ch261-ch280 · 266-ch266

Chapter 266: A Monster-Type Special Skill

"So what's Soushi's skill, then? That orc grill was THAT good—is it something baking-related, like 'Oven'? 'Time Compression' doesn't make food taste better, right?"

"Anego-san, isn't the manners of it not to ask about special skills?"

Kasumi-san chides Anego-san as she presses further with her questions.

"The skill's name is 【Cooking】."

"Natsukawa-san, you mustn't answer either!"

He went and told her.

"Well, come on—everyone here is comrades only, right? Everyone'll keep it secret. Right?"

Soushi asks the delinquent girls to agree.

The two of them probably don't really grasp how amazing his skill is.

But at being called comrades, the delinquent girl looks a little happy.

This is......

"All of it, you mean? Same as 'Blue Shadow'?"

Right—special skills come in all sorts of types. There are skill-type ones like 【Fireball】, usable with 1 MP per cast, and then there are job-type ones like Soushi's 【Cooking】, which lets you use the entire skill set of the 【Cook】 job.

Needless to say, job-type special skills are powerful—and rare.

Besides Ao-san, a famous one: an adventurer whose name comes up constantly in the world's-strongest debates, overseas—a person holding 【War】, the special skill of 【Warrior】. In English notation it's the 【War】 of 【Warrior】, which is plenty menacing......

"I see—so THAT'S how he got that edge with those weapons...... Oh right, when we took a request together, I thought it was a skill-type special skill that boosts sharpness, like 【Slash】....... But why keep it secret? Well, same as 'Blue Shadow,' anti-jealousy measures, huh? If he's going to be an adventurer rather than run a shop, that's probably the smarter move. Soushi, my bad. I won't tell anyone else."

She won't tell anyone else—but she has locked on.

You can see it in her eyes.

The number of people coming around this shop is about to grow again......

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"Then shall we hear Nishino-san's group's story first? We do need to send the two of them home......"

Dinner over, it's time for the strategy meeting.

Mia-san has closed the shop and is listening from a little way off, eating as she does.

"Yes! I want Soushi to make my meals! Ah—and I'd like to ask Shiraishi-san too!"

The delinquent girl, Higashi Hina, leans forward and speaks up.

The girl at the center of it, Nishino Miki, stays seated and just stares at Soushi.

Locked on from this side as well, huh.

"As things stand, she can only eat on days she has her part-time shift, and only when Natsukawa-san is present. That much we should fix. What concerns me is the cause. And the timing—before summer break, no less. She can't have tasted anything Natsukawa-san made at that point. Without a detailed explanation of all this, I can't in good conscience ask Natsukawa-san or Shiraishi-san to help."

Hm?

So it's NOT Soushi's fault?

"Ah...... well, that's......"

The delinquent girl suddenly turns evasive.

Seems something does come to mind......

"......Did you use it?"

Use WHAT?

Anego-san's voice drops in tone.

Ah, that's a scary kind of feeling.

Nothing like Shirai-san's bluster at all.

The very air is trembling, electric.

Scarier than the Ogre King, maybe?

She's glaring at......

"Yes. I used it."

Nishino-san answers, wearing a "is that a problem?" expression.

Not the slightest bit cowed, meeting Anego-san's gaze head-on.

Impressive.

Me, Soushi, and the delinquent girl have all gone "hyee"......

"Hey! Does Kokoa know about that!?"

Mia-san, who'd been eating off to the side, stands and comes over.

"She doesn't know. Coco-sis wouldn't help me level up at all, and we couldn't do anything about it ourselves. I was going to try everything we could, and so...... I used it."

So WHAT did you use?

Is it just me and Soushi with question marks floating over our heads?

Aikawa has the "none of my business" look already.

You're good at that, you know.

"Hey now—fighting is bad, you two! What happened?"

Shiraishi-san, who volunteered to do the dishes, comes out from the kitchen.

If we're going to be eating here more often, we'll need to think about getting a dishwasher, too.

"Nishino-san. If you're going to ask Natsukawa-san and Shiraishi-san for their help, I believe you should tell them about that. Do you mind?"

"I have nothing to be ashamed of. Go ahead."

The girl's whole atmosphere has shifted again.

Was the flustered act from earlier just that—an act?

Right now she's completely composed.

"Aaah. I'm gonna call Kokoa. Haruki—you staying? If you don't want to be around for this, I'll send you home."

"No problem here."

I don't really get it, but this is getting serious......

She said I could listen, so I'm allowed to stay, right?

I'm curious—no leaving me out of the loop, please.

When I look at Kasumi-san, she nods, so it seems all right to stay and listen.

"Shiraishi-san, hear this too. It's about Miki's special skill."

Mia-san heads out to the shop, and Anego-san starts immediately after.

"This concerns a special skill, so just as with Natsukawa-san's skill earlier, I need you all to keep it strictly secret."

Kasumi-san makes the secrecy pledge.

Shiraishi-san is Association staff, so that goes without saying—these words are for the three of us, I suppose.

"The skill is 【Blood Suck】. I'm fairly sure it's a monster-type special skill. In Japan, dungeons with humanoid-adjacent monsters aren't made public, but overseas there are supposedly 'Vampires'—monsters equivalent to the 'vampire.' Her special skill lets her use the same power as one of those."

Ooh, and that's even rarer, huh.

If it were ONE skill a monster uses, that'd make it a skill-type special skill.

But Nishino-san's 【Blood Suck】 can use ALL of a 'vampire's' skills.

THAT's what a monster-type special skill is.

If her skill were named 【Sand Golem】, she'd be able to use things like 【Mimicry】.

"Huh? Speaking of 'Vampires'—a while back, there was an adventurer in some country or other who caused a 'Vampire Incident,' right? Don't tell me it's the same skill as THAT?"

Soushi asks, as if something just came back to him.

The 'Vampire Incident'? What in the world is that?

"In all likelihood, yes. And that's the problem. Nishino-san—did you use that skill on anyone besides Higashi-san?"

What does that mean?

So the deep-red girl drank the delinquent girl's blood?