Chapter 05: “Shared Dignity”
We were carefully advancing along the dimly lit stone-paved passageway that gently led toward the boss room of the fourth layer.
Leading the way with reliable little *peta-peta* footsteps was our tiny guide (navigator)—Kamekichi. Behind him trailed Toto‚ the familiar resembling a white *daifuku* mochi‚ casually folding his short forelimbs as he strolled along. Further back‚ Charlotte clutched a genuine leather grimoire to her chest‚ maintaining a wide-area detection spell. Pale bluish-white magical light rippled across the pages like waves‚ constantly projecting multidimensional reactions spanning several hundred meters in three dimensions.
“So far‚ no abnormal parameters ahead—”
Just as Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief‚ that very instant arrived.
“…!?”
On the pages of the grimoire‚ an ominous red light point like a drop of blood lit up with a soft *potsuri*. Then two. Three. Four. As if proving a bug in causality itself‚ they multiplied in the blink of an eye to over a dozen‚ then twenty. The number of unsettling lights still showed no sign of stopping.
“…Enemy signatures?”
One of the attendant female students murmured in a voice trembling with fear.
It was at that very moment.
“Kyui!”
Kamekichi‚ who had been walking unprotected at the front‚ spun around cleanly on the spot. Not a single millimeter of hesitation or doubt. With an imposing air as if to say‚ “Today’s meaningful stroll ends here‚” he began *sutasuta* marching back along the safe path we had just come from.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Several seconds of leaden‚ oppressive silence. The first to break it was Toto‚ who hurriedly scrambled up onto my shoulder.
“This guy just did an about-face without a shred of pride or hesitation!”
Kamekichi paid Toto’s sharp retort no more mind than a rumor on the wind and continued his advance (retreat) undeterred. Looking neither left nor right‚ he simply pressed forward with every step dedicated to keeping his survival probability at one hundred percent.
“Kyui!”
“Hey‚ don’t go home looking all full of unnecessary confidence!”
Toto frantically flailed his short legs and circled around in front of Kamekichi.
“Until yesterday you were walking in front with that smug face like ‘The reverse-flow route is this way!’ And now it’s ‘It’s dangerous so we’re going home’!? You weren’t directionally challenged—you were just an extreme lazybones (utter NEET) all along!”
Observing the peculiar scene with cold detachment‚ I tilted my head slightly.
“I see… everything adds up now.”
“Eh?”
Charlotte stared at my expressionless face with genuine puzzlement.
“Kamekichi-san is by no means a broken‚ directionally hopeless failure. It’s simply that his wild ‘danger-avoidance ability (safety)’ is abnormally high.”
“That’s not all. This guy also runs the cost-benefit calculations for his own survival at zero-second maximum speed.”
“…E-eh…?”
“That’s why yesterday as well—”
I idly played with my favorite pencil between my slender fingertips while listing past data from my mind in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Stopping by the exquisite secret hot spring‚ devouring rare mana ore‚ discovering the glowing mushrooms—all of those were spacetime coordinates where absolute physical safety was perfectly guaranteed for him.”
“And to add‚ they were all points with an endless supply of his favorite foods.”
“In other words‚ rather than mere lazy detours‚ there’s a possibility they were his own advanced ‘survival-rate optimization routes.’”
“And he does it with that casual ‘I’m walking in front as a competent guide’ face‚ which is honestly infuriating—or rather‚ he’s a natural-born freeloader.”
Toto stopped on my shoulder and looked down at the green turtle at his feet with an intense deadpan stare.
“…You‚ a wild NEET‚ turned out to be surprisingly intellectual.”
Kamekichi proudly accepted Toto’s exasperation and puffed out his flat little chest with his short forelimbs.
“Kyui.”
“Executing a retreat judgment in zero seconds is actually on a level that makes you want to distance yourself as a living being.”
It was right in the middle of that pointless mascot conference.
“…Please wait a moment.”
Charlotte’s tone of voice shifted abruptly to a hard‚ cold edge. In an instant‚ the previous young-lady demeanor vanished‚ replaced by the sharp eyes of an outstanding high-ranking mage.
“This mana detection waveform… something decisive and abnormal (a bug) is mixed in.”
I immediately moved beside her and peered into the genuine leather grimoire.
On the bluish-white pages‚ the blood-like red light points were driving in a terrifyingly orderly fashion. No—they weren’t simply approaching us at random.
“They’re… slowly surrounding us…?”
“—No‚ Charlotte-san.”
I smoothly took the grimoire from her hands and coldly traced the residual flow trajectories of the light points with my fingertip.
“This is no mere accidental encounter. It is a fully intentional ‘polygonal encirclement net.’”
At my assertion‚ everyone present sharply drew in their breath.
I quickly pulled out a well-used research notebook from the folds of my robe and drew a single circle on a blank page‚ then began placing dots one after another around it.
“At the central coordinates is the primary prey they are targeting. Now look at the movement trajectories of the surrounding light points. While multi-angularly sealing off escape routes‚ they are gradually closing the encirclement distance from multiple directions at equal speed.”
One line. Then another.
Each time my pencil connected the dots and completed the ruthless trajectories‚ the light points that had seemed like disordered chaos transformed into a single completed annihilation formation.
“This is exactly the same vector structure as ‘encirclement convergence’ in fluid dynamics. It is not the accidental hunting of wild monsters. It is the intellectual group behavior of individuals completely coordinated by a higher entity.”
Charlotte’s beautiful face turned pale as she murmured quietly.
“In other words… what does that mean?”
I lifted my face from the page and nodded calmly.
“There is no mistake. Highly intelligent group-type monsters—right now‚ in the process of perfectly surrounding and annihilating some other party (prey) just ahead of us.”
After an unsettling beat of silence‚ I solemnly uttered the name of that worst magical race.
