Surviving in a World Teeming with Monsters with the Useless Skill 【Everyday Items Master】! I Was Just Hunting Wild Animals with a Crowbar, So Why Is Everyone Screaming It's an S-Rank Monster? - 115

Chapter 115: Even a Tiger Cub Is Still a Tiger

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Shuuya Koufukuji, getting a bit wet from the rain, returned to the sniper spot with the twins, where his big sister was waiting.

“Mmh, welcome back, everyone~ Did you come all this way just to pick me up too? So sweet~. Fwaaaah.”

Saya said with a yawn. To that, Sango replied with an awkward expression.

“Ye-yeap, yeap! Totally! If we went to the delivery facility without picking up Onee, that’d be so sad, right~?”

“Sango-chan, that’s a lie. You couldn’t do a long-distance transfer because the teleportation magic’s tier was too high and you couldn’t copy it completely.”

“Shizuku~! We promised not to talk about that~!”

Sango burst out angrily at Shizuku’s words. To which Shuuya commented with a single line.

“Both Nee-san and I already figured that out from the start.”

“Eh.”

“Ahaha~ Twins-chan copy skill is strong, but aside from skills they’re used to copying from Shuu-chan, they can’t copy others perfectly.”

“You were teasing me even though you knew~!? Ugh, you dummy, Onee!”

“Ufufu, no point trying to hide it, Sango-chan.”

“Shizuku, you’re annoying too! Shut up!”

Sango pouted, crossing her arms. Meanwhile, Shizuku giggled. For Team Ashura, the first core was Shuuya’s double tier-1 skills. Because of that, despite being Saya’s younger brother, Shuuya served as the squad leader.

The second core was likely the immortality skill left behind by their late father. Thanks to it, Shuuya and the others were transformed into “invincible soldiers who won’t die.”

Then, the twins’ copy skill made up the third core of Team Ashura. Effectively doubling Shuuya’s two tier-1 skills. That alone nearly doubled their capabilities. Furthermore, in situations like this one, when the enemy possessed useful skills, the twins could immediately incorporate those into their strategy.

Sango tended to favor the Sword Saint skill, and Shizuku the Legendary Gunner skill, but… In fact, both twins had fully copied both Sword Saint and Legendary Gunner skills.

Even hiding that fact was part of their strategy. Hence the name Ashura. A martial god with three pairs of arms and three faces. That embodiment was the deus ex machina the Japanese government aimed for: Team Ashura.

“So then, Shuuya~”

Saya looked at the girl Shuuya was carrying.

“Is that the Offspring~?”

“Yeah.”

As he answered, Shuuya gently laid the Offspring on the ground. What was her name again? The Everyday Items Master had called her Luna, he thought.

“Hmm. She looks suuuper cute. Like a little doll~.”

Saya approached and poked the girl’s cheek.

“Don’t poke her too much. She’s technically a corpse.”

“She’s humanoid, but she’s a monster, right~? One of those demon types who can talk?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Then she’s not really a corpse, is she~?”

“…Do what you want.”

“Yay~!”

Sighing, Shuuya ended the conversation. He had never been able to win against Saya in arguments. He brought up his device and began compiling a report on everything that had happened before escorting the Offspring to the facility.

These administrative tasks were the biggest burden on Shuuya as captain. Charging in first, as he usually did, was nothing compared to this. While typing, his thoughts drifted to the Everyday Items Master.

They had earned his deep resentment, but they had outmaneuvered him. The Everyday Items Master was isolated, and the supporting Ferocious Shark Gang had been crushed, so even resurrection was unlikely to succeed easily.

Even if they somehow rebuilt their team, by then Team Ashura would have already withdrawn. The Everyday Items Master wouldn’t be able to catch up. In other words, it was a complete victory on their side.

“This time, this mission was even more of a struggle than the last SSS-class subjugation.”

Choosing not to face him head-on had been the right call. Having confronted him today, Shuuya was certain of that. The Everyday Items Master and Shuuya were evenly matched in solo power. If they fought, it could go either way. A fight that shouldn’t happen.

Combat should be won before it begins. Winning while sustaining fatal injuries is not a victory at all.

That was why they had formulated this strategy.

“No matter how strong someone is, they have a weakness.”

For the lonely, love worked. Give them love, and even the strongest would fall. For those blessed with others, isolation worked. Take everything around them, and they would be paralyzed. In that sense, it was almost certain the Everyday Items Master would be unable to act once everyone around him was killed.

Shuuya could easily imagine himself being similarly lost if his family were taken from him.

“Still, maybe it’s because she’s a demon, but even though I definitely blew her head off, her face doesn’t look that pale~.”

“Onee, playing with corpses for fun is a bad hobby~!”

“Yeah, Nee-ne, let’s leave her alone.”

“I don’t know, I feel oddly drawn to her~. I wonder why~.”

“Ugh, Shizuku, let’s go somewhere else. I don’t want to indulge Onee’s creepy hobby.”

“Yeah. Nee-ne, you really should stop.”

