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? - 63

Chapter 63: What It Means to Be Underestimated

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Let’s get the situation straight.

Botan and I were still standing. The one being held hostage was Luna. Luna didn’t have any combat ability, so there was no way she could escape on her own. If Botan and I teamed up, we could probably take down the bunny girl instantly, but that didn’t guarantee Luna would come out unharmed.

In that case, it was best to wait for an opening.

Fortunately, I had the kind of presence that made people underestimate me when they had no prior information about me. The bunny girl then said.

“Eww~! Are you trying to threaten me with that crowbar~? I mean, can you even swing that thing properly with those scrawny little arms~? Kya-ha!”

The bunny girl was trying to provoke me. I expected as much, so I didn’t react—but Botan seemed to get ticked off and stepped forward. I hurriedly stopped her.

“Botan, wait. That bunny girl gives me the creeps. It’s too soon to rush in.”

“…Really?”

“It just doesn’t sit right that neither you nor I noticed Luna getting taken hostage. Plus…”

I glanced at Botan.

“We’ve been focused on the bunny girl, but there’s another one. Her partner is here too―”

It was at that exact moment that he appeared.

“Think about who you’re picking a fight with, you dumbass!”

“Gyaaah! Owwww!”

Someone strode in from the side and smacked the bunny girl without mercy. It was a man who seemed to be her partner. He had slicked-back hair, narrow eyes behind glasses, and wore casual clothes. In his hand was a plastic bottle filled with water. We all stared at him wide-eyed.

Huh? What’s going on?

While I was still trying to figure it out, Luna was released and ran toward me.

“Onii-samaaa!”

Luna threw herself into my arms. As I caught her, I looked over at the narrow-eyed man and the bunny girl. The narrow-eyed man bowed his head to us in apology.

“Ahhh, sorry about that! Our idiot here really messed up! I swear, she didn’t mean to pick a fight with Crowbar Bro!”

“…Uhh? Judging by how you said that, you know who we are?”

“Of course I do! You’re the first ones to ever take down an SSS-class monster! Over two million subscribers on your channel! Anyone who doesn’t know Crowbar Bro is just an idiot—like her!”

As he spoke, he smacked the bunny girl again with the plastic bottle. She yelped.

“Owwww! Stooop it already!”

Meanwhile, I was…

“…First ever… Triple S Class…?”

“Ah, so you really weren’t faking it in the video? Your brain’s clearly short-circuiting right now.”

“Taku’s always like this… Speak in simpler terms so his brain doesn’t overheat…”

As I repeated what he said in a daze, Botan stepped in to help. Luna shook me and said.

“Onii-sama? Don’t fall asleep with your eyes open!”

Snapping out of it, I replied.

“R-Right, so you do know who I am. Good.”

…Which means, what? The bunny girl acted on her own without knowing who we were? Still, she sure seemed like she knew how to take a hostage properly.

“Well, that’s about right. So, who’re the lovely ladies with you?”

The man gave a sidelong glance at Botan and Luna as he spoke.

“…That’s the ‘Monster’ girl, right? And I don’t recognize the other one.”

The way he kept saying things like he could see through us made me frown. Noticing that, the man said.

“Ahh! My bad. I should’ve introduced myself first.”

“I’m Ryouta Shachimaru, just your average adventurer. This one’s Ui Inaba. As you can see—she’s an idiot.”

“I’m not really sure what’s going on~ but we’re in the same business~? Sooorry! Forgive me, pyon~!”

The bunny girl—now identified as Inaba—made a rabbit pose with her hands on her head. You could tell she was an idiot at a glance. Why the hell was she even wearing a bunny outfit?

“…Well, you probably already know, but I will introduce myself too for formality’s sake. I’m Taku. This is Botan, and that’s Luna.”

After I introduced ourselves, the Kansai-accented narrow-eyed guy—Shachimaru—looked satisfied. In contrast, Inaba still looked totally clueless.

“Anyway.”

No point tiptoeing around it anymore. I got to the heart of the matter.

“You guys are raiders, right? You attacked us, then backed off when you realized who we were?”

“Uhehe… You caught us?”

Shachimaru admitted it without a hint of guilt. This guy…

“But don’t lump us in with scum like the Werewolf crew, alright?”

That made me recall something. Werewolf. The macho wolf guys. I’d heard before that they were pretty shady. While I was recalling that, Botan asked warily.

“…But you’re still Raiders, aren’t you? People who steal from others.”

“I can’t deny that. But mostly, we target other raiders. We don’t steal from the weak.”

Then he added, somewhat awkwardly.

“Th-That said… This time, due to some circumstances, we tried to get a little something from someone who looked like they had extra to spare…”

“Someone who looked like they had extra, huh.”

I looked at Luna. Today’s outfit was picked out by Botan as part of her fashion lineup. A well-dressed child hanging around a bookstore. In a quarantine zone, Luna’s dress might  look like a sign of affluence.

