**Day 13: Inside the Cave – Girls' Meeting**
"So, the last problem… is about Haruka-kun."
Why am I still being called Class Rep even in another world, and stuck in charge?
"That guy has issues with his personality, his character, and even his humanity as a person. But I think we can trust him. At least, I do."
Was that supposed to be backup? It sounded like Vice Class Rep A let her personal feelings slip, but the "A" probably didn't help.
"Yeah… even though it was my fault he got kicked out… he forgave me… over fish?"
Chika-chan's backup also ended with that last line… over fish…
"Yeah, my naked body… was completely ignored…"
Is Fukunuki-san's comment supposed to be backup? It feels like she's creating a whole new kind of trauma… as a girl.
"He's super annoying, but he helped us… He said if we die we can't apologize. That it would be pointless. He told us to meet them properly and say thank you… Even though he put us under Servitude… and my name is still Bitch Leader!"
So close. It was almost a nice story… Please, just remember her name? Yeah, I've only ever been called Class Rep too… I think!?
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Everyone's backup attempts failed, but there was unanimous agreement on continuing to act together with Haruka-kun.
We all had complicated feelings, but we trusted him, relied on him, and were grateful to him… or at least we should be.
Actually, the real problem was Haruka-kun himself.
"No way, no way. Even after beating that many kobolds the other day I was still only Lv7, so right now I might manage, but I'll just drag you down soon."
"Everyone said it's fine even if that happens! Everyone's grateful!"
"The otaku said the same thing, and I appreciate it, but because of 'Loner' I can't join a party. If I tag along I'll probably get 'Leech' added to my status. Sorry. Thanks though."
It's true—Haruka-kun's status is low. He's incredibly strong for Lv7, but he can't level up properly. Still, why doesn't he understand that we don't want to leave him behind?
When we were lost and in despair, when we were about to give up on everything, he came to help us. He saved us—our lives… and our hearts.
Coming here, we finally, finally started being able to laugh again.
We had all been in despair, disappointed, unable to even hope.
But in just one night, the light returned to everyone's eyes.
For the first time, we thought "we can do something" and "let's try."
Because right in front of us, he showed us how to live normally.
Because he said, "That's just basic living, right? Living happily and normally," like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Is the cruel difference in status really impossible to overcome? Why did God do something so cruel to Haruka-kun? "He got mad when I bullied the old man." Why bully God? Yeah, apparently he even made him sit in seiza.
Still, he said he'll accompany us at least to town. We just need to think of a way to keep him from leaving after that.
"Leveling is slow, and in the worst case it might not go up at all, but it's not like it never rises. In two or three years he'll probably reach Lv20 or 30, and at that point he should be able to live in town. It'll work out eventually."
He said it so casually, but there's no way we can leave him alone in the cave for two or three years.
Suddenly thrown into another world, left completely alone for ten days because we moved without noticing, with the weakest power of anyone, he survived all by himself and still came to help us. We absolutely cannot leave someone like that behind. That's what everyone thinks, so we will never, ever abandon him. If there's no other way, being a leech is fine!
We'll soon reach Lv20–30, while Haruka-kun will take years.
In this world the level difference is absolute—I heard that from God too. We'll soon be able to solo goblins and kobolds. But even so, he's only Lv7, has almost no skills, is the weakest, and has a lower level than goblins and kobolds, yet he's already soloing them! So if he reaches Lv20 or Lv30, just imagine how strong he'll be!
He keeps saying he's always on the edge, that one solid hit would kill him, but he's just cleverly managing and faking it. In that case, we'll protect him. We'll protect him the way he protected us.
That's why we're going out to raise levels again today.
We're still scared. It still feels awful.
But we fight anyway, while being protected by Haruka-kun.
If Haruka-kun can't get stronger, then we'll get stronger. That's what we all decided.
**Day 13**
Breakfast was fish again today. Delicious.
The gyo gyo girl woke me up again this morning. Yeah, she really is the fish officer.
The girls were energetic from the morning again. Super hyped. I want karaage… with fish.
Being able to head to town soon must be a big motivator. Well, for 16- or 17-year-old girls, living in a forest or cave is obviously not ideal.
