Honey Trap! ~The Honey Trap Encirclement to Ensnare the Summoned Hero~ - Chapter 55 & 56

Chapter 55: Escort Request with an Ominous Feeling (Part 3)

“Fwaa, slept great!”

The next morning, Yuri crawled out of his lavish tent, having slept soundly.

The sun was already up, and undead sentries clattered gacha gacha.

A familiar morning after six months of adventuring.

Real adventurers don’t lug fancy tents, wake at dawn, and take watch properly.

But with a groggy hero, a nocturnal Demon King, a nap-loving Undead Queen, and a Dragon King who oversleeps for days, early risers? Zero.

The Demon and Dragon King tents showed no signs of life.

Eremia, sharing a tent with Meia, was likely still out.

“…Hope she’s up.”

Eremia’s morning grumpiness was legendary—once, waking her from a nap nearly got the capital’s underbelly obliterated.

Yuri worried if Meia could handle her but knew waking her himself led to bad outcomes.

“Alright, I’ll check later.”

Last time, banging pots like drums to wake her earned him a furious outburst.

Yuri opted to delay, packing his tent—a magical item shrinking to bag-size with a spell.

A reward from saving a kingdom, when asked what they needed, they said, “Camping gear!”

The king’s baffled face still lingered in Yuri’s memory.

Back then, sick of rough camping, the luxury tents were a godsend.

“Now, morning bath?”

Cracking his neck koki koki, Yuri heard water splashing chapu chapu.

Meia was wiping herself down with a bucket, stark naked in the camp’s center.

“…Morning, Yuri.”

“Uh, m-morning…”

Her wet, glossy black hair shimmered. Flawless white back. Breasts slightly too big for her hands. Petite frame, but curvy where it counted.

Yuri, having seen it all, spun around.

“W-What’re you doing!?”

“Playboy, you struck again!”

Eremia burst from the girls’ tent, landing a merciless blow bashi.

Yuri crashed into a tree, yelping gue like an idiot.

“I-I turned away!”

“Oh? Thought you were just horny at dawn.”

“Listen to me…! Okay, I saw a lot, but…”

Indeed.

Closing his eyes, Meia’s body flashed vividly—slender yet huggable, flawless skin.

Yuri’s face betrayed his thoughts, the hopeless pervert.

“…Was gonna apologize, but never mind.”

“Guh, can’t argue…!”

Eremia sighed haa, yelling at the boys’ tents:

“You lot! Stay put, I’m dressing Meia!”

“Don’t lump me with that stud!”

“How rude! I’m no lech!”

“Quit slandering me…! It was just a lucky perv moment… Sorry, my bad, lower your fist!”

“Hmph. You’re lucky.”

Eremia lowered her fist, draping Meia in a cloak.

The Undead Queen, peerless in close combat—why bother with undead minions?

*

“Meia, you’re a girl. You can’t strip in front of guys! Maybe Lucius the chuunibyou and Agamemnon the lolicon are fine, but we’ve got Yuri, the ultimate playboy!”

“That’s harsh!”

“How many girls are you juggling?”

“Too… harsh… I’m sorry…”

Lucius and Agamemnon, caught in the crossfire, grimaced.

Meia, blank-faced pokan, said something unexpected.

“But… Eremia’s okay?”

“I’m a girl. Same-sex is fine.”

“…I don’t get it. I don’t care who sees.”

“Whaaat…?”

Eremia clutched her head, thrown by being the voice of reason.

She suddenly missed Sonia, who’d surely explain this better.

“…What kind of upbringing did you have?”

“I was raised to read stars.”

“Not that… Didn’t you learn other stuff?”

“Grandma taught me stargazing, sewing, cooking, riding, fire-starting. That’s all.”

“…Knowing just the essentials makes this trickier.”

Of sewing, cooking, riding, and fire-starting, the Troublemakers could only do the last—using attack magic or dragon breath, extravagantly.

They huddled, whispering hiso hiso.

Lily was intense, but Meia’s another issue.

“(What do I do? I can’t convince her…! Back at the guild, I’ll ask Sonia. Or Reza!)”

“(Reza’s perfect. She’s everyone’s confidante at the palace.)”

“(Hmm. I’ve no reliable contacts. Reza’s better than that hag Luwi.)”

“(My contacts only know dragon etiquette…)”

Unbeknownst to her, Reza was becoming the hero crew’s go-to advisor.

A tough gig.

“You’re all so strange.”

“Hm? How so?”

Meia tilted her head, puzzled, and declared:

“I can’t read your stars. All four of you.

…I’m still unskilled.”

“Fuhaha! Not your fault, Meia—my scale’s too grand! Fate can’t bind me!”

“Exactly. A mere goddess of fate meddling with this Undead Queen? A millennium too early!”

“…Maybe we just don’t have grand destinies?”

“Ugh. We’ve already cleared most events.”

They’d slain an evil god, after all.

But they kept that quiet.

Chapter 56: Escort Request with an Ominous Feeling (Part 4)

“Nngh, what a waste…”

“Such a feeding frenzy, and yet…”

The path stretched toward the ancient ruins.

The Troublemakers, cutting down waves of monsters that surged forth in droves, chewed on bitter regret.

If they stopped to deal with every single beast, time would slip through their fingers like sand.

Even though they knew the meat before them could be transformed into the finest game…!

With heavy hearts, the four pressed onward to the ruins. They knew full well that lingering another day would earn the guild’s wrath.

Oblivious to their foolish musings, Meia gazed at their strained expressions. It must be exhausting to face so many monsters, she thought, pure and earnest.

Yet, even she couldn’t help but notice they were one-shotting the beasts without breaking a sweat. Scattering the monster horde, they forged ahead toward the ancient ruins.

Or rather, where the ruins should have been.

“Whoa, it’s really a ruin, huh. Completely trashed.”

“Aye, it looks like someone delivered the finishing blow just moments ago. Meia, when you write the completion certificate, make sure to note that it was already destroyed when we arrived, alright?”

The site was meant to hold a trapezoidal pyramid.

Instead, the pyramid lay collapsed from its foundation, exposing an underground chamber.

And from a gaping hole, monsters clawed their way out, leaping forth, spawning endlessly.

“…We’re too late. It’s already begun…”

Meia’s face paled to the hue of paper as she murmured.

In that instant, the ground quaked with a low rumble, and a massive object rose from the subterranean depths.

It was an enormous vessel. Yuri thought it resembled a flame-patterned earthenware pot.

Black flames flickered along its edges, swaying ominously. From its core, monsters writhed into existence, spilling onto the earth.

“The Ominous Star… This is it. The Lord of Chaos. The Seed of Calamity. Echidna’s Vessel…!”

Trembling, Meia wove her words with dread.

Beside her, the four Troublemakers exchanged glances and shouted in unison:

“A FISHPOND!!!”

Caw! A flock of forest crows took flight.

The giant vessel shuddered, as if perplexed.

“By the gods, what a convenient contraption! With this, we’d never lack for drinking snacks!”

“It’s incredible. Let’s take it back to the Dark Continent and build a meat factory!”

“…If I brought this home, the minister would have my head. It’s undeniably a splendid item, though…! Grr, isn’t there somewhere we could hide it?”

“Ugh, I want it so bad… but this is definitely the kind of thing that’d get us in trouble.”

The four fixed heated gazes on Echidna’s Vessel—now dubbed the Monster Fishpond.

The vessel let out a low groan, emitting a bizarre, mechanical voice devoid of inflection. Yet, deep within, a fathomless malice swirled.

“The Stargazer’s guidance has succeeded. Clan of the Stargazer, you’ve come. My thanks.

Foolishly, you’ve offered yourself as a sacrifice. My thanks.”

