A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 52

Chapter 52   Emergence of Monsters

“More importantly, could you help us out for a bit?”

“It feels like you’re trying to cover up the situation with something you just thought of… but, what is it?”

“I’d like you to help us dismember these monsters. We’ve defeated them, but with this many to deal with, it’ll take too much time. I’m willing to give you thirty percent of the spoils. So, would you mind helping us?”

Thirty percent? That’s pretty generous. It might seem stingy, but could we maybe give a little less?

“Thirty percent!? Are you sure that’s okay?”

“It’s better than wasting time here. If other teams show up or more monsters appear, it’ll get troublesome.”

“Well, that’s a win-win for us too… Let me discuss it with the others real quick!”

Toudou ran back to her teammates and started talking to them. Now that I think about it, she has a point. There are nearly fifty monster corpses here, and dismantling them all would definitely take a lot of time and energy. We only need to collect the parts that count for points, but even so, with just the four of us, it’d still take forever.

If you think about it that way, doubling our manpower in exchange for thirty percent seems like a fair deal.

“Sorry for deciding on my own, but I thought this was the best course of action for us…”

“Kujou’s our team leader. If she thinks it’s necessary, then that’s fine.”

“Yeah, I’m a little bummed about getting less loot, but having to dismantle everything ourselves would be a pain.”

“I agree. It would be troublesome if we hogged everything and made enemies.”

Kujou apologized sincerely, but none of us complained. We all agreed it was the right choice, and soon, with Toudou’s team on board, we started dismantling the monsters.

“Huh? What the hell is this? It’s already over? Was it because of that lightning earlier?”

A few minutes into dismantling, another team showed up.

It was a team I knew well, even though I’d never spoken to them before. They were connected to both our team and Toudou’s team. In other words…

“Oda? Ugh, he showed up too? This is the worst…”

It was Oda, Kujou’s fiancé, known for being a womanizer and the son of a sleazy company president. Saying it like that really makes him sound awful. Then again, he probably is.

“Nobuhiro. So, you’re here.”

“Sakura? So, you’re the one behind this?”

“Yes, along with my teammates.”

“Tch. Is that so? Must’ve been quite the effort.”

For a conversation between an engaged couple, it felt oddly cold.

After cutting the conversation short, Oda scanned the area, glaring at the other students as if sizing them up. Then, suddenly, something seemed to catch his interest. His eyes widened slightly, and with a grin, he confidently strode toward whoever had caught his attention.

“Huh? Oh, Hikari, you’re here too? How’s it going? If you need it, I can share some of the spoils with you. Or if you prefer, we could team up. I’ve already scored enough points, but if you need help, I’ll lend you a hand.”

This guy is the absolute worst. I had heard rumors, but to completely ignore his fiancée while hitting on her best friend… that’s just despicable.

I get it—just because they’re engaged doesn’t mean he has to like her. Maybe it’s not his fault if he developed feelings for her best friend. But come on, at least have some consideration for those around you. This is not the time or place to be flirting with someone, especially not here.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve already earned plenty of points. I don’t need your help.”

“Don’t be like that. If we’re both doing well, what matters now is avoiding elimination, right? It would be more practical for us to stick together.”

“Then why don’t you ask Sakura to join you? Why are you only coming to me?”

“Sakura? Of course, I’ll invite her. But if she’s with us, you wouldn’t mind, right?”

“…Wait. Are you saying Sakura is just—”

She was about to say something like “an afterthought.” That’s exactly what I was thinking, and I’m sure others felt the same way.

But Toudou’s words were cut off.

“Everyone, enemies incoming!”

The voice wasn’t familiar, probably a student from Toudou or Oda’s team, but that didn’t matter right now.

What mattered was the fact that enemies had appeared. Kujou and Rinrin had recovered somewhat, but they still weren’t at full strength. Facing new enemies in this state could be a problem.

Still, we had other teams here, so I didn’t think it would be impossible to handle. Or so I thought…

“What the hell? Where did this thing come from!?”

I understood Toudou’s outburst. The monster that appeared was entirely different from anything we’d encountered during this test so far.

First of all, its size was on a completely different scale. The monsters from the previous mock battles were around three meters tall, but this one was much larger. It might not be exactly double, but it was close.

It still had beast-like features, but it wasn’t purely beast-shaped. What kind of creature would you even call this? Maybe it’s humanoid?

Its torso had a head, two arms, and two legs, so in that sense, it was like a human. But no one would ever mistake this thing for a person. It had long beastly arms that hung down to the ground, a beast’s head with a mouth split vertically, and ribs that opened up to reveal countless human limbs extending from inside.

All those arms… kinda creepy, honestly.

“A monster? It just appeared now?”

“Everyone, it’s a large one! We should fall back and regroup!”

“Hah! No way am I doing that! It’s not even fully formed yet. If we hit it now, we can take it down before it’s ready!”

Kujou instructed everyone to fall back, but Oda, caught up in his own bravado, shouted excitedly and charged forward, gripping his spear tightly.

What the hell is wrong with him? Is he stupid? No way he doesn’t realize this is a serious situation!

If he doesn’t get it, he’s an idiot, and if he does know and is acting this way, that’s even worse.

“Damn it! This thing’s tough! Just as you’d expect from a large monster. It’s not like those weaklings!”

Oda lunged forward, aiming his spear at the large monster, but it didn’t penetrate. His momentum was impressive; he could have taken down any lesser monster with a single strike. But this wasn’t just any ordinary beast.

It was easy to predict that this fight would be challenging. We should retreat for now and get help from the teachers, or even leave everything to them.

Yet, Oda showed no signs of retreating and continued to point his spear at the large monster. His teammates seemed anxious to flee, but they didn’t dare voice their opinions, knowing Oda wouldn’t listen. They just hovered back, uncertain and hesitant.

“Hikari, please!”

“Got it! Everyone, protect yourselves and don’t get caught up in this!”

Seeing Oda, Kujou must have felt it was impossible to persuade him. She called for Toudou and headed towards Oda.

“What are we going to do?”

“What do you mean, what are we going to do…?”

Rinrin asked, her voice filled with worry. Usually, she would rush in and strike, but she probably wasn’t at full strength to use her skills effectively right now.

Under these circumstances, it would be normal to run away, but she seemed resistant to abandoning her comrades, showing no signs of wanting to flee.

Still, I believe calling the teachers is the right move in this situation. They might sense something wrong even if we don’t call them, but there’s a chance they won’t come. For the sake of student safety, we should retreat and get help.

However… if all the other students run away and I escape too, there’s a risk something could go wrong.

In that case, it would be better for me to use my blessing to take down the enemy first. That way, no one gets hurt, and we can all finish this without casualties. So, I should step in to help.

But doing that would draw attention to myself.

If I use my blessing, the other students will obviously realize I’m a “Blessed One.” I want to avoid that if possible. If that happens, I won’t be able to remain “normal” anymore.

Even now, Oda and Toudou could fight without me, so maybe I don’t need to fight after all.

Caught up in such trivial self-preservation, I found myself frozen, unable to act.