ch161-ch180 · 165-ch165

Chapter 165: Teamwork

"Eyah!"

Ah—she's going for the one head-on...

Nothing wrong with that, per se, but that leaves you open from both sides?

And the cut's shallow—the one in front isn't finished.

Aikawa's weapon is a one-handed sword; without committing to a deep step, it won't deal a lethal wound.

This time a spear-wielding hobgoblin sat in the middle and that's the one she went for—did the spear's reach throw her off?

"Doryah!"

Oh-ho—and in crashes Soushi.

Bare-handed, though—one hit won't finish it...

Bare hands turn it into a slugfest.

Ah, crap.

I'd figured a certain amount of injury was fine—【Gate】 means we can leave whenever—but 【Gate】 is off the table right now.

Getting hurt in this situation would be bad.

Having him fight bare-handed was a mistake...

No helping it—I'm joining in.

"Soushi! Take this!"

I close in and toss him the long-handled kitchen knife.

Then I take on the three goblins that hadn't taken any wounds yet.

All I do is deflect their attacks with the shield.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Full power—and don't let Aikawa get hurt. Please."

Not that I'll be going full power—decoy duty only, me.

Aikawa had been locked in a staring contest with the wounded spear-carrier, but once our arrivals drew off the rest, she finally committed—a proper deep step and one strike.

The blade bit deep from the shoulder—lethal, no question.

Then, "one more for you, please"—I lightly shove another hobgoblin her way with the shield.

And the stumbling hobgoblin gets slashed down from behind.

Huh?

Aikawa's... actually good?

Bad opening strike and positioning aside, she can fight.

By the time that's done, Soushi's dropped two more, leaving one club-wielding hobgoblin furiously hammering my shield.

While I'm pondering which of us to feed it to, Aikawa levels her sword from the hip and skewers the hobgoblin.

Another strike from behind.

"Not bad, Aikawa."

Soushi compliments her too.

Aikawa seems a little weak fighting head-on, but good at fighting in coordination?

No—her whole style is built around party-based combat, I'd say...

And why did YOU charge in, Soushi?

Well, he was feeling pent up, I guess.

Maybe he needed to blow off steam.

Terrible luck for the hobgoblins, but that's what adventurers do—rest in peace, fellas.

"Magic stones. What's the plan?"

I'm off in "amen, amen" mode when Aikawa asks.

We never did settle the loot split.

So this is what happens without a registered party...

"Whatever each of us killed, why not?"

"What about your share, President? You did play shield properly, after all."

Even if I took hobgoblin stones...

"Never mind—just pull the stones already. I want to go home."

Kasumi-san is waiting.

Soushi has his knife back now, so even without me jumping in, progress should be smooth.

"You've been pretty flush lately, huh? Does making Single-Rank really pay that well?"

Whenever I treat Soushi to a drink, he goes and buys one for Aikawa too...

Reminded that I've got money to spare, Aikawa apparently decided to claim her three goblins' stones without a shred of hesitation.

"Hard to say. Before Soushi joined I was solo, so I was making decent money... but in a full party of five, Single-Rank pay isn't much, I'd guess."

At Single-Rank, your prey tops out at the orcs of Floor 15 and below.

I was doing it solo; in a party, the take gets split five ways.

And only because this is Chiba have I had nearly every hill to myself, doing as I pleased. At headquarters, one party gets one hill.

Sometimes you've got nothing to do until the orcs respawn, or so I hear...

The reality is, Single-Rank adventuring is a hand-to-mouth living.

"Five people means less each? ...Ohh, so that's the advantage of going solo. Got it."

True, Single-Rank doesn't pay at headquarters—but Double-Rank changes the math.

The 20s floors are far more dangerous, but the stones sell for more too, so even a full party of five can live comfortably.

The Forest Ogres of headquarters and the Chiba Dungeon are dangerous beyond solo—downright reckless for a party.

Not only is each one strong—they swarm in from all around the moment you engage.

The 20s floors are poorly sightlined forest, so you can't carve out your own space the way you do with a "hill."

And since you might trouble other parties, you can't even run around kiting.

In Chiba, forget hunting—just pushing through normally is said to be hard enough.

At headquarters, sheer foot traffic keeps the Forest Ogres nicely dispersed—danger drops, and it becomes prime hunting ground.

Make Double-Rank and headquarters offers safe, solid money.

(And so, one by one, the Chiba branch's adventurers drift off to headquarters...)

Absolutely never bring this up in front of Hayashi-san.

"Hey, Aikawa..."

Soushi, stones all pulled, is trying to pick the earlier conversation back up...

"Hmm. Maybe solo's better until I make Double? Hm? What, Soushi?"

Ah...

"...Never mind. Grab the stones and let's move."

Curse you, dungeon!

Interrupting at the WORST moment!

This one's not on me—it's the dungeon's fault.

And Soushi, don't fold over one little interruption.

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"Soushi, you're really strong."

"You're one to talk, Aikawa—you've killed more goblins than I have."

"Uh-huh. That's because you take point for me."

'Grrrnnn.'

We've worked our way back to Floor 8.

We've been letting Soushi and Aikawa fight on their own, and Aikawa holds her own.

Honestly, their teamwork surprised me.

Soushi charges in first, Aikawa strikes the hobgoblins that turn to attack him—they cover each other like they've done it a hundred times.

Though Soushi does look a little cramped?

He's throwing nothing but thrusts.

Swinging that long-handled knife around risks clipping Aikawa, I suppose.

Most of Aikawa's attacks are diagonal overhead cuts, so she doesn't look cramped at all.

The difference between sword and spear, maybe?

Once Soushi puts more work into Hiramatsu-ryu and gets comfortable with thrust-based attacks, it'll be fine.

There's still the question of whether Aikawa stays an adventurer—of whether Soushi works up the nerve to invite her—but if these two form a party, I think they'll do just fine.

Which is why the old-timer and I are groaning with envy.

(Kasumi-san and I could never work like this.)

Come to think of it, I've never done real coordination with anyone—Kasumi-san included.

Kasumi-san swings her naginata right up to my skin without reservation, so she's probably well used to party combat—but what she actually does is steal my kills.

Coordination it is not.

And Kasumi-san never gets in trouble, so there's nothing to rescue her from.

I've been firmly instructed not to intervene, after all...

Post-fight conversation, meanwhile, tends to be mutual fouls called...

We fight in turns just to keep from bickering.

Coordination—fighting so you cover each other...

I want that with Kasumi-san too.

Maybe I'll pitch it as a new date plan...

Oh, right—the date starts tomorrow.

Heh heh heh.

"You're making a weird face, President."

"I always do?"

"True."

Perfectly in sync, those two...