Chapter 43


The Iron Golem is quite a strong monster, it seems.

Even with the protagonist and the heroine right next to each other, it can endure so much.

“Hehehe, this is interesting.”

Even though it’s not Arthur himself, seeing a character from the novel running around in reality is a thrill.

It feels like my favorite novel has just been turned into an anime.

It’s truly fun.

“You can’t see anything, can you?”

Right. I can’t see anything at all.

Why? Because Luna’s assets, which I fondled quite vigorously yesterday, are blocking my view.

That’s how it is with a woman’s lap pillow when they have big assets.

“That’s why I’m saying it’s fun.”

Some guy I don’t even know has taken over the body of a brooding protagonist and is showing off his crazy power by smashing a scouter.

Honestly, I’d rather watch Luna’s bouncing assets every time she speaks than that.

By the way, Yui seems flustered as it must be her first time in this situation.

“Um, um…”

“What?”

“Are we not supposed to help with that…?”

“Luna, are you not managing your juniors properly?”

“Huh?”

Yui, if you had a clue, you should have learned from Luna.

Look at Luna! She’s so used to it now, casually offering her lap pillow!

When Luna is busy later, you’ll have to do it, so pay close attention and learn!

“Listen well, Yui. If you’re too kind, you’ll end up being a sucker.”

“S-sucker…?”

“Yep, sucker. Look over there.”

I pointed at Arthur flying around on the Golem’s arm.

“Not that way.”

“Ah, my bad.”

I just glanced up to check the direction and then pointed correctly toward where Arthur was.

“Look, Yui. No one asked him, but he’s out there suffering like an idiot. We decided to call that kind of thing a sucker.”

“I-is that so?”

This girl does it for free.

You’ve probably seen an advertisement with wording like that before.

It’s exaggerated, designed to pique men’s curiosity, but right now, Arthur is genuinely doing it for free.

The mess created by that nuisance character and the demons related to the heroine?

He takes care of everything, a sucker who does it all for free.

Arthur doesn’t live up to his name; he’s the king of suckers.

“If you want to help so badly, just go and help. Just don’t get backstabbed and killed by Arthur while you’re at it.”

“I-I think I’ll stay here…”

Who would want to help the guy who just said he wants to kill them?

If it were me, I’d pretend to help and then backstab him in return.

“Luke, it seems to be over.”

While I was lecturing Yui about life, it got quiet, so the battle must have ended.

“Oh really? Then there’s something we must do.”

I sprang up from my seat.

Then, taking a few steps forward, I shaped my hands like a megaphone and yelled,

“Did we take it down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Even the frontline far away could hear me loud and clear.

Suddenly, the Iron Golem that had been lying down stood up as if nothing had happened.

“Geh-geh-geh. You should’ve spoken nicer.”

Phase one is over. Now begins phase two.

To liken the feelings of the adventurers and Arthur right now, it’s like they just sucked down an Est potion and barely managed to kill something, then suddenly a scene appears and phase two starts.

Just watching it makes you feel exhausted.

Most of the soldiers have fallen from the previous battle, and even the E-Rank adventurers who expended a lot of magical power are out.

Now, all that’s left is the D-Rank adventurers and the protagonist’s party, but even they are just better off, and it’s clear they couldn’t handle it alone.

Especially with the protagonist being such a dimwit.

“Why does he get to learn two additional attributes like water and fire?”

Is the author just picking random characters, like a child filming a noob trying to break bad luck with a diamond pickaxe?

Who thinks of learning attributes that cause their own kind to evaporate just by meeting?

It’s truly an exhilarating choice.

“Luke, aren’t you going to help soon?”

“Why should I?”

“If the Count’s Territory is destroyed, our reward money will vanish too.”

“Whoa, no way that can happen.”

I stood up abruptly.

If the reward converges to zero, my consciousness might vanish for a moment, and when I return, the Count’s Territory would already be in ruins.

“Alright, let’s get to work!”

I casually walked toward the Iron Golem.

Since the start of phase two, the frontliners have been surviving somehow with aggro diversion.

There’s no need for them to struggle like that; they’re working really hard.

I stealthily moved behind Arthur and grabbed his legs.

“W-what!?”

“What do you think? It’s hunting.”

Greatsword.

The name is Arthur Calibur.

“Luna, buff.”

“Y-yes.”

“You and Yui are support, okay?”

“Got it!”

Alright, let’s see how the protagonist tastes.

I charged at the Iron Golem with the buff I received from Luna.

And then swung the Arthur Calibur wildly.

“Get him, Guaaaaan!!!!!”

It’s a bit loud, but it’ll quiet down after a few bumps.

