chapter02 · 028-ep25

Episode 25: A Dungeon With the Five of Us

And from there, the five of us just kept diving deeper.

"Saku — front!"

"I see it."

One goblin slipped past the edge of Miyake's shield and burst through toward Yamabuki at the rear. I cut in from the side and swung the katana just once. The goblin came apart into sand before it ever reached Yamabuki's staff.

"Fast!"

"That reaction speed is broken!"

First time partied up as five in three weeks, and the first thirty minutes were honestly a mess. Nobody had decided who covers where, so Osawa and I would charge the same target, and Yamabuki's fire came grazing past the back of my head.

"Sorry!"

"If that had hit, I'd be dead, you know."

"Didn't hit, so I'm safe!"

"What kind of safety standard is that?"

Fujidou looked up from his terminal.

"Let's sort this out once. At this rate, someone's getting hurt."

We gathered in a corner of the passage, break-style. Fujidou showed the terminal screen to everyone.

"First, Miyake. You step up front and receive. That doesn't change."

"Got it!"

"Osawa, circle in from the left. Your dual swords whittle through hit count — going head-on is pointless."

"Understood."

"Yamabuki, stay back. Always call 'firing' before you shoot. No silent shots like today."

"Yes..."

"Now, the problem is Saku."

Everyone looked at me.

"Where do you want to slot in?"

"'Where'?"

"Front line, or roamer. Which plays better for you?"

Honestly, anywhere's fine. Wherever I go, I can probably move fastest anyway. ...Not that I'll say that.

"Roamer's fine."

"Reason?"

"If I'm right behind Miyake, I just get in his way."

"...Fair."

Fujidou nodded.

"Then move free, Saku. While Miyake's holding them, either come in from the side or crush whatever breaks through. Your call in the moment."

"Roger. Leave it to me."

"One more question."

"Hm?"

"What level are you?"

There it is. But this much was expected. I came with an answer prepared too.

"It went up quite a bit."

"'Quite a bit' being?"

"Quite a bit is quite a bit."

"That's not an answer!"

Osawa laughed.

"For reference, we're around 19, 20. Which I think is fast for three weeks."

Nineteen. ...That's not even a third of mine.

"And you?"

"A bit higher."

"'A bit'?"

"A bit."

Whether "about fifty levels higher" counts as "a bit," I honestly couldn't say.

"Fujidou, he's never telling us!"

"He's not."

Fujidou closed the terminal.

"Fine. The way he moves will tell us enough."

THAT is the scariest option, I'm telling you.

Once roles were set, our movements started lining up, visibly.

"Three! Two front, one right!"

"On it!"

Miyake raised his shield and stopped the two in front. Two clubs hammered it back to back. Miyake's heels slid back a tiny fraction — and no further.

"Left, going in!"

Osawa circled around. His daggers ripped through one's leg, and its stance broke.

"Firing!"

Yamabuki's fire flew. Oh — he called it before shooting. Growth.

One left, on the right. Outside Miyake's coverage, and Osawa's hands were full on the left. That one was swinging wide — heading for Fujidou at the back.

Good. My turn.

I stepped in; the goblin noticed and swung its club low. Going for my shin.

I hopped over it, and off the landing foot took one more step. That step closed the distance, and I cut upward.

The katana slid clean through — arm and club together. The goblin turned to sand mid-swing.

"Clear."

The two in front got handled almost the same moment.

"Wasn't that just now really good?"

"It was!"

"That was perfect!"

Miyake threw up a fist, and Osawa met it.

"YEAH!"

It came out on its own. Before I knew it, I was going in to bump my fist against theirs too.

THIS. This is it. Miyake holds, Osawa whittles, Yamabuki fires, and I finish. Solo diving could never, ever give me this.

The fun I had with these guys in middle school — it was probably this, too. When I did something, someone picked it up. Even when I was full chuunibyou. Even when I said incomprehensible stuff, somebody picked it up — that's probably why I kept going. The picking-up was pretty rough-handed, though.

