The Virgin Hero Who Fought in the Dungeon for 20 Years Returned to the Surface Only to Find the Population of the World Has Dropped Drastically, with a Male-to-Female Ratio of 1:1000 - 50

Chapter 50: Twilight of the Martyrs

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Kokona finally ended her stint as a human chair at Ryuuto’s insistent request. Now, incredibly enough, they were sitting side by side in the eating space of the convenience store late at night. Unconsciously, Kokona found herself cursing the chair Ryuuto was sitting on.

A cheap, mass-produced chair like you have no right to act superior! I’m far more capable than you as a chair!

Unfortunately, Kokona was beyond saving. Her mind was already rotten to the core.

“Ah, that’s right. Ryuuto-sama, I’ve made you some coffee. Please, enjoy it.”

“Oh, thanks. That’s kind of you.”

“Ah, it’s still hot. If you drink it like this, you might burn your mouth. I’ll cool it down for you. Fuu—, fuu—.”

“Oh, you even do that for me… Thanks.”

Holding the paper cup with both hands, Kokona began blowing on the coffee. Her actions were full of devotion, and her gaze toward Ryuuto was overflowing with affection. Ryuuto scratched his chin bashfully at that. He had let his guard down. 

“Fuu—, fuu—… Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp… Mmm, mmm… Slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp…”

“Hey! What are you doing?! You’re obviously doing more than just cooling it down, right?! I mean, doesn’t your tongue hurt?!”

Kokona felt triumphant. 

Yes! I managed to mix my saliva into the coffee without getting caught. Success! 

She was, without a doubt, a walking bio-terrorist.

“Fuu—. Here you go, Ryuuto-sama. Please savor it to your heart’s content.”

Her cheerful smile could rival that of a professional barista at Starbucks. Her eyes were teary and her slightly sticking out tongue was bright red from the heat.

“You really think I’m going to drink it? This saliva-infused, biohazard-grade concoction you just made?”

“…”

“Don’t just nod silently! Well, as long as it’s not poisonous, I’ll drink it.”

“Ahaaahn~~♡”

“Oi! Am I in some kind of AV shooting?! I am, right?! There must be a hidden camera somewhere!!”

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“It’s fine. You really don’t need to pay.”

“No, no. There’s no way I can leave without paying.”

It’s finally over somehow, but… Are all high school girls these days like this?”

Ryuuto thought to himself as he glanced at Kokona while pulling a bill from his wallet. Even though he hadn’t asked, Kokona had bizarrely made a point of declaring her age.

“I’m an active 16 year old girl! I’m full of vigor and my boobs are so big that they’re about to burst at the seams!”

Indeed. Her face looked idol-like. She was the endearing raccoon type that Ryuuto liked, but the mysterious organization she worshipped… The Hero Association or something… That mysterious organization definitely served as a barrier to any rash actions on his part. 

“In that case… Allow me to throw in some hot snacks for free!This, that, this one, and oh, this too!”

Kokona began to pull more items from the display case. Fries, fried chicken and hot dogs into Ryuuto’s bag. She looked like an animal offering food to attract a mate. 

“Aren’t you just a part-timer? Won’t you get in trouble for doing that on your own?”

“No problem. Even if my manager doesn’t approve of this, the heavens will grant their blessing.”

“Your manager is going to cry…”

“Aaaaah, why is the register not the manual kind?! I want to cling to Ryuuto-sama’s hand as I pass him his change! I will keep savoring this sensation to the afterlife!!”

Indeed. The register was semi-self-service. Ryuuto, who was puzzled by the change, decided not to dwell on it for now. 

“Well… Uhh… I will accept it, but I won’t feel right leaving it like this. I will bring something as a thank-you gift the next time I come here, okay?”

“Nyaaah-!”

Kokona struck a bizarre pose while clicking the food tongs in her hand. 

“Next time… Does that mean… This lowly Kokona will have the honor of seeing Ryuuto-sama’s divine face once more?!”

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal, okay?”

“I can’t afford to quit now.”

“Huh?”

