ch181-ch200 · 192-ch192

Chapter 192: The Mia-san Who Once Danced

"One, two, three, four, and POSE!... Wait, just me? Huh? Where are you guys' poses?"

Mia-san takes some bizarre pose—arms spread wide, crouching diagonally downward.

"Poses? What poses?"

The topic of Aikawa's new job being 【Dancer】 came up, and Mia-san mentioned she'd once received a buff from a 【Dancer】 herself.

Sure enough, it was the box step back then too—or rather, hearing Aikawa's story about her old 【Dancer】, it seems Mia-san apparently switched to the box step... So then we decided to give it a try, everyone did the box step together, and at the end Mia-san struck that mystery pose.

"Mia-san, so cute!"

Aikawa teases her.

"No, no, you've got it wrong. It's that guy who said it's not a dance unless you finish with a signature pose. Everyone got to do their own pose. Wait—Soushi! What are you laughing at?! I'm telling you it's true! Kasumi-san did it too, so she must have a pose too! Hey, Haruki! You go find the next golem already! No wait, I'm coming too!"

Ah. Don't go ahead of me, it's dangerous.

I chase after Mia-san, who rushed into the still-open 'Right Gate' and off to Floor 31.

She'd said "back when I was with one" with a subtle nuance, so it was hard to ask what kind of person it was, but apparently that 【Dancer】 had some strange obsession with poses.

And if not just Mia-san—Kasumi-san did it too—then that person must have been a solo female adventurer...

"Please don't go ahead of me, it's dangerous."

I hurry into Floor 31 myself and call out to Mia-san.

I said I'd go alone, but she'd insisted on coming along out of worry.

She was just surprised earlier—there doesn't seem to be any fear of the 30s floors or anything like that.

"Shaddap. Let's just find 'em. Golems use 【Mimicry】, right?"

She's lowered her visor so I can't see her face, but she's fuming.

No wait, is she blushing?

Her face might be bright red.

"That's right. Some of them also wander around in fixed numbers, so camping out has gotten tricky. Today let's not climb the mountain—we'll circle around the outer edge looking for golems. Even mimicking ones show up as a color difference from their surroundings if you look closely, and my 【Scouting】 picks them up, so don't worry."

Mia-san seems to know about golems already, but I give her a quick rundown of the cautions anyway.

The 30s floors are a mountain field, with the 'Gate to the Next Floor' at the summit, so getting lost isn't a concern.

But today's orders are not to push ahead, so there's no need to climb up anyway.

We decide to circle the outer rim, keeping the dungeon's invisible wall at our backs.

"Color, huh... Got it—look closely. Oh, and no surprises, you hear? The moment 【Scouting】 finds one, tell me. Right, you first."

Mia-san raises the visor she'd had down and peers intently, searching.

I told her to relax, but it's not the golems she's wary of—it's me.

They stand up and attack when you get right up to their feet, but I would never do that kind of surprise, you know?

"Oh. There—that rock is a golem."

After walking a while, 【Scouting】 catches a rock with a strange gap between it and the ground.

Judging by the color, a sand golem.

"Really? Now that you mention it, its color is different from the ground. And there's an oddly placed rock here in the first place... I'd never have noticed unless you said something. Scary stuff."

"That'd be the 【Mimicry】 effect, I suppose?"

Until you notice the subtle difference in color, you don't question the unnaturalness at all.

The effect keeps working even while you're looking right at it, so it seems stronger than my 【Presence Concealment】.

This one wasn't in our path of travel, so without considerable alertness, spotting it would have been impossible.

"So what do we do? Pounce on it and smash it?"

Surprisingly wild, this Mia-san.

She lowers her visor again and readies her hammer.

Battle ready.

In contrast, I raise my visor.

"No need. I'll stop its movement. I'll take off its arms and legs first, so please keep watch on our surroundings."

I close my right eye, take aim, and bring the 'Left Eye Gate' out right above the sand golem.

That keeps it from standing up.

Then it's just a matter of activating 【Charge・Spear】 and severing the limbs.

"Huh? 【Gate】? Ohh, so that's what 'stop its movement' means. Pretty dexterous, aren't you... But 'that thing'—it connects to the warehouse, doesn't it? Is that safe?"

"No, that's the 'third Gate'—it isn't connected anywhere."

"Nowhere? What IS that?! Scary! What happens if you go in?"

"Nothing happens—you can't go in, so there's nothing to be scared of."

Did she picture something like the holes in the dungeon walls?

Those ones, apparently, you can't come back from if you fall in.

Now then, let's do this.

(【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】! WOOOAAAH—!)

I activate super mode to keep MP consumption down, and it becomes four consecutive strikes.

MP spent: 4!

Record: under four seconds...

But the cuts were sloppy, and a bit of the hand parts were left behind, so I had Mia-san shave them off a little...

That was a foul, so it doesn't count as an official record.