ch161-ch180 · 162-ch162
Chapter 162: A Thoroughbred Despite Being a Bear's Child
"Aikawa?"
Soushi, catching up behind me, spots her and calls out.
Hey. I told you not to step out ahead of me.
"Soushi too..."
This just got complicated...
With acquaintances involved in the argument, walking off into Floor 10 and leaving them be isn't really an option.
"...Two spears? Natsuki, you know them?"
The old-timer studies us, then tilts his head and asks Aikawa.
I've got my jumonji spear plus Soushi's long-handled kitchen knife.
I could pass for a dual-spear user, I suppose...
"Classmates..."
Aikawa answers shortly.
Did she not want us seeing this? She's hanging her head.
"Huh? Gen Ichiro-san? Aikawa's father?"
Apparently Soushi knows the old-timer.
Her father? Aikawa's?
How does he know that...
"Oh? You've heard of me from Natsuki, have you?"
"Soushi, you know him?"
"Huh? You don't know him? He's a top Triple-Rank adventurer! He was on this month's 'Monthly Adventurer' cover!"
Not everyone reads it, buddy...
'Monthly Adventurer' is, just as it sounds, a monthly magazine for adventurers.
Ota buys it every release day and brings it to school, so I've given it a light skim now and then...
A skim, mind you...
"This month's cover? Uh, wasn't that a bear monster?"
That was this month's issue?
Pretty sure it was...
Come to think of it, which dungeon do bear monsters even come from?
"That's it! It's not a bear monster—Gen Ichiro-san's special skill is 【Beast Transformation】. He can turn into a 'bear'!"
Whaaat!?
THIS old-timer is that bear? For real?
【Beast Transformation】 is a famously powerful skill.
You transform into a beast; while transformed, your physical abilities rise to match the animal, and your MP drains all the while.
A special skill a lot like super mode—burn MP, get stronger.
Even in America's 'Dungeon Martial Arts' rankings, the only non-【Berserker】s in the top ten are 【Beast Transformation】 holders...
Triple-Rank, and a top adventurer at that—it adds up.
And an adventurer famous enough to grace a magazine cover turns out to be Aikawa's father...
And she's an adventurer herself now, which makes Aikawa a thoroughbred.
A thoroughbred despite being a bear's kid... pfft.
"Huh. And?"
So that's Aikawa and her father, cleared up.
I turn to the remaining woman.
A woman in a suit, with refined, graceful mannerisms.
Compared to the old-timer, she looks a whole lot younger?
"Ah, I'm Gen-cha... Gen Ichiro-san's party member, Makihara Ryoko."
I see, I see. So on the regular, it's "Gen-chan."
"Gen-chan"—guilty as charged!
That said, Aikawa's mother passed away quite a while ago.
I feel like I've heard she lives alone with her adventurer father, and Aikawa handles all the housework...
And now a young woman enters the picture... well, no wonder they're at each other's throats.
"Oh, uh, I'm Natsukawa Soushi. I sit next to Aikawa... -san, at school."
Soushi introduces himself.
Would be weird for only me not to, when everyone else has.
"Kasugano Haruki, nice to meet yooou."
Ah, my ending dragged there...
Guess I was irritated. Not my best manners.
"...That's enough, isn't it? If you're going to Floor 10, then go already."
Aikawa urges us to move on.
Well, it's a family matter.
I get not wanting it known.
"You two all right on your own? We're three as it happens—if you like, we could go in together?"
"We're NOT done talking! President, go already!"
Ugh, why am I the one getting yelled at?
"Aikawa... you okay?"
"GO!"
Soushi asks, worried—she brushes him off cold.
"Soushi, let's move. Come on, you first."
There's a chance Soushi wouldn't follow if I went in alone, so I push him to go first.
It's not that I'm not worried about Aikawa, but father and daughter won't let it turn into a disaster.
No idea when Aikawa's birthday is, but even if it were in April, she'd be Single-Rank at best.
Which means Makihara-san is Triple-Rank too, being on the old-timer's party.
Even if Aikawa flew into a rage and came at her with a blade, she'd be handled like a child.
"Well then, after y—...Huh?"
I shove Soushi into the 'Gate to Floor 10' and move to follow—
—but glancing at Aikawa on the way in, she seemed to be keeping a rhythm...?
"Hey, Haruki. You think Aikawa's okay?"
The moment we're in Floor 10, Soushi's all distracted with worry about her.
"We're heading straight back once we down the Minotaur anyway. Worry about yourself instead."
If they're still at it when we come back, I'll loop the Minotaur as planned and interrupt every pass.
An interruption every five minutes, and even a little cooling off should break them up.
The bigger question: can Soushi actually beat a Minotaur bare-handed...
Might be too early for that?
"Hmm. But still—"
"Look, if you're that worried, take this and kill it fast."
I toss the long-handled kitchen knife back to Soushi.
Right—the minute's about up.
The Minotaur spawns.
"Oh—Aikawa!"
My, what an adorable Minotaur... no, wait, that's wrong.
The Minotaur spawns separately, all proper.
Floor 10's mechanics: one minute after the first person enters, the 'Gate' closes and the Minotaur appears.
The 'Gate to Floor 10' on Floor 9 connects straight to a different boss area—a different Minotaur's arena—so she couldn't have come in here.
Aikawa Natsuki slipped in at the very last second before that minute ran out.
"Heh heh. Nailed it."
So all that "keeping rhythm" was her counting down the minute...
The old-timer must be in full panic mode right about now.