Chapter 196 - The User of Poison Hand
【Party Member, Juri Tanaka's Affection Level increased by 7000】
【Party Member, Akane Suzuki's Affection Level increased by 5000】
【Party Member, Marin Nakano's Affection Level increased by 5000】
【Party Member, Yuko Kimura's Affection Level increased by 5500】
【Party Member, Sakura Kobayakawa's Affection Level increased by 5000】
【Party Member, Minami Hosaka's Affection Level increased by 5000】
【Party Member, Miho Kato's Affection Level increased by 4000】
【Party Member, Nodoka Sato's Affection Level increased by 6000】
...I stare with dead eyes at the endless display of girls' names and the fluctuations in their Affection Levels.
【The emotions of the new Party Members toward Keisuke Nakamoto have changed from "Interest, Calculation" to "Obsession, Lust"】
【The Sexual Arousal of the new Party Members has reached 70%】
【This is a value where sexual intercourse is possible with consent. Do you wish to proceed?】
【If executed, there is a certain probability of producing children】
【Born children will inherit the status tendencies and some skills of their parents, and sharing of equipment and items will also be possible】
【Furthermore, it will be possible to transfer classes to the children】
Don't make such unreasonable demands, Elsa.
I can't think of a country where I can practice polygamy with over thirty women...
Unless I time-slip back to the Sengoku period, wouldn't I just become a criminal?
But in the deep reaches of Africa or something, maybe there are no limits on the number of people?
Wait, why am I thinking realistically about moving toward polygamy?
I should just die... I should just die...!
"Gaaaaah!"
I clutch my head and crouch down.
A breezy scent, reminiscent of a girls' school, wafts from my right hand, as if it's accusing me, saying, "Never forget the sins you have committed."
...What is this, this compressed scent of girls?
It feels like I stuck my right hand into the changing room of a Mission School girls' academy that only young ladies attend, let it sit for a few years, and this is the scent it produced.
This is... yes... a lethal weapon.
It's already a weapon.
There is a secret technique in Chinese martial arts called Poison Hand.
It's a technique full of fantasy: you put medicine made by mixing poisonous plants and insects into a bottle, and by thrusting your fist into it repeatedly, you imbue the poison into it.
They say a fist created that way will harbor deadly poison, and if it hits directly, it will kill the enemy (though that's just a manga story, and it probably doesn't exist in reality)...
Terrifyingly, it seems I have completed a certain kind of Poison Hand using the skin and sweat of underage girls.
Because if I touched someone right now, people would die.
A lolicon middle-aged man like Gondo would probably die of jealousy, a PTA mother would die of rage because it's too unhealthy, and a police officer would die from the guilt of failing to protect society.
"Hehe... I'm not afraid of anything anymore, now that I've come this far..."
The voice I mutter is more exhausted than I could have imagined.
However, there was a sense of achievement.
The Japanese co-stars here were being touched obediently, but—
Chloe and Rebecca had run away, completely repulsed.
It might simply be that they were repulsed because my demands were too depraved—in fact, that possibility is incredibly high—but even so, it's certain they have newly emerged as suspects.
The girls who look Caucasian and avoided my investigation.
It's you guys... it's you guys, isn't it?
I steel my resolve and stand up vigorously.
"I have to go touch those two."
That was a line that had zero elements of a Hero left in it.
Even though it's my own doing, it makes me sick, but I switch my mindset and head into the hallway.
I run through the building to find the fleeing Chloe and Rebecca.
Along the way, whenever I pass a staff member, I don't forget to touch their body using various excuses.
...When I shook hands with Producer Kurosawa, he looked at me suspiciously, saying, "Nakamoto-san, you smell really good somehow."
I gave the lowest possible response, "Well, it's the Pillow Business," and the producer readily accepted it, saying, "What do you mean, Pillow Business?"
...Is this a common thing?
Whatever, I don't care about the circumstances here.
I go up the stairs toward the second floor.
