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? - 88

Chapter 88: The Suffering of the Ikasashi Village

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The outline of the operation was as followed. Even if we attacked with a large force, we’d eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. If they summoned a tsunami with the Kraken, the entire village would be swept away, and everything would be for nothing.

So, the idea was to eliminate the massive giant squid, the Kraken—essentially the core of Kraken’s power—using Shachimaru’s water magic first.

“And that’s where you come in, Aniki.”

What Shachimaru wanted from me was to buy time until he could kill the Kraken with his water-magic blender.

“We already got intel that Kraken plans to collect their tribute from this evacuation zone, Ikasashi Village, today.”

Shachimaru pointed to a coastal village marked on the map.

“As you can see, it’s right by the sea. If they sense anything off, they’ll rush back to the Kraken and start giving it orders.”

“So that’s why I’m playing the decoy.”

“Exactly. I need total concentration, so if I get attacked, I’m done for. If they give the Kraken a command, it’s even worse.”

I looked at Shachimaru’s face. He was dead serious.

“For starters, I’m gonna die. The village will probably go under in the tsunami too. The only reason I can one-sidedly attack it is because the Kraken will be on standby and unable to fight back.”

“Got it. So even though I’m the decoy, I’m still playing a super critical role.”

“If I’m asking you, Aniki, I’m going all in. I’ll assign a few people to you—use them however you like.”

Then Shachimaru gave me a sly grin.

“Once I take care of the Kraken, it’s your time to shine, Aniki. Go wild. Show those bastards what hell looks like!”

“Understood. Oh, one thing—”

“What is it?”

I rubbed my chin with my thumb and asked.

“What’ll be the signal for when you’ve defeated the Kraken?”

“Oh, that? It’ll be that.”

Shachimaru formed his hand into a gun shape and pointed it at me.

“Wait for the rain.”

And so, with that plan, I led a small group of the Ferocious Shark Gang and headed to the village…

“Just so you know, I still don’t acknowledge you or anything!”

One of the guys assigned to me—a pretty rowdy one—snapped at me. He was a young one. Actually, they all were. Everyone looked to be between fifteen and nineteen. Feeling a little scorched by their youthful energy, I nodded.

“That’s fine. Anyway, about the decoy strategy—”

“Hey, listen when I’m talking, old man!”

When I brushed him off lightly, the rowdy kid snapped back.

“Old man…”

Once again, the damage landed squarely on me.

I hate everyone in the Ferocious Shark Gang except for Ui and Shachimaru. They throw around the word ‘old man’ way too casually.

The rowdy kid flinched.

“Wh-what? You gonna kill me like some damn locust too?! Fine by me!”

“I’m not gonna do that… Anyway, about the decoy strategy—”

“Hey! LISTEN TO ME!”

Ignoring him, I got to the main point.

“Do whatever you want. It’s my first time doing a decoy operation, and since Shachimaru picked you guys, I assume you’re reliable. I’ll just watch and follow your lead.”

When I said that, all of them—including the rowdy kid—widened their eyes at me.

“…What?”

“I-I thought you were gonna start barking orders from above or something.”

“Even if I did, you guys wouldn’t listen, right? So I’ll say it in whatever way gets the best performance out of you.”

When I said that, the Ferocious Shark Gang members looked at each other.

“Okay, break it up. You probably already know this, but don’t stick too close together, alright~?”

I clapped my hands, and they all scattered—somewhat hesitantly. The last one to leave was the rowdy kid. He paused for a moment, turned back to me, and said.

“…You’re actually kinda reasonable for an old man.”

When I opened my mouth to respond, he took off running. Left behind in the shadows of Ikasashi Village where Ui had warped us, I was alone. Tilting my head, I began to walk at my own pace. I stepped out of the shadows and into the street.

Still… I looked up at the sky.

“Rain, huh…”

The sky was clear. Not even a hint of rain. Being by the sea, the ocean breeze felt nice. Early summer was coming to an end, and true summer was right around the corner. I thought it might be nice to take everyone to the beach sometime. But I was probably the only one feeling anything close to vacation vibes.

“This village really has no energy…”

Everyone had gloomy expressions, eyes cast downward as they walked. They didn’t even seem to notice that a stranger like me was loitering around.

“Haah… Are they coming today…?”

A villager muttered as they passed by.

Watching them, I wondered if I should blend in like that—so I hung my head, sighed, and trudged forward. Then it happened.

“People of Ikasashi Village! It’s collection time—!”

A loud voice rang out from a distance. Footsteps began to echo as people poured into the village. As everyone around me started to run in a panic, I followed suit while pretending to be yet another dejected villager.

Soon, I arrived at the village square. There stood a lineup of delinquent-looking men in special-ops jackets—likely Kraken Gang.

And at the center of them all stood a small man I recognized.

“As usual, we’re here for your food! You’re all ready to hand it over, right!?”

The one shouting was the small man. What was his name again? Shokkai or something. At his declaration, a woman of a certain age stepped forward.

“W-we’re sorry, honored members of Kraken… Um, we’ve had poor catches lately, and there’s no food to give…”

Judging by her demeanor, she was probably the village chief. Now that I looked closer, the village was mostly full of young people.

Then Shokkai spoke.

“No food? How much are we talking about here?”

“W-well, not enough to offer you all a proper amount…”

The chief spoke in a strained voice. Shokkai laughed.

“So, you’re saying it’ll be enough if you all go hungry! Then we’ll take it as usual!”

“T-that’s cruel…! P-people will starve to death. Please, I beg you…”

The village chief fell to her knees, begging for mercy. Things must be really desperate here.

But he just said…

“Starvation? Oh, we’ll resurrect them with ten days’ worth of food. Nothing to worry about.”

“…!”

He laughed off her desperate plea.

“If handing it over is such a pain, we’ll just take it from your storage ourselves! Let’s go, boys!”

“““RIGHT ON!”””

“W-wait! Please, anything but that!”

“Shut up, woman!”

“Kyaaah!”

As Shokkai tried to force things forward, the chief tried to stop him desperately. But he summoned a massive squid tentacle from the ground, wrapping and restraining her.

“Ghh…! I-it hurts…S-someone… Help…!”

“Heh, what a pretty provocative pose. I’ll take you back to our base today too. Consider it punishment for disobedience.”

“Eeeek…!”

I furrowed my brow, thinking about what to do. About Shachimaru. About Kraken. About this village. About the youths assigned to me.

“So that means… this is what I have to do.”

I pulled my hood low over my eyes and let out a sigh. Then I dashed forward and shouted.

“Th-that’s far enough! Your rampage ends here…And I’m the one who’s going to stop you…!”

“…Huh? Who the hell are you?”

I jumped out in front of Kraken Gang, deliberately trembling all over as I put my full 120% effort into projecting how easy I was to underestimate.

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