapacitated.」

The moment Sugino released his chokehold, Yamada’s body fell to the ground.

「Okay, you win, I’ll give you all the cores.」

「Thanks for your wise judgement, Momokawa-kun. With this, we can get the cores without having to rob our classmates.」

Seeing Yamada down so quickly, we had no choice but to give them the cores. Because none of our party members had the strength or mental power to beat Sugino. At such a time, having someone stubborn like Souma Sakura would only result in even more discord like when I made a deal with Yokomichi.

That aside, having to hand over the cores obediently like this was really humiliating.

DAMN, DAMMIT… Even though I managed to get my revenge on Higuchi, I ended up experiencing the same humiliation at the hands of another person…

「Humph, it’s lesser than my expectation, but, well, that must be how weak you are.」

「Oi, are you still hiding some cores on you?」

「That’s all of it. Try to check by yourself if you don’t believe me.」

「What’s with that cheeky tone, Momokawaaa」

「Hohoho, you better fess up the rest before things get more violent you know.」

Sugino tapped Ooyama’s shoulder, preventing the latter from using violence at me with his usual expressionless smile on his face. It was just a casual gesture but the way Sugino caressed Ooyama’s shoulder was purely disgusting. Ah, did he just caress Ooyama’s clavicle just now? That’s… scary in so many ways, you know.

「Tch, guess I’ll let you off for now.」

「I feel the same but, if possible, I don’t want to fight or kill my classmate. That’s why be a good boy and hand over all your core.」

「I know. It’s not like I want those cores back.」

I mean, they might kill us for real if we tried to regain our cores. I didn’t want to die, but I would happily kill them once I got a chance. Contrary to his meek appearance, Sugino did look like someone who would do that.

「Well, we’re leaving then. I really wish from the bottom of my heart for you guys to be able to leave this dungeon too, you know.」

Whether it was sarcasm or their real thought, they left the fairy plaza leaving behind those words.

===

TN: As All of you have realized, the previous tl jumped the chapter which caused a huge gap between chapter 98-133. And since I’ve already filled the gap, I’ll reupload the old chapter since having so much blank space feels wrong in my perspective.