A Grand Outing (3)
After we finished eating, we stood outside the restaurant.
Choi Marie had, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, pulled out her card and paid, and I made a show of wearing a guilty expression and stealing glances at her.
"Marie, I really was going to pay for it…."
"Forget it, kid. This is the kind of thing seniors are supposed to cover."
"Still, I feel bad. You've already been helping me so much—leeching a meal off you on top of that…."
"I told you I'd buy you a meal once you got into the Academy, remember? Think of it as that."
"Didn't you say it would be at the cafeteria, though?"
"Anything you eat in uniform counts as cafeteria food."
"Only Han Sora's wearing her unif—"
THWACK!
"AAAGH! S-Sunbae!"
"You little—! Hey, Lee Seonho! You seriously gonna talk back to your senior?! Huh?!"
"Aaagh, sunbae! That hurts, it hurts!"
It didn't actually hurt, but I exaggerated my cries of pain and rubbed my face against Choi Marie's chest all the same.
I didn't forget to wrap my arms around her waist, either. Skinship like this was only possible at times like these.
No, wait. It's not just 'times like these.' Not in this situation.
Defending Choi Marie back in the restaurant must have raised her affection quite a bit, and in the current mood, even a misplaced grope could be brushed off as an accident.
THWACK.
So even if I 'accidentally' grabbed her butt while trying to catch her waist… it would probably be fine, right?
"Hyiiit?!"
FWAP!
The moment my hand closed over her right cheek, Choi Marie jolted in shock, released my head, and stumbled back a step.
Her usual poker face completely undone, she stared at me with bewildered eyes.
And I, wearing the most apologetic face I could muster toward this sunbae of mine…
"I-I'm sorry, sunbae! I-I couldn't see where my hand was going, so I made a mista—"
"…What are you talking about? Why is Seonho apologizing?"
"…What? But just now…"
"…Nothing happened. You don't need to apologize."
"Okay…."
Well, that's a bit of a surprise.
Accepting the apology graciously, I'd expected that much—but I never thought she'd actually write it off as 'nothing happening at all.'
Apparently, what went down in the restaurant had genuinely pleased her. Taking the risk of getting beat up really had been worth it after all.
Though honestly, taking a few hits from those guys might have been the better play.
Then I would've gotten to watch Choi Marie fidget around me, wracked with guilt.
Well, either way, this was a solid win. Opportunities to raise the affection of a senior like Choi Marie, who's in a different year, are genuinely rare. When the chance comes, I need to milk it for all it's worth.
"What's up with you two? Did something happen?"
"N-no, nothing."
"…Nothing at all."
Han Sora, just back from the restroom, glanced back and forth between me and Choi Marie, but the two of us deflected her suspicion with matching answers.
"…I'll let it slide. Just this once."
As she moved past on the far side of Han Sora, Choi Marie leaned in close and whispered into my ear.
If it were just me and Choi Marie, deciding where to go would be one thing, but with Han Sora along, the three of us made for an awkward trio just about anywhere.
Han Sora couldn't bowl, Choi Marie hated singing, and the movies did next to nothing for building affection.
In the end, the options for entertaining these three came down to a walk in the nearby park, a meal, or drinks. Or, like earlier, military talk at the combat support firearms shop.
It might have been a decent option if I'd known even a little more about that field, but… even so, that would have been a stretch.
Half-baked knowledge just makes people in that crowd warier of you, after all. Better to stay ignorant forever. Aside from the firearms I actually use, that is.
"So you took classes with those seniors last year, then?"
"…Yeah. Like they said, my mistake did blow up the party, but…."
"I don't think it was your mistake, sunbae. Something must have been wrong somewhere—you were clearly trying to do something about it."
"…Honestly, I kind of think so too. They were so frustrating back then. Taking all day just to aim their bows, their barriers always late…."
Choi Marie was venting about the trio we'd passed by earlier at the park.
The fact that she still refused to admit any fault on her part proved she was quite the heroine, in more ways than one.
Which was, in fact, why she hadn't been a particularly popular heroine in the original story. Me, I had my debts to repay—and above all, she was my type—so I wasn't giving up.
In a sense, that also means I can train her to my heart's content with a relatively clear conscience.
After all, 'training' fundamentally carries the meaning of punishing wrongdoing.
In that sense, girls like Cha Eunju, Kim Isabel, and Han Sora are heroines suited to 'taming.' Conversely, girls like Choi Marie, Park Hana, and Do Yoonchae are the ones suited for 'training.'
Not that 'training' means withholding affection. As long as a girl was a heroine in the original, I intended to treat them all roughly the same.
Original-story villainesses like Min Yewon, of course, don't even need mentioning. Naturally, she belongs at the very bottom of the hierarchy, lined up in order of how well-behaved a slave she is.
Come to think of it, I do miss seeing her face a little.
She was a tasty piece, after all. And she was already conditioned almost exactly to my tastes, too.
Maybe I'll summon her to my place sometime next weekend. Or, actually, just barging into her place myself wouldn't be bad either.
I was strolling through the nearby park with the two of them, lost in these thoughts while making small talk…
"Which is exactly why they never understood how important a shieldbearer—"
RUMBLE!
The sudden sensation of the ground shaking brought unmistakable panic to both Choi Marie's and Han Sora's faces.
"Wh-what was that?!"
