ch241-ch260 · 256-ch256

Chapter 256: The Off-You-Go Kiss

"Still, who knew there were four fan clubs? Pfft. Haruki, word is you're president of the lot of them."

Yeah, that.

And today, all of them were unified into a single, Goddess-approved fan club, and for some reason I got appointed its president.

Truth born of a lie—the official fan club is apparently called the Goddess Adoration Society.

......It WAS a lie, right?

Anyway, the four club representatives came to my desk asking to join under my banner.

And then somehow Ota became the point of contact, and the whole thing got settled.

Mizuki herself just went "wow, amazing~" like it was somebody else's problem, and now it's official and everything......

"You need to stop that. We're almost at the branch—if Watanabe-san hears you, it's over."

"It's fine. At this hour Kasumi-san is sitting at the dungeon reception. Good for you, Aikawa—you made up with Mizuki, so you don't have to fake-sleep anymore, right?"

She'd been chatting with Soushi all through breaks too, surrounded by everyone, and looked happy all day.

"Yeah. Thanks. But Saori's going to be a handful, you know? She doesn't seem like she's given up at al——ah!"

Something catches Aikawa's eye, and I follow her gaze......

"Huh? It's Watanabe-san. What's she doing?"

She's at the branch entrance.

A phone call, maybe?

Ah—our eyes met.

I walk over to Kasumi-san at a quickened pace.

"Welcome back, Haruki-san."

All smiles.

She's in a good mood, it seems.

"I'm back. Did something happen?"

I did just return to the branch, sure, but a "welcome back" for coming to the dungeon feels a little off......

"No, I was waiting because I thought it was about time you all came back. I couldn't wait to see your face, Haruki-san. ......Come in, come in. It's hot out, isn't it?"

September's begun, but it's still plenty hot.

She apparently waited for us out in this blazing sun on purpose.

Kasumi-san still holds my license, so I can't come and go freely—though today it was supposed to be left with Hayashi-san on the surface......

It's a bit inconvenient; I'll have to sort something out with the next test.

......The test dates fall right before the 'everyone to Floor 30' operation.

But before that, Floor 40, huh......

Soushi and the others need to level up to 40 too.

I'm Level 39, Kasumi-san is still 38, and Soushi and Aikawa are up to 33.

My level goes up the day after tomorrow, and Kasumi-san should reach 40 sometime next week.

Soushi and Aikawa are cutting it close, though.

Kasumi-san and I have been running the Flirting Strategy and fighting all day at appropriate-level floors to scrape out our levels.

Telling them to do the same thing—Aikawa might manage, but will Soushi be all right?

"Ahhhh, I'm aliiive——let's rest here a bit~"

The branch interior is air-conditioned, and Aikawa lets out a strange cry.

Is that a panda call?

"We don't have much time, so hurry it up."

School's back in session now, after all.

Mom agreed to push dinner back a little, so our curfew is home around 7 PM—but even so, that leaves only about three hours a day of dungeon time.

September looks like it's going to be busy.

"Welcome back, everyone~. I'm stopping by Mia-chan's place on the way home from work, so hold the parfait for me. A hot day calls for a parfait~"

You eat them on the not-hot days too, you know.

I greet Shiraishi-san, sitting at the counter inside the dungeon.

"Haruki-san. Do you have a moment? It won't take long."

"What is it? Ah—go on ahead, you three."

I'm led into the back room.

Oh, so this is what's back here.

Weapon storage, and a vault for bought materials, maybe?

I'm taken by the hand to the space beside the stairs going up to the second floor.

And there......

"!?"

I got kissed......

On the mouth.

"......That was a see-you-off kiss."

Whooooa.

"Wh-wh-why all of a sudden?"

"Felt like it. Now, off you go. When my shift ends, I'll catch up with you......"

F-felt like it, was it.

Well then, nothing to be done.

Passing the counter, I get the white-eye treatment from Shiraishi-san.

Shiraishi-san is Level 29 too—Floor 30 coming up next Monday.

Her stats sharpened her hearing as well, so she heard, apparently.

'That's a bit much even for on-duty hours, isn't it?'

Ah, now she's getting scolded.

'That spot is a camera dead zone, so it's fine.'

That's not the problem here.

But it was "felt like it," so nothing to be done.

I head to the warehouse on cloud nine.

The Chiba Dungeon's climate is everlasting spring.

The dungeon ignores the outside temperature, always at a pleasantly warm setting.

︙

︙

"Huh?"

"Is something the matter?"

About an hour after Kasumi-san joined us, we called it a day.

The three of them are supposed to help a little at Mia-san's shop, which is nearly ready to open, so I figured I'd just pay my respects and head home......

But there's a crimson presence inside the shop.

......A person?

Green is Mia-san, the glowing one is Shiraishi-san.

Two other reds, one of them blazing red.

The summer crowds did bring the odd red person here and there.

But I've never seen one this deep red before.

So people like that exist, huh......

"Someone's inside. A presence I don't know."

"You don't? Nishino-san and Higashi-san were supposed to start as part-timers today...... You've met them before, haven't you?"

"Ah—one of them, maybe."

Those two were red back then too.

"So 【Presence Detection】 can even tell people apart. Nice~"

"Look, you could just walk up and see who it is, you know."

"But this way you can mentally prepare. You can dodge people you'd rather not meet."

Soushi and Aikawa's exchange.

At Floor 30 and Floor 40 you can pick entry-class jobs too, but the question became whether you'd give up on an upper-rank job to take one......

"Huh? Aikawa, didn't 【Illusionist】 show up for you?"

There's a perfectly good upper-rank job right there.

How about an illusion panda doppelganger?

"Ahh,...... nah, I'll pass. Aaand open—I'm hoooome~"

Why not, exactly?

Aikawa opens the shop door and goes inside.

"Welcome baaack~"

Greeted by Shiraishi-san.

Mia-san must be in the workshop in back.

And then, the sunburned delinquent girl.

Word is she worked the summer at a beach house in the Saitama Dungeon.

UV inside a dungeon is supposedly less than half the surface's, but she's tanned to the point of "and she still got THIS dark, huh."

And then......

"Welcome back."

The other girl is here too.

The delinquent one was Higashi, so this must be Nishino-san......

The owner of that blazing-red presence is this girl.

No glasses today, huh.

Maybe her level went up and she doesn't need them inside the dungeon anymore.

Her skin isn't tanned, but...... she's slimmed down even more, I think.

She used to hide in the delinquent girl's shadow, but now she stands tall.

Her whole atmosphere has changed so completely that the changed presence makes sense.

It seems something happened over the summer......