Episode 88: To the 15th Floor of the Final Battle
–About three hours ago, inside my car.
“Eh…? Manamin is going to become Otama-chan…?”
I held a strategy meeting with Otama-chan and Manamin in the back seat, and Shi-chan on speakerphone.
“Manamin, can you really do that?”
“Yeah, I can. Tamama, lend me your clothes and a spare sword. With those, I can do it.”
“But Manamin and I look completely different. What if they find out?”
“Heh heh, don’t you know about impersonation makeup? I’ve been told I look like most celebrities. As a dating app decoy, though.”
“That’s a special skill being used for nothing good…”
“And then, I’ll wear the helmet deep to cover it up. That’ll be easy.”
“It sounds kind of suspicious… Does Manamin really understand me?”
“Huh? I’ll do an impersonation right now. Ko-chan, do whatever you want to me…”
“Waa, waa! Idiot! Ko-chan, Manamin is unreliable!”
“…Manamin, it’s a dangerous role, but you’re willing to do it?”
“The culprit might try to kill Tama-chan first, you know? Their skills are unknown… Are you still okay with it?”
Then, Manamin said.
“Heh heh, I’ll do it. I even won the Big Kuma Pon, so my luck is on the rise.”
“She’s going all occult again…”
“Besides… that guy doesn’t call Tamama by her name. He calls her the Explorer Association woman. He’s not really aware of her. He’s only wary of Ko-chin… and only the 《Wormhole》 skill.”
“《Wormhole》?”
“Yeah, I think so too. The reason Tama-chan was called out is because he’s afraid of having the 《Wormhole》 【Rental】 used against him for a surprise attack from behind, right?”
“I see…”
“Most of the conditions this culprit set are to seal the 《Wormhole》. There’s a gap to exploit there–“
☆★☆
“Natsume-kun!”
Shi-chan, who met up with us at the site, also used the Wormhole to enter the 14th floor from the 1st floor.
Shi-chan can use 【Recovery Magic】.
We can leave the treatment of the injured hostage to her.
Then.
“Tch… get out of the way!!”
“Ah…”
The culprit this time–Jadou Nishiki, carrying a woman who was in his path, ran towards the stairs leading to the 15th floor.
“Ugh, unghhhhh…”
“Natsume!! If you don’t want this woman killed, come to the next floor alone!! Immediately!!”
Da-da-da-da-da-da…!
Jadou moves to the 15th floor with the hostage.
《He got away!》
《The girl… we have to save her!》
“Sorry, Natsume-kun…! I can’t move… That’s the 【Mystic Eyes】, isn’t it…”
“Yeah. When you’re seen by those eyes, your whole body suddenly stops moving, and you can’t use skills. It’s a pretty strong skill.”
《Mystic Eyes wielder!?》
《Binding Seal!》
《Isn’t that a cheat skill?》
《Why turn to crime when you’re so blessed?》
《Ko-chan, can you win in a one-on-one fight?》
《If he sees you the moment you go down the stairs, it’s over.》
《Does Ko-chan have a cheat skill to counter that?》
《Spatial Transfer?》
《If your back is against the wall, you can’t back attack.》
《Ko-chan, this is bad! You should go with a team!!》
“What are you going to do…?”
“I’ll handle it somehow. It’s not much of a plan, but I have a chance to win. Shi-chan, I’ll leave the treatment of everyone to you.”
“Are you really okay?”
“–Yeah.”
“Really…?”
“–I’m okay.”
“See, Shi-chan! Let’s leave it to Ko-chan! Ko-chan will be fine, right!”
“But…”
“Ko-chan is strong when he makes that face. It’s when he thinks he can definitely do it. Let’s do what we can. Okay?”
“…Okay.”
“Natsume, will you take this with you?”
Then, Hermit-sama brought my sword from outside the room.
I took the sword and put it on my waist.
And then.
“Thank you, Hermit-sama. I’ll bet everything I have to defeat him.”
“–You can do it?”
I looked back at Hermit-sama.
“Yeah, I’m going. I won’t let him take away our free summer vacation. Besides…”
I open a hole that leads to another dimension.
It’s a summoning gate to call out insects.
“He left the streaming device with Iyada. If I’m not being watched, I can win. The 【Mystic Eyes】 won’t work on me anymore–“