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? - 82

Chapter 82: Anytime, Anywhere Bunny Pocket

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Shachimaru explained it like this.

“‘Grasshopper’ is the name of a group of raiders that started getting talked about around the time Aniki was crushing the Werewolf.”

As he spoke, Shachimaru displayed a long-distance photo on his tablet. In the overhead image, countless men were looting a settlement.

“Their main trait is their lack of reason. Whether it’s an area infested with monsters, an evacuation zone, or even territory held by other raiders—if they think there’s something worth looting, they’ll swarm in en masse.”

“They’re like a plague of locusts…” 

I muttered, hearing the description.

In foreign countries, especially arid regions, there were terrifying swarms of grasshoppers and locusts that descended upon villages and devoured every last crop before moving on. That was called a locust plague—literally, a disaster of locusts.

Shachimaru nodded and continued.

“Exactly. And their top guy is this one.”

He swiped the tablet to bring up a photo of a person. A mohawk hair, unfocused eyes with his tongue sticking out, a bare, ripped torso, and thick legs bursting out of cutoff jean shorts. He looked exactly like a human version of a literal locust.

“It’s Gross Gross Bug-san!”

Ui said something pretty harsh. Shachimaru spoke up.

“He’s a raider known as ‘Inago.’ He’s the top of the Grasshoppers… Though it’s said he doesn’t actually lead them or anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s just insanely strong. He roams around looting as he pleases. The surrounding locust punks just follow him around, hoping for scraps.”

“Ahh… So that’s how the numbers ballooned and turned into the current Grasshoppers?”

“Exactly right, Aniki.”

I folded my arms, convinced. The first act of villainy, copycats hoping for leftovers, and then expansion. Like an influencer—but for evil.

“On the flip side, if we take this guy out, the rest of the scum will scatter on their own. If we only need to  pick off the stragglers after that, taking the big guy out first should drastically reduce the overall damage.”

“Got it. So my job is to kill this guy.”

“That’s the plan. I’ll lead the mop-up crew, so Aniki, you take Inaba and handle this guy.”

And so, we came to the department store in the old Mountain King area, which was currently said to be occupied by the Grasshoppers.

“Teleport magic is so convenient~!”

“Boing, boing, just one big hop~!”

Ui clung to me, and the teleportation magic enveloped us. The world briefly darkened—and then, in the blink of an eye, we were there. Super convenient. As usual, Ui was in her bunny outfit, and I had my hood pulled down low like during the welcome party to keep my identity hidden.

I had my doubts about whether it was really okay for Ui to be walking around with her face fully visible in that bunny outfit, but when I asked, she just gave me a puzzled look and said, “It’s fine, y’know~?” So I figured it must be okay.

Just as I thought that—

BOOM!

A nearby explosion echoed, and I jumped in shock. 

“Wah!? What the hell!?”

“Tacchan, you’re such a scaredy-cat~! It’s always like this around here lately~!”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Um, you know how the old Mountain King area’s being fought over by tons of raiders right now~?”

“Ohh, I get it. That explains it.”

I nodded at Ui’s explanation.

So when they say “being fought over,” they mean it’s basically in a constant state of conflict. Even though it used to be a quiet place, aside from that giant ape hanging around…

While I was thinking that, Ui puffed out her chest proudly.

“That’s why Ui-chan’s teleport magic is super useful right now~! Amazing, right!? Praise me, praise me!”

“No, I’m serious right now. You’re amazing, Ui. Teleportation magic is way too convenient.”

Having a unique, irreplaceable talent was something to be proud of. I praised her honestly. For some reason, Ui blushed and looked down.

“Ehehe… R-Really…? U-Ui-chan’s amazing…?”

“Wait, why are you suddenly acting all shy? Where’d your usual cheeriness go?”

“That’s because you said something embarrassing, Tacchan~! Geez!”

“You’re the one who told me to praise you, Ui.”

I made a weird face at Ui, who was shouting with a red face.

“More importantly, this place is the Grasshoppers’ base, right? We should keep quiet and move carefully.”

“Ughhh! Uryah! Uryah uryah uryah!”

