ch261-ch280 · 276-ch276

Chapter 276: What You Need Are Friends

"Brought you something. A book Haruki loooves."

What you need are friends!

Thankfully, Kasumi-san isn't here right now.

Since I'll be staying a while, she's gone to phone my mother and explain the situation.

Let's see......

"These are textbooks!"

Yes.

My tests start the day after tomorrow, after all.

Yes, yes, I just LOVE studying.

Grrrnnn.

"Hey, what happened?"

A girl walks into the hospital room.

The blood-sucking girl, this is.

She seems to have escaped from the lab.

I'd like the door properly locked, please.

"Got bitten by a venomous snake,"

says Soushi, glossing it over.

Close enough—it'll do.

Kasumi-san is presumably giving my mother the same story.

"Bitten on the head? ......So dungeons have snakes, huh. Um, that eye of yours...... will it be okay?"

She seems genuinely worried.

Right now my head is wrapped round and round in bandages with the right eye covered.

I'm in hospital clothes, lying in bed.

A private room—or rather, apparently I'm the only inpatient here.

The serum's already been administered, so treatment now amounts to Shiraishi-san and Soushi dropping by now and then to cast magic on me.

They manage MP by staying outside as much as possible.

All-you-can-eat parfaits at the surface-side restaurant.

Vigorous exercise is off-limits, so no dancing.

A dance every two minutes would be brutal even in perfect health, after all.

"I could see fine until a bit ago, so I think it'll be all right. But until the poison clears, I'm not allowed to move it—that's the state I'm in. It should heal naturally, but until then I can't leave the dungeon."

"Eh? So you're hospitalized HERE. Those textbooks...... Your tests start the day after tomorrow too, right? What are you going to do?"

Even if she asks what I'll do, being unable to leave the dungeon leaves me no options.

What WILL happen—I'm the one who wants to know.

"Can't do anything about it. I should have enough points banked that even a zero wouldn't hold me back a year, though......"

There'll be makeup exams, probably, and I should manage to graduate.

Maybe I'll get Soushi, the makeup-exam pro, to consult......

Well, in my case the attendance count is the scarier problem, so all I can do is hope this doesn't drag on.

"Too bad, after we all studied so hard together, it won't even show in the results......"

"Well, the studying itself won't go to waste. I'll just have to believe it helped for entrance exams."

No effect on entrance exams—let me believe that.

"Poison, huh......"

"Oh—I'm making dinner here, so pass that along to Mia-san."

Soushi shoos the blood-sucking girl off.

"Yeah. See you at dinner, then. Ah...... 'scuuuse meee—"

"Hm? What is this?"

Kasumi-san has returned.

I didn't notice at all.

I've been told not to use skills, so even 【Presence Detection】 was off—but I should have heard footsteps......

Maybe I've been leaning on 【Presence Detection】 too much lately.

If I'd kept my ears open, I might have noticed that tail-snake could still move......

"She seems to have come to visit out of concern. Ah—I'll head back to recover MP too."

Being considerate, maybe, Soushi leaves the room as well.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm."

"Was she angry?"

I ask Kasumi-san about my mother.

"Not at all. She was terribly worried. She will bring a change of clothes later, but since ma'am cannot enter the dungeon, you won't be seeing her......"

She could enter if she got a license, but going out of her way for a visit isn't happening.

Gathering the paperwork takes time, and at the very least not today.

"Please tell her not to come. And under no circumstances encourage her to get a license."

"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm. She is worried about you—I do not think that is right. There are your tests to consider, you know? At the very least, it cannot come from MY mouth. Why would you say such a thing? Adolescent rebellion? Oh my, that is exactly what it is...... Fufufu."

Kasumi-san laughs at her own words.

Until a moment ago her face was probably paler than mine, so seeing her relaxed enough to laugh is a relief.

"I'm a rebellious teen!"

"Fufufu. I shall pass that along. Speaking of which, I hear Fuyumi-san will be casting recovery magic for you as well. I have asked Fuyumi-san to keep quiet about it, so that is fine—but do be careful around Ishikawa-san."

