Combatants Will Be Dispatched - Volume 2 - Chapter 3.5

5 

“This is an emergency. I’m gonna strip you.” 

“Just try it. I can’t take much more of this, either. Bring it on.” 

She must be at her limit, too. She stares at me with a ruthless expression, drawing her sword and taking a perfect stance. 

The hunger must have enhanced her senses; she gives off a more intimidating aura than usual. 

“Listen carefully, Snow. At this rate we’re all gonna die. If you’ll just let me have my way for a little bit, the Evil Points will see to it that your hunger is sated, and I’ll be sated in a different way, too. Everyone goes home happy. Come on, it’s a win-win.” 

“My mind may be at its limit, but I can still recognize a scam as obvious as that.” Still, Snow’s expression looks conflicted. 

“You don’t want to die, either, do you? You want to eat till you’re full, right?” I whisper, but Rose is the one who answers. 

“Yes I do!” 

“I’m not talking to you right now… How about it, Snow? Right now, I’ll even throw in a rare item. Remember what you said the other day? You have a good contact who’ll flip magic items, don’t you? You need money, right? All you have to do put up with me for a little bit, and you can pay off your sword loans.” 

“Umm…” 

As the internal conflict plays out on Snow’s face, Alice is busy picking the grains of sand out of her shotgun. “What’s there to think about?” she says. “You were eager to give yourself to that Engel guy.” 

“There was something wrong with me then! The lure of getting the wealth of a rich country had me under its spell! And that time if something had happened, he would’ve taken responsibility like he was supposed to. But now…” Snow casts a meaningful glance my way. 

“I hate those words. Taking responsibility .” 

“You idiot scumbag, can’t you see I’m trying to convince her?” Alice snaps at me. 

As I turn back to Snow and drop into a stance— 

Snow, reaching her limit, suddenly collapses. 

“S-seriously?! Grimm’s enough of a pain to carry. I don’t know if moving on while carrying you is even an option!” 

“U-ugh… I—I can’t… No more…” Suffering from a lack of sleep and severe hunger in a hostile environment, she can no longer even stand. 

“Six, now’s your chance. Get her while she’s still conscious.” 

“B-but…that’s gotta be crossing several lines…” 

I know it’s a bit hypocritical given how eager I was to get my hands on her, but going after a woman who’s too weak to resist is just too much. 

Just then… 

“B-Boss! I…I can’t resist any longer…” Rose’s voice is ragged. Her cheeks are red, maybe from the desert heat. 

“R-Rose? W-wait; it’s too early for you. This is Snow’s area. Pervy things are kind of her department, especially since her personality makes it hard to feel guilty for putting her through it…” I can’t help but hesitate, even though Rose’s unexpected intervention should have made me happy. 

Had it been Snow or Grimm, I wouldn’t have batted an eye, but… 

“But I can’t take it anymore…” 

At Rose’s expression of pained longing, my restraint heads straight out the door. 

Right, we’re both at our limit. 

Alice has been watching us with interest, but I need her to wander outside for a bit. 

“All right. I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. It’s just that you surprised me.” 

“Don’t apologize for embarrassing me… I’m fully aware this is a line we shouldn’t cross, but…” 

Oh. 

Yes, she’s right. 

We belong to the same squadron. 

This isn’t about men or women. It’s a matter of life or death. 

If we cross this line it could impact future missions. There’ll be awkward moments to spare going forward. 

But still… 

“Rose, it’s an emergency. Don’t sweat the small stuff. When you get down to it, it’s just primal instinct. There’s nothing wrong with feeling this way in extreme circumstances.” 

Yes, this is a libido born of survival instinct. It’s like when you randomly get hard after pulling an all-nighter. 

Rose repeats what I said, as if to convince herself. “Primal instinct… There’s nothing wrong with it in an emergency…” 

“Right. It’s one of the three primal urges! It’s no crime if you can’t resist it!” 

At my declaration she smiles as though she’s made her peace with something. 

“Thank you. I feel better about it! It can’t be helped given the circumstances, can it?” 

“That’s right. It can’t be helped! If there’s one problem, it’s that it’s based on mutual consent.” If it’s consensual, I won’t get any Evil Points. 

“Huh? What’s wrong if it’s consensual?” 

“E-erm, if you put it so bluntly, I don’t see a problem with it… And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t flattered at being desired. Guess you’re quite the man-eater despite your cute face.” 

Rose’s cheeks flush. “D-do you dislike carnivores?” 

“Not at all! In fact, I say bring them on. But still, if we’re to save everyone, we can’t both just jump right in. The necessity is important.” 

I need her to show some resistance to the idea, or I won’t get any Evil Points. 

Rose nods once. “It’s the laws of nature, right? It’s fine. It’ll reduce my sense of guilt, too. Please, resist with all your might, Boss.” 

“Guilt…? Wait? I’m the one being pounced on? I mean, I don’t mind that. Actually, I love it, but…” 

I can’t help but hesitate at Rose’s assertiveness. Still, I can’t back down when she’s being this forward. 

No, I’ve made young Rose say all these things. I need to man up . 

“Besides, I’ve wanted to go all out against you, Boss. I don’t think there’ll be many opportunities to do so outside of situations like this, so please don’t hold anything back!” 