“Quit poking me.”

Whether from embarrassment or something else, Ui kept pestering me as she followed along. After a short walk, we found a general goods store.

“Hey, mind if we stop in for a second?” 

I said as I headed over.

“What’s up, Tacchan~?”

“I forgot to bring some weapons when we ran out last time. Gotta restock before I forget.”

As I wandered through the store, I found some plastic umbrellas and kitchen knives. That completed my loadout for now. But…

“Hmm… Still, this stuff is really bulky…”

“Bulky~? Oh! You mean the everyday items you’re carrying, Tacchan!?”

“Yeah, exactly. The crowbar and plastic umbrella are huge. And multiple knives are kind of in the way. Plus, I’ve got a measuring tape with me too.”

I pouted—also realizing I forgot my bag at home. Then Ui said something unexpected.

“But Tacchan, you’re really good at using household stuff, right~? Then can’t you just, like, fit it all in your pocket~?”

“Huh? Haha, no way. I mean, it’s a crowbar and an umbrella. No way that fits in a pocket…”

Still, I tried putting the crowbar in my pocket just to test it out and it slipped in smoothly, all the way to the curved tip, with no resistance.

“……”

“Whoa! Tacchan, that’s amazing!”

“No, wait. This pocket… It might not be just a regular pocket.”

“Huh?”

With a hunch, I reached into the pocket on the other side of my pants. I grabbed something.

【Anywhere Pocket】

The crowbar slid right out of the opposite pocket.

“Whaaaaaat!?”

“Eeeek! Tacchan, was that a magic trick!? So cool~!”

Ui clapped, thinking it was sleight of hand. But my mind was somewhere else entirely.

The pocket—it had to be a skill I unlocked from leveling up. I could tell just from the feel of it: the capacity was easily several dozen kilos. The kicker: it was an 『Anywhere Pocket』. Once something was stored, I could retrieve it from the pocket of a different outfit.

“…If I’m wearing pants with pockets, I basically get a portable armory complete with shared contents, just with a weight limit…!”

This was a huge discovery. I wouldn’t have to lug weapons around in a bag, and I could hoard a bunch of gear whenever I had a chance like this. 

“Wait here a second!”

I told Ui and started tossing anything useful I could find in the shop into my pocket one after another.

“Whoaaaa! This is awesome! Stuff I normally can’t carry because it’s too heavy—I can grab all of it now! This is so fun!”

I had given up on carrying things like alarm clocks because they were too cumbersome, but with the 『Anywhere Pocket』, I could carry as many as I wanted! Just as I was picking up a few other items that caught my eye, I suddenly sensed an enemy presence—and at the same time, Ui shouted.

“Tacchan!”

“I’m coming!”

When I got back to her, two men—probably raiders—were standing in front of her.

“Hey, girl, that’s one sexy outfit you’ve got on… Are you trying to get someone’s attention…? Huh…?”

“Come on, come here. We’ve got plenty of feel-good drugs. Let’s get high together!”

The two of them had wild, unfocused eyes. I didn’t sense any real strength from them, but there was an eerie intensity about them.

“Ui, are you okay?”

“Yeah! I’m totally fine~!”

After saying that much, Ui blinked a few times and then peeked at my face.

“Um… Just now, were you worrying about Ui-chan…?”

“Huh? Well, of course I was. More importantly, focus on the enemies.”

“U-uh-huh~… Ehe, ehehe.”

Ui is acting kind of strange today too.

I thought to myself, as we turned to face our enemies.

“Oh? There’s another guy here~… You wanna join in too~…?”

“That means a 4P, huh! Let’s go all out, HYAHAHAHAHA!”

The enemies crept toward us with crazed, glassy eyes. Or rather, did they not even recognize us as enemies in the first place?

So this is what it means to have no rationality.

I sighed as I pulled two new household items from my pocket.

“Tacchan, what are those~?”

“Oh, nothing special, Ui. These are…”

I grinned.

“My new weapon—impact-focused, for snapping crazed guys back to reality.”

As I explained, I raised a spray can and a lighter, one in each hand.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー