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! - 54-55

Chapter 54: The Irritated Man and the Irritating Woman Part 1

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“I’m so glad~! If something had happened to everyone, I just…!”

Kondou dramatically shuddered and pressed a handkerchief that she had pulled from an excessively flashy bag, against her eyes. However, neither Team H nor the others looked cheerful.

Ittou gently tugged on Royama’s arm and spoke to her in a whisper.

“Royama-san, was it Kondou-sensei who brought everyone into this dungeon?”

“Itsukushima-kun… You asked me because I seem normal, didn’t you?”

Royama gave her a narrow-eyed look, and Ittou averted his gaze. Like the other Class 9 students, Royama couldn’t help but feel a thrill whenever she heard Ittou’s whispering voice. But the fact that he had chosen her to ask out of all the “normal” girls made her overthink it.

Urahana was a little scary, and the others probably couldn’t carry on a calm conversation with Danbara around. That meant she was the only option. She was happy Ittou had spoken to her, but her feelings were complicated. With a small sigh, Royama cupped her hand near Ittou’s ear.

“That’s right. Kondou-sensei saw us feeling down in the training room and came over to talk to us.”

Here was Royama’s story. Team H had performed terribly during the dungeon training exercise. They were practicing in the training room, determined not to drag Ittou down any further. Then Kondou appeared, saying she wanted to help them. She told them, “I’ll handle the paperwork, so why don’t you all try entering the Blue Serpent Marsh again?”

They were hesitant to enter the Blue Serpent Marsh again, but since Kondou-sensei would be accompanying them—and above all, since they didn’t want to cause Ittou any more trouble—Team H agreed to her proposal.

At first, after entering the dungeon, their formation worked well enough. But when Danbara stopped and said something felt off, they found themselves right where Ittou and the others were now. While they were checking around for any problems, a swarm of blue serpents suddenly appeared.

Overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught, their formation broke apart, and they were forced into a desperate struggle. Seeing this, Kondou had shouted—

“I-I’ll go contact the rescue team! Just hold on until I get back!”

—then ran off. They fought desperately, trying to survive until Kondou returned with help. But she never came back. Just as they were preparing for death, Ittou and his group arrived.

“So, that’s what happened…”

When Royama finished her story, Ittou turned his gaze to Kondou, who was fussing over everyone’s safety. Though she was expressing relief in a shrill voice, the sense of unease was far stronger.

The members of Team H looked confused and frightened. Ittou clenched his teeth, struggling to contain the anger boiling up inside him. He couldn’t even understand why he was so angry, but he told himself that Kondou was still their teacher. Whatever her intentions, she had brought Team H here for their sake.

Trying to calm down, he took several deep breaths. But then…

“It’s all thanks to Itsukushima-kun, isn’t it? Everyone, you must thank Itsukushima-kun~!”

That one line was more than Ittou could bear. The embarrassment and frustration he felt from his own inadequacy, the condescending tone that made it sound as if she were mocking Team H—and above all, her patronizing, superior attitude. Everything infuriated him. 

Before he knew it, his legs were moving on their own. He stepped between her and Team H, cutting through the sickly-sweet cloud of perfume that surrounded her.

“Um! Kondou-sensei, may I have a moment?”

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Chapter 55: The Irritated Man and the Irritating Woman Part 2

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“Mmm~? What’s the matter, Itsukushima-kun?”

Even though Ittou had stepped in with open hostility, Kondou only smiled coolly, her eyes gleaming suggestively behind her glasses. For a brief moment, Ittou almost faltered.

Why…! Why is this person…!

No matter how he looked at it, Kondou’s behavior was wrong—completely abnormal for this situation. Yet he could sense no trace of fear or anxiety from her. She was different from the monsters who acted purely on instinct and desire. And that made her even more unsettling. Still, Ittou couldn’t forgive someone who had put Team H in danger. With the sole thought that he had to protect them, he glared back at her.

“Kondou-sensei… You went to call for help, didn’t you? When is that help supposed to arrive?”

“It should be here soon. There’s a bit of a mana disturbance in this area, you see. The communication magic tools aren’t working properly…”

Kondou placed a hand on her cheek with a troubled look. Ittou glanced at her briefly, then turned his eyes to Urahana. Urahana took out her own communication device and nodded.

“That’s true. Ui checked her magic tool earlier too, but it wouldn’t connect.”

Inside a dungeon, the air was filled with a special energy called magic power, the essence that composed mana. Because of that, normal smartphones or communication devices didn’t work—only mana-based magic tools could.

However, even after more than twenty years of research, dungeons still contained countless unknown factors, and communication failures under certain conditions were quite common. So what Kondou said made sense. And yet, Ittou’s doubts refused to fade. He forced out his words as if fighting against himself.