“You’re okay with me going all out? I thought I would be gentle, but if that’s what you want…” I’m a little uneasy about throwing the full force of my raging libido at this young woman… 

But it’s time for me to pull it together. I can’t leave her hanging when she’s this determined. 

“All right. Just let me wipe down my body with a wet towel.” It’s the least I can do. 

“I’m sorry, Boss, but I don’t think I can hold back any longer… Besides, you’re fine as is, Boss. Um… I’ve been thinking this for a while, but you smell pretty good, Boss…” 

“I s-smell good? Damn, you’re aggressive today! If you’re okay with that, I’m fine with it, but isn’t it a little too…kinky?” I feel my cheeks flushing and pace quickening at everything this young woman is saying. 

Still. The only thing left to do is make our move. 

I look to Alice, trying to give her a hint. She just continues watching with amusement. “Rose, Six,” she says. “I want to ask you two a question. What are you two planning to do now?” 

“I’m gonna jump her bones and devour her.” 

“I’m going to eat the boss!” 

Both of us blush after our similar declarations. 

Alice looks at us flatly. “You two sound like you’re talking about the same thing, but you’re not.” She still seemed very entertained. 

“I’m gonna do pervy stuff with Rose, right?” 

“I’m going to fight the boss, right?” 

…… 

“Wait, what? Fighting? That’s a little too intense as foreplay for me.” 

“Wait, what are you saying, Boss? When you win the fight for survival in nature, you eat the loser.” 

……… 

“When you say eat, you mean sexually, right?” 

“No, I mean literally. I’m going to eat you.” 

……… 

“What the hell?! That’s not even funny! I’ve met a lot of messed-up mutants in my day, but that’s a step too far, even for me!” 

“What are you talking about, Boss?! You were the one who said it was one of the three primal urges and that it was useless to resist.” 

“I did say that. Yes, I did say that!” 

But that’s definitely not what I meant. I mean, yeah, that’s one of the three primal urges, too, but that’s really, really not what I meant! 

Rose appears to be at her limit, and her gaze looks really, really dangerous. 

“Boss, this is an emergency. We don’t have time to worry about this!” 

“I said that, too, but that’s also not what I meant! We’ll get back to town in a few more days. Just hang on!” 

The people on this planet are fine with eating intelligent life like orcs. 

Which means… 

Rose’s cheeks flush and she squirms. 

“I can’t hold on any longer, Boss… I was really happy to hear you didn’t hate someone who might eat you…” 

“Words really are hard to use right. I guess this is the culture gap in action!” 

This is completely different from the “man-eater” definition I know! I back away toward the tent entrance, trying my best not to draw more of Rose’s attention than necessary. 

Rose watches me with predatory eyes. “Boss, you smell so good…” 

“Yeah, circumstances really are important. The line’s pretty close to what she said earlier, but now my pulse is racing for a completely different reason…” 

Her cheeks flush a faint shade of pink again. “Boss, have you heard of the suspension bridge effect? Maybe that’s love…” 

“That’s true. This racing heartbeat might be love! All right, come at me! I’ve made my peace! I’ll take you down!” An evil minion can’t afford to be afraid of a little girl like her! 

“Grandpa used to say, ‘when people fall in love, they want to become one with their opponent…’” 

“Your grandpa was right, but you’re misunderstanding what he wanted to tell you.” I correct her as I drop into a fighting stance. 

“Well then, I’ll leave the two of you to it.” 

I watch as Alice steps out of the tent. 

“I bet we were fated to have this battle before we were even born… Rose, Battle Chimera for the kingdom of Grace! Prepare yourself!” 

“Combat Agent Six, Kisaragi Corporation! Prepare to give up some points!” 

In a tent in a desert far, far away, a heated night begins! 

<Massive Amounts of Evil Points Acquired> 

“Ah. Cheer up, Six,” Alice calls out happily. “We can see it in the distance.” 

“……” 

I let out a sigh, unable to muster the will to respond. 

I’m sitting in the passenger seat of the brand-new buggy. “<Hey, Alice. I really wanna to go back to Earth.>” 

“<What are you talking about? You seemed to have a lot of fun last night. It got us a new buggy. Cheer up!>” 

…… 

“<Fun?! Fun?!! Don’t be ridiculous. We didn’t go all the way. That was foreplay at most!>” 

“<Eh, you say that, but you earned a nice amount of points. Good work. You should make this a regular thing with Rose.>” 

Last night I fought Rose, who had gone completely off the rails. I took advantage of little openings here and there to earn some points, then used the points earned during the battle to order some food, then used that as bait to neutralize Rose… 

“<But damn, Chimeras are pretty scary. She gave me a run for my money.>” 

“<Fascinating, isn’t it? It really makes investigating the planet’s ancient ruins all the more important.>” 

I glance over at the back seat, seeing the three of them slumped and out cold. There isn’t a trace of sex appeal left. 

“<Still, can’t say we succeeded in the mission Tillis gave us. We only got one of those weird fruits, and even then, we used a good chunk of the water. And I want to send this off to Kisaragi for study. Its ability to absorb liquid would be really handy if we can find alternative uses for it.>” 

“<Damn, I’d forgotten about the mission…>” I can’t help but dread what comes next. 

The kingdom of Grace comes into view, and there’s something off about it. 

It reminds me of the time the Demon Lord’s Army was about to attack…