Jujutsushi Wa Yuusha Ni Narenai

Chapter 156: Operation Crossing The Bridge 1

See? Theres a manhole right here.

Ah, youre right.

I was showing Mei-chan to a round, metallic lid fixed on the roadside, a manhole from any angle you look at it. Id noticed that these were here on the first day we started exploring this isekai town, but chose not to bother looking through dirty sewers since I had no particular reason to. Until now that is.

I mean, Sakurai-kun cant do anything if were underground, right?

Yeah, I dont think he can penetrate this deep. Actually, I dont think hell be able to sense us going through the sewers at all.

Mei-chan affirmed my theory, and I believed in her intuition.

Now there was the issue of whether the sewers linked to the other side of the lake. I wasnt exactly a fan of going in there if I could help it, but like the saying goes, when push comes to shove.

Lets get it over with I guess huh, how are we supposed to get this open, anyway?

I think they used some special metal rod that fit in the holes.

The dungeons manholes also had the little holes on the lid. Although, they werent something we could stick some fingers in and pull.

Huh, this sure sucks. And with the shape its got, it doesnt look like I can use my tentacles either

Hmf!

Mei-chan stomped and the manhole popped up and out of the way.

There we go.

Thanks. Alright, so lets send Rem in first.

I thanked Mei-chan for her excellent usage of brute force, and had Rem #3, our proverbial canary, dive in and check for danger.

I scanned the sewers from above. Inside, I could see that it was lit up with the same white light panels found all over the dungeon, so there wont be any problem checking our surroundings once inside.

This was a dungeon sewer so it wouldnt be strange to find monsters living inside, for example, insect types or giant alligators. In the sewer zone I was previously at, there were Jiras, those fish-Goma like monsters, so those could be in there too.

GUGO, GUGAGA!

A little time later, #3, who Id sent in to scout had returned.

All clear, it looks like.

Ill go in first then.

Sure, thanks.

Mei-chan volunteered to go in first. She didnt use the attached latter and just jumped all the way down.

There was a good bit of distance to the bottom but she you know what, Im not going to bother.

She was now very used to her Berserker body so she had no problem with feats of acrobatics like this, Im sure. She wouldnt do it if she was unsure of whether shed land unscathed.

As a Shaman, I needed to do research and experiments to figure out the extent of my abilities, but maybe other types of Jobs had a learning curve more instinct based. Or at least, thats how I think Mei-chan had it.

Kotarou-kun~, its safe down here~

Ok, Rems there and Mei-chans confirmed the safety too. This was more that enough. I should get going.

KHSHASHA.

Ah, sorry Arachne, youre gonna have to wait here.

This was simply because of the fact that Arachne Mk. II was too big to fit through the hole.

Oh right, and Mei-chans main weapon, the halberd, and that big shield wont fit either so we were not taking those.

We were only going in to see how the route looked, so we werent abandoning our stuff or anything like that.

Huh. Its not that different from the sewer zone actually.

The construction was practically the same as the sewer zone I once traveled with Tendou-kun and the Yankee Party. So I was honestly expecting suddenly hearing GyoGyoGyo! and getting assaulted by a school of Jiras but that hadnt happened at all. So far.

Since this was a people-less ancient town, there wasnt any wastage flowing with the water in these sewers and it actually didnt smell so bad. Actually, now that I think about it, every place where those Jiras popped up stunk like ass. I bet it was those fish mofos that were stinking up that whole zone.

Kotarou-kun, I think around here should be where the lake is.

Mei-chan, with ever the sharp senses, could easily navigate inside these repetitive sewer tunnels.

You mean if we go straight through here, well be on the other side?

Yeah, it should be this direction.

Right, lets go then. There werent any bends or branching paths so we just went straight For about 3 minutes, after which we had to stop.

Damn, its completely caved in.

Great. Just great. The whole tunnel was caved in right at the point where wed be completely across. Large blocks of the concrete-like stone had closed off our path.

Though it wasnt exactly sealed tight. There was just enough space to let a little amount of sewage through.

GU, GAGA

I tried having #3 squeeze in from somewhere, but she found no gaps wide enough. And even if we could squeeze into the sewage way somehow, I dont know how long wed have to hold our breath before coming out the other side. And I wasnt willing to go that risk.

Looks like this is a dead end. Lets go back and look for another route, I suggested.

Yeah, too bad huh, Mei-chan agreed.

We headed back the way we came.

We arrived at the bottom of the manhole where Arachne was on standby. I put my hand on the ladder to climb up when,

Ah, wait, Kotarou-kun. Ill go up first. No telling if theres a monster waiting outside, right?

I mean, Arachne was outside and she could probably drive most things off, but Mei-chan had a point. Say, the moment I pop out my head, a raging Roylopse stampedes over the manhole like an out of control truck, Id have my head turned to paste before I know it. Plus, I didnt think Arachne would be able to handle that large a beast if it does decide to charge.