The former Akiyama-san may have noticed Soushi and the others too, but as the person Kasumi-san stopped Umemoto for—their benefactor—she's probably turning a blind eye.

Ishikawa-san is Association HQ staff, though.

Close to the chairman, to boot—trusted with top-secret protection requests.

If it comes out, all sorts of things go wrong.

"And what explanation are you giving about the poison?"

"Dr. Amamiya says she will put it delicately—patient confidentiality means she cannot discuss it. We shall say you were bitten by a habu or something outside."

There are no habu snakes around here......

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"Honestly, eating food this delicious every single day—I'm jealous of Miki-kun, I truly am. Hm? If Haruki-kun stays hospitalized, he gets to eat this too? You can stay admitted forever, for all I care."

Doctor-speak, presumably?

We're having dinner in the hospital's meeting room.

This hospital isn't that big—there's a kitchen but no cafeteria.

Present: Mia-san, Shiraishi-san, the two part-time girls, my party's four, and Dr. Amamiya.

"Hey. Haruki's in this state—what happens to next week's promotion operation?"

"That is...... To be honest, I do not wish to leave Haruki-san's side. If Haruki-san's condition does not improve, then I......"

Mia-san worries about next week.

It's not getting cancelled over me, right?

"Haru-kun gets left behind, he just follows along anyway, no? And there's no problem as long as he doesn't leave the dungeon, right? Let's just go as planned."

This girl caught sight of the 【Stalker】 on my list......

No, it can't have been. I couldn't see well through the poison—might've been hallucinating.

That fact does not exist.

"Ah, it's next week already, is it. It's become quite the rumor, you know—the 'Her Majesty the Spear King' women-only Floor 30 promotion tour. Could I join that too?"

"By the way, Doctor, your level?"

Worth asking, at least.

"15. No job. Still deciding, you see—【Staff User】 has shown up, but lately my eye's been wandering to 【Dancer】 and 【Musician】. I've been making a point of listening to music, you know."

"Rejected. Level 30 is the minimum participation requirement."

The doctor's participation is cut down without ceremony by Kasumi-san.

Speaking of jobs, that other doctor earlier......

"For you, Doctor, the 【Medic】 job has shown up, right? Why don't you become a 【Medic】?"

That doctor did examine me with the 【Examination】 skill, after all.

If that doctor says the poison is fine, that means discharge—or rather, clearance to leave the dungeon.

"Ah, 【Medic】. Most of the staff here have it, so no point in me taking it at this stage, no? If it had been 【Healer】, I might have leapt at it."

Very pragmatic.

Come to think of it, even doing medical work in the dungeon doesn't seem to make 【Healer】 appear.

【Heal】 is just a bit too cheaty.

Even poisoned, you don't die thanks to 【Heal】, after all......

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"Um. There's something I'd like you to hear...... Couldn't my special skill suck THAT poison out?"

Hm-mm?

Dinner's over, right at the everyone-disband moment—an out-of-nowhere proposal from the blood-sucking girl.

Can she?

I look at the doctor.

"Oh-ho, an interesting proposition. As for whether it's possible...... it is. No—if YOU believe you can, then it is certainly possible. That is what skills are."

Seriously?

Will I make my tests?

"That would mean...... drinking Haruki-san's blood? Even if you could draw the poison out, if it produced a dependence on having his blood drunk, I would object!"

Kasumi-san says, her tone sharp.

"I see, there was that issue too. But whether the effect even activates against someone above you...... My view: things like charming or thralling do not work on adventurers with high Magic. There is also the matter of the person himself taking care that it does not happen. Like biting down hard enough to really hurt, say."

The hurting part is a bit......

"Can you swear it will never happen? Do you not want, even a little, to charm Haruki-san? What does doing it mean to you?"

Kasumi-san fires questions rapid-fire.

Pressing her this hard isn't good, I think.

Someone has to step in......

