ch141-ch160 · 151-ch151

Chapter 151: Looking at the Same Flower

"So what am I supposed to become, in the end?"

Soushi muttered that on the way from school to the Chiba branch.

Dungeon philosophy?

The answer is "because the dungeon is there," you know?

"What shall we become...? Where do we come from, and where do we go? Where does the dungeon lead...?"

"It's my job, man, my job! I just can't decide at all!"

Yeah, yeah. Your job.

I'm about to meet Kasumi-san, so I don't have time to be entertaining Soushi.

If I make him a 【Spearman】, will that put him in a better mood?

"Let's keep you on hobgoblins until Level 10 and see what jobs show up. If none of them grab you, you can use whatever weapon you like after that. Until then, rental spear it is."

Until Kasumi-san's mood improves, Soushi can just keep using the rental spear.

"So the plan was: 【Shielder】 first, 【Spearman】 at Floor 20, then the shield high-rank job 【Wide-Area Shielder】 at the end."

"Huh? What happened to 【Thread User】? What about 【Thread User】?"

"People online said nobody takes that one."

So it's the internet talking?

"Don't let what other people say sway you. You've got a special skill too—opinions online aren't worth anything, you know?"

...Which would make me "other people" too, I suppose.

"Then how about 【Knight】, 【Thread User】, 【Holy Knight】?"

"That'd be the route if you want 【Thread User】. No telling whether 【Holy Knight】 would actually show up, but with 【Knight】 you can learn shield skills too, so a shield high-rank job would work out, wouldn't it?"

Isn't there something like a 【Thread Shielder】 or a 【Thread Knight】 out there?

Weaving a shield out of thread—the very soul of romance.

"Also, there was talk about going buffer instead. What do you think?"

"Your main job has to be one where you can fight on your own. Something like 【General】 might be fine, but..."

"Doesn't a party want one, though?"

Down the road, huh...

"This is kind of an important talk, but—Kasumi-san and I are quitting adventuring once I graduate from university. So pick your job with what comes after in mind."

"Huh? Well, the deal was always 'until university graduation,' but you've already decided you're quitting?"

I did long to be an adventurer, but I'd never decided whether to make a career of it.

So the plan was: party together until I graduate and see how much we could earn.

If it looked hopeless, I'd go part-time adventurer after university.

That was the promise.

"Yeah. If my special skill ever went public, it'd be bad news. So we earn what we can in the meantime, and then I settle into retired life. By then there'll be parties besides Blue Ocean breaking Floor 40, and it should be safe to make you a Quadruple too—so think about a build that includes a Floor 40 job."

If Soushi's dream is to become famous, all I can tell him is: do your best after we're done.

What comes first for me is Kasumi-san...

"Floor 40's impossible, though? Well, talk is free... Wasn't Blue Ocean at about year four right now? Maybe I could make it~"

No, that's going to be next year already, isn't it?

"So buffers are fine even at Floor 40, is what you're saying?"

"It's me, you, and Watanabe-san, right? With secrets involved, what happens to the other two?"

"Our special skills have to stay secret, so they'd have to be people we can trust."

Honestly, couldn't we manage with just the three of us?

"Can I even be trusted?"

Shiraishi-san kept our secrets despite... that whole business, so Soushi should be fine too...

"Preferably someone whose disposal, worst case, wouldn't weigh on my conscience..."

"Hey."

It's a joke, obviously.

"Well, I did make a promise with you—that we'd become adventurers together. You're my benchmark. If someone seems more trustworthy than you, they're in."

"Then this party's never growing, huh."

"Ah-hah-hah!"

Such comedians.

"Can I ask you something important too?"

Soushi asks, all formal about it.

What could it be?

"Hm?"

"Do you actually like Watanabe-san?"

"You don't date someone you don't like, do you?"

We're all lovey-dovey, you know?

"What about Mizuki?"

"Well, she's like an idol, so..."

"I see... Then it's fine, I guess..."

︙

︙

'She's so beautiful...'

'Yeah... like a goddess...'

I answered Soushi's muttering—it was barely more than talking to himself.

That was our first conversation.

Right after we started high school, so it's over two years ago now.

We hit it off right away, and we've been in the same class three years running.

If this guy weren't trustworthy, that would mean there's no one in this world I could make use of.

Soushi's hobby is probably watching videos?

He loves 'Dungeon Martial Arts,' so I figured for sure he'd aim for the 【Monk】-into-【Berserker】 route, but the job he wants turned out to be, of all things, 【Thread User】.

Chuunibyou—that's what that is.

Still, thank goodness he never started talking about going 【Light Armored Warrior】 into 【Naked King】, same as his beloved streamer 'Mami-Mami'...

There's no way I could keep a guy like that anywhere near Kasumi-san. I was this close to saying goodbye to him.

"Oh? Made it just in time. Here, take this. Went ahead and made you a kitchen knife for now."

When we reached the Chiba branch, Mia-san was there to greet us.

Kasumi-san is with her.

Kasumi-san still holds my license, so I suppose that's why they came out to meet me.

"Thank you for your hard work. If we're opening it, better to do it inside the dungeon. Let's head in."

Apparently Mia-san, being a production job, holds some special certification: properly packed weapons can legally be carried between dungeons.

She'd gone out of her way to bring something made at her own shop in the HQ dungeon all the way to the Chiba branch.

She carried over the thing she made today before we even got back from school.

"It's long..."

Soushi muttered, taking the long cylinder.

This is the Mia-san who was angry yesterday about us deciding his weapon without him.

She must have prepared this as an interim weapon.

Maybe a whopper of a kitchen knife, like the ones for breaking down tuna?

"It was all so sudden, and you made this right away?"

"Yep. I'm a high-rank job now—even after finishing everything on my schedule, I've got MP to spare. Call this a thank-you, too."

"Last night I served her alcohol and she went on a rampage, so this is apparently her way of apologizing."

"Ah, ah—! We agreed that one stays buried."

Apparently, after that, the two of them had a drinking party at Kasumi-san's place.

A celebration of Mia-san's Triple-Rank promotion.

They were supposed to talk about the future too, but apparently Mia-san drank and fell straight asleep. Kasumi-san's bad mood is plain to see.

But it's fine.

If that's how it is, then that cylinder holds the long-handled kitchen knife.

Once she sees it, Kasumi-san's mood should fix itself.

(Might as well have Soushi become a 【Spearman】, a 【Thread User】, or maybe a 【Thread Spearman】.)