I Was the Supporter of a Popular Dungeon Streamer, but the Power Harassment Was Too Much, so I Quit. I’m Useless Anyway, so It Shouldn’t Be a Problem, Right? Huh? The Views Are Dropping Like Crazy? - 27-28

Chapter 27: Sae Isshiki

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The next day.

At 10 AM, the guild duel between Odd Cat and Fenrir was officially established by the Guild Association. The Guild Association then prepared the duel’s details for us. Abisu then sent me the specifics of the upcoming guild duel. 

《Odd Cat vs. Fenrir Guild Duel Details》

Date: May 30

Match Format: Field Battle (3-on-3)

Field: Ruins (Daytime)

Match Duration: 60 minutes

Special Rule: Odd Cat’s participants must be Supporters only

【Duel Points (Wagered Guild Points)】

Fenrir: 1,500 points

Odd Cat: 12,000 points

【Duel Items (Wagered Items/Conditions )】

Fenrir: Koyuki Kisaragi’s membership. Cancellation of all contracts for Koyuki Kisaragi and Atsushi Iizuka.

Odd Cat: Shibuki Hamura’s membership. A dogeza apology from Abisu Yuiga to Atsushi Iizuka.

“Huh? There’s a weird condition added in here.”

When did Abisu’s dogeza apology get included in this? There must have been some kind of dispute between them when submitting the request to the Guild Association.

So, the duel is set for May 30. Today is May 16. Which means, the duel will be held exactly two weeks from now.

The match format was a field battle. Basically, it was a 3-on-3 fight at a location prepared by the Guild Association. The “Ruins” field was exactly what it sounds like. A place full of ruins. The fight continued until all three members of one team were incapacitated. The team that had all its members incapacitated first lost. A simple enough rule.

“We’ll need to practice our teamwork for sure.”

I received an email from Abisu. It looked like she was thinking the same thing as me. She arranged a meeting and training session between me, Isshiki, and Kazuhara. The training session was scheduled for tomorrow at 8 AM in the first-floor training area of Odd Cat’s base.

Isshiki was 17 years old and Kazuhara was 26 years old. Since both of them were older than me, I should use honorifics and speak politely with them. Not to mention, they were also my seniors in Odd Cat. I had a general idea of what Isshiki-san was like, but I wondered what Kazuhara-san was like. The only thing Abisu wrote in her memo was: “Tsundere. The type to give milk to an abandoned puppy.” 

That bastard… She’s clearly messing with me.

Iizuka caused me to have a bit of bias toward men older than me. I could only hope Kazuhara-san was a decent guy.

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A day passed, and it was finally the day of our first meeting. I left my apartment and headed west, toward Odd Cat’s guild headquarters.

My apartment was in the central district of Amatsugahara, known as “Shijin Street.” Extending westward from there was the main road, “Byakko Street,” which was always lined with street vendors and bustling with activity. There were clothes and accessories made from labyrinth drop items. There was also food and all sorts of things you wouldn’t find in a regular labyrinth city.

As I walked through the street, I happened to spot her back. It was Sae Isshiki! She was in her usual gothic lolita outfit. Even though this was our first time meeting each other, I immediately recognized her. Since we were heading to the same meeting place at the same time, it wasn’t surprising that we ran into each other. Following her from behind the whole way would make me seem like a stalker. I quickened my pace and caught up with her.

“Good morning.”

When I greeted her from behind, Isshiki-san shuddered with a flinch. 

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“……”

She turned around. Her eyes were pitch black and devoid of light, framed by sharp, long eyelashes. Her skin was as white as a pearl. I didn’t want to use such a cliché expression, but… She really did look like a doll.

“……Who?”

“I’m Shibuki Hamura, the new member of Odd Cat. You’re Sae Isshiki, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Looking forward to training with you today.”

“Yeah.”

Her voice was quiet and emotionless. Her face didn’t so much as twitch. I had no idea if she liked me or not.

“……”

Without another word, Isshiki-san started walking again.

Is it okay if I walk beside her…?

For now, I decided to follow her from behind.

“……I don’t acknowledge you.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t get carried away just because Abisu-sama is a little fond of you.”

“Ah, sorry about that.”

Huh? She already hates me from the get-go? W-Well, I should at least keep the conversation going. 

There were a lot of things I wanted to ask her. After all, she was the Supporter of an S-rank Seeker. I wanted to have a proper discussion about the role of a Supporter with her.

“Um… Isshiki-san, there’s something I wanted to ask you—”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Huh? Boyfriend? Ah, no, that’s not what I meant. I was asking about Supporter-related things, not your personal life.”

Isshiki-san let out a quiet “Ah…” then, ever so slightly, her pale ears tinged in red.

“……Forget that.”

She muttered that and quickened her pace.

 I can’t read her at all… I seriously have no idea what’s going on in her head.

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Chapter 28: I’m Sorry

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In the end, we arrived at the guild headquarters without a single conversation along the way. Alone together in the elevator, an awkward silence filled the space.

This is bad. If Kazuhara-san turns out to be the quiet type too, this is going to be really awkward.

“…A recreation of a ruined district, huh?”

As we stepped out onto the first floor, a desolate city of abandoned buildings spread out before us. The training area allowed for free manipulation of its internal environment. Last time, it was a desert, but now it seemed they had set it up as a ruined district to match the guild duel scenario.

“……”

“Uh, Isshiki-san, what kind of person is Kazuhara-san?”

“…Barbaric. I hate him.”

“I see…”

Yep, this team’s awkwardness is now confirmed.

“Oy, oy, oy, oy! That’s a pretty harsh way to put it, Sae!”

