As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback

Chapter 243 – Even If Weakened… 

Come to think of it, I had never seen Sayuri smile sincerely, from the bottom of her heart. Even if she smiled, there was no emotion behind it.

She wanted to die, but couldn’t. She was just a doll that did whatever she was told to do.

Even I couldn’t do anything about that, and I didn’t think I wanted to. And if there was anything that anyone could do about it, it would have to be done by Sayuri and not me.

Aoyama might be able to help her, but she was somewhat twisted and it might be difficult for her.

“Hm? Is something the matter, Torimoto-san? You’ve been staring at my face for a while now.” (Sayuri)
I responded that it was nothing, but Aoyama glared at me sharply. I understood what that look meant. She was telling me not to look at Sayuri in an indecent manner.

I bid Sayuri and the others farewell and returned to my room.

When I got back, I saw Shakuhara standing imposingly in front of the door. When she saw me, she said, ‘oh, you’re back’ in a cold tone.

“I heard that Kagaya-san and the others left.” (Shakuhara)
She seemed to have found out from the other followers what happened. I was a bit curious, so I thought I might as well ask her.

“You didn’t leave with them, huh?” (Torimoto)
“Huh? Why would I?” (Shakuhara)
“No, I mean, didn’t you join the hunting faction? You wanted to join the manhunts, didn’t you?” (Torimoto)
“Yeah, that’s right. But don’t misunderstand me. I’m here because Sayuri-sama is the founder, not Kagaya-san.” (Shakuhara)
“You admire Sayuri-san that much, huh?” (Torimoto)
“Of course. Sayuri-sama is the one who gave us, who had nowhere to go, a place where we could belong. My thoughts are more or less the same as Kagaya-san’s, but at the moment… I don’t have any intention of leaving this place.” (Shakuhara)
“At the moment?” (Torimoto)
“…I mean, I can’t leave her.” (Shakuhara)
“…Don’t tell me Saniwa-san is still sleeping inside?” (Torimoto)
“She is. She was up a little late last night. She’s still fast asleep right now. So you’re not allowed to come in.” (Shakuhara)
“…This is my room, you know?” (Torimoto)
“If you see Riwa’s sleeping face, I’ll shoot you without mercy, alright?” (Shakuhara)
As she said that, she took her gun out and pointed it at me. Wow, how dangerous.

Right at that very moment… Click.

The door opened, and Saniwa poked her head out.

“Hey, Kei-ch—! Torimoto-sama! S-S-Sorry! I was kind of… sleeping in your room!” (Saniwa)
“Ah, don’t worry about it. More importantly, it’s not good to stay up too late.” (Torimoto)
“Bueeh?! K-Kei-chan, don’t tell me you talked—?!” (Saniwa)
“…I didn’t say anything about that.” (Shakuhara)
That?

“I-I see… That’s good then.” (Saniwa)
“Anyway Riwa, while you were sleeping, something crazy happened.” (Shakuhara)
“Hm?” (Torimoto)
After that, Shakuhara proceeded to tell Saniwa about what had happened with Kagaya.

“Eeehh?! Then the hunting faction is more or less completely gone?!” (Saniwa)
“That’s right. All that remains of the hunting faction are you, me, and a few others.” (Shakuhara)
“Then the hunting of men…” (Saniwa)
“That might be out of the question now. Our main mission will probably be to gather food and provisions now.” (Shakuhara)
“I-I see…” (Saniwa)
Saniwa’s expression was filled with relief. Even if it was what Shakuhara wanted to do, it must have been tough for her to see her best friend killing people. So for her to suddenly not be able to kill people anymore was an unexpected relief to her.

“Ahh, just when I had finally achieved my goal to join the hunting faction and slaughter all of those rotten men, this happens…” (Shakuhara)
Nice of her to say that when there’s a man right in front of her…

“But for now, we have to deal with the problem in front of us.” (Shakuhara)
Saniwa tilted her head, asking what the problem ‘in front of us’ was.

“I was referring to that jungle.” (Shakuhara)
“Ah, it certainly is getting closer and closer, isn’t it?” (Saniwa)
“Hey, Torimoto. Do you really think it’s better for us to evacuate from here after all?” (Shakuhara)
“Well… I personally think it would be better to make the choice that saves the most lives, I suppose.” (Torimoto)
“Lives?” (Shakuhara)
“Your own life and the lives of the people you cherish. Most likely… this jungle isn’t something that any ordinary person can handle.” (Torimoto)
“U-Umm! M-Maybe I could do something about it with my skill?” (Saniwa)
“Hey, Riwa! What are you saying?!” (Shakuhara)
“B-But Kei-chan, I want to do something for everyone… and for you…” (Saniwa)
Saniwa was really a good person. She was pure and innocent, which was rare. She most likely really did want to save people from the bottom of her heart. If that wasn’t the case, she wouldn’t have done something like covering for Shakuhara and ending up on the brink of death.

Come to think of it, Jouichirou was similar. Upright and honest to an almost foolish degree and an earnestly good-natured person.

I thought back to the long time that I spent staying with the Fukuzawa family as Torimoto. Jouichirou was another person who was willing to spend his life for the sake of others.

I knew that there were truly kind and good-hearted people like them among humans. But I still couldn’t trust them. Even though I understood the way they were, my heart rejected them. I wasn’t sure what I could do about this.

“Saniwa-san, your skill is <Enhance>, right?” (Torimoto)
“Ah, yes, that’s right!” (Saniwa)
“It’s true that your power is fascinating and, depending on how you use it, versatile enough to handle just about any kind of situation.” (Torimoto)
“T-Then…!” (Saniwa)
“But there are some things you can’t handle all by yourself.” (Torimoto)
“….That…” (Saniwa)
“When you’re up against an unfamiliar opponent, you need strength and proper preparation. A skill is a strength, but just that one weapon won’t allow you to be a match for a strong opponent. Your opponent would be the jungle itself. You may have an ability, but in the end, you are just one human.” (Torimoto)
“Exactly, Riwa. I hate to say it, but I agree with him on this.” (Shakuhara)
“Kei-chan…” (Saniwa)
“Founder-sama must be thinking as hard as she can about what we should do now. We just lost a lot of followers. So let’s also think about what we can do for Founder-sama’s sake.” (Shakuhara)
“Kei-chan… Okay…! You’re right! I’ll think as hard as I can too—about what’s best for everyone’s sake!” (Saniwa)
“That’s the spirit!” (Shakuhara)
The two of them seemed to have made some mutual understanding, but in the end the problem was whether or not the religious order could do anything about it.

I would personally recommend them to leave this base and flee to a safer place. Facing an S-Rank monster wasn’t a good choice for an ordinary person to make.

Even skill users like Kuzuhara with his <Impact> and Saniwa with her <Enhance> wouldn’t be able to do anything. There was a limit to what they could accomplish, and I seriously doubted whether their capabilities would be useful in this case.

And to be honest, I didn’t want them to do anything that might provoke Belzedor’s anger. If he went berserk, it would ruin all of the preparations I was making.

But it was true that I was pressed for time. If I could help it, I didn’t want the city I used to live in to turn into a jungle.

I was really banking on hearing some good results within the next few days.

And it seemed that my prayers were heard, because the next day I finally heard news from the [Search Paper], which I had sent out to search out for Oremia.