I mean, theres always the possibility of such an attack, but the chances of it really happening was incredibly low. Still, Mei-chan asked to go first with my safety in mind, so the least I could do was agree to her kindness.

And as I was watching her climb up, suddenly, a bolt of electricity passed through my head.

Wait, wait, wait. Isnt this where, I get to see her panties!?

She only had on that swaying, pleated skirt while she was making the climb. In addition, Mei-chan didnt wear spats, those accursed barriers that subverted panty shots. In other word, from underneath, the only piece of shielding that separated my eyes from her flesh would be a mere pair of panties.

Id painstakingly held myself back from a lot of similar situations, situations that drove my self-control to its very edges, but this, this I could actualize by simply looking up. If this isnt what you call a once in a lifetime chance, I dont know what is.

No wait, think about this. This is definitely Mei-chans trap

The moment I lose to my libido, I look up, and then, Mei-chan and my eyes meet, thus spelling the end of my dungeon survival.

She was testing me, fully aware of the possibility that her panties were in plain view. This was my battlefield, my chance to prove that I was in fact a gentleman!

D-dammit I, I wont, but I, I

Kotarou-kun~, all clear up here, come on up~

Oh, ok. Fan-service time was already up, ok.

In the time I spent pathetically deliberating, Mei-chan had already climbed to the top, which wasnt that far up, and called down to me.

Damn it all. I just wasted that big chance. No, I know, it was better this way, twas for the best.

Haaah, bad day today

In the end, we couldnt find a sewer tunnel that led to the other side of the lake.

This was just a bad day for me.

First, the bridge was blocked by Sniper Sakurai. Then, my big plan about using the sewers as a safe route only led to dead ends. Finally, I even had to endure the sheer pain of resisting the act of looking at Mei-chans panties.

Nothing good at all was happening today.

After all that walking and climbing without any result, Id gotten pretty tired, and checking my watch, it was night time already, so we ended up heading back to the Fairy Square. All my energy from the morning when I thought wed be finally leaving our first Fairy Square in this zone, and this is where we end up, returning after a day-trip.

Kotarou-kun, dinners ready~

Looks like its German fries for dinner today. She made it using bananatatoes and Roylopse bacon.

Apparently shed used some of the plants Id collected that worked well as spices but I wasnt able to get a good taste of it. I was constantly thinking how wed really have to fight Sakurai-kun at this rate.

Seriously, how the hell

How the hell am I supposed to bypass that Archer whos become so incredibly over powered? I needed a way to get close to him, specifically, I needed a way to get Mei-chan close enough to him. Close enough to give her a fighting chance.

Her usual defensive equipment, the Dark Tower Shield, was quite bulky and looked like it could withstand massive blows. But would it be enough to block a serious shot from Sakurai-kun? I didnt know, and I was worried. I had a feeling that if he used one of his archery Battle Arts, he might just pierce it through.

This led me to believe that trying for a mad dash across the bridge holding only the shield overhead was a suicidal idea.

Then what if I add Rem to the mix No, even if theres two enemies running across, Sakurai-kun would know to target Mei-chan first. The guy had an insane level of intuition, and he was very likely to figure out that Rem wasnt that tough an opponent.

Then theres the problem of whether, even if Rem makes it there, can she, with her increased strength from the Goliath parts, even defeat this Archer? He might not have specialized Battle Arts for melee combat, but he might still be flexible enough to use a dagger or sword, and might still have decent enough skill in close combat to beat Rem. This tactic is unreliable.

Getting Mei-chan to face him is definitely the more practical choice.

But I didnt have a way to accomplish that safely.

Haah if only my clone had Pain Return

Pain Return was one of the Skills that only worked with my real body, and didnt transfer over at all to my 2Shade clone. Heck, if I could get that sort of cheat combo attack, I wouldve become a master suicider.

No wait, he wont actually know its the clone, will he?

I already told him about my Pain Return.

Meaning, that he definitely wont headshot me immediately. Hed probably try grazing an arrow past my skin to see if the damage does get reflected.

Yeah, wont work. The moment he does that, hell kill the clone in the second shot.

Hell see that Pain Return wasnt happening when he hurt something that looks just like me, so inevitably, hell think that I was just bluffing about this countering skill and will mercilessly shoot to kill from there on after.

As a result, the most I could do with the clone was have it die in combat in the middle of the bridge, still far from Sakurai-kuns location.

Oh, I know. I dont actually have to make the clone go by itself.

There was finally a plan unravelling in my mind.

Thats it, Ill just have Mei-chan carry clone me as her shield!

I yelled in a stroke of genius and stood up from the bath Cauldron in that state of excitement.

Kotarou-kun~, you called me~?

I-I didnt! I didnt call you so relax!

I was sure that if I didnt stop her right away, Mei-chan would easily sweep aside the thin blackhair curtain and invade my bathing area.

