hotmtlnovel Chapter 67: Rage
Chapter 67: Rage
Chapter 67: Rage
Shrouded inside the light of the transfer magic, Kenzaki Asuna thought about her duel –– her worst and most disgraceful memory, it all flashed back inside her brain.
“Ah, a...”
She stared at her hands.
The feeling of pushing off Kotarou was still fresh on her palms.
The light from the transfer magic had faded quickly, but her mind still felt white.
The sight before her was all too familiar, one that could be found dotted all over, a fairy square. But, it couldn’t be said to be a place where safety was absolutely guaranteed.
“Aiee –– ”
Asuna felt, like she had fallen into hell.
Because right in front of her, stood the Berserker, mad as an ogre.
“KenzAKIIII, ASUNAAAAAAAAA!!”
Among the individuals there, Futaba Meiko was likely the only one who knew what had transpired just moments ago. Only that Berserker, screaming in wrathful rage, knew.
The transfer magic had activated as expected. However, on the verge of their return to safety, Kenzaki Asuna had pushed Momokawa Kotarou out of the circle.
And thus, aside from Kotarou, everyone had arrived at the new fairy square.
This was in no way an accident. Kenzaki Asuna had the clear intention and willingly knocked away Momokawa Kotarou.
And being shown the crime in such an obvious display, it was no wonder that Futaba Meiko was furious.
“AIEEEE, N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
It wasn’t Takanashi Kotori, the most cowardly member of the party, that raised that horrified scream. It was Kenzaki Asuna.
That, could be expected though, considering that Futaba Meiko symbolized absolute fear for the girl. The incarnation of unreasonable violence. Her ultimate trauma.
Kenzaki Asuna was not only petrified, she almost downright fainted from taking the blast of bloodlust directed towards her.
And, towards the frightened and helpless Asuna, the mad berserker swung her fist with all her ––
“Stop, Futaba-san!”
The explosive sound that reverberated in the fairy square, was accompanied by a huge shockwave.
Souma Yuuto took on her punch, no, the Berserker’sPile Bunker that had the characteristic crimson aura, directly on his palms.
The destructive power burst out, causing bloody cracks to appear on Yuuto’s palms. Although he braced himself, he was still pushed back, his heels digging into the ground, because of the impact. If he’d taken that punch half-heartedly, it’d be quite the sight, seeing him sent flying. It was that powerful.
Imagining what if this burning red fist had directly hit the face of the defenseless Asuna... He couldn’t help but shudder.
“Could you move, Souma-kun”
He shuddered further from her voice. To him, Futaba Meiko sounded like the grudge-filled sound from his sword before it was purified of its curse... No, hers was much worse.
“I can’t do that. Please, Futaba-san, just stop”
However, no matter how frightening it was, no, exactly because the opponent was scary enough that she could kill someone, Souma Yuuto couldn’t back down. He couldn’t stand to back down.
This was the first time he’d seen Kenzaki Asuna cry. At this time, he hadn’t perfectly grasped the whole situation. However, he would still protect Kenzaki Asuna. His body radiated such determination .
“... Oh”
Meiko’s eyes sharply looked around her.
Shit. Souma Yuuto thought as he instinctively understood her intention. Futaba Meiko already saw everyone there as her enemy. She had attacked Kenzaki Asuna fully understanding that.
Surely, the rest too could feel her abnormal level of enmity.
Souma Sakura had her bow ready, and Natsukawa Minami, despite looking terribly nervous and alarmed, had her knife drawn.
“Damn... Futaba-san, please, for now, just forgi–– ”
“Asuna!! Why the hell did you do that, you imbicile!!”
A hysterical scream, along with the sound of a slap, drowned away Yuuto’s words.
Everyone saw it. The moment their class rep, Kisaragi Ryouko, had mercilessly thrashed Asuna’s cheek.
“Ah, Ryouko..”
“You idiot, idiot! How could, you do that!”
Twice, three times, class rep repeatedly struck Asuna’s face. Sakura and Minami who were momentarily dumbstruck, then quickly reacted.
“Stop, stop it, Ryouko!”
“Ryouko-chan!”
