arc2 · 067-ch67

Chapter 67: Himehana's Assistance ①

Yesterday was a deeply satisfying day—I got to see Umi's happy face. Family's happiness is what matters most to me right now.

Today's a holiday, so Umi and Mom are heading out to check the route from here to Umi's school. Umi decided not to transfer since she has close friends there, so she's going with out-of-district commuting instead.

The school gave her permission, so she's going to ride the bus with Mom to check it out. Yeah, Umi's a capable kid—she'll be fine.

Then I got a reply from Tajiri-san, the leader of the E-rank explorer party Indomitable. We're set to explore the Yokohama Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon tomorrow. Yokohama Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon again, huh? It's really popular with low-rank explorers.

Anyway, I'm heading to the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon today to help Himehana out. Moving made Mount Takao too far away, so what should I do about that...

Alright, Himehana said she's treating me to a meal, so I might as well take Asahi and head all the way to the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon!

I want to see a dungeon in person from the outside too, and as long as I operate from a nearby manga café, there shouldn't be any problems. I'll stash Asahi in a locker at Tokyo Station and have Himehana pick it up. If I give her the code, she should be able to get it out.

I've gotten used to crowds, so traveling by train doesn't really bother me anymore. Everything seems to be going smoothly lately.

But that's exactly when I can't let my guard down. Yamamoto-san told me to be careful too, and looking back at my past actions, I've had plenty of close calls. From now on, I need to think things through and be more careful about how I act.

With those thoughts in mind, I left the apartment.

▽▽▽

When I got to Tokyo Station, I put Asahi in one of the big lockers that could fit a suitcase, set the combination, and walked away. I stepped outside, pulled up a map on my phone, and searched for a manga café—there was one right nearby. It was still pretty early in the morning, but manga cafés are open 24 hours, so I walked right in. Much appreciated.

I texted Himehana the locker code and decided to read some manga while waiting for her to arrive. There was that manga about a character reincarnated as moss that's been evolving and leveling up—I'm pretty sure it just came out recently. It had a pretty good reputation for being interesting, so I'd been wanting to check it out.

I was reading a scene where the protagonist, who'd evolved into a beetle, was helping adventurers in a dungeon when a message came from Himehana. She'd picked up the drone safely and was heading to the Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon now. I was almost done with the manga anyway, so perfect timing.

After finishing the manga, I hit the restroom and grabbed a drink before heading back to my booth. Alright, all set. Before long, another message came from Himehana, so I activated the connection to Asahi.

"Wake up, Asahi."

Nobody was around to hear it, but I figured I'd try saying it cool anyway.

I felt Asahi power on, and two screens appeared before me. Maybe because Himehana had placed it on the ground, her smiling face was displayed looking slightly upward.

"Come forth, Hayate."

I summoned Hayate as well, and another screen appeared. I'd be operating both drones at the same time today to help her out.

"SS-san, looking forward to working with you today!"

There were quite a few other explorers around, so Himehana was careful not to use my real name. Her beaming smile spread across all three screens—kind of embarrassing, actually.

"Same here. Let's head inside right away."

I cut the greetings short and urged her into the dungeon. Other explorers were starting to gather around, so I wanted to get her inside before things got noisy. Hope I didn't come off as too blunt.

Either she picked up on what I was thinking, or she just went with it—Himehana headed straight for the entrance and disappeared into the dungeon. We were starting from the 21st floor again, so she made her way to the transfer stone. Oh right, there was something I wanted to try. Let me ask Himehana real quick.

"Himehana-san, I've got a small favor—could you take Asahi and transfer to the 10th floor? Then I need you to jump to the 20th after that."

Right—neither Asahi nor Hayate has the 10th floor registered, so I wanted Himehana to carry Asahi there first to get it registered. Then I was going to test whether Hayate could jump there on its own.

"Sure, got it. I'll wait for you at the 20th floor transfer stone room."

