As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback Lifestyle~ - Chapter 260

Chapter 260 – Relationship of Hatred

“H-How did you find this place? The church’s hidden passageway is supposed to only be known by those who are a part of the order…” (Aoyama)
Hearing Aoyama’s words of astonishment, Ryoji grinned.

“Well… A religious cult full of women isn’t necessarily a unified group either, you see.” (Oshikura)
His words were implying that there were traitors mixed into the order. But rather than being surprised at that, the shock of seeing him once again was winning out.

At that moment, he seemed to notice me. His eyebrow raised as he let out a ‘oh?’.

“….! Whoa, whoa, whoa! It’s Keika! Riwa’s here too! It sure has been a while!” (Oshikura)
This was the person whom I had once loved from the bottom of my heart… and was now the man I hated from the bottom of my heart.

I had sworn that if I ever met him again I would kill him with my own two hands.

Right. From that time, I had changed. Because of this man, I… no, Riwa and I both changed. We had to change in order to protect ourselves.

So I picked up a weapon, hoping somewhere within me… that one day, this day would come.

And yet… why? Why… can’t I move my body?

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong, Keika? Why are you shivering so much? You catch a cold or something? I guess that makes sense. Since we were little, your body was always weaker than Riwa’s, and you used to get fevers often.” (Oshikura)
Trembling? But why? Whenever I heard this guy’s voice, I couldn’t get my legs to move forward.

It was as if I was afraid on an instinctual level. I started to back away slowly.

Ryoji was coming towards me, gradually closing the distance. On his face was an expression that looked like someone rejoicing over reuniting with an old friend.

“Man, who could’ve thought that I would meet you two again in a place like this? Maybe this is fate.” (Oshikura)
His voice sounded kind, exactly like it used to back in the day. Right. Back then, I used to feel comfortable just listening to his voice. I was happy back when I called him every night, feeling each day come to a close with him telling me good night.

But I wonder why? Now, just hearing his voice made my whole body tremble.

“That eyepatch… Don’t tell me you ended up going through a late phase of eighth-grader syndrome? If I remember correctly, you did like anime and manga, huh? But you’re an adult now. Don’t you think it’s about time to grow out of it?” (Oshikura)

With each step, he came closer, completely ignorant to my own feelings.

No… Stop…! Don’t come any closer!

I wanted to scream it out loud, but the words seemed to get stuck in my throat.

At this rate… He’ll…!

“…..It’ll be alright, Kei-chan.” (Saniwa)
“….R-Riwa…?” (Shakuhara)
At that moment, I suddenly found myself wrapped in Riwa’s embrace.

“Unlike that time, you’re not alone anymore. I’m by your side.” (Saniwa)
A lamp was suddenly lit in my cold, icy heart. That kind, gentle warmth wrapped me up and blew away the fear I was feeling, causing the trembling to stop.

…That’s right. I’m not alone. Riwa is with me. She’s by my side…!

I took a deep breath and told Riwa that I was okay now. Then, I leveled a glare at Ryoji and slowly lifted my gun, pointing it at him.

“Oh?” he muttered, stopping in his tracks.

“What are you trying to do? Is this how you treat an affectionate lover?” (Oshikura)
At the mention of the word ‘lover’, Torimoto and the others who didn’t know the truth turned to stare at me.

“…Yes, that indeed used to be how it was. But not anymore. Now, we’re just complete strangers. The only thing that connects us is hatred!” (Shakuhara)
I tightened my finger around the trigger, but I couldn’t act rashly with the other men with guns surrounding me, ready to fire at any moment.

“Good grief. I wonder where the obedient Keika went. Ah… are you still holding a grudge about that? It felt good for you too, didn’t it? Then I’d say it’s a win-win for both of us.” (Oshikura)

At that moment, I thought I heard something snap. But it wasn’t me.

“What… are…” (Riwa)
“R-Riwa?” (Shakuhara)
Next to me, Riwa’s head was lowered, and she was trembling. But she wasn’t trembling out of fear.

“What… What, WHAT, WHAT?! WHAT WIN-WIN?!!” (Riwa)
A terrifying aura was radiating off of Riwa. I’d never seen her snap like this before.

Founder-sama and the others were also taken aback. Their reactions were natural. Riwa was usually so reserved and timid, but now she had undergone such a drastic transformation.

“DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH KEI-CHAN HAS SUFFERED BECAUSE OF YOU?!!” (Riwa)
“…Suffered? We only loved one another, didn’t we?” (Oshikura)
Only loved one another? If that was really all it was, then there wouldn’t have been any problems. We might have been happy and content.

But that wasn’t the case. To him, love meant controlling, dominating.

I still see it in my dreams sometimes. That time.

“They’re still good memories to me. Since everyone’s here, might as well talk about it, huh? About the best memories between you and me.” (Oshikura)
Before I could tell him to stop, Ryoji began to speak in an amused tone.