Chapter 29

K... It's a comeback.

(*´▽｀*)

This is a work of fiction.

The characters, organizations, and names appearing in this story are fictitious and not based on any real entities.

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029＿Foolishness upon Foolishness

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A part of the summoned heroes, Shinji Akaba's party, is inside a dungeon near the capital city.

The first and second floors were fine. However, from the third floor onwards, they needed to camp, and things started to go downhill. They had too much baggage, and it was getting in the way.

On the first day in the dungeon, they carried their supplies themselves, but complaints arose when they returned.

The second time, they hired porters to enter the dungeon, but the porters quit because they were treated like servants.

The third time, they hired different porters at a high price, but one of the porters was beaten by Shinji and his group, breaking his arm, and he quit. Of course, the porters quit.

The porters spread the word about Shinji and his group's arrogance, and no one would carry their baggage anymore, no matter how much they were paid. Life was more important than money, they said. That's how bad Shinji's group was.

Shinji and his group had to carry their own baggage. It wasn't karma, but it was only natural that they should carry their own things. It's a given for adventurers.

Inevitably, the lower-ranking members of Shinji's group ended up carrying the baggage.

"Why do I have to carry the baggage..."

Three people carried the baggage for fourteen people, and two of those three were scouts. What happens when you make scouts carry the baggage?

"Monster!"

"Damn, so close!"

"Hey, scouts! Do your job!"

Because the scouts were carrying the baggage, they were slower to notice approaching monsters. They didn't understand this, or perhaps they did, but it was normal for the lower-ranking members to carry the baggage in Shinji's group.

The front-liners beat the monsters, and the mages cast spells without regard for the front-liners.

"Hey, that's dangerous!"

"Are you trying to kill us?"

"Move a little, will you?"

"Damn, I'll kill you!"

There was no strategy or teamwork. It was just a brute-force battle. Moreover, Shinji, who should have been the leader, didn't give any commands. It was a terrible battle with friendly fire. Everyone was dissatisfied.

"Urya!"

In the end, the monster was defeated by Shinji's decisive blow.

"It's nothing with me around!"

With so many people attacking, it would be a problem if they couldn't defeat a single monster. Moreover, there were three heroes in Shinji's group of fourteen, so it would be strange if they couldn't defeat it.

Despite their brute-force approach, Shinji's group made steady progress through the dungeon. They eventually reached the boss room on the fourth floor.

Two parties were waiting their turn in front of the boss room, but Shinji's group had no intention of waiting.

"Hey, they're waiting their turn!"

"Shut up! I'm a hero. Got a problem with that?"

The rumor of the summoned heroes and their entry into the dungeon had spread. Shinji's group was well-balanced, with swordsmen, mages, and priests. Moreover, they were numerous.

Since they were a group of misbehaving individuals, no one tried to stop them. Instead, they acted arrogantly, thinking they had special privileges.

The other adventurers had heard the rumors and were warned by the guild not to engage with them. So they backed down, but they were seething with anger.

Shinji's group faced the boss on the fourth floor, but the boss was stronger than expected. Three monsters fought in coordination.

They were far more intelligent than Shinji's group, who lacked any teamwork.

"Hey, take that one down quickly!"

"Shut up, you do it!"

"Hey, I'm doing it first, idiot!"

The three monsters toyed with the heroes. The boss was much stronger than regular monsters. Even heroes would struggle with brute force alone. Any adventurer would know this, but Shinji's group thought they could handle it as they had done before.

"Whoa!"

A front-liner was blown away, and a freed monster approached the back-liners.

"Hey, kyaa!"

A female mage was knocked flying by a body slam.

The monster didn't stop there and attacked others, causing the back-liners to scatter.

"Hey, what are you doing? Take it down quickly!"

Shinji didn't give precise orders, just shouted to hurry up.

"You do it, you're the hero!"

"What did you say!?"

"Useless hero! Take it down quickly!"

"Damn, I'll kill you!"

Finally, they started fighting among themselves.

It took over an hour for Shinji's group to defeat the boss monster.

They struggled but managed to do it without any fatalities, though they were all injured.

They used up all their potions, and the priests' MP was drained, but even then, they were still in bad shape with minor injuries.

"I'm done. I quit. I can't do this anymore."

"Me too. Why are the back-liners getting attacked? It's unbelievable."

The girls were complaining, and the boys were arguing back.

Girls vs. boys, front-liners vs. back-liners. The group was already falling apart, and it was on the verge of a physical fight.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Shinji shouted, and the arguments stopped.

But everyone turned their anger towards Shinji, who was the only one still looking clean.

"You're the only one looking clean. Hey, are you slacking off?"

"Yeah, if you did your job, we wouldn't have struggled so much."

Thirteen people criticized Shinji.

Shinji, trembling with anger, finally snapped.

He punched a male hero who was nearby.

"Ouch!"

"Shut up, you bastard! Who do you think you're talking to?"

"You, the useless one!"

"Who's useless, who's useless?"

A fight broke out between two people and quickly spread to everyone.

They punched and kicked, pulled hair, and headbutted, but they didn't use weapons or magic, so a bit of rationality remained.

When Shinji's group returned to the castle, they were in a terrible state. The injuries were not from the monsters but from the fight, with swollen faces and bruises.

"What a mess..."

"How foolish..."

The captain of the knights and the head of the mages were speechless with disbelief.

Since that day, Shinji's group's dungeon exploration has come to a standstill. With such a strained relationship, they couldn't even think about exploring.

On the other hand, Sayaka Itsukushima, the only one who remembered Fujii, was desperately studying alchemy. Her dedication made her stand out from her classmates, but her alchemist job level and skill proficiency were improving.

"I have to become independent as soon as possible..."

Fujii was in this world.

When he was summoned, he must have been sent to a different place by some mistake. That's what Sayaka thought.

She didn't consider the possibility that Fujii had reincarnated and was now called Toi, but her belief that he was sent to a different place was correct.

To search for Fujii, she needed to become a stronger alchemist.

Since alchemists are not combat jobs, traveling alone was dangerous. She needed to hire a guard, and the best way to earn the money was to use alchemy.

"Sayaka, let's go home."

"I'll stay a bit longer."

"Don't overwork yourself."

"Okay."

Her classmates in production jobs left the workshop, and she was left alone. She worked on her skills by the light of a lamp, creating liquids.

"I did it... I made an MP potion."

Using Green Leaf, a material from the dungeon, she successfully created an MP potion.

There are various potions like HP potions, antidote potions, and MP potions, but only skilled alchemists can create MP potions.

Sayaka had worked so hard that she could now create MP potions in a short time, putting in efforts that made her forget to eat and sleep.

She ignored the dark circles under her eyes and continued to work on alchemy, all for the sake of meeting Fujii.

She was preparing for a journey to find her first love.

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