“The twins are so cold~. Wait, just a little longer~!”

Ignoring the chattering sisters, Shuuya focused on finishing the report. Looking back over the battle summary, he thought: they’d been lucky.

The Everyday Items Master had more talent than Shuuya. The skill tier difference was as clear as day. Shuuya was a genius among geniuses, but the other was at the top of the world—a master skill user.

If their positions had been reversed… If the Everyday Items Master had received a truly loving upbringing, like Shuuya’s father gave him—Shuuya would’ve lost without a doubt.

The difference in upbringing had decided the victor.

His father had paid close attention to him when Shuuya was still unruly, right after being adopted. He let him do what he wanted. Despite no blood relation, he gave Shuuya the love of a true father.

Shuuya was deeply grateful. He loved the family his father had loved, and never once forgot his father’s words: “Protect the family.”

His father had always been his role model. He’d always wanted to be like him. But then, Shuuya thought. The desperation the Everyday Items Master showed when they took the Offspring, Luna…  That reminded him somehow… Of his father.

“【I hereby name you. Your name is ‘Sleepy Dormouse.’】”

“Ghk—”

Shuuya’s hand stopped abruptly. He had been so focused on the report that he didn’t grasp what he had just heard. Frowning, he slowly turned toward the voice.

What he saw was inexplicable. The Offspring, who should have been dead, had risen again, and Saya was frozen in place, stiffened by her actions.

“…”

But Shuuya reacted instantly. Grabbing his blade, he closed in on the Offspring. He drew with an iaijutsu stance—powerful enough to cleave a child’s body cleanly in half. He aimed to kill the Offspring, for real this time—

But Saya stepped in and blocked him.

“Hm? Nee-san, why—”

“Eh~? Because she’s Princess~? Can’t just cut her down~.”

As if stating the obvious, Saya casually stopped him. Meanwhile, the Offspring stood up. Gone was the lively expression she’d had right before capture. Now she stood like a ghost, as if her whole family had been taken from her.

“…It was my fault.”

Tears fell from the Offspring’s eyes.

“Now I understand why Onii-sama scolded me. It was about… This.”

Her face crumpled.

“If I use my power without thinking, I create enemies. And those enemies, someday, won’t just hurt me, but everyone around me too.”

Despite her youth, she wept quietly, maturely.

“Still—”

She looked at Shuuya. In her tears, hatred gleamed.

“You, and only you—I cannot forgive.”

A pink light shone in her eyes.

“【I hereby name you. Your name is ‘Bandersnatch.’】”

“Ggh, t-this won’t… work on me!”

Shuuya resisted the strange sensation invading his mind through his vision. But in that moment of hesitation, the Offspring moved.

“【Are you there, Mad Hatter?】”

“I’m here, Princess. …Whoa. Looks like you’re back.”

“【Can you come, March Hare?】”

“On my way~! Ah! March Hare’s wounds are healed~!”

At her call, a top-hat goblin emerged from her shadow, and a bunny girl appeared from a dimensional rift. Both had been killed earlier in the assault on the Everyday Items Master.

And yet, here they were, perfectly whole.

“Onii~? It’s getting noisy, what’s going o—eh!?”

“Nii-ni, what’s happening? Who are these people? And Onee—?”

Even Shuuya didn’t understand. Then the Offspring spoke.

“【I command the Mad Tea Party. Kill everyone here.】”

“Got it, Princess.”

“Roger~!”

The goblin closed in on Shizuku. A blade from his cane pierced her, silencing her breath. The bunny girl teleported a knife. It struck Sango’s heart. She too fell. Only Saya didn’t move. She looked awkwardly at the Offspring.

“Uh, see, I don’t wanna kill them. They’re my family. Do I have to?”

“Yes. Please kill them.”

“Haaah, well, if you say so~”

Saya touched her rifle and, with a casual “Yo~”, took aim. Her sights were set on Shuuya.

“Nee-san…”

“Sorry, Shuuya. I don’t want to either, but it’s the Princess’s order~”

Shuuya could have dodged. He excelled in close-to-mid range. Saya’s domain was mid-to-long range—she had no chance at this distance.

But he didn’t dodge. He trusted his sister. He believed that no matter what, his beloved family, Saya, would never shoot him.

Gunfire.

A large hole was blasted in Shuuya’s torso.

“Ghh, gah…”

Blood gushed from his mouth. Still, Shuuya didn’t fall. His body’s resilience, and the immortality gifted by his father, kept him standing. Then two figures moved to finish him off.

“Yo, loser. You’re one tough bastard.”

“For stubborn folks, this is how it’s done~!”

The goblin swung his cane-blade as he passed. The bunny girl embedded multiple knives in Shuuya, teleporting them inside his body.

“Grah…!”

His limbs severed, his organs ravaged, Shuuya finally collapsed. His body sank into a pool of blood. The splash of fluid mixed with the rain outside. And yet, his consciousness did not fade.

Even with only his right arm left, he clawed at the ground, coughing blood, and clung to life.

“Nee-san… Gugh… No…Come back to your senses…!”

