CH 38

“Damn it, how did I get into this…”

“Shut up and let’s go!”

“Shiny, calm down…”

“You need to calm down, too, Mireina. You’re shaking.”

Shiny made a fuss as she climbed out of the back space into her seat, and both Mireina and Kirie seemed to be unable to calm down.

This is an element that has nothing to do with my life in the other world. I don’t want this kind of life crisis. I died once and now I’m putting myself in mortal danger again.

“Okay, I’m going to retrieve the hero party anyway, and ignore everything else!!”

“I know! Oh my God!!”

I drive the truck to my destination. I’m getting chills and my hands are shaking. I realize that Shiny is so tense that they are trying to disguise their fear. I guess the others are scared too.

I’m the most mature person here…, or rather, I was against it.

“Tama, we’ll go in armed with the highest success rate.”

“Understood. However, the life of the president is the top priority.”

“That’s fine. Let’s just get them back!”

I’ll do it if I’ve come this far. I’m going to show them how a trucker does it.

After ten minutes of driving, the chills were at their peak and the scenery around us had changed.

There were marks as if something had been destroyed, and trees had been ripped down. It was as if something had passed by in a group, as if a storm had passed … scary.

And finally we arrived.

“Oh, hey … that thing!?”

“Chrissssssss!!”

“Hey, calm down, Kirie!”

Things were bad.

Chris and Kiraboshi were surrounded by a monster turtle that looked to be about a meter long. The arrows were not very effective against the turtles, and many of them were stuck in their shells. And there are still more than twenty turtles.

Taiyo in his armor is in tatters, his armor is shattered everywhere, and his holy sword is cracked. Moreover, Tsukiyo was also on her knees, breathing on her shoulders. It seemed that the small fry were being dealt with by Kiraboshi.

And Taiyo and Tsukiyo were fighting with an unbelievable monster.

“Ah, is that the … King Genbuou Basartes?”

“He hasn’t changed. That figure…”

Basartes was a human-like tortoise.

The actual “Tortoise’s” face is a more vicious version of the tortoise, and it has green hair. And his hair was standing on end.

Oh no, it was too scary. And it noticed the truck.

I ran into the truck without any care. I hit the gas pedal hard and flipped off a couple of turtles. Then the hood opened and the armament deployed.

“[Flame Thrower] deployed. Radiate.”

“Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”

“I’m going!”

“I’m coming with you!!”

“What? Wait a minute!!”

Shiny and Kirie opened the door and ran out. And even though they were going very fast, Shiny and Kirie landed on the ground gracefully. It seems that they are heading to Chris and Kiraboshi.

Enough of this, I’m going to retrieve Taiyo and the others!!

“Let’s go, Mireina, Tama!!”

“Yes!!”

“Understood.”

I can see the expressions on Taiyo and the others’ faces when we reached this point. Both of them are looking at me, the driver of the truck, with astonished expressions.

“Oh, reinforcements. What’s that strange hunk of steel?”

“Kota-san!?”

“Why, old man!?”

I yelled without paying attention to what Basartes had just said.

“Deploy the Gatling gun! Sweep towards that turtle!”

“Understood. Deploying [Gatling Gun]. Sweep.”

The Gatling gun deployed and a shower of bullets struck Genbuou Basartes.

Without seeing the result, I shouted out the window to Taiyo and the others.

“Get in! Let’s get out of here!!”

“What are you doing here!?”

“Just come on! You’re the only ones who can get away with this.”

“Ko-Kota-san…”

“Dangerous. Maximum Danger. Danger. Danger.”

A shower of bullets hit Genbuou Basartes directly. However, Genbuou Basartes didn’t defend himself and came towards me while being bombarded with bullets. His expression was filled with joy.

“Hmm, that tickled… but it’s unpleasant.”

“Hmph!!”

I put the vehicle in reverse gear and accelerated.

But it was too late. He grabbed the barrel of the Gatling gun and twisted it off.

With a “beggin” sound, the barrel shredded, and vibrations slowed the truck.

“Nnnn!”

“Oh!?”

“The Gatling gun is damaged. Unusable. Danger. Danger. Danger.”

“Nnn……”

The vehicle shuddered and backed up to keep its distance.

Genbuou Basartes was looking at the truck with amusement.

Damn, I’m scared…… I’m soaked in sweat and gripped the steering wheel before I knew I was there. I’m out of breath and on the verge of tears. Why am I doing this? I’m a civilian.

“King Basartes has identified the truck as an enemy. It is recommended to retreat. Danger level maximum. Danger. Danger. Danger.”

“I know!!”

I call out to Taiyo and the others, forgetting to use my other armaments.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!! Hurry up!!”

“Tsu!! Let’s go, Taiyo!!”

