Only Natural

Thanks to Mahariku-san's plan, we'd managed to effortlessly take down the enemy known as the Bandit Master.

"Still, the Bandit Master was genuinely mob-tier fodder…"

"Originally, he was supposed to be a tricky enemy thanks to his speed. And with our firepower, even a concentrated barrage would barely land a fatal blow."

With Odd Jobs alone, he'd have dodged everything, and they wouldn't have had the killing blow.

If this had been an enemy meant for Mahariku-san's group to tackle on their own, the difficulty would have been right at the borderline between life and death. Appropriately challenging.

The wild card was having three players at the second character unlock level join forces. The difficulty dropping to a quarter or less? The results spoke for themselves.

"Having Alto help was especially big. Gave us the ranged firepower to finish it in one shot."

"He was just a human, after all, yo."

"Yes, very human, and very easy to read."

It really had gone exactly according to plan, start to finish.

Apparently, if Alto hadn't helped, the plan was to have the decoy stall him with her life on the line, then riddle both the decoy and the target with bullets. The display would instill a fear of gunfire and drive the remaining bandits into the cave.

Even if the Bandit Master somehow survived, it would force him into holing up on defense.

The plan was perfect aside from the decoy dying, and since they had a decoy who couldn't die, allied casualties were a perfect zero.

"I was planning to get them to fall in line by saying something like, 'The enemy uses the same weapon I specialize in, so I know the countermeasures best!' … But with what Alto pulled off, I can't exactly say that, can I?"

said Mahariku-san, looking at the crater.

"Well, the fear was already carved in deep enough that I didn't need to. Good work, Alto. Better than expected."

"Ma'am! It's an honor, yo!"

Alto snapped a crisp salute. Sales background showing. Must be strict about hierarchies.

"Did you pick up any skills from the Bandit Master, Miitei-chan?"

"I learned the 'Clone' and 'Lockpicking' skills! I wonder if I can unlock ■■■■ with this? I'll try it out～!"

"I see, I see. Hm? What was that?"

"More importantly, Spirit-sama! How was my acting!? I used those research lab guys as reference!"

"Oh, you were really good! Good girl, good girl. Well done."

"Ehehe～"

Ah, the research lab guys. True, cornering them had been fun. The Bandit Master must have enjoyed it the same way.

… Still, she learned Clone on top of Fission? Miitei-chan's only going to keep multiplying.

"Tria. Miitei-chan's acting and restraining abilities were major factors in the operation's success. I'd like to give her a reward. What would be good? A high-quality corpse, I take it?"

"Ah, um. Then please treat her to some ramen. She's a girl who loves eating good food."

"Yeah! I love eating yummy food! But I also love little sisters, so you could make Ichi-chan and the others my little sisters, you know?"

"… Little sisters? Sorry, but I can't give away my employees. I don't mind if you treat each other as sisters, though."

"That's fine! I just want lots more little sisters!"

Mahariku-san tilted her head. Um, don't worry about it. Yeah.

"… Little sisters? Us?"

"Does that mean Mahariku-sama would be our mom?"

"That sounds really nice…"

"Huh, then can I make everyone my daughters? I'll become Mahariku-sama's bride."

Looked like a battle over who gets to be Mahariku-san's bride was about to break out among the numbered girls.

"… What are you talking about? I'm your company president, you know. In other words, isn't it a given that I'm already your parent?"

""""Mahariku-samaaaa!!""""

Oh, their Affection went up. Mahariku-san's screen must be blowing up with notification pings right about now.

"… By the way, what was the joke pick this time, yo?"

"'Actually, I'll become everyone's baby! Waah, waah!'… is what it was."

"Heh heh heh, that sounds fun in its own way, yo."

"I don't want those girls changing my diapers."

Mahariku-san shrugged with a "good grief" kind of air.

… A grown woman getting pampered with baby play by a bunch of girls. That, I'd actually want to see.

"Maaaan, I didn't get to do anything out there, huh."

"What are you talking about, Gin-chan… no, Penpen. Your poison firebombs were the MVP. And the Konnyaku-Slicing Swords from before were outstanding, too. These results are only possible because you were here."

"Glad to hear it! … So, Mahariku-san, did your second character unlock?"

"Fu fu fu. Thanks to you all, it came through without a hitch."

Oh, Mahariku-san properly unlocked her second character. Good, good.

"With this, I probably won't need to do Outlaw Mode for a while."

"Oh, we completed our mission too."

"Just now?"

"Just now."

"… Relax. I have no intention of turning hostile. There's nothing to gain from it."

"Same here! We completed our mission, after all."

Oh, for real. "Save Suriad from Crisis" completed. Rewards collected.

Man, killing the Bandit Master and wiping out all the bandits hadn't completed the mission, so I was starting to think we'd have to find an opening and take out Mahariku-san!

What a relief!

Hm? You're asking whether we'd turn hostile if there were something to gain, or if a mission required it?

Well… how should I put it.

That's just human nature, right?