The World Is Overflowing with Monster, I’m Taking a Liking to This Life
Chapter 132: Beginning of the Seventh Day

The light from the sun enters my eyes. It’s the morning of the seventh day.

Rikka-chan is sleeping next to me.

Her body is curled up and she’s breathing in and out in a cute manner.

Also, she’s a bit close up.

(Hey, you shouldn’t be entering someone else’s futon…) She really isn’t vigilant of others. As there’s no helping it, I stand up, cover the blankets again, and leave the room silently so that she doesn’t wake up.

(There are… quite a bit of people who are awake…) There are just as many people awake as there are people sleeping. I can feel presences coming from everywhere around me.

With the new skill “Wide Ranged Enemy Detection” which I acquired from becoming a “Tracker”, my detection range has increased so much that I can easily cover the entire City Hall.

Furthermore, I can clearly discern some presences which were vague and unclear in the past.

This might eventually make me sick and tired of human presence, but there’s no choice but to get used to it.

I head to the bathroom to wash my face and encounter someone who arrived before me.

“Good morning, Nishino-kun.” “Oh, good morning, Ichinose…” Nishino washes his face and gives me a refreshing smile.

“What about the others?”

“They’re still asleep. After all, our talk lasted until late into the night.” “Is that so.”

After returning to the City Hall yesterday, I held a meeting with them. We exchanged information about our skills and discussed about cooperation during today’s operation, so the meeting lasted longer than expected.

Thankfully, Nishino-kun had laid down the groundwork beforehand, so I was able to join their circle without much problem.

But that wasn’t all.

Nishino-kun seems to have told them about the history between Ichinose-san and Rikka-chan, because everyone was acting very kindly.

A high school gal with tanned skin approached me and apologized while saying ‘I’m sorry about my behaviors up ’til now’.

In addition, a guy with the appearance of a typical delinquent told me ‘We will protect you next time’.

….Aren’t these kids too kind-hearted? They were so kind that I almost cried.

Why exactly were they considered delinquents?

(I guess appearances can be really deceiving…) When I was still a corporate slave, keeping up “appearances” was critical.

Bed heads, facial hairs, and wrinkles on clothes were a no-go.

As a member of society, maintaining a nice “appearance” was extremely crucial.

However, that no longer applies in this world. In a world where the true nature of a person is easily exposed, there’s little to no point in putting up an appearance.

The people in Nishino’s group are classic examples of this.

“Why are you staring so intently at someone’s face?” “Nothing.”

I wash my face as well. Nishino-kun waits until I finish.

“We still have some time before breakfast… why not talk a little?” “Sure.”

We move to the parking lot outside the City Hall and sit down near the Outer Wall. We switch places with the guards that were stationed there by telling them that we will be on the lookout until breakfast.

“We won’t need to worry about our conversation being overheard now.” Nishino changes his way of speaking. It seems like he intends to use honorifics when we are alone.

It’s very much like him to do so.

“It’s almost time…”

“Yes…”

The battle with the Queen Ant which is lurking around in the Shopping District is imminent. The people that live here cannot afford to lose this battle.

“Speaking of which, Shimizu-san was delighted you know? We were fortunate enough to acquire a large amount of pesticides before the battle.” “You should be thanking Ichinose-san, not me. If not for her ‘Gatcha’ skill, we wouldn’t have so much pesticide in stock.” Last night, I returned to the City Hall with a large amount of pesticides. Actually, the stock of pesticides came from my Item Box, but I decided to push the credit to Ichinose-san’s “Gatcha”.

I still want to hide the existence of my Item Box.

Still, our opponent is a Named Monster, so I am prepared to take out all cards when necessary.

“Nevertheless, I’m grateful. Our priority is to win the battle, but it’s also important for us to minimize the losses.” “You’re right.”

Yes, even if we manage to beat the Queen Ant, we will still have to defeat another Named Monster.

The Golem known as Titan. Unless we can defeat it, there’s no future for this City Hall.

(For the time being, I did come up with a plan…) Recently, I have acquired new skills.

Furthermore, we now have access to Kiki’s “Reflection” ability, Momo and Ichinose-san got their hands on some new skills, and Aka can mimic into new objects.

If I take full advantage of these things, we might be able to do something against the Golem.

But… there’s still something that bothers me.

(Why did Aka recommend me to choose “Tracker”…?) Certainly, the radius of my searches has increased and I was able to get useful skills like “Tracking” and “Terrain Understanding”, but I don’t think it was the right choice considering the situation.