Wait — no time to get sentimental. Next wave's here.

From deep in the passage, footsteps layered and closed in. Not one or two.

"Four — that's a lot!"

"Leave it to me!"

Miyake stepped out front without a moment's hesitation.

Goblins came flooding out from behind the rocks. The first three: the same skinny bodies as all day. Only the one behind them was a full size bigger. Shoulders hunched up, dragging a club thick as a log.

The three in front threw themselves at the shield all at once. Bam-bam-bam in succession, and Miyake's arms shook with every blow.

Then the big one behind them swung its club down over its companions' heads. A deep, massive boom — the heaviest sound of the day.

Miyake's knees buckled. The shield's edge, crushed inward, was right in front of his own chin. His heels skidded backward across the floor, inch by inch.

"Ngh — it's HEAVY!"

"Miyake!"

Just as Osawa tried to circle in from the left, one of the goblins glued to the shield turned and thrust its club at his face. He knocked it aside with a dagger — and then a second one turned toward Osawa too.

Two on one. Osawa gave ground, inch by inch.

"I can't shoot — I'd hit Miyake!"

Yamabuki's staff hung frozen in midair. With the goblins pressed against the shield, there was nowhere for fire to go.

Bad — the line's breaking. If that shield goes down, it sweeps straight through to Yamabuki and Fujidou.

But I can see it. Every goblin's locked on the shield in front and Osawa on the left. Only the right wall side — nobody's watching that.

I can make it. Ran the wall's edge, and in three steps I was beside the shield.

The big one had its second blow raised, eyes only for Miyake beyond the shield. The underside of its club-lifting arm faced this way.

Before it could swing down, I ran the katana through under that arm. The club flew through the air — arm and all.

The big one let out a crushed shriek and reeled back.

"Miyake — push!"

"OOOH!"

The shield bounced up. Miyake, up off his knees, drove forward with his whole body. The goblins stuck to the shield were shoved back all together, piled into the reeling big one, and went down in a heap.

The lane opened.

"Firing!"

Yamabuki's fireball burst dead center of the heap. Into the neck of one that sprang up singed, Osawa's daggers sank twice in a row from the side.

And I was already inside the armless big one's guard. Cut up from below. Its huge body crumbled from the cut, turning to sand along with its singed companions.

Whew. Cleared.

Miyake lowered his shield. His arms were trembling finely.

"Whoa, my arms won't stop shaking. Look at this."

"Don't need to see."

"Saku, if you hadn't been there, I'd be a pancake right now."

That's not a thing to say while laughing, you know.

"I fell back too far too. My bad."

Osawa slid his daggers back into their sheaths. Beside him, Fujidou spoke up too.

"That one's on me. I saw the big one coming, but my call was late."

Fujidou raised his head and looked at me.

"Saku. You saved us."

"Anytime."

What is this. Cutting goblins is one thing — THIS is what makes me blush.

"Oh — Saku's blushing."

"I am not."

"He's blushing, he's blushing!"

"Shut it. Next one, let's go — next!"

From there on, nobody got pushed back.

When a big one was in the mix, Fujidou called it before the numbers. Before Miyake took it, I was already at the right wall. A few rounds of that, and it just happened that way without anyone saying anything.

All told, we made it to Floor 12 that day. Nearly a quarter of the F-rank's fifty floors. Apparently that's great for a first day.

"Think we'll be able to use the transfer circle next time?"

"Not before Floor 25. That's the next target."

Fujidou didn't take his eyes off the map.

We came out above ground and it was already evening; everyone was wrecked. And yet nobody said "let's head home."

"I'm starving!"

"Ramen! Let's get ramen!"

"Seconded—"

We piled into a shop by the station and everyone ordered ramen. Only Miyake added chashu.

Over the food, today's debrief got started.

"Yamabuki — shoot a little faster!"

"The timing is hard!"

"The instant Miyake locks them — that's the timing."

"THAT'S the hard part!"

