I Reincarnated Into a Vending Machine - Chapter 83

Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta ore wa Meikyuu o Samayou
Author: Hiru Kuma
—

Below us, I see countless monsters surrounding the outsides of the Association.
It wasn't just the usual guys, like frogman demons, twin-snake demons, and crocodileman demons; there were also ones I hadn't seen before. They're probably monsters that dwell in Clear Stream Level, I just haven't encountered them before.
The hunters who were earnestly defending were probably reaching their limits for fatigue. They handed their spots over to the gatekeepers, Mishael, and the strongest elderly couple, and were sitting with their backs against the wall around the door, catching their breaths.
Right now, the ones dealing with the enemies from the terrace are about five relatively energetic hunter units I'm acquainted with. The gatekeepers, the elderly couple, Mishael, and the ones that surprised me are the large man who's the money-changer's assistant, Goggai, and Shirley, who's not wearing her normal, high-exposure and high-class, clothes but an outfit that sticks to her body like a catsuit.

Goggai's weapon is a polearm with a hatchet on the end; I'm pretty sure it's called a halberd. He's swinging it around lightly, striking down fish with dragonfly wings growing from them.
Shirley is using a whip; not only is she dealing striking attacks, she's also wrapping her opponents with it to stop their movements, throwing iron skewer-like things at them to finish them off.
Huh? So these two were that strong? Maybe it's an obvious trait for people who conduct business in a dangerous place like a dungeon.
Hyurumi had lost control of herself at the state of the community, but she came to as she saw everyone's actions right in front of her.
And so, she inhaled deeply and let the three people in battle know the news they were anxious about in a loud voice.

"Gramps, Granny, your daughter and grandaughter are safe! Karios, your girlfriend's fine too! Everyone's worried about you guys!"

The elderly couple and Karios all raised a fist in the air without turning around, responding with their backs towards us.
Even though they didn't say a word, I understood that all three had delighted smiles.
And then, their movements increased in ferocity.
Grandfather grasped gold and silver colored fans in his left and right hands and, when he moved as if he was twirling, lightning fell from the dark cloud covered sky and razed the Hunters Association's surroundings.
Grandmother immediately sliced up any enemies that came within a five meter radius of her, as she slowly walked around the terrace's edge, she left behind the corpses of sliced up monsters as she passed.
Karios stabbed the frogman demons that were climbing the Hunters Association walls one after another, not a flashy action, but effective.

"Howling shot!"

When Mishael swung his dragon greatsword, red flames flared out from the red blade, roasting the swarming monsters.
The old couple's peerlessness is ferocious, but Mishael isn't losing to them. In this situation, we're thankful for an attacking method that can deal with a large amount of enemies at once.
This isn't the time for me to be staring stupidly. I had Hyurumi put me down, and when I returned to the usual vending machine I offered sports drinks and light meals to the resting hunters.
All the injuries were healed by Grandmother, so the problem is replenishing stamina and the lost blood, huh? For iron content it should be liver, but I don't have that kind of product, na. Aside from that, cocoa is abundant in minerals, iron, and zinc and the like … Oh, that's what's written on the cocoa can.
Reading the explanation on the cocoa, I guess it's better than not doing anything, so I provided them with cocoa. I think clam miso soup is also effective. I'll have them choose whichever they prefer.

"Is everyone safe!?"

The small shadow that leapt out onto the terrace is Ramis, huh? She looked around and around the area, and when she found me she ran over.

"Hakkon, are you okay? You're not broken anywhere? , everyone, if you're resting, it's dangerous if you don't go inside-."

So saying, she skillfully carried the hunters resting against the wall by twos over her shoulders through the door connecting to the terrace.
Recently she's been carrying a lot of rubble and transporting a lot of injured people, so she has no useless movements.
When she had carried all of them, she put me on her back and turned to face Hyurumi.

"Leave the rest to us. Hyurumi should also go inside, since it's dangerous."

"Ou, I'll leave it to you. Don't do anythin' reckless."

"Un, I got it."

They smiled while banging their fists together, and then Hyurumi went inside, shutting the door.

"Right, I have to do my best too-!"

Seems like she's filled with motivation after confirming Munami's status. Slapping her face with both hands, she rotated her arm as she yelled in motivation.

"Oh my, you're energetic, ne. It's been a while, Ramis-chan."

"O-, Sherry-san! That whip … is so cool!"

"*Chuckle* Thank you. I'm a little worn out, so I wonder if I could get a drink."

Sherry-sans' favorite should in fact be fruits milk, na. I remember her face flushed after getting out of the bath as she drank.
I used to take the product out, and smoothly brought it to her hand.

"How did you do that just now? Ramis-chan's wind magic … or is it that you have the Manipulation Blessing, I wonder."

"Uh uh, it's different. This is Hakkon's ability."

"Oh my, is that so? Hakkon-san, thank you. You really are outstanding, ne. It's regrettable that you're a magic tool."

With that wink full of coy charm, if I had a body of flesh and blood, it seems I'd have a misunderstanding if she acts so seductively.
Normally it's completely reckless to have such a relaxed conversation in the middle of defending, but the occassional arrow and stone that flies over is repelled by , so there aren't any problems.

"Sherry-san, you're pretty strong, ne!"

"Ufufu. There are all sorts of conveniences if you're known for your abilities when you do night work within a dungeon."

There's probably a lot of ruffians, and the probability to encounter monsters isn't zero. Now that she says it, it's pretty obvious.

"From here on, we'll hold out, so you can take your time and have a nap. Lack of sleep is the greatest enemy of beauty; that's what you said before, Sherry-san."

