arc3 · 166-ch166

Chapter 166: Hyakka Ryouran and Leveling Up ①

The day after finishing the Kachofūgetsu shoot, I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, reaching for a phone that was practically yelling at me to pick it up already.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Sota? You free today? If you are, why not come level up with us?"

An energetic voice burst right out of the phone. Apparently, the caller was Himehana. But hold on. Leveling up, not filming? What's that supposed to mean?

"Hey, did you just say leveling up instead of filming? What do you mean?"

The unusual invitation snapped me wide awake in an instant.

"I was thinking of heading out to level up with everyone today, and I figured I might as well invite you along. I asked the others and they said it was no problem. We're counting you as support, by the way."

So Himehana had actually gone out of her way to invite me to Hyakka Ryouran's level-up session. These days I can level solo, but turning down a kind invitation like this would just be rude.

"Yeah — thanks for inviting me. What time, and where?"

While confirming the time and place with Himehana, I leapt out of bed and headed for the washroom to wash my face.

"Let's see... this time we're thinking of going to the Inari Dungeon in Kyoto."

Hm? That's quite a long way this time. Why go all the way to Kyoto?

"Why Kyoto this time?"

A simple question popped into my head, so I asked.

"Actually, the Inari Dungeon has lots of monsters that drop Mana Potions. Mana Potions are really hard to get, so we figured we'd stock up on them ourselves while we level. That's actually the main goal!"

Now that was a tempting invitation! And wait — could it be she invited me precisely because she knew I wanted Mana Potions?

"I'm absolutely in! I want Mana Potions too, so please let me come along!"

"Okay! Then we'll meet in front of the Inari Dungeon at nine! We're already in Kyoto, so hurry up and get here!"

Whoa — Hyakka Ryouran was already in Kyoto. Alright, time to move fast. I immediately launched Asahi and sent it off toward Kyoto.

▽▽▽

"There it is! Over here, over here!"

The moment Asahi arrived above the Inari Dungeon, Himehana, waiting out in front of the entrance, spotted us and waved. Behind her stood the rest of Hyakka Ryouran. I landed Asahi in front of Himehana.

"It's a bit crowded, so let's talk inside."

Just as Himehana said, this Inari Dungeon was packed with explorers — probably because Mana Potions drop here. And among them, Hyakka Ryouran stood out in particular; the moment my drone appeared, it caused a bit of a stir.

Cutting the greetings short, I followed Hyakka Ryouran into the dungeon, with Asahi slipping in after them.

Once inside, we moved somewhere with fewer people, and I summoned Hayate and Shiden before greeting everyone properly.

"Thank you for having me today. I'll do my best in the support role."

"The pleasure is ours. We heard that you too were gathering Mana Potions, SS-san. Let's collect plenty and split them evenly among everyone."

Toomi-san answered on the party's behalf. Only Himehana knows that I gain levels through my drones, so as far as they're concerned, I'm here for support and Mana Potions, nothing more.

"Poor visibility. Watch for ambushes."

Just as Rin-san said, the Inari Dungeon was a forest-type dungeon. Looking into it, apparently not only animal-type monsters spawn here, but spirit-type ones as well. And those spirit-type monsters are the ones that often drop Mana Potions.

"Hehe, having you with us really is reassuring, SS-san."

Praised by Kureha-san. Yes, that makes me genuinely happy.

"Now then, the drop rate seems rather poor on the shallower floors, so let's push ahead while staying alert for ambushes."

At leader Toomi-san's words, everyone nodded and drew their weapons. Hmm? Himehana's weapons looked a little... different?

"Himehana-san, is that weapon by any chance...?"

Himehana's mithril twin swords were giving off a golden light and crackling — BZZT-BZZT! Could that be the Topaz that dropped from the Werewolf, used to grant them the lightning attribute?

"Hehe, you noticed! We had the Topaz we dropped the other day used to grant my twin swords the lightning attribute!"

Himehana answered, delighted. From what I hear, after everyone talked it over, they decided the Topaz should go to Himehana, who has the highest attack power of the four. A good choice, I think. Today seems to double as the weapon's grand debut, too.

On the shallower floors, small animal-type monsters like foxes, squirrels, and tanuki appeared often. They were all around F or E rank, so we paid them little mind and pushed onward quickly.

The floors themselves weren't that large, and we'd already scouted where the staircases were, so with a lunch break partway through, we made it to the tenth floor in about six hours. Naturally, Hyakka Ryouran had gotten this far without needing any support from me.

"The tenth floor boss here is a lesser spirit. Which attribute it'll be, we won't know until we go in."

While we took a break in front of the boss room, Toomi-san explained the boss. Apparently, each spirit attacks with the magic of its own attribute. On this tenth floor, one of the following would appear: a fire spirit, a wind spirit, a water spirit, an earth spirit, or a lightning spirit.

I could check which attribute with my drones, but I was told it wasn't necessary at this rank.

"Alright, let's head right in!"

The moment Toomi-san's explanation ended, Himehana threw the door open with plenty of energy.

"Fire and water."

The first one in, Rin-san, immediately relayed the boss info to everyone.

"Himehana takes the water, the rest of us take the fire."

"Yes!"

From Rin-san's intel, Toomi-san assembled a strategy on the spot. Following her orders, everyone moved to play their parts.

"Haaaaaah!"

Himehana charged the bobbing clump of water all by herself.

"Lulululu~"

A singing voice rang out — and then water spears appeared and launched themselves at Himehana.

Shuba!

But every one of those water spears was wiped away by the mithril shortswords Himehana held. The lightning attribute, with its favorable matchup against water, was working wonders. Himehana's side should be fine if we just leave her be. Not that I won't keep an eye on her with Shiden, just in case.

Meanwhile, the three fighting the fire spirit looked to have no problems either. Kureha-san canceled out the fire spirit's fire magic with fire magic of her own, while Toomi-san's and Rin-san's mithril weapons were landing damage reliably.

"Take this!"

"Finish."

Himehana's and Rin-san's voices announcing the final blow overlapped. Apparently, they'd managed to bring both spirits down at the same time, nice and clean.

"Ah, a Mana Potion dropped!"

Himehana raised a delighted voice. Just as she said, a low-grade Mana Potion lay where the water spirit had fallen. Well now, what a promising start!

After registering mana to the tenth floor's Transfer Stone, Himehana and the others began discussing whether to head back once or push straight on to the next floor.