ch201-ch220 · 219-ch219

Chapter 219: Stalker Boyfriend

"Huh? You're back? Did they notice you?"

"Nah, I'll head out again after a break... What are you two up to?"

Just before noon, I watched Kasumi-san's party break through Floor 10, then came back for now.

From Floor 11 on, it's open hill country with clear sightlines, so 【Presence Concealment】 alone won't cut it.

Even if they could hide from me, they couldn't avoid fighting the orcs.

So I decided to come back for now and use the 'Left Hand Gate' parked on Floor 21.

The plan is to move to Floor 21 and wait there before they break through Floor 20.

"We're practicing skills, duh. Wait—where were YOU?"

Oh—apparently Soushi wasn't told.

Well, natural, since Aikawa doesn't know.

"Bit of this and that. So—can you make hot water yet?"

"Doesn't look like it? Normally turning water into hot water takes a stove or a kettle, y'know. Can he really do it? Right now I'm still practicing my 'delicious water.'"

The person with the 【Chef】 + 【Water Mage】 job combo could do it.

They're one of the people making 'the dungeon's delicious water'—and they've posted videos of it, so it should be possible.

"The successful 'delicious water' is in the fridge. But it's still more like 'the dungeon's slightly-delicious water'? I kept tasting it and drank too much—my stomach's stuffed."

A pan-da joke, isn't it...

...Yes. I'm sorry.

I get a glass of water from the fridge.

"...Tastes pretty good, actually. But yeah, it's 'slightly-delicious water.' The convenience store stuff might still be better? And it's not even that cold... Huh? If using a kettle makes it hot water, then what about the fridge?"

"Hm? Ah, probably works? Wanna try?"

Soushi fills a cup with water and puts it in the freezer.

"What do you mean?"

"An experiment to see if it makes ice on the spot."

"【Cooking】! ...I see, I see. So that's how it works. Isn't that enough already?"

The water in the cup Soushi took out was frozen solid.

"Ooh, amazing. So 【Time Compression】 works with fridges too. If he can control temperature freely, he might be able to make endless ice cream. We'll have to tell Shiraishi-san!"

Aikawa says this while tapping the cup—kon-kon—and turning it upside down to check whether the water's really frozen.

I just hope Shiraishi-san doesn't burn so much MP that it interferes with tomorrow's work.

"I see... So it works in reverse... Say I become the fridge... Like this? 【Cooking】【Conversion・Water】!"

【Conversion・Water】 turns MP into water—it lets you produce large amounts of water for less MP than 【Water Ball】, the 【Water Mage】's bottom-tier attack spell.

Well, it's magic for making drinking water and such...

With a clatter, ice drops to the floor.

Ice, no fridge required.

"Whoa, that's awesome!"

"Whoa, my MP just plunged... But while I still remember that feeling... what do I do now? Um, Aikawa, the kettle?"

"Hold on."

It's thinking in reverse, or... how do I put it.

By learning both the feeling of heating water and of chilling it, he can now do it without any machine?

He did say something about turning himself into a fridge, huh?

Makes no sense. Is he a genius?

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After lunch, the three of us came to Floor 21.

Waiting around to avoid crossing paths with Kasumi-san is all well and good, but there's nothing to do in the meantime.

We're training against Forest Ogres at a spot where the 'Gate to Floor 19' is just barely within 【Presence Detection】 range.

The attacks have stopped for the moment—a lull.

"Oh, just remembered—we had a visitor?"

Isn't that a bit late to mention?

"When?"

"We did?"

Soushi apparently has no idea.

"Right after Haru-kun dashed off, I think? Before Soushi got here, too—a flashy middle-aged lady went 'You're heeere, aren't you!'. Said she was Haru-kun's attending physician or something?"

"Dr. Amamiya, huh... But 'middle-aged lady'..."

Well, from Aikawa's viewpoint she'd seem a lot older, plus the heavy makeup and the rather short outfits...

"She said something about coming while Kasumi-san was out, which was kinda scary, so I sent her home right away... She said she'll be at the hospital they're building behind the police box tomorrow and the day after, and wants you to come. Haru-kun, are you sick or something?"

Following the 'Umemoto Incident' and the 'Hasegawa Incident,' police boxes were built inside dungeons nationwide.

Even with the boxes built, with only Single-Rank officers inside I don't think they'd be much use against criminals of THAT class—but apparently they're aiming for a deterrent effect or something.