THIS — I've always wanted this. Someone to debrief with over ramen? Never had that before.

"Oh — that reminds me!"

Osawa's head came up.

"Saku — what happened with the streaming?"

I nearly blew soup out my nose.

"Come again?"

"You said it before, didn't you. You'd start once you had the gear."

I did say it. Definitely. Three weeks ago, when the solo-diving talk happened — that was my escape hatch.

"Isn't it about time you had it by now?"

"No — not yet."

"'Not yet'? What are you even waiting for?"

Miyake leaned in.

"A camera, right? Drone-type's the standard nowadays. You can get one for forty, fifty thousand."

"Forty or fifty thousand is steep."

That came straight out of my mouth with nothing behind it. The second I said it — ah. Wrong move.

"Hah?"

Osawa's chopsticks stopped.

"You've got money, don't you?"

"Eh— no."

"You do. You definitely, absolutely do, right?"

"W-what are we talking about?"

"THE EMPEROR!"

At Miyake's volume, customers turned around.

"Your voice. It's big."

"Because — a C-rank magic core?! How much did that thing sell for?"

"Well, about that—"

"Just say it! It's been killing me!"

Honestly — this isn't exactly a secret, is it. Hiding it would actually be weirder.

"Ten million."

One corner of the ramen shop went completely, perfectly silent.

"...What?"

"TEN MILLION?!"

"Ten?!"

"MILLION?!"

Yamabuki dropped his chopsticks.

"Half of it went to taxes, though."

"That still leaves five million!"

"It does."

"'It does'?! That's not the point!"

Osawa clutched his head.

"A high schooler's holding five million? Right now? In this seat?"

"No — in my account."

"Same thing!"

"So what'd you spend it on?"

The one who asked was Fujidou. He's the only one not shocked at all — he definitely had the amount guessed to the yen.

"One cloak."

The moment it was out, sweat broke across my back. A CLOAK. These guys might have seen the Nanyo black-cloak videos somewhere.

"...Coat. One coat."

"Why'd you switch to 'coat'?"

"Ahh — because 'cloak' sounds chuuni, right."

Yamabuki nodded along, deeply. Let's go with that. Me still being filed under "chuuni" in their heads — didn't think it'd come in handy in a place like this.

"That's all?"

"That's all."

"How much was it?"

"A hundred eighty thousand."

"Then you've still got 4.8 million!"

Miyake slammed the table.

"You can buy the camera! It's forty, fifty thousand — that's rounding error! Rounding error!"

No — forty or fifty thousand is not a rounding error. But yes, I can afford it.

"Oh right — forget just now. Everything you said before, all of it — void!"

"Hold on—"

"'Too expensive'? From the guy holding five million?"

...I have nothing. Not one syllable.

"You said 'going forward' — it's been three weeks going forward."

Fujidou delivered the finishing blow. This guy really remembers everything.

"No — 'going forward' is still going forward..."

"Heard that one before too."

I know. Even mid-sentence, I was thinking "haven't I heard this before."

"Saku."

"Y-yes?"

"You dive solo, don't you? From here on too."

The words jammed in my throat.

"Then stream it. I think that's the safest option there is."

"Ugh."

"If something happens, someone watching will notice. That's all there is to it."

It's SO correct that not one counterargument surfaces. ...There IS one thing I can't say, though. If I become the King mid-stream, this time the whole world gets a front-row seat.

"Fine. FINE."

"Wait, really?"

"You'll do it?"

"I'll do it. I said it, so I'll do it."

It's out now.

But come to think of it, keeping on dodging would be the weird part. I've got the money, the gear's on shelves, and I've got no reason to refuse.

Besides, even plain old me is plenty strong now. I just have to not become the King. See? Simple.

"WOOHOO, yes!"

"I'm watching, absolutely!"

"You gotta tell us the channel name!"

Watching the four of them light up, I drained the rest of my soup.

The channel name. ...Come to think of it, I haven't thought about that at all.