Akatsuki Translations

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

The moment the General died, twenty Mages went berserk, launching twenty fireballs at me. Amidst the rain of fire, I sprinted towards Misuzu and the others.

My severely burned feet were beyond just being difficult to move. Because of this, I couldn’t dodge all the fireballs and took some hits. If the burns got worse, my feet might not heal. I hurriedly pulled out a potion and drank it.

The burns rapidly diminished, and the bones in my arm, broken by the General, returned to their normal shape thanks to the potion’s effect. The pain in my body also subsided. Still, I had taken too much damage. I didn’t heal completely, especially my feet without the Mikamaru equipment were in terrible shape.

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“Ugh, get out of my way!” I growled.

Every step sent waves of agony through my feet. But just because the General was gone didn’t mean they’d let me off easy. Two Soldiers circled around to my front.

“You’re annoying!” I shouted.

The two Soldiers swung their greatswords down simultaneously.

“Damn it!” I cursed.

I leaped sideways to dodge. Not just two, but the remaining Soldiers were swarming towards me.

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

And the Mages were recreating the General’s orders. They kept launching fireballs, even with their own Soldiers in the way. If they used this tactic where Misuzu and the others were, it would be bad. But even after drinking the potion, my whole body still ached.

I couldn’t move like usual. Even as I decapitated a Soldier that caught up to me, I took another hit from a Mage’s fireball during that moment.

“Hot! It hurts!” I cried out.

I wanted to rest. To stop. But the Goblins kept swarming, and the Mages tried to kill me along with their own Soldiers. With the General gone, they cared even less about damage to their own troops.

“You’re going to get killed by me too!” I shouted at them.

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

Twenty fireballs were launched again without hesitation.

“【Stone Wall】!” I yelled.

I had to defend myself somehow, so I created a stone wall, but the Soldiers quickly destroyed it. I took the fireballs head-on, and my body, which had just recovered, burst into flames again. The severe burns on my feet made my consciousness hazy.

I looked towards Misuzu and the others, who were now surrounded by the Goblin army.

They still had a General left on their side. Under its command, the Mages kept launching fireballs. Lean was desperately trying to take down the General, but her Blue Bar could only inflict scratches on its body.

“【Acceleration】!” I cast the spell.

As I used Acceleration, my feet without the Mikamaru equipment felt like they were being torn apart. But I had no time to worry about my own body.

“I’ll draw them away!” I shouted.

The Soldiers and Mages chasing me couldn’t keep up with my speed anymore, and the distance between us widened. Conversely, the distance between me and Misuzu’s group was shrinking.

I reached the rear of the enemy army. The Mages were at the very back. I sliced off the head of one Mage. But reducing the number of Mages here wouldn’t do much damage to their side. I had to kill the last General quickly.

“Joining up is the priority!” I shouted.

I bent my knees, ready to jump towards Misuzu and the others.

“…”

“…”

“Huh?”

But I couldn’t move. My legs were stuck in a bent position. When I looked to see why, I realized parts of my feet had carbonized. This was bad. If left untreated, my feet might never heal. I hastily gulped down another potion.

The Soldiers were catching up, but this time when I tried to straighten my legs, they moved. Enduring the pain, I jumped and landed near Misuzu’s group.

“Yuuta!?” “What about the other side?” they called out.

“I killed the General and left them behind! We need to kill this General! Cover me!” I yelled.

“Okay!” they responded in unison.

The moment I finished speaking, Lean took a brutal kick to the stomach from the General, coughing up blood. Still, she managed to block its Double Strike with her Blue Bar. The enemy was no longer showing any mercy, even to women.

In this situation, it seemed they had abandoned any thoughts of taking women captive. I readied Mikamaru, knowing we had to kill the General first.

“【Serpentine Triple Strike】!” I called out.

“Goar!” “【Gyaa】!”

However, as if ordered to protect the General, a Soldier who had cast Great Strength charged at me, sending me rolling across the ground. I quickly regained my footing and cut down that Soldier.

Evie used 【Water Screen】 to block more Soldiers from approaching, while Lean slashed at their feet with her Blue Bar. Leaving the other enemies to my companions, I planted my feet firmly on the ground.

The General counterattacked, casting Great Strength on itself and unleashing a Double Strike. I responded with my 【Serpentine Triple Strike】. Mages launched fireballs, but fearing they might hit the General, only two were fired.

I parried the General’s attacks with my slashes.

As for the fireballs’ damage –

“Evie!” I called out.

“What? You idiot! 【Water Screen】!” she shouted back.

Just in time, Evie’s magic blocked the fireballs. As a huge cloud of steam obscured our vision, the remaining slashes of my 【Serpentine Triple Strike】 caught the last General’s neck.

“It’s over,” I declared.

