Please Calm Down, Everyone, I—Argh?!

Chapter 35 - Please Calm Down, Everyone, I—Argh?!

-

"I-Idiot what are you doing?!"

"Master!!"

"Awawawa!!"

The four of them pinned me down with desperate strength, their fear evident in their eyes. But it was too late. A pulsating bulge emerged on one of the arteries of the Orb I had just destroyed, snaking its way toward the giant heart at the center. The colossal organ responded with an unpleasantly loud beat, its reverberations chilling us to the core.

"Please calm down, everyone, I—" I began, but was interrupted by Lily's tearful outburst.

"What do you mean calm down, do you want us to die here?!" Tears started to appear on Lily's eyes.

"M-Master please stop!"

"Please hear me out, everyone. That heart won't do anything as long as we don't break every Orb here. There is a reason I broke one Orb, see?" I said, attempting to squirm out from their strong grip.

When I managed to break free, I reached for the 『Musket』 lying on the ground, showing it to the girls, who were now pale and trembling.

Yeah, the 『Musket』 came from the Orb that I destroyed. As much as I want to squeeze my brain trying to contemplate, I'll just chalked it up to the quirks of the game. Hm, how convincing.

Anyhow, looking at their terrible state, looks like this will take a while, huh...

"Ahem~! Again, the reason I destroy the Orb is because they drop some good item that will be useful for us. The thing is, as long as we only destroy the three of them, that giant heart you can see on top of us won't attack us." I explained.

"I-Is that so...?" Miss Sherry replied anxiously. "And how certain are you to say that thing won't attack us if you destroyed more?"

"That heart won't function properly and won't kept itself alive as long as one of the Orbs are present."

The four of them exchanged doubtful glances, tears lingering at the edge of their eyes. Miss Sherry, taking the lead, voiced the question everyone was thinking.

"W-what if... that heart starts to wake up... will you do something about it?" she anxiously asked.

"Of course. That giant heart is actually kind of easy if we fight it now," I reassured them.

"Well... it's still not enough to convince me but I'll believe in that," Miss Sherry said.

"Aight," I got their permission and destroyed the other two, leaving the remaining one.

When I did so, the two 『Clement Orb』 drops another duplicate of 『Musket』 and the other one is... It's an equippable light source called 『Halo』.

The 『Halo』 are of one the equippable light source in the game. It's for the reason that this game is an exploration game, so the implementation of such system was included. And yes, just like what you're probably thinking, it's a circle of light on the head of an angel.

Nonetheless, it's too bad the 『Musket』 was a duplicate, but it will be essential for me since I plan to be an All-Rounder class type in this world.

Although, you don't really need two of them, so a duplicate was unnecessary. Might as well give it to someone who can properly use it, so...

"Here," I handed Seia the other 『Musket』.

"E-Eh?! Y-you don't need to give me such an important thing!" Seia stuttered in surprise.

"Yes, please take this. You're a Gunslinger, right? You're the only one who can use that gun aside from me, so please take it," I insisted.

"O-okay..." Seia's cheeks turned pink, her wagging excitedly. Damn! Isn't that too adorable?! "Th-thank you very much..."

Mhm... looks like they're starting to calm down. Their face was still paled white, but the trembling had ceased, nonetheless.

"And here, for you, Luna." On the other hand, I gave the 『Halo』 to Luna.

"Eh? Me too, Master?" Luna replied, likewise, her face surprised.

"Yeah, since you're one of the Vanguards, this item will help you on your surroundings especially in dark areas," I explained.

"But Master, aren't you also a Vanguard? Won't it be better for you to take this instead of giving it to me?"

"It's okay, I pretty have much experience fighting in dark, so I prefer if you use it. Moreover, a guy like me wearing this would be pretty unsettling, so I'd appreciate if you take it instead."

Moreover, I was originally the villain of this story. Wearing a Halo would be...

"T-that's not true, Master..." Luna retorted.

"Eh? I-if you say so..." Luna, just so you know, before I became Sai, I'm pretty sure this guy was violent at you before. "Still, I won't do it. Please just take it..."

Finally convinced, Luna finally took the 『Halo』 and to equipped it. The halo started to appear on top of Luna's head, emitting a yellow light that illuminates our surroundings.

I couldn't help but marvel at how cute it looked on her, though the thought of her having white hair to resemble a true angel crossed my mind. Nevertheless, I appreciated this version of Luna just as much.

"Mhm, now I won't need to bother myself holding a Torch anymore," I mused, nodding to myself.

"That's weird. This isn't the pictured I expect from you," Miss Sherry spoke her confusion. "You're totally different from what the students had described you,"

"Same for me. Some people kept saying to stay away from Sai because they said he is a despicable person..." Lily shared her side of the story.

I didn't respond to their questions; instead, I cast a meaningful glance at Luna, hoping she would take the lead in addressing their concerns. Luna, however, met my eyes with a worried expression, as if conveying her uncertainty about how to handle the situation. Well, it couldn't be helped.

