Out of nowhere, guide-san appeared right beside me, instantly shifting into combat stance.
As expected of a bodyguard, always on the job.
「…Shall we engage?」
「Nah, let’s observe for now.」
「Understood… Though I’d prefer to strike first.」
No surprise she’s tense, facing a ‘Drifter’ with cheat-level abilities is no joke.
For once, our usually laid-back guide-san looked dead serious.
「Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it doesn’t come to that.」
「…Very well. But if things turn dangerous, you ‘must’ flee immediately.」
「And you’re coming with me.」
No way I’d leave her behind.
From the sound of it, I doubt they’d harm the foreman and the others. If things get dicey, I’ll just teleport away with guide-san and Wendy.
The two girls stood up first, followed by the guy, who then dramatically pointed at me again and struck a pose.
「Found you, chea—」
「Don’t point at people. Weren’t you taught manners?」
Alright, time to seize control of this conversation.
I’ll cut them off with something reasonable and shift the momentum in my favor.
「That’s right. Ma-kun? It’s rude to point at someone you’ve just met.」
「Misa-nee, whose side are you on?!」
「The ‘correct’ one, obviously. What, do you actually think you’re in the right here?」
「Well… I mean… Sorry.」
Ma-kun properly turned toward me and bowed.
Unexpected backup, but hey, seems he’s more reasonable than I thought.
This might actually go smoothly.
「So, you seem to know about me, but how about some introductions on your end?」
「Introductions?」
「Nice to meet you. I’m Suzuki Misa.」
「Ah, um, I’m Suzuki Mika. I’m 17, just a year younger than my sister.」
「You two…」
Leaving aside the teary-eyed Ma-kun, who’s clearly lost control of the situation… ‘Suzuki’? Wait, are these two also ‘Drifter’?
And 17–18 years old? So they’re ‘actual’ high school girls?
‘Sigh…’ Youth really is something else.
「Alright, nice to meet you both. Now, how about you?」
「Hmph! As if I’d tell a—」
「Ma-kun?」
「…Noma Makoto.」
Hmm. The power dynamic here is ‘clearly’ in the oneesan’s favor.
So, his goal is… to fight me because he won’t tolerate a cheat-powered slave harem?
Wait, ‘why’?
「Right, thanks. Now, back to the main topic, Ma-kun wants to fight me, is that it?」
「Exactly! Fight me fair and square! If I win, you free all your slaves!!」
「Hmm… You ‘do’ know how slaves are usually treated in this world, right?」
「Of course I do! But you’re traveling with a whole group of female slaves, aren’t you?!」
Well, yeah.
Wendy and Shiro are slaves I bought, and the other three… well, technically I ‘did’ end up purchasing them too, so yeah, they’re all mine now.
「That’s true, but… is there some rule against gathering girls specifically?」
「Guh… I’m not, ‘not’ jealous! It’s just ethically wrong to force that kind of relati…. 」
「Master! I heard a loud noise, are you alright?!」
Wendy cut Makoto off mid-sentence, rushing over to inspect me with careful hands. After confirming I was unharmed, she let out a long, relieved sigh.
「Good… I was so worried.」
She wrapped her arms around my waist in a gentle hug, pressing close enough that I caught a faint, sweet scent from her.
「Yeah, I’m fine.」
I patted her head reassuringly before turning back to Makoto.
「…Hey, Makoto. Does ‘that’ look forced to you?」
「Grrrr…! You wouldn’t get it! She might be brainwashed!」
「Oh really? I don’t sense any dark magic at work here.」
「Grrrrrr…!」
Makoto’s eyes seemed to grow suspiciously moist.
「Anyway, as you can see, there’s nothing ‘forced’ about this. So relax.」
「Master? Are these people… enemies?! Please, stay behind me!」
「Calm down…」
Wendy stepped protectively in front of me.
Wait, do I really seem that unreliable?
No way was I gonna use her as a shield, so I grabbed her waist and swapped places with her, earning a cute ‘”Hyahn!”‘ in response.
Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. No need to glare at me like that.
「…More importantly, I think the rumors might be wrong. The girls around him weren’t supposed to be slaves, and even now, he’s not wearing armor… Plus, his age. Isn’t he around the same as us?」
「Rumors always get exaggerated. And the aura I’m sensing from him is ‘definitely’ hero-tier. No doubt about it.」
「Ma-kun, you can ‘sense’ auras now?」
「…Yeah.」
Oh, he’s ‘totally’ lying.
Just making stuff up on the spot.
Still, a guy surrounded by non-slave girls, around our age, with hero-level strength… There’s only ‘one’ person that fits.
