ch281-ch300 · 284-ch284
Chapter 284: The Headcount Limit
"Listen up, you lot—this isn't a vacation! Today's fine, but from tomorrow we're in the 20s floors. If tomorrow is this same circus, that one isn't coming to Floor 30 with us!"
At dinner on Floor 15, Anego-san cracks down on the women swarming Sato-san and Soushi.
'Long live the Spear King—!'
'We're safe today.'
'Until midnight? What time was Sato-san's night shift again?'
'Hey, Soushi-kun, just once is enough, okay?'
'Soushiiii~'
'Grrrrrrr!'
That last one isn't the doggo—it's Aikawa.
Anego-san is angry because so many people keep begging Soushi to grill them orc.
She's worried about his MP.
We're about to have Soushi produce water and have our wipe-down time, after all.
Fufufu.
Well, 【Conversion・Water】 can produce about a whole oil drum's worth for 10 MP.
Three casts and there'd be plenty to spare.
Soushi's MP should have been 1,680 at departure, so a bit of orc grilling wouldn't hurt—but that's our little secret.
A level 30 【Staff User】 has 600 MP, and without self-buffs the 20s floors are rough, so I get the worry.
"Everyone, hand any magic stones you pick up on night watch over here, please—"
The robot seems to be out of battery.
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"Now then, we'll turn in first. Good night, Haruki-san. Shiraishi-san, please, do look after things. Wake me at once if anything happens."
It's 9 PM. The all-hands watch is over, and the Triple-Ranks turn in early to prepare for tomorrow.
Since we're keeping our upper jobs secret, we join the night watch.
My shift is first, from now until midnight.
Soushi, midnight to three.
Aikawa takes the last one, three to six.
Separating Soushi and Aikawa worries me, but Anego-san hammered the point home earlier, so it should be fine...... right?
Sato-san's shifts are midnight and three, too......
Mia-san should be up at those hours as well, so she'll keep watch over us, maybe?
"The first watch is mostly general-class, so I'm counting on you, scout-san."
"Nice to meet you, Haruki-kun. Guard us properly, now."
The two 【Tailor】s.
The one with the needle has long hair, the one with the scissors short hair—two different-flavored beauties.
Fitting for clothing-shop people, their armor is colorful.
There's also 【Fortune-Teller】 Saeki-san, and the 【Blacksmith】 lady whose robot died and left her useless.
I'm the only man here. This is going to be fun.
"Brought snacks—"
Shiraishi-san is with us too.
I don't think anything will happen on this floor, but I'll stay careful, as Kasumi-san instructed.
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I'm standing in a space lit as if by a spotlight.
But beyond the light is pitch darkness......
I'm using 【Night Vision】, yet I can't see a thing ahead.
【Night Vision】 should let you see clearly with even starlight in the dark—so beyond there must be no light at all.
Out of that darkness, someone appears.
Helmet and armor, a cross spear in hand.
I can't see the face, but that helmet looks familiar......
The one I lost at the Manticore.
Looking closely, the Shield Gauntlet and the cross spear are mine too.
And looking at myself: a school uniform and a rental spear.
Starter equipment, isn't it......?
The helmet warrior takes a stance.
......That's not Hiramatsu-ryu.
Well. So we're doing this.
I take my stance too—Hiramatsu-ryu, of course.
(It's a rental spear, so I can't use cross-blade weapon sweeps or the like......)
As if reacting to my stance, the other side attacks.
(Fast!)
A terrifyingly fast step-in and thrust.
I dodged—or meant to—and my flank is gouged by the cross blade.
It hurts......
I'm in trouble. I was underestimating him.
I'm going to die......
(【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】)
He pulls back for a moment, so I activate super mode.
This time, I attack!
The instant the skill activates—a thrust at full speed, no feint......
—and it's received effortlessly by the Shield Gauntlet.
"Gak-gak!"
Numb.
【Shield Shock】?
Shields are dirty.
Can I still move, though?
His turn now.
The attack is coming—dodge......
Where is he thrusting?
The next instant, my belly is blown away and the spear comes bursting out.
"Eh?"
From the mouth of my lower-half-separated self, a voice leaks out far too late.
(That's just dirty......)
Only when I look at where the helmet warrior stabbed do I finally grasp what was done to me.
But it's too late......
My consciousness fades......
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"Gehoh"
I cough and push myself up.
Blood spurting from my mouth...... doesn't happen.
A dream, then.
I take a deep breath and steady myself.
My belly......
I lift my shirt to check—nothing.
To dream of dying, of all things......
And in a dungeon, you remember your dreams in vivid detail.
The helmet warrior was simply too fast.
A level difference?
