Wechoohi, that's it!

　I heard a brisk voice from Nicholas, who was lying on his back, along with a weird laugh.
　You're in good spirits even though you should have fought back as hard as you could and beaten him to a pulp. ......

'I knew you were awesome, you're awesome. I wasn't crazy in my eyes.
Oh, yeah?
Hey!

　Nicholas picks himself up.
　He sits down on the ground and smiles, putting his arm on one knee where he stands.

'Let's do it again sometime.'
Again?
That's great. This is the best fight I've had in a long time.
"Neat fight, you ......

　I looked around. The area around me looks completely abandoned.
　It's not a fight, it's more like a killing spree, and it's an environmental disaster.
　It's not a cloudy day, but it's not a refreshing one.

Hey, come on, hey.
No, I'm not...
Okay, let's go get a drink at a place we know. I know a place that serves super-aged meat. Let's go there and enjoy some old meat and old wine.
Hey, wait a minute. That was quick. I mean, what happened to your regular work schedule?
I'm closing up shop for the day. I don't do overtime.

　Nicholas half-heartedly tried to take me in as I protested, and Nicholas half-heartedly tried to take me in.
　When he stood up, Nicholas was wobbly, and if you look closely, you can see that he's still so damaged that he can't walk straight.
　If I wanted to unshake him, I could easily unshake him.

It's a good thing I did. I came twice in that fight.

　The perverted but unyielding Nicholas, I don't want to go deep with you, but I'll tell you in a footnote? There's no need.
　I don't mind at least having a drink with him. I started walking with them, thinking, "What's more, what's a super-aged meat?

"More importantly, what's this super-aged meat thing?
Do you know a dungeon called Bloomin'? It's a dungeon in hetero, and it's where the meat is dropped and processed.
"Processing in a dungeon?
You do know that what you drop in a dungeon becomes a new monster if you leave it alone, right?
Yeah.

　It reminded me of Tellurian parent and child slime.
　Parent-child slimes drop multiple potatoes at the same time, but depending on their dropping ability, there are some scraps that don't turn into gold, depending on whether the dropped potatoes are small or badly shaped.
　Those junk will be left in the dungeon and hatch into new parent and child slimes.

　Many adventurers in this world specialize their abilities and equipment in going around the tiers they pass.
　Even though it is strictly forbidden to hatch a monster from another level, there is nothing wrong with discarding monsters from that level. Rather, it's welcomed by the ability to increase the number of monsters.

'Make use of it. Leave the meat you drop and hatch it into a monster when it's on the verge of rotting. We'll kill that monster and drop another meat. That's how it works.
Why do you have to go through all that trouble again?
Meat tastes best when it's still rotten.
Well, ...... maybe so.

　I've heard that argument a lot, I can understand it.

"We let the meat almost go bad, and when it's about to get umami, we hatch it into a monster or reincarnate it. Then the savoriness will return to normal.
Is that so?
Hey. It's called reincarnation. One, two, three, and so on, and the meat gets better and better with each incarnation.
Yes. ......
However. I'm not sure if you can find out how rotten it is and if you can kill it after it hatches, but it doesn't always drop meat. Even if you have drop A, sometimes you don't get it, right?
Indeed.
''That's why the high number of reincarnations comes at a high price.
Yeah.

　What can I say, I'm subtly impressed.
　I can see why the price is so high.
　It's reminiscent of a netherworld weapon enhancement system, where the possibility of failure follows each reincarnation, and if you fail, all the effort you put into it is pah.
　So I can see why it's expensive and valuable.

　At the same time, I can see why Nicholas would like it.
　It's a drink, in a way.
　I know he likes the old stuff, and I can see why he likes it, claiming that time is the greatest luxury.

　As I walk alongside Nicholas, I ask him about the super-aged meat.
　He makes a strong case for how good it is, and I'm usually curious about the taste of it.

　We leave the almost abandoned section and head back to the downtown area we were in earlier.
　Then.

'Ah, visitor.'

　I saw the woman I had just helped at the store.
　She was looking for me, and when our eyes met, she ran over to me.

'What's up?'
I found this on one of my customers' seats. Didn't you forget it?

　She said, and held out her gun.

'Oh?　By the way, you haven't used a weapon yet, have you?
He wasn't using it.
Slip!
Isn't that fair?
Take it and fight me again, now for a second round.
No, no, no. ......

　I thought you weren't going to work overtime. ...... The moment I was about to accept the gun, I was about to accept the ...... moment.

　I realized something.
　There was a gun.
　My gun was there.

　It was one gun.
　Not two. It's one.
　Along with the one the woman gave you, it was two.

　That delayed the reaction. It's been a long time since he's had two guns.

　The gun glows. The barrel of the gun cracks and light floods out from inside.
　By the time I was "creeped out" by the light, it was too late.

　The world stopped...... no, it was too late.
　The world has gone into slow motion with a frame sent to slow motion, but the two of us were not able to react.
　I'm the only one who is aware of the meaning of this light.

　It was a suicide bomber using her to target me.

　The moment I realized that, I took out the Absolute Rock stone I was holding.

　　　　　☆

　After a blinding light engulfs the area.
　I opened my eyes, enduring the searing pain.

　In front of me, I see Nicholas.

'Hey, are you okay?'

　In his invincible state, Nicholas was worried about me.
　I took a deep breath and pulled out my (,) gun.
　I recovered enough damage that I had to fire a series of infinite recovery rounds ...... and took a breath, letting out the air that had accumulated in my lungs.

'It's okay. Over there.
There you go. You threw this at me.

　Nicholas said and held out the Absolute Rock stone in the palm of his hand.
　The moment the light flooded in, he quickly pressed it against him to activate it.

　The light felt bad. I knew that Nicholas, injured after the fight, might not be able to withstand it.
　Thanks to activating it, Nicholas was safe.
　On the contrary, the surroundings were terrible.

　There was no damage to the building, but the air was different.
　The air was horrifyingly empty.

　The air around us was horrifyingly empty now, similar to the way it was after the typhoon had passed and the dust had cleared away.

What does that mean?
You're a target.
What?

　I look at Nicholas to see what's going on, and I'm horrified.
　Nicholas's smile is different than it was a little while ago.
　He's smiling, but he's also very aggressive.

"Use me as bait.
...... So as long as you can beat me, that's all that matters, and even if you can't, you're the second assassin when you're weak.
I suppose so.
......

　Nicholas laughed with eyes that weren't smiling.
　He's just mad that he's being used.

'It's a shame about that sister. I'm sorry you got completely caught up in it.
Yeah, that's fine.
What?
Phew!

　Nicholas scowled, and a woman peeked out of my pocket.
　It came out of my pocket as if it had grown a head.

'What's that?'
I had it in my pocket at a moment's notice.
d*mn, man. You're good at this.
......

　With Absolute Rock's stone, even though it's in invincibility mode, it's not completely invincible.
　I decided to hide the stone in Nicholas, who is wounded but competent, and the woman, who is a mere civilian, in her pocket.
　And I did my best to keep my magic at bay.
　It was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but somehow it seemed to work.

　I was relieved to see that it worked, and now I felt a surge of anger.

'Nicholas. Who asked you to do this?

　I knew what to expect, but I asked him just in case.
　The answer I got back from Nicholas was still what I expected.

　Linus Ronin.
　The head of the Samethyllene Society is being hunted down.

　You're going to have to pay for it, and you're going to have to pay for it.