ch201-ch220 · 213-ch213

Chapter 213: The Receptionist Is a Losing Flag 【Watanabe Kasumi】 Part 7

SIDE: Watanabe Kasumi (Haruki's Girlfriend)

Good evening, everyone.

My favorite word is 'leaving the company to get married.' I am Watanabe Kasumi.

'Leaving to get married.' What a lovely word.

The other day, when the Association's chairman told me to transfer to headquarters, I told him this:

'I am engaged to be married and plan to leave the Association next spring. My resignation has already been accepted. Transferring to headquarters would only mean inconveniencing you as I use up my paid leave—but if that is acceptable, by all means.'

He wore the face of a pigeon that had just been shot with a peashooter.

I hold no personal grudge against the current chairman, but it felt wonderful.

Call it an unplanned Surprise, perhaps.

Oh my, I've drifted off topic.

I've just come home after spending Friday and Saturday nights—two days or so—camped out in the dungeon, and I'm finally settling in.

Now then, let's head to the bedroom and compile the weekend's results.

I take out the laptop I brought into the dungeon and boot it up.

Against the wall stands a whiteboard.

Pinned to it, a great many photos of women's faces...

(Aikawa-san can come down a row or two. We talked about all sorts of things—she is a very good girl.)

I adjust the positions of the photos.

Do you all think I'm merely a woman who spends her work hours posting on forums?

That is a grave mistake.

To protect Haruki-san's safety, I conduct my own investigation of his surroundings, day and night.

This whiteboard, in particular, compiles the threat levels of the women around him.

I trust you now understand that I do things beyond the forums?

'Get a real job!'

(...Mia-san's threat level should go up two rows, not one.)

Mia-san's photo was one row below the row holding Sakura's and Endo-san's; I move it up two.

That moves Mia-san to the second row from the top.

A considerably dangerous person.

The dungeon says so too.

Just what was she doing, to get swarmed by ten Copper Golems?

I was all fired up to interrogate her last night, but Mia-san herself was asleep by ten.

I meant to wake her, but that sleeping face of hers was just too adorable...

(Dangerous!)

For the record, until now she was on the fourth row from the top—partly because she falls outside Haruki-san's preferences.

Hm? Haruki-san's preferences?

According to my own investigation, it is 'an older woman'!

(In other words—me! A dead-on strike!)

The question is what Mia-san thinks of Haruki-san...

Honestly, I haven't the faintest idea.

My interrogation failed, too.

But Mia-san has a strong sense of duty; she would never do anything I despise.

As long as I hold firmly onto Haruki-san, there should be no problem.

Looks aside, Mia-san is a properly mature adult in word and deed.

In that sense, one could even call her an 'older woman,' so I must not let my guard down.

I failed to interrogate Mia-san, but in exchange I drew all sorts of information out of Aikawa-san.

It's all in bulleted lists on the laptop; I'll work through them and update the whiteboard as I go.

(First, Souma-san.)

The girl in the next seat!

My blind spot.

And apparently she and Haruki-san are quite close.

Souma-san is the only girl Haruki-san talks to at school on a regular basis, I hear.

They were in different classes until now, but apparently had contact as fellow library committee members.

(Dangerous! Let's place her next to Sakura on the third row!)

The threat ranking from the top: Endo-san, Sakura, then Souma-san.

No photo, so I'll write her name in as a stopgap.

This is a good chance—perhaps I should obtain photos of every girl in his class.

(Other dangerous persons... The homeroom teacher, is it...? An older woman! Dangerous!)

Aikawa-san seems to rate her poorly, but a ditzy older woman has her own charm.

I hear the teacher rates Haruki-san highly.

She was the first name Aikawa-san brought up.

Well, Haruki-san earning high marks is only natural.

I'll file her under surveillance, on the same row as Fuyutsuki-san, second from the bottom.

(Is that all the dangerous persons from Friday? There should be more, but none came out of Aikawa-san's mouth. Now for Saturday night... Ah, these two, is it...)

The two who are Kokoa-san's kouhai.

Kokoa-san herself has no contact with Haruki-san, so she can stay excluded for now.

The problem is the special skill of one of the two...

It's famous as a rare skill that recovers MP inside the dungeon, but its nature is far too dangerous.