Crawling on the ground, Shuuya looked up at his sister. 

“Sorry, Shuuya.”

Saya, with an apologetic face, pressed the rifle muzzle against Shuuya’s head.

“The Princess really wants you dead. Sorry, okay~?”

The powerful rifle round blew Shuuya’s head apart.

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How much time had passed?

With a sharp pain in her heart, Sango gasped and came back to life with a sharp gasp.

“Hah! Wh-What!? What just happened!?”

Her breathing grew rapid and frantic. Gradually, the searing pain running through her whole body began to ease. She checked herself. There was a gaping hole in the chest of her uniform.

And then she remembered— the knife the bunny girl had thrown. It had been teleported by magic, and gouged straight through her chest. A moment later, Shizuku, who had collapsed, also came back to life with a groan. 

“Ugh… kuh…”

“Shizuku!”

“Sango…-chan…? Wh-What… happened…?”

“I don’t know! But I think the Offspring did something, and we were probably dead for a little while.”

As she spoke, her eyes scanned their surroundings— and found the mangled corpse of their older brother, Shuuya.

“I think…”

“…Ah, over there.”

Time froze for the twins. Then, with tears welling in their eyes, they rushed over to him.

“Onii! Onii!?”

“Nii-ni!? Nii-ni!”

This was the first time anything like this had ever happened to them. Their big brother had always been truly strong, sharp-minded— the strongest of them all.

And now, he was lying there in such a pitiful state. His body was so ruined it hadn’t even begun to regenerate.

“Hey… Nee-ne! What happened to Nii-ni!? Hey… Hey…!”

Shizuku looked around. But their older sister, Saya, was nowhere to be seen. Sango remembered what had happened just before, and muttered.

“…I think Nee-ne got brainwashed by the Offspring.”

“What…?”

“That mind control that was spreading across town— remember? I think she got hit by that. That’s why she killed Onii. Otherwise, there’s no way he would’ve lost so easily.”

“No… Way…”

Shizuku clutched her head. Tears began to pool in her eyes. Sango felt the same.

Their invincible brother. The one who never lost. The one who could lead their family and reinforcements to defeat even an SSS-class monster. Now that brother lay dead in a pool of blood. Even if he had been taken by surprise— to think someone capable of that now stood before them as an enemy.

Sango felt so terrified she thought she might burst into tears. Their brother was dead, their sister taken. All that was left— were the youngest sisters, themselves.

“S-Sango-chan…”

Shizuku called out to her. That snapped Sango back to her senses. Right. Sango may have been the younger sibling overall, but between the two of them, she was technically the elder twin.

“Shizuku.”

Sango spoke.

“For now, we wait for Onii to come back. I don’t think there’s any need for us to rush. Once he’s revived, we can move.”

“O-Okay…? Will that… Really be okay?”

“Yeah. It’ll be fine. For now, we wait—”

Just then, the twins both reacted at the same time.

“…H-Hey, Shizuku. D-Did you feel… Just now…?”

“N-No way. No. What do we do? Why now…?”

That presence. That crushing malice and killing intent.

It was exactly the same as what they’d felt just before fleeing— the presence of the Everyday Items Master.

“Taku-san is here.”

They had no idea how, but he was coming. The man their brother had gone out of his way to avoid fighting head-on. Japan’s only Master Skill holder was closing in on their location.

“Wh-What do we do!? What should we do!? Nii-ni is dead, and Nee-ne is gone!”

Shizuku began to panic. In response, Sango looked at their brother’s body. His limbs had been torn apart, his organs ravaged. And yet— their late father’s “Song of Resurrection” had not ceased. It was still working, still repairing Shuuya.

Which meant, there was only one thing they had to do.

“Shizuku!”

Sango grabbed her sister’s shoulders.

“We have to fight.”

“Huh…?”

“There’s no one else who can protect Onii but us. That’s why we have to fight. We have to fight Taku-san!”

“B-But…”

“No buts! We have no choice! Or are you just going to abandon Onii!? Are you okay with letting Taku-san find his body and destroy it so badly he can’t even come back!?”

“N-No…! I can’t…! That’s too cruel…!”

“Then—!”

Sango shouted.

“Get up! Get up and fight! There’s nothing else left for us now!!!”

“Uwaaaaah…! Waaaaaaah!”

Shizuku burst into tears. Sango, too, cried out as she wept. But even so, the twins stood up.

Their faces red, wiping away their tears, they headed toward the source of that ominous presence.

On the first floor of the ruined building— down the stairs into the darkness below— came the sound of something metallic being dragged along the floor, clatter… clatter… Then, emerging from the shadows, the man spoke.

“Yo.”

The metal object being dragged was lifted and slung over his shoulder. It was a crowbar.

“I’m here to take Luna back.”

The man standing before them looked pitifully scrawny, but the twins knew him. Japan’s only Master Skill holder. The first person in the world to defeat an SSS-class monster. One of the indisputable strongest in the world.

The Everyday Items Master.

Taku Monobe stood before the twins.

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