As the steam cleared, the General’s head was rolling on the ground. All the Generals were now truly dead. The Goblin army froze for a moment.

But then –

“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!” the remaining Goblins screamed in unison.

“Everyone! Mop up the remaining enemies!” I ordered.

“Roger!” Everyone responded. “Gau!” barked Rai.

Without their Generals, the Goblins lost their coordination. Lean and Evie worked together to reduce the number of Mages and Soldiers, while Misuzu, unable to use her bow at such close range, fought against the Riders with her spear.

“【Double Lance】!” Misuzu called out.

Misuzu often used her spear for self-defense when forced into close combat. Perhaps because of this, she had developed a single spear skill. It was a version of Double Strike for the spear, allowing her to thrust twice simultaneously.

Thanks to this, she was managing to handle the Goblin Riders.

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!” “【Gyaa】!”

“【Water Screen】!” “【Stone Wall】!” Evie and I shouted.

The usual carpet bombing. But without the General, it wasn’t scary anymore. The fireballs scattered, with no clear target. An army without a commander.

“This is getting monotonous!” I yelled.

Soldiers tried to break through my Stone Wall and Evie’s 【Water Screen】, but Lean and Misuzu intercepted them. Lean fought the Soldiers while Misuzu attacked the Riders she hadn’t managed to kill yet through gaps in our defensive wall.

“Stick together, all five of us!” I ordered.

We huddled tightly, leaving no blind spots. If there had been three Generals, they might have broken through even with the five of us together, but now they were gone.

“We can win this, right?” Misuzu asked, her voice betraying relief from the prolonged tension.

“Don’t let your guard down!” Evie scolded.

“I-I know,” Misuzu replied.

The remaining Goblin forces were steadily decreasing in number. Yet they didn’t know how to retreat.

Even though they must have known it was a losing battle, they still charged at us recklessly. As if it were a revenge battle for their Generals, none of them seemed to value their lives. Because of this, we were still taking damage.

When we finally defeated the last of them, Misuzu, Evie, Lean, Rai, and I all collapsed on the ground from sheer exhaustion.

“Th-they were strong,” Misuzu gasped, drinking a potion for a deep cut on her leg.

“Phew. We managed to defeat them head-on, but I thought we were going to die,” Lean sighed.

“There’s a lot to reflect on. Maybe we should have stayed closer to Yuuta, our front-line leader,” Evie mused.

“It felt more like we were forcibly separated from Yuuta by the General’s strategy,” Lean added.

Evie had taken the least damage, probably because Rai had protected her desperately. But as a result, Rai had suffered severe injuries and was lying on the ground in her lion form, looking pained. Evie was now giving her a potion.

“Rai, are you okay?” I asked worriedly.

“Gau,” she responded.

When I leaned in to check on Rai, she seemed concerned about me too and started licking my burned feet.

“Ouch. Haha,” I chuckled.

I understood that Rai was telling me to heal myself properly. Right. The million-yen potion wasn’t enough to fully heal my feet. Especially the carbonized parts seemed beyond its capabilities.

“Yuuta. Your burns are the worst. Use this to heal,” Evie said.

She pulled out a bottle filled with a pale green liquid.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s a mid-grade potion. I bought ten of these just in case,” she explained.

“Wow, thank you. Isn’t this expensive?”

The mid-grade potion comes from Bronze Gacha and costs 50 million yen. The market only carries potions up to one rank above this.

Normally, explorers never let go of their potions, so they don’t circulate in the market. However, potions up to 100 million yen can be mass-produced by Kimori of the Millennium Tree. Thanks to this, potions are expensive but available in the market.

“We’re going to face even stronger enemies from now on. 50 million is nothing. If this isn’t enough, I even bought five 100 million yen potions,” Evie stated.

“E-Evie. That’s amazing,” I stammered.

“Says the one who prepared Elixirs,” Evie shrugged.

I thought that with 50 million, you could build a pretty luxurious house. But there was no point discussing that now. I drank the mid-grade potion. My body began to emit a pale green light.

“How is it?” Lean asked.

“Are you okay?” Misuzu chimed in.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” I replied.

I tried moving various parts of my body to check. I ran at full speed, jumped, and swung Mikamaru. I even tried using 【Serpentine Triple Strike】 with Acceleration and Great Strength. When I cut an acacia tree, it was cleanly sliced, and the cross-section burned

“Looks like you’ll be alright,” Evie said.

“Y-yeah,” I replied.

“Thank goodness,” Misuzu sighed with relief behind us.

“And Lean, well done. Thanks to you holding off the General, we managed to pull through,” Evie praised.

“Lean, you were so strong,” I added.

“As expected of Lean,” Misuzu chimed in.