At those words, Sherry's eyes opened wide and she put a hand to her mouth, laughing from the depths of her heart.

"That, I have nothing I can say against it. Then, should I take you up on that and do so? Goggai-san, let's return together."

Sherry called out to Goggai, twirling his halberd nearby, and he turned and gravely nodded his head once.

"Then we will take our leave first. Once we've recovered our bodies, we will immediately come forth." (Sherry)

"I will also take a break for now." (Goggai)

When the two took their leave, the ones who were left here are the elderly couple, the gatekeepers, Michael, Ramis, and a vending machine.
Grandfather was liberally using his magic when we were returning so he doesn't have much magic power; aside from the one great magic he fired off at the beginning, he's only using lesser magics. Although it's more than enough firepower despite that.
Even though Ramis should also have exhausted her stamina while she was constantly pulling everyone along, she's blowing away the enemies that have clambered onto the terrace and are running around it, one after another.
It's obvious that I'd wish for them not to push themselves too much, but right now, if they don't push themselvess everything will be over. They can't stop.

I also want to turn into the and help, but I endure it. There's the time limit, so I'd like to save it for an emergency.
My points have dropped due to the battle with the Ruler of the Netherworld, but President Bear, who knew that I can turn money into power, said it was a pre-payment and inserted ten gold coins.
With that, there were no problems for me to provide food and maintain the , and I also have a surplus of points. That said, this isn't a situation where I would be permitted to spend it recklessly, so even if I want to take something new, I have to be careful about it.

I'm watching over my comrades' actions and watching how the battle progresses, but this is seriously an awful situation.
The community is half-destroyed. There's a giant hole opened up in the defending wall, and it's obvious that the invasion came in through there.
And also, there was probably rioting within the community. You can't see hardly any of the original buildings.
They said there were about one hundred survivors, but the survivors are mostly people who had lived in the community since before the reconstruction and hunters. I haven't checked everyone's face yet, but I haven't confirmed that the many shop and stall keepers that I've often come into contact with have survived yet.
There were rumors that the population had increased past five hundred during the reconstruction. A majority are no longer … that's what it means.
Even now, the number of monsters attacking the Hunters Association are too many to count; that overwhelming amount is flooding the community.

They liberally used an extremely durable ore for this Hunters Association's building materials, and it seems that it's also considerably thick. The windows are also outfitted with lattices, and those were made with the materials normally used for expensive armor, so frogman demons and the like can't deal with them.
Naturally the entrance door is the same, so the monsters are trying to get in through the terrace on the second floor, since it's the only entrance humans are coming in and out of.
This is also the only place for the defenders to intercept the enemy, so if they can't halt the enemy's movements and stop them here, only death awaits us. And so, this is the only place where we are fighting to the death.
But man, this amount of monsters is weird beyond reason. He said that the souls of dead people are turned into monsters, so, depending on whether one person makes one monster, that means our opponents have even more units.
And also, he said that it was possible to resurrect dead monsters. If he can hasten the period between death and resurrection somehow, and our opponent can somehow send enemies semi-endlessly … … no matter what, I think that's unlikely.

"Haa, haa, I can still go on."

The frogman demons who came leaping in were turned into meat lumps and flew through the air. The one who did that, piercing through with a fist and breathing roughly is Ramis.
The result of running constantly pretty much without rest has appeared, huh? She's pretending to be fine, but her legs are wobbly, and is defending against the attacks she can't dodge.
Like this, she has to rest her body or else.

"Too bad. Too bad."

"Hakkon, I can still go on, I can."

She's pushing herself far too far. There's no doubt that the defensive battle is going to be over a long period of time. This isn't where you overdo it. It's also important to pull back. Please understand that, Ramis.
With those kind of feelings, I repeat "Too bad," but she's unwilling to listen.

"I won't run away again. Not like that time … I'll fight. I'll protect everyone…"

Hearing the words she's muttering to herself, I understood everything.
The scene from before, the one I heard about from Hyurumi where the village they were born in was destroyed, must have resonated with her now.
So that's why she's going to continue to fight past her limits.
I understand, but pushing herself anymore than this will affect her life. I have to stop her.
How should I … I could cause her to faint with an AED shock? No way, that's way too dangerous when she's on the verge of exhaustion.
And anyway, it will add on to Ramis' wounds.
Even if I wanted to persuade her, I can't say anything but pre-determined phrases. Somehow, I need to return her composure.
If I can surprise her, it might calm her down.
Let's try it … that thing I've been practicing this entire time. There was never a chance to show off the benefits of raising dexterity until now. To do this will take a large amount of concentration, but the time to try it is now-!

"Ra - i su"

"E-, did you just call … my name?"

Reacting to the voice I let out, Ramis stop in her tracks.
I can't speak well, but it seems to have gotten across. Just like this, without negligence, I'll continue to talk.

"Fa ll ba g"

Aa, jeez, it's like baby speak, but right now, this was a declaration made with everything I had.

"A, un. Fall back, you mean. Um, okay."

Me talking seems to have surpassed her wildest imaginations, and the blood that had risen to her head abated all at once.
With a dumbfounded face, she lifted me like that and went inside through the door.
Going down the stairs, when she neared the second floor corridor, she let me down, spun around, and grasped my front with both hands.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!? Hakkon, since when were you able to speeak-!?"

Raising a scream in surprise, just like that, Ramis fell and collapsed on her back. Looks like she surpassed both her physical and mental limits.
Shall I tell you when you wake up? Sleep well, Ramis.

That aside, why have I never translated "kago" to "blessing" before? Rather than "divine power" or "divine protection", it's totally better translated as "blessing", isn't it? Or more like, kago=blessing.
orz>