As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback

Chapter 103 – Unexpected Reunion

“N-No way…!?”

I looked up at the roof of the car with fear in my heart, hoping with all my might that my premonition was incorrect.

Then, that ‘something’ on top of the car looked down, peering in through the windshield of the car. Onee-chan saw it, and she immediately understood what was happening.

“A m-monster?!” (Aika)
Onee-chan immediately hit the brakes of the car.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!!” (Koine)
I screamed out as my face contorted from the pain of the seat belt digging into my flesh.

Perhaps because we had suddenly braked, the monster on top of the car slipped off the front of the car and tumbled forward onto the ground.

When the car reached a stop, I looked over at the children sitting next to me.

“Mahina… Ior-chan… are you okay?” (Koine)
“Onee-chan… That was scary.” (Mahina)
Mahina looked like she was about to cry, but she didn’t seem to be injured. Meanwhile, Ior looked surprised at the suddenness of the situation, but I was glad to see that they were both unharmed.

“Hahah… Y-You’re joking, right…?!” my older sister said as she looked in the rearview mirror. She quickly turned around, her face turning pale.

Curious, I also turned around. And when I did, I was shocked.

Up ahead on the paved road that led up the mountain, monsters were coming down the mountain one after the other.

“O-Onee-chan, from the front, too!” (Mahina)
When we looked towards the front, we saw the monster from before getting back onto to its feet, and in the mountains behind it, there were more monsters appearing.

“Y-You’ve got to be kidding me!” (Aika)
Onee-chan stepped on the gas and started to speed away.

“O-Onee-chan, what are you doing?! We have to get out of here!” (Koine)
“I know that! But the path behind us is blocked, so we have to push through to the parking lot!” (Aika)
She was right. We needed to make a U-turn to escape back to the city, but this road was too narrow for that. We had to get to a wider place at once.

And so, as we rounded the last bend in the mountain road, the entrance to the cemetery came into view before us.

We went straight into the spacious parking lot. Then, we quickly changed directions and tried to go back the way we came, but…

“…It’s not looking good.” (Aika)
In the direction the car was heading, a wall of monsters had already formed. Moreover, there were a bunch of large monsters among them. Even if we ran into them with the car, we would only end up coming to a standstill.

“W-What should we do, onee-chan?!” (Koine)
But onee-chan’s expression was frozen stiff as cold sweat dripped down her face. Onee-chan was always reliable, but it seemed that even she couldn’t come up with a good solution for this situation.

“….For now, get out of the car. We’re going to get surrounded if we stay like this!” (Aika)
“B-But where are we going to run to?” (Koine)
“There was that building where the keeper lives, wasn’t there? We have to run there! Hurry!” (Aika)
Following her instructions, we hurriedly got out of the car. I picked up Mahina while she picked up Ior, and we started to run.

We sprinted along the slightly hilly road, eventually reaching the end, where the building that the keeper lived in stood.

At this place, it had been possible to buy flowers, confectioneries, and other goods. For now, we had no choice but to stay in this concrete building and barricade ourselves in here.

We hurried up the last stretch of the hill, but we were met with despair.

The building that should have been there was in a horrible state of ruin.

It had most likely been destroyed by the monsters that spawned here. To think that even a concrete building couldn’t serve as an adequate shelter… I guess humans were really no match for monsters.

“W-What now, onee-chan?!” (Koine)
Immediately after I said that, a monster that I had seen before slowly appeared from the shadows of the ruined building. It was none other than the being from my trauma.

There was no doubt about it. It was the same type of monster that had slaughtered my classmates.

“Ahhh… AAAAAAAHH…!” (Koine)
“W-What’s wrong, Koine?”! (Aika)
As I lost control of my legs and fell to the ground, my onee-chan called out to me worriedly. Mahina was still clinging to me, staring at the fear-inducing ogre before us.

“Damn it, let’s get out of here! Get up, Koine!” (Aika)
Onee-chan pulled me by my hand and forced me to my feet. But that ogre was approaching with a metal club in hand, causing my heart to clench with fear. The scene of that time flashed through my mind, and my body would no longer listen to me.