“What?! The fishpond’s talking…?”

“…A fishpond with a will of its own? The world is vast indeed…!”

Ignoring the banter of the two fools, the fishpond continued.

“The vessel must be filled. Clan of the Stargazer, you will be absorbed. Suction initiated.”

“…No…!”

An invisible force yanked Meia toward the giant vessel.

But a bold hand seized her, halting her pull—a grinning Yuri.

“Hah! As if a mere fishpond could take Meia! You’re a thousand years too early for that!”

“Interlopers. Suction intensified.”

“Argh!”

Caught between the vessel’s pull and Yuri’s resistance, Meia cried out in pain.

“Whoops, that kind of situation, huh? No choice, then.”

Letting go of restraint, Yuri gripped Meia’s hand and strode boldly toward the fishpond.

“No, stop! Let go—it’s after me alone!”

“Haha, we’ve come this far together, haven’t we? Gotta stick it out to the end!”

His laugh was fiercer, wilder, more defiant than usual.

As if on cue, the other three grinned, channeling mana as they advanced toward Echidna’s Vessel.

“Such an ill-mannered fishpond. I’ll blast it to bits with one strike!”

“Hmm, if possible, I’d like to keep its fishpond powers intact.”

“Hmph! It dared to hurt our client, so it’s getting smashed to smithereens!”

Cracking their knuckles, the four—plus their intended sacrifice—charged unbidden.

As Meia’s eyes widened in shock, the vessel trembled in confusion. Then, the hero party’s merciless attack magic began.

“Hahaha! The ruins are already wrecked, so we’ll pin it all on you!”

“Alright, time for a saturation attack—been a while!”

“I suppose I’ll let loose with a proper breath to clear my head.”

A terrifying roar, like the end of the world, shook the earth with a quake.

Black lightning crackled, laser beams lanced in waves, and crimson breath roared skyward.

A hazy barrier flickered up in haste, but it shattered under the onslaught, leaving the vessel quaking violently.

Meia stood dumbfounded before the overwhelming attack magic.

This was the hero party’s signature tactic: If you crush it, defense is unnecessary!

“Anomaly! Anomaly! What are you?!”

“What are we, you ask?”

“Dunno how to answer that one.”

Yuri and Agamemnon exchanged carefree glances.

The one who hadn’t cast magic, the final member, answered.

“Your worst nightmare, obviously. Savor it—the God-Slaying Strike.”

Eremia, the Undead Queen, launched forward like a bullet.

Her fist tore through the air, unleashing a shockwave that delivered a fatal blow to the vessel.

“GUAAAAAAA!!!”

A deafening crash echoed as the vessel shattered into fragments.

A black mist rose from the wreckage, but Yuri wasn’t one to let it escape.

“Something’s coming out! One more for good measure!”

“A classic pattern. I’m sick of seeing apostles of evil gods!”

“We can’t let it get away!”

A second barrage of magic obliterated the vessel’s remains and the black mist without a trace.

The ruins, now a crater, were an afterthought—they didn’t care.

“Hmph. Child’s play.”

Against a backdrop of erupting flames, Eremia turned with a smirk, flashing a V-sign.

“Argh! She stole the best moment!”

“That was my line!”

“You’re always snagging the spotlight, aren’t you…”

Having crushed the Ominous Star, the four laughed like mischievous children. Behind them, Meia glimpsed a star too vast to comprehend.

No wonder she hadn’t noticed.

Their stars were too immense for a mere Stargazer to read. Fate was beyond her grasp; even beholding them was overwhelming.

Teetering on the edge of reality, her swaying form was steadied by Yuri’s gentle arm.

“Whoa, you okay? That fishpond jerk was pretty rough. I’ll walk you home when we get back to town.”

“Thanks…”

“…Uh, y-you’re welcome…?”

The Stargazer maiden smiled softly, radiant.

Her first innocent, age-fitting smile left Yuri’s heart racing.