Chapter 471

Day 100 – Nighttime, White Weirdo Inn

Now that I’ve physically recovered a bit, I thought maybe I’d upgrade or add something to my gear, but I got scolded? It appears like Slime-san’s Tackle Attack Spinning Curveball Version. Creating such a difficult to read trajectory, Slime-san’s potential is not to be underestimated. I soaked in the bath while being “scolded” by those bouncing, unpredictable magic pitches flying in from all angles, changing trajectory midair two or three times and completely unavoidable. I merely thought of it when I was taking off my gear, but I guess that was a no-no. Something like upgrading 『Magician’s Bracelet』 sounds promising, and I’ve got quite a few other candidates, but it seems I’ll have to put it on hold.

「Whew~ Not enough time before departure, but I can fight at the moment, so I guess it’s fine? More importantly, if I don’t get moving soon, Sister Girl and company are gonna break mentally. Though if we do go, there definitely gonna be tons of traps awaiting us. If it’s a luring trap then getting in without triggering it and then quietly leaving is the best, but it’s definitely won’t go that way~.」

(Jiggle-Jiggle)

No matter how stealthily we infiltrate, if they go like 『We’ll execute the hostages』Sister Girl and others will instantly reveal themselves. So making a plan that will obviously fail is just a waste of time.

「It’d be easiest just to destroy them entirely, along with the traps, but I was told no indiscriminate or mass destruction, so that’s off the table. The monk squad is probably a problem. They’re so fixated on explosives, that I can’t see it as anything as planning an attempt at a suicide bombing inside the enemy HQ once they get captured? I mean, it’s not that bad of a tactic in theory, but unless your enemy is dumb enough to fall for that, it would just end up with them blowing themselves up for not much gain, so not even worth considering as an option… I mean, if the enemy is that dumb, you could win without blowing yourself up, right~?」

Seems like the monk squad is obsessed with sacrificing themselves, they look less like they’re trying to get strong and more like they’re searching for a heroic death. That’s not usable. That kind of force is worthless. In the end, they just couldn’t bring themselves to believe in their own strength. Even though this world is overflowing with countless ways to become stronger, they cling to the easy escape of death. The common sense that said it’s impossible ended up killing their potential.

「Being smart and serious might actually be a flaw, if they had even one hundred-millionth of the Idiots’ idiocy, they’d punch before they think. Even if it’s hopeless, you just keep punching, and punching, and punching and if you keep at it until there is no one left to punch, the problem is solved? But it seems if you’re smart, you stop understanding that simple truth. You start trying to figure out the outcome before taking action. But if you’re already moving, momentum can carry you through anything… Instead of cleverly thinking of causes of your possible defeat, it would’ve been much better to just stick to doing whatever would make the enemy lose.」

(Jiggle-Jiggle)

Answers lie at the end of thought, but there’s no guarantee the answer is correct. In a battle of wits or deception, there is no absolute answer, no guaranteed win, what matters is how well you twist things to your own advantage while making the enemy suffer. Yep, I’m good at both.

For the enemy to use hostages for threats, they would have to show themselves, so kill them before they speak. Kill them before they can report back. Kill them before they think of their next move. Kill them before they use the hostages as shields. Kill them before they give any orders, and that’s that. Momentum solves everything. If they don’t block your path, rush through. If they do, kill them.

If the situation’s so bad you can’t even form a strategy, then don’t waste time coming up with one that’ll only make things worse. Drown the strategist in their own strategy, hold their head down so they can’t take a breath or even better, tie a stone around their neck, and toss them into the deep. Perfect crime.

The so-called strategy of no strategy, just winging it on the spot, is surprisingly hard to counter. Sun Tzu’s 『Thus, though we have heard of foolish haste, cleverness has never been associated with long delays either』 meaning, instead of wasting time planning, just hit hard and fast, even a half-baked plan will work if you act quickly enough.

「Ah, before that, I really need to restock. We’re almost out of beef-like meat and that sauce-that’s-sort-of-like-Worcestershire. If I just take the funds for food budget and then say there’s no dinner, they won’t just be angry, I might actually get bitten! Gotta go restock~」

The girls, endlessly gushing about the weddings, and the love-struck normie guys drowning in their own bridal blues were all making a huge fuss, so I whipped up some steak bowls using the last scraps of something vaguely beef-like, and laid them out. Everyone immediately went dead silent and started stuffing their faces, scrambling over seconds like their lives depended on it. Even though they’re the Idiots, they seem to still have remembered to carry their eating buckets with them.

Well, the fact that food completely wipes the wedding talk from their heads is probably a pretty bad sign. No matter how far I stretch the wings of my imagination, I can’t picture them losing their appetites from lovesickness which kinda sounds terminally bad… In terms of their femininity.

Then, after the bath, came the time to work on the Idiots’ armor. Apparently they just crushed a few dungeons outside the Frontier, so there aren’t even any signs of damage from wear, so lets just do some improvements. Sealed-type suits are no good though. Since they insist on going out as a group of five, they can’t always find a safe place to rest like the girls can. Their armor shouldn’t be able to keep up with prolonged wear, but should basically allow to live in it. So instead, they have to avoid taking damage, sidestep nasty status attacks, and if it gets too bad, run. It’s a completely different design concept.

While soaking lazily in the bath, I peeked at the training grounds and saw Sister Girl and others getting some hands-on instruction. The girls were laid out flat with (X_X) looks. Today, it seems Sister Girl and sisters managed to clear a 30-floor Dungeon all on their own. If only the monk squad had been around to tank, the battle would’ve been a breeze, yet despite the sisters’ hard work, those pathetic Middle-Aged Men just clung to the idea of death and ran. Maybe women really are the tougher ones, even in another world.

「Ugh, you’re calling on me? I just got out of the bath, I don’t wanna get all sweaty or beat up again, okay? You’ll be gentle?」

(Nod-Nod, Nod Nod)

Yeah. These smiles are a lie.

I fall deep, like sinking into the cracks between moments, time disassembled, unfurled, stretched, and diluted as it relentlessly flows on. I move along the sluggish, sticky seams in the weave of time and space, and ahead of me, two beautiful shadows of 『Beating』 await.