One went up along the main street in the Chiba Dungeon too, and a university hospital facility is being built right next to it.

It was a rush job and the building itself already looks done—maybe she's inspecting it?

"There've been all sorts of level-up side effects. She may be like THAT, but she's the leading expert on dungeon-derived illnesses. Come to think of it, you two doing okay on the side effects?"

"Ah, the thing where you can't hold back on the surface. Soushi broke the brakes on his bike."

She's giggling "tehe," but they're leveling up even faster than I did.

I'd like them to be careful.

"Come to think of it, Dr. Amamiya was looking for a buffer who can use Magic Up—she'd probably welcome Aikawa with open arms. Apparently there are people whose illnesses won't heal because they're short on magic."

"Eh? Me? Hmm. There ARE people in trouble... But she was a weird one."

Something like: if it helps people, she's willing to cooperate?

"Either way, it'll have to wait until Kasumi-san's back. Kasumi-san doesn't think too highly of her..."

"Ah, so THAT's why she came while Kasumi-san was out?"

"Hey, isn't that weird, though? How would she even know Kasumi-san wasn't—"

"Ah, there they are. Let's fall back a bit."

Soushi was starting to say something when 【Presence Detection】 picked up the blue sparkle.

It's them.

Four others.

Kasumi-san's there too.

Their scout may have noticed Soushi and Aikawa, but I've had 【Presence Concealment】 running the whole time, so I'm probably not sensed?

Once I've put enough distance between us, I open the 'Left Hand Gate' and send the two of them back to Floor 1.

"Sorry about this."

"Yeah, yeah. I don't know anything, remember."

"What's that mean?"

Soushi's playing ignorant too... Did I ever even tell him?

(A head-on push, huh. Well, with a party that's inevitable, I suppose...)

On Floor 21, Kasumi-san's party is mid-battle.

Kasumi-san is as impressive as ever—but the other three are no slouches either.

The yellow-green one especially.

Leaving the nearby enemies to her comrades, she looses arrows at the eyes of Forest Ogres approaching from a distance.

Skill correction is probably at work, but the aim is perfect—those Forest Ogres, not yet fully in combat stance, are dead before they know it.

'Ranged attackers are weak' is the accepted adventurer wisdom, but watching 'Red Shadow' or 'Yellow-Green-san' here, I don't get that feeling at all.

As for 'the scout'—is 【Sword Master】 their main? They're fighting with a sword, plain and simple.

That's not scout-type attack power—it's definitely a high-rank close-combat job.

'Hammer Ossan' is bringing his hammer down.

Forest Ogres are pretty quick, but he brings the hammer down faster than their claws can close in.

Simple is strongest, I guess.

And then there's the 'pretty boy' in question... seriously strong.

(They're a Double-Rank, right?)

Their true strength, which never showed against goblins...

Strong—no, skilled.

So THAT'S how you use a shield, huh.

Educational.

Before I know it, I'm practicing behind a tree—like this? Like this?

Handsome AND strong, huh...

'Any injuries? Ah, you're cut a little. 【Heal】.'

...And considerate, too.

A 【Healer】, are they?

But those movements were good.

So: 【Shielder】 main, 【Healer】 sub.

"Ooh, my bad..."

Even 'Hammer Ossan' goes red at that.

Hey, ossan.

You were all cold and stand-offish just a minute ago.

Granted, I've been calling them 'the pretty boy'—but their features fit 'beauty' better than 'pretty boy.'

Does even an ossan's heart race when someone's kind to him?

"Ahh, no faaair! I wanna get hurt too—!"

'The scout' shows no sign of noticing me.

Melee seems to be their main, so it can't be helped, I suppose?

Kasumi-san and 'Yellow-Green-san' both look exasperated—good grief.

Neither of them has noticed me either...

The 'pretty boy' is the escort target and yet was fighting—which means these two had the enemies left to them.

Winning that kind of trust in such a short time means there's communication skill too...

And here I am, struggling just to get Kasumi-san to leave enemies to me.

(Handsome, tall, considerate, great with people—and on top of that, a holder of a rare recovery job...)

I'd love to say I'm the stronger one, but I hold a high-rank job—and tomorrow they'll break Floor 30 and gain a high-rank job and Triple-Rank too.

Meanwhile, I'm stuck in a body that can't rise above Double-Rank...

There is no winning element here.

Besides, I knew from the start they were a good person.

(Someone with such a beautiful presence couldn't possibly be a bad person...)

Maybe I should head home?