“No, but…”

“Forget about it! Think about why you’re here, Kota-san and the others!!”

“… Damn it!!”

Thank God. Taiyo and the others have backed off. Now all we have to do is attract this thing and … escape!

“Kota-san, Shiny and the others!!”

“Eh!?”

I was backing up to distance myself from Genbuou Basartes when I heard Mireina’s impatient voice coming from next to me.

I looked at the door on Mireina’s side and saw Shiny surrounded by turtles.

“Kirie sister, Kirie sister…”

“It’s okay, I’m here… Don’t cry, Chris.”

“Shiny, please don’t push yourself!”

“I’m fine! You’ve got to support me!!”

Kirie is … wounded.

Chris put her hand on Kirie’s abdomen and a pale light surrounded Kirie.

The moment I saw that, my head was on fire.

“You bastard!!”

I changed direction and accelerated toward the turtles surrounding Shiny and the others.

The truck accelerated, but it didn’t move forward at all.

“What!?”

“Wait, what kind of vehicle is this?”

“Dangerous. Dangerous, dangerous, dangerous.”

I heard a voice and checked the side mirror. Genbuou Basartes was gripping the aluminum body of the truck with his bare hands. The aluminum body was squeaking and the tires were spinning, but I couldn’t move forward.

“Ha-ha-ha, you think this lump of iron will work on me?　This Genbuou Basartes has been underestimated.”

“This is…!!”

“… Kota-san, I’m sorry!!”

“Mireina!? What are you doing!?”

Mireina opened the door and walked out.

I felt fear here for the first time, even more than I did for King Genbuou Basartes. I didn’t know what Mireina was going to do.

“Get your hands off me! Basartes-sama!!”

“Hmm? … You are one of the demons, why are you in this land?”　

“I-I’m no…!”　

“Stop, Mireinaaaaaaaa!”

“Yaaaaaaa!!”

Mireina jumped on Genbuou Basartes with her bare hands.

Before I knew it, I had stopped stepping on the gas pedal and was reaching out to unfasten my seatbelt. But I couldn’t get there in time. Genbuou Basartes raised his hand in a bored manner.

“Draaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

“No!?”

Taiyo and Tsukiyo jumped out as if to protect Mireina, and they were hit by a powerful slash and a leaping kick. However, Genbuou Basartes took no damage.

However, the impact dislodged Genbuou Basartes’s hand, and I huffed and stepped on the gas pedal. Mireina hurriedly moved away, and I ran over the turtles surrounding Shiny and the others without regard to Mireina.

“Kirie!”

“I-I’m fine…”

“Kirie is fine, you go get the other one!”

Then, Tsukiyo’s voice echoed from behind.

“Kiraboshi! Chris! Now is the time to play your trump card! Show some guts, Taiyo!!”

“Yeah, guts!”

“Let’s go!!”

“Watch me, Kirie!”

Taiyo raised his holy sword, Tsukiyo raised her hands, Kiraboshi raised hre bow, and Chris held up her staff.

“”””<Armor>!!””””

Taiyo wore golden armor, Tsukiyo wore stylish red armor, Kiraboshi wore similar green armor, and Chris wore white armor that looked like vestments.

“Interesting!! Come on!!”

“Let’s go!!”

“This is the critical moment, everyone!!”

“Yes!! Let’s go!!”

“You’ve done a terrible thing to my sister Kirie!”

Oh, come on, these guys are really 16 years old. This ain’t the level of guts.

They don’t look like they need to be retrieved. Each of them is an order of magnitude stronger than the other, and they’re gradually pushing Genbuou Basartes.

I check out Shiny supporting Kirie and back the truck to retrieve Mireina.

“Mireina, get in!”

“Yes, Kota-san.”

The next moment, an explosion occurred behind Mireina.

She was blown away and rolled on the ground, and I watched in dismay.

She rolled over and over on the gravel and rocky ground, not moving a muscle. My heart leapt out of my chest and I checked to see what had happened.

“Eh…”

Then, there was a monster.

Genbuou Basartes had changed his appearance. All the heros had fallen. Their armor was shattered and their bodies were covered with wounds. I could not understand what had happened.

“I was surprised. I didn’t expect him to have this much power… as expected of a hero, huh?”

Genbuou Basartes had grown to a gigantic size.

His human-like body had mutated into a more monstrous physique. It was as if the turtle monster had grown to a size of about ten meters.

“I haven’t looked like this in a long time. You should be proud of yourselves, my heroes, not many people have seen this form.”

What is this? How did this happen?

There is no way I can defeat this monster.

“You … monster, how dare you, Mireina!”

“I won’t let you, God’s hammer …!”

“No, no, no, …, stop it, Shiny! Kirie!”

Shiny and Kirie go to Mireina and pick a fight with Genbuou Basartes head on. I’m cold all over and can’t move. But if I don’t, Mireina, Shiny, and Kirie will … Damn it, why, why did this happen?

“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk, weak weak weak weak weak human. Hmmm… I’m a little hungry.”　

Hearing those words, I finally came back to myself.

Slowly, the three of them extended their hands to me. I stepped on the gas pedal as fast as I could and rushed forward.

“Stop it!”

“Hmph.”

“Danger. Danger. Danger. Danger.”

Aim for the legs. Or rather, anywhere.

At this moment, for the first time, I put others before myself. I hit Genbuou Basartes with the truck and took the three of them with me while he was out of position to escape. I saved Mireina and the others rather than Taiyo and the others. I protect the employees of my first company. As a president, as a man. That was all I could think about.

“Mireina, Shiny, Kirieeeee!”

“Die!”

The next moment, a terrible shock hit me.

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊　

The next thing I knew, I was on my side.

All I could see was the broken windshield, the squeezed airbag, and the sparking interior of the truck.

My head was pounding. I rubbed my forehead with my aching right hand and got a trickle of blood on my hand…It seemed I had cut my forehead.

“… Ugh.”

I check my blurred vision and see some people standing around.

Taiyo … stood up in a state of raggedness and is holding a broken holy sword against Genbuou Basartes.

He’s only a sixteen-year-old boy, but he’s got a lot of guts.

“Mireina …Shiny …Kirie …”

Are Mireina and the others safe?

My head is a bit fuzzy. The truck looks … like a wreck. It’s hard to tell from here, but the vehicle body must have been hit pretty hard as well. I feel as if the Genbuou Basartes had stepped on it, crushed it, and kicked it.

“T-Tama…”

“The body damage rate is 75%. Unable to drive. All armaments cannot be deployed. We recommend using points to repair.”

“M-everyone, huh…?”

“Vitality checks … show that everyone is alive. The president has a laceration on his forehead. Mireina has several broken bones and bruises. Shiny is slightly injured. Kirie is unharmed. Mireina’s vitals are low… and she needs medical attention as soon as possible.”

“Yu, the heroes’ party, where are they?”

“The entire party is lightly wounded. The body armor seems to have protected them from the impact.”

The truck is in such a shambles, but Tama’s voice remains the same. I’m relieved to hear that.

“Hey…, can we get away from here?”

“It’s impossible. With the current strength, it is not possible to defeat Genbuou Basartes.”

“Then, how can we win?”

“I can’t answer that. It is impossible at this time.”

At this time, what was in my mind was not my obsession with life, but how I could defeat Genbuou Basartes.

I am a man, too. I am a man, and there is no reason why I should not feel regret after being beaten so badly. How could I not be angry at him for hurting Mireina and the others and tearing up my truck?

So, if it were possible, I’d like to beat that turtle to a pulp.

“You said… it’s impossible at this time. Is there a way?”

“Unable to answer.”

“Please, tell me… I, I want to beat him.”

“Unable to answer.”

“I’ve never felt this way before, not when I was working for … the company, not when I lost a lot of money playing pachinko…Mireina and the others were hurt, and my truck was ripped to shreds. I’m … pissed off.”

“Answer, Impossible.”

“Please! Tell me…, you can’t forgive me either, you’re pissed off because they beat up our people, our valued employees!”

“Answer… No. Impossible.”

Genbuou Basartes’s hand reached out to Taiyo.

Upon closer inspection, Taiyo was already unconscious. It seemed that he had risen up unconsciously in order to protect Tsukiyo, Mireina, and the others. He is the true hero, I thought.

That’s why I didn’t want him to die in a place like this. I had never wanted to save them so badly before.

I cried out in tears.

“Please, Tama! If I don’t do something here ……, my life is meaningless! I’ll die again!”

“…”

I’m just a trucker. But I have a feeling that I want to help someone.

I am not a hero. But I have the kindness to give a helping hand to those in need.

I am sure that I am the only trucker in the world who carries such kindness. I am sure that “Dekotora” is a skill to save such people. I believe that this skill is not only for playing with a truck.

Then Tama muttered something to me.

“…Amulet.”

“Eh?”

“Please put the amulet that Mireina-sama gave you in the dashboard.”

“Eh?”

“Please put it in the dashboard. President.”

“…Okay.”

I put the amulet from my b****t pocket into the cracked dashboard.

“Pampakapan. I converted Mireina-sama’s amulet into experience. Your level has increased.”

“Ta, Tama?”

My level went up at the last minute.

I remember that coins and goods can also be converted into experience.

“Pampakapan. New item, “Deformed Dekotora Fusion” unlocked.”