“Then why…! Why didn’t you at least secure a larger safety margin for Unohana-san and the others before leaving? You could have done that, right, sensei!?”

Ittou didn’t know much about Kondou since she was the homeroom teacher of a neighboring class. But as an academy instructor, she should’ve had a decent level of strength. Even if calling for rescue was the best option, he couldn’t shake the thought that she could have done more.

Kondou raised a hand to her mouth and furrowed her brows in a show of sorrow.

“I’m sorry… I actually took a leave of absence a little while ago. Embarrassingly enough, it was for mental health reasons. I’m the type who tends to panic easily… sSo when all those monsters appeared at once, I panicked… I really am sorry.”

The sting in his palm made Ittou realize how tightly he was clenching his fist.

When he glanced toward Urahana, she and Katagiri were exchanging glances and nodding, signaling that the story was probably true. The part about her taking leave, at least. But still. Ittou couldn’t bring himself to believe she had truly panicked. And judging by her composure, she probably even had a doctor’s note to prove her condition. If that was the case, there was nothing more someone like him could say.

The logic added up. And yet—

Something inside Ittou refused to forgive her. It all felt so shallow. Everything about Kondou—her thoughts, her attitude—felt unbearably hollow. The way her purple hair swayed, the provocative glint in her eyes behind her glasses, the cloying sweetness of her perfume, even her syrupy way of speaking about “panic”—every part of it infuriated him.

A different kind of heat, not like the one he felt in battle against strong monsters, began to boil deep in his gut.

“Well, still! Isn’t it wonderful that everyone’s safe? Very good, everyone!”

She gave a thumbs-up and smiled brightly, even though she was standing before her students, who had been on the edge of death just earlier. Especially to Noshiro, who had been on the front line. In fact, Noshiro’s face was still clouded with guilt and exhaustion. Ittou couldn’t forgive that.

“Unohana-san? If anyone’s injured, please heal them, okay? You’re good at healing, aren’t you?”

A teacher—of all people—should have known how severe stress could trigger a personality shift in some students. And yet she showed not a single trace of concern about it. Ittou couldn’t forgive that either.

“I know sensei was at fault too, but you all need to be more careful, okay~? Things like this can happen when you become real adventurers, you know? O~kay~?”

She was an adult and still she was trying to dodge responsibility. That made her even harder to forgive.

“And really, you mustn’t trouble Itsukushima-kun. He’s very important to the academy.”

She kept repeating herself, trying to praise him just to shift the attention. That too, was unforgivable.

“You should all try harder. You don’t want to be a dead weight to your class, do you?”

Unforgivable.

“Um.”

Ittou was furious. Furious enough to surprise even himself. So angry that even Marin and Manao were shrinking back in fear. Even so, Kondou looked at his expression and smiled coquettishly, as if she didn’t feel a thing.

“What is it, Itsukushima-kun?”

“Everyone… Everyone in Team H is amazing. Please don’t say things like that.”

If he’d said that in the classroom, the members of Team H would’ve turned beet red and flailed around until they fainted. But now, not one of them blushed. Instead, they all stood pale-faced, staring at the two of them. The air grew cold, and even the three members of Team A were frozen in place, watching breathlessly. Still…

“Eh~? But Itsukushima-kun, it’s true they caused trouble for you, isn’t it? If you don’t admit when you’ve done something wrong, you’ll never grow into a proper adult, you know?”

Kondou spoke cheerfully, laughing with exaggerated gestures. Admitting your faults—that was a fair point. But right now, Ittou felt that what Kondou was saying was wrong. He wanted to convey his anger. He wanted to tell her Team H’s worth, the truth. But the words wouldn’t come. Frustration welled up in his throat as he forced himself to speak.

“But, but…! Everyone is amazing. Please apologize… For looking down on them.”

He just wanted her to acknowledge Team H, even a little. That was all.

“Eeh~? But sensei wasn’t looking down on them. I only meant they need to try harder. Besides, apologizing means admitting you were wrong. If I apologize when I wasn’t wrong, that would make a false sense of justice spread, wouldn’t it? So no, I can’t apologize. Not unless it’s truly proven that I was wrong.”

Her words sounded like logic. But they also sounded like an excuse. And Ittou couldn’t find the words to strike back. The more she spoke, the more he felt like he was the one being unreasonable—like he was the villain. His stomach churned.

But the battle had already begun. He couldn’t let this adult win. He refused to. Turning her words over in his mind, Ittou searched desperately for something—anything—that could make her yield. And then, he looked up.

“…Then, if it’s proven that you’re wrong, you’ll apologize, right? In that case—”

He realized his voice was trembling. Was it fear? Anxiety? Or anger? Or maybe… Courage.

“I’ll prove it. In the next midterm exams. I’ll show you that Team H is amazing. Absolutely.”

He could not—would not—lose to this smiling, pompous adult.

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