"…Don't tell me—"
In my old world, a tremor like this would naturally bring an earthquake to mind, but in this world, sudden ground disturbances usually led to one of two things.
The creation of a dungeon gate—or the occurrence of a monster wave.
Since a monster wave happens when an unseen dungeon gate somewhere shatters, there wasn't much meaningful difference between the two.
CRACK—CRACKLE-CRACK!
"Se-Seonho! Get back!"
"Seonho, run!"
The ground at the center of the park split open without warning.
Judging that a mental-type buff ability user like me was in the most danger, the two of them hastily seized my arms and dragged me toward solid ground on one side.
And moments later, what came bursting up from beneath the fissure was…
'Grrk… grrk….'
A horde of Gremlins—low-tier monsters a notch stronger than goblins.
"KYAAAAAH!!"
"M-monsters! Run!"
Civilians screamed and scattered at the monsters' sudden appearance.
For ordinary people without awakened abilities, it was only natural. Of course, 'outside a dungeon,' even an average person could narrowly beat a single Gremlin—but in general, people factor in the durability monsters have 'inside dungeons.'
And since the Gremlins were all brandishing clubs, hand axes, and rusted swords, avoidance was the wiser course.
'GRRK—GRRAK!!'
"AAAAH! HELP MEEE!!"
A Gremlin's shriek rang out nearby, and just beneath it, a human voice.
The moment the Gremlin's hand axe came down toward the head of a man collapsed on the ground, clutching his skull and screaming—
BOOM!!
Choi Marie's shield deflected the axe and sent the Gremlin flying.
…Though calling it a shield was a bit of a stretch, seeing as it was a trash can lid she'd apparently picked up from somewhere.
I can't help but be reminded of that toy bow Han Sora used at the amusement park.
Then again, that's what awakened abilities fundamentally are. People who handle their abilities well don't discriminate by equipment.
It's true that custom gear tailored to your body yields peak performance, but in a pinch, a crowbar becomes a sword and a trash can lid becomes a shield.
"Th-thank y—"
"Get out of here! You're in the way!"
"Y-yes, ma'am!!"
Now that things had escalated into a real combat situation, Choi Marie had turned a bit rough. Then again, that beat coaxing people into complacency with polite words.
While Choi Marie had to fight with a trash can lid in hand, Han Sora and I had our equipment—especially Han Sora, who had originally been on her way to the Archery Department training grounds and only hurried along after spotting me.
"Se-Seonho! Use that on me, quick!"
"Got it!"
Han Sora, who no longer hesitated for even a second to receive my Suggestion, took the buff and leveled the arrow in her hand straight ahead.
THWOOOONG!
'GERK—GRAAK!!'
The arrow tore through the air in an instant and pierced the skull of a Gremlin lunging at another victim.
"Nice one, Han Sora!"
"I've been lugging these around all day and they were just dead weight! But hey, turns out they're good for something!"
With that, she nocked a fresh arrow and loosed it immediately.
THUD-THUD-THUNK!!
This time, her ability-enhanced arrow pierced the throats of three Gremlins simultaneously.
…Original-story heroine or not, one Suggestion had turned her into an entirely different person.
"Nice, at this rate we can pick off every last—"
"Conserve your arrows, Han Sora!"
"Huh?"
"This is a monster wave! There's no way a monster wave ends with just Gremlins!"
"Ah—r-right, you're right…!"
Her arrows were absolutely our most efficient means of attack, but regrettably, arrows as a weapon come with a hard limit on quantity.
Thirty bolts might not be a small number, but if she burned through them recklessly, she'd run short for the battles still to come.
…Besides, I already knew the true identity of the boss monster that would appear in this monster wave.
'GERK—GRAAK!!'
"KYAAAAH! P-please, help me!"
"W-wait! But that person—"
"I've got it!"
As I'd said before, outside a dungeon, a gun is a perfectly serviceable weapon.
Unlike inside a dungeon, where the thick mana raises monsters' durability, outside one their hides are comparatively softer.
A handgun like this—barely enough to take down a goblin inside a dungeon—becomes a weapon of more than sufficient power outside one.
BANG!
'GEK—GRAAAK….'
With a self-buff active in my right hand, the Sig I'd hastily drawn with my left punched through the skull of one Gremlin, dropping it where it stood.
Glock already gripped in my other hand, I sniped the Gremlins crawling up from underground one by one.
KRAKA-BOOM!
BANG! BANG-BANG!
THWOOONG!
Choi Marie hurled herself this way and that, skewering Gremlins with her body and her trash can lid alike.
I fired dual handguns, killing as many Gremlins as my skill level would allow.
And Han Sora, timing her reloads between ours and carefully spending one bolt at a time on the monsters beyond our coverage, held the line.
Despite this being the first time the three of us—including Choi Marie—had fought together, our coordination was surprisingly tight. …For now, at least.
'Grrrrrrrr….'
Some fifteen-odd minutes into the monster wave, an ominous howl rose from somewhere.
A growl so deep it could be felt vibrating through the body sent the tension of all three of us snapping taut.
FWOOSH!
'Grrrrrrrr….'
Shrouded in a crimson aura billowing from its entire body, a bipedal wolf burst up onto the surface of the ground.
"A Blood… Howler…?"
"…."
The boss monster of this monster wave—the Blood Howler—had revealed itself.