Chapter 157

Chapter 154: Meanwhile! Mikage Academy!

Mikage Academy has countless special dungeons designed for simulated combat training.

This training area, created for explorers to adapt to every possible situation, could only be made possible by the immense power of Mikage Academy.

“Hmm… The AI judges each explorer’s strengths and weaknesses and constructs a dungeon on the spot, huh? Still costs a fortune as always. It’d be great if we also invested money in nurturing the next generation like this. But we end up spending it all, me included…”

Rokuhara said this while looking up at the sky.

The place where he stood was atop a pile of rubble.

Amidst the collapsed buildings turned into gray debris, he remained at its peak.

The artificial sky was almost indistinguishable from the real thing, feeling quite pleasant.

“You have a habit of relying on your senses, so in your case, they recreated an intricate building like this. Being weak against surprise attacks is fatal for a swordsman, isn’t it?”

Rokuhara said this as he glanced down at Tourak, who lay sprawled out on the rubble below.

His entire body was covered in wounds, and he could barely breathe.

Perhaps his final pride kept him from letting go of his sword.

However, he couldn’t stand up.

“Don’t think that your opponent will deliberately adjust their fighting style to suit the field. There are guys like me who can obliterate all floors with one strike.”

“Mu… reckless…”

Tourak muttered weakly with his fading voice.

At that moment, noise ran through the scenery of their location, and soon it transformed into a sterile room surrounded by white walls.

“Hm, is it over? I’ve more or less understood your situation from our second round. This is where it gets serious.”

“…Yes.”

Leaving the fallen Tourak behind, Rokuhara headed toward a bench in the corner of the room.

“—Whew, I’m exhausted!”

Eina, held in Rokuhara’s hand, transformed back into her girl form and dived onto the bench before anyone else.

She immediately began gulping down an apple juice.

“You’re not tired.”

“It’s mental fatigue! I mean, I was up against Lutra, and my spirit was being drained second by second! I need lots of praise, no doubt about it!”

Saying this, Eina tried to cozy up to him, but Rokuhara dealt with her lazily while slumping onto the bench himself.

He then looked at Tourak with a sports drink in his hand.

“Considering how much you went berserk, you’re surprisingly calm now. Eina, how’s his Demons Gear doing?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it! It’s in perfect condition. Though, his connection with the contractor might be slightly weakened. Otherwise, there’s no way I could’ve beaten Lutra.”

Eina said this and opened her second drink.

“I thought this would be more troublesome when Yukihira asked me, but it’s turning out to be somewhat interesting. At least better than during the Territorial War.”

What Rokuhara had been entrusted with by Yukihira was to fully train Tourak as a Demons Gear user.

It was arranged by Yukihira due to concerns about Tourak’s previous rampage.

Incidentally, only Rokuhara knew about the vast sum of money exchanged privately between him and Yukihira.

He didn’t tell Eina because she’d immediately demand her allowance.

(Stability in his mental state must be due to having comrades nearby.)

In front of Rokuhara’s eyes, Tourak was being helped up by Rinka.

But one person was still missing.

To begin with, the start of his rampage was triggered by a girl named Futaba Mihaya.

She was attacked by an angel and was currently bedridden.

(Yukihira said that her attack was one of the triggers for his rampage. The other… well, it’s Solciera, isn’t it.)

Recalling the face of the absent girl, Rokuhara sighed.

He didn’t know much about Solciera, nor did he care.

He merely regarded her as a good playmate.

But Tourak was different.

(His attachment is abnormal. Were they childhood friends, or did something romantic happen without me knowing…? Anyway, the cause lies here.)

The first time, it was Rinka and Tourak together.

The second time, it was Tourak alone.

Through these two battles with altered conditions, Rokuhara roughly understood Tourak as a person.

Including his sense of justice and the twisted mentality underlying it all.

“Only swinging a sword for others is quite a bother, isn’t it?”

“Eh, what’s that supposed to mean? Don’t explain complicated things to me.”

Though it was just his thoughts slipping out, there was no point in saying anything about it.

Still, feeling irritated, Rokuhara ruffled his hair while saying,

“Our dinner tonight will be at a revolving sushi restaurant.”

“Yes! I prefer straightforward words like that! And you understand places like that too, Leader. You can get cakes, ramen, and all sorts of things there, making it such a great deal!”

“I agree.”

Saying this, Rokuhara stood up.

Three minutes had already passed since his break ended.

“Tourak, let’s go next. From here on, fight a bit more selfishly.”