The two quickly rushed towards Ryouko and Asuna, separating the attacker.
The mage had hit quite seriously. Asuna’s cheeks had turned red, and the individual herself looked quite dumbfounded at the turn of events.
“Class, rep, why did, you... ”
Still blocking Meiko’s path, Yuuto turned back to ask Ryoko who was being held back.
“It was the fact that Asuna did something totally inhumane! She pushed off Momokawa-kun before the transfer”
“That... Wasn’t it an accident? It’s true that it looked like she did that, but there’s no reason for Asuna to––”
“If you want a reason, then I have it”
Although he’d rushed in to save the party from the insect horde, Souma Yuuto didn’t know what happened after he’d gotten separated from his party. Of the events along the way, of their meeting up with Momokawa Kotarou and Futaba Meiko, and of the incidents that happened thereafter.
“Futaba-san, I’m sorry... I know this isn’t something that can be forgiven with a simple apology, but from now on, we will help you find Momokawa-kun, cooperating with us on this should be the best option. I won’t ask you to forgive Asuna, but we will surely set things right!”
Subjecting him to face the dungeon alone, how would that not be the same as attempting to murder him. Anyone who’d experienced the dungeon first hand should know.
“So, how’s she going to atone for this try at murder of hers?”
Meiko asked class rep the most important question, getting to the crux of the matter.
“We must, save Momokawa-kun”
“How?”
“We will... Continue exploring the dungeon. Since we’ve already teleported, we can’t turn back”
“You mean you’re not going to search?”
“Since everyone’s destination is the same, the only reliable way of finding him is to keep going, and Momokawa-kun knows that too, don’t you think?”
It was extremely doubtful whether Kotarou could actually manage to survive in the dungeon alone. And there was no way to know his whereabouts, and it was unimaginable that he would do something as hopeless as passively waiting for rescue at a nearby fairy square. After all, he’d want to proceed through the dungeon if he had any hope to survive.
“... Fine. But we have to thoroughly proceed through the dungeon to search for him”
“Yes, we should extend our scope of exploration from now on”
The normal strategy was to proceed following their compass, but if they were looking for someone, they would have to take a longer, more in depth route. Even if they couldn’t find him in their current zone, there was the possibility of finding clues. The dungeon was complicated, filled with countless zones and paths, so even if Kotarou was in the same zone as them, he might be directed in a different path.
That said, looking through the vast area of the dungeon was a fool’s errand. Everyone’s goal was to get through this dungeon, so if they missed the opportunity to meet up, then hopefully, Kotarou had already gone further past them.
“So, you’re saying you won’t be punishing Kenzaki-san at all?”
“Futaba-san, I understand you’re angry... But we definitely need Asuna’s strength, whether it be for the search or simply fighting monsters in the dungeon”
There was the adage of strength in numbers, but most importantly, there was the fact that Asuna was a Dualwielder, making her an important asset to their battle prowess.
“I do understand that, but isn’t that too naive? She tried to kill someone, you know? Do you really think that it’s okay to leave her be?”
“W-well that’s...”
“Besides, I just can’t trust Kenzaki-san, you know? I can’t fight with this crazy murder lady behind me, it’d be better if we left her here. Actually, that’s a good idea. After we save Kotarou-kun, we’ll come get her”
“Wha!?”
Wasn’t that just like making her a hostage?
However, it was reasonable for Meiko to propose such an arrangement.
Kenzaki Asuna, with the intent to commit murder, had pushed Momokawa Kotarou away from the transfer circle. Regardless of whether Kotarou-kun lived or died, it was a crime nonetheless, and a crime mustn’t go unpunished.
Meiko, in other words, had proposed to imprison Asuna in that fairy square. Imprison her there until Kotarou was rescued. If Kotarou turned out dead, then Asuna’s attempted murder would change to actual homicide... and her punishment would change to life imprisonment. Practically speaking, a death penalty.
“Wait, Futaba-san! please reconsider”
“I’m the only one who wants to help Kotarou-kun. In fact, every one of you don’t care, you’d feel better if he was dead... Isn’t that what you’re thinking? How about you tell me, Souma-san?”
“I, I have not had any such thoughts!”
“But, you don’t feel like helping, right? Isn’t it a pain? You’ve finally reunited with Souma-kun so who cares about anyone else, right?”
“I’ve never considered such selfishness. So, of course I’m willing to cooperating in saving Momokawa-kun”
“Cooperate? Ahaha, cooperate she says, class rep. Souma-san, haven’t you’ve been listening?”
Ryouko reacted like a frog being stared at by a snake when Meiko eyed her in a dry chuckle. She was starting to resent Souma Sakura’s fastidious personality.
“Cooperating, don’t you mean, it’s your duty?”
“Um, Yes.... That’s right, Futaba-san”
Ryouko consented with a trembling reply.
Cooperation, in the end, only amounted to much if both sides actually had good intentions. Let’s help Kotarou to make amends for Asuna. To Souma Sakura, that’s exactly it. What she cared about was her friend, Asuna. Kotarou’s life or whatever, it would be the last thing in her list of priorities. In her head, it was only, ‘I’ll cooperate in order to resolve my friend’s problem’, not ‘I have to go help! Because my classmate’s life is in danger’.
Whether Souma Sakura realized that she was weighing the life of a person against her friend’s feelings, there was no way for Ryouko to know. However she could quite easily see that to Futaba Meiko, her friend’s priority on justice and friendship and what not could only be seen as ill intent.
“See, that’s how it is, Class Rep. Kotarou-kun’s life doesn’t matter to you all... So wouldn’t putting up Kenzaki-san’s life for his make you guys seriously search for him too?”
If, right at that moment, they actually fought against Futaba Meiko, how many of them would die?
She could preemptively attack her with an Eis Sagitta, scoring an instant head shot... No, not possible. Meiko had Evade and looking at her fighting against monsters, she’d grown proficient in her natural reflexes even without the skill. If she tried shooting magic at her now, she could easily see a future where the girl would swiftly dodge and her own neck would be crushed the next instant.
If that happened, it’d be pandemonium. Most likely, Souma Yuuto would be the only survivor. Since he was a Hero, he could even defeat this Berserker... At the cost of everyone else sinking into an ocean of blood.
They couldn’t afford to turn Futaba Meiko into an enemy.
Ryouko desperately repeated to herself: Don’t give up. There’s still hope.
“Please, Futaba-san... I’ll tell everyone to properly search, so... Please don’t let me lose anymore of my friends”
Finally, tears started to fall from Ryouko’s sharp eyes. With shoulders trembling and voice quivering, she was desperately trying to plead for the safety of her friends.
“Fine, since you’ve gone to that extent. There will probably be plenty of monsters and strong bosses on the way so, Kenzaki-san will have to work hard as penance, won’t she?”
Meiko said, eyeing the desperate class rep coldly.
“But please know, that Kenzaki-san’s life won’t be guaranteed without Kotarou-kun’s”
With Kisaragi Ryouko’s hard-fought pleading, they were able to appease this berserker with no blood spilled.
However, the insane contract where they would exchange one person’s life with another’s had created a deep, forlorn rift among the party members. Starting with the suspicions towards Momokawa Kotarou, to Futaba Meiko who had changed, turning into the symbol of fear and trauma for Kenzaki Asuna... It was as if a curse had been placed on the party to slowly drive them mad.
“Kenzaki-san, you should thank class rep, she just saved you”
With a smile, Meiko said such words. In response, Asuna’s shoulders started to tremble and she began sobbing in bitterness.
“Wait for me, Kotarou-kun. I’ll definitely, save you... ”
With Asuna’s audible sobbing and her many friends consoling her, happening as a backdrop, Meiko vowed to save Momokawa Kotarou in her heart.
The translator for the in-order translation got a bit busy, so we're changing the schedule to once a week for the next month. In other news, CLICK NEXT TO GO TO CHAPTER 68. I capitalized that so it's harder to miss. This is likely Lion Mask's last contribution to this series and was posted as an april fool's joke. I've checked through it and it's an actual translation so we won't be bothering with it.
CHAPTER 69 should follow this link when it's done next week.