The otaku were also super excited the day before heading to town—in a high-school-boy way. The girls seem to be holding frequent girls' meetings too. Are they aiming for wild kemonomimi guys? Or are they the same type as the otaku? If they start targeting shotas, I'll summon the police.
We're pretty deep in the forest now. For a party, even high-level goblins are no longer a threat. I only provide Fire Bullet support when they look like they might get surrounded. I'm bored.
After lunch we switched to kobolds. Kobolds are speed types, so they'll be good practice. Experience-wise they're better too, and I'm bored.
During lunch we had a meeting and I explained kobold countermeasures: fast, bites.
Now we have a nice set—Lv6, 8, and 9. Perfect. Real combat time. First, everyone together to get the feel. Let's kobold.
It was pandemonium. Before they could even get the feel, they were almost bitten, almost gnawed.
They panicked at the kobolds' speed, got completely confused by the coordination and feints, and even with twenty people they got surrounded by three. Let's panic?
The kobolds' SpE is under 40, the girls are twice as fast, yet they can't keep up. The bitches are barely staying calm and preventing total collapse.
Hmm, they should be more than capable though~?
"Kyaa—! Don't just watch, do something… I'm gonna get bitten—!"
"Not that side, this side, aahh, which one!?"
"No no no no, dogs are impossible, seriously impossible!"
"Aaare~? …Areee~?"
Is the last one relaxed? Or panicking? Or shaking? No, stop glaring at me and actually look at the kobolds. Are you secretly fine?
Even without me doing anything it feels like they might manage somehow, but if I do nothing I'll probably get yelled at, so I'll reduce the number by one.
The one with Cooperation is the Lv9 Kobold A. Without it they should win easily. It feels too easy, but since I'm being glared at from time to time I should do something.
I recently learned Parallel Thinking, which I think came from spamming Fire Bullets. I probably can't use it now. If I spam they'll definitely get mad.
What I want to test next is either the Four Elements Magic that jumped two levels or Movement. I practiced lightning magic enough with the fish, so that's fine.
I haven't used Movement at full power yesterday or today. At full power the clumsy girl might revive. I don't want to go "fugyuuu" in front of the girls. Actually, I don't want to do it even alone.
I try chasing Kobold A from behind. Sometimes it's good to experience being chased… Okay, caught up. I poke it from behind with my stick. Kobold A doesn't counter and speeds up even more… I speed up too and poke again… It speeds up more, getting faster and faster, circling around the girls. At this rate won't the kobold turn into butter? I want butter-grilled.
Kobold B and C can't keep up with the speed anymore, their coordination breaks, and they finally get caught by the bitches… Don't look. The bitches' eyes… those eyes… Let's pretend I didn't see.
Suddenly Kobold A stops dead, turns, and tries to slash with its claws. Foolish. Too foolish… There's no way I can stop.
Instead, or rather as a bonus, I accelerate, slip under its claws, and collide. We tangle together and roll. I had stuck my Tree Staff? out toward its head when we hit, so Kobold A died from a bad landing. Kobold B and C met even worse fates and followed after.
Gudaguda.
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"No, I told you they're fast and they bite, right?"
We restarted the strategy meeting. For some reason everyone is mad at me.
"It's impossible if you suddenly throw something like that at us!"
"Just being told they're fast doesn't help!"
"What do you mean 'bite'? What kind of advice is 'bite'?"
"Why were you running around with the kobold?"
"Only two pieces of info—fast and bites—what's with that?"
Huh? Total condemnation? Kobolds are fast and they bite, right?
"No, when I asked the otaku, they only said 'blue, tall, slender, dog face.' Fast and bites is better info, right?"
Huge uproar. I can't even tell if it's noisy clamor or heated debate anymore. It's pure clamor and argument.
"Even if we raise levels, if we go upstream there might be boys. Can we handle that?"
Everyone falls silent. Even the otaku couldn't do it and ran.
There's no way they can be mentally prepared for that.
That's why I can't let them go upstream.
Not all the boys went crazy, but we don't know who's normal and who will attack. We can't test it.