A figure stood on the roof of a ruined building. Then, the-said figure jumped off. With a loud THUD!, that person landed right in front of us. The building was four stories tall. No way a human could jump from there and be fine, but this guy was completely unscathed.

“So you’re Shibuki Hamura, huh?!”

Pompadour. Sunglasses. Tall, muscular. Furthermore, he was dressed in a rider suit. Just from looking at him, I could tell he was the reckless type.

“Could it be… You’re Riku Kazuhara-san?”

In his ID photo, he had long hair covering his face, but… I guess that was just a picture of him with his pompadour let down.

“Damn right. Nice to meet you… Well, actually,”

Kazuhara-san stepped right up to me.

“I don’t like you one damn bit!!”

He made his statement clear while glaring straight at me. His voice was the complete opposite of Isshiki-san’s. He was loud as hell.

“You got into the guild through Abisu’s connections without even taking the test and before anyone knew it, you walked away with our guild’s treasure, the Origin!”

The Origin… So he knows about this prosthetic. Judging by how unfazed Isshiki-san is, she must’ve known about it too.

“And to top it all off, you’re dragging us into a guild duel just to help out your friend?! And we’re only using Supporters in this duel?! Give me a break!”

This guy… He’s actually pretty…

“Why the hell should we have to run around cleaning up after your mess?! This guild duel, even with the major handicap, will put a huge dent in our reputation if we lose! Do you even get that?! The pride of our guild is on the line because of you!!”

I see. Now I get it.

I took a step back and then…

“Kazuhara-san… Everything you just said is absolutely right.”

I bowed my head.

“This is all my fault. The truth is, I hadn’t fully considered the burden and trouble I was putting on you all until you pointed it out. I sincerely regret it all.”

Everything he said was completely reasonable. I had been so focused on saving Kisaragi, on myself, on defeating Iizuka and the others, that I never stopped to think about how the rest of Odd Cat viewed this whole situation. There was no way the other guild members were happy about a guild duel happening just because of some newcomer, especially because of some unknown newcomer like me. I could see now why Isshiki-san had been so cold toward me. It all made sense now.

“O-Ooh… You’re a pretty honest kid, huh? Well, as long as you get it, that’s what matters. Well, not like we can do anything about it anyway. What’s done is done. That aside, if you’ve reflected on it, then pull yourself together and start planning how to win the duel.”

Kazuhara-san didn’t press me more than necessary. Just as I thought, despite appearances, he was actually a reasonable person.

“Yes. I will be in your care, Kazuhara-san.”

I lifted my head and continued the discussion.

“As you’ve probably heard, this time, we have to defeat the Seekers using only Supporters. The battle format will be a 3-on-3 team match in a ruined area.”

“If we’re only using Supporters, teamwork is a must. Be honest with us. How does it look? Based on the skill of the top three members of your former guild, what do you think about our chances of winning this fight?”

At that question, I answered honestly, without holding anything back.

“100%.”

“Hah?”

“We have a 100% chance of winning.”

To be frank, there was no way we could lose.

“Are you out of your damn mind? They have two A-rank Seekers, don’t they?”

“Yes, two out of their three members are A-rank, but it’s not a problem. The ones they’ll field are Atsushi Iizuka and Mia Naruse, along with a third B-rank member. The last one is an unknown factor. I don’t know who they will choose as their third member, but I have a good grasp of Iizuka and Naruse’s abilities. Iizuka is on the lower end of A-rank, and Naruse, at best, is mid-tier B-rank. If it’s us… We can win. I’m sure of it.”

We knew everything about our opponents. We could prepare countermeasures as much as needed. On the other hand, Iizuka and Mia knew nothing about me. They hadn’t even tried to learn more about their enemies. Well, even if they tried to study us, there was no way they could get intel on my OOParts. Since we were fighting Seekers, not monsters, magic spell would be highly effective. All three of us had the ability to take on a B-rank Seeker one-on-one… Or so I believed. There were still some things I didn’t know about my two teammates’ strengths, but based on the list of their magic spells, we should be able to win this fight easily. As long as we prepared properly and coordinated our attack well, losing was not an option.

“It’s easy for you to say all that.”

Isshiki-san looked at me coldly. Kazuhara-san, on the other hand, had a gleam in his eyes.

“Hah! Now that’s interesting. You haven’t even seen mine or Sae’s abilities and you’re still that confident? That must mean you believe in your own strength, right?”

“Yes.”

False modesty would be a waste of time. I could take down any member of Fenrir in a one-on-one fight.

“Alright, newbie… I don’t hate confident guys. Then let’s see this so-called strength of yours firsthand.”

Kazuhara-san clenched his fist and stepped forward.

“…Sounds good. After all, a sparring match is the quickest way to gauge each other’s fighting styles.”

“Exactly.”

“But this wouldn’t be fair. I have my OOPArts.”

“From what Abisu told me, your OOPArts only have an anti-monster attribute and no special abilities beyond that, right? It’s basically just a tough prosthetic arm against us.”

“It also increases its wearer’s physical attributes. You shouldn’t underestimate this prosthetic arm.”

“Hm? Oh, right. That’s a thing.”

“At the moment, I haven’t fully mastered the effect of this OOPArts yet. I can’t suppress my physical strength when I fight with them on.”

I could manage to control the output of my strength in daily life, but in battle, I had no leeway to control my strength. Unlike Abisu, I couldn’t hold back. I knew Abisu was holding her strength back when she fought me. 

“So, as a handicap… You two can fight me together. Let’s do a two-on-one match.”

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