arc3 · 182-ch182

Chapter 182: Rare Names

"Huh, so this party's name is Rare Names. But come to think of it, you've all got pretty unusual surnames, don't you."

Using the Transfer Stone, we jumped to floor ten and were making our way down the stairs to floor eleven, chatting as we went. Somewhere in that chat, I got told the party's name — and sure enough, all three of them had surnames you rarely hear.

"By that logic, you'd fit right into our party too!"

Now that they mentioned it, Soramine was a pretty rare surname too, huh.

"That's an interesting party name."

Since I had no intention of joining, I gave a deliberately vague reply.

"...If you're ever interested, by all means..."

Yukimizu-san murmured, barely audibly. Was I... being invited into the party? When I turned my face toward her at those words, she looked away. Guess it was just my imagination.

"Tch!"

No, no — this one's way too easy to read. The one clearly wearing a sour face was Hosomi-san the Rapier Swordsman. I have no idea what's so displeasing to him, but surely he wouldn't stab me in the back with that rapier, right?

We finished descending the stairs, and the small talk ended with them. Everyone drew their weapons and readied themselves for monster attacks. Moroteyama-san's Job is Dual Wielder. It's hard to call a combat-type Job, but between being able to use both hands freely and his original combat skill, he'd fought his way to E-rank. What he holds in both hands are short daggers — and the fact that his fighting style resembles Himehana's was part of why I chose this party.

Hosomi-san, it turned out, wasn't dim enough to curse in this situation. He was keeping wary watch over the surroundings with a serious face. The rapier in his hand seemed a touch underwhelming against monsters, but it's a weapon specialized in stabbing, so that worry was probably needless.

Yukimizu-san opened the lid of one of the canteens hanging at her waist. Out of it, a blob of water came bobbing along. So this is the Water User's skill, huh. If she hangs that many canteens at her waist, the contents must all be different. It looked a little dorky, honestly — but it seemed like a surprisingly interesting Job.

I couldn't just keep observing my party members, though. I did not draw my katana... and used Gekkou's radar from inside my pochette instead. No monsters nearby yet, it seemed.

"Soramine-kun, you're not drawing that katana of yours?"

Walking along with my katana still sheathed, I got called out by Hosomi-san. He seemed a little irritated.

"Yes — I sometimes take monsters down with iai, so I haven't drawn it yet."

"Hmhm, is that so. But do take care not to find yourself cut down before that blade ever leaves its sheath."

"Of course. I won't fumble it that badly."

Whether my answer displeased him or not, the conversation didn't go any further. I knew there were no monsters nearby, but of course the other three had no way of knowing that, so they advanced carefully, staying wary of everything around them.

I played along, walking slowly myself. I even acted wary now and then, so I shouldn't have been found out. After ten-odd minutes of advancing like that, we finally looked to be coming up on our first monster.

"I can hear sounds up ahead."

I couldn't very well mention the detection radar, so I'd decided to say I'd heard something. Well, since I knew they were there, if I actually strained my ears, I really could hear them.

"Hey hey, don't go making things up. I can't hear a thi—"

"Quiet."

Cutting off Hosomi-san mid-complaint, Moroteyama-san raised his voice low in warning. Apparently Moroteyama-san had noticed the monsters' presence too.

At their leader's word, the three of them shifted into battle mode. They'd broken through floor ten, after all — their movements weren't half bad. Beyond that corner, three Fang Wolves. Might as well, since the chance was here — I'd take one of them for myself.

Carefully rounding the corner, Moroteyama-san confirmed the monsters.

"Three Fang Wolves. Yukimizu keeps them occupied; Hosomi, Soramine-kun, and I each take one. Can you manage?"

"Heh, I've got no problems. And Soramine will take his down with iai, won't he?"

Somehow that felt like a jab my way — but it felt like the wrong move to take the bait.

"I can."

That was all I said, and I rested my hand on my katana's hilt. Whether in reaction to my movement or not, Moroteyama-san and Hosomi-san both shifted into battle stance.

"Here it goes."

Yukimizu-san moved the blob of water, sliding it in front of the Fang Wolves. Noticing it, a Fang Wolf pounced on the blob. Its sharp claws burst the water apart — but while it was distracted by that, we'd successfully closed the distance between us and the Fang Wolves.

"Haaah!"

Moroteyama-san deftly worked the short daggers in both hands, hammering the Fang Wolf with a flurry of attacks. Hosomi-san relied mostly on rapier thrusts, fighting at a distance. And as for me...

Whoosh!

Just as requested, a single iai flash split my Fang Wolf in two, top from bottom.

"Th-that's amazing..."

Unfortunately, Moroteyama-san and Hosomi-san had been absorbed in their own fights and apparently missed me killing my Fang Wolf — but Yukimizu-san, the only one who'd seen it, was kind enough to be astonished.

Now then, how were the other two doing? Depending on how it looked, I ought to be ready to step in as backup.

Hosomi-san, perhaps because he held a combat-type Job, was fighting with relatively comfortable margins. He'd probably be able to finish his off without trouble even as things stood. Moroteyama-san, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling a little.

"Need support here!"

He knew it himself, apparently — the request came fast. I stopped Yukimizu-san's hand as she hurried to move the water blob, and stepped up beside Moroteyama-san.

"Soramine-kun!? You've already finished yours!? Sorry — I owe you one!"

Careful not to get in Moroteyama-san's way, I slipped thrusts in through the gaps between his attacks, and deflected with my katana any strikes that came at timings he couldn't block. Little by little, the Fang Wolf's wounds piled up — and at the last, Moroteyama-san's dagger pierced its throat, and it fell.

"Whew, never thought three Fang Wolves would jump us right out of the gate. Still, Soramine-kun, you're strong. How'd you take one down that fast?"

Once the fight was over and we'd collected the Magic Stones, the leader, Moroteyama-san, went and asked me.

"Um, like I said at the start — with iai."

"Oh, quit lying! There's no way you can kill something that fast with iai!"

Even though Moroteyama-san was the one I'd been explaining to, somehow it was Hosomi-san who complained.

"Hosomi-san. Soramine-san really did kill it with iai. One strike, at that."

But here, Yukimizu-san — who'd seen the whole thing — reached out a helping hand. Hearing that, Hosomi-san seemed to have no choice but to accept it.

"Now, now — there's no downside to Soramine-kun being strong, right? Today's objective is gathering Magic Stones! Let's carve our way through them, full tilt!"

Right — just as Moroteyama-san said, today's objective was gathering Magic Stones. Rather than waste time bickering, better to take down one more monster. Hosomi-san seemed to understand that too, and set off walking without a word, sour-faced as ever.

(Was that my fault, I wonder...)

Pondering what the right answer would have been, I followed along behind the three of them.