「Hmm… Could this be about Hayato?」
「Master?」
「Ah, never mind.」
Alright, let’s test this.
Wait, hold on. Don’t jump to conclusions.
「So, uh… mind if I say something?」
「What now?!」
「Right, well… I should probably introduce myself properly.」
「I ‘know’ who you are! The ‘hero’ Hayato, right?! It’s ‘your’ fault I never got called a hero!」
「…Hah?」
Ah, so he really did mistake me for Hayato.
That’s fine, but… what did he mean about not being called a hero because of Hayato?
「Sorry. I don’t follow.」
「Fine, I’ll explain. …It happened on the day we finally managed to clear a dungeon. When we returned to town, the whole place was celebrating. We heard they were throwing a party for clearing the dungeon, so we naturally thought it was for us…」
「But it was for Hayato…」
「Exactly! And he’d cleared an even higher-ranked dungeon than ours!」
Well… that’s just… what can I say? Terrible timing, I guess.
「We’d also defeated some troublesome demons, but the whole town was too busy cheering for Hayato who took down one of the Demon King’s generals! We fought just as hard, but nobody acknowledged us!」
「…Ah… Well… That’s rough?」
“Rough” was the only response I could come up with.
What was this guy? Some pitiable kid? Just unlucky?
「Rough?! Because of you! No, because of him! That’s why I need to face you properly and prove I’m stronger than that so-called hero Hayato! Then I’ll become the true hero! And then I’ll get my own harem… no, never mind.」
As fellow Drifter, no, precisely because we’re both Drifter, he probably wants to clearly establish who’s stronger.
His desire to be a hero is greedy, but I can understand it.
I don’t particularly care about being one myself, and I’m not as straightforward as Hayato who helps people selflessly… but this is much easier to comprehend.
「So I’m begging you! I don’t want some death match! We’ll decide the winner when one of us yields or can’t fight anymore! Just give me this match!」
「Ah, if you do end up fighting, don’t worry, I can heal you right away with my skills.」
So little sister-san could heal with her skills.
And judging by her confidence, she must have some high-tier recovery magic.
「Hell, I’ll even tell you my Unique Skill upfront. It’s not like knowing will change anything.」
「…Whoa, hold on. That’s pretty critical info to share.」
When I first met Hayato, he warned me how dangerous it is to let others know your Unique Skill.
Sure, knowing this guy’s Unique Skill might be useful in a pinch, but still…
「Doesn’t matter. My Unique Skill is [Royal Guard]. It reduces all physical and magic damage by 95%. Plus, it blocks all status ailments for the entire party.」
Wait… that’s broken!
At first glance it might seem too straightforward, but when you think about it, that’s exactly the kind of overpowered ability a Unique Skill should have.
An attack that would normally deal 100 damage only does 5?
That’s one-twentieth the damage!
No wonder he’s confident enough to challenge Hayato.
「Then I’ll share mine too. My skill is [Arcane Mastery(Warlock)]. I can use every offensive magic except light and space magic. I can even combine different spells.」
「And my skill is [Miracle Healing Princess(ArchBishop]. I can use all healing magic. Under certain conditions, I can even perform resurrection magic.」
So they’re both magic users.
One tank, one offensive mage, and one healer.
The opposite of my party composition – they seem to lack physical frontliners. Their strategy must be having Makoto tank all the attacks while the mages wipe out enemies from the back.
Since Makoto doesn’t need defensive skills, he can probably focus all his level-ups on physical attack skills. Not a bad party balance actually.
But… I feel really bad about this after they shared all their skills…
「Well… um… Hate to break up this exciting moment but…」
「What now?! There’s more?!」
「See… the thing is… I’m not actually Hayato…」
「…Huh?」
He froze completely.
Behind him, Mika had an “I knew it” expression while Misa burst out laughing.
「No way…」
「See? I told you it was a case of mistaken identity.」
「Ufufu, Ma-kun? Should we apologize and go home now?」
Makoto was trembling with his head hung low…
Poor guy… After all that big talk, he must be so embarrassed now.
It’s okay. You can still leave gracefully. Go on, back to the forest with you.
「…Not…」
「Hm?」
「Not fair not fair not fair! How come you get to have a harem without even being a hero?! I want a harem too! I want to live surrounded by cute girls! But I got reincarnated with my childhood friends! There’s no way I can make a harem like this!」
Oh boy… Now he’s throwing a tantrum.
Impressive. Not cute at all. Very impressive.