As soon as the Iron Golem recognized me, its arm came flying at me.

I blocked it with Arthur Calibur.

-Quack!

“Uagh!!!!”

“Arthur!!”

“Ahh! Arthur-san!”

I barely heard what they were shouting from behind.

But it’s not important, so I ignored it and kept swinging Arthur Calibur.

The protagonist knows he won’t die from the buff.

As long as the protagonist doesn’t die, he’ll recover fully in a few days.

‘If he doesn’t die, that’s good enough.’

These days, there are many protagonists who can resurrect even after dying.

-Quack! Quack!

“Uagh!!! Uagh!!!”

I defended against the Iron Golem’s consecutive attacks with Arthur Calibur.

Every time an opportunity arose, I swung Arthur Calibur toward the core.

However, the Golem crossed its arms in an exaggerated manner as if it knew its weakness, despite not needing to do so.

So I kept attacking just to see if it would break through.

-Puck! Puck! Puck!

Unfortunately, it didn’t break through.

Might be because of the sword’s low attack power; it just didn’t feel satisfying to hit it.

“Ugh…”

“Oh, the durability is almost gone.”

Low attack power is the one issue, but to think it’s already losing durability after just a few swings is disappointing.

There are cheap weapons given as starter gear that are better than this.

Yet, since it has self-repair capabilities, it doesn’t cost money, making it a good weapon financially.

And Arthur Calibur has one more ability.

This one ability is unrivaled in this world.

“Here! This is what you wanted!”

I threw Arthur with all my might.

The trajectory was aimed as far away from the monster as possible.

Arthur flew through the air in an arc.

Seeing that, the Iron Golem immediately turned around to chase after Arthur.

Arthur Calibur’s best ability?

That’s right; it’s the ability to act as bait.

All the demons that have appeared so far, and those yet to come, including monsters invading the Academy, all aim for Arthur alone.

Even the emergence of the Iron Golem, which wasn’t in the original work, is solely because of that guy, so it’s only natural that the Golem’s target is Arthur.

Of course, it’s illogical for it to turn its back on me while I’m right in front of it, but…

Just look at how foolish it is, turning its back and chasing after Arthur due to an algorithm designed to eliminate him first.

“Wow! Thanks to you, hunting has become so much easier!”

Isn’t it clichéd to turn your back during a fight?

“Luke. Luna. Yui.”

As I called, a crimson wind surged.

Soon, red blades surged from behind me.

“Combining techniques already? You’ve learned to work your juniors well, haven’t you, Luna?”

Luna, who leveled up alongside me.

Yui, the Vampire Queen, who hasn’t awakened yet.

Their attacks looked pretty powerful, almost on par with a main heroine.

However, there was one fact we overlooked.

The Golem had turned its arms back to block.

Thinking about it, the Golem doesn’t have its limbs attached to its core, and it’s not a creature with joints like a human; its arms and legs have a 360-degree range of movement.

-Bang! Bang!

Still, although it was pushed from behind while it was running, there’s no way it could withstand that.

True to its heavy monster nature, once it started to fall, it showed no signs of standing back up and tilted toward the ground.

Dust flew as the Iron Golem collapsed.

As I approached the fallen Iron Golem, I declared.

“I’ve got to eat up properly~”

I plunged the greatsword vertically into its core.

[ Level Up! Check your status! ]

[ Level Up! Check your status! ]

[ Level Up! Checking your status… ]

I didn’t even bother waiting for the system to output how much experience I earned; I skipped straight ahead.

“Whew! Another one secured today!”

With the battle over, the heroines, except for Riche, hurried toward the direction Arthur flew off, while I picked up the Iron Golem’s fallen arms and legs, storing them one by one in my inventory.

The first to approach me wasn’t Luna or Yui, but Riche.

“You’ve gotten even stronger than last time.”

“Why aren’t you going to your boyfriend instead of coming to me?”

“Who are you calling my boyfriend?”

Riche glared at me with a very hostile look.

From her expression, it was clear she wanted nothing to do with someone like me.

‘What the hell? Why is she suddenly so serious?’

At this point, shouldn’t she be rushing over to give me a potion and a lap pillow or something?

What on earth did I do to make her find me so repulsive?

“Anyway, get lost. I’m busy right now.”

I called over Yui and Luna from a distance, telling them to help with gathering the bodies.

Luna struggled a bit but lifted one of the large legs, while Yui, who was born a mage, was hanging onto one arm, grunting.

“Hey, could you tell me how you got so strong in such a short time?”

She still isn’t leaving, is she?

How do you get strong?

It’s obvious, isn’t it?

“Level up.”