ch281-ch300 · 287-ch287
Chapter 287: Thirty Triple-Ranks
"Haruki, wake up. Haruki—"
"!?"
A dream...... yes.
Burned again.
Again, I couldn't tell what got me.
No reaction from 【Presence Detection】, and nothing to be seen.
Probably fired at me from the darkness the instant I showed an opening.
Seriously—what a cowardly thing to pull.
Either way, in reality I'd now be dead twice over.
All I can do is be glad it was a dream.
"Hey, hey, you okay? Sato-san's group just went into Floor 30. The last group. Once they're back, we retreat."
Checking the time, we're past schedule.
Our group's turn doesn't exist.
Sato-san's group should normally have been called off for running over time, but the women's fervent pleas earned them one last run.
Sato-san is handsome, sensible, and good-natured on top of it—can't be helped.
His one flaw is being taciturn.
According to the class's black gal, not talking is a no—but if you're handsome, it's OK, apparently......
He's put up with the women all this way, so he's earned at least that much of a reward.
"I'm fine, I'm up. Any injuries?"
"A few, I think. Shiraishi-san was healing them. Surprising, but quite a few combat-class people got hurt."
Upper jobs make them misjudge their strength, or they just have to try out the new skills.
If things don't move the way you intend, someone's bound to get hurt.
Good thing Shiraishi-san came along.
"Retreat prep?"
"Only the luggage left to load where you were sleeping."
Already done, then.
Kasumi-san will be back in under ten minutes.
In that case......
"I'll go cull some of the ones farther up. Tell Kasumi-san when she's back."
"Ah, Hondo-san's group already went for that, too."
Ehhh.
Nothing for me to do, then.
Well, I'll go help anyway.
I'll keep my distance so I don't get in the way.
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"So there've been no ogres up to here, huh. Well, easy is fine by me. Right—three floors left, let's hurry—!"
"OHHH!"
Regrouped with everyone before the 'Gate to Floor 28'.
From the 'Gate to Floor 30' to here, apparently no fighting at all.
Anego-san led the column, too.
"Fighting all day on Floor 30, and still full of energy, huh."
"Well, Kasumi-san did most of the fighting. I just ran."
Kasumi-san, for her part, is a woman of few words right now.
She looks tired.
Aikawa, who danced all day, is likewise dead on her feet.
From here the combat-class go up front, so let them rest properly.
I'll manage the rear somehow.
We press on at a jog through the gathering dark.
Along the way, I witness the moment Robo-ko-san falls in love......
That taciturn man took the charging station with the robot on it—without a single word—from Robo-ko-san, who'd started falling behind.
The woman whose only interest in this world is the robot went all pink in the face.
Maybe I was deceived by the gal after all.
Turns out cool characters win, every single time.
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"We've arrived, haven't we. Is everyone here? Headcount first, then dinner."
'No moooore.'
'Dinner is biscuits AGAIN? I want something warm—'
'Let's split into dinner crew and watch crew—'
'Long live the Spear King—!'
By the time we moved from Floor 26 down to Floor 25, it was already pitch dark......
Everyone looks worn out.
The only energetic one is me, who slept all day.
Then let me clear out the Forest Ogres around here quickly.
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'Now, do you know this one? Yes, clever girl~ There we go—good girl, gooood girl~'
Past 9 PM, the campsite has gone quiet.
Even the night-watch people are nodding off—the festival feels like it never happened......
People showing off their new jobs, bragging about skills, some saying they'll open a shop at HQ after this request ends......
Now only the 【Tamer】 lady's voice, talking to her doggo, carries across the camp.
The lady has apparently become an 【Animal Keeper】—a brand-new job.
The 【Tamer】 upper job teaches skills that enable communication with animals, so she took it right away.
Even as a 【Tamer】, the pet seemed to understand what we said—but with the upper job, apparently the human side can now sense what the pet is thinking and feeling.
I understand what the lady's saying too, so let me do some good-girl patting as well......
(Ah, one spawned. Close to the main camp. Oh—Sato-san will take it......)
The other energetic one is Sato-san.
He was granted a run past his time slot, so he declared he'd stand watch all night.
He was up all day, too—will he be okay?
Sato-san's new job is 【Strategist】.
The 【Trap User】 upper job.
Wait—Sato-san was a 【Trap User】?
He's struggled along as scout-class, and then he becomes scout-class AGAIN as an upper job......
Then again, both his subs are scout-class too—three scout jobs, dyed-in-the-wool scout material.
