Thanks to Mahariku-san’s plan, we made short work of the enemy known as the Thief Master.
"Still, that Thief Master was a total bottom-tier scrub," I remarked.
"Normally, his agility is a nightmare to deal with," Mahariku-san countered. "Plus, with the firepower my group usually has, it would have taken a massive concentrated barrage just to land a fatal wound."
She meant that if the Jack-of-all-trades had attempted this alone, they would have lacked the decisive power to hit him, and he likely would have dodged everything. If he was originally meant to be a boss for Mahariku-san’s team, the difficulty would have been perfectly balanced—a desperate, life-or-death struggle.
The one factor the game hadn't accounted for was the cooperation of three players at the level required to unlock The Second Character. As the result proved, the difficulty had plummeted to less than a quarter of what was intended.
"Especially with Alto helping out. That long-range firepower ended it in a single shot," Mahariku-san added.
"He was only human after all, dao," Alto said.
"Yes, quite human. He was very easy to read," Mahariku-san agreed.
Seriously, everything went exactly as planned, and the situation was settled just as we'd discussed.
Apparently, if Alto hadn’t been there to help, the plan was for the decoy to stall him at any cost. Mahariku-san would then have riddled the decoy with bullets along with the target. She intended to use that gruesome sight to instill a deep-seated fear of her guns in the survivors before herding them into the cave. Even if the Thief Master had somehow survived, the momentum of the plan would have forced him to hunker down in total defense.
Aside from the part where the decoy died, it was a perfect strategy. And since we were able to use a decoy who didn't stay dead, the damage to our side was a perfect zero.
"The enemy used the same weapon type as my own specialty, so I was going to say something like, 'I’m the most knowledgeable about how to counter him!' to make them submit," Mahariku-san said, glancing at the crater. "But I can't really pull that off after what Alto did."
She shook her head and turned to the sniper. "Well, it goes without saying that I’ve engraved fear into them anyway, so I didn't need the speech. Good work, Alto. You performed better than expected."
"Hah! It's an honor, dao!" Alto replied, giving a sharp salute.
As expected of someone in sales, her sense of hierarchy was incredibly strict.
"Miti-chan, did you learn any skills from the Thief Master?" I asked.
"I learned Clone and Unlocking! I wonder if I can break the ■■■■ with this? I'll try it out!"
"I see, I see. Wait, what was that last part?"
"More importantly, Lord Spirit! How was my acting?!" Miti-chan asked, beaming. "I used those guys from the Research Institute as a reference!"
"Oh, it was very good! Good girl, good girl. You did a great job."
"Ehehe~"
I see, the people from the Research Institute. Cornering them certainly had been fun; I’m sure the Thief Master enjoyed the experience just as much as they did.
Still, she learned Clone as a separate skill from Split? Miti-chan was going to keep multiplying at this rate.
"Tria," Mahariku-san said, addressing me. "Miti-chan’s acting and her ability to bind the target were the factors that most significantly raised our success rate. I’d like to give her a reward, but what would she like? An excellent corpse, perhaps?"
"Ah, um. How about you treat her to some ramen instead? She’s a girl who loves eating delicious things."
"Yeah! I love eating delicious things!" Miti-chan chirped. "But I also love younger sisters, so you can just make Ichi-chan and the others my younger sisters too!"
"...Younger sisters? Sorry, but I can't just give you my employees," Mahariku-san said. "Though I don't mind if you interact with them like sisters."
"That works! I just want to increase my number of younger sisters!"
Mahariku-san tilted her head, clearly confused. I just gave her a look that said, "Please don’t worry about it."
"...Younger sisters? Us?" one of the girls asked.
"Does that mean Mahariku-sama is the mother?"
"I love the sound of that..."
"Wait, then can I make everyone my daughters? I want to be Mahariku-sama’s wife."
It looked like a battle for the position of "Mahariku-san’s wife" was about to break out among the Numbers.
"...What are you all saying? I'm your President. It’s a bit late to realize I'm like a parent to you," Mahariku-san sighed.
"Mahariku-samaaa!" they all cried out in unison.
Ah, their Affection Level definitely just spiked. The notification sounds must have been ringing like crazy on Mahariku-san’s end.
"...By the way, what was the Joke Option this time, dao?" Alto asked.
"It was... 'Instead, I'll become everyone's baby, waah waah!'" Mahariku-san admitted.
"O-o-o, that sounds fun in its own way, dao."
"I have no desire to have my diapers changed by those girls," Mahariku-san said, shrugging her shoulders with a weary sigh.
An adult woman being pampered with Baby Play by a group of young girls... I’d actually like to see that.
"Man, I didn't get a turn at all, ssu," Penpen complained, speaking through the Gin-chan avatar.
"What are you talking about, Gin-chan—no, Penpen," Mahariku-san corrected herself. "Your Poison Molotov Cocktails were the most effective part of the cave sweep. And even before that, the Konjac-Slaying Sword was incredible. This exceptional result is only possible because you were here."
"That’s great to hear, ssu! ...So, Mahariku-san, did The Second Character unlock for you, ssu?"
"Heh heh heh. Thanks to all of you, it unlocked without a hitch."
Oh, so Mahariku-san successfully got her second character. Good for her.
"With this, it looks like I won’t have to use Outlaw Mode for a while," she said.
"Ah, I just completed my mission too, ssu," Penpen added.
"Just now?"
"Just now, ssu."
"...You can rest easy," Mahariku-san said. "I have no intention of becoming your enemy. There’s no profit in it."
"We don't have any reason to fight either, ssu! Not now that the mission is done."
Looking at my own screen, it was true—Save Suriado from Crisis was marked as complete. I had already received the rewards.
Honestly, since the mission hadn't cleared even after the Thief Master was dead and the bandits were annihilated, I was starting to think I’d have to kill Mahariku-san the moment I saw an opening!
Good thing it worked out!
What? You’re asking if I’d actually turn into an enemy just because there was a profit or a mission involved?
Well... how should I put it?
That's only natural for a human, right?