“The enemy is—the army of the demi-human race ‘Goblins.’”
The damp air of the abyss froze in an instant to below freezing.
—It was immediately after that all-too-terrible explanation.
From the distant depths of the dark labyrinth.
“Kyaaaaaaaa…!!”
A scream of an unknown woman‚ deeply stained by the darkness of despair‚ violently shook the cold stone walls as it reached our eardrums.
The scream echoing from the depths of the ancient labyrinth did not end with just one cry.
“Nooooo…!”
Far away. A desperate‚ sorrowful shout of a woman‚ reaching us after repeated echoes off the cold stone walls.
No one tried to speak. Only a leaden‚ oppressive silence flowed coldly between us.
Eventually‚ as if to shake off that pressure‚ Charlotte quietly closed the genuine leather grimoire.
“…We will go to help.”
There was not the slightest hesitation mixed into that hard voice.
The two attendants widened their eyes in shock and spun around as if struck.
“Cha-Charlotte-sama!?”
“The opponents are that goblin army‚ you know!? The natural enemies of frail women! Even the adventure guidebooks write in red letters ‘If you encounter them‚ run away first’!”
“Moreover‚ judging from the density of the earlier detection waveforms‚ it’s clearly a large group (nest)!”
Charlotte nodded quietly and slightly.
“I understand all of that.”
Her delicate shoulders trembled faintly—perhaps from biological fear. Even so‚ she stared straight into the deepest darkness from which the screams had come.
“While hearing a weak voice seeking help‚ turning my back and abandoning them—I absolutely refuse to become such a pride-less noble‚ even if heaven and earth were overturned.”
On that profile‚ there was no longer any trace of the worldly-innocent young lady who had raised cries of joy at the natural hot spring earlier; instead‚ the unshakable resolve of a proud mage resided there.
“—That is the pride (noblesse oblige) that flows in my blood.”
“That’s no good! Young lady‚ such lofty pride is worth less than one *krone* in this emergency! Life comes first. As CEO‚ I firmly oppose!”
Toto restrained her with an unusually serious tone of voice.
“In this case‚ that utter NEET (Kamekichi)’s full-speed about-face is the absolute correct answer for survival probability!”
I exhaled quietly and slightly.
(…This is troublesome.)
(Against humans who hold such irrationally firm beliefs‚ presenting any logical survival-probability data is essentially powerless.)
“Louise-san. And the rest of you as well.”
Charlotte turned around and smiled gently‚ like a compassionate saint.
“You need not force yourselves to accompany my selfishness. Let us part ways here.”
“—I refuse.”
“…Eh?”
At my instantaneous reply‚ Charlotte’s beautiful face colored with surprise and her mouth hung open blankly.
“If you were to die a dog’s death alone here‚ the aftertaste in my internal calculations would be extremely poor.”
I stated it plainly‚ yet with clear will.
“I will go with you as well.”
“…Honestly‚ being able to decide instantly without calculating gains and losses in these worst extreme situations—I end up falling for that.”
Hearing my reply‚ Charlotte’s lips curved into a slight smile of relief. Seeing that profile‚ Toto let out a deep sigh filled with resignation. With his short forelimbs‚ he gently patted my head from my shoulder.
“But you guys really are reckless hero types‚ huh. Well‚ when it comes down to it‚ Louise can just go naked (purge) with that cheat multidimensional magic and blow away the entire enemy encirclement net along with the coordinates to escape.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Fufufu…”
A little-devilish smile naturally rose to my lips.
“You’re definitely plotting some worst scientific absurdity (bug) right now‚ aren’t you.”
Toto narrowed his round red eyes into a deadpan stare‚ but I continued speaking without regarding the suspicion.
“Therefore‚ I will raise our ‘combat win rate (survival rate)’ just a little from now.”
“…Eh?”
I quietly lowered my gaze to the dull silver ring fitted on the middle finger of my left hand.
(—Professor Ellright. I’ll properly apologize later with some stomach medicine‚ but I’m going to illegally modify the core system a little without permission.)
I forced high-density mana into the catalyst modulator of the ring. Numerous precise bluish-white magic circles unfolded in layers into the empty space‚ using the ring as the origin point.
“Eh‚ what are you doing…?”
Charlotte’s amber eyes widened to their limit.
“Don’t tell me you’re rewriting the foundational transfer formula constructed by the legendary Professor Ellright right here on the spot…!?”
“Just a minor update.”
I thrust my slender fingertips into the bundles of light of the complex‚ bizarre magical circuits (source code) deployed in the air and forcibly hacked and rewrote the geometric patterns one after another.
“I am forcibly adding ‘mana (catalyst) sharing processing (peer-to-peer network)’ to the core system.”
“Sh-sharing…?”
“Yes‚ sharing.”
The magical calculation arrays drove at high speed‚ incorporating entirely new black backdoor circuits one after another. At that godlike speed‚ even Toto’s eyes widened and he froze solid.
“…You can complete national-secret-level illegal modifications with instantaneous mental calculation?”
“The foundational framework the professor constructed is extremely excellent. I’m only embedding a few hidden tags (extension codes). It’s what you’d call a version upgrade to combat specifications.”
“Don’t say it so casually! That’s definitely a black‚ inhumane usage the professor never even dreamed of!”
A few seconds later. The rewritten formulas settled into causality with a quiet *kachiri* sound in space.
—At that moment. In the space before Charlotte and the two attendants‚ a bluish-white semi-transparent magical hologram screen (UI) suddenly popped up along with a warning sound (alert).
『 STATUS: LINK REQUEST (Connection Request) 』
『 Do you approve the complete sharing network of magical catalysts within the party? 』
［ YES ］ / ［ NO ］
“Eh…?”
“W-what are these uncannily glowing light letters…?”
