Chapter 94: The Beginning of Leveling Under the Name of Rescue Operations
A night has passed.
In the second-grade classroom, gathered together with everyone else,
Well,... don't your feelings change?
And, let's do a final check.
"Yes, please," said Yasuhara Kosuke.
"Hey! Can't wait!" said Ikano Rintaro.
"If it's a request from you, I'd be happy to," said Tada Ritsuko.
"It's alright, you know~" said Kumano Asuka.
"……No problem." This is Kio Hibiya.
Everyone's giving great responses.
Well then, let's get started right away and take turns using "Subjugation."
First up is Kōsuke Hibiya.
"……Huh. Feels like my body's light…"
He cuts off his words mid-sentence,
"……Yo!"
He flips backward lightly.
"Whoa, w-what's this?!"
Startled by his own action, Kōsuke effortlessly performs a series of backflips.
"Th-This body feels light!"
……と、まあ。
わりとクールな彼でさえそんな感じですから、
「うおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおお！ なんだこりゃあああああああああああああああああああああああああああ！」
林太郎くんのはしゃぎっぷりといったら、ものすごいものがありました。
「うおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおおはんぱねえええええええええええええええええええええええええええええええええ！」
Shouting, he leaps out of the window without hesitation.
"Wait, Ryutarou-kun!?"
This is the second floor, you know.
Peering outside in surprise, I see him running around the sports field, laughing heartily.
...Well, if he's okay, then it's fine.
Next, I'll use the Subjugation skill on the rest of them.
"...Yeah, not bad," said Ritsuko-san.
"Huh? Yeah, I can definitely feel strength building up," said Asuka.
"Though it's annoying to think of it as power bestowed by something supernatural..." That was Koji's take.
"Anyway, I'm counting on all of you to put in serious effort helping others from now on."
"I get it. That's how your... level? Or whatever it's called, goes up."
"Yes."
"Hmph. So that's why that girl, Hakka, hesitated to help people?"
"...? So that's how it was?"
"I've gotten a lot of help with building the barricades, so I can't really complain."
Incidentally, the much-talked-about Hachibana is reportedly taking a temporary leave from "Yakagō High School."
This morning, I saw her take off toward downtown Tokyo, accompanied by a "Dragon."
She said she'd be searching for potential "players" to join our team while I'm leveling up.
"By the way, from your perspective, what do you think of that girl, Hana?
I suddenly felt like hearing the opinion of someone older, so I asked.
'She mentioned being a "reincarnated one," didn't she?'
'Huh?'
'I don't like her.'
As always, I get an unfiltered opinion.
'You might not realize it, but there's something hidden about her. No doubt about it.'
'Oh?'
If we take her words at face value, it seems this "end" has been experienced twice....But that in itself is odd. If that's the case, couldn't the situation have been stopped before it reached this point?
Indeed
"If she's truly walking a 'second life,' then there's no denying she could manipulate fate to suit her own convenience—warning only those she dislikes of danger, saving only those she favors. That kind of approach is certainly possible."
"Well, I suppose it never hurts to be cautious."
"Anyway, helping others can't hurt. Let's just focus on doing good deeds."
"Indeed."
Kio-san seemed to have no objections to this as well.
Well, that's that.
With all this in mind, we head toward the main gate.
▼
The search would begin at the apartment building where I used to live.
"There should still be people left here. I heard someone saw a shadowy figure peeking out from the balcony... Hopefully it wasn't just a mistaken view of a 'zombie.' "
Kosuke-kun, gripping his weapon nervously, cautiously moved forward, his face tense with anxiety.
He was wearing the steel gauntlets I had gifted him at some point.
"Recent 'zombies' sometimes lie in wait, holding their breath. Be careful."
I see.
On the way here from Tokorozawa, I'd only dealt with those that attacked us directly, so I hadn't really paid attention to that sort of thing.
Then,
'Wooooo...'
Indeed, a 'zombie' that had been watching us from around the corner suddenly lunged out from its blind spot.
"……!?"
Kosuke quickly shoved his gauntlet forward, slamming the "zombie" against the wall.
Crunch. The "zombie"’s head collapsed, and it went utterly still.
"……Wait, ew!?"
The strange sound came from Kosuke himself.
"No way, that was too easy……"
He seemed stunned by his newfound power—probably the effect of his newly acquired skill (likely "Combat Technique (Advanced)").
"It feels like my body isn't mine anymore……"
"Well, you'll get used to it bit by bit."
I was pretty surprised when I first learned《Sword Technique (Beginner)》，so I can understand your confusion.
It's completely natural to feel disoriented.
"Hey! Over here!"
In contrast, Ryota effortlessly adapted to his new power, calling out to me without a care in the world—even though zombies were gathering nearby (in fact, he seemed to be actively drawing them in).
The boy in the room that Rintaro pointed to was a brother around elementary school age.
Both of them looked quite weakened.
We fed them, guided them to a safe zone, and hurried onward.
It's hard to bear, finding those who've starved to death.
In the end, we managed to rescue four people that day.
Maybe focusing too much on nearby areas wasn't the best approach.
The results were fairly satisfactory.
My level and Saya-chan's both increased by one.
It's gradual progress, but we'll just have to keep pushing forward like this.
▼
By the way,
based on Hana's information,
"Curative Magic is seriously useful. It also grants experience points. Highly recommended."
So, out of the six skills we could choose, we decided to take Curative Magic I to V and Critical Sword I.
For the time being, it looks like we'll be steadily acquiring these two skills until we max them out.
As for the effects of the [Fatal Sword] skill, well, we'll get to that in due time. Soon enough.