"I don't know what you heard from the students, but the current me is trying his best to be a better person. If you heard something and you don't like it, I'm not forcing you to stay with me, so you—"

"We didn't say anything about that!" Lily retorted, interrupting my sentence. "I don't care what you did in the past but the Sai that I know is the current you who is very kind, so don't say something like that!"

"Me too! You saved me and even gave me a potion when I needed it. Now you're giving me this gun like it's nothing... I also don't care what others say, so you don't need to think something like that!" Seia added, expressing her genuine feelings.

"Me too, Master. It's because of you that I am experiencing many fun things every day. I know you have done something to me before, but I already forgave that. It was because of you that I'm having fun today, Master," Luna said.

"I-I don't know what to say about that..." I timidly replied, guilt evident in my words.

"Eh? Luna, you know about those rumors?" Lily inquired, surprised.

"I don't want to inconvenience your conversation but since we don't have anything to do here, let's go head back to the base" I declared. I know their curious about my past but we're wasting our time here. "And I'd appreciate it if you talk about such topic later, preferably if the subject of conversation wasn't present,"

I headed back outside the cave without saying any more words. The four, probably realizing the weight of their words, were also silent during our walk. I didn't mind if they talked about it, given my lack of memory about my past, but it's inappropriate...

The five of us successfully made our way back near the portal. The three were probably thinking I was angry, given their prolonged silence.

"I'm not angry, you three. But I hope you think about it before you say anything. It might be okay for me, but not for the others, okay?"

After a while, everyone finally noticed that something was amiss. They were likely too preoccupied with what I had said earlier to notice—

There were no students present except us in this place...

"Uhm... where are the others...?" Seia said.

Everyone's heads darted left and right, sporting a confused and worried look. No matter where we looked, there was no sign of the other students.

"This is weird," Miss Sherry remarked. "I know we went for too long inside the cave, but it shouldn't be that time for the Student Exploration to end yet."

"Shall we go back then?" I suggested. "It might be that—the one I told you about."

"—?! You..." Realization struck Miss Sherry as she looked at me, flabbergasted. Unable to find words, she heaved a sigh. "Let's go back, everyone."

"Yeah—?! Ah," Just as we were about to return, Sora and his teammates suddenly appeared behind us, surrounded by many Instructors. Spotting us still there, the instructors announced that the event had been postponed.

"Ah, you five are the only ones left, huh? I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the event was postponed for emergency reasons. Please understand and head back to the academy," one of the instructors explained before entering the portal with everyone else.

Before Sora entered, I gave him a pity smile. Sora beamed back, his eyes however, were gesturing a call for help. Sorry bro, I can't do anything for you... Adios!

"So, it was postponed, huh..." Lily said.

"Well, it was pretty much done, so I don't think they're going to continue it again," I remarked.

"Should we go, everyone? We're the only ones left, so—"

"Wait!" I halted Miss Sherry, who was in the middle of talking.

"Everyone, since we're the only ones here, why don't we kill that 'thing' right now?" I suggested.

Everyone widened their eyes, stunned by my sudden invitation.

"You see, something big probably happened at the academy right now, so I plan to take advantage of its turmoil and fight 'that thing' without everyone knowing," I explained.

"A-are you out of your mind?" Miss Sherry said in disbelief.

"I won't force you all to come with me since I plan on doing it alone. I just invited you since you all probably were going to reject me going after all"

"I-is there any worth risking your life on fighting that thing?" Miss Sherry asked.

"The ores I collected will be rendered useless if I don't kill that thing. That 'Boss' had a material necessary to craft the weapon and armor, so killing that 'Boss' is also needed if I want to craft those things," I continued. "It's not about risking my life or anything. Killing that thing is my step forward into achieving my ambition."

Miss Sherry made a perplexed expression and went silent at my answer.

"You see, Miss Sherry, I plan to become the strongest, so killing that thing is necessary for me to get stronger. You might think I'm crazy, but I can handle that thing even while I'm alone."

"...?"

"So, I'll ask all of you. I plan on killing that thing. Will you come with me or not?" I declared.

When I declared my plan, Lily raised her hand and asked me a question.

"Sai, if we all go there, can we beat that thing?"

"Yes, I guarantee," I said with a firm answer.

"Then I'll go."

"Whenever Master goes, I'll always be there."

Lily and Luna, upon hearing my answer, didn't hesitate and accepted my invitation. Seia, who was hesitating, asked me a question.

"I also want to come since everyone else wants to go, but I wonder if I'll be useful..." Seia asked anxiously.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will be leading everyone, and you as a Gunslinger are necessary," I said.

"I see... then include me also."

"Yeah, welcome to the group," I said and turned to Miss Sherry, who was still stunned. "Miss Sherry, how about you? You can just watch since everyone is enough to defeat that thing. What's your answer?"

Miss Sherry pondered while wearing a worried look on her face. After a while, she finally took her resolve and answered.

"Ahh! I don't care anymore!" Miss Sherry started to approach us. "Don't blame me if something happens, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will guarantee everyone's safety," I said. "Let's go, everyone!"

"Ohh!!"

"O-ohh...!"

Everyone shouted after me, and we started to walk back towards the Hills.