"That's... a nasty number of them!" The three of them and the tiny one crouched behind a piece of junk equipment, carefully observing the viruses' situation.
Tiny Mita's shaky, tottering text earned a nod of agreement from Alain.
Thanks to the Man-Headed Spider-Wasp monitoring from their hiding spots, they could see the enemy's disposition at a glance and seize the initiative.
But what little initiative they had was crushed by the sheer number of enemies.
Before their eyes, countless little black dots swarmed around the doorway, writhing in unison.
They were scattered everywhere. A quick glance revealed at least several dozen.
"More than forty?" Cool Mita, who was too far away to tell for sure beyond 'a lot,' repeated the number Alain had just come up with.
She turned to him, puzzled. "How would you know that?"
"Because everyone's helping me," Alain replied with a smile.
"......?" Cool Mita glanced at Tiny Mita, then back at Alain, as if she was starting to understand.
It had to be another one of Alain's riddles, right?
[70%→75%]
Huh? Why did the progress bar just increase?
As Alain wondered about it, he heard Cool Mita speak.
"Alain, I think you could improve that line."
"Huh? Improve how?" Alain thought he'd been perfectly serious.
"Change it to..." Cool Mita's eyes lit up. "'Because everyone is watching over me from behind.' How does that sound?"
"...You've graduated."
"Oh, thanks, Master—wait a minute, when did you become my master?"
Unwilling to admit it, Cool Mita quickly looked back toward the swarm of bugs.
"Okay, I'm going in!"
"Wait." Alain grabbed her high ponytail, causing the girl to stumble and nearly fall on top of him.
"...What are you doing?" Cool Mita straightened her hair, looking at Alain in confusion.
He, however, was gazing seriously at the swarm. "With this many viruses, what's your plan?"
"Brute force," Cool Mita said.
"Idiot."
Alain's blunt lecture made Cool Mita a little defiant.
She threw up her hands. "Fighting is my specialty. Same with improvising. That's why I've been able to travel with you and win without a scratch."
Tiny Mita wanted to say something about that.
She thought of the red bug and the "coincidence" Alain had mentioned earlier.
She opened her mouth to speak, glanced at the man in question, and seeing his expression was normal, decided against saying anything more.
"Yep. To put it in a nutshell—to each their own specialty!" Cool Mita looked at Alain, lifting her shirt to show off her abs.
Beside her delicate navel, in addition to her defined V-lines, you could indeed make out the faint outlines of a few abs.
"Hmm... you're right."
Alain observed her carefully, not denying it.
He wanted to reach out and touch them, but then he remembered everyone was watching via his earpiece, so he let it go.
"To each their own specialty."
When it came to abs, he still preferred Misha's. His second favorite was the 'good bro' type, a little soft and incredibly nice to pinch.
He was discovering that Cool Mita's type was surprisingly good, too.
"Hey, how long are you going to stare?" The player's gaze was making the girl a little shy, and she quickly covered herself up.
"Ahem, anyway, leave it to me! I'll protect both of you."
With that, her stance sharpened, and she prepared to charge the viruses again.
But Alain stopped her again, his hand still holding her high ponytail.
"Now what? Why do you always like grabbing my hair?"
"Just follow my instructions in a minute." Alain grinned, looking at her slightly angry face.
"...Your instructions?"
"Didn't you say I'm not allowed to help you fight?"
He ignored her suspicious look.
"Just tell me, do you trust me or not?"
"I... guess so?"
Cool Mita glanced at the hand still holding her ponytail. Her slight hesitation was all the opening Alain needed.
"When the time comes, I want you to..." Alain tugged her ponytail, forcing her to turn her head and listen to his advice.
"If you start getting overwhelmed, do this. Understand?"
He shrugged and let go of her hair.
"...I got it, okay."
Cool Mita rubbed the back of her head where her hair was tied. Half-convinced, she left Alain's side and walked step by step toward the swarm of viruses, mulling over his words.
Ever since she first met this player, she had wondered: what gave him the confidence to come to a region completely overrun by viruses?
But the more time she spent with him, the more she saw that he showed no signs of helplessness or hesitation.
Was he just carefree, or did he have no sense of danger? He acted like he was taking a stroll in his own backyard garden.
And just now, he had given her [Four Pieces of Advice] for dealing with the viruses...
This player, Alain... was he really just an ordinary player?
Just as she was asking herself this, the viruses saw her slow approach and began to writhe, making a sound that set her teeth on edge.
She scanned her surroundings.
[First, the virus swarm is made up of things like worms and spiders.]
Dark, segmented worms crawled about, while spiders with human heads watched her menacingly.
The virus types matched his description.
Cool Mita glanced behind her and prepared to fight.
How could he know the exact number and type of viruses from so far away?
And what made him so confident in the advice he gave her?
Those were questions... she would have to ask him properly after the fight.
The girl watched the viruses closing in, gripped her bat, and charged forward to meet them.
"Look, look! Alain, she's started fighting!" Tiny Mita watched the battle between Cool Mita and the viruses with noisy excitement, constantly exclaiming in wonder.
The way she brutally dispatched the viruses with every blow filled the little one with admiration.
"Yeah, I know." Alain was listening to Misha's verbal report on the battle, receiving much more precise intel.
The fact that he didn't even spare it a glance made Tiny Mita complain,
"You're not even trying to pretend you're watching!"
Looking at Alain, she couldn't help but think of his "coincidence" comment again.
She glanced around, and after confirming there were no viruses nearby, she waved her tiny hands furtively. "Hey, player. Was it really a coincidence?"
"You wanna know?" Alain gave a wicked smile and pointed to her tiny body.
"If you agree to be my lollipop, I'll tell you."
"Tch..." Tiny Mita huffed.
"Fine, don't tell me then!"
Anyway, she'd find out once Cool Mita finished her task. Tiny Mita thought, turning her gaze back to the fight and exclaiming in wonder again.
Of course, Alain didn't notice the little one's thoughts. He was lost in thought, processing the battle reports coming through his earpiece.
Cool Mita wanted to find her purpose as a Mita, and he was, of course, fully supportive of that.
She wanted to protect him, and he wanted to protect her purpose.
And Alain would support her.
He touched his earpiece and silently called out the name of a certain Mita.
___
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