ch121-ch140 · 135-ch135

Chapter 135: Mia-san's Past Part 2

SIDE: Akashiya Miyako (【Blacksmith】 Mia)

"I'm Akashiya Miyako."

Back then I didn't have a weapon shop yet, and I didn't go by Mia either.

I started calling myself Mia around when I began promoting my weapons on all kinds of net channels.

"Well, aren't you polite. My name is Watanabe Kasumi."

I was wary of Watanabe Kasumi—the model woman who'd suddenly asked me to form a party.

Not that she'd 'asked,' exactly—I was the one calling out for party members...

"Um, my job is 【Blacksmith】... is that really okay?"

"Yes, of course. Our destination is Floor 15; we'll overnight at the Floor 14 campsite and come back. Does that suit you?"

A juicy offer.

Even as a porter, just being nearby earns EXP, and at those floors my level should rise too.

But hearing '【Blacksmith】' and answering 'of course' without a moment's hesitation was strange.

She knew from the start.

She knew, and still approached me... I couldn't figure out why.

Even more suspicious.

"Please. I'll carry luggage, anything."

If I could pick up even one level from this chance, I might be able to beat the Floor 11 orcs.

Suspicious or not, no way I was passing this up.

"No, not as a porter—I want you with us as a fighting party member. Would that be all right? Of course, I'll support you."

"Eh? I can? Please!"

I was allowed to fight?

The word was there was a big EXP gap between merely standing nearby, actually dealing damage to a monster, and landing the finishing blow.

If they'd let me fight, that alone would make leveling that much easier.

Today's my lucky day!

"Now then, let me introduce the other members."

Following Watanabe-san along, I regretted it at once.

Because every other member was a woman too.

Honestly, women scared me more than men.

And one of them was the grand dame who ran the women's adventurer scene.

The one other adventurers called 'Anego-san'—taller even than Watanabe-san, the model woman.

"I'm Akashiya Miyako. Pleasure to meet you."

"Well, if it isn't my kid. You actually brought her along... Don't tell me I'm disliked, hmm?"

She knew me. Of course she did.

This grand dame was the one who put together the freelance women's parties.

She'd approached me a few times, but all-women parties scared me, so I'd turned her down.

I'd been deliberately avoiding her, and turning down her invites while recruiting elsewhere—of course that'd earn a glare.

"Is that so? I'm afraid I brought her without a word about the members."

"Geez. Forcing the issue, huh. Look—if my company's the problem, I'll be the one to leave. So you just come along, got it?"

"It's nothing like that! Please let me come."

I did my best to keep my speech polite.

A lesson learned these past years: manners matter.

Though the 'ore' still slipped out.

"Then off we go. We'll break at Floor 10. Monsters'll be scarce anyway—if anything shows up, it's yours."

The dungeon boom meant more people in there than monsters.

We likely wouldn't get a proper fight before Floor 10.

Anego-san set off.

"U-um, I can carry luggage! For everyone else too!"

"Hah? No, isn't that Watanabe-san's job?"

"Shall I take your luggage too, Akashiya-san?"

Watanabe-san was the porter!?

On top of a huge pack that didn't match that slim frame, she had more luggage strapped to her front.

No—Anego-san carried her own things just fine...

That front load was the other two's luggage.

"My special skill keeps me from feeling luggage weight, so I'm fine."

"That's it! My special skill is 【Equipment Weight Reduction】 too! That's why I called out to you back there!"

That dazzling smile.

I blushed before I could help it.

(The same skill! What an incredible coincidence. Today really was my lucky day.)

Realizing I'd never needed to suspect this woman made me happy too.

(So even a trash skill has its uses.)

We moved on up to Floor 10 just like that.

We fought the monsters along the way several times, but Anego-san and Watanabe-san never once joined in.

The other two were pretty strong themselves.

One a sun-tanned girl who radiated jock energy, the other in a fluffy get-up about as un-dungeon-like as it gets—total gothic lolita.

Melee combat jobs, both.

That alone made them many times stronger than me...

"【Provoke】—'Over here!'"

Against the Minotaur, even Anego-san stepped in.

Anego-san, holding the 【Knight】 class, volunteered to play decoy, and the rest of us just had to attack.

Watanabe-san didn't join the fight on Floor 10 either.

Was she really just a porter?

All the same, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched the whole time...

"I would like to see what you can do, Akashiya-san. Could you fight an orc for me?"

It was on Floor 11, as a leftover orc came wandering our way, that Watanabe-san said this.

By then, not a shred of suspicion toward Watanabe-san or Anego-san remained.

Talking with her, Anego-san turned out to be exactly what the 'Anego' name promised—a wonderfully kind soul who looked after her people.

(Show them what I can do, and maybe there'll be a next time.)

That was the hope. The result was dismal.

Every thrust left my spear stuck fast; I tumbled across the ground dodging orc swings; and in the end Anego-san had to save me.

"I have a fairly good idea now."

It's over...

That's what I thought.

Then Kasumi-san, her luggage set down, advanced on the next orc in sight.

She didn't dodge the orc's attack—she caught it on her spear.

One flash of a follow-up, and the orc's leg went flying.

Stance, receive, strike—the whole sequence was unmistakably someone trained.

Nothing about her was anything like me...

"Akashiya-san—the finishing blow, please."

"Huh?"

My head couldn't process what she was asking, but my body moved, and I ran the orc through.

"Let's keep this rhythm from here on. I'll step in front and stop the orcs' movements—Akashiya-san, you take the finishing blows."

They weren't just letting me fight—they were even yielding the kills to me.

Why would anyone go this far for me?

Because of the same special skill?

From then on, me and Watanabe-san, Tan-san and Fluffy-san, paired up and felled orcs in turns.

Anego-san never so much as lifted a finger all the way to the Floor 14 campsite.

Watanabe-san froze the orcs dead in their tracks, so even I could put down Floor 14 orcs.

After that we left our luggage at the campsite and headed for Floor 15.

Since Association staff and SDF personnel were stationed at the headquarters campsite, gear left there wasn't absorbed into the dungeon.

Traveling light, we hunted orcs on Floor 15.

This is the floor that became the leveling spot for Single-Rank adventurers.

After our one-night camp, we moved up to Floor 15 early in the morning and somehow managed to secure a hill.

That day, too, Anego-san didn't fight much.

She drifted over to other hills, calling out to parties that looked like they were in trouble.

According to what I heard around the campfire, Anego-san belonged to a fixed party, but they were all weekend adventurers—parties only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Watanabe-san, conversely, could only get out on weekends because of her Association job. The two of them teaming up was a rare thing.

(An Association employee... So that's the reason she's so kind to me?)