The schedule for the class competition was approaching.
Yesterday, my party was born.
Confirming its test run was an important matter.
In the dungeon, I made plans to dive into a beginner dungeon with Maria and Komachi.
We needed to confirm each other's abilities for the time being.
I know Chiaki's abilities.
She's strong.
That's why I didn't invite her this time.
Or rather, I haven't told Chiaki that Maria and Komachi and I are in a party yet.
There's no particular reason.
If I were to make a reason... I had a bad feeling about it.
And if I were to make excuses, it was too sudden.
My intuition has become sharp.
To survive in this harsh world, crisis detection ability is essential.
I'll mention it to Chiaki when she's in a good mood.
The timing is what matters.
If I miss the timing... it could be a big problem.
I don't want any more tense tea parties.
.
.
.
In front of me, a tug-of-war was happening.
"Are they having a lovers' quarrel?"
"No, no."
"Are they like cats and dogs?"
"No, it's not like that."
"Homura-san! How many times do I have to tell you? I am a rear guard. You have to lead the front line before we can advance."
"Maria-senpai, why were you standing there doing nothing? I have never heard of a rear guard that doesn't provide support."
The atmosphere between these two has been tense.
"Calm down, everyone."
"Amachi-san, which side are you on?"
"Well, senpai, which opinion do you think is right?"
"Huh?"
"Amachi-san is the leader. Please give us instructions."
"That's right. Amachi-san is talented, so we want you to give us accurate instructions."
"I see. Maria-senpai and I can't cooperate well. It's partly your fault, senpai."
The two of them are starting to point their fingers at me.
"Wait a minute."
I try to stop them with a fake smile and a hand gesture.
"First of all, senpai, you're just carrying baggage. You're strong, so show us an example. Why don't you do anything?"
"Indeed...It would be nice to see Amachi-san's bravery. Then we can judge our roles."
"But I can only float...and I can only float small objects at that."
"Hehe, you have a good sense of humor. But it's not funny this time."
Maria isn't praising me for anything now!?
"Hey, senpai. Your martial arts and swordsmanship skills are amazing...There's no excuse for that. None at all."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
I was perplexed as a cold gaze was directed at me.
My stomach started to ache.
What is this?
Is my party a total disaster, especially in terms of human relationships?
There might be room for improvement in terms of combat tactics.
But still...
"Ugh!"
It was déjà vu!?
Unpleasant memories from when I was doing black part-time jobs or working at black companies came back to me.
Their tense atmosphere was piercing me with their gaze.
It's the first day of coming to the dungeon, and it's already tense.
I couldn't help but evaluate, "This is not a welcoming workplace."
It's not welcoming at all.
Could it be a black party instead of a black company?
As I was thinking that to myself, weak monsters appeared in front of me.
Three small demons emerged.
They were dungeon monsters with silly faces, bright red skin, only wearing loincloths, and wielding clubs.
They were even weaker than goblins with green skin.
"Look, Senpai. Monsters are spawning."
"Please show us your bravery here. We'll be studying it closely."
"Me?"
I pointed to my own face.
"Come on, please do it!" she said.
"Feel free to kick their butts," he responded.
There's no point in me fighting, he thought to himself. I just want to see what these two are capable of.
Sigh Oh well, I guess I have no choice.
"Alright, I'll show you what I can do. How about I blow your mind with my levitation magic and swordsmanship... Beep beep beep! Got 5 experience points. You're just a small fry."
He pretended to test his combat ability and experience points.
"What are you talking to yourself about, Amachi-san?" she asked.
"Senpai is a bit weird sometimes, doing things that make no sense," he replied.
"Oh, I see," she said.
The two of them looked over at him and started conversing.
Suddenly, a small demon noticed them and charged toward them, shouting "Kiiii!" and swinging a club.
"I'll show you my true strength, the one they call the Sluggar of Naniwa," he thought to himself, even though nobody actually called him that.
He spun a small stone under his foot like a soccer ball, lifted it with the top of his foot, and kicked it into the air.
He used his levitation magic to float the stone toward his midsection, then gave it a spin.
Slowly, it started to rotate faster and faster, like a spinning top.
He drew his slender sword from his waist.
"What are you doing, senpai?" she asked.
"Um, Amachi-san?" she added.
Both of them looked at him with a puzzled expression.
He held his slender sword like a baseball bat and raised one foot, calculating the trajectory of the spinning stone and the target monster.
"Watch this. I'll knock it out of the park!" he exclaimed.
The distance to the small demon: 20 meters... 15 meters... 10 meters...
"I see it!" he shouted.
The target was the demon's forehead.
He looked down at the spinning stone under his feet.
