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! - 45

Chapter 45: The Man Who Thinks and the Women Who Are Thought About

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“Haa～～～”

“Hey! Icchan! Don’t sigh like that! My motivation’s about to crash, warning level!”

“My motivation’s at destruction alert.”

“Wawawa! Sorry!”

At the dungeon training site, Blue Serpent Marsh, surrounded by the corpses of blue serpents, Ittou let out a sigh. On both sides, the sisters Marin and Manao came up and glared at him with half-lidded eyes, so Ittou hurriedly pressed his palms together in apology.

Watching this, Anri walked over with her arms crossed.

“Anyway, people whose motivation drops over something like that are a nuisance, so I’d really like you to go home～”

“Haa～? I don’t want to hear that from a Netorare-lady who vents her frustration on monsters after her class boyfriend got stolen～”

“I–I wasn’t stolen from! That was the academy’s decision!”

“Oh, so you got NTR’d by the academy too, huh, NTRJK.”

They’re still the same as always, huh.

Ittou thought as he quietly put some distance between them.

Lately, it always went the same way: Anri and Marin argued, Kanna tried to step in, and Manao stirred the pot. And as that flow played out, stepping away from it, Kusumi casually combed her golden hair with her hand and murmured while gazing into the distance.

“Fufufu, say whatever you like. Yes, this is a trial. It is the Milky Way flowing between Ittou-sama and myself!”

Like a wide river flowing, a slight distance naturally opened up between Kusumi and the other team members. Marin, hiding behind Ittou’s back, poked Anri—who was nearby—with her finger and asked.

“H-hey… An-chan, An-chan, what’s with that girl’s vibe?”

“It’s her abnormal passion for Ittou, mixed with the shock of being split off from the team. She’s the one most messed up by it… And don’t call me An-chan! I don’t like that nickname!?”

“So that’s what happens when your brain gets broken. You’d better be careful too.”

“My brain is not broken! And I wasn’t NTR’d in the first place!”

This was the usual pattern. And unlike before, Ittou didn’t back off this time—he pressed his forehead and slumped his shoulders.

“Uuugh…”

“Ittou-sama is suffering…! Ittou-sama, is it painful for you to be separated from us…?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it.”

Since his mind was elsewhere, Ittou flatly cut down Kusumi’s statement. The snappy timing made Marin and Anri involuntarily sync up and burst out laughing.

““Pupuu!””

Kusumi glared sharply at them, so they cheerfully stepped back behind Ittou. Then her gaze shifted to Ittou, who frantically waved his hands small in denial to cover himself.

“Uh, no, that’s not it. I was just thinking… What’s the difference between Team H and everyone here?”

The purpose of today’s dungeon run had been to re-examine team play at Ittou’s request. That was why they had done a dungeon stream on Saturday, and today, Sunday, they dove in without streaming. Since they had to do dungeon diving back-to-back, Ittou had told them only to come if they could—but of course, every single member showed up.

And despite all the bickering, their coordination was terrifyingly smooth, and their progress incredibly fast. Even when they were swarmed by an abnormal number of blue serpents, they brushed it off easily.

There had been some damage, but they overwhelmed the enemies with greater firepower. Afterward, though, everyone demanded that Ittou apply the potion to them, so he, blushing furiously, carried out potion treatment himself. That wasted a little time, but they still had more than enough leeway.

“Mm～ Everyone’s a good kid and they get along, but maybe they’re just a little out of sync.”

“I thought their individual scores were pretty solid, though～”

“Yes! Yes! I believe the problem lies in the chain of command! Ultimately, Ittou-sama’s leadership is what matters here! Or perhaps, if I could assist—”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you.”

““Pupuu!””

Kusumi puffed her cheeks so much it was as if one could hear the sound, then chased after Marin and Anri, who had burst out laughing again. Watching the three of them, Ittou rubbed his temples.

Even though they fight so much, this team clicks together at a terrifying level. Maybe it really is a matter of judgment ability…

On the frontlines, Kanna bore the brunt of enemy attacks; Ittou darted around sowing confusion; Anri seized the openings with overwhelming twin-blade assaults; Marin balanced between front and back with rapier and magic; Kusumi obliterated enemies with overwhelming magical firepower; Manao finished off stragglers one by one without fail. Each member had high ability individually.

On top of that, their judgment was excellent—when giving orders was difficult for Kanna or Marin, they instantly understood what to do and acted on it. By contrast, Team H members who acted on their own often made incomprehensible moves to Ittou, while the others just waited for orders.

“Icchan, you should call Manao’s counseling hotline.”

Before he knew it, Manao was standing in front of him, looking up at him.

“Eh? Ah, then… I do have something to ask—”

“Go on, call it.”

Overwhelmed by Manao’s unblinking stare, Ittou mimed making a call.

“Pururururu.”

“Haa haa, hey, what kind of panties are you wearing right now…?”

“What the hell!?”

Ittou immediately snapped back at Manao’s gag. She only grinned at him in return. When he glanced to the side, Kanna was also miming holding a phone, blushing—apparently waiting her turn. 

