Dungeon Streaming in a Chastity-Reversed World with 1:99 Male-to-Female Ratio! I Might Be a Rare Man, But I’ll Risk My Life to Find a Wife! - 41

Chapter 41: The Man Who Dodges and the Women Who Are Dodged

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Soon… Very soon… Ufufu, ufufufu…”

In the damp, musty darkness deep within the dungeon, the woman stifled her voice and laughed quietly. In her hand was a copper magic bag. After glancing around restlessly, she pulled from the bag a quill and shimmering purple ink. Her bloodshot eyes widened as she began to draw a magic circle upon the ground.

It was the magic circle she had studied over and over until she memorized it completely. She had drilled it into her head with desperation, all for the sake of fulfilling her own wish.

(With this, the “contract” will be sealed.)

The moment she finished drawing, her excitement surged so violently that the quill snapped in her left hand. The very act of “breaking” it sent her even higher, and she hugged her own body tightly with both arms. Noticing the blood trickling from her left hand, she smeared it across her cheek. The sticky liquid released a metallic scent that made her face melt in ecstasy.

“Ahh…! Very soon…! Very soon, he will be mine… Ufufu, ufufufufu…! Guh…!? Ge—gehahh… cough cough… M-my medicine…!”

Suddenly seized by a fit of coughing, the woman snatched a pale green glowing magic potion from her copper bag and gulped it down in one go.

“Ahhaa…! Aahhhhhh…This feels… So good…!”

With an ecstatic expression, she spun her body around once and nodded in satisfaction. The chamber of the dungeon was filled with countless magic circles she had drawn. On the floor, on the walls—everywhere they burned. She gazed at them and grinned.

“Now… Just a little longer until the ‘appointed day.’ Until then, devour and conceive to your heart’s content…! Ufufu…Hmm?”

The woman noticed someone stepping onto the magic sand she had scattered, and she began to chant.

“Another prey has come. Thank you…Gorge yourself on magic power for my sake…Fufufu.”

She raised a massive stone from the ground to block the entrance of the circle-covered room, and then vanished in the opposite direction from the incoming adventurers—leaving behind only the scent of iron.

★★★

“Midterm exams?”

In front of the dungeon,  Ittou, wearing his mask, turned at the unfamiliar word that Kanna had spoken.

“That’s right. Midterm exams. I think they’re announcing the scope starting tomorrow.”

“Ah, midterms, huh. Back in the countryside, we basically had exams at the end of every month.”

“Ugh, every month? That’s brutal…”

As Ittou crossed his arms and nodded, recalling the past when he had been the only student in his rural school, Anri stuck out her tongue and made a displeased face. Her grades were not bad, but Ittou remembered her once saying that “liking” was a different matter altogether.

“Well, it was just me alone, after all. And the ‘exams’ weren’t like in manga where they hand out papers and stuff. It was more like—the teacher would ask questions from what I studied that month, and I had to answer. That was the exam.”

“I-I see… Well, at Touma Academy, we also have dungeon-conquest exams, so…”

“Huhhh, I see. We didn’t have anything like that. Entering a dungeon was just business as usual. As for martial arts, I trained every day, and if I slacked off, I got scolded.”

Ittou was surprised by the difference between city and countryside, but of course, it was his countryside that had been unusual—almost Spartan in its methods. The three Guardian Girls drew tight expressions at the thought.

Kanna retied her ponytail more firmly and sighed.

“When I think about it again, your countryside really was strange,  Ittou-kun.”

“Yeah. Since coming here, at least my grandma and the others haven’t ambushed me anymore.”

“Ahaha…”

(Ambushed by his grandmothers…)

Kanna brushed back the strands that slipped loose from her ponytail, catching a glimpse once more of the strange training regime of the lone man raised in a world with a 1:99 male-to-female ratio. Tilting his head at their vague smiles,  Ittou bent his knees in a stretch and asked them the question that had been on his mind.

“So, how does this midterm dungeon-conquest work?”

“Basically, it’s the same as this dungeon streaming. They send out magic drones, and from several dungeons near the academy, one is designated as the exam place. The team dives in, and within the time limit, the teachers evaluate how skillfully the dungeon is conquered.”

“Are only the students inside the dungeon?”

“In principle, only the team acts inside the dungeon, but teachers stand watch. If it gets dangerous, we just have to shout loud.”