Himehana scooped up Asahi and warped to the 10th floor. I'll admit—it kind of looked like she was carrying me in her arms. My heart skipped a beat, but that's staying between us.

She got Asahi close to the transfer stone on the 10th floor, and the registration went through. Alright, prep work done. Now I moved Hayate toward the transfer stone on the 1st floor.

〈Which floor will you transfer to? 10th Floor　20th Floor〉

Whoa!? The 10th floor is on there! So that's how it works—floors registered with Asahi carry over to Hayate too! This is great! I've gotta test if it works the other way around too sometime!

I moved Asahi and Hayate and warped to the 20th floor.

"Thanks, Himehana-san. That helped me confirm a lot of things."

"Heh heh, no trouble at all!"

So instead of me helping her out, she ended up helping me instead. Well, time to go all out from here to make up for it.

"Alright then, let's get going!"

Himehana spun around and took off running with a light, springy step. Her hair floating up gently was somehow incredibly cute. But in both her hands, she gripped silver-shining twin swords forged from mithril. They say every rose has its thorns—couldn't be more fitting for the Himehana standing before me right now.

Oops, today's main goal isn't filming—I'd better keep up so I don't fall behind. I operated Asahi and Hayate simultaneously and chased after Himehana.

"Found them—two Ferocious Wolves. What should we do?"

Up ahead, Himehana came to a dead stop. In her line of sight, two of those savage wolves from before were prowling around.

"I'll charge in first and draw their attention, so you come in after, Himehana-san."

"Got it. Be careful."

Himehana was worrying about my drones. A little inappropriate of me, maybe, but I couldn't help thinking how amazing it'd be if she said those words to me directly.

Hold on—now's not the time to get sentimental. I positioned Asahi as a stationary camera in the back and piloted Hayate toward the Ferocious Wolves.

Both Ferocious Wolves noticed my Hayate at the same time and closed the distance in a flash, lunging right at it. The difference in movement compared to F-rank monsters was on a whole other level. I barely dodged by rocketing Hayate straight up.

But the Ferocious Wolf that landed on the ground kicked off the side wall and came at Hayate again. This time I escaped with a burst of acceleration. Meanwhile, on Asahi's camera filming from behind, Himehana's figure was already visible—she'd positioned herself right where the Ferocious Wolf would land, lying in wait.

"Hyah!"

A cute shout echoed through the cave.

Shhk, shhk!

But what followed was the vicious sound of mithril twin blades slicing a Ferocious Wolf to ribbons.

"Amazing!"

Himehana was shocked by how sharp her new swords were. Hey now, the fight isn't over yet!

"Graaagh!"

Maybe fueled by rage over its fallen comrade, the other Ferocious Wolf lunged at Himehana.

"Watch out!"

I rammed Hayate into the Ferocious Wolf's flank.

Thud!

Whether it was because it was mid-leap, the Ferocious Wolf's balance was thrown off just slightly.

"Haa!"

Himehana's voice rang out again. Turns out, she hadn't let her guard down at all. In fact, she might have deliberately shown an opening to bait the lunge.

The twin swords swung with effortless composure, and the Ferocious Wolf's head dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

【You defeated a Ferocious Wolf】

【Level up】

【You gained 10 Skill Points】

What!? It looks like that counted as combat support, so I gained experience and even leveled up!

That's welcome news, but Hayate's durability has already dropped by half. All I did was ram it. Plus, my little stunt just now might have been unnecessary meddling—Himehana's movements were calculated all along, and I nearly got in the way. Can't afford to get carried away.

"Sorry about that—didn't mean to butt in."

I made sure to properly reflect on it and apologize.

"No, it was totally fine. Actually, I was really happy that SS-san was worried about me! It reminded me of back then."

Kind Himehana just laughed it off and forgave me. She even seemed grateful... I really don't deserve a childhood friend like this. Man, I wish I could tell her my real name someday.

"Alright, let's keep going deeper while testing things out!"

We collected the Ferocious Wolf's magic stone and continued pressing further in.