MV – Chapter 129: The Confused Minor Villain

“The national army guys are completely ignoring orders. Didn’t I tell them not to get involved?” (Lanpeach) 

Lanpeach sat in the bridge chair, letting out a sigh with an exasperated look. What he saw before him was a scene he could hardly believe. Present in the bridge were Lanpeach, Libra, Mira, Dry, and Nono. Chihiro and Koume stayed behind since there was about to be a battle.

The ground below was displayed on the bridge monitor. The national army, now brimming with fighting spirit, was charging forward to destroy the weakened magical plants that had been subdued by the special herbicide sprayed by Touka and the rabbits. It was hard to believe that, just a while ago, they were sitting around looking defeated.

“They must’ve been holding in their frustration. Their prized weapons weren’t working, so now they’re just going wild with magic and guns.” (Libra)

Libra, the cute silver-haired twin-tailed shrine maiden, sat in her chair, kicking her legs while eating potato chips and reading manga, messing up the operator’s table.

“I thought I made it clear. I even said we are from the Underground District. Isn’t this a bit much?” (Lanpeach)

Libra’s complaint was understandable. Why she was lounging around reading manga and drinking juice was unclear. This girl was gradually becoming lazier and more human-like. Perhaps all silver-haired characters were like this.

Well, the weakened monsters could be handled by the national army. There were a lot of them, and it was convenient timing, but their actions made it difficult to operate secretly behind the scenes.

Time was needed to explore the ruins after the subjugation and to retrieve the items abandoned at the academy. Even though Lanpeach stipulated them as a reward. What exactly is Aegis doing? It is almost a breach of contract.

“It seems we’ve been deceived. After our attack, instructions were given to follow up. There’s no official order from above, but it’s being cleverly disguised as if there was, with false instructions being issued to each unit. If we accuse them of breach of contract, they’ll likely apologize, saying it was a rogue action driven by hatred for the monsters.” (Mira)

The capable support character waved her hand in the air, gathering various pieces of information and offering her deductions. She wore an amused expression, her mouth curling like a cat’s smile.

“I see, they’ve really thought this through. This way, they won’t be criticized by the public for relying entirely on the Underground District.” (Lanpeach)

“Exactly. It’s like when a big crowd is carrying something heavy, and someone just lightly touches it without exerting any real effort but later claims, ‘I helped carry it’, like Pla-san pretending to move props at a school festival.” (Mira)

“Hey, how can you diss them with such a long-winded analogy? Also, for the record, I worked hard at my school festivals, bringing snacks and stuff.” (Lanpeach)

(Honestly, this is just cruel. I wasn’t that left out. So why do both of them look at me with such pity?) (Lanpeach)

“Let’s get back to the point. They’re trying to create the impression that the Surface District also contributed to the battle, and they seem to be up to something else behind the scenes.” (Mira)

“What is it?” (Lanpeach)

“It looks like there are people trying to sneak into the botanical garden ahead of us. There’s a suspicious party using Hide, waiting in front of the advancing army.” (Mira)

A detailed map of the botanical garden appeared, with numerous light points displayed in red, blue, yellow, and green.

“The red ones are the monsters. The blue ones are our forces. Green is the national army, and yellow are the parties using Hide. Well, they can’t escape the Lion Rabbit radar. It seems to be a four-person party, and they’re quite young.” (Mira)

The four yellow lights were indeed slowly advancing in time with the rabbits’ movements.

“This is simple. They’re trying to steal something important ahead of us.” (Libra)

“Libra’s right. I think that’s what they’re doing. Given that they’re using some pretty good concealment magic tools from the Surface District, it doesn’t seem like they’re acting alone.” (Mira)

Mira looked at the thieves but showed no sign of anger, smiling slyly like a cat.

“Basically, it’s time to teach them the hunter’s way of dealing with contract breaches, right?” (Mira)

“What do you mean?” (Lanpeach)

“It means everything in this area belongs to us. Any spirit armor, tanks, or supply items lying around are ours by default. That said, I’ll be busy playing the digital fairy today, so I won’t be available for support until I finish gathering everything.” (Mira)

Mira sat on a chair and pressed a button. The chair floated and stopped mid-air as an incredibly complex three-dimensional magic circle formed around her, sending glowing geometric patterns running across her body.

“I’ll show them that the Surface District’s security is no match for us. This Lion Rabbit is an all-purpose battleship, designed even for electronic warfare. Everything within the range of this ship is under my control.” (Mira)

[Psycho Cracking]

“All management rights have been transferred to me. This includes all bank accounts, even secret savings and slush funds.” (Mira)

The sight was so mesmerizing and fantastical that Lanpeach gasped. Mira’s actions were far more ruthless than he had imagined. So, even bank accounts are absorbed… This is a terrifying example of the hunter’s way of ‘returning favors’.

“Well then, I guess I’ll just have to keep fighting based on my own judgment. So, what’s the current situation?” (Lanpeach)

“Advancing without issue. The Glass Butterfly, which automatically sprays herbicide in powder form, seems to be working fine.” (Dry)

“Hey, don’t steal the rabbit’s job-usa yo~. Give me a carrot and I’ll teach you how to use it better.” 

Dry, sitting in the operator’s chair, was getting instructions from the operator rabbit sitting on her lap and reported back.

