Beyond the Hero’s Death – 57 | Sousaku – 創作

Episode 57: Meet Again③ ～ The Extraordinary Coexisting with the Everyday ～

Then, during lunch break that day, after parting ways with Falty who had taken Magami-san to the cafeteria, I was having lunch with Al on the rooftop.

"She was really beautiful, wasn't she?"

This Al, who can just brush off that impression of Magami-san's demeanor like that—isn't he really something special? Personally, I'm honestly at a loss for how to handle it when some incredibly beautiful woman suddenly starts clinging to me persistently and relentlessly.

"……I- I don't get it. Why the heck was she clinging on to me? ? "

While muttering “I don't get it,” I was picking at my bento when a cheerful voice rang out.

“Heyaa! Amagahara, Al!”

"Hey, Sato, you're full of energy again today."

Brown hair, piercings, and sun-kissed skin. This guy next class, Sato, is a total playboy who openly defies every single school rule. He's a friend who went on to the same middle school and is also an acquaintance of Al.

"Hey, Sato-kun, having lunch too?" "

"Fuck yeah…… I mean, I am! "

Sato sat down on our bench, saying that. It was nice to see him looking so happy again today. He was happily munching away on a bread roll.

"Lunch's gotta be a bread roll, right?! Om nom nom! ……Wait, that's not the issue here! I heard some rumors going around that both Amagahara and Al-kun had their girlfriends stolen? Seriously, that’s way too much, right? ? "

"Oh, so it's become a rumor after all. Well, that's about it."

"Ahaha, yeah. But I'm not worried about it, so it's okay."

Sato stood up, clutching his face and gazing skyward as he reacted to what Al and I said.

"Whoa, looks like I'm gonna have to roll up my sleeves here. But I guess I can't since I'm wearing a vest! We have to party hard and get hyped up! I got the perfect spot for you! ! That said, let's head to the dungeon and make a quick buck! ! "

"No, that's fine. I really don't mind."

I firmly declined Sato's proposal, who seemed to be putting in a lot of effort. ……Come to think of it, Sato had permission to explore dungeons, didn't he?
It's not really my thing, but dungeon crawling seems to be a lucrative business. Apparently, some people even stream their dungeon runs…… not that I'd know.

"Hey, did you hear? Some dungeon entrance popped up on school grounds during the Golden Week break—you didn’t know?” Since it's a dungeon I can enter at my rank, I'll invite my regular crew and make some cash! ! I gotcha! ! So tonight's my treat! ! I'll call you later…… I'll be back soon, no sweat! "

With that, he gave us a thumbs-up and dashed off.

"Sato-kun sure is full of energy today, isn't he……?"

"Yeah, you can learn a thing or two from that kind of vitality."

We continued our lunch, chatting leisurely about such things. Oh, so a dungeon has appeared on school grounds too. Come to think of it, Falty mentioned that the Vice President also holds a fairly high-ranking dungeon access permit.

―――Then, after school that day, just as I was about to head home after break, I found Falty coming out from the staff room. When I called out to her, wondering what was wrong, Falty sighed and muttered.

"……Haa. Have you heard that a dungeon entrance appeared on school grounds? "

"Ah, come to think of it, I heard it from Sato from the neighboring class during lunch break."

"Apparently, Sato, Hani, and Chaya skipped class to go to the dungeon and haven't come back yet. So it seems my older sister, who's licensed for the dungeon, is going inside to rescue them, and I was just told about it."

Seriously? Are Sato and the others okay? The vice president must have a tough job too. Or rather, shouldn't the teachers be the ones going? Wait, isn't the vice president actually higher ranked than the teachers when it comes to dungeon exploration? I'm not really familiar with dungeon crawling either.

"The dungeon that appeared at school was pretty high-rank, and besides Sato and the others, only my big sister could get in, apparently. Even if they call for backup, it seems there's no one nearby with access clearance.
Frankly, I couldn't care less about Sato and the others, but I'm worried about my big sister. I'll wait for my sister at the dungeon entrance, so you two go ahead and head back today."