“I fear there’s a high chance I might get fired, but I will refuse the dismissal with all of my might!”

“Oh, so you know what you did is not normal.”

If I were the manager, I would find a way to dismiss her no matter what. 

“Firing me is out of the question. I won’t allow anyone to expel me from this place! Absolutely not!

“I mean, even if you say that…”

“Even if the world ends, I shall never leave this convenience store for the rest of my life.”

“…You’re planning to work here forever? Well, okay, I guess.”

“Ryuuto-sama, I thank the heavens for allowing me to work at this store.”

“Ah! By the way, uhh… You know, I don’t have any friends since coming back to the surface. I’d be happy if you became one. Maybe we could exchange Line IDs?”

For now, let’s exchange contact information with this girl. 

Ryuuto believed this could pave his way toward being popular one day. 

Who knows, maybe I will get invited to a mixer or something. 

The truth was, in that kind of scenario, the mixer would turn into a battle royale between the girls to claim Ryuuto. 

“Uuu…”

“… What’s wrong?”

“I’m so overwhelmed that I nearly ascended to heaven.”

“Right. Be careful out there.”

After safely exchanging Line IDs, Ryuuto picked up the convenience store bag, which was brimming with extra items and headed toward the exit. But then, he felt a tug on his jacket.

“Um, as a final request, could we take a picture together? Just so I can subtly flex to my friends, acquaintances, and relatives.”

“…Sure.”

Ryuuto posed with an arm around Kokona’s shoulder as they took the picture. Kokona held up her smartphone with both hands, hopping up like a child.

“And, um… If it’s alright with you… If you really, really don’t mind it… Could you give Kokona something that belongs to you?”

Kokona asked while blushing and fidgeting. Amid the string of peculiar actions she had done today, this action was oddly endearing. 

“Uh, you mean…”

“Oh, just something light like a strand of hair or a fingernail would do.”

Kokona licked her lips indecently.

“Like hell! Ah, that’s right. Here you go.”

Ryuuto ripped off the bracelet wrapped around his left wrist and handed it to her.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a friendship bracelet. I wore it as a charm when going into dungeons. I always kept it on. Now that I’m back on the surface, it’s kinda like a lucky charm for me. If you’re okay with it, I can give you this…”

“I will make this my family heirloom!”

“Whoa! Easy there!”

Overwhelmed by happiness, Kokona suddenly hugged him. The sensation of Kokona’s soft chest pressing against him left Ryuuto helpless, his lower half reacting out of reflex. Kokona buried her face into his chest, clinging to him like a love-struck girlfriend, even hooking her legs onto him as if trying to pull him down with her. 

Why?

“Ryuuto-sama, I will wait forever—forever and ever—for your next visit. I’ll wait until the end of the world!”

“You’re scaring me!”

On his way out, Ryuuto noticed a makeshift sign at the convenience store entrance made from A-barriers and copy paper, with the words ‘Come in and you’ll be killed!’ scrawled across it.

I see… So that’s why…

Realizing why no other customers had come during his visit, Ryuuto bolted from the scene. Incidentally, he was too scared to block her on Line.

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Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City.

Located in the eastern part of the prefecture, this city was one of Japan’s prominent port and commercial cities. Yokohama City was an ordinance-designated city that had relatively quickly recovered from the Demon King’s defeat and the global male extinction pandemic, partly due to the fewer monsters that had emerged from dungeons in the area. In this city, or to be precise, in a relatively nature-rich area, stood the headquarters of the Hero Association, officially named The Association to Honor and Preserve the Great Deeds of Hero Ryuuto Sakazaki-sama for Future Generations. The Hero Cathedral, shamelessly modeled after St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, was a colossal structure built with the Hero Association’s generous donation funds. This grandiose building, unlike anything seen in other new religions, drew tourists and developed its own line of merchandise. This building had become a famous tourist spot supported by the city.

“Would you like some merchandise?”

“Right now, you can get three Ryuuto-sama stickers for just 10,000 yen!”