Lean’s proud face after being praised by the three of us was adorable. She had been looking troubled earlier because she couldn’t defeat the General.

“Yuuta. Give Lean a reward,” Evie suggested.

Even as a High Blue, Lean casually hugged me like she used to. Her appearance was like bare skin, and she had grown in various ways. It felt good. I was flustered, feeling aroused by Lean’s close contact.

“Compared to that, I…” Misuzu’s voice trailed off darkly.

Her Color Change skill had made her arrows hit, but she couldn’t provide much support attack despite being in a rear support role.

“Misuzu. You helped a lot just by killing Riders with your spear,” Evie reassured her.

“But my bow, which is crucial…” Misuzu started.

“Both Evie and I are committed to supporting you, Misuzu. Besides, you’ve improved a lot with your bow since the time you couldn’t kill anything without a surprise attack. Cheer up,” I added.

“I’m still a burden until I get a rainbow…” Misuzu mumbled.

“Misuzu, don’t call yourself a burden. We’re comrades, aren’t we?” Evie insisted.

“Evie…” Misuzu responded.

Misuzu had conceded a lot to Evie regarding me. Since allowing Evie and me to be intimate, she hadn’t complained even this morning. Their relationship had improved considerably because of this.

“Now all that’s left is to eliminate every last Goblin remaining in the settlements of this area,” Evie stated.

“And then the Goblin Emperor will appear, right?” Misuzu asked.

“The Goblin Emperor is stronger than the entire Goblin army combined,” I reminded them.

We fell silent, wondering just how strong that could be and if we could really handle it.

“A-anyway, shall we take a break? I’m exhausted,” I suggested.

We moved away from the area filled with corpses and sat on the ground. We took out bottled water from white Gacha capsules and used it to wash off the blood and dirt covering us.

The water from the capsules comes in sets of ten 2-liter bottles. It’s quite cheap for a Gacha item, but still sells for 1000 yen per bottle due to its long shelf life. We were using it casually just to clean ourselves.

“Even bottled water is 1000 yen. We just drank a 10 million potion and a 50 million potion earlier,” I mused.

“It does seem wasteful,” Misuzu said mischievously, hugging me from behind.

I tensed up, knowing she had just been cleaning herself naked. I found myself getting excited despite the inappropriate timing.

“Misuzu. Save that for when everything is over. This isn’t the end, we need to focus on the battle now,” Evie admonished.

“Okay,” Misuzu replied, easily letting go.

Part of me felt it was a waste, but I was more afraid of losing focus right now.

“Still, Mikamaru is…” I examined my badly damaged equipment.

Misuzu and the others could switch to spare equipment, but I couldn’t do that with Mikamaru’s flame sword, body armor, and gauntlets due to their buffs. The gauntlet was especially bad, with deep gashes halfway through.

“This is from when the General’s Double Strike broke my bones. Sorry. I’m still too weak, so I have to rely on you,” I said to my equipment.

Mikamaru would heal beautifully in a few days. Normally, we’d wait for it to heal. But in one day, the Goblin army would respawn. We’d have to kill them again and then eliminate all the Goblin settlements again.

Of course, we’d do better the second time. But if we did that, we might reach level 15 in the meantime. Then we couldn’t get an S rank. So we had no choice but to invade the Goblin settlement and fight as we were.

“Really, challenging someone stronger than the Goblin army in this state…” I muttered.

This quest should be considered impossible.

“Yuuta, what do you want to eat?” Misuzu called out.

While I was staring at my equipment and thinking deeply, the others seemed to have finished cleaning themselves and their gear, and were starting to prepare lunch.

“Katsudon,” I replied.

“Always that. You should eat other things too. Your nutrition is too unbalanced. As your g-girlfriend, I can’t overlook this. Here, have some Pepper steak and rice,” Misuzu said, handing me a plate.

Lean was keeping watch, riding on Rai’s back in her lion form.

“Eh, but since we’re leveling up, I don’t think we need to worry about nutritional balance even if we eat the same thing all the time,” I protested.

After all, leveled-up explorers become immune to illness and obesity.

“Even so, there’s no more Katsudon. You ate it all, Yuuta. I gave you about 100 of them thinking of you, and you gobbled them all up by yourself,” Misuzu scolded.

“Did I really?” I wondered.

The Katsudon from white capsules has a crispy coating and is incredibly delicious. But was there really 100 of them?

“I’ll have ramen,” Evie said.

“You always eat that too, Evie,” Misuzu pointed out.

“I-It’s fine, isn’t it?” Evie defended herself.

“Then I’ll have cold somen noodles since it’s hot,” Misuzu decided.

“Anything is fine for Lean,” Lean added.

“Gau,” Rai seemed to agree that anything was fine.

