The Loner Who Conquers the Other World
chapter-169-30041322

Day 52 – Daytime, The Town of Omui.

What I beheld there was a terrifying sight that shocked me to the point of robbing me of all words. I can’t take it anymore.

「It’s Haruka-kun! That’s great timing, we can’t bring this thing out of the workshop? It’s too huge.」

「Can you put it into the item bag? We want to place it on the river.」

「How do you go to make katanas and end up making a steamboat? Making a table and ending up with a chair is one thing? But why would a katana need a steam engine?! No matter at which stage you screw up, there is no way for a katana to become a steamboat? On the contrary, it’s quite amazing if by hitting an iron with a hammer you got a steamboat as the result! But you definitely did this on purpose, right? This is a premeditated crime, right? Why would you go out of your way to make a steam engine, if we can easily power things with mana!」

A steamboat as big as the size of the forge allowed. Makes sense that they would have no way to transport it out. Okay, let’s leave it there.

「C’mon lad. It’s a huge pain if you just ditch it here! I already have manufacture orders from Omui-sama, so I need the forge, don’t just leave that here!」

It’s a medium-sized wooden paddle-steamer. How come they managed to make a boat despite being unable to make even a table? What if they tried to make a chair? Would that have ended up as a ship too? It’s an iron-reinforced ship with iron covering the hull and important structural points? Well, the steam engine is surely made from iron too. If it was wooden I would’ve found a certain respect for the geeks.

And why were you just looking, old man, instead of stopping them? I’m sure you helped them too? I mean, it looks too polished on finishing touches, without experience the hull would be full of holes, right? You definitely helped them, right? You are pretending that you are unrelated to this, but you are definitely an accomplice, aren’t you?

It goes without saying that after dumping the boat into the river and putting the geeks on it, I poured lots of meteors on it from above. I was trying so hard to conserve mana, and ended up using up all of it? And yet I couldn’t sink it? Those bastards equipped it with a barrier device!

Working on safety measures, they infused a magic stone with the guardian’s Barrier Magic, attempting to create a simplistic barrier device, but couldn’t bring it to a practically usable level, and yet they put that on the ship, they were fully intending to get hit by a meteor. Should I just go for atomic disintegration already?

During that time, when I dashed up into the air, I spotted the idiots playing tag with kobolds, but I’ll pretend I didn’t see that. It seems instead of adapting to the other worlds, they instead adapted to the Evil Forest. Their jobs most likely changed by now to something like Savages.

I also thought about creating a cargo ship for timber or iron, but an iron-reinforced boat? Just what are they planning to fight? And what pisses me off is their effort to prevent it from burning? Moreover, it was actually a good idea to put a barrier device, that was too huge for practical use, on the ship, but their attempts at coming up with countermeasures irritate me even more! They are really pissing me off!

「Aaah~. I feel drained? Mentally? Aren’t days off meant to give relief to the heart and soul? I wonder if Armored Pres-san and others are still at the general store? They are probably swarming all over the new bags despite having no money for them. Why do I work every night to provide the general store with new goods, but they keep bringing them back to the inn? What’s the point of delivering that to the general store in the first place?」

They are complete shopping addicts by now. As if they are chasing after the everyday life they had in the previous world, as if trying to become happier than they were in the previous world, as if trying to get back what they lost coming to this world. But clothes and meals are probably the limit of what I can do for them. At the moment they can’t do anything aside from desperately trying to distract themselves with fun, so they keep pestering for new dishes, and buying up cute clothes. Almost two months have passed already since the days we spent in the original world.

There is actually something tragic about their desperate attempts at finding enjoyment.

When one is near the limit, they can’t think of anything but survival.

But when leeway appears, it allows all sorts of thoughts to surface.

Unlike us, they lost too much.

Boys have it nice, you know? I mean, the geeks spent all their time in the original world, dreaming of going to a different one, if anything, this world is more real to them. That’s why they don’t have a problem with it. Rather, being in the original world was an issue for them. Coming to a different world they are finally getting serious.

And it’s even less of an issue for the idiots. They are dwellers of this world. Staying in the forest suits them just fine. It’s only because they were in the previous world that they did sports and became excellent athletes. If they remained there, they surely would’ve had all the money and fame they’d wanted. But that is why they feel no need to go back. They are finally where they belong. They don’t have to fight safely, abiding by the rules all the time. They finally can give it their all, running a thin line between life and death, trying every trick they can. A warrior folk that was dying from boredom in the previous world can finally fight seriously.

And I don’t have anything in that world. The only lingering attachment I have might be to bookstores. That alone I loath to part with and dearly miss.

But here I have Armored Pres-san. I brought her out. That’s why I want her to be happy, live a joyous life with lots of nice stuff. In the previous world, I didn’t have anyone important to me, no one whom I wanted to be happy, no one whom I wanted to see laugh, and no one I didn’t want to lose. I’m fine with this world. Slime-san also decided to tag along, so I have tons of attachments to this world.

But it’s different for the girls.

There is nothing nice about being in this world for them. They were brought here with everything to lose and nothing they wanted from this world.

Them being hopeless shopping addicts and unmanageable selfish spoiled brats is enough. That is a valiant effort already, being able to still remain of sound mind? It wouldn’t be surprising if they threw a violent fit, raging, wailing, snapping at everyone around. Since they managed not to go insane unlike Whatever-kun, 30 of us survived. Going insane surely would’ve been easier, but they are holding out. The friendship power of girls-only gatherings is supernatural.

That’s why today it’s home industry time again. The food that they thought they’d never taste again, clothes they thought they’d never get a chance to wear anymore, although it is obvious that there is no way to bury the weight of sentiments accumulated over 16 years in a mere two months, making them forget about everyone they held dear in the previous world. It most likely would’ve been a lot easier for them to just perish in that forest back then, consumed by the despair, but I saved them because I didn’t want that to happen, however, there is little I can do except make things that might make them feel a little bit better? If that can keep their smiles then working at night is… Actually, can something be done about that?

「Kyaaaa! I remember seeing this bag at the shop! I wanted it so much!」

If Daniel-san and Bob-san find out I’ll apologize. I mean I also wanted it? But I have the cloth bag as equipment? Come to think of it, no matter what kind of fancy stuff I make, it won’t go along with the black cloak! And on top of that, I can’t part with the stick and a cloth bag! So I’m not fashionable at all! orz

「Hmm? It’s a bit too large as well? There is no good size at all! Call the manufacturer!」

Please don’t, instead of calling me for every little thing just tell me about that in the inn. Also, it’s not that the bag is too big, it’s just that you are too small. You are a shrimp, what is such a little thing doing in the adult department?

「Aaah~ a sporty storage? A cute pouch that will be suitable for a party? Although I never was invited to one? Despite being a part of one!」

Yeah, I never got called too? But I’m also not a part of one? But I also don’t want to go 『LET’S PARTY』with gobs too? Although the geeks and the idiots are probably doing that. [1]

They are having fun, or rather, having a lot of purchases? The reason for the scarcity of days off probably lies in earnings being unable to catch up. They might exterminate all of the monsters for the sake of cute clothes. Are they actually very suited for this world too? Or maybe they are adapting? Eh? Could it be that mental strain has nothing to do with this and they are just Avarice-san and comrades? On the contrary, they seem to be mentally unstable when it comes to clothes.

[TL Notes:

[1] Sengoku Basara reference.

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