The three tilted their heads in unison‚ puzzled by the warning-colored strings of text floating in empty space.
I added an explanation in an extremely matter-of-fact‚ cold manner.
“If you approve this‚ your various data will be formally added to the shared region of the multidimensional calculation targets (inventory) built into Professor Ellright’s ring.”
“In other words—in the actual combat against the large group ahead‚ your hidden ‘resolve’ can also be beautifully reflected as the cost for my equivalent-exchange magic.”
“…Our… resolve?”
“Yes. As women‚ an extremely noble resolve.”
I was not telling a single lie.
In the harsh battles ahead‚ in a truly physical and mass-related sense‚ their defensive fabric (resolve) would become indispensable.
Beside my shoulder‚ Toto clutched his round head tightly with his short forelimbs.
“Louise‚ your wrapping of the explanation is way too rough!!”
“Young ladies‚ if you approve‚ you’ll literally face a super-dreadnought-class crisis of completely losing your social dignity at the bottom of this labyrinth!!”
“However‚ Toto‚ rather than losing their physical lives in the fifth-layer abyss‚ a little wear and tear on clothing is far more rational.”
I answered immediately with a completely straight face. Toto fell silent for a moment‚ at a loss for words—.
“…Well‚ that extreme logic is the painful part that can’t be denied even a millimeter from a survival perspective.”
Charlotte gazed at the hologram screen before her and nodded small but firmly.
“Honestly‚ I have no idea what this magical formula means… but Louise-san‚ I trust that unwarped intellect of yours.”
Without the slightest hesitation.
The white‚ slender fingertips of the prestigious young lady resolutely touched the floating ［ YES ］ letters. Seeing that‚ the two attendants exchanged uneasy looks with each other‚ then steeled themselves and followed their mistress.
—At that moment. The silver ring on my middle finger shone with an ominously vivid‚ sinister brilliance.
『 STATUS: LINK ESTABLISHED (Sharing Link Connection Complete) 』
『 Additional calculation target inventory (underwear withdrawal accounts): Three persons 』
A quiet yet certain electronic tone announcing the beginning of ruin *chiin* echoed through the ancient labyrinth.
Confirming the perfect data connection displayed on the hologram‚ I nodded slightly with satisfaction.
“System construction: perfect success.”
“With this‚ everyone’s dignity… no.”
I paused for a beat of silence and restated it in the most polite tone of voice possible.
“Everyone’s ‘noble resolve’ can now also be freely and automatically withdrawn (shared) from a distance as powerful ammunition (cost) for my dimensional equivalent-exchange magic.”
Toto covered his face with his short forelimbs and groaned‚ as if not wanting to see the future ahead.
“Even if you rephrase it‚ the content is completely a criminal’s out‚ you…”
Following the screams‚ we raced through the dark corridor.
The moment we plunged into the enormous underground cavern of the fourth layer‚ I couldn’t help but catch my breath.
It was the worst battlefield where one-sided trampling was taking place.
Countless torches flickered reddish-black against the rock walls‚ and illuminated by that ominous light‚ monsters with repulsive green skin formed multiple eerie circular ranks. Just the individuals in front brandishing rusted weapons numbered a full twenty. Further back among the rocks‚ more than fifteen long-range individuals had nocked crude bows.
Over thirty base and greedy eyes were all focused on a single point—the pitiful “prey” in the center.
In the heart of that despairing encirclement.
“Nooooo…!”
A young woman who appeared to be a mage desperately swung her magical staff with tear-filled eyes. Beside her‚ a female priest desperately maintained a crumbling defensive barrier‚ while behind them an archer woman released arrows with trembling fingertips.
All three had their clothes mercilessly torn here and there by the goblins’ wicked blades‚ stained with mud and fresh blood. Even so‚ they continued to resist desperately while protecting one another.
However‚ at the same time.
A short distance away from them‚ in the darkness of a safe rear passageway.
A heavy iron shield discarded pitifully.
A warrior’s spear thrown away as if abandoned.
And—without the slightest hesitation‚ using the women as decoys and fleeing at full speed‚ the unsightly backs of the three vanguard men.
“Worst! Those garbage men are using the girls as shields and full-speed fleeing with high-speed movement (skill)! Compared to those human trash‚ even Kamekichi‚ who’s usually only confident in his running-away speed‚ is a hundred times better!”
“Kyui (exactly).”
I instantly converted the gruesome situation before me into logical understanding in my mind.
“They used them as decoys and retreated prioritizing only their own survival parameters. As a survival strategy it is extremely rational‚ but as human ethics it is at the bottom of the universe.”
Charlotte’s white‚ delicate fist trembled with a *giri* sound.
“The lowest‚ the worst…!”
In her amber eyes burned a fierce fire of anger never seen before.
“Vulgar creatures wearing the skin of warriors! If you are going to fight‚ fight proudly to the end…!”
The goblins echoed base laughter through the underground cavern while gradually tightening the net of their encirclement.
“Kishashasha!”
“Gyagyagya!”
With their escape routes completely cut off‚ the women no longer had any place to flee in spacetime.
“Dangerous—I will become the shield!”
Charlotte‚ without the slightest regard for her appearance as a young lady‚ boldly leapt to the very front line herself.
“Salamander‚ maximum output!”
Responding to the red-haired young lady’s anger‚ the fire spirit soared fiercely into the dark air.
“Breath of Flame (Fire Breath)!”
With a roar‚ scorching flames raced in a straight line through empty space‚ blowing away several goblins in the front rank who had raised their weapons in one fell swoop. Without even catching her breath‚ Charlotte spun a follow-up spell.
“Firewall!”
A massive wall of flame piercing the heavens unfolded thickly before the three mud-stained women. Overwhelmed by the sheer heat of the barrier‚ the goblins were forced to retreat all at once.
