Chapter 127: Brainstorming Together
[While you were enjoying the hot spring, the demonic monkeys secretly stole all of your clothes.]
[Without them, you might be trapped here forever.]
"Those damn monkeys..."
Eikou said angrily, slamming his fist hard into the ground.
"Stealing our barbecue was one thing, but now stealing our clothes while we weren't paying attention—this is too much! If you've got guts, come out and fight me fair and square!"
Since this camping trip only lasted two days and one night, none of them had brought any extra clothes. And of course, when bathing, they had taken off everything, including their underwear.
But the demonic monkeys had stolen everything — including their underwear.
Which meant: all the guys here were now completely naked. If they stepped out of the hot spring and someone happened to see them, they'd definitely be mistaken for a bunch of exhibitionists!
They couldn't even take a single step out of the hot spring!
"It's fine, isn't it? They're just monkeys, after all. They like to play pranks."
Roland crossed his arms and laughed gleefully.
"How can you talk like it's none of your business, as if you—"
Eikou turned his head to look at Roland — then he suddenly froze.
Wait a minute...
This guy seemed to have not been wearing clothes from the start?!
Ah, never mind, there was already one exhibitionist here.
"Ahaha! As long as I don't wear clothes, nothing can be stolen! I stripped everything off when we climbed the mountain, didn't you guys notice?"
"Not at all."
The whole group nodded in unison.
Because his running around naked was already a daily occurrence, everyone was used to it after a while and truly didn't notice anything strange.
If you don't wear clothes, nothing can be stolen — indeed a perfect strategy, containing the profound wisdom of Mad Knight Roland's life.
"Roland,"
Eikou said with a mixture of laughter and tears:
"I never thought I'd say this... but your habit of running around naked is actually a good thing! You really are a savior sent from heaven to rescue us — go help the brothers out!"
They planned to send Roland down the mountain to find the girls and beg for help — at least to get something to cover themselves with; they couldn't just run around naked like this.
Besides, given the current situation, the girls — especially the French group — were already used to Roland's exhibitionist habits. Even if he swaggered back to camp in that state, their first reaction would probably just be, "Oh, it's Roland, where are the other boys?"
At worst Tomoe Gozen might be a little shocked, but Roland was still the most reasonable choice of all.
"Heh heh, leave it to me!"
Roland confidently slapped his solid chest.
"Brothers, I will definitely come to save you — wait for my return!"
However, just as he turned to leave—
Eikou suddenly saw a die appear above Roland's head.
[Check Luck: EX — great failure.]
[Because he was barefoot and the mountain path was rugged and pebbly.]
[The sole of his foot accidentally stepped on an unusually hard stone and suffered piercing damage that could not be withstood.]
"OHHH————!!!!"
They heard Roland scream a blood-curdling cry.
Immediately after, he collapsed flat on the ground, his face pale, in such pain that he didn't move.
This was bad — the sole was Roland's fatal weakness; just stepping on a stone could be lethal!
"Roland, you're so embarrassing! Killed by a roadside stone solo? Don't say you were going to save us — you're the one who needs saving now!!"
Eikou scolded angrily.
"Sigh, there's no other way," Charlemagne said casually.
"What do you mean no other way, dying like this is way too humiliating, you know?!"
"We're used to it. Don't be fooled by Roland's high Luck stat; in reality he's pretty unlucky. From Angelica to his foster father's matters, he always gets bad luck at the worst times. In the Twelve Paladins, no one finds it strange anymore."
"How on earth has he managed to live this long..."
Eikou sighed.
[Roland, the one you entrusted your hopes to, took one step and then heroically perished.]
[The situation falls back into a passive state.]
[Roland is gravely injured and cannot perform this mission anymore — you must find a way to save yourselves.]
[Besides Roland, the others are gentlemenly knights with decorum and cannot possibly appear before the girls in such an exposed state.]
[In other words... if you can't find clothes, don't expect anyone to leave this hot spring.]
"Brothers, I have a plan."
Tristan suddenly spoke.
"Another plan? Say it."
"I think, if we change the scenario a bit, the current crisis..." — he analyzed in a specialist tone, "is essentially a 'fan-service moment of the girls in swimsuits' scene, isn't it?"
"..."
Eikou sensed it was a dumb idea, but urged him to continue.
"In harem works, the beach-swimsuit scene often has this plot: 'the wives in swimsuits are playing on the beach, the waves pull off their swimsuits, forcing them to press against the protagonist to cover up, then slowly they move under his protection' — the situation of our clothes being stolen could be visually interpreted like that."
"This idea is way off. Who are those wives in a harem work? Usually the protagonist is a teenager! What junk have you been watching?!"
"Don't deflect, Sir Eikou, you're too lax, thinking only about married women." Tristan replied, "I used that example so you'd get what I mean."
"I don't understand at all, how does that example help...?"
Gawain's expression suddenly turned serious: "I understand!"
"You mean..."
Gawain thought for a moment, then spoke slowly:
"If everyone presses close to Roland and uses him as a cover, then moves, that will avoid exposure."
"That's exactly my idea." Tristan said earnestly.
"What the hell, are you planning to turn Roland into a mosaic?"
It was insane — all of them, big burly men, clinging to Roland to cover themselves would be a sight even worse than running naked dozens of times over!
"That scene is terrifying, nothing like a harem scene at all. I don't want to be stuck close to big men like that; it'll haunt me all night. Also, if the girls see us, it'll only scare them more!"
"Then... do you have another idea?"
"I have a brilliant idea..."
Eikou's eyes suddenly sharpened,
"Demonic monkeys love stealing, so we'll use unconscious Roland as bait, exploit his Durandal to lure the monkeys."
"Cool, that's an even more extreme idea. You really intend to squeeze every last bit of value out of your friend?"