ch261-ch280 · 279-ch279

Chapter 279: Yet Another Surprise

"Ngi-gi-gii! Right! 【Gate】"

I've climbed it!

Almost one minute!

I leave the 'Left Hand Gate' out so I can flee at a moment's notice.

Now, where will it spawn?

Well, as of last time, 【Presence Detection】 has given me a rough fix on the spot.

Just watch that spot.

One minute passes.

There, as expected.

"Got it memorized......"

I step into the 'Left Hand Gate.'

Back at the warehouse, a grin spills out of me before I can stop it.

All week, I've been climbing the Floor 40 cliffs......

Climb for one minute, back to the warehouse, thirty minutes of rest waiting for the monsters to vanish......

No, that's not it.

Study for thirty minutes, then a "break" of just one minute's cliff-climbing—that was the deal......

That was the deal, and somewhere along the way I got completely hooked.

Early on I hadn't learned to hold back—crushed the rocks I grabbed and fell again and again.

Every time, I came tumbling into Aikawa's room and got scolded.

And gear was no good—drive in something like an anchor line and it's gone by the next visit.

In the end, there was no way but to climb bare-handed.

The one-minute time limit was rough, too.

The boss spawns after a minute, after all.

But on day three, it hit me.

The Manticore doesn't come right away, does it.

From then on I pushed it a little, and my climbing speed improved dramatically.

Past a certain height, I must have entered the Manticore's sensing range—it started attacking the instant it spawned.

And so, day five—today, Friday.

The last day of tests, and at last I reached the clifftop.

"Now, the first target is, of course...... Ah, it's time already. Is everyone back?"

Next break is in thirty minutes, but the promised time has arrived.

Anego-san and the others come, and we hold the final briefing for the everyone-to-Floor 30 operation starting tomorrow.

It's Friday, and the tests went off without a hitch.

I think I did pretty well, so getting my adventurer license back is all but certain.

Soushi and Aikawa are out shopping with Mia-san.

Three nights and four days means a serious amount of supplies.

I was at Dr. Amamiya's hospital having blood drawn again today, so I sat out the shopping.

Speaking of the hospital—I was admitted for two days, yet there was no bill, not even for treatment.

So in exchange, they take my blood.

The blood-sucking girl is turning pale over it, too.

Well, that girl does come back literally pale as a sheet fairly often anyway.

"Yo, Haruki. The rest still not here?"

When I get to Mia-san's shop, Anego-san is already there.

This one always arrives ahead of time, doesn't she.

In the shop: the two part-time girls and Mia-san's mother.

No other customers.

A month since opening, and the customer flow has tapered right off—only weekends get busy now.

It's a weapon shop with online sales as its mainstay, so the business should be fine.

The others haven't come back yet either, it seems.

"Not yet, apparently. Kasumi-san should be along soon."

The appointed time is 5:30, and Anego-san is simply too early.

Kasumi-san and the others should be off work and heading this way about now.

"Haruki-chan. We've got a recommended weapon for you today~"

Again?

Mia-san's mother pounces on me.

This woman pushes weapons on me without mercy.

"I've already completed my shuriken collection, though......"

"Thought you'd say that, so I had Mii-chan make you a new one. Ta-dah—a Fuuma shuriken!"

"Whoa, that's big."

Unlike Mia-san, everything about her is oversized, and it's a problem......

Calm down—this woman is older than my mother.

Mia-mama-san holds out a shuriken far bigger than a normal one.

Could I even use this?

"And if you buy now, I can do two as a set at a lovely price~"

A two-piece Fuuma shuriken set!

So THAT is doable.

Whoa, no further.

Mia-san has done so much for me and I do want to repay her somehow, so I buy whatever she pushes on me every time, but......

"I'd love to, but I'm a bit short right now......"

The month just started and my allowance is already in crisis.

There were last month's payments, you see......

"Oh no, no. I'll put it on your tab as always. Just pay when you can. Honestly, this shop stays afloat thanks to you, Haruki-chan. Thank you always~"

What a fine establishment.

A shop that extends credit—kind even to allowance-bound me.

"You're being played, kid. Mia's fans get roped into buying all sorts the same way. She's making bank—the shop's not going anywhere even if you never pay."