“Now—pursue!”
As if chasing their mistress’s back‚ the two attendants layered their coordinated chants.
“Undine!”
A blue water sphere harboring a fierce torrent exploded in space‚ mercilessly washing away part of the swarm.
“Gnome!”
The cold stone pavement physically rose up‚ becoming a sturdy earthen barrier that blocked the demi-humans’ charge.
However—the goblin army was by no means stopped by such interception.
“Kishaaaa!”
They understood tactics. They scattered all at once into the blind spots left and right. Cleverly avoiding the wall of flame‚ circling around the earthen barrier‚ and from the shadows of the rocks‚ rusted iron arrows began raining down with the density of a downpour.
“Kya…!”
A dirty arrow feather mercilessly grazed the shoulder of one of the attendant female students.
“Kuh‚ the numbers… are too many!”
Charlotte clenched her white teeth amid the fierce reflection of the flames.
“Louise-san! Has your formula not yet completed!?”
In the midst of that raging battlefield. At the rear of the formation‚ I simply quietly closed my eyes.
The impatient shouts around me certainly reached my eardrums. Others’ screams as well. The explosions of magic. The ominous wind-cutting sounds of countless arrows splitting the air.
Yet all those physical environmental sounds were‚ to me now‚ nothing more than noise to the vast calculations unfolding in the universe of my mind.
( Earth. )
( Wind. )
( Water. )
( Fire. )
( Forced connection of shared inventory. Total targets: forty-eight. )
( Multidimensional continuous deployment. Formula interference process: all clear. )
( Synchronization link: commence immediately. )
In the deepest recesses of my brain cells‚ tens of thousands of complex‚ bizarre latest magical formulas (source code) were compiling at terrifying speed.
Just a little more. A few more physical decimal seconds were needed for my formula to manifest on this battlefield.
“Hold the line and buy time until my calculations are complete!”
With my eyes still closed‚ I raised my voice amid the flames of war.
“In just a few more decimal seconds‚ the multidimensional formula will activate!”
“Kishaaaa!”
The intelligent demi-humans finally slipped through the slight gaps in the flame wall‚ breached the defensive line‚ and closed in.
“The barrier can no longer maintain its structure—it won’t hold!”
Charlotte raised a scream of unprecedented despair.
It was the fateful moment when that absolute defensive line collapsed.
“—Can’t be helped‚ I’ll show you a man’s guts!”
From atop my shoulder‚ Toto leapt bravely toward the front line as if propelled.
“As the chief executive officer (CEO)‚ I’m also making an emergency entry onto this battlefield!”
And then.
Toto casually scooped up with his short forelimbs the small turtle—Kamekichi—who had been leisurely watching the grand athletic meet at his feet‚ grabbing his deep-green shell.
“Goooooo! Our laboratory’s ultimate decisive weapon—Kamekichi Attaaaack!!!!”
“Kyuiiiiiiiiii!? (This is completely different from what we talked about—heaven and earth are overturned!!?)”
Without obtaining the individual’s consent in the slightest‚ Toto executed a full-swing full-power throw with all his strength.
The small turtle‚ flung into empty space drawing a clean parabolic arc‚ plunged in a straight line into the dense goblin cluster like a supersonic hyper-gravity cannonball.
—*Gon!*
“Gya!?”
The face of the first goblin was blown clean away along with its nasal bone.
—*Gon!*
A critical clean hit to the repulsive jaw of the second.
*Gogogogogogog!*
That shell‚ boasting mythic-level molecular hardness of the labyrinth’s deep layers‚ transferred physical kinetic energy without the slightest attenuation‚ bouncing violently through the very middle of the goblin group like a cursed pinball.
“Gya!?”
“Gisha!?”
“Kishaaaaaa!”
One after another‚ the chorus of the goblins’ refreshing screams echoed through the underground cavern.
Before anyone realized it‚ nearly all the goblins’ hate (killing intent) had concentrated on a single point—the unreasonable ultra-hard blunt weapon (Kamekichi) dancing frenziedly through the air.
“Kyuiiiiiiii!! (Someone‚ save my labor standards law!!)”
Slammed onto the cold stone pavement‚ the small turtle frantically fled with tear-filled eyes while flailing its short legs. Behind it‚ more than thirty goblins whose pride had been crushed‚ eyes bloodshot with rage‚ pursued it all at once—an all-too-absurd and surreal grand athletic meet erupted.
Faced with that chaotic spectacle‚ I opened my eyes slightly.
—Perfect. Time has been bought exactly according to my formula.
The corners of my mouth quietly curved with unfathomable coldness.
“…An excellent time-buying decoy that risked your own body‚ Kamekichi.”
“All targets’ spacetime coordinates fully locked in my mind.”
“Continuous multi-attribute conversion formula—I will now deploy it at maximum output.”
“The barrier can no longer maintain its structure—it won’t hold!”
Charlotte’s grief-stricken cry violently echoed through the underground cavern.
The wall of flame that had pierced the heavens had already reached the limits of its mana and was on the verge of shattering with a *parin* sound. The base goblins‚ toyed with by the trajectory of the unreasonable ultra-hard blunt weapon (Kamekichi) and raising refreshing screams‚ were nevertheless steadily tightening the encirclement net around the women with the violence of their overwhelming numbers.
It was the moment of absolute desperation when every survival parameter was about to converge to zero.
I coldly opened my eyes.
“—All mathematical calculations complete (compile end).”
It was an extremely quiet yet conviction-filled voice. With just that dignified single word released‚ the air of the raging battlefield tensed tautly.
“Louise-san!”
“At last‚ at last the equation for reversal has been completed!?”
“Yes‚ perfectly.”