(【Blood Suck】... is it. The one drained ends up obedient to the one who drained them—rather like the vampires of stories.)

It drains not only blood, but HP and MP—and even the enhancement buffs one has active, I'm told.

Furthermore, those whose blood is drained feel intense pleasure—and it is habit-forming.

It's a skill that has been used in crimes before, so winning people's understanding would be difficult.

And of course, Haruki-san must never learn of it either.

With Aikawa-san's cooperation, I intend to keep the two of them away from him.

When I heard about this skill, Mia-san and I clashed over whether to accept them, and the upshot was Mia-san tiring herself out and falling asleep.

I shudder to think what comes next.

(I haven't met her yet, but I'll write this girl's name in next to Mia-san as a stopgap. The other girl seems harmless, but I'll file her under surveillance on Fuyutsuki-san's row. If possible, I'd like to enlist her cooperation as well.)

Kokoa-san grew up in a children's welfare facility—a home that takes in children whose parents cannot raise them.

These two are her kouhai and currently live in the same facility, but facilities of this kind require you to leave the moment you graduate high school.

Both have good grades and plan to go on to university.

Scholarships are available, so university itself poses no problem.

But living expenses included, in Tokyo—that would be difficult.

And scholarships are loans—the more you borrow, the more you must repay.

So they turned to Kokoa-san, secured a place to live, and apparently chose the path of adventuring while attending university.

It's an admirable choice, and I'd love to cheer them on—but then there's the location, and the special skill...

In any case: they must not be allowed near Haruki-san or Natsukawa-san. That is the crux.

(Next, the material from Saturday's Aikawa-san interrogation... There she is—a dangerous person. The topmost row, perhaps?)

Mia-san dropped out early, so I was able to interrogate Aikawa-san all the more thoroughly.

And out of it came the name of a super-dangerous person I had never marked.

I managed to draw it out of Aikawa-san right as she was drifting off.

(Gotou-senpai!)

She graduated from Haruki-san's school last year—the former library committee president.

The very picture of an older woman.

A beauty once called 'the Angel of the Library,' apparently.

This calls for investigation.

However, she is already married—and pregnant, at that—so her threat level probably isn't the very top.

(Gotou-san, second row or third row...? Until the investigation concludes, we shall say second row.)

And would you look at that.

In a single weekend, the second row—A-rank, you could say—gained three new occupants.

I must stay sharp.

I review the whiteboard.

(I've learned Aikawa-san can be trusted—but oddly enough, names NOT coming up is suspicious in its own way.)

Among them are two with magnets stuck over the center of the photo—the face—hiding them from view...

One is at the very bottom—the master of that accursed 'Sword General Thread.'

Hoshino Chiharu—that cheeky little brat getting carried away being called 'Sword Saint-chan' and the like.

She is my sworn enemy, but her ability is the genuine article.

Without a doubt, those sharp eyes of hers saw through Haruki-san's true strength in that one instant.

In a sense she is a dangerous item, so I have no choice but to keep her on the whiteboard.

(Pinning her to the floor with a thumbtack would probably be just right.)

And the other one...

The very top of the whiteboard.

The sole occupant of the highest-threat position...

'Rrrring. Rrrring.'

The phone rang.

For an instant I hoped it was Haruki-san—alas, no.

We talked plenty in the dungeon today, and the 'just got home' call had already covered today's quota.

The name on the caller display was...

"Oh my? A dangerous person."

Come to think of it, I had forgotten about her.

Her threat rank is unquestionably the very top—S-rank.

The one person I must never let meet Haruki-san.

"Hello. ...Yes, I only just got home. There's no need to be that angry... I was just about to call you myself in a little while. Now then, what is it?"

She had apparently tried to reach me many times since Friday; the call log was full.

I was rather busy, so my reply was late.

I must reflect on this...

"Tomorrow? Again so sudden... I have work from the morning. ...Is that so. No, there is no problem at all. I'll pass along that you're looking forward to— ah, that was supposed to be a secret. Thank you, as always. I love you. I am truly looking forward to seeing you. Until tomorrow... Eh? How have I been? Um... about HIM? That is a story for another time... You want to meet him? That's a bit... No, no, it's not that."

'I'd like to meet your fiancé'? That is a problem.

In any case, I want to tell Haruki-san about this matter—but she won't let me off the phone.

This is a problem...