Like, holy crap, if I was another 2 seconds late, wed definitely be in a ridiculously awkward situation right now. I mean, sure I had a hidden desire to somehow accidentally end up peeking on Mei-chan taking a bath, but then again, I wasnt exactly enthused about revealing my own birthday suit to her. Im just saying that my you-know-what isnt exactly a size I can boast about. But that doesnt mean its especially short or small or anything. Its normal sized. Yup, completely normal.

Alright, Ill try it out as soon as Im done with the bath.

I ended my soak in a little less than 5 minutes, after which I called Mei-chan, for real this time.

Im thinking of doing a little experiment so help me out.

Experiment?

Yeah, I want to see if you can tell me apart from my clone.

Id of course already told Mei-chan about my newly acquired Curses, including 2Shade, but I had yet to show her this one in action. This will be the first time shes seeing my clone Curse.

So can you turn around for a bit?

Sure.

Alright, lets do this nice and proper.

Expand, Reflect, and so Walk. It is All yet is One, for Reality is None 2Shade.

I used the full canto for maximum effect. Fuzzy black smoke began rising up from the shadow extending from my feet, and in the blink of an eye, the darkness moulded into human form and took a shape completely identical to me.

The clones Id used before, when fighting Reina, were all wearing the school gakuran, but since this Curse copies whatever Im wearing currently, this time, it was more casual, with an open tracksuit and t-shirt inside.

Ok, done. You can turn back this way.

What the!? There really are two Kotarou-kuns!?

Mei-chan was super surprised. Id had this reaction from others too so I knew that me and my clone were one in the same as far as outside appearance goes. You could look at it from any side or angle you want, but thered be absolutely no difference. There was no player 2 color scheme and neither was the clone slightly transparent. No difference at all.

As you can see, theres no difference on the outside, but Im trying to test if people with good instincts can tell somehow.

Basically, since you have really good Berserker instincts, I want you to see if you can tell which one the real me is. Sakurai-kun seems to have good instinctive judgement too so I want to make sure I can use this against him.

I had the clone talk first, and I continued after. One thing to note here is that the voice didnt change at all between the two of us. So pretty much like no changes in the VA.

Oh, huh, I see? Lets see, mmm, nope, I cant tell at all, Mei-chan sulked.

Really? You cant tell? I asked.

Im the real Kotarou, cant you tell!? I forced.

Hes lying, Im the real one, its me, Mei-chan! I pleaded.

Eh, EH!? I, wait, what, umm, I dont know~ Mei-chan began deliberating nervously.

I thought Id mess around a bit, and started doing the old cliche where a shape-shifting monster starts causing confusion among friends and allies. Mei-chan was looking to back and forth to the two of us with an increasingly frustrated expression.

So you really cant tell?

Yeah, I honestly really cant tell. But I have a feeling its you!

And without any warning to me or hesitation on her part, Mei-chan picked out the real body, in other words, my body, and swooped me up in a tight hug.

What the, hey

Her chest was touching my face. No, it was more correct to describe my face as completely muffled. H-holy moly. What is this soft and warm, whats with this great smell. What in the what is I dont even.

Did I get it right?

S-sure did.

Hurray~

She cheered and squeezed me even tighter. Yeah, I can die, like this, in boobies

Phew I sighed to calm myself after being released, So how did you get it anyway?

I wonder, intuition maybe? I just kind of got this this has to be Kotarou-kuns real body kind of feeling.

Oh.

Oh shit. If her intuition is this hardcore, theres a big chance Sakurai-kun might be able to do it too. Once he figures out that my shield clone is in fact a clone, the whole plan will go up in smoke.

Ok, can I try again?

Sure, I dont mind.

I needed to see what sort of success rate this intuition of hers was capable of. If it turns out that she gets it right 50% of the time, I can still mark it down as dumb luck

I got it, youre the real Kotarou-kun!

And so I kept getting smothered in boobies.

Mei-chan, what compels you to hug me so?

Having had my face drowned in those enormous jugs 10 times in a row, my brain had already turned to mush and I lost the mental faculties to even question her actions anymore. Yeah, this is fine

HA!? I came to my senses with a start.

Kotarou-kun, you seemed really out of it, whats wrong?

I mean, Id have to be legitimately homosexual if I didnt feel anything from that sheer amount of boobs-to-the-face goodness.

But now was not the time to lose myself to pleasure. Dammit, my head still wasnt working straight. It was still filled to the brim with Mei-chans boobs.

Well, uh, anyway, so Mei-chan, you kinda just had 100% accuracy there. Was it really that easy to tell?

Well, she said, thinking on her words, I can somehow just tell yknow? But I dont think others could do it as well as me.

So you mean, its because weve known each other for a this long? Maybe you can sense a vague difference in presence or something.

Yeah, I bet its just that. Im pretty sure I can say that I know you best.

That sweet yet deadly experiment done with, what I learned was that there wasnt a big chance that Sakurai-kun would see through the clone decoy. But then again, it wasnt perfect and I didnt want to put all my eggs in one basket.

I wanted to get one more counter-measure in place, if at all possible. So what is it that Im missing?