ch321-ch340 · 331-ch331

Chapter 331: The Masked Man, Matsumoto 【Umemoto Atsushi】 Part 1

SIDE: Umemoto Atsushi (【Berserker】)

What had been eating away at my body wasn't poison after all—it was a curse.

The other day, thanks to an adventurer with the rare job 【Shamaness】, that curse was completely exorcised, and I am at last fully cured.

'In the end, I couldn't do anything for you at all, could I. I'm so sorry.'

That was what Ai-san said to me the day my treatment ended.

That isn't true.

When the treatment began, the pain left me unable even to stand—and thanks to her recovery magic, I got my daily life back.

(If Ai-san hadn't been there, I might be a wreck by now......)

Apparently Ai-san had originally been an Association HQ employee, and once her secondment ended, she returned to headquarters the other day.

A few days after that, I was watching TV when a news segment about her came on.

'Japan's second 【Saint】 is born! Her name: Fuyumi Ai! Everything but her name is a mystery. The Association has released nothing beyond the name, but according to this program's own investigation, she is from Chiba and worked in a clerical post at a hospital inside a dungeon. Her three sizes, from the top——'

I'd heard she held an upper recovery job, but never that she was a 【Saint】......

She seems to have kept it secret until now, and the announcement came to lighten the burden on Kuwashima-san, the other 【Saint】 at headquarters.

The story about her moving into the HQ building already told me she had some kind of special power......

But with my criminal record being what it is, I can't enter the HQ building.

So I couldn't help with the move itself—all I could do was see her off from this side.

I thought I'd probably never see her again, but she contacts me often.

She knows all about how thin my wallet is, too.

She worries about me a great deal.

And in practical terms, with Ai-san gone, the food from next door stopped coming, and I'm in no shape to cover even tomorrow's meals.

I can't enter the dungeon except for treatment, so the part-time work at Dr. Amamiya's clinic is gone too.

Now that my body is healed, I figured I'd look for day labor.

I'd just come out to the station plaza with that in mind when I ran into a familiar face.

"Oi, Umemoto! You—Umemoto, right?"

"......Akai, is it?"

Akai Tetsuo.

What's he doing in Chiba?

And with him is......

"......"

Furuta Yukiya.

We've never spoken, but I know him one-sidedly.

One of the only five Quadruple adventurers in Japan.

He looks depressed.

Did something happen?

"We're going drinking right now—why don't you come? It's been ages, and I want to hear what you've been up to. Right, Yukiya?"

Akai and I go back—we both spent our glory-less days as scout-types, way back when.

"It's still morning, you know? ......Your treat?"

I have no money.

I haven't had a drink in forever.

"Yukiya's."

Let's dine on a Quadruple adventurer's generosity.

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"I know better than anyone that I've got no talent! That's WHY I've worked this hard! I tried everything, busted my gut trying to be useful to everyone! And now, of all times...... They're my own party! The people I've fought beside! DAMMIT ALL!!"

"He's in a bad way, huh."

Apparently Furuta Yukiya is at odds with his own party.

Even an adventurer of his caliber, it seems, isn't strong enough for 'Blue Ocean'—Japan's number one adventurer party.

"Let him talk. You of all people know exactly how he feels, right?"

Fair.

I know the feeling all too well.

I got kicked out too.

And afterward, I thought I'd found true companions—only to burden them into dissolving the party.

I've stopped dreaming that dream lately, but......

"So he challenged Watanabe-san to prove his strength, and lost?"

Apparently 'Blue Ocean' is scheming to drop this Furuta Yukiya and bring in Watanabe-san of the 【Spear King】 instead.

They're aiming for Floor 50 in earnest, it seems.

"No, that's the thing—he lost to someone ELSE before he could challenge Watanabe-san."

Someone besides Watanabe-san who could beat a Quadruple adventurer?

Exactly one person comes to mind.

A boy I have a feeling I've seen somewhere......

The boy they say was bitten by a venomous snake and brought to Dr. Amamiya's.

Kasugano Haruki......

A presence with an odd, chilling intensity to it.

If it's him...... perhaps.

If he picked a fight with Watanabe-san, it wouldn't be surprising for him to set him off.

"What the hell is up with that old man!"

Old man?

Apparently I had it wrong......

"And get this—that old man lost to 'Sword Saint-chan' yesterday, too. Man, it was something. She cut clean through a wooden sword with a wooden sword. On the surface, mind you? Yeah, that girl really is something special. Anyway, Yukiya took it hard and planted himself in the station plaza, and when I came by this morning he was still sitting in the same spot. Leaving him be was more than this shinobi could bear, I shall say. That's why I invited him out for drinks."

"On the surface? Well, whatever. Excuse meee! Karaage, extra-large, please! And a sashimi platter!"

Food over booze.

I'll eat my fill and bank it.

These two are rich, so there's no problem at all.

Yes—these two.

Akai Tetsuo is, in truth, 'Red Shadow the Ninja.'

【Ninja】—the job standing at the very peak of the scout class......

Akai, once kicked around as a baggage carrier in an all-women's party, woke up one day a 【Ninja】, and now he's a world-famous video streamer.

He must have plenty of money.

"Come on, tell me your story too. What are you doing these days? I heard your body gave out, but you look fine."

Well, we did share hard times back in the day, so I suppose I can tell him a little......

Besides, he's buying the food.

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Hah—morning, is it?

Yesterday was a lot.

We went into that place in the morning and drank clear through to night.

Akai had slipped away at some point, I somehow got the plastered Yukiya to pay, and I came home.

Hm?

"P-Pyeee—"

And there's a MAN sleeping next to me!

Wh—what is this?!