"People have done all sorts of things for ME, and I want to give some of it back! I got out of the facility, I get delicious food every day, I've been given plenty of money, my path to university is in sight...... I'm happier than I was before! Maybe not directly, but is wanting to pay it back, little by little, really that strange?"

The blood-sucking girl shouts back.

Whoa, whoa.

This girl has quite the backbone.

But her gratitude did come through.

Mainly to Soushi, maybe?

What you need is a friend who can cook, it seems.

"Kasumi-san, that one was on you. Apologize. And then we ask Miki. Okay?"

"......You are right. I said too much. Miki-san, I apologize. What I said slighted you. I apologize, as you see."

Mia-san steps between them, and Kasumi-san bows her head in apology.

"It's fine...... If you understand, that's enough......"

"......However. On this matter, I object. That does not change."

Kasumi-san, unmoved, and Mia-san wearing an oh-dear look.

"I'm o-p-posed too. Because this girl is being weird. She used to be so energetic, and now she's this quiet—that's not normal, right? If it heals naturally, better to wait until then. Even a zero on your tests can be worked out somehow."

At the end of the opposing Shiraishi-san's gaze sits the other part-time girl—the delinquent one.

She IS too quiet.

Apparently she's as energetic as ever outside, though......

"I'm for it. Miki wouldn't do anything bad."

She spoke!

"I'm for it too. As I said, that will not happen—it is my conviction. I support my own theory. ......I would like to call it a majority vote, but in this case the patient's wishes take precedence, I expect. Haruki-kun, you decide."

Whichever way it goes, the doctor gets data either way, right?

Then it's thrown to me.

Everyone looks at me.

But Kasumi-san alone is looking at the blood-sucking girl.

"If Haruki-san chooses the treatment, I will not stop him. But if, even slightly, symptoms such as charming or thralling appear in Haruki-san...... at that moment, I will kill you."

"Kasumi-san! What are you saying!"

Mia-san flares up and starts arguing with her.

Well, those two fighting is business as usual, so I'll leave them to it.

But Kasumi-san killing someone is a no-go, right?

"It's not that I have anything against you, Nishino......"

As I start talking, the two of them quit arguing and look over.

"I don't really care either way. I'd rather not be killed, after all."

Did I sulk her?

Mia-san sulking right after this is the usual pattern too.

"Sorry. I can't have Kasumi-san killing you, Miki. So I can't take your proposal. But thank you. The thought makes me happy."

"I-it'd trouble you if I got killed...... And, the thought makes you happy...... It's not like I...... Hehehe."

I turn toward Kasumi-san and continue.

"I don't particularly need to take the tests. But I WILL take part in next week's promotion operation. If I'm going, Kasumi-san comes too, right? If you say no, I'll have Nishino drink my blood."

Skipping the tests only inconveniences me, after all.

But if Kasumi-san doesn't join the promotion operation, the operation itself might get scrapped.

It'd inconvenience everyone, Anego-san first and foremost.

There are people working hard on their leveling even now.

Cancelling is absolutely not an option.

And she can't tell me to stay behind—a masterful strategy.

This is the Hiramatsu-ryu secret art: Sweet Talk!

"Then I'd better come along to cast 【Heal】 too. If you die partway through, THAT would be the real disaster."

"Shiraishi-san leaving the branch for four days is......"

Ah, right, that problem.

My HP keeps dropping, doesn't it......

Won't it heal by next week?

Or—I could just pop back to Floor 1 regularly with 【Gate】, you know?

I could hide and tag along from behind like last time, too.

But it's down to 1 per 10 minutes now, so over 4 days that's maybe 600?

With a max HP of 3300, I'd probably be fine......

"For branch treatment requests, I'll lend out Ai-kun. That should do, no? In exchange, when you return, you WILL introduce me to those Triple-Rank adventurers, yes?"

One way or another, it looks like I can join the operation after all.

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"Haruki-san, you will not be sleeping tonight, you know? Fufufu."

That night, Kasumi-san keeps watch over me, now formally admitted.

Th-the thing in her hand is......

Textbooks, isn't it.

Having no test to take is no reason not to study, after all.

I studied like a madman after that.