In dungeon training, teachers led by Heike were always around to monitor, and only as many teams could enter as there were teachers available. The remaining teams watched the training streams of those inside via the magic drones—that was the norm at Touma Academy.

In other classes, the girls watching often squealed and shrieked excitedly, or else yawned in boredom. But Class 2-9 was different. To be precise—they had changed.

If Ittou was fighting, the girls leaned forward to burn his figure into their eyes. If  Ittou was only watching, they still leaned forward. At first, they had only stolen glances at him while he watched the screen intently. But one day, a student had mustered every ounce of courage to speak to him.

『I-Itsukushima-kun. Th-The reason we switched sides earlier was… B-because of, um, the right-handed and left-handed thing…』

『Ah, I see! Got it! That’s amazing, Sasahara-san.』

『Ho-gyahhh…!』

Praised by him, she saw her life flash before her eyes and gave thanks for everything she had lived. From then on, the girls began watching seriously, driven by the desire to be praised or admired by  Ittou. Heike had smirked knowingly at this—but  Ittou himself had been completely oblivious.

At first, he had felt awkward with the teachers present during training. But now he was growing used to it, and he felt relieved at the guaranteed safety inside the dungeon—something unheard of in the countryside.

“I see, so it’s safe then.”

“That’s right. A-and besides,  Ittou-sama, we will protect you…”

“Ah, no, I just meant—if everyone else is safe, that’s enough for me… But, uh… thanks, Kusumi-san.”

“Ufufu.”

Ittou faltered under Kusumi’s heated gaze and smile. He wanted a wife, true—but when actually faced with a woman openly showing him affection, he had no idea how to respond, and barely managed to squeeze out words of thanks. Kanna and Anri looked on with narrowed eyes.

“Kanbara-san, don’t you think Kusumi-san’s been kind of aggressive lately?”

“Y-yeah… Ever since that incident with Chuma-senpai, Kusumi’s been going all-in on  Ittou-kun…”

Unable to endure Kusumi’s passion and the girls’ sharp stares, Ittou raised his voice.

“O-okay! Let’s go! Let’s do our best today too, together!”

“Oh my… Ufufu… yes, let’s do our best together.”

“Y-yeah! L-let’s give it our all! Right, Akagi-san?”

“Y-yeah! Let’s do it—ohhh!”

The group checked that their masks were secure and confirmed their call signs, then dove into the dungeon Goblin’s Lair.

Goblin’s Lair was similar to the academy’s training dungeon Goblin’s Nest in that goblins appeared there. The difference was the abundance of cover and traps. True to its name, the lair made goblins hard to spot and made ambushes frequent.

That was exactly why Kanna and the others chose it. In the midterms, method mattered more than speed. What mattered was how well one dealt with traps and handled monsters—that was what Kanna explained, and Ittou nodded many times at her explanation.

“All right then… Shall we go? Today…”

“It’s my turn, isn’t it? …C-come,  Ittou-sama.”

Kusumi’s ears flushed red as she extended her slender white hand, clearly embarrassed to take the initiative herself. Ittou’s ears turned just as red as he took it. From their joined hands, reddish-copper magic power flowed.  

Ittou closed his eyes and focused inward. The magic power flowing from Kusumi sank into his lower abdomen and throbbed as it swelled. His mind grew sharper, colder.

What is this feeling…? Grandma always said—the stronger you truly become, the more broadly you can see. Is this what she meant…?

Slowly,  Ittou opened his eyes. He drew a long, deep breath.

Suuuuuuuu—fuuuuuuuu…

Inside him, a cold blade grew vast and keen.

Suuuuuuu—fuuuuuuuu…

It felt as if a great monster of magic power was staring him down. But Ittou met it calmly.

Suuuuu—fuuu…

As his own spirit quieted, so too did the monster before him, and the cold blade aligned with the short sword in his hand.

“Fuuhhh… All right. Let’s go. Stream start.”

He activated the magic drone, confirmed the broadcast had begun, and gave a small wave.

〈It started〉

〈Yesss! One Swordsman!〉

〈Where’s today’s run?〉

“Good morning, everyone. This is One Swordsman. Today’s dungeon stream is starting. We’ll be conquering Goblin’s Lair. Please enjoy.”

With that, One Swordsman—Ittou—ventured deeper into the dungeon. With every step, his senses sharpened further. It was not only due to the power of the strong magic power, but also the growing egg of calamity within the dungeon—something he had not yet realized.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー