Chapter 35: I’ll Prove That Cute Is the Ultimate Cheat, Nya!!

Our suddenly swollen group—along with the count and the captain of the guard representing the soldiers, the blue-haired succubus Sapphire who had been organizing those left in the village, the orc Gomuro, and the goblin Zaza—somehow managed to squeeze into the guest room of the village chief’s house. Surveying the people gathered before her, the middle-aged woman who served as chief of Taliya Village let out a deep sigh.

"This is a first since this village was founded. To think that the queen herself would come calling… I’ve never met Her Majesty before, but I’m shocked to learn that such a tiny little girl is a queen."

"I apologize, Village Chief. I know it is an imposition to descend upon you so suddenly with such a large group, but we shall not trouble you further. Please indulge us for a short while."

Though the village chief hadn’t spoken particularly loudly, the loli queen with archaic speech caught every word instantly. Flustered, the chief could only respond with a short, "I see," before retreating deeper into the house.

"So then, this Clarice—how do you intend to stop Yuta Mama’s scheme? You do have a plan, yes?"

As the queen turned the conversation toward me, everyone present shifted their attention my way. Even though I recognized most of their faces, I couldn’t help but tense up slightly.

"Well… I do have something in mind. Honestly, I was hoping we could manage with just the succubi, but…"

"What’s with the stiff act, Clari-chan? Just ’cause there are guys around doesn’t mean you gotta play cute. You can talk the usual tough way, y’know?"

"Oh my, I thought she used that sort of persona to lure men. I hear men these days prefer women who treat them casually, like one of the guys."

"So such trends exist among the common folk now. I had thought her merely crude, but one must not underestimate her. Shogo, is that the sort of woman you prefer?"

"N-no, I mean, as a martial artist… until I become a pro gamer, I don’t plan on getting distracted by the opposite sex…"

"Women are impossible to understand anyway. Guys are better off sticking together."

"Women should be gentle, buhi. A good woman stays quiet at home and bears many children, buhi."

"I don’t like loud women either, buhi. Women who stick their noses out and become adventurers are no good, buhi."

"That’s way too old-fashioned, gobu. From here on out, women and monsters alike should advance into society and carve out a new era, gobu."

"Quiet, nyaaa! At this rate, we’ll never even start the discussion, nyaaa!"

It had started with Scarlet’s completely pointless remark, but the entire idiot squad quickly launched into an equally pointless argument, until Ririka finally snapped. The captain of the guard was the only one who remained silent; I couldn’t help thinking he was genuinely a good person. At the same time, relying on this group of fools made me uneasy.

"Y-yes, indeed. I allowed myself to be led astray by the vulgar talk of succubi. Still, what exactly do you intend to do with their help? I will not permit monsters to be led into the royal palace. To stain the historic palace of Larentia with blood would be unforgivable."

"Wow, coming from someone who ran away from that very palace, that’s rich. Since you’re having others clean up your mess, the least you can do is stick your butt out, spread your cheeks with both hands, and beg properly—that’s basic etiquette."

"Scarlet, now now, you’re one to talk. You boasted when you left too, but you never even found a place suitable for summoning."

"That’s enough. If this keeps up, we really won’t make any progress—and Ririka’s going to get mad again."

After Shogo stepped in, Queen Tilda, Scarlet, and the other succubus, Sapphire, finally closed their mouths.

Honestly, the more people there were, the harder it became to hold a proper discussion. Back when it was just me, Ririka, and Natsumi, things had been much more relaxed. Ririka aside, Natsumi clearly found large groups extremely stressful; he stood off in a corner, repeatedly shifting his gaze between the ceiling and the window outside. It would be best to explain only what was necessary and wrap things up quickly.

I took a deep breath and began.

"The mastermind behind this incident is a real nuisance—someone who stirs up the adults in the royal capital with pleasant-sounding, honeyed words. They probably won’t come out to fight personally, and if we resort to force, we’ll only worsen our position."

"So what, sneak in at night and assassinate ’em? That kind of thing isn’t really our specialty."

