ch101-ch120 · 119-ch119

Chapter 119: Dungeon Date

"Well then, shall we set out as well?"

With Mia-san gone home and Hayashi-san following her out of the warehouse, the two of us left behind are about to have our dungeon date.

"I'll go get my weapons ready. Is there anything else we need?"

I'm already in my armor, but Kasumi-san is still in just her under-layer.

Shall I offer to help her change?

"That is my question to ask, Haruki-san. With your skill, we're fine to leave all our luggage behind, yes?"

"Right. I don't use the skill every time we pick up a magic stone, so all we need is a bag for those and some drinks. Beyond that, it seems smarter to leave anything we might need downstairs in the warehouse so I can pull it out as the moment calls for it."

In my case, it was only ever weapons, though.

"Understood. I'll move the things I usually bring downstairs, just in case. The full camping set... doesn't look like we'll need it. And I'll keep the bento down there too."

The bento!

This really IS a date!!

"Now, I'm going to change, so please prepare your weapons downstairs, Haruki-san."

Apparently my help is not required.

"Yes, ma'am. Looking forward to that bento."

"Fufu. Do look forward to it."

Seems confident it's her masterpiece.

Downstairs, then, to get the weapons ready.

Today is the debut of Mr. Jumonji Spear—the box hasn't even been opened yet.

Shiraishi-san brought it to the warehouse on the day of the incident, and it has sat there untouched ever since.

Time for the grand unsealing.

Ah—nothing to cut the seal open with.

(The nagamaki will do... it cuts well.)

I open the box, and there it is: the jumonji spear.

The cross-shaped blade wears a plastic cover.

On the butt end, a proper sheath is fixed in place with metal fittings.

I take it up and draw the sheath to reveal a splendid bamboo-leaf-shaped spearhead.

Mia-san's creation—the Jumonji Twin-Head Bamboo-Leaf Spear.

I take the cover off the top as well and inspect the cross-shaped head.

A beautiful blade emerges into view.

(The side blades angle slightly upward.)

Is that to make it easier to catch and entangle an opponent's weapon?

The practice spear Hiramatsu-san lends me has a perfectly perpendicular cross—this one has a slight angle to it.

I'll ask Hiramatsu-san about it later, while I'm showing this off to him.

(A shield is a must.)

This is my arm-mounted round shield, the dirt-cheap kind.

If we're going deeper than Floor 30 I'd like something better, but Mia-san will be busy for a while yet.

Besides, when I took that attack from Umemoto, it got bent out of shape, I think.

Double super mode saved me that time, but without it, I might genuinely have been done for.

I won't need it up to around the Floor 30 Ogre King, but I'll bring it just in case.

I do have an Orc Knight's shield as a backup, but it's big and unwieldy—for now, this guy is my partner.

(As for the other weapons...)

I'll leave the nagamaki and the halberd near the 'Right Gate' as spares.

Then I sling on the small pack for magic stones, and I'm ready to go.

We aren't planning to pick up magic stones until the Floor 20 boss room, but I'll bring it along anyway.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Kasumi-san comes downstairs.

Her usual black armor, and a black pouch that presumably matches it.

And what is very clearly a bento basket, plus her naginata.

From every possible angle, the exact outfit for a dungeon date.

Woohoo.

"All right, let's head out. 【Gate】—and 【Scouting】, just in case."

I open the 'Right Gate' near the center of the warehouse and probe the Floor 3 side it's connected to as well.

No one nearby...

I go through first.

Through to Floor 3, no problem at all.

"As always, that jolt... What an astonishingly capable special skill this is."

Kasumi-san, having left the basket on the other side, steps out of the 'Left Gate.'

Honestly, it would be faster for me to go on alone to Floor 30—but where's the fun in that?

This is a date.

Before Kasumi-san can change her mind, I dismiss the 'Left Gate.'

"Off we go, then. We're fine not collecting magic stones until Floor 20, right?"

"Yes. But let's at least collect the Minotaur magic stone on Floor 10. We can take our lunch break there, too."

I fall in step beside Kasumi-san, and we start walking.

A slightly brisk pace.

(Oops—【Presence Detection】.)

There's a goblin reaction in the distance, but we can ignore that.

Only the ones that come at us need dealing with.

"So this is the jumonji spear at last? To tell the truth, that box Mia-san sent has been on my mind this whole past month. I knew what was inside, of course, but I couldn't very well open it on my own—every time I walked past it, it tugged at me. May I have a look?"

I take Kasumi-san's naginata and hand her my jumonji spear.

"You've left the sheath on the butt spike. So in this state, it works for strikes as well?... I feel this is finer work than anything she's made before. Mia-san's skills have really come up."

Kasumi-san spins it round and round, gives it a thrust, gives it a pull, and sings Mia-san's praises.

And Mia-san's skills are rising even before she gains her high-rank job.

Just what job will she end up with, I wonder?

We swap our weapons back.

"Please let me have a test cut with it later. Ah—I'd like to try the nagamaki as well."

"Of course. 【Gate】. It's parked right over there, so go swap weapons and come back."

I open the 'Left Gate' right away.

"I should have said so before we set out. Now I've made you use your skill again."

"It's fine—it only costs 1 MP."

"So it really is just 1 MP. That jolt... amazing."

Kasumi-san slips inside and pops right back out, a nagamaki drawn from its sheath in hand.

She seems used to 【Gate】 now—she comes and goes without a flicker of hesitation.

"A goblin is headed our way right on cue."

Hearing that, Kasumi-san breaks into a run.

One flash.

The swung nagamaki takes the goblin's head clean off.

A splendid strike—but her footsteps coming back are heavy.

"I'm so sorry. You wanted to try the jumonji spear too, didn't you, Haruki-san? I couldn't help myself."

Kasumi-san raises her visor and gives a wry smile.

She seems to have left her glasses off.

Her troubled face is adorable in its own right, so I can't very well say anything.

"No, no—we've got a long road ahead. Let's take turns. You've shown me a cool Kasumi-san, so next it's my turn to show off."

Dungeon dates are fun.

︙

︙

A Minotaur has its head swatted off by Kasumi-san's jumonji-spear thrust.

The jumonji spear's side blades widen the thrust's reach, so the thrust becomes a slash in its own right.

Looks easy to handle...

We've made it to Floor 10, but since we're taking turns, the Minotaur was slain single-handedly by Kasumi-san.

We tried out all sorts of weapons along the way, but Kasumi-san fell so hard for the jumonji spear that we advanced alternating it between us.

The moment we entered Floor 10, she stepped out front with 'My turn, I believe'—and there was nothing left for me to do.

"It's a little early, but shall we have lunch?"

So says Kasumi-san, coming back with the magic stone in hand.

The bento!

A date means a homemade bento from your girlfriend!

It's only around eleven, but we've been moving, so I'm hungry.

The Minotaur respawn timer on Floor 10 is over thirty minutes, so no one will come through here for half an hour.

"【Gate】."

I open the 'Left Gate.'

"I'll brew some tea as well, so wait just a moment, okay?"