Sato, Hani, and Chaya are all my friends, so please don't say things like that……
I decided to stick with Falty since all the guys who didn't come back were people I knew, and I was worried about the vice president too. Of course, Al, who had been listening to the story, was there too.

Led by Falty, we walked until we reached the entrance to the dungeon at the corner of the schoolyard. The ground has risen up, forming a cave-like structure, apparently occurring during Golden Week. The entrance and exit were crowded with onlookers besides the teacher on guard. The vice president seems to have already left.
I recognized a boy from my old middle school, so I struck up a conversation. It turned out he'd happened to be there when the three of them went into the dungeon, and he told me what happened.

"Chaya confidently plunged into the dungeon, saying, 『Let's go. I want to show them how grilled meat heals the wounds of being cuckolded.』"

That's just…… you've got to be kidding me! More importantly, value your own life, Chaya!

"Oh, I got a message from Hani-kun. It was sent quite a while ago, but maybe it arrived with a time delay?"

Al said that while looking at his phone, so I asked to see it, and there was a message from Hani.

『Al, listen up, okay?
We're heading into the dungeon to retrieve some items, so I think we'll be able to have some top-notch grilled meat tonight.
I'm not saying stuff like “your ex-girlfriend will get her karma back” or “the other guy should just die.”
I can't quite put it into words, but I suddenly felt like treating you and Amagahara to some grilled meat.』

『Maybe it's because I'm part of the NTR crowd too, but I don't really understand the reason myself.
If I'm lucky enough to get my hands on a high-value cash-out item, I'll treat everyone to grilled meat tonight. Hida beef, I promise. Time for some infiltration. See ya, Al. Be a good kid and wait there! Say hello to Amagahara for me.』

The message ended with a salute emoji.

Hani! ! Please tell me it's a lie, Hani! What the hell is this?! ! What the hell is this message that's practically a cluster of death flags?! Could you please stop risking your life just to scrape together money to treat people to grilled meat? !

"I can already see this turning out way worse than minced meat. That's no good, right? What happened to Sato who was with Hani? "

"Ah, Sato-kun arched his back toward the rear, looked over, and said, 『Tonight, it's gotta be grilled meat!』 before dashing into the dungeon."

The boy from the same school delivered the final blow by saying that.
What in the hell is this? Not again! That's a death flag that totally say we won't be eating grilled meat 『tonight』! !
Why do those three keep planting death flags left and right?! ……Or rather, you're sprinting full speed ahead just to treat someone to grilled meat?! ! ! ! Is your B button stuck or something?! ! ! !

"How many death flags do those guys need to plant before they're satisfied?"

"But they were trying to cheer us up…… I can’t just leave them alone."

Yeah, I knew you'd say that, Al. I knew it. ……Alright, let's give it a shot.

"Falty, we'll bring back the Three Idiots and the Vice President together. You distract everyone at the dungeon entrance."

"Huh? ! ? ! "

Falty was surprised by the sudden unreasonable request.

"It's okay, Falty. Leave it to us."

Al nodded firmly as he said that. Falty gave me a skeptical look, as if saying, 『Oh, really? Are you sure?』 with her gaze, but I just nodded silently.

……We're not interested in dungeons, and we're perfectly content living modestly day by day —――but we're probably far, far stronger than the average person, without a doubt. ……Perhaps more than anyone else in the world.
And if those close to me are in danger, I won't hesitate to stick my neck out for them.

"……I got it. I leave my big sister to you."

Satisfied for the moment with our confident response, Falty moved away from us to draw everyone's attention and raised her voice.

"Hey, look! Over there, the Chupacabra and Mokele-Mbembe are having a lumberjack deathmatch! ! There's even Sasquatch and a pigman in the second round! ! "

I'm not sure about Falty's flair, but anyway, the impact of her words drew everyone's attention, so we plunged into the dungeon without hesitation. The teacher who noticed us called out from behind, but it was already too late. Sorry!
……Honestly, I have no idea why these dungeons started appearing, but I wish they'd just give us a break.