"They’re technically an adventurer. Even if we killed them, they’d just revive at a temple. And at this point, removing just one person wouldn’t solve anything."

If I were the one to do it, the result might be different—but even so, eliminating Yuta Mama alone wouldn’t stop the adults already influenced by her ideology, nor the opportunists like the knights hunting adventurers in the underground waterways. On top of that, if the son named Yuta—who might also be in this world—learned his mother had been killed, he’d probably hate me for it. I wanted to avoid that outcome.

"Certain ideologies spread like infectious diseases. They multiply their followers."

"Yeah. Especially in this country… no, in this world. People here never developed any resistance to that sort of thing."

Shogo nodded, arms crossed. Timing and momentum were everything. I planted both hands on the table and raised my voice.

"So that’s why—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Voice against voice. If we’re dealing with professional activists, then we fight them the professional activist way! No weapons, no fighting this time! The more people, the better—I want to borrow the strength of the succubi and everyone here!"

Taking travel time from the village to the royal capital into account, we decided to depart early the next morning, loading the necessary personnel onto two Dragoon units. With that settled, the gathering broke up.

To avoid startling the villagers, we landed the Dragoons outside the village and passed them off as magical ships made in Grandsil. Even so, a crowd—especially small children—gathered around the SF transport craft, chattering excitedly as they stared at it. Once night fell, however, they seemed to lose interest. The villagers gradually dispersed, and even the last remaining children were eventually led home by the adults.

Since there were no spare rooms left, Ririka, Natsumi, Shogo, Dias, and I would be sleeping here. Back in the guest room of the village chief’s house where we had gathered earlier, Queen Tilda was apparently being entertained by Count Godart, the captain of the guard, and the village chief. Most of the soldiers under Count Godart had already returned to town by ship, and the few who remained were spending the night drinking with village men at the inn’s tavern. Scarlet had likely gone there as well to reunite with her companions.

"Do you think this will really work?"

Sitting on the vehicle ramp extending from the Dragoon’s rear cargo hatch, Natsumi lifted a spoonful of soup—filled with vegetables and meat provided by the villagers—to his mouth. Gazing up at the night sky, he murmured the question. Ririka was using the shower, and Shogo and Dias had already finished eating and were talking somewhere outside, leaving just the two of us. He’d seemed unsettled during the meeting, so I matched my pace to his.

"Who knows? Honestly, I can’t say. But… if we’ve got succubi, it’ll probably work out somehow."

"What’s that supposed to mean? You sounded so confident back there."

He shot me a half-lidded, exasperated look at my vague answer.

"I just couldn’t think of a better plan. This kind of thing isn’t really my style either."

"What if it fails?"

"Then we go back to Grandsil and apply diplomatic pressure, I guess. It would take time, though."

"That’s a pretty roundabout plan. Do we really need to go that far for this world?"

"When you put it that way… not really. But we don’t know how long we’ll be here. And even if this world’s residents are just game characters, if they’re suffering because of the reckless actions of players who were transferred here, I feel like we should stop it."

"You really are too nice."

Natsumi paused, then looked down at the bowl of soup in his hands before continuing.

"But somehow, I get why Clarice-san was sent here with such ridiculous cheats—airplanes, robots, even something like a space battleship. Shogo-san too. You’re both the type who can’t ignore people in trouble, right? I bet whatever god sent you here did it on purpose. If I had special powers, I wouldn’t go out of my way helping people this much."

He said it lightly, but this cross-dressing shota elf—with an oddly big-sister-like core—would absolutely be the first to snap and rush in if someone were being treated unfairly right in front of him. Sensing the slightly delicate mood, I decided not to point that out.

"I don’t really think of myself that way."

"When I realized that someone like me would never get to be the main character, even if I came to another world, it kind of got me down."

"...If we gathered the keys, summoned the Demon King, and fired a nuclear missile at it, do you think we could go back to our original world?"

"What’s with that sudden turn? Were you even listening to me?"

