ch201-ch220 · 201-ch201

Chapter 201: The Kid Hypnotist

"What do we do with these?"

The "these" Aikawa means is the Orc General armor.

About twenty sets of it lined up haphazardly around the warehouse...

The two of them hit Level 21 without any power leveling.

They really worked hard, huh.

Against the Orc General, I played decoy while the two of them attacked—the same tactics as the Minotaur fights—so they should have gotten some proper boss-battle experience on Floor 20.

I managed to draw the enemies' attention nicely whenever Aikawa danced, too. I'd say I'm coming along nicely as a shield job, no?

"When it gets dark, haul them over to Mia-san's shop."

They're in the way, after all.

"Hey, hey. Tomorrow we're doing it over at Mia-san's shop, right? Wouldn't the bigger place be better?"

Soushi had a point...

Kasumi-san has the weekend off, so I want to push past Floor 31 and clear our way deeper.

The deeper the floor, the more EXP monsters give, so the power leveling will move along faster too.

The plan is to raise my and Kasumi-san's levels while pushing our progress Saturday and Sunday, then, since Shiraishi-san is off Monday and Tuesday, power level HER next.

Which means Soushi and Aikawa have to hold off on taking their sub-jobs for a while, but since Aikawa's job isn't decided yet, they'll work on fishing for jobs like 【Staff User】 on the shallow floors while they think it over.

The two of them doing mock battles with club-like sticks should do it, probably.

I thought 【Staff User】 had shown up thanks to the rental spear, but it might have been the sparring with Kasumi-san.

Asking Hiramatsu-san to teach them is an option too, but job acquisition is only affected by what you do inside the dungeon, so that's where we'd need to be careful.

Shiraishi-san should still be Single-Rank, so ideally she'd get her job on Floor 20 together with us?

"So we can't leave the shop, since it'd blow Kasumi-san and Mia-san's alibi... Oh right, that's how it is. Then let's shove these armors off to the side."

"Where exactly is 'the side'?"

The shutter farthest from the service entrance was already buried under Copper Golem wreckage...

Iron Golem parts too, and the walls were lined with halberds and who knows what else.

It's really starting to look like a proper warehouse, huh.

"Ah, Aikawa-sa... You'll be staying over with Kasumi-san starting today, right..."

【Presence Detection】 picks up no presences nearby.

Kasumi-san should be wrapping up her handover and getting ready to head home about now.

If I don't bring up the important thing while I can...

"You've been awfully eager to hear about what goes on at school. That's serious business, you know, Haru-kun."

If you already know it's serious, this conversation will be quick.

"Those golems over there—we've got ten of them, right? Me, Kasumi-san, Mia-san, Soushi, and you, Aikawa. Split five ways, that's two apiece. Including Soushi's share, your cut comes to four. Wouldn't you like to receive it from the batch we cashed earlier?"

"Relax! I won't say a word!"

Ignoring the startled Soushi, I press on.

"You seem to be laboring under a misunderstanding. There is no problem here at all, so do tell me everything honestly."

There is no problem. Right?

"Yes, yes. I'm well aware. I shall faithfully report the everyday, honest Haru-kun, exactly as he is."

"And above all, do not breathe a word about any 'fan club'—an organization that does not exist."

That's one I genuinely have no memory of, after all.

"Oh my? I've never heard of any such organization~"

"Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah!"

Well, even without being told, I wasn't going to talk about it anyway. I did say it, didn't I? That I trust you. So I'm going to act in a way that deserves that trust too.

Aikawa grins and flashes a V sign.

Seems like I can count on her.

Relax, relax.

I'm a lucky man, with friends this good.

"My golems..."

︙

︙

"Ehh? We're heading out at this hour? It's about to get dark!"

Mia-san showed up hauling a mountain of luggage, and we moved over to her shop.

Does she really need that much stuff?

It's an overnight stay, but Aikawa can move around freely, so we can send her out on shopping runs, and Shiraishi-san said she'd come along with Kasumi-san, after all.

