Episode 50
Wednesday, lunchtime. At the same time as the previous Monster Attack, I was gazing blankly at the northern sky from the rooftop, just like last time, when I saw a horde of Monsters flying in, also just like last time.
I entered that hidden room about two hours earlier than last time, but apparently, this attack doesn’t get moved up by two hours.
And today, Millie is supposed to be near that Harem Bastard at all times, so she won’t be surrounded by Monsters alone like last time.
If that’s the case, I’d like to settle down and watch, but I already did that last time, so I’m not really interested.
Which means the thing I should do is… that’s right, nothing.
“…Fwaah.”
I’m vaguely aware of the direction where that boss Birdman is, but other than that, I’m really just spending time on the roof doing nothing. As a character who shouldn’t even be here, this should be the right way to be.
I occasionally fend off flying Monsters with my martial arts skill, Iron Severing Palm, but basking in the warm sunlight and doing nothing, I can’t resist the sleepiness.
“Maybe I should just go back to the dorm… no, I can’t do that.”
I think I went to the dorm to secure a Sword last time, but since I know that place won’t be ransacked anyway, I’ve left it alone. This time, the idea of going to the dorm is just to find a place to sleep. But wouldn’t it be wrong to go back to my room and sleep soundly in bed while Millie is probably fighting hard?
Since the situation should be almost exactly as it was in the original story, I think things will work out even if I don’t interfere. I think so, but… if Millie finds out that I was sleeping leisurely, I can’t imagine what kind of Punishment I’d get… well, I can mostly imagine it… anyway, it wouldn’t be good.
“Hmm… Ah.”
The boss I’d been marking in the back of my mind is moving at an incredible speed. This isn’t just moving, he’s fighting. The opponent is probably the Harem Party, including Millie.
I decided that I should probably go and take a look, so I walked along the rooftop to a place with a good view. And when I looked down at the ground… the Harem Party was getting beaten to a pulp.
“…Well, that’s what would happen.”
That Birdman is pretty strong. At least, he’s supposed to be fought after the Harem Party’s level has increased to about twice its current level. Millie is somehow keeping up with the Birdman’s high-speed movements because of her level inheritance, but the other three are being completely overwhelmed.
“…Oh, yes! Good, good, that’s it. It’s working, it’s working. Keep it up, Birdman!”
I watched with bated breath, cheering on the Birdman fighting four against one. Beat up that detestable group of womanizers. But please, spare Millie, who seems to be the most alluring of them all.
“Hmm, is he coming? Is he coming? …He got him! Nice one, Birdman!”
The Harem Bastard was blown away by the Birdman’s rush, which was clad in the power of wind. That should be close to a fatal wound.
“Huh? …Wait? Isn’t this bad?”
I thought that if they were cornered, something good would happen and it would be resolved, but if this keeps up, the protagonist will die and deviate from the original story.
It’s common in RPGs for a battle to be a losing event, where the boss leaves after they’ve been beaten up nicely, but that boss was fighting desperately last time, and more than anything, he was showing a strong obsession with doing something to Millie. Even if it’s a losing event, it shouldn’t be a development where Millie comes out unscathed.
If the correct flow of the original story is that Millie suffers some kind of harm, then I’m prepared to break the original story without any hesitation. I’ll even secretly follow her on her journey and become a mysterious masked helper who appears to help Millie whenever she’s in danger.
However, I was certain that if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to clear the game.
If I help her and she progresses smoothly through the game, there will eventually come a time when she gets stuck. If she can’t overcome her own crises with her own power, she’ll be a complete burden in the later Boss Battles. Even if I try my best to do something about it, that method will eventually lead to a one-on-one fight with the Final Boss. I definitely can’t win.
I could also force everyone to undergo hellish special training, like Gouketu-sensei did to me, to forcibly raise their levels and gain experience, but I can’t imagine those strong-willed people obediently following me, and even if they did, I’m not sure they could endure it.
Even if I miraculously overcome those hurdles, if I go through such a long and arduous ordeal and end up with a situation where “We couldn’t clear the dungeon because we got stuck on a gimmick. Let’s try again next Loop,” I’ll become a broken doll repeating Loops and suicides. I still don’t want to interfere as much as possible.
As I was struggling internally, the Harem Bastard’s life was on the verge of being extinguished. The Birdman stood next to the fallen Harem Bastard, raising his hand high to deliver the final blow. Apparently, his policy is to eliminate the annoying ones one by one before doing anything to his target, Millie.
If he’s killed like this, I’ll have to intervene and help Millie, and then live a leisurely Three-Year Loop somewhere… Just as I was making that resolution, a dazzling red light overflowed from the chest of the Blonde Twin-tails, who had been desperately firing magic at the Birdman.
“Ah… I see…”
When the light subsided, a semi-transparent old man in a dirty robe was floating behind the Blonde Twin-tails. That’s probably Master Desroah.
Master Desroah pointed his dirty staff at the Birdman and fired some kind of incomprehensible magic that I’d never seen before, causing the Birdman to jump back. The Birdman, judging the ghost geezer to be a threat from that one shot, escaped into the air for the time being, but then a high-speed Fire Magic, probably a higher-level version of Mull, approached him.
“Ugh…”
The Birdman couldn’t dodge the magic and was hit directly, turning into a charred mess and crashing to the ground. At the same time, Master Desroah faded away and disappeared, but the Harem Bastard had already been healed by Millie and was doing fine.
A full-member Harem Party and a charred Birdman. In game terms, this is probably where the real Boss Battle begins.
The Harem Party’s combat was still clumsy, but the Birdman, who had lost his mobility after having his huge wings burned, was now just a slightly tougher version of the average Monster.
The Birdman’s tenacity was commendable, but he was still outnumbered. The Birdman, surrounded and beaten to a pulp by the sheer number of opponents, disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“…I see.”
It’s all conveniently set up. It seems the right policy is to not interfere.
If I just wait patiently, they’ll clear it on their own. With that conviction, I returned to the dorm.