There was no doubt about it—those two were falling.
But having already experienced this once, Rias immediately raised her hand. In the next instant, the falling figures froze in midair, then slowly descended toward them under the influence of magic.
One of them, a white-haired woman in a black dress and thigh-high boots, was immediately recognized by Ryuji.
2B. (Image)
A legendary presence in the 3D waifu realm—once rivaling and even dethroning Tifa in popularity during her heyday. A warrior from NieR: Automata, iconic and unforgettable.
The other woman, however, he couldn't quite place. She wore a tight-fitting black skirt and a secretary-style top, topped off with a cowboy hat. Her healthy bronze skin and shoulder-length black hair gave her a unique charm.
Honestly, there were just too many potential characters like this for him to guess correctly.
As soon as they landed, 2B—who had been identified by Ryuji—spoke up in a composed, mechanical voice.
"Thank you for your assistance. May I ask... where are we?"
She had just been on her way to meet a new partner, 9S, for a mission on the surface. But suddenly, she'd found herself alone on a cliff and rescued by an unfamiliar force. The surroundings didn't match any data in her records, which made her uneasy.
The other woman, by contrast, remained calm and collected. She even adjusted her hat before speaking in a polite tone.
"Hello, everyone. I share the same question as this young lady. Could someone please explain where we are?"
Ryuji glanced at Rias. Honestly, he couldn't be bothered to explain anymore. He didn't even care to ask who the mysterious tan beauty was.
Seriously.
After a whole day of intense training, all he could think about now was that merchant lady.
She might not have been able to move, and her looks and body were just average, but she was great for venting his frustration.
"You handle it," he said to Rias. "I'm going back to training."
With that, Ryuji made a clean escape.
After all, none of these women were in any condition for that, and training was the only thing he could do to increase his strength.
But first—he had some looting to do.
Ryuji jogged down to the bottom of the cliff. As expected, there were no zombie corpses, only dozens of grimy yellow loot bags left behind.
And once again, his luck was... strange.
The majority of what he found? Painkillers and bandages. Occasionally, a medkit or some bullets. Honestly, though, that wasn't too bad. Medkits had been performing like miracle items so far.
Out of the hundreds of bags, he opened over two hundred—and pulled out more than two hundred medkits.
Even he, someone who no longer hated medkits, was ready to scream.
"If I didn't have Kiri, I'd never be able to upgrade my firepower, huh?"
He stared at the only weapon he'd gotten—a Level 1 pipe pistol—and felt his blood pressure spike.
How long was he supposed to use this junk without Kiri's upgrades?
But just as he opened the final two bags, something finally changed.
Among the last fifty bags, aside from a pile of miscellaneous junk, he found four books.
He looked at the first one and immediately grimaced.
• Power of Destruction: The destructive might of a demon lord from the depths of hell. With full mastery, it can even annihilate time and concepts themselves.
However, the energy is extremely violent and consumes vast amounts of mana. Even demon lords find it hard to control, and improper use can drain the caster dry.
Due to its overwhelming force, it's just as dangerous to the user. Those with poor magical control are at risk of self-destruction.
Warning: Use only if your magical talent is high enough to survive.
"Yeah, this one's got 'future potential' written all over it."
Without a second thought, Ryuji tossed it into his inventory. No way he was touching that thing right now.
If his magical aptitude were that good, he wouldn't still be stuck casting flaming sword and basic fireball, with barely enough mana for either.
He moved on to the second book—and became even more speechless.
•Never-Ending Elegance: Your luck will be partially drained. In life-threatening situations, there's a chance that an enemy who fits your "type" will fall for you. By trading your chastity, you may gain a chance to survive.
However, playing with fate always has a cost. You and your descendants will suffer a strange affliction: whenever you try to achieve something important, unexpected setbacks will delay or hinder your success—but never completely block it.
"What the hell is this for?"
Ryuji was genuinely stunned. Was this supposed to be a subtle jab at a certain long-legged, accident-prone tsundere sharing a house with him?
The third book, thankfully, brought some good news.
•Combat Instinct Lv.1: Your training has ingrained instinctual knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. Even if you forget every move you've learned, your body understands the flow of a fight and can defeat an average-level professional fighter—from Earth.
Warning: Do not challenge superpowered beings from fantasy worlds. They will punch you into the ground.
"Finally, something useful," Ryuji muttered. "I'll save this one for bedtime. Maybe it'll help me sleep tonight."
Why not read it now?
Simple.
You try sleeping in a room with three gorgeous women and see how easily you drift off.
He set the book aside, placing it at the top of his inventory, then looked at the fourth and final one. Upon reading it, he fell completely silent.
Customer Service Tactics Lv.? (Not Expert): Techniques used by a corporate workers to deal with unreasonable clients. Grants quick access to memories of being yelled at by customers and various coping strategies. A reflection of a mundane office worker's life.
"Are you f***ing kidding me…"
Ryuji finally understood—each book seemed to represent one of them.
The Power of Destruction? That was clearly Rias.
The desperate seduction-for-survival ability? Had to be Rin Tohsaka.
The combat instincts? Obviously from Mai Shiranui.
And this pathetic office worker manual?
His.
"Seriously, I'd rather learn college English than this crap."
Though part of him wanted to toss it on the ground and stomp it to death, he reluctantly put it back into his inventory.
Just as he was preparing to run some laps around the pit to work on his legs, 2B suddenly leapt from the upper platform and sprinted toward him at full speed.
Before he could react, she was already upon him.
Out of instinct, Ryuji unsheathed his sword, flames igniting along the blade and distorting the air around it.
But 2B—a machine weighing over 300 kilograms—effortlessly dodged his sword and grabbed his head.
Then—she kissed him.
Hard.
Her soft, fragrant tongue slipped into his mouth, and he tasted the strangely sweet flavor of her synthetic saliva.
Her hand, meanwhile, had slipped under his shirt and was pressed firmly against his chest.
He was stunned.
What the hell was going on?
Sure, he could understand if she was excited to find out they were all human, beside Rias and weren't three more people upstairs!
Even if she wanted to protect him, shouldn't she have calmly done it, why is she like this?
But before he could protest, 2B pulled her tongue back and took a step back, trembling with emotion. She saluted him—the standard YoRHa greeting.
"Glory to mankind. Please, do not leave my side again, and forgive me for my delayed arrival."
She was overwhelmed with emotion—because she had seen it with her own eyes:
A living, breathing human.
Not in the Moon base.
Not on any registry.
A wild human.
For an android like her, this was almost too much.
But for Ryuji...
"...So the others aren't human?"
~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter every 200 PS.