...Next to the vending machine, I spotted familiar feet. A girl's white legs.
After sprinting up the stairs three at a time, I closed the distance to the girls with the capacity of a long jumper.
"—Found you."
"Nakamoto-han!?"
The American speaking in Kyoto dialect screams. There is a look of terror in her eyes.
"...I've lost all respect for you, Nakamoto-han... I never thought you were the kind of person who would do such a thing..."
Rebecca has tears in her eyes, making gestures as if to protect herself with both hands.
....
This is difficult.
It's extremely difficult.
"To propose Pillow Business to dozens of girls simultaneously in broad daylight... that's not normal... I thought you were a bit more hard-boiled..."
"..."
"N-no, don't come near me... noooo...!"
I take a step forward toward the genuinely terrified Rebecca.
Beside her, Chloe was huddling close to Rebecca like a knight, trying to protect her from my demonic hands.
Dammit, at this rate, you can't tell which one is the villain.
But I, touching them... investigating—
"—I'm stopping."
"Eh?"
The two girls open their mouths in blank surprise.
"I'm stopping, I'm stopping. Damn, if I think about it, there's no need for me to go out of my way to touch them. If I just want to check the strength of their bodies, I can just have Rio touch them after applying Dispel. Why didn't I realize that sooner? ...Is it because I was guided by Rio to touch them with my own hands? ...Knowing her, she's probably trying to raise me into a brute that suits her tastes... how rotten..."
I take out my smartphone and decide to call Rio.
No matter how you look at it, I haven't fallen so low as to be groping girls who clearly dislike it.
"...You're not going to touch them?"
Chloe asks me with a face full of suspicion.
Her gray eyes direct a light of doubt toward me.
"Yeah. I'm not touching them."
"Why?"
"Because Rebecca is against it."
"..."
"In the first place, why were you trying to touch them? And what is 'Pillow'?" Chloe asks.
"That was just a pretext. Anyway, there's something I absolutely have to investigate."
Rather than that, I tap the screen to call Rio quickly.
"...At least you don't want to touch them without consent, then."
"Obviously."
Well, I feel like it would still be out even with consent... but just as I let out a sigh, Chloe spoke.
"I understand. As for me, I can't bear to involve my friend any further."
I look up.
Our gazes clash—gray eyes that convey a strong will.
"I think I might be able to provide what you're looking for, Nakamoto-san."
"...Oh?"
I approach Chloe, wondering what she means by that.
Is it a mere misunderstanding, or is it nothing less than a confession from someone from another world...
Eventually, Chloe reaches out her right hand and points her palm toward an empty direction.
A familiar sound, vshun, rings out, and a blade of light extends from the girl's hand.
That was it.
The true identity of the mixed-race girl, who possessed excellent athletic nerves and manipulated somewhat imperfect Japanese, was—
"I see. You're a Summoned Hero too. ...After I left, Earthlings were summoned to that world again. And they were brainwashed to defeat me there, and then sent back to Earth. It's probably something like that, right?"
"You're completely wrong."
"Certainly, if they are fellow Earthlings, it would be incredibly difficult to deal with. They really are despicable people... wait, huh?"
I freeze as my self-conceived theory, which I had spoken so proudly, is flatly denied.
Rebecca, still with tears in her eyes, had a face that said she had no idea what was going on.
Chloe sheathes her Light Sword and stands up quietly.
"I wasn't raised on Earth. But I can speak Japanese. Just so you know, I don't have the [Skill: Language Comprehension]. ...And, I can use the Divine Sword. You understand what that means, don't you, Nakamoto-san?"
"...I don't."
"I see."
The black-haired girl turned on her heel.
Her long ponytail swayed with her movement.
"Seven o'clock tonight. Let's settle this at the harbor where you burned the High Priest."
With that, Chloe vanished in an instant.
If even my eyes couldn't track her, she is quite the user.
...I have identified the culprit.
However, an even deeper question has arisen.
"...Even though she's from another world, she can speak Japanese...?"