「Aaaaaah I want to get laid! I want to lose my virginity! I want a beautiful older woman to take my virginity!」
Fufufu. I don’t dislike you, kid.
I like that honest expression of desire.
But maybe you should check your surroundings first.
Especially the faces of your childhood friends.
「Hic… hic… it’s not fair… I want it too…」
「Ah… So that’s it? You thought becoming a hero would let you build a harem, so you wanted to be one…」
「Y-yeah! Heroes are popular! Even if I can’t make a harem, I’d still be a winner!」
「But hey, you’ve got two beautiful childhood friends right here, don’t you?」
「We’ve been together since we were kids… They feel more like family than girls…」
Whoa, the girls’ faces just froze for a second.
Scary! I swear I saw black aura radiating from them!
This guy… he’s the classic dense protagonist type.
Completely oblivious to what these two girls mean to him!
Well, if that’s the case, he needs some tough love. Time for some wise adult intervention to move this story along.
「Hey man… those two are real beauties, you know? You okay with that? What if they find someone else and leave your side?」
「Them…? No way…」
He had that “that would never happen” look, but when Makoto turned around, both girls wore complicated expressions.
Seeing this, panic flashed across Makoto’s face as the realization hit him.
「No way… NO WAY!」
There we go.
Now he’ll finally start seeing them as women.
With any luck, he’ll end up with one or both of these girls who clearly like him.
Happy ending achieved.
Ah, another good deed done.
「Wait… you! You’re planning to take them too, aren’t you?!」
…
……
Hey, how did you reach that conclusion?!
This is why dense protagonists are so exhausting!
「That’s right! We talked about what happens if I win, but not if you win! If you win, you’ll try to make them your slaves too… I won’t let that happen!」
「I’m not doing that…」
I’ve already got my hands full with five girls – why would I want two more who are clearly into someone else?
Besides, I hate NTR stuff.
Both doing it and having it done to me.
「Eh? You wouldn’t?」
「Of course not!」
This dense idiot is starting to piss me off.
What does he take me for?
「You sure? Our Mika here makes amazing food – she brings meals to my house next door every day, you know? And don’t let Misa-nee’s appearance fool you – she’s wild! She always “accidentally” walks in when I’m bathing like it’s some master plan!」
Every day? Next door? Bathing?
「…Hey, can I ask you something?」
「What?」
「Don’t tell me… just don’t tell me…」
No no no. There’s no way. Absolutely impossible. Hahaha. That couldn’t be it.
「Your parents are away for some reason, so you’re being looked after by the sisters next door, and through various circumstances you all ended up living together in your place! Pretty normal situation, right?」
「…How did you know? Yeah, that’s exactly it. Apparently a meteor hit… Because of me, they got dragged into this too… That’s why I’ll protect them properly this time!」
Seriously……?
Seriously…?
「Ah… seriously…」
Seriously, this guy, seriously.
This is textbook clichéeeeeeeee!
Alright, no sympathy for this bastard.
What do you mean you’re jealous of my harem, you spoiled brat!
I’ll kill you, you son of a biiiiiitch!
Hah… hah…
Ah, yeah. Ready to go. Anytime now.
「Haaaaaah… Alright, fine. Let’s get this over with.」
「Huh? What?」
No, it’s nothing.
My own issue.
Phew. Cool down, cool down.
Stay calm, stay calm.
「…Right. I’m not Hayato, but since you went out of your way to share your Unique Skills… And while you’ve got plenty of reasons to piss me off, I don’t actually hate you. So I’ll take you on. Might as well show you my skills too.」
「Wha…」
「I’m a summoner. I’ll show you my trump card right now…」
Well, that’s a lie.
Here we go? My strongest trump card.
Though, I’ll have to make a quick trip first.
I pull out a Magic Power Potion(Greater), chug it, and point far behind them, no, at the sky.
「Watch your backs, all three of you! It’s coming!」
The moment they turn around, I use Area Pointing and Point Gate to warp to Hayato’s coordinates.
I immediately grab Hayato and his group, warp back, and just as the three are turning back toward me….
Standing before me, barely able to stand from magic power depletion, is a knight clad in pure-white armor, ready for battle.
The same figure I once saw when he saved me.
「Pleased to meet you. I’m Hayato. Izuki-san’s trump card.」
And behind him, Letty, Mii, and Emily fall into formation, while Chris rushes to my side to support me.
And for some reason, Freed is here too.
「From here on out, I’ll be your opponent.」
The pressure radiating from Hayato as he raises his sword is overwhelming.
But more than that, uuuugh… The magic power drain is killing me…
Leave a Reply