arc2 · 115-ch115
Chapter 115: I Don’t See Him Anywhere
“Thank you so much for today!”
““Thank you so much!””
After we successfully finished the registration for the 20th floor and returned to the entrance, everyone thanked me again.
“Thank you all too. Please give me a little time on the video. I haven’t finished editing Hyakka Ryouran’s footage yet...”
“No, no, we’ve already achieved our main goal, so there’s no problem at all. We’re not in a hurry for the video, so please handle it at your own pace.”
Ounabara-san, the leader, was still being considerate right up to the end. Shinonome-san from Kokushi Musou was the same way—party leaders who’ve climbed that high really do seem like the kind of people who know how to look out for others.
“We’ll deliver your luggage to the designated location after this, so we’ll take our leave here.”
We’d be handing over the luggage later, but this was goodbye for now. After extracting the data from Asahi, I’d arranged to return it to Yamamoto Electronics for maintenance. Then I’d be leaving Hayate at the Dungeon Agency for the time being, and when the time came, I’d bring it to Sato Fisheries’ clan house.
In the meantime, I’d be editing videos. Let me get Hyakka Ryouran’s video done first. After dinner, I sat down at my PC with renewed determination.
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(Phew, I ended up working pretty late last night. But thanks to that, I finished the Hyakka Ryouran video!)
Because I’d been up late last night, I managed to finish the Hyakka Ryouran video. I’d kept them waiting a bit, but I’d sent it to Himehana. I’d also properly delivered Sato Fisheries’ luggage, so—
Today was my morning patrol day, so I’d be doing my usual rounds starting from Yatsugatake Dungeon. I should probably start editing the Sato Fisheries video at the same time. Since the morning was just patrol work, I should be able to do both at once.
I began editing while sending Asahi and Hayate out on patrol at the scheduled times listed on my website.
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(All right, nothing unusual happened today either.)
After finishing patrol, I paused the editing and left home for my afternoon lecture. I bowed to the ever-growing number of neighborhood wives, left the apartment building, and headed for the station.
As always, I got on the train from the noisy station and went to the university. Crowds weren’t really my thing, so that level of congestion was a little stressful. Sometimes people even tried to talk to me. Maybe I should get a driver’s license? I should ask President Yamamoto about it next time.
While thinking about that, I arrived at the university and headed to today’s lecture room: Dungeon Monster Studies. Come to think of it, I wonder what happened after that last time? I saw Ohsaki faint, but I never heard what happened after that. I hope he doesn’t weirdly try to pick a fight with me again...
Feeling a little uneasy, I entered the classroom. Good, Ohsaki wasn’t here yet. I sat in my usual seat—the corner seat in the back row.
As the start time drew near and more people arrived, Ohsaki still didn’t show up. The lecture began as scheduled, and by the end, it looked like he hadn’t come at all. He’d always complained about one thing or another, but he’d attended every lecture I’d seen him in—I wondered what happened. Had he passed this month’s explorer exam? Maybe he quit university because of that.
I was a little worried, but objectively speaking, he brought this on himself. Still, since my being there had been one of the causes of that situation, I couldn’t help feeling a bit concerned.
Today’s lecture was about high-rank monsters. I’d studied some on my own, but this time the topic was monsters that only existed as rumors or legendary creatures, so I enjoyed it quite a bit. The professor seemed to specialize in that area—he apparently believed every monster type had an even stronger, top-tier monster we hadn’t encountered yet.
The most famous was the Dragon. When you think of dungeons, you think of dragons, or so the saying goes, but apparently there still hadn’t been a single confirmed Dragon sighting anywhere in the world. Do dragons not exist in dungeons at all? Or have we humans simply not reached the floors where dragons live yet?
The professor seemed to believe dragons definitely existed, and he spoke passionately about how studying dragon ecology was his dream. Watching him, I thought, It’s nice to have dreams no matter how old you get.
After that pretty enjoyable lecture ended, I was walking out of the classroom when I heard voices from the break area. There were some words that caught my interest, so I stopped without thinking and pretended to fiddle with my phone while eavesdropping.
“Hey, hey, did you hear what happened the other day? When that Maihana Himehana-san came to give a lecture!”
“I heard, I heard! The one where she suddenly invited some handsome guy to lunch from up on stage, right!? Are they dating?”
“She said he was a childhood friend she hadn’t seen in a while, but he was a handsome guy and she’s a beautiful girl! Maybe they really are dating!?”
The female students were talking about what happened the other day. It was an embarrassing story that made me want to cover my ears, but I turned my back and stared at my phone screen so they wouldn’t realize it was about me.
“But you know, there was that guy who barged in, right? That violent guy who’s always so full of himself and acting all high and mighty.”
“There was, there was. When that guy got knocked out by Himehana-san, I totally pumped my fist.”
“Me too!”
“So, do you know what happened to that guy afterward?”
“Huh, I don’t know. What happened?”
“Apparently he was taken to the infirmary, but when he woke up, the professors scolded him and he snapped and quit university. A friend of mine was in the infirmary at the time and saw the whole thing—she told me about it.”
What the—!? So Ohsaki already quit university!? And he didn’t even pass the explorer exam—he just snapped and quit on his own? That’s not good, is it? Though it’s not like I have any obligation to worry about him.
I’d gotten unexpected information, but there didn’t seem to be anything I could do about it, so I prayed Ohsaki wouldn’t do anything weird now that he was cornered, then headed home to grind for experience points with Hayate while continuing to edit the Sato Fisheries video.