The safest is to reach town without meeting them. They probably can't pass through the deep forest. If they move, it would be along the riverside in front of the cave.
If I block the path there, both the otaku and the girls will have almost no chance of running into them. Short-term, that should be fine.
I don't know if I can do it, but I'll probably snap and do it anyway. I won't reflect. Let the boys do the regretting.
The result: "For now, limit to two at a time, keep levels low, if there are three or they're strong I'll help immediately. No chase tag."
After that we kept hunting kobolds, and by evening they had gotten quite used to it. A single party could now reliably defeat two. Their levels had risen nicely too.
On the way back it was real combat. Even when kobolds or goblins appeared, I didn't help. The girls handled detection and vigilance themselves and fought.
They've gotten stronger. I'm probably no longer needed. They can fight well enough.
We returned to the cave. I made beds and simple furniture in the individual rooms. They'll probably leave soon, but since I invited them I'll at least host them properly until the end.
At the riverside I also learned ice magic. Well, I just wrapped it again.
We ate dinner and took baths. Today ends here.
I pitched the tent extra large. After one-person, four-person, and eight-person sizes, twelve-person is probably still too small. I made it dome-sized.
I washed up and returned to the tent. No, I had already noticed with Presence Detection that someone was coming?
"Kyaa! It's so big! Big, big, big!"
"Huh? Why does it get bigger every time we come?"
"If we had a tent this big we wouldn't have had to squeeze in so tight…"
"Welcome back~, Haruka-kun. I told everyone your tent is really big~, so they came?"
"Well~ come in, come in. There's mushroom tea too."
Mushroom tea…? Why do girls like mushrooms so much? Is there some dangerous ingredient in them? Is some suspicious party about to start? Alright, I'll watch from afar. I don't have the courage to go inside.
When I tried to escape I got caught. No, watching is enough, right? The skin-color density in there is way too high?
"Um... what's going on?"
"""Um, reflection meeting?"""
Why in the tent?
For some reason I'm sitting in seiza in the middle of the huge tent.
From the front, the class rep is leading the reflection meeting with "Even if SpE is 40, you know," still way too close.
Beside her, Vice Class Rep A sits cross-legged in short pants, glaring lightly. Those legs are long.
Next to her, Vice Class Rep B nods "un un" while shaking. Don't look.
On the right side, Vice Class Rep C and the nudist girl are rolling around in skirts.
What? Everywhere I look it's guilty. It's a trap! This is a trap!
On the left are the gyo gyo girl and two others. Ah, those are the loud muscle-brain volleyball girls A and B.
Behind me the bitches are blocking the exit. Why are they always behind me?
No good. I'm surrounded.
Around them, the skirmish unit is also packed in.
Why is a loner going through this?
"So, I still think we need at least one person dedicated to stopping them."
Class Rep? Do we need this many people for a reflection meeting? The ones rolling around definitely aren't listening?
"And then, and then…"
What even is a loner?
**Day 13 – Night – Inside the Cave – Girls' Meeting**
The Haruka-kun retention plan. We're reviewing the information from today's aggressive reconnaissance.
"Yeah, his eyes were completely swimming, so he's not completely uninterested in girls. No BL. Tch."
"Originally his gaze went to chests and legs, so that part is fine."
"My naked body… was completely ignored… ignored…"
"No, you can't just show that off. Even if…"
We came to this world and for so many days… we couldn't laugh…
Finally. Everyone can laugh now.
Today was noisy too, but in the end everyone was laughing.
Because Haruka-kun is here, we feel safe.
Not just because he's strong.
It's fine even if he's weak.
As long as he's here, that's enough.
That alone lets everyone laugh.
That's why everyone is desperately making a plan to keep him here… right?
"Tch, no BL!"
"Probably he's being considerate about us being attacked? He was always like that though?"
"Is he a chest guy? Leg guy? Or maybe a hybrid!"
"More than avoiding girls, he avoids everyone, right~? Huh? If we leave him behind he won't even mind?"
"""""Aaaah..."""""
The Haruka-kun retention plan continued late into the night. Yeah, there doesn't seem to be any BL.