But for some reason, the ogre stopped in its tracks. When I looked closer, I saw that the grass under the ogre’s feet had grown out and entangled itself around the ogre’s feet, halting its advance.

“…! Ior-chan…?” (Koine)
I turned to look at Ior, in onee-chan’s arms, holding up his right hand towards the ogre. It seemed that he could control his tremendous power at will.

…Amazing!

“Grrrorororo?!”
The ogre struggled with an irritated expression on its face, unable to move.

“Koine! Let’s get away while we can!” (Aika)
My older sister’s words brought me back to my senses. I put all of my strength into my legs and forced myself to stand and promptly took Mahina’s hand. Then, we all started running towards the gravestones.

As we ran through the cemetery, we began to pull away from the monsters that were pursuing us. Apparently, the plan was to run through the cemetery and escape into the mountains. I also thought that this was the only way.

The parking lot was already filled with monsters, so we had no choice but to go down the mountain, where their numbers were thinner. Of course, the roads weren’t paved and there were some steep slopes, making it rather dangerous, but it was still better than dealing with monsters.

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As we hurried along, a gravestone in front of us suddenly exploded.

We screamed out in surprise and took a few steps back.

When I looked ahead again, I was left speechless. It was an ogre, but it seemed to be a different one from the one we had runinto at the ruined building.

“N-No…!”
There was no way left to run. When I looked behind, I saw that the other ogre, which had broken free of the grass restraints, was slowly approaching us, along with a bunch of other monsters.

And standing before me was yet another source of my trauma.

When Ior saw how frightened Mahina looked, an expression of anger crossed his face. Just like before, he held up his right hand at the ogre.

But this time, this ogre was quicker. It slammed its metal club into the ground, and the impact sent rocky debris and earth flying towards us.

I quickly turned my back to protect Mahina, and onee-chan did the same for Ior.

Pain shot through my back, but it seemed that it wasn’t enough to take my life. However, the ogre’s strike was enough to cancel Ior’s attack.

The ogre quickly closed the distance, brandishing its metal club on high.

….Ah, I might not make it this time…

At that moment, Ior jumped out of onee-chan’s arms and stood before us with his arms outstretched.

It was as if he was trying to protect us. But even if he was able to muster up the courage to do so, there was no way he could block such a vicious attack.

“Run, Ior-chan!” (Koine)
As soon as the words left my mouth, something pierced the ogre’s right eye.

“Gugggaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
The ogre dropped the metal rod and clutched at its right eye in agony.

Then, a figure descended from the sky, landing in front of Ior. That person had the same blonde hair as Ior as well as a dignified bearing like a knight. She was holding a bow in her hand, which she used to fire a follow-up shot.

The arrow pierced the ogre’s left eye, causing it to bellow and fall to its knees.

Then, the woman drew another arrow and shot it straight at the ogre once more.

This time, the arrow pierced the ogre right between the eyes. It fell on its back as its life slipped away. It twitched and convulsed for a bit, and then it finally disappeared into the sky as motes of light.

We’re saved…

The moment I thought that, I heard footsteps behind me.

Oh right, there was another ogre. And a lot of other monsters, at that.

But then, something descended from the sky once more, wiping all the monsters out one after another.

Two figures moved at a breakneck speed, obliterating all of the monsters with one blow each. Then, one person landed on top of the ogre’s head.

I was astonished at the sight of this figure, who was wielding a katana-like weapon, which they proceeded to stab into the ogre’s head.

The ogre seemed to meet its end with that one single blow. It fell forward and turned into motes of light, disappearing like the one before it.

“Sol, Shiki. Wipe them out and find the Core! Shiki, you will act as my bodyguard!”
““Understood!””
The person gave commands to the two shadows.

There was no doubt about it. I could only see their side profile, but there was no way I could be mistaken.

“……….Bouchi-kun…?” (Koine)
I found myself uttering the name of that person—my former classmate.