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? - 89

Chapter 89: A Regional Gift Set

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When the old man with the Master Skill bolted out, shaking all over, the mischievous boy who had been following him just stood there dumbfounded, unable to understand what was going on.

“…What the hell is that old man doing…?”

The boy had seen yesterday’s battle with his own eyes. Yesterday, that old man had looked like a demon. He’d grinned ferociously and toyed with even the S-Rank adventurer Inago as if they were nothing. The boy himself had been on the receiving end at the welcome party, and now realized that the old man had been holding back significantly. That thought alone was terrifying.

And that was exactly why he couldn’t make sense of the old man’s actions now.

“S-Stop hurting the village chief…! I-I’ll take you on instead…!”

The old man’s movements looked—well, like a clumsy, creepy weakling who didn’t know what he was doing. Not even good enough to qualify as a D-Rank adventurer. He looked so pathetic, it was hard not to underestimate him.

Anyone seeing him for the first time would be fooled. Even the boy, who knew his true strength, felt like he might get tricked if he let his guard down. And so, he couldn’t help but think.

Why would he do something that looks like he’s asking to get beaten?

“…Hey.”

“Yes!”

Following an order from the leader of Kraken, Shokkai, one of his subordinates approached the old man. Then landed a single punch.

“Gwah!”

With just that one punch, the old man was sent flying. It didn’t look like he had tried to defend himself. The punch had hit him full force. The old man groaned while writhing on the ground.

“Ugh…” 

“Know your place, weakling!”

Spitting with an audible ‘ptooey’, the Kraken underling hit the old man’s cheek with his saliva. Seeing that, the boy felt his blood boil—as if it had happened to him.

“Hey! You bastard!”

“…Huh? What’s this? Are you gonna defy us too?”

The boy, no longer just an observer, shouted and stepped into the center of the square, approaching the old man.

“You’ve got some nerve, acting all high and mighty just because we didn’t fight back!”

“Tch… Who are these guys? No one told them about the tsunami?”

Shokkai muttered, but the boy didn’t stop. Even he didn’t know why. He just felt an irrational surge of anger at how the old man had been humiliated. But just as the boy was about to clash with Kraken, the old man grabbed his leg and stopped him.

“Tch. Hey, old man, don’t get in my way! I’ve got something I need to say to these guys!”

The boy looked down at the old man lying at his feet. But then he noticed the eyes glinting from beneath the old man’s hood and fell silent.

“…!”

The old man’s eyes were gleaming—focused, predatory.

“Old man…?”

The old man slowly got to his feet. Even though his legs were trembling from just one punch, he stepped forward.

“I won’t let you lay a hand… On anyone from this village!”

Shaking all over, the old man stood between Kraken and the village. And to that, Shokkai—

“…Heh, haha, ahahahahahaha!”

Burst into laughter, like something had struck his funny bone.

“W-What the hell is this guy! AHAHAHA! There’s pathetic, and then there’s THIS! Shaking like a leaf from one punch, and he says ‘I won’t let you harm the villager’? AHAHAHA!”

Holding his stomach, Shokkai laughed, and the laughter spread throughout all of Kraken. Everyone in Kraken laughed at the old man’s pitiful stance. Their raucous cackling clung to the old man like a swarm of flies.

“Pff, kukuku… But hey, I’ll give you this—you’ve got guts. Alright! Anyone who wants to play with this so-called ‘hero,’ step up! Let’s let him ‘protect’ the village until he dies!”

At Shokkai’s call, his burly subordinates began surrounding the old man.

“U-Ugh…! C-Come at me…!”

“Whoa there! Gotta say, his courage is something else! Standing up to all of us like this—what a show!”

Nearly ten rugged men encircled the old man. As if they’d forgotten about pillaging, they now treated the old man like a new form of entertainment. What rained down were merciless fists.

“Gyaah! Ngh! AAAAAAH!”

“You bastard! Don’t you dare look down on Kraken!”

“It hurts! It hurts! Stop—gah!”

“Protect the village? You can’t even protect yourself, dumbass!”

The old man’s frail body was pummeled as if it would break at any second now. His screams rang out, and the villagers shuddered at the sound.

“W-Why…”

Watching it unfold, the boy clenched his fists in frustration. Sure, they were supposed to be decoys, meant to buy time. But this—this wasn’t the way. There was no need for him to go this far. The old man could have easily overpowered them.

Raindrops began to fall—one by one, cold and relentless, as if pressing down on the old man’s suffering. And as the rain poured harder, so too did the beating continue.

“Tch… Rain’s coming down. Hey! Fun time is over. Kill him already and get on with transporting the food—”

It was at that moment…. A flash of silver radiated outward from the old man—swift and blinding. The boy blinked in confusion.

What was that?

He thought he’d seen something strange—something unreal.

【Tape Measure Blade】

The heads of the Kraken men flew off all at once.

“…Huh?”

The men who had been beating the old man collapsed, fountains of blood spurting from their necks. Soaked in blood, the old man slowly stood up.

“What a crap job… Seriously. This is what happens when you don’t resist?”

“Oww,” he added, the only one in the scene who didn’t seem tense at all.

“Wh-What the… O-Old man…?”

“Oh. Thanks for worrying about me earlier. But your thinking was a little naive.”

Washing the blood from himself with the rain, the old man spoke to the boy casually, like they were just engaging in a small talk.

“We’re the bait. Meant to buy time. Maybe you thought fighting back would buy time, but if I went and overpowered or killed them, they’d call the Kraken, right?”

At those words, the boy gasped. And then, he couldn’t believe it.

You let yourself get beaten like that… Just to perfectly play the role of bait?

“W-What… What the hell is this?! What did you do?!”

Shokkai screamed at the unbelievable sight before him. The old man held it up for him to see.

A tape measure. The very same weapon he had once used to take the boy down without leaving a scratch.

“I just extended it and swung it around.”

“H-Huh? T-That’s impossible—”

“Wanna see a demo then?”

The old man spoke, then swiftly extended the tape.

【Tape Measure Blade】

Everyone who touched the metal tape was cut clean in half and collapsed. Only Shokkai remained. A massive tentacle had suddenly appeared to shield him, leaving him unscathed.

“Wha-… Wha-…!”

“You know how tape measures can slice your fingers if you’re not careful? Same principle. But it seems this thing doesn’t have quite enough bite to cut through those tentacles.”

“—Kraken! The tsunami! Call the tsunami! Wash them all away!”

Shokkai screamed, but nothing happened.

“Wha—? K-Kraken? Respond to me, Kraken! Why aren’t you answering!?”

“Maybe because it’s dead?”

At the man’s words, the boy looked up at the sky. There, the magic circle for rain cast by the boys’ boss, Shachimaru Aniki, was fading away in the sky.

When he said the rain was the signal, I didn’t really get it, but… Shachimaru can actually make it rain, huh. Water magic is pretty versatile, huh?

The man also looked up at the sky and spoke. “Anyway,” he added, removing his hood.

Then Shokkai’s eyes bulged wide.

“Wha—whaaa!? Y-you—you’re—n-no way! T-t-t-the Everyday Items Master…!?”

“Ding ding ding, correct~. I guess I’ve gotta give the winner a prize, huh. Might not be much, just my sense of style…”

The man pulled a spray can and a plastic umbrella from his pocket.

“This is Ikasashi Village, right? Kraken, how about we turn you guys into squid sashimi? A special regional gift set for plundering this village. We have a value set, containing several tons worth of squid sashimi, just for you.”

Seeing that terrifying smile, the boy trembled, despite being on the same side as the old man.

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