Chapter 94: Trigger-Happy and Keema Curry

Raphiel stepped on the accelerator and drove straight toward the horde of monsters.

“Wait, Raphiel! I said I wanted to help them, but are you planning to charge in!?”

“Of course not. I merely intend to frighten them a little. You are wearing your seat belt, correct?”

“What? I’m sitting on Onii-san’s lap, so I don’t have—”

Raphiel pressed the accelerator even harder.

Startled by the violent shaking of the vehicle, Eve clung to me. She was so strong that my bones creaked.

“Owowow! Eve, you’ll kill me if you hug me that hard!”

“Sorry, Onii-san! But I’ve never experienced shaking like this before, and it’s genuinely scary!”

“Aghghgh!?”

As Eve’s arms nearly squeezed me to death, the adventurers grew alarmed at the tractor charging straight toward them.

Rorondo shouted.

“Clear a path!”

The adventurers obeyed and opened the way. Raphiel raced through it.

Then she wrenched the wheel around and drifted.

The trailer being towed behind us swept together the goblins and other small monsters at the front of the horde, turning them into minced meat.

“Woooooah!”

“That’s our Boss!”

“Wasn’t the Boss foaming at the mouth while Eve-chan crushed him in her arms?”

“This isn’t the time to celebrate! Men, form up with that huge thing at your backs!”

“Right!”

However, a young adventurer I had never seen in Papel Village voiced a doubt.

“A-Are you sure, Rorondo? What if that is another new monster…?”

“Trust me! The one riding that giant thing is the restaurant owner I told you about!”

“Why is a restaurant owner here!?”

“The details don’t matter! If you don’t want to die, shut up and do it!”

Terrified by Rorondo’s roar, the adventurers formed a circle around the tractor and raised their shields.

The adventurers carrying long weapons like spears thrust through the gaps between the shields.

It was a phalanx.

Apparently, it was a fairly well-known tactic in this world because of its tremendous effectiveness whenever sufficient soldiers or adventurers assembled.

This formation would let us use the machine guns mounted on the trailer without striking our allies.

“Now, Eve. Annihilate the monster horde.”

“Urp… Sorry. That last drift made me feel sick.”

“…Mm… I’m sleepy…”

“Mrr. Then there is no choice. Eight and I will do it ourselves.”

“What? Wait, what!?”

Raphiel pulled me outside by the arm and seated me at a machine gun.

“R-Raphiel! I’ve never fired a gun!”

“Aim at the enemy and pull the trigger. Take care not to hit the adventurers.”

“But wait!”

Leaving me with those words, Raphiel sat at another gun mount and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

One monster after another was reduced to minced meat.

“…All right, to hell with it!”

I aimed at the monster horde and pulled the trigger in one decisive motion.

Ratatatatatatatat!

With heavy, explosive roars, bullets erupted from the machine gun, easily piercing the monsters’ supposedly tough hides and dropping them one after another at an astonishing rate.

Since coming to this world, I had taken living creatures’ lives with my own hands several times.

I still could not grow accustomed to the feeling.

But it had to be done, so I had no choice but to do it.

Then—

“H-Huh?”

A strange sensation suddenly sprouted within me.

In a word, it was enjoyment. Excitement.

It wasn’t that killing gave me pleasure.

I simply found pulling the trigger, the tremendous vibration transmitted into my hands, and the sharp smell of gunpowder strangely pleasant.

“Heh… Hehehe… Ahahahaha!”

“Eight?”

“Raphiel! I don’t know why, but this is becoming fun!”

“…You are trigger-happy, Eight.”

I sprayed bullets from the machine gun as though determined to exhaust every last round.

As I continued firing into the attacking monsters, their momentum gradually weakened.

“Huh? The monsters ran away…”

“Of course they did.”

“Rorondo. I’m glad you aren’t hurt. …What do you mean, ‘of course’?”

“Any intelligent creature would be terrified if someone slaughtered them one-sidedly with an unknown weapon while laughing his head off. Some monsters are as intelligent as humans, so naturally they can retreat.”

I thought back to how I had behaved moments ago, snapped to my senses, and released the machine gun.

“I-I feel like I stopped being myself…”

“I have never seen you look so alive outside the kitchen.”

Raphiel climbed down from her gun mount and spoke calmly.

…Come to think of it, a good friend had invited me to play airsoft when I was in middle school.

I had not realized it at the time, but I seemed to remember laughing as I sprayed pellets from an electric gun.

Was that why he never invited me again after the first time?

“…For now, let’s eat. It’s nearly lunchtime.”

“Y-Yeah, sure. …I can’t believe you’re willing to eat in a sea of monster corpses.”

“I may be becoming accustomed to this world.”

Back in Papel Village, it was perfectly normal for the Village Chief to butcher monsters he had killed in the forest and leave the area smelling of blood.

I was used to that much.

While the adventurers dealt with the monster corpses, I pulled the portable power supplies, cooking utensils, and induction cooktops from the trailer and immediately began cooking.

“Everyone must be exhausted after the battle, so I should make something nutritious… All right.”

I drizzled vegetable oil into a frying pan, added finely minced garlic and ginger, and heated them over low heat. Once their fragrance rose, I increased the heat to medium.

Then I added finely diced onions and carrots and sautéed them until soft.

“Hey, something smells good.”

“That restaurant owner Rorondo mentioned is cooking something.”

“Damn it, the smell alone is making me hungry…”

I felt the adventurers’ gazes turn toward me as they stopped working. I added minced meat to the pan and broke it apart with a wooden spatula, cooking it thoroughly until its color changed.

Once the fat released from the meat turned clear, I added canned tomatoes and a little water and brought everything to a boil.

I left it over medium heat until the flavors blended, then dissolved chopped curry roux into the mixture.

Once the roux had fully dissolved, I lowered the heat and simmered while stirring until excess moisture evaporated.

All that remained was to pile cooked rice on plates and cover it with the curry.

“The keema curry is ready!”

“O-Ohhh…”

The adventurers exclaimed in admiration.

“Th-That smell is making me incredibly hungry…”

“I’ve never seen food like it, but may we have some too?”

“Of course. Please eat as much as you like.”

The moment I gave permission, the adventurers scrambled to take plates of keema curry.

They scooped up rice and curry with their spoons and took their first bites.

“D-Delicious! What in the world is this!?”

“Calling it delicious doesn’t even begin to describe it! The sharp spiciness is addictive! It’s hot, but I can’t stop eating!”

“It isn’t merely spicy! Every bit of the meat and vegetables’ flavor is packed into this plate!”

“I can’t believe we’re eating something this delicious on a battlefield…”

“When those monsters attacked, I thought we were finished. I’m so glad to be alive!”

The adventurers devoured the keema curry at a tremendous pace.

“Eight, where is mine—”

“The adventurers come first right now.”

“…Mrr.”

“I’ll make a separate batch for you, Eve, and Ryu—with soft-boiled eggs on top.”

“Then I shall wait.”

As I soothed the sulking Raphiel, Rorondo approached me.

“Aren’t you going to eat, Boss?”

“I’ll pass. …After mincing those monsters earlier, I can’t stomach keema curry made with ground meat.”

“Why did you serve something you can’t eat yourself…?”

“Keema curry is packed with nutrients and quick and easy to make, so it seemed perfect for our current situation.”

Unlike ordinary curry, keema curry required no long simmering.

It was the dish I recommended when one needed to cook quickly.

“So, Rorondo, what happened in the port town?”

“Right. The truth is…”

Rorondo told us what had happened shortly before we arrived.

Afterword: Eight and Modern Weapons

Eight has the potential to become a hero if born in the right era. He would hate the idea, however.