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! - 49

Chapter 49: The Man Who Doesn’t Understand and the Women Who Do

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

“Hey, heeey? Can you hear me? I said, send Noshiro to help Daria.”

“N-Noshiro-saaan! D-Danbara-san, she’s—”

“Okayyyyyy!”

Before the dazed Ittou could even finish shouting, Noshiro had already started moving, reacting to the strange whisper in his ear from Unohana. She arched her back to take in a deep breath, which made her already glamorous chest stand out even more. 

Ittou reflexively turned his face away, but to his left was Unohana, and to his right was Katagiri whispering right by his ear, leaving him nowhere to look. He shook his head wildly and tried to look upward, but Unohana’s small, maple-leaf-like hand pressed his face still.

“Don’t look away. I’ll show you what our team can do.”

She whispered that softly into his ear. When Ittou turned his eyes back to Noshiro, he saw her channeling crimson-violet mana throughout her body, gathering it toward her head and then, she shouted loudly.

“Hate!”

The next instant, the crimson-violet mana shot from her forehead in a straight line toward Danbara. When that mana reached Danbara and struck the group of blue serpents a few dozen centimeters in front of her, the serpents all turned at once, hissing menacingly at Noshiro, who was standing about seven or eight meters away. 

Danbara used the gap between the ones that turned away and the ones still facing forward to slip through and dash toward Ittou’s group. From Ittou’s point of view, she darted off to the right, while the serpents who’d been hit by Noshiro’s mana charged toward Noshiro instead.

“W-What was that just now…?”

“That’s Noshiro’s special skill. She was planning to use it anyway, so you might as well see the difference for yourself. Now then.. Tell Kanbara to draw the serpents near Royama’s position! Go, go, hurry up.”

Startled by Unohana’s whisper, Ittou stiffened for a second, then quickly turned toward Kanna to give her instructions.

“K-Kanbara-san! Draw the blue serpents away from Royama-san!”

“G-Got it!”

Though Kanna clearly didn’t look convinced about why Ittou was carrying both Unohana and Katagiri in his arms, her natural seriousness prevailed. She immediately pointed her great shield toward Royama and began gathering mana. Yellowish light shimmered around her body like a thin membrane.

“Hate!”

As soon as she shouted, her mana spread from her shield in a fan shape, slamming into the serpents in front of Royama. The serpents that had been behind the front line turned around, baring their fangs, and rushed at Kanna instead. She responded by channeling lightning mana into her shield, lowering her stance to brace herself for the attack.

“That’s what a proper Hate looks like. It’s a front-line technique that emits mana monsters dislike, luring them toward you. The mana spreads like ripples, and anything caught in that wave reacts. But Noshiro’s different. She can use that kind of Hate too, but her mana control is exceptional. She can precisely target whoever she wants to hit.”

“I see… So only the monsters directly in front of Danbara reacted…”

“Right. And that’s not even all. Now that she’s no longer covered in serpents, she’s regained her composure. She looks fine.”

Ittou turned his eyes back to Noshiro, catching a glimpse of Unohana’s sly smile. Noshiro was now wrapping her axe in reddish-brown mana. Still kneeling on one knee, she swung the weapon with all her might.

“Pressure!”

A crescent-shaped wave of oppressive mana shot forward, heading straight for both the serpents that had turned toward her and the ones still chasing Danbara. Danbara leapt over the slash like a hurdler just as it passed beneath her. The serpents hit by the wave were immediately slowed by the oppressive energy. But Ittou noticed something strange about their movements.

“Huh? The ones on the right seem slower?”

“Exactly. She adjusted the mana density. The beginning of her swing carries the heaviest concentration, so the serpents on the right—who got hit by that—moved the slowest. The middle ones got hit next and are only a little behind, while the left ones barely got grazed and are just slightly delayed compared to the center. Because of that, the serpents now form a long, narrow line.”

The serpents that had been surrounding Danbara were now bunched together in a bent, “<” shape, heading straight toward Noshiro and Ittou’s group. Noshiro kept sending her mana to tighten their path, forcing them into an even narrower formation.

“That’s what Noshiro can do. And Daria, whose senses are heightened, can read Noshiro’s precisely controlled mana and dodge flawlessly in any situation. On top of that, when her senses are enhanced, she can do things like this.”

Come to think of it…

Ittou glanced around. Since Danbara had jumped over Noshiro’s mana slash, he had lost sight of her entirely, but she hadn’t disappeared. There she was, running parallel to the leading serpents, sticking close to them without making a sound.

“The most impressive thing about Daria’s sensory enhancement is that she can detect the density and direction of emotions laced with killing intent and slip into places where their awareness can’t reach. When her stealth pairs with Noshiro’s hate control…”

Before Unohana could finish, the serpents’ death cries echoed out. The third serpent from the front had been stabbed through its left eye by Danbara. Before the others could even register what had happened, Noshiro’s hate mana hit them, redirecting their focus back to her. As they turned, Danbara concealed her presence again, targeting the next one. One by one, the serpents drawn toward Noshiro were silently slain by Danbara’s blades.

“Well, that should take care of it.”

“A-Amazing…! Oh, but then, next we should go help Royama-san—”

“Royama’s fine already.”

Ittou looked toward Royama, and just as Unohana said, she had already finished off a huge number of serpents—with some help from Kanna, no doubt. She was a bit battered, but she wore a cool, confident smile. Ittou’s eyes widened at the sight.

“Everyone’s so strong… But then… Why is it that when I’m with them…”

Seeing his expression darken, Katagiri fumbled, unsure of what to say. Unohana, watching the two, let out a deep sigh, then placed her hand back to Ittou’s ear and whispered.

“Don’t mope. It’s rare for everyone’s abilities to line up this perfectly and we wouldn’t have made it without you two. But still…”

She gave him a sidelong glance and continued.

“The main reason things went so bad last time is probably because you’re a man…”

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー