ch281-ch300 · 294-ch294

Chapter 294: The Job You Want

Anyone who thinks Kasumi-san is feeling unwell, or that she ate something weird—get out of the dungeon.

"But didn't you say it was better to think about stability and pick a spear job with weapon enhancement? Why so suddenly? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

I'm leaving too!

"During the promotion operation the other day, I found myself thinking about many things. There were those who got the job they wanted, those who didn't and reluctantly settled for another, and even those who gave up the job they were aiming for for someone else's sake...... There are reasons for choosing a job that go beyond efficiency and stability...... Sitting at a reception desk alone, I never could have understood that......"

(The one who gave up was the clothing-shop lady with the scissors, right?)

She couldn't choose in one go, huh.

She actually wanted a combat job, and a powerful one called 【Dual Swordsman】 had even shown up.

Apparently the scissors lady promised the needle lady that once she got her upper-rank job she'd quit the clothing shop and devote herself to adventuring, and the two of them started their shop together.

Even on the way to the operation, she'd been talking with the needle lady about how this might be their last adventure......

But when the job selection screen appeared, she suddenly found she couldn't choose.

Wanting to stay with the needle lady and the clothing shop—that was her real feeling, it turns out.

In the end, the scissors lady became a 【Master Craftsman】, the upper-rank job that corresponds to 【Leatherworker】.

On the way back, the two of them bickered the whole way, but the needle lady looked somehow happy about it.

"I've known those two a long time, but this may be the first time I've ever seen them laughing that hard. Those girls—no, adventurers as a whole—I never understood them at all. I truly am a failure of an employee...... But thanks to you, Haruki-san, it seems I can change. You took me out into the dungeon, you made me a Triple-Rank, you devoted yourself to helping everyone gain their upper-rank jobs—I am grateful for all of it. Thank you very much."

Kasumi-san gives a graceful bow.

Kasumi-san hasn't changed.

Back when I first started adventuring, she always sent me off with a graceful bow just like this.

From the very beginning, she worried about us—from the heart, about adventurers.

That much is the honest truth.

"Please raise your head. There's no question that getting those people to Triple-Rank was Kasumi-san's doing."

"No—none of it would exist without you, Haruki-san. Therefore! If those girls got to choose the jobs they love, it would be strange for you not to be able to have the job you love, wouldn't it? So, Haruki-san—please take the job you want."

So THIS is where it connects......

"That's right. This is a surprise present from us! Of course we want to give you something that'll make you happy! So hurry up and pick the one you like already!"

"Well, this surprise had another meaning to it, too."

The other meaning of the surprise?

Soushi says something loaded.

"Ah—that's still a secret! I'm not satisfied yet! Next time it's MY turn!"

She's eager to do it again?!

I'll have to be on guard when the Mia-san surprise comes around......

"If you haven't decided yet, please take your time. We will be dismantling the Manticore. And of course, it doesn't have to be 【Charge Armorer】, you know? If you became a 【Spear Saint】 for my sake, and that is the job you want, Haruki-san, I would welcome it."

"It's not showing up."

Doesn't look like anything new appeared.

"How unfortunate."

With a captivating smile, Kasumi-san turns back toward the Manticore's corpse.

"Which parts of a Manticore even sell?"

"They can't sell—it's a secret, duh. But if we bring back the claws and fangs, maybe Mia-san will make something for us?"

Soushi and Aikawa follow after her.

Still, being told to choose, huh......

'Available Jobs'

【Enhanced Warrior】

【Super Spearman】

【Multi-Spearman】

【Immortal Shielder】

【Wide-Area Shielder】

【Charge Shielder】

【Detector】

【Tracker】

【Stealth User】

【Ranger】

【Illusionist】

【Assassin】

【Stargazer】

(【Stalker】)

【Berserker】

【Charge Armorer】

'Next'

......Nothing new.

Since we weren't supposed to fight the Manticore today, I hadn't decided yet.

It was going to be a choice between 【Super Spearman】 or 【Multi-Spearman】, settled on tonight's phone call with Kasumi-san.

But if I'm told to take whatever I want......

(【Charge Armorer】 it is.)

Kasumi-san even said it suits me.

If there's something beyond hyper mode, I want to see what lies beyond it.