Even fighting properly, I don't think I could win.
No—the spearwork itself wasn't anything special......
"UGAAAH! Hah!?"
Soushi bolts upright.
Soushi seems to have had a bad dream too.
"You okay?"
"A dream!? I got attacked by a BEAR!"
Hmm. A precognitive dream, maybe?
"......"
Out of the tents and into breakfast time, the mood is gloomy.
Campsite mornings are apparently always like this.
Most people have nightmares, it seems.
And dreams you have inside the dungeon are never forgotten.
"I dreamed my shop would go under. This is undoubtedly a revelation......"
【Fortune-Teller】 Saeki-san.
No dream-divination skill, then?
"......"
Aikawa's had it rough.
Soushi's dream was just a bear attack, so he's fine—but what on earth attacked Aikawa?
"Haruki-san, have some warm soup. Fufun."
Kasumi-san is business as usual.
No—if anything, she seems in a rather good mood.
"It's the same dream every time, so I'm used to it. I can tell it's a dream, too."
Mia-san seems fine as well.
"Sounds like a few people had the same one. Big ants, apparently. Mine was the usual, though......"
Anego-san's was the usual dream, yet she's moping.
"Now then, everyone, eat up properly and let's move out. The 20s floors will slow us down today, so lunch will run late."
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"Natsuki-chan is THE BEST! With this, even Forest Ogres look easy!"
With Aikawa's dance buffs running, the production-class people are having a blast fighting.
The one fighting right now is a 【Beautician】 lady.
She uses big scissors too, but doesn't split them—she thrusts with them like a spear.
......Is 【Beautician】 a production-class job?
It's going smoothly.
With this many people, we take the direct route instead of the detours.
From today I've come up front in Sato-san's place, but I never get a turn.
From Floor 16 the magic-using orcs show up, so I thought handling them would be my job—but before I even get there, the magic orc's head bursts open.
Hondo-san's whip.
She keeps several kinds of whip hidden inside her skirt, and the one she just used has to be ten meters or longer.
And after felling it, she snickers at me like she's taunting me.
Grrrnnn.
What IS this person's job?
(Ah, a magic orc off at a distance)
I meant to take it down before it entered Hondo-san's range, but the crystal ball pounces on the orc.
The rebounded crystal ball rolls back down the slope to Saeki-san.
Poor timing—it seems Saeki-san's dance-buff turn came around......
Aikawa is distributing dance buffs near the center, by Kasumi-san.
Four people at a time, so as not to overburden her.
Everyone's lined up waiting their turn.
Maybe I'll quit fighting for a bit and just watch the dancing ladies?
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"Huh? Weren't you last? That was fast."
"Eh? Was it? Well, I had no client to guard, so I could move freely. I killed it and came straight out......"
We've reached Floor 21.
Groups of five, each containing one of the eight Triple-Ranks including Mia-san, pushed into Floor 20.
Aikawa and Soushi joined Mia-san's group, so that's a relief.
Forty-one people in all, and groups of five leave one over.
I'm the rearguard, so I go alone.
I start acting solo tonight, so I decided to demonstrate that I can fight on my own.
It's not as if they paired off close friends, you know?
The staff group with Kasumi-san, Shiraishi-san, and Sato-san went first, and I entered after seeing off the last group—Anego-san and Robo-ko-san—but I seem to have overtaken about two groups.
"Just as Kasumi-san sized you up—impressive. Or is it only natural for a 【Charge Spearman】? I worried for nothing."
Anego-san's endorsement that I'd be fine existed, but quite a few people objected at the time.
I talked them around with "as a 【Charge Spearman】, I can one-shot the General"—but apparently they had been worrying after all.
'No barking from here on, okay? Shh. Okay?'
'Woof!'
The 【Tamer】 lady talks to the doggo.
Whether it understands or not—the doggo barked......
About the boss-floor headcount limit: it seems a pet linked by a 【Tamer】 doesn't count toward the limit if you carry it in.
"Seems," as in—I actually watched five people and one animal go in, so it's certain.
Which means you can only bring as many pets as you can carry.
Incidentally, even large pets are fine if you hug them tight.
In the same way, if someone with the 【Riding】 skill is mounted, the horse doesn't count toward the limit either.
Whether a horse can pass through a 'Floor Gate' with a rider aboard is beyond me, but that's supposedly the showcase for the 【Riding】 skill......
For my part, one is the absolute limit even if I strain.
"Kasugano-kun, help me! Pull this!"
Robo-ko-san—the 【Blacksmith】 lady who brought the robot—calls out to me.
The charging station with the robot on it is stuck at the 'Gate to Floor 19'.
The robot is a machine, so we can carry in as many as we like......