"Dark is easier for me. With 【Presence Concealment】 up, not being able to see is actually an advantage, and I've got 【Night Vision】, so I can see just fine at night."

I want to have a dungeon date with Kasumi-san starting tomorrow morning, so I'd like to move up to Floor 29 today.

At night, we might even get there about an hour faster than this morning.

"A scout-type, huh... Now that you mention it, you were. But still... Oh, take one from that box. And there's something I made for you from the shop in my bag too."

"What's this? A paper knife? The blade part's awfully small."

What Aikawa pulled out of the box, opening it without a shred of hesitation, was a 'Lilliputian Spear'.

The whole box was filled with spears about the size of knives.

She's made quite a lot of them, hasn't she.

"'Lilliputian Spears.' That last batch was fun, so I figured I'd sell 'em. But I'm still waffling on the price. No material costs in 'em, but they're hobby items—gag items more than anything—so I figure they'd sell even a bit pricey..."

"I see! Try one on Soushi later, please. Ah, Kasumi-san's here."

【Presence Detection】 picks up a reaction.

That's Kasumi-san and Shiraishi-san.

Shiraishi-san's presence is all sparkly, or rather blinking, so it's easy to pick out.

Kasumi-san's presence, on the other hand, feels calm and settled.

Mia-san's presence is smaller than most people's, maybe?

Looks like they finished work and are heading toward the shop.

Meanwhile, Soushi is busily ferrying the luggage Mia-san apparently brought from her HQ shop, all the way from in front of the surface Dungeon Gate.

'Lilliputian Spears' are obviously not kitchen knives, but I wonder if Soushi can enhance one?

"Parfait shop, here we aaare! Mia-chan, what's today's parfait of the day?"

We haven't even opened yet.

I left telling Shiraishi-san about the leveling plan up to Kasumi-san, but maybe she hasn't brought it up yet?

Is she planning to do it today?

"Still making no sense, as ever. Ask Soushi about food, not me. Ah, here, this. Haruki, this is yours too. Ah—wait."

What I was handed was a box about the length of my arm.

The moment I tried to open it, Mia-san called a halt.

"A box? What's inside it, I wonder?"

Kasumi-san doesn't know what's in it either?

"Listen up, Haruki. What's inside is a shield. It's called a Shield Gauntlet—long and narrow, but a proper shield all the same."

A shield?

I open the box, and out comes something more like a vambrace.

But this looks familiar—it IS a shield.

The part that sits against the outside of the arm is thick, and it's long enough to cover from wrist to elbow.

Did she stress "it's a shield" because of the 'Lilliputian Spear' incident?

So that I can enhance it through belief, probably.

"You're telling me to try enhancing it. Heave-ho. 【Charge・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Armor Enhancement・Shield・High】"

I give it a tap—kon-kon—before the enhancement, and another—kan, kan—after.

The sound's different now.

There's real resistance to it, and it's properly enhanced.

"Ah, I know that one! And that tiny spear too! That's that shady hypnotism Hayashi-san was doing, right? Mia-chan can do it too? Amazing. A kid hypnotist, huh."

"Who're you calling a kid hypnotist! Well, sounds like it worked, so good."

"Mia-san, splendid work."

No, I'm the one who made it succeed, so praise ME.

"Well, Haruki, that round shield looked awkward to use, so I figured... I think this one's got more defense than that one, too."

It IS unwieldy, or rather—it's the arm-mounted type, and it did get in the way of my attacks.

Plus it was a cheap one from that weapon shop.

Still, she watched yesterday's fight and made this today?

That's fast work.

"Can I really have it? What do I owe you?"

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm planning to take my share of the golems too, so let's say neither of us has to be polite about it. Deal?"

"That's right. You're comrades—you can't be walking on eggshells around each other. Now, I want a parfait. Where's the chef?"

"I'd like a curved sword like a scimitar, please. Two of them!"

You people could stand to learn a little restraint...

"Mia-san, why not try making a big spear this time? How about a 'Giant's Spear'?"

Even Kasumi-san, huh...

We've still got Iron Golem left over, so having her make it from that might be a good idea, no?