We finished our meal right there. We also took care of bathroom breaks. We decided to take turns keeping watch with Lean and the others, rest for about an hour, and then head towards the settlement.

“Misuzu. I want to talk with Yuuta alone for a bit. Is that okay?” Evie asked after we finished eating.

“Sure. You don’t need my permission,” Misuzu replied.

“…I see. Thank you,” Evie said, gently hugging Misuzu and kissing her cheek.

“W-What are you doing? Stop it, it makes me feel weird!” Misuzu protested.

I understand. Even between girls, Evie’s beauty would make anyone nervous when she gets close.

“What kind of feeling?” Evie teased.

“N-Never mind… It doesn’t matter what kind of feeling!” Misuzu stammered.

“Hehe, Misuzu. Will you show me around Tokyo sometime?” Evie asked.

“Me?” Misuzu questioned.

“We’ve been party members all this time, but we haven’t done anything together as girls. Now that we can finally share Yuuta a little, don’t you want to?” Evie suggested.

“I-I don’t mind, I guess,” Misuzu conceded.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Just the two of us?”

“Yes.”

After this exchange, Misuzu left us to talk, and Lean and the others also moved away.

“Evie, what did you want to talk about?” I asked.

“You told me you loved me. I was half-asleep and couldn’t quite believe it. I thought it might have been a dream. But when I woke up and saw my body, I realized it wasn’t,” Evie explained.

“Ah, yeah,” I responded.

Indeed, a confession from the opposite sex right after waking up might feel like a daydream.

“Um… sorry,” I added.

“To be honest, I thought it would take more time before I could do those things with Yuuta. Do you really like me? Can I truly believe that?” Evie asked earnestly.

“Y-Yes, you can. I like you, Evie. I love you,” I said straightforwardly.

I realized that my previously ambiguous attitude had been the source of unnecessary party conflicts. I checked within myself for any doubts. I found that I genuinely liked Evie – beautiful, cute, sometimes clumsy, and also vulnerable.

I moved closer to Evie and embraced her tightly. No matter where I touched her, she didn’t get angry. Instead, she gazed at me with a flushed face.

“Yuuta. I’m going to take this seriously. Even if you become cold, I won’t give up anymore,” Evie declared.

“That’s fine. I don’t intend to do that anyway,” I replied.

“I see. Then it’s alright,” Evie said.

Just as we were about to kiss, Evie pulled away from me. She didn’t seem to want to do anything more before the battle.

“It’s okay now, Misuzu,” Evie called out, her face suggesting it was Misuzu’s turn.

“Evie, I’m fine for later. After this quest is over, after we’ve cleared the 4th layer and gone outside. I don’t want to feel like an afterthought to you,” Misuzu responded.

“Are you sure?” Evie asked.

“Yes. More importantly, where do you want to go in Tokyo? We’ll have quite a bit of time while Imari is leveling up, so I can show you around a lot,” Misuzu offered.

Misuzu didn’t seem interested in talking to me alone right now. She started chatting with Evie. I felt most relieved that Misuzu and Evie were getting along. It seemed like they had wanted to be friends before but couldn’t because of me.

“These two like me…” I mused to myself.

Every time I remembered how I was treated at school, I wondered if this was some kind of dream. But this wasn’t a dream; it was reality. Misuzu, Evie, and Imari all liked me at the same time.

“First, I want to go to Sensoji Temple,” Evie said.

“Eh, but there’s a dungeon there. Isn’t it dangerous?” Misuzu worried.

“It’ll be fine if we disguise ourselves. This time, you’ll be the woman and I’ll be the man,” Evie suggested.

Misuzu was going to guide Evie around Tokyo. I wondered if these two would be okay walking around the city. Evie’s beauty was undeniable, but Misuzu also had a charm rating of 67. It’s said that even celebrities known for their looks rarely exceed 50.

Misuzu was also extraordinarily beautiful. They said they’d disguise themselves, but I was worried. I wanted to ask if they could take me along too. I wanted to go with them. I wanted to say “I want to go too,” but how could I interfere when those two had finally become friends?

I quietly waited for their girl talk to end, and then we discussed the Goblin Emperor quest.

There wasn’t much information about the Emperor’s quest. It was said to be a quest where you’d die if you challenged it, and many who had tried had indeed died, so there was little information. However, it was certain that the Emperor had these three skills:

【Acceleration】 【Great Strength】 【Roar】

“Shall we go then?” I asked.

“Yes,” “Yeah,” they replied.

Staying any longer would just make us reluctant. We ended our break exactly after an hour. We decided to go and annihilate the Goblin settlement. This time, we’d eliminate every last one of them. With the Goblin army defeated, wiping out the settlement that had lost its main force should be easy.

The battle to the death with the Goblin Emperor was about to begin.