"Yeah. I didn’t exactly come to this world because I wanted to. And at the very least, if you and Ririka want to go home, I’ll try that method right away. I mean… I don’t care about every player who ended up here, but if our friends can make it back safely to reality, I’d be fine with whatever happens to this place."

Natsumi looked up at me in surprise, then broke into a laugh.

"Wow. That’s pretty cheesy."

"You were getting all serious, so I just matched your tone… Honestly, I don’t really buy those stories about beating the Demon King to return home anyway."

"Yeah. Hopping back and forth between reality and a game world like that would just be absurd."

As Natsumi raised the soup back to his mouth, a carefree voice chimed in from behind us.

"What’s with you two, nya? You still eating, nya? Tomorrow’s the big operation! We’re gonna free Larentia from that weird PTA knockoff once and for all, nya! No time to mope around, nya! Let’s blow off all the stress that’s been piling up, nya!"

Ririka stood there in pink, cat-patterned pajamas, her skin glowing faintly after her shower. Even though the plan had been my idea, somehow she was the one who’d gotten completely fired up about it.

As Natsumi and I exchanged wry smiles at Ririka’s bright, airheaded enthusiasm, Shogo and Dias returned as well.

"Yo, how’s it going over here? We got things sorted out on our end!"

"D-Dias… are we really doing it that way? I’m kind of uncomfortable with it…"

"What are you whining about? Stuff like this is all about momentum! Let’s shock the hell outta the royal capital!"

"I’ll leave everything to Ririka, nya! Guaranteed success, nya!"

Looks like they’d gone ahead and made their own plans. Ririka’s confidence honestly made me a little nervous, but it was far too late to stop them now. With a faint sense of regret, I finished my meal, did some quick preparation, and crawled into a sleeping bag deep in the Dragoon’s cargo deck to rest for tomorrow.

The next morning, we split up as follows.

One Dragoon carried me, Ririka, Natsumi, Queen Tilda, and Fiina from Taliya Village—who had come along with Gomuro—as well as Scarlet and the other succubus women.

The other Dragoon carried Shogo, Dias, Count Godart, the captain of the guard, Neil from Taliya Village, and the male group centered around Gomuro and Zaza—the orcs and goblins.

Once everyone was aboard, the Dragoon transports lifted off toward the royal capital, Larentinia. I might be male on the inside, and Natsumi is technically male as well, but circumstances had landed us in this configuration.

"Dias, how’s your side?"

"Yeah. Some of the guys—the count and a few of the village men—are nervous as hell, but overall there aren’t any problems."

I checked in via comms with the Dragoon carrying the men. Dias picked up tech quickly, and with two Erika units aboard each craft, there shouldn’t be any issues.

After cutting the transmission, I looked down at the item Ririka had handed me and buried my face in my hands.

"I really have to wear this too…?"

"What are you saying, nya? If the one who proposed the plan isn’t dressed the part, morale won’t rise, nya."

"Ahaha, just give up, Clarice-san. This is for the good of the world and its people."

"Yes, Master. Based on the mission briefing, it would not be an exaggeration to say the success rate depends on this. For once, the cat ears’ judgment is correct. Please change immediately. Afterward, I will record video footage, just in case."

Not just Ririka and Natsumi—even Erika, dressed in a white maid outfit, was urging me on. This wasn’t part of my original plan at all… how had things ended up like this?

Resigned, I removed the plain, mob-like outfit I’d been wearing—modest, thick, and reassuringly concealing—and slipped into a scandalous maid uniform with a bright yellow skirt, a dangerously short hem, and a neckline cut so low it practically screamed for attention.

"Nya-hahahaha! Anyone who tries to regulate cute outfits in a swords-and-magic fantasy world is unforgivable, nya! Cute is justice! Cute is absolutely invincible! I’ll prove that cute is the strongest cheat there is, nya!!"

Cute outfits had absolutely nothing to do with swords-and-magic fantasy worlds, but overwhelmed by Ririka’s sheer momentum, I couldn’t bring myself to point that out.