It would’ve made more sense to proceed with an advanced version of “Ninja” in order to be more powerful in battle.

(Whenever I ask, Aka simply replies with “I just know somehow”…) Although it’s from their intuition alone, Momo and Aka appeared certain about what their recommendation. That was why I chose to believe in them, but I still can’t think of any way to effectively utilize the abilities of a “Tracker”.

(And I won’t be able to get my fourth occupation until I level up again…) There are many things to grind my teeth about.

Besides, the biggest concern right now is– “What happened to Fujita-san?” Nishino-kun reveals a bitter face when he hears my question.

Even after dawn, Fujita-san has not returned, so it’s safe to assume that he encountered an irregularity. Were they ambushed by monsters, or…?

“Nishino-kun sent him a ‘Mail’ yesterday, right?” “Yes, but I didn’t get a reply.” Fujita-san is one of the central figures of the City Hall. Knowing that, Nishino-kun didn’t hesitate in shooting him a “Mail”.

(If someone on the Mail list dies, that person’s name disappears from the list.) I didn’t know this before, but Nishino-kun came to this conclusion after studying the list several times.

Fujita-san’s name is still on the list, so he should still be alive… probably.

“How are the people in the City Hall reacting?” “They were panicking quite a bit yesterday, but they have calmed down.” Apparently, the mayor successfully stimulated the spirit of those that were upset about Fujita-san’s absence.

According to Nishino-kun, the mayor’s speech was something along the lines of: How truly unsightly you guys are. If you behave like this, Fujita will mock you when he returns. Trust and wait for the man you all believe in. Fujita isn’t someone who would die from something of this caliber.

…In fact, try and surpass his expectations! Smile for him when he comes back. Tell him that we finished everything before he arrived. Tell him about how useless he is!

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

“He really showed me the difference in the vessels of true leaders. I don’t think I’m capable of replicating what he did…” “Nishino-kun, you have your own ways of doing things. You don’t have a reason to imitate others, do you?” Others are others. He is himself. Nothing is absolute, and he just has to do what he can.

“You’re right. There are people that trust me and chose to follow me in spite of my shortcomings… so I should try my best to respond to their trusts.”

… To be able to say that with a straight face, I think you are already a strong person.

Nishino-kun stands up.

“I’m sorry for taking so much of your time. It’s about time we go.” “Yes.”

We switch places with some other guards and return to the City Hall.

After breakfast, a strategic conference is held.

Just like Nishino-kun mentioned, no one seems too agitated.

But Chief Shimizu’s expression is a bit dark. Is she alright?

“Everyone looks ready, so I’ll explain the strategy.” Mayor Uesugi stands up on stage and activates his “Map”.

“Here is where the Queen Ant was spotted.” The mayor points at a section of the three-dimensional map in front of him. He’s pointing at the western portion of the Underground Shopping Mall.

“There’s only a single staircase leading there, but the Ants have dug countless burrows, so there’s no shortage in the path we can take to enter.” “However,” Mayor Uesugi continues.

“They will also be expecting us. That being the case, we have to first weaken them using smoke pesticides…Fortunately, there are enough for us to use.” For a moment, he glances at me. I quickly turn away.

“After that, we charge in and annihilate them. Each of you will charge in from your designated locations.” Weaken them with smoke type pesticides, surround the Queen Ant so that she can’t escape, and then annihilate them.

It is a simple and an easy-to-understand strategy.

Although there will be numerous Giant Ants inside, they aren’t strong individually.

If there’s something to worry about, it would be the Queen Ant’s personal fighting abilities.

Also—

“..What if the Golem pops out from nowhere?” One of the staffs raises his hand.

Yes, that’s the most worrisome point.

If that thing appears, it wouldn’t be the time for operations anymore.

“Abort the operation and immediately withdraw… is what I want to say, but there isn’t much time left for us. You would have to carry on with the operation while trying to escape.” …Hey, what you’re saying is that you’ve failed to take into consideration the biggest source of variation in the operation.

“In the worst case scenario, we would need to have someone distract Titan’s attention so that the others can carry out the operation.” So a bait…

I wonder if there’s anyone who is willing to become the decoy in such a situation. It’ not like any of us are the second generation Hokage or something.

Some of the people appear dissatisfied with the plan, but nobody complains because there’s no alternative.

The mayor looks around.

“Then the operation will begin 30 minute from now. Everyone, please survive and come back safely!” “““OHHHHHHH!!!”””

Everyone stands up and puts their heart into the operation.

Thus, the operation for the subjugation of Queen Ant Alpha is about to begin.