Chapter 68: Fixing a Robot by Hitting It

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Translator: Soafp

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We descended the stairs leading to the second basement level.

“…No-Face-san.”

“Ah… it's unusually muggy down here.”

Halfway down the stairs, I was sweating unpleasantly from the humidity.

I wish I could wash this off in the sea.

…Well, if I washed my body with seawater, I'd probably just get stickier. Better not.

“Th-this is…”

“Hmm… definitely a jungle.”

When we reached the second basement level, a dense jungle stretched out before us.

“Why is there a jungle underground…?”

“…I don't know.”

“Analysis complete. All of this is an illusion with physical substance.”

““An illusion?””

Lauren's report made both Belchika and me tilt our heads in confusion.

So this jungle itself is something that was created… as an illusion?

And it even has physical substance…

“Lauren, wouldn't that mean it's no longer really an illusion?”

“Yes. The phenomenon is close to material creation—ga-ga—”

A sudden static-like noise came from Lauren.

“As far as I know, the only one capable of such a thing is Kokonoha.”

“…You know Kokonoha?”

“Affirmative. While others doubted the king, distrusted him, and could not discern his true intentions, only Kokonoha trusted the king unconditionally and supported him at his side—ga-ga—critical memory error detected. Forcing restart.”

“Ah, um… are you okay?”

The static continued, and Lauren froze in place, not moving.

Could she be malfunctioning?

“Lauren. Lauren, wake up.”

“W-what, No-Face-san!? Is it really okay to hit it so hard!?”

“—Ga-ga—restart complete.”

Ah, it's back to normal. Good. Good.

If it were a living being, healing magic could fix it, but as expected, you can't heal a robot like that.

“…Anyway, let's move forward—”

Just as Belchika tried to pull herself together to continue, something happened.

The ground suddenly rumbled, and a huge wall of rock erupted, separating Belchika and me.

W-what a surprise.

“No-Face-san!! Can you hear me!!”

“I hear you!! Belchika, move a little away from the wall!! …Lauren, break the wall.”

Without hesitation, Lauren aimed her shoulder-mounted machine gun at the wall and fired.

“Still no good, huh…”

“Someone has interfered. The wall's strength has increased hundreds of times.”

“…Nothing we can do. Ahem, Belchika!! We can't break this wall!! We'll have to split up from here!!”

“U-understood!! We'll meet ahead!!”

Separating from Belchika, I moved forward with Lauren through the dense jungle.

The scenery was repetitive, making it easier to get lost than the first basement, but Lauren could memorize the path, so there was no worry.

There was just one thing bothering me.

“…Lauren, I've been wondering… don't you feel like we're being watched?”

“No life signs detected in the vicinity.”

As Lauren said, I looked around, and no one seemed to be there.

Yet I still felt like someone was watching.

Specifically, from somewhere not too far behind us.

“Hey, hey, Futaba. Could that kid have noticed us…?”

“Impossible!! Our stealth is not on par with Hitoha, but they shouldn't be able to see or hear us…”

“But they're looking at us!! We've been making eye contact this whole time!!”

“Your imagination!!”

Still, it definitely felt like someone was there.

“Lauren, just shoot randomly over there.”

“Magic reserves are below fifty percent. Further expenditure is not recommended.”

“Just do it. Go ahead.”

“…Understood.”

Lauren's shoulder-mounted machine gun extended, magic circles activating, and slime rounds were about to fire.

“Futaba, run!!”

“Grr, how did they find our hiding spot!?”

“Ah, there really is someone there!!”

A girl with drooping fox ears wearing single-toothed geta, and another girl dressed in a ninja-style kimono hybrid with long fox ears, blocked our path.

Ah, another fox girl.

“—First Armament, Spell Activation: Metal Bullet (non-lethal ammo).”

“Gyaa!?”

“Mitsuha!?”

“Don't get distracted!”

“W-wait—”

Lauren's slime round hit the drooping-ear fox girl's head with a critical strike, knocking her unconscious.

While the ninja fox girl was distracted, I circled behind her and struck her neck.

With Lauren here, things went smoothly.

Sometimes people resist during street healing, so next time I roam the night streets, I'll bring Lauren along.

“Now then, we couldn't get any information from the fox girl in the first basement because she wouldn't wake up. Shall we question you two?”

This time, I was careful, so the fox girls woke up quickly, and I pressed them.

However, the drooping-ear fox girl snorted.

“I'm not telling you anything, you weaklings!! Trash males!!”

“…Mitsuha. If we call those who defeated us weaklings, we would be even weaker than them—”

“Futaba, shut up!!”

We tried questioning them about the mastermind for a while, but they didn't reveal anything.

Fine.

I've never done torture before, and if I accidentally killed them by doing something unfamiliar, that would be bad.

I decided to give up on extracting information and just move forward.

But before that…

I flexed both my hands and spoke to the immobile Futaba and Mitsuha.

“…Mind if I touch your tails a little?”

““Eh?””

I enjoyed the feel of their tails. Soft and fluffy.