“…So you tried to mug us, hoping it’d help with whatever that ‘circumstance’ was.”

“Haahh… Yeah, it stings when you put it like that. Really, meeting Crowbar Bro should’ve been a special occasion. We should’ve made it memorable… I’m sorry for the trouble this idiot caused!”

Shachimaru said, grabbing Inaba by the head and forcing her to bow in apology. I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Fine, I get it already. No need to keep apologizing—I can’t stay mad if you’re that sorry.”

“Oh!? You’re forgiving us? Just like that? No bad blood at all? Woohoo!”

Shachimaru did a little victory dance. Inaba poked me with her finger and said.

“Tacchan, you’re sooo gullibleeee~!” 

Tacchan?

“…Taku, I hate to say it, but they’re totally underestimating you. Are you okay with that?”

Botan said with a scowl. I just shrugged.

“It’s better to be underestimated than to be feared. If they’re allies, that means trust. If they’re enemies, that’s an opening.”

Being underestimated can mean they trust you enough to let their guard down. It’s another way of saying they feel safe around you.

At the very least, these two weren’t immediate threats. Being underestimated was just about right. Sometimes, there were idiots who thought they could do whatever they pleased just because you didn’t bother stopping them from underestimating me, but for those kinds of people, you just had to make them understand their position in person then. 

“Killing people for underestimating you is something best left to Kamakura samurai.”

 I said to Botan and at that, Shachimaru chuckled awkwardly. 

“Isn’t that kind of thing a bit dangerous to say in front of us?”

So I answered.

“No problem. Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t be able to properly fear me anyway, right?”

“Excuse me? What’re you… Huh?”

Shachimaru’s face changed like he realized something was off. I shrugged and went on.

“I’ve always had this thing—people tend to underestimate me. I’m scrawny, and in person I look way less impressive than on video, right?”

As I spoke, I stepped into Shachimaru’s space. He blinked in confusion, unable to react.

“And that gives me a big advantage in combat. Because it means the first strike always lands. See?”

I pressed the knife I’d stolen from Inaba against Shachimaru’s throat.

“Even after all this, they still won’t take me seriously until someone bleeds. That’s why it’s fine if they underestimate us. And if that causes any trouble, we just need to kill them.”

“Ahh! When did you steal that, Tacchan!?”

“Inaba, you let your guard down way too much.”

I offered a word of criticism as I handed the knife back. Inaba pouted with an angry face while letting out “Pyon!” sound.

“Pyon” really doesn’t work as a sound for anger though.

“…This is bad. I mean, I know in my head that I was just in a life-threatening situation, but it doesn’t feel real at all.”

Still too shaken to even break a cold sweat, Shachimaru rubbed his neck in confusion.

“..It felt like a relative jokingly pointed a toy knife at me or something. If that had been a real stab, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it.”

“Yeah. That’s why I can explain things without worrying. It’s not like you could be on guard with me anyway.”

Shachimaru only understood it in his head, and Inaba never got it at all from beginning to end. Luna just stood there looking baffled. Only Botan… Only Botan stared at me wide-eyed.

“…You forgave me without asking for anything in return, but I still feel like I should give you something from my end.”

Shachimaru said that as he held out a bell to me.

“What’s this?”

“My apology for the disrespect. I’ll lend you our power unconditionally, just once, Crowbar Bro. I figure it’ll come in handy if you ever want to travel somewhere outside the quarantine zone.”

I accepted the bell. Upon closer inspection, I could see magic-looking symbols etched inside.

“If you ring it, no matter when or where, this idiot will come running. Inaba’s a total idiot, but when it comes to travel, she’s top-tier.”

“That’s right~! Be in awe of me~!”

“…Can you be more specific?”

I frowned and asked, prompting Inaba to throw an arm around Shachimaru’s shoulder in response to his glance. Then Inaba said.

“Ui-chan’s teleportation magic lets her go anywhere she’s been before~!”

Right then, a low, distorted hum vibrated through the air. Between Shachimaru and Ui, something like a spatial distortion began to spread. The space was folding inward, seemingly about to close. But just before it completely closed, Shachimaru spoke.

“We’re called the Ferocious Shark Gang. We’re not just any raiders—we’re righteous thieves, so to speak. If fate brings us together again, we’d appreciate your continued favor.”

The distortion closed completely. And within the blink of an eye, both of them vanished without a trace. I looked around in surprise, then after a beat, muttered.

“I see. So that’s why there was no sign of them when Luna was caught.”

If they weren’t even there physically, there’d be no presence to sense. 

So there are skills like this too, huh? Impressive.

Then, looking at the bell that remained in my hand, I murmured,

“..Maybe we should take that group trip like they recommended.”

Now, where should we go? Oh, I wanna go to Hawaii. Hawaii it is then.

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