Name: Kasugano Haruki

Job: 【Charge Shielder】【Charge Armorer】new【Charge Spearman】【Scout】

Lv: 44

HP: 3299/3300

MP: 520/880

Strength: 176

Endurance: 220

Agility: 154

Magic: 88

Skills: 【Gate】【Charge・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Armor Enhancement・Shield・High】【Charge・Shield・Strength Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Endurance Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Agility Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Magic Up・High】【Charge・Shield・Shield Shock】【Charge・Shield・Magic Shield】【Charge・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Weapon Enhancement・Spear】【Charge・Spear・Strength Up】【Charge・Spear・Endurance Up】【Charge・Spear・Agility Up】【Charge・Spear・Magic Up】【Charge・Spear・Aiming】【Presence Concealment】【Presence Detection】【Scouting】【Night Vision】

Skill Points: 13

Alright!

I'd like to learn some skills too, but that's not something to do inside a boss area.

Time to help with the dismantling.

"Have you decided already?"

"Yes. I'm going 【Charge Armorer】."

"Aww, Watanabe-san called it. And here I thought you'd stack 【Charge Shielder】."

"Huh? What about 【Ninja】? You're fine not taking 【Illusionist】!?"

If 【Ninja】 had shown up, I wouldn't have been able to decide, huh.

Soushi gets me better than most—but I've already gone and picked 【Charge Armorer】.

This was to be my final job acquisition—'Spring Shadow' the 【Ninja】 has become a phantom that never was.

"I'll help. What do I do?"

"We're looking for the claws, but they're scattered and probably unusable. Please pack up the talons set over there."

I open the 'Left Hand Gate' and send the talons from the Manticore's wings to the warehouse.

The Manticore has four legs, and yet it has claws on its wings too, huh.

Well, the tail has a whole extra head on it, so no point fretting over details.

"These are bat wings, huh. Fancy, though. I hear a down duvet made from griffon feathers goes for a hundred million yen."

Aikawa, who's been pulling fangs from the face, says this while looking at the wing section we're not storing.

"A hundred million! That's insane."

What kind of dreams do you have under a hundred-million-yen duvet......

Which dungeon had the griffons again?

"Speaking of a hundred million—did you watch that 'Blue Ocean' video? Apparently if they bring the motorcycle back too, it'll sell for a hundred million."

Hey, Soushi!

The 'Blue Ocean' topic, in front of Kasumi-san......

"The figure was put up by the corporations as a formal request, so the real price is probably lower. If it went through the Association, half that, I'd say? Either way, the Chiba branch couldn't buy it."

A NORMAL reaction!

Apparently as long as you don't mention 'Sword Saint-chan,' you're safe.

"Still, that's fifty million! Hey, let's go check out Floor 41 after this. Just to look. Just looking is fine, come on."

"You just said yourself it can't be sold because it's a secret. Oh? This is a talon, right? Ah—no good, huh. Still, what power, though. How much MP did that take?"

I find a shard of talon among the scattered chunks of Manticore meat, but it's far too small to make a weapon from.

"Fourteen hundred. Half of that was 【Conversion・Water】, so the 【Water Pressure】 itself comes to seven hundred. Even so, I couldn't finish it in one hit. DAMMIT."

"That's plenty, come on. Wasn't the problem just that the stakes weren't tall enough? If it had hit the head dead-on, it might have done way more damage."

The legs are torn clean off, and yet the head looks undamaged.

"That part was my strategy error. I set the angle so it should have reached the head as well, but the Manticore's Magic was higher than I expected, and it seems the water magic got deflected. The fix, as you said, Haruki-san, is longer stakes and concentrating the fire on the head."

The Magic stat is your magic defense, just as the number reads.

The reason the Manticore wouldn't be much of a threat on the surface is probably that its stats are specialized into Magic.

It also makes sense that it kept firing ice chunks bigger than a construction-site cone for over a full minute.

Water magic—or rather, attacks via 【Water Pressure】—lose power with even a little distance.

That slight loss of power is why it couldn't pierce the Manticore's skin up high.

By the way, the plan was apparently to retreat on the spot if Soushi's fujutsu couldn't inflict a fatal wound.

Judging they could push through in that state, they went and scored a magnificent kill instead.

"Haruuu-kun! Can you put a 【Gate】 open facing down from up here?"

Aikawa, still not giving up on Floor 41, is peering down the cliff.