I smoothly poured every nerve’s mana into the silver modulation ring fitted on the middle finger of my left hand. Pale bluish-white magical light spread from my feet like geometric ripples‚ and complex‚ bizarre three-dimensional magical formulas floated up in layers into the surrounding empty space.
“—Sharing formula (network purge)‚ activate immediately.”
The next instant after my hacking magic activated. In the space before Charlotte and the two attendants‚ ominous semi-transparent hologram screens (UI) simultaneously popped up along with warning sounds (alerts).
『 STATUS: ERROR / First formula activation condition unmet (catalyst mass insufficient) 』
『 WARNING: Please immediately select additional catalyst from the shared inventory withdrawal accounts 』
“Eh…?”
“W-w-what is this indecent list…!?”
Displayed on the light screens was an extremely detailed list of the equipment assets they were currently wearing on their bodies. They were lined up in cold digital letters.
・Main armament (magical staff)
・Armor (magical hat)
・Armor (high-class cloak)
・Accessories (mana rings‚ etc.)
・Tops (outer blouse)
・Bottoms (tight skirt)
・Inner top (silk brassiere)
・Inner under (silk panties)
・Others (socks‚ decorative ribbons‚ etc.)
“W-w-what is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!?”
Having finally discerned the “essence” of the displayed text strings with her intellect‚ Charlotte fell into what was literally the greatest panic of her life and screamed.
“There is not a single millisecond to hesitate!”
I eliminated all personal feelings and shouted in the voice of a cold frontline commander.
“The top of the list on the screen—first select ‘hat’!”
“Y-yes…!”
Overwhelmed by the sheer intensity‚ Charlotte reflexively tapped the “Armor (magical hat)” item on the hologram with her fingertip.
—*Pashun.*
The luxurious hat bearing the prestigious family crest she had been wearing was equivalently converted into pale bluish-white light particles and vanished into empty space in an instant.
“Kya!? My limited edition worth fifty thousand *krone*…!”
『 STATUS: ERROR / Catalyst mass still insufficient (REQUIRED MORE) 』
『 WARNING: Please select further additional catalyst 』
“Still not enough mass! Next!”
“Eeeeeeh!?”
The two attendants also‚ looking ready to cry‚ hurriedly selected their own hats on the screens. The three high-quality hats vanished into the far side of causality in an instant.
“Louise-san! The system warning text is still bright red!”
“Purge the main armament ‘staff’!”
“Yes!”
Mistress and servants selected the staffs with desperate expressions. The magical wooden sticks sublimated into dazzling light.
『 STATUS: ERROR / Catalyst mass insufficient 』
“High-class ‘cloak’!”
—*Bashu.*
『 STATUS: ERROR / Catalyst mass insufficient 』
“‘Tops (outer blouse)’!”
—*Bashun!!!!*
The three well-tailored outer blouses were simultaneously forcibly converted into the light of causal alteration.
“Kyaaaa…!”
“The underground air is intensely cold…!”
“Still!? Even after offering this much‚ the mass on the scales is still insufficient!?”
The electronic alert sounds of the magical system echoing through space remained utterly cold and merciless.
『 WARNING: Required magical catalyst is severely insufficient. Event alteration cannot be executed 』
And the selectable (active) asset items remaining on the blood-seeping hologram screens—finally‚ only one remained.
『 Bottoms (tight skirt) 』
“…………”
“…………”
“…………”
Ignoring the underground clamor‚ an unprecedented heavy silence fell among us.
With the flatness of a cold tax-office clerk‚ I announced the ruthless reality.
“Time is up‚ Charlotte-san. Immediately seize (select) the remaining asset.”
“Noooooooooooooooooooo!!!?”
Having her prestigious young-lady pride (pride) completely smashed‚ Charlotte clutched her head and screamed.
“This is absolutely‚ absolutely physically structurally wrong! I heard it was the latest magical tool (ring) of the living legend of magic‚ Professor Ellright!”
“It’s just a super high-tech highway-robbery strip system!!”
To that unreasonable protest‚ I quietly shook my head.
“No. This is pure energy collection of equivalent exchange in accordance with the causal laws of the natural world.”
“The system’s text is so indecent that I can’t tell the difference from a crime!!”
The two attendants were also completely tearful and trembling violently.
“Cha-Charlotte-sama…”
“Already‚ the flame of life of the older sisters ahead… we will decide our final ‘resolve’ as maidens…!”
Charlotte bit her beautiful lips so hard that blood nearly seeped.
From ahead‚ the grief-stricken screams of the female mages desperately seeking rescue echoed. The wall of flame that had barely been protecting them finally began to make the ominous sound of glass shattering as it started to collapse.
Charlotte quietly closed her amber eyes.
“—My noble life and pure pride (noblesse oblige) cannot be…!”
She took one deep breath of the underground cold air into her chest.
“…exchanged for this!!!”
With white‚ slender fingertips trembling from fear and shame.
She pressed the “Bottoms (tight skirt)” item on the screen with the force of an enemy of her parents.
The two attendants also followed their mistress’s command while raising their voices and sobbing.
“I-I’m soorryyy… Grandmother in heaven‚ and my beloved Father…!!”
—*Paaaaaaa!!!!*
The expensive tight skirts embroidered with pure gold thread that the three had been wearing were completely purged into dazzling flashes of causality on the battlefield.
At the same time. The warning color of the main hologram in my retinal view switched in an instant from ominous red to vivid green (all green).
『 STATUS: ALL GREEN (Shared catalyst reception complete) 』
『 All-attribute multi-formula activation conditions completely achieved 』
In the deep darkness I smiled quietly and sacredly.
“Thank you for the tear-inducing magical investment‚ Charlotte-san. Thanks to everyone’s social dignity (sacrifice)—I can probabilistically save everyone present here at one hundred percent.”
On my shoulder‚ Toto‚ who had been watching everything from the best seat‚ couldn’t help but distort his face and scream.
“You!! When the catalyst being consumed is someone else’s high-class equipment (one step before panties)‚ the speed of your decision-making is seriously that of a demonic devil!!”
“—Then‚ shall we begin.”
I ignored Toto’s correct opinion and solemnly raised my right hand toward the goblin swarm ahead.
“—Four-element continuous composite formula‚ All-Heaven Unfolding (Burst Stream).”
At the moment of my declaration‚ dozens‚ hundreds of precise bluish-white geometric magic circles simultaneously deployed across the entire enormous underground cavern in zero decimal seconds.
They accurately enclosed only the feet of the goblins who had been desperately chasing the fleeing Kamekichi‚ with terrifying precision based on my no-panties skin-sensation fluid dynamics.
“First formula. Cage of the Earth (Earth Prison).”
The cold stone pavement physically rose. Countless sharp rock pillars became sturdy cages‚ multi-angularly sealing off the demi-humans’ escape routes.
“Second formula. Convergence of the Atmosphere (Wind Convergence).”
A mere 0.2 seconds later. Ultra-high-speed gales raged fiercely inside the cages‚ mercilessly compressing the goblins who had lost their escape routes toward the central point of space.
“Third formula. Storm of Calamitous Fire (Flare Burst).”
Another 0.2 seconds later. Ultra-high-temperature plasma flames completely concentrated on that single compressed spacetime coordinate.
“Finally—Steam Explosion (Hydro Explosion).”
Inside the sturdy rock cages‚ the cold water that instantly collided with the ultra-high-temperature flames triggered a rapid phase transition‚ transforming into overwhelming destructive energy.
—*Dogooooooooon!!!!*
A tremendous roar that threatened to rupture the cavern’s eardrums. A vivid flash like midday that nearly burned out the retinas. And an overwhelming spacetime shockwave that made the fourth layer of the abyss resonate.
Even from beyond the invisible complex passages‚ the death cries of the goblins as my formula chained together echoed one after another.
“Gyaaaa!”
“Gishaaa!”
“Giiii…!”
A few seconds later. Complete gunpowder-smoke silence visited the world.
Of the goblins that had swarmed so densely‚ not a single scrap of flesh‚ not even a single cell remained. Only the black scorch marks carved into the floor along beautiful geometric patterns quietly‚ and ironically sacredly‚ rose white smoke.
Charlotte and the others stood frozen in blank amazement before the mythic-level beauty of destruction unleashed in exchange for their high-class skirts (and maidenly dignity).—All in matching highest-grade silk underwear (brassieres and panties).
The female mages who had been attacked by the goblins and rescued at the last second also completely lost the strength in their legs from the aftereffects of this unreasonable super-magic‚ sitting frozen on the cold floor in their rag-like appearances.
Toto looked around at this chaotic spectacle‚ covered his face with his short forelimbs‚ and murmured in small grief.
“…Honestly‚ the scene of the hero side that wiped them all out has become an intensely maniacal and surreal spectacle…”
“…Louise-san. There is one thing I cannot accept even if heaven and earth are overturned.”
Still in her highest-grade silk underwear‚ hugging her white arms tightly against the cold‚ Charlotte glared straight at me with an intense deadpan stare.
“How is it that after firing such a natural-disaster-level great magic… only you are unharmed (still wearing clothes) and standing there coolly and elegantly…?”
“Young lady‚ you’d better not dig any deeper into the darkness of science. It’s a fatal structural defect (bug) for her.”
Toto muttered in a pitying voice with distant eyes as if he had seen the end of the world.
“—This one is only wearing an invisible dress (visible-light transparent)‚ so she’s ‘already completely pantsless underneath from the start.’ Unlike you all‚ the withdrawal account (underwear) had zero balance from the beginning.”
The residual waves of the fierce explosive flames faded‚ and gunpowder-smoke silence once again dominated the enormous underground cavern.
Blackened‚ scorched rock faces. White steam rising into the air‚ pregnant with violent heat. The goblin swarm that had boasted hundreds of troops‚ including their higher individual (lord)‚ had vanished without a trace.
The first to break that heavy postwar silence was‚ as expected‚ Toto’s cool remark.
“…No good. The rescued priestess older sister’s physical damage (injuries) is at a worse level than she looks…”
At our feet‚ Kamekichi‚ who had been flipped onto his shell from the recoil of Toto’s full-power throw‚ was trembling with tear-filled eyes while flailing his short legs in agony.
“Kamekichi’s safety can wait for now! This guy is just a sturdy biological blunt weapon (shell) with hard molecular structure!”
“Kyui… (At least worry about me a little as a wild pet animal… My NEET life was this close to a forced relocation to heaven…)”
I blew away the residual magical dregs of causal alteration remaining on the silver ring on my middle finger with a soft breath‚ then exhaled a deep‚ long sigh of relief.
“With this‚ the highest-priority defensive parameter (primary objective) is completely achieved. There is no longer any physical reason to remain in this unsanitary place stagnant with mana.”
Charlotte‚ who had been shrinking her body in matching highest-grade silk underwear (brassiere and panties) and tightly hugging her white arms‚ timidly turned toward me.
“…Louise-san.”
“Yes‚ what is it—do you have a complaint about the asset withdrawal‚ Charlotte-san?”
“You… don’t tell me you always fire magic through this terrifyingly inhumane process that grinds away maidens’ dignity…?”
“—No.”
I shook my head with a completely serious poker face.
“This time is an extremely unexpected emergency (irregular). I merely temporarily borrowed the ‘visible clothing (dignity)’ you were wearing as collateral in the system to raise overall survival rates.”
“Borrowed—the equivalently exchanged fabric will never return as physical matter again‚ will it!!!”