“…Yes.”

“Are you okay? If you can’t stand yet, take a little more rest. It’s better not to push yourself.”

“…No, I’m fine. If I stop here, that girl—”

“Alright, stop. We’re continuing the break, idiot. Don’t use others as an excuse for your recklessness.”

Saying this, Rokuhara sat down beside Tourak.

As Tourak exchanged glances with Rinka, he once again lay flat on the ground in a big X shape.

Rokuhara nodded upon seeing this.

“That’s right. Rest if you don’t want to. Fight only when you feel like fighting.”

After saying this, Rokuhara attempted to pass the time by starting some student council paperwork.

However, Eina approached him with a cheerful smile.

In her hand was her personal smartphone.

He knew that nothing good would come from this.

“Leader! Ryuko contacted me! Look at this stamp. She’s crying so much!”

“What? Why did she contact you? And when did you exchange numbers?”

“Well, we’re close friends, aren’t we? We’re allies in the monthly New Year’s bonus from the Director.”

“Do you even know the definition of a New Year’s bonus?”

Anyway, a lecture afterward was certain for both her and Ryuko.

“So, what is it?”

“It seems she’s in deep trouble during a mission and needs help. How pitiful.”

Eina answered this with a sly grin.

Upon hearing this, Tourak spoke before Rokuhara.

“That’s terrible. Mr. Rokuhara, please go help her instead of me!”

“No way.”

Casually replying this way, Rokuhara left both Rinka and Tourak confused.

There seemed to be no malice; he simply refused outright.

“Because going to help Ryuko would be the most meaningless thing to do.”

“But isn’t she S Rank? If someone of that caliber is in trouble, the mission must be extremely difficult…,” Tourak said.

Shaking his head, Rokuhara responded, “That’s how she always is.”

“If someone else among the S Ranks had cried for help, I might’ve gone too. I’d want to see that, wouldn’t you? Can you imagine Yukihira crying for help? Wouldn’t that be worth seeing?”

“Uh…”

“Indeed, if we could see that side of her, it would be worth it,” Rinka added.

Having originally been part of Silver Twilight, Rinka possessed a standard level of questionable traits.

“Ryuko relies on others easily. She’s lazy and has regular people’s values. When she sees a corpse, she can’t eat meat that day.”

“That’s true! So during joint operations, we consider Ryuko and prepare salads and stuff! Can you believe that? After completing tough missions and earning hundreds of millions in rewards, we end up eating salad. It’s ridiculous!”

“Why don’t you defend her at least? What happened to the alliance?”

Seeing Eina adding her comments enthusiastically, Rokuhara pulled back slightly and said this.

“In any case, Ryuko rarely gets help from anyone. Kirika’s younger sister wouldn’t let her go, and Tatarai probably… is eating somewhere.”

In short, Ryuko lacked charisma.

Even though she was an excellent sample of an ordinary person, she remained just that—an ordinary person, no matter where she went.

“Is… that so…,” Tourak and Rinka murmured, looking somewhat disheartened upon hearing this.

Continuing, Rokuhara said, “But that’s not all.”

Lifting three fingers, he showed them.

“Three times.”

“Huh?”

“She’s beaten me three times.”

Upon hearing this, Tourak was speechless.

He had just experienced firsthand how strong Rokuhara was.

Therefore, imagining someone defeating him three times was unimaginable.

“Well, all were cheats! I don’t count those as losses! Besides, I’ve won more times than her!”

“Are you really forming an alliance?”

Rokuhara deadpanned at this interruption and then looked at Tourak.

“Despite everything I’ve said, the reason we don’t help her ultimately boils down to everyone knowing she’s strong. In terms of speed, she’s undoubtedly number one among S Ranks.”

This was something only someone who was also S Rank and had fought alongside her on various missions could truly understand.

“She’ll always remain average. She doesn’t want to cause harm, doesn’t want to get hurt, wants to make money, and wants to be pampered just right. She’s been like this ever since before becoming S Rank. Her unwavering core might be something you should learn from the most right now.”

Surprisingly, Rokuhara’s words carried a sense of trust in Watatori Ryuko.

■

Meanwhile, the trusted Ryuko was—

“Oh no, the gate entrance is already full of surveillance. This is over.”

““Huh?””

“Ahahaha, I don’t want to do this anymore!”

“Ryuko, next I want something salty.”

Thanks to the mysterious trust from all S Ranks, she found herself smack dab in the middle of a dire situation.

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