The Glass Butterfly was an add-on spirit armor created in the research lab. By wearing an antennae-shaped headband and a butterfly wing shaped herbicide-spraying backpack, it could scatter herbicide powder and wither the Demon Seeds. A highly effective piece of spirit armor.

“Touka-chan… She’s got guts… Isn’t that kind of thing only for elementary school plays?” (Nono)

“Don’t know what an elementary school play is, but even Dry would refuse to wear that in front of everyone.” (Dry)

Nono and Dry looked down at Touka, who was fighting on the ground, and commented with a mix of astonishment and admiration. Even Dry, who usually didn’t care about outfits, was reluctant to wear the Glass Butterfly.

<<Ahahaha, Me alien! Touka the Butterfly Alien~>> (Touka)

Touka, hopping around and waving the flame thrower borrowed from the rabbits, wiggled the antennae on her head and fluttered the butterfly wings on her back. Wearing that outfit was quite embarrassing at her age.

It’s cute when a rabbit does it and everyone is healed by its charm, but when a high schooler does it, people might think she needs to be taken to the hospital. Despite that, Touka seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself, showing no signs of embarrassment.

“I didn’t expect Touka to be this serious about it…” (Lanpeach)

“Her mental structure is already beyond that of an Earthling.” (Mira)

“Yeah, I didn’t think she’d go this far. Her life must be fun.” (Libra)

Though Lanpeach and the others were astonished by Touka’s performance, they were relieved that the battle was progressing smoothly.

“Still, aren’t these enemies pretty weak? I don’t think they’re a threat that the national army can’t handle.” (Lanpeach)

Despite being ancient monsters, most of them were mass-produced small fry. In fact, the national army had initially been handling the situation quite well, so Lanpeach tilted his head in confusion.

“Mufufu, Libra-chan will explain! The problem is the grass.” (Libra)

“The grass? Oh, you mean the stuff that’s been growing all over the place?” (Lanpeach)

Though it was now withered by the herbicide, the grass had been spread out like a carpet.

“But it doesn’t seem particularly strong. I don’t sense any danger.” (Lanpeach)

“Heh, that’s the thing about Psycho Grass. It’s harmless when isolated, but when it grows in clusters, it has the ability to reflect the will of the Demon Seeds. It acts like network cables and serves as a catalyst for magic. It can also analyze the abilities of any enemies that step on it and functions as a radar.” (Libra)

[Psycho Grass: Level 7]

The information Libra displayed left Lanpeach a bit surprised. Level 7, huh?

“So, any enemy that steps into the Psycho Grass’s territory gets its abilities analyzed, and since it functions as a radar, it can relay that information to its allies for coordinated attacks. It can even activate support or weakening magic without the enemy noticing. It’s a troublesome, invisible foe.” (Libra)

“I see. It looks harmless but it’s the first thing we need to take down. However, judging by how overgrown it is, it can’t be eradicated with normal attacks. Well done, Libra. Sorry for thinking free-to-play support characters like you wouldn’t be useful anymore.” (Lanpeach)

“Mugaaa!” (Libra)

Lanpeach fended off the vampire Libra, who was for some reason baring her teeth and trying to bite him, and realized once again how troublesome this Demon Seed was to defeat. It would definitely be an opponent you’d lose to if you fought it for the first time.

“Boss, over 50% of the enemy forces have been wiped out-usa. I can see an elevator leading to the underground of the botanical garden-usa.”

Lanpeach immediately turned his attention to the monitor at the Admiral Rabbit’s report, who was tapping away with little ‘teshi teshi’ sounds. 

The rabbits had been advancing faster than expected, swiftly wiping out the enemies. The area attacks using fire were powerful as expected, and the spread of the flames had a significant impact.

“From here on, we can expect to face the Original Seeds rather than the mass-produced monsters-usa.”

“The enemy’s spirit power is increasing. The concentration of Element Powder is rising. The effect of the herbicide has significantly decreased. Um, is that how it goes?” (Nono)

Nono hesitantly gave her report after listening to the Operator Rabbit’s explanation. 

“It’s fine-usa”, replied the Operator Rabbit with a cute sniff, as if it were being kind. But Lanpeach, who had known them for a long time, understood. It was just training Nono because it didn’t want to do the work itself.

Anyways, giant trees withered and fell, and the Psycho Grass turned into dry weeds, but unaffected monsters still stood in the way.

“They’re Originals. They were created as proper lifeforms, not just made of spirit power. There aren’t many of them, but they’ve retained their ancient combat strength.”

The rabbits continued their flamethrower assault, and a Blade Treant held up a glowing shield to defend itself while slashing at them with an arm transformed into a sword. 

The Claymore Sunflower transformed its seeds into light bullets and fired them, while the Tuning Fork Grass released beams as thick as pillars.

It was clear that these enemies were on a completely different level. The rabbits stopped their advance and switched to a melee.

“This is the moment! Fire the Lion Rabbit Cannon-usa! Why are you tying me up-usa?!”

The Admiral Rabbit prepared to act exactly as expected, so Lanpeach tied it up with a rope and hung it in mid-air.

“Alright, it’s finally my turn. Let’s go, Libra.” (Lanpeach)

“Aye aye! Just wait till I finish this chapter. The legendary ninja that summons poison frogs is about to lose!” (Libra)

“Well, I’m off!” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach tossed aside Libra’s manga, grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, and headed into battle.

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