"Here's what I'm gonna do!"
He held his breath and focused his mind.
Bat... or rather, the rapier was raised.
__________________________
Power × Speed × Rotation
__________________________
With the rapier's blade swung like hitting a baseball, a sharp impact was delivered to the pebble, causing a painful impact.
"Equals. Power!!"
A sound like the wind being twisted was heard.
The stone, which had been given gyroscopic rotation, flew towards the monster's head like a bullet.
"Bicchaa, Kujaa!" If expressed in onomatopoeia, this was the closest.
A sound that was very unpleasant and dull, like the sound of muscles, bones, and blood flow transforming into a mass of flesh in an instant, as if crushing a tomato with one's hand.
There was no hole in the goblin's head. This was because everything above the nose had turned to mincemeat, scattering bloodstains around.
The bodily fluids splashed onto the walls of the dungeon.
A scene unfolded that made one want to say, "How could such bloodstains appear?" as in a splatter film.
After a few seconds of lag time, the goblin turned into magical essence and light particles.
"What a dirty fireworks display. Next! Is this what your youth is all about?"
Once again, kicking up a pebble, it was floated and spun with levitation magic.
The person proceeded to perform one-person toss batting (without a bounce).
Like a baseball coach, I relentlessly hit the goblin's head and abdomen with powerful blows.
I kept hitting it.
.
.
.
The area had transformed into a space that could only be described as a tragedy.
Since then, monsters continued to emerge and I kept turning their many bodies into chunks of meat using the stone-throwing method. There were even some low-level dungeon boss-class monsters among them, but they all turned into chunks of meat with a single blow.
After disposing of over 100 of them, I turned around and saw Maria and Komachi standing there with their mouths wide open in shock.
"You said you could only use levitation magic, but I handled them with swordsmanship. Is this okay?" I showed them an example as instructed.
"That was just a combination of swordsmanship and levitation magic," I explained when Maria asked about it.
"That's not a technique!" Komachi shouted and approached me.
"What's wrong? Why are you raising your voice like that?" I asked.
"I-I mean, do we even need to be here? I think one senior member is enough for the job, much better than a whole party," Komachi said, trembling with disappointment.
"What are you talking about? I don't understand what you mean," I replied.
"The difference between us is too great," Maria muttered under her breath.
"What difference?" I asked.
"Senior, I may not have much to say about myself, but today I feel like I've become even more inadequate," Komachi said, her voice shaking.
"Me too," Maria agreed.
"What's going on with you two?" I asked.
"Senior, we want to start over and train again," Maria said.
"I wanted to see your skills, but maybe I don't have enough power to be your comrade," Komachi added.
"That may be true. Maria, I felt it keenly today. I personally have something to ask Amachi-san for guidance. If possible, the two of us," Maria said.
"Maria-senpai!" Komachi exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Maria asked.
"Why are you saying such strange things?"
"What's strange about it? I just want one-on-one guidance from someone I can learn from. Homura-san is always cheating. We're party members, so it's only natural to help each other," Maria explained.
"Gununu"
As I was about to speak up with my opinion,
"Amachi-san. Shh, just a moment."
Maria smiled and put her index finger to her lips, gesturing for me not to say anything to the others.
Does that mean I shouldn't talk?
"Senpai is being rude. Please be quiet for a bit. This is a battle between Maria-senpai and me."
"Oh, I see."
Maria and Komachi started talking on their own about setting a day for my coaching sessions. I feel like my opinion always gets overlooked by these two.
Maybe my role in this party is just a "good-for-nothing" underling disguised as a leader. Do I really have to take care of Maria one-on-one? It's fine, but I still need to train her.
But, can I really handle it all?
Maybe I should ask Chiaki, the other instructor, for help. I can't be in two places at once, and I might collapse from overwork with all these tasks. I need to create a pleasant time for Chiaki as well. I'll treat him to Sanro Ramen and he'll surely be pleased.
I also need to improve my grades to prevent Moridori firing from being overturned. I want to connect with the Bonbon and keep tabs on the movements of the Vice President, who is their leader. I need to start operating the casino and shift to the loan shark business. And of course, I need to advance in this world's conquest, while also taking care of Maria and Komachi's training. I need to make sure that Kazane is leveling up and progressing through the story as well. I must defeat the maniacs in this school and the beasts in the secret room, either through Kazane or by myself.
There are too many tasks to handle at the same time. I should ask Kakko and Hisui to help me out a bit. I'll prioritize making Chiaki happy and give them each a task to handle. I can't do this alone.
"I have to do my best. To survive in this other world, I need to be prepared," I whispered to myself, unnoticed by the two of them.