Charlotte‚ her face apple-red from shame‚ screamed with tear-filled eyes. The two attendants also vigorously nodded in agreement while crying in their underwear.
“We… completely suffered the strip-robbery damage exactly as the rumors in the royal capital said…”
The female priest who had been lying on the floor with serious injuries also let out a hoarse voice with a blood-drained‚ pale face.
“The famous… ‘Naked Saint (Seira) Witch’…”
“Older sister is seriously injured‚ so don’t spit out unnecessary retorts along with the blood! Quietly lie down!”
Toto hopped down from my shoulder‚ nestled by the priest’s knees‚ and restrained her with his forelimbs.
The archer woman murmured in admiration with a trembling voice.
“She really… existed‚ didn’t she—the absurd witch who forcibly purges clothing and calmly fires national-treasure-class special-grade composite magic…”
The mage woman also wore a weak yet awe-tinged bitter smile.
“In the deepest part of this cave‚ a B-rank designated vicious ‘Goblin Lord’ should certainly have been lurking… yet it was blown away along with the spatial coordinates. It’s more tremendous mana than any top-of-the-class court great mage I know…!”
“Louise’s firepower inflates without limit solely according to the ‘total monetary value of everyone’s costumes (offerings)’—it’s a capitalist cheat. Comparing her to the proper hardworking court great mages would be unfair to those people.”
“Toto‚ are you describing my great mathematical magic as some kind of fraudulent business scheme?”
I puffed out my cheeks a little in dissatisfaction.
“When I launched Kamekichi-san as a physical warhead (decoy)‚ the spatial friction-heat parameter grazed him by only a few percent‚ but as a result everyone survived safely. This is solely the complete victory of my advanced multidimensional calculations! You could more honestly revere and praise me as the savior of the world‚ you know?”
At my completely innocent and arrogant attitude‚ Toto held his stomach and burst into loud laughter.
“Ahaha! Because the person herself is doing it with pure scientific practicality (extreme stinginess) with zero malice even at the micron level. No matter how much the surroundings condemn her with ethics‚ it’s completely like pushing against a noren curtain!”
I inserted a small‚ deliberate cough and once again made a solemn expression.
“Toto. Even for me‚ continuing to purge their precious clothing (assets) without limit is‚ as a fellow woman‚ rather hard to bear.… It’s about time I exercise the ‘final means’ calculated by my mind.”
“You’ve finally made up your mind?”
“Yes. The sole rational decision that will break through this extreme stranded state in one blow.”
“W-what is the final means…!? What more do you intend to take from us!?”
To the frightened Charlotte‚ Toto now announced the cold facts with a straight face.
“Young lady‚ the condition of the rescued priestess older sister also has a dangerous time limit‚ and our clothing inventory (underwear accounts) is almost empty. We can’t advance even a single step further than this.”
“—Then.”
I quietly raised the silver modulation ring fitted on the middle finger of my left hand high into the pitch-black empty space.
“Multidimensional return magic to the surface (teleport)‚ activate immediately.”
At that single word‚ everyone present widened their eyes all at once as if seeing something unbelievable.
“Eh…!?”
“Really… can we really return to the surface!?”
“Yes‚ it is possible with my perfect formula. But before that‚ please promptly collect every last rare drop item and treasure chest that the goblin lords scattered on the surrounding stone pavement with your own hands. Maximum fund recovery and embezzlement of spoils are basic parameters of harsh survival.”
“Even in this life-or-death extreme moment‚ you’re bottomlessly stingy!!”
While raising screams‚ Charlotte and the others desperately began collecting the surrounding treasure chests and high-purity mana stones with tear-filled eyes in order to survive.
“Louise-san! From the depths of the goblin lord’s hidden room‚ we forcibly tore out a rare ‘spacetime gold coin chest’ as well!”
“Excellent accounting of the spoils. Once we safely return to the surface‚ we shall divide them beautifully in strict proportions excluding my development costs.”
Confirming that everyone had gathered into the geometric circle around me‚ I deeply inhaled the underground cold air.
“Everyone‚ are you prepared in your hearts for social dignity (full nudity)? I will rewrite causality in an instant—here we go!”
I filled the modulation ring on my middle finger with all remaining vital mana in one go.
“—Sharing formula network‚ all lines synchronization reconnection (re-link)!”
A bluish-white glowing magical hologram screen (UI) arrogantly deployed into our space in an instant.
『 STATUS: REQUEST / Please designate the return spatial coordinates 』
Without the slightest hesitation‚ I sharply tapped the top item of the displayed data list.
“Arrival target: Royal Magic University‚ Third Research Building‚ Professor Ellright’s office.”
“Transfer targets: Louise‚ Charlotte‚ two attendants‚ three rescued adventurers‚ Toto‚ and Kamekichi.”
“Transfer catalyst (cost): Louise’s remaining clothing (※excluding the invisible dress)‚ all remaining underwear of Charlotte’s group.”
On the hologram screens before Charlotte and the others‚ a cold final approval window flashed ominously along with an alert sound.
“Eeeh!? If we press approve‚ our last underwear will be cleanly removed (vanish) again—!! (We’ll be fully naked!?)”
“It’s fine‚ young ladies! Before tapping that worst approval button‚ tightly wrap this around your bodies first!”
What Toto hurriedly pulled out from the darkness of his spacetime expansion pocket was—a bundle of thin‚ oil-stained rags that until moments ago had been wrapping large quantities of dried squid.
Charlotte and the attendants raised screams of shame while desperately wrapping the squid-smelling rags around themselves as makeshift barriers.
“Hey Toto! Where’s my share of the squid rags!?”
“There’s only three sheets—stock is gone! Not even one more square centimeter left!”
“It’s illogical that only I‚ the account-opening principal (system developer) of the withdrawal accounts‚ return looking completely naked (transparent dress)!!!”
