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? - 76

Chapter 76: Radio Tower : Declaration of Intention to Kill

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Teleportation magic. What awaited us on the other side of the dimensional distortion that swallowed us up—was the sky.

“It’s hiiiiiiiiigh!?”

Apparently, we were on top of a radio tower. It was the radio tower located in the central part of the restricted area. All around us stood rows of abandoned buildings.

The platform was spacious enough that several people could move around freely. But given the height and the fact that it was outdoors, it probably wasn’t a place open to the public. What filled my field of vision was the vast blue sky. What I felt on my skin was a strong wind.

High places really are cold. I know that from personal experience—I’ve been blown up into the sky by an explosion before.

“Hyah~! So cooold!”

Even though she was the one who teleported us here, Inaba was hugging her arms and shivering. She was in a bunny outfit… and I looked at her with a mixture of pity and resignation. Anyway, I gave Inaba a quick thank-you.

“The location’s kind of questionable, but thanks, Inaba. It’s true—if we’re here, even if they figure out where we are, it’ll be hard for them to launch a quick assault.”

“You’re very welcome~! Ui-chan loves high places~♡”

…The saying “only smoke and fools like high places” comes to mind, but it’s probably best not to say that out loud.

“More importantly, can you please stop callingInaba, Inaba? That name isn’t cute at all~! Call me Ui-chan♡!”

As she swayed her body suggestively, I tilted my head to the side. 

“Shachimaru calls you Inaba though.”

“Everyone in the Ferocious Shark Gang absolutely refuses to call me Ui-chan, no matter what! Don’t follow their mean example~!”

Puffing out her cheeks, Inaba pouted. I gave a wry smile as I powered on my phone and started making a call.

“Alright, I’m calling now, so can you be quiet for a bit, Ui?”

“Kyaa, you called me without honorifics…♡”

“Wait. Does calling someone by their first name with and without -chan have different connotations? Ah, the call is connected.”

Ignoring red-faced Ui, I turned back to the call screen on my phone. The person who answered was Angel.

『Hello!? Taku!? What’s going on over there!? If you can move, do it right now!』

“Whoa, that startled me. Uh, I think I don’t need to move. We’ve relocated to a decoy location.”

『Huh!? Wait, what do you mean!?』

“It’s a long story, but…”

I explained everything up to this point. That we escaped using Ui’s teleportation magic. That I got treated at the Ferocious Shark Gang’s base. That now, using Ui’s teleportation again, we were some distance away and talking on the phone. After I finished, Angel let out a relieved sigh.

『Thank goodness… So you’ve healed up and taken GPS countermeasures too. Then you’re okay for now.』

“Which means you two are safe too, huh?”

『Of course I am. I noticed what was going on and made plans. Fortunately, Botan’s got amazing speed. As soon as this call is over, we’ll move again.』

“Got it. That’s a relief. How’s Botan?”

『Had her running all night. She’s sleeping now. I’m being careful what I say in case someone’s listening in.』

I see. So they might be listening to this conversation, too. We were up against a tough opponent. If I said anything without thinking it twice first, they might come at us fully prepared. If that happened, we wouldn’t survive. 

Fighting while protecting something—or someone—made things way harder when the enemy was an equal match. A terrifying enemy. And terrifying enemies… I’d rather they didn’t live long.

“We’ll need to win the information war if we want to kill them for good.”

As I said that, Ui, who had been eavesdropping, jumped and let out a surprised yelp.

“Pyo…!?”

On the other end, Angel let out a breath and said.

『Jeez, talk about being scary…』

I spoke again.

“Angel. I want to kill them and eliminate any future threats. I want to proceed with that plan—can I count on you?”

『…Alright. But remember—they’ve got the government backing them. If we just kill them outright, their sponsors will retaliate. I’ll work on a few strategies first.』

“Thank you for your help. Oh, and I almost forgot the most important thing.”

『What is it?』

“We’ve got a teleporter on our side. The one I just mentioned. Do you think we could use her to rendezvous?”

When I said that, Ui’s eyes widened and she stared at me.

“Huh? Is it Ui-chan’s time to shine~?”

“Yeah. Ui, if I get the coordinates from them, could you teleport to their location and pick them up? Think you can do that?”

When I suggested it, Ui made a troubled face.

“Hmmmm~… If it’s a place I’ve been before, no problem, but…”

“You’re being unusually vague now…”

“You see~ Ui-chan can teleport to places she knows, but unknown places are kinda scary~…”

She looked genuinely apologetic. I stayed quiet, urging her to continue.

“You see~ Teleportation magic works if you know the location and terrain, but if you mess it up, it can be seriously bad~… Especially indoors or in restricted areas, where information is often wrong or incomplete~…”

“In other words?”

Ui replied, looking like she didn’t want to say it.

“Worst case, you end up buried in the ground and suffocate to death~…?”

“…Sorry, Angel. Looks like it’s not going to be that easy.”

『Yeah, life’s not that convenient… And the terrain around here is pretty rough, so the risk is too high. No need to gamble. I’ve got a few other reunion plans lined up.』

“You’re the best, Angel.”

When I praised her, she replied like she was striking a triumphant pose.

『I know, right? I’ll keep the details hidden for now just in case they’re listening, but I think we’ll be able to meet up if we take our time.』

“Cool. Anything I can do?”

Angel’s voice was cheerful—almost too cheerful.

『Nope!』

“You don’t have to be that blunt…”

That kinda stings. When I said that, Angel teased me.

『Just kidding~♡ Aw, did you take it seriously~?♡』

This little brat…

Then she switched to a more serious tone.

『But seriously, there’s not much you can do. One thing, though—I need you to stay anonymous until I give the signal.』

“A signal, huh.”

『Yeah, a signal. You’ll know it when it comes. I won’t keep you waiting too long.』

If Angel said that, I could trust her. Still, one thing nagged at me.

“…Just until then, huh?”

『Yeah. With everything we’re setting up, it’ll probably be sometime late tonight. Until then, you’re ‘Anonymous T’.』

“I don’t think that’s going to work….”

No one says that anymore. “Anonymous” or whatever.

『That’s all from me. I’ll handle the reunion plan and debuff strategy for the enemy team.』

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

The call ended. After that, I thought for a while. What could I do on my end? When Team Ashura attacked, I judged that we couldn’t win at the moment and chose to run.

“Preparations. We need preparations to kill them.”

What kind of preparations? The enemy had several threats. Backup supports that gave them pseudo-immortality and sniping capabilities…. And three individuals who were simply powerful on their own.

If we could eliminate their backup, I figured Botan and I could win. If Angel and Luna were supporting us behind the scenes, we’d have less to worry about.

That meant we couldn’t win if we were ambushed. At least not in a head-on fight. Ideally, we’d be the ones launching the ambush. In that case, what we needed was—

“Search capabilities and high mobility. Those two.”

We didn’t currently have anyone who could pinpoint specific individuals across a wide area, but…

“Hm? Tacchan, why are you staring at Ui-chan like that? …Wait! Don’t tell me—Tacchan has fallen for Ui-chan!?”

Placing her hands on her cheeks, she squealed and wriggled her body.

“Kya~♡”

Watching her, I muttered.

“…Maybe I’ll ask Shachimaru if he knows anyone.”

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T/N: Taku telling Angel he’s going to kill them while fully aware they’re wiretapping their conversation… BASED