Deciding to ignore that, he looked back at Manao, who still smiled. But now it was a calm smile, not the mischievous one from before.

“Icchan, relax, relax. Everyone’s different and everyone’s fine, you know? Besides, it’s okay to think that your countryside grannies and us as the abnormal ones. We are just too genius. Our level is different from other normies… Ah, well, these pervy JKs here are kind of up there too.”

“N-no we’re not! W-we’re not pervy JKs! And who even calls themselves a genius!? That’s not normal!”

Seeing Kanna’s bright-red face as she flusteredly argued, Ittou gave a wry smile. But he also thought Manao’s point made sense, and he looked around at the team while recalling his countryside grandmothers.

That’s true… Baa-chan and the others were insanely strong and smart, and Marin-neechan and Manao-chan used to live there too. They were trained by my aunts, so their level’s high. And the three of them too. No wonder the three of them were chosen as Guardian Girls—they’re strong.

Team H didn’t give off that kind of refined battle strength. But something still kept nagging at Ittou. Something important he was overlooking. It felt like frustration at himself for failing to see it. Manao’s words had almost helped him grasp it. He was just about to pull that thread when—

“Geez, shut up already! You menhera girl! You get depressed the moment Ittou ignores you! You heavy girl!”

“M-menhera…!”

At some point, the scene had shifted—where Marin and Anri had been chased by Kusumi, now it was Marin and Anri quarreling while Kusumi tried to mediate. Ittou turned his gaze to the three. Before Kusumi could speak to the dejected Marin, who was on her hands and knees, Marin glared at Anri through tearful eyes.

“Even her menhera side is part of her cuteness! Anyone too narrow-minded to turn bad points into good points isn’t worthy of Icchan! Icchan’s wonderful trait is how good he is at praising people!”

Still on all fours, Marin looked at Ittou, and the other four nodded in agreement while also looking at him. All eyes focused on Ittou, who scratched his cheek.

“Well…That’s because Grandma and the others trained me. They said, if you don’t get good at praising, you won’t be popular…”

“Heh～ Then, hey, Ittou. Can you praise me?”

As Anri fiddled with her hair streaked with inner color and walked toward him, Ittou…

“Eh? Of course. Akagi-san, your casual speech makes it easy to get close to you really quickly. Marin-neechan is pretty picky about people, but the fact that even she got this close to you means you’re amazing. And maybe because you have a lot of siblings, your perspective is broad and your decisions are fast. Maybe it’s due to your great crisis perception, but you can tell right away who’s most injured and point it out. That’s incredible. You’re cute, of course, but I really respect how you show subtle consideration and how you step forward when no one else can. Also…”

“Ittou-kun, maybe that’s enough～”

“Ittou-sama, any more and we’ll have casualties.”

“Eh?”

Like a captured alien, Ittou suddenly found himself held by Kanna and Kusumi on either side.

When he realized it, Anri’s face was flushed red, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly as she trembled, and a thin stream of nosebleed trickled down.

“～～～～～～～～～～～～～～！”

“Yes, this is the Lusty Girl Police～. We’re taking this one into custody～”

“A good police force prevents crimes before they happen. Come on, let’s go treat you over there.”

Marin and Manao each took one of Anri’s arms and dragged her away.

“Really, Ittou-kun, you’re a genius at finding people’s good points.”

“Good points…”

Ittou touched his lips with his hand as he listened to Kanna’s words.

“Yeah, that’s right. Their good points… Somehow… Somehow I felt like I saw it. Like I was on the verge of realizing something…”

Team H’s members had their good sides. He’d been focusing on how they didn’t mesh, but if he thought carefully, each of them had shining moments. And more than that… Just as he was about to grasp something in the depths of thought—

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

A woman’s scream rang out through the Blue Serpent Marsh dungeon. It wasn’t from Ittou’s team—it came from closer to the dungeon entrance. And Ittou recognized that voice.

“!! A girl’s scream!?”

“That was pretty close.”

“That voice… Kanbara-san!”

“Yeah!”

At Ittou’s call, Kanna took his hand in both of hers. Power flowed out of her, pouring into Ittou, then surged through his body with a loud crackle. With 【Strengthening Magic】, Ittou gained Kanna’s lightning power. He was about to dash off, when Kanna, also wrapped in lightning, ran beside him.

“I’m coming too! Together!”

“Hey, you pervy student council member. Don’t use the confusion as an excuse to touch Icchan here and there!”

“I am not! I’m not pervy…!”

“L-let’s go! Kanbara-san!”

Ittou grabbed Kanna’s hand, her denial weakened, and broke into a run. Thanks to their team’s overwhelming firepower having already wiped out everything up to this point, there were almost no monsters left, and they reached the source of the scream without much resistance.

But there, as if mocking the earlier absence of enemies, a massive swarm of blue serpents surrounded a single team.

“Is that… Unohana-san and Katagiri-san? No, it’s all of Team H!?”

Next to Kanna’s shout, Ittou’s eyes also took in the scene—their figures pale with fear as they desperately fought against the monsters.

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