In this chapel, Diane de Kinako Saionji, the third generation leader of the Hero Association and the pope who commanded 6 million believers nationwide, was offering prayers in front of a silver statue of Hero Ryuuto late into the night. Special monitors were set up around the chapel, playing videos of Ryuuto Sakazaki’s interviews. Diane stood statue-like, clad in the pure white priestly robes that only the pope of the Hero Association was permitted to wear. Her long lashes were lowered in prayer. As a half-Western woman, she possessed shining golden hair and blue eyes, boasting an exquisite beauty akin to a bisque doll. At 168 centimeters tall, she was slender and graceful. Her chest was ample, her waist so delicate it seemed it might break if embraced by a man, her legs astonishingly long, and her plump hips that seemed good to touch. Though she was only 16 years old, she exuded a powerful sexual allure that could mesmerize the opposite sex with a single glance alone.

However, she had no interest in men. This decision was hers and hers only. From the moment she was born into this world, she had been bound to remain chaste for the sake of the hero she idolized. However, with Ryuuto’s return, her days of chasteness had come to an end. 

Why won’t you come see me, Hero-sama?

Of course, as the leader of the Hero Association, which wielded significant influence in political and business circles, there was hardly anything Diane couldn’t achieve if she so wished. However, Ryuuto’s elder sister, Kazuki Genma, who belonged to the Minsei Party, was actively opposing any meeting between Diane and Ryuuto. Basically, the leaders of the Minsei Party wanted to prevent religion from interfering in politics. If Ryuuto were to formally unite with Diane, Japan’s political center would undoubtedly descend into chaos and if Ryuuto, who was overwhelmingly popular among the public, decided to run for office, the members of the Hero Association running alongside him would surely secure a significant number of seats in elections.

In other words, the meeting between Ryuuto and Diane would result in religions entering the political sphere. Nonetheless, Diane’s feelings were pure. She was just a young woman who wished to meet Ryuuto purely out of her personal longing for her idol. Unfortunately, Diane found herself at the mercy of the Minsei Party’s will. Without the consent of Kazuki Genma, Ryuuto’s guardian, nothing could be done. Some radical members of the Hero Association suggested to Diane to abduct Ryuuto and bring him to the Hero Cathedral by force, but this extreme proposal only incurred Diane’s wrath. 

“I have no intention of imposing my feelings at the expense of displeasing Ryuuto-sama.”

Oh, where are you, and what are you doing now, Ryuuto-sama?

“Ojou-sama… How pitiful you are…”

Fumino Minamino, Diane’s secretary and childhood caretaker, now 22 years old, muttered. From the sleeve of her priestly robes, she pulled out a purple handkerchief embroidered with lilies and used it to wipe her glasses and eyes.

Ping!

“Oh, a notification.”

Fumino put her glasses back on, tapped her smartphone, and checked her LINE messages. It was a friend from her university. Apparently, they had missed the last train home after drinking too much. Fumino, who couldn’t sleep because of Diane’s vigil, was irritated and left the message on read. She then checked her social media. A glance at Diane’s back revealed an aura screaming, ‘Don’t you dare touch your phone!’ But Fumino, being addicted to the internet, ignored it. As a typical young person of her generation, Fumino was inseparable from her smartphone, spending about ten hours a day on it.

She was confident she’d lose her mind if her phone were taken away. Out of habit, she opened Instagram, and in that moment, Fumino let out a shrill noise like a run-over cat.

“Wha—what’s wrong with you? You startled me! What happened?”

“O-Ojou-sama! Ple-Please just take a look at this!”

“What is it? Honestly, Fumino, you’ve always been such a scatterbrain. We, as the leaders of this congregation, must guide the masses. To raise your voice in such an undignified manner in this pure chapel, like some lowly girl—UWEEEEEEEEH???”

The moment Diane looked at Fumino’s phone, she let out a guttural scream, like a crushed toad. On that Instagram post, there was a photo of her beloved Ryuuto Sakazaki, standing arm-in-arm with a young woman who had a smugly triumphant look on her face.

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