As if mercilessly erasing my soul’s scream‚ the space of the fourth-layer abyss violently warped‚ and a vortex of causality erupted—.
◇ ◇ ◇
At the same time. Royal Magic University‚ Third Research Building‚ Professor Ellright’s office.
Professor Ellright‚ while going through the towering piles of cutting-edge magical papers on his desk‚ exhaled a deep sigh with dark circles under his eyes.
“…Far too late.”
The professor shook the sleeve of his wrinkled white coat and looked out the window. The royal capital’s sun had long since tilted westward‚ dyeing the sky an eerie madder red.
“Louise-kun’s beginner practical should have ended long ago…”
He had only a bad premonition. As a scientist’s instinct‚ ominous bells were *doku-doku* ringing in the depths of his heart.
The professor frowned and firmly pressed the area of his aching stomach‚ then took out a small‚ well-used glass bottle of stomach medicine from the drawer.
“Please…”
He opened the small bottle’s lid with a *katari* of earnest sound‚ looked up at the heavens‚ and murmured low as if praying.
“Today of all days… please‚ so that nothing happens that would further attack my summer bonus…”
—It was precisely the instant of that earnest prayer for peace.
The central space of the laboratory began to *bari-bari* with intense purple electrical discharge phenomena‚ warping spacetime causality itself with a *gunyari*.
“Wha… what is this…!?”
—*Baaaaaan!!!!*
Along with a dazzling five-colored flash‚ a tremendous shockwave of spatial leap (teleport) directly hit the laboratory‚ sending the mountain of important documents the professor had been organizing flying grandly throughout the room.
“I have returned with the complete victory of mathematical magic‚ Professor Ellright!”
What appeared dashingly from the forefront of the light vortex was the top student Louise‚ wearing a full smile of victory—objectively‚ in terms of retinal calculation‚ completely naked without a single thread (※physically wearing a highest-grade silk dress).
And from the space behind her.
The tearful red-haired young lady Charlotte‚ pitifully wrapped in only a single squid-oil-stained rag and trembling *gata-gata*.
The two attendant female students‚ similarly clutching soiled rags to their chests and embracing each other while shedding tears.
The three rescued female adventurers‚ wrapped in tattered cloth scraps and completely collapsed on all fours on the marble floor.
Furthermore‚ at the feet of that group of suspicious perverts.
“Kyui!”
Proudly puffing out its small flat chest—an unfamiliar small green turtle.
“Yo‚ Professor!”
On my shoulder‚ the white *daifuku*-mochi Toto waved his short forelimbs refreshingly as if returning from a tropical vacation.
“We safely returned from the fifth-layer abyss! And while we were at it‚ all the social dignity and high-class equipment of the young ladies who accompanied us were left behind at the bottom of the labyrinth as clean equivalent-exchange costs!”
“….”
In the midst of the swirling important documents‚ a silence like death itself visited Professor Ellright’s cracked laboratory.
Amid the blizzard of flying parchment‚ the living myth of modern magic quietly surveyed me in my not-a-single-thread (※transparent dress) appearance and the young ladies wrapped in squid-smelling rags over their underwear.
Slowly. Truly‚ with the slowness of a dead person waiting for the final moment.
“…Louise-kun.”
It was a terribly low‚ heavy voice that seemed to echo from the bottom of the abyss—one that even I‚ who had been yelled at every day for a month‚ had never heard before.
“In today’s practical… what in the world did you offer as the equivalent-exchange compensation (cost)?”
I proudly puffed out my chest and answered briskly with a full smug face.
“I forcibly added a catalyst ‘splitting the bill (sharing) function’ to the core system of the professor’s ring!”
“…………”
“Moreover‚ the combat experiment was a complete success without even a millimeter of error‚ Professor Ellright!”
“Who… told you to add such a criminal stripping function to my greatest masterpiece of a program…”
“Convenience and the overall party survival probability have dramatically improved‚ you know?”
“There’s no need to improve them… such an indecent update is not needed even a micron in the history of magic…”
The professor turned a pitying gaze toward Charlotte and the others‚ who were desperately clutching the squid-smelling rags with tearful eyes.
(I see… The victims who can systemically share this absurd worry that is destroying my stomach have finally increased in the royal capital…)
The professor said nothing more. He raised neither unreasonable counterarguments‚ nor angry shouts‚ nor even exasperated voices.
Simply‚ all too quietly.
From the magic pot on the desk‚ he *toto-to* poured transparent hot water into the teacup at hand. He slowly brought that warm hot water to his mouth that looked ready to spit blood at any moment.
And then.
—*Goku.*
—*Gokugokugokugokugoku!!!!*
As if forcing all the unpleasant reality down his throat‚ he downed it in one tremendous gulp.
On my shoulder‚ Toto nodded deeply in sympathy.
“Professor… warming a stomach that seems about to tear from stress is biologically the correct answer! While you’re at it‚ how about slamming the usual stomach medicine in one go as well?”
Toto directed his gaze toward the small bottle of the usual stomach medicine placed in the professor’s desk drawer.
However—.
(No good… The contents of the small bottle—not a single tablet left… completely empty…)
Professor Ellright quietly looked up at the laboratory ceiling and muttered in a hoarse voice as if all emotion had withered away.
“…That all of you returned alive from that fifth-layer abyss is‚ as a teacher‚ truly… truly joyful.”
A heavy beat of compassionate silence.
“But Louise-kun‚ if you have any pride as a researcher‚ please… first‚ put on proper clothes over that invisible outfit…!!!!”
Throughout the Third Research Building dyed by the evening glow‚ the frantic screams of Louise and the others running around seeking clothes‚ and Toto’s explosive laughter‚ echoed lively and indecently.
———(Chapter 05: Shared Dignity — End)———
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