(Oh—he got it. No roar. Magnificent. Wait—there are no traps stretched around the main camp, right? What if he comes back and steps in one......)
Also, the clothing-shop duo became 【Master Seamstress】 and 【Master Craftsman】.
The needle lady is 【Master Seamstress】, the scissors lady 【Master Craftsman】.
The scissors lady couldn't decide in one go, it seems—she apologized to everyone at dinner.
I couldn't decide last time either, so I know exactly how she feels.
And the level-29 person became 【Middle Sword User】—her level hit 30 too, apparently.
Robo-ko-san lamented that no robot-line job appeared.
Upper jobs mostly branch off from skills, so unless you take a beginner job that teaches robot-operating skills, you're out of luck.
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"So nothing until morning, huh...... What is with you, anyway?"
At breakfast, Anego-san fixes me with the side-eye.
"Well, Sato-san took care of the ones that got close......"
I glance at Sato-san—he yawns.
Sleepy, huh.
Today we head straight back to Floor 1.
The plan is "back by 7 PM," but will Sato-san hold up?
"Haruki-san, once we set out, please sleep a little on my cart. On the way back Anego-san will take the front as well, and everyone is an upper-job holder now. There is no need to worry, I'd say."
I'll take you up on that offer.
Putting the injured and exhausted on the wagons was the plan from the start.
I want Sato-san to rest, but he'd never accept it if I just said so—so I'll sleep first and swap with him.
"Not just me—let's have everyone who's tired take turns resting. Ah, I'll be pulling a wagon too, you know?"
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Even if I'm told to sleep, there's no sleeping through Forest Ogre attacks......
It was quite the battle noise.
I heard explosions, too—that was my imagination, right?
Right now I've traded places with Kasumi-san, and Sato-san sleeps in the back.
Can't tell if he's actually asleep, but I'll pull the wagon as quietly as I can.
"The combat-class kids look like they're having fun. The production-class ones are all 'hurry home and test my new skills,' though."
On the road, chatting with Mia-san as she pulls the neighboring wagon.
"They've spread out a bit too much. I'll go warn them."
Kasumi-san is off.
"My, my—someone enjoyed themselves again last night, hmm?"
Hondo-san sidles up with perfect timing.
"Ah, well......"
"That was quite the sour face just now. Say—you lot, what will you do about the New Dungeon application?"
Being Triple-Rank by the end of this month means you can join the survey of the new dungeon that will appear at New Year's—that one.
This promotion request was originally meant to clear that condition.
It just snowballed into "might as well rank up the production-class folks while we're at it"......
"I'll file the application, at least," Mia-san answers.
"As for us, if we apply at HQ, we'd likely be assigned to survey some regional dungeon. The nearby ones will probably go to the top-tier adventurers. Chiba has no Triple-Ranks but you, Mia, right? Rather than being shipped off far away, I was thinking you'd all do better filing at Chiba. So I was curious what you kids would do."
Hondo-san's group looks plenty strong, but their main battlefield is apparently the 20s floors.
The survey of dungeons appearing in the Tokyo area will be prioritized for the top-tier adventurers who cycle the 30s floors, then......
"Oh, that's a good one. Better for Anego and the others to do it in Chiba than get sent somewhere regional. Once we're back on Floor 1, let me sound everyone out. If there's going to be a festival anyway, raising hell together sounds more fun."
"See? With you kids along, don't you think even the general-class could join?"
The application condition is being Triple-Rank, and that should be all......
There was no combat-class versus general-class distinction, right?
Plenty of general-class jobs have skills useful for a survey.
Mia-san, for one, had that skill that tells you the name of any metal you touch.
"As for you kids—you know how it is. It's a secret, okay?"
Even among the general-class, with Aikawa's dance in play, they could fight well enough.
We proved exactly that this time.
Each dungeon's survey goes up to Floor 30.
With Aikawa around, and as long as no one steps into a boss floor, it seems workable......
"High schooler Triple-Ranks? That would make an enormous stir, you know. What is the point of keeping it secret?"
That we hold upper jobs is already known.
That's the "showed too much strength" situation.
Not just me—Soushi apparently stood out on Floor 29 as well.
Normally you'd be delighted to announce your Triple-Rank to the world and brag about it.
It's just that in my case, the attention is the problem......
"You'd get probed over things that don't hurt a bit, that's how. No—wait, it would be bad if people learned about Kasumi-san and Haruki-san......"
"My stomach DID hurt, you know......"
Hondo-san is convinced.