Please don't lump me in with those gentlemen.

But a man has those moments where, even knowing he's being played, he HAS to buy.

"Anego-chan, stop butting in! Customers won't come because you lot loiter here without buying a thing!"

What a way to talk about me.

Well, women adventurers do come from HQ one after another to window-shop and leave.

But I don't think it has anything to do with the customer traffic.

"Ah, Kasumi-san is here. With Shiraishi-san, Hayashi-san—and Sato-san, too."

Navy blue with white light, red, and pale yellow.

The faint-feeling one is the scout-type's signature presence, so the yellow must be Sato-san.

The glowing ones, conversely, seem recovery-job-ish.

Shiraishi-san and Fuyumi-san are the sparkly ones.

"Then I'll wrap the shuriken and hide it in the counter—take it home with you later~"

Such thoughtful care from Mia-mama-san.

Much obliged......

"Association staff, huh...... First time meeting this Sato one."

Sato-san joins as escort, while Hayashi-san stays on the surface.

What about Shiraishi-san?

My health is in perfect shape, so her reason for tagging along is gone.

"Here we are~"

"Welcome in—"

That welcome is aimed at Sato-san, not Shiraishi-san, I see.

But Sato-san isn't a customer either.

Ah—she's getting a Fuuma shuriken pushed on her!

"Kasumi-san, could you come here a moment?"

The sun has already started going down—I have no choice but strong-arm tactics.

Since October began, the sun has been setting much earlier.

Let's finish this before Soushi and the others get back.

I take Kasumi-san's hand and head for the warehouse.

"To the warehouse, Haruki-san?"

"Yes. Please change into your armor right away. There is something I want to show you before dark."

"Hm? What would that be? Something to show me?"

And she's fully armed in a flash.

Kasumi-san, that was WAY too fast a change!

My charge isn't built up yet.

And I was supposed to be the one in a hurry......

"Tomorrow we make for the Floor 14 campsite, night two is a stay on Floor 25, day three we push for job acquisition on Floor 30 and overnight on Floor 25 again, and day four is the dash all the way to Floor 1—is that right?"

I confirm the schedule starting tomorrow, stalling for time.

"That is the plan. It will be quite leisurely—large numbers, and many general-class members among them. I would like to ask you to take the night watch on Floor 25, so on the way up you may sleep in the cart I pull, if you like?"

The clients are all women—there's no way the escort gets to do that, I think.

A couple more confirmations, and once enough MP is charged, we set off.

"Shall we be going? 【Gate】"

"Going? Where to? Ah, please wai...... Where is this? A place I've never seen. Ah, the sunset...... how beautiful...... Was the sunset what you wanted to show me?"

Kiiiing.

Hand in hand, we transfer to Floor 40.

Barren wilderness in every direction.

From below you can't see the clifftop, so her thinking it's her first time here is only natural.

The sun is sinking toward the horizon.

It's still just barely light, and I can see perfectly fine—so we're safe, I declare.

"It really is. Beautiful, isn't it. But that's not it."

"Not that? My, truly a place I don't recognize. No monsters, either. There shouldn't be flatland of this scale on the 30s floors. Not Chiba? Did you take me to another dungeon? But I have your license right here......"

Kiiiiing.

Can't place it, huh......

Maybe another hint, then?

Kasumi-san looks around and takes a step.

"Ah—that side's a cliff, so careful, please."

"A cliff?? ......Hh. Don't tell me!? No monsters, and that spear of yours has been ringing all this time because......"

Kyuuuiiing.

She looks down and startles at the height.

That's the one, all right.

The charge is about to hit around 500 points.

More than enough.

"SURPRISE! This is the top of the Floor 40 cliff! In a moment, a Manticore is going to spawn right heeere!"

A complete success—!

"Hahh. Of all the...... I let my guard down, caught up in a hand-in-hand-at-sunset situation. 'Weapon Enhancement'!!"

"Ah—mind the poison, please."

No helmet, but I put on the goggles I'd prepared.

Kyuuuiiing.

I think "my buffs too"—and the moment I do Weapon Enhancement, the spear's ring stops.

So that sound—it was because the weapon wasn't enhanced......

That was a close call, wasn't it?