ch321-ch340 · 338-ch338
Chapter 338: The Fine Print: Gates Come from the Eyes
"Floor 40, you say?"
After practice at the shrine, I came to the branch—where Watanabe-san was waiting and whisked me off to the meeting room.
The plan for this weekend had been to try fighting Minotaurs on Floor 10—and the topic that came up there wasn't Floor 10, but Floor 40.
Apparently they want to make Shiraishi-san a Quadruple.
Shiraishi-san is already Triple-Rank and holds an upper recovery job, it seems, and now she's to take yet another upper recovery job on top of it.
Recovery jobs are supposed to be rare in the first place—is there really another recovery-line job she can take?
Was Miko-san's 【Shamaness】 one of the recovery jobs, come to think of it?
"Haruki, you still haven't used 【Gate】, right?"
Soushi asks me from the side.
"You told me not to."
"Not even once?"
"Not once."
If they tell you using it might kill you, of course you don't use it.
I've been curious, though.
It's the kind of skill that turns the entire adventurer industry's common sense on its head, after all.
But while we're in the dungeon, Watanabe-san is always right beside me, so there's no sneaking a test in.
"Seems doable. Then let's check where your 【Gate】 leads, right here in the dungeon."
At Aikawa's words, Soushi and Watanabe-san nod to each other.
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"Your 'Left Hand Gate' should be parked on Floor 40. Your 'Left Eye Gate' should be on Floor 39 or Floor 41—one of the two."
The old me apparently wielded two pairs of 【Gates】—four in all—masterfully.
And of the Gates that come from the hands, the 'Right Hand Gate' was apparently only ever used at this warehouse.
So that he could always make it back to the warehouse, I suppose.
So I mustn't use a Gate from my right hand anywhere but here either.
As for the Gates that come from the eyes......
(Gates that come out of your EYES? Isn't that terrifying?)
The eye-side Gates can apparently be deployed at a distance—he'd make a 【Gate】 appear wherever his left eye was looking, then summon the 'Right Eye Gate' near himself and teleport.
Hand Gates for going and coming; eye Gates for playing around, huh...... I'd better not mix up left and right, or hands and eyes.
I heard all this inside the dungeon, so I won't forget...... right?
Originally, the deal had been that if I beat a Minotaur one-on-one this weekend, my 【Gate】 permission would come through.
A little early, but—starting today, we'll be testing whether I can use it properly......
"Okay, Haru-kun—use your 【Gate】 with your right hand. And whatever you do, don't make it come out of the left, all right?"
"Make it with my right hand" they say—but HOW, though? That's my honest reaction......
Well, might as well try.
"【Gate】."
I held out my right hand and used the skill.
Oh—it really came out.
Bigger than 'the Gates in the dungeon.'
Area-wise, maybe twice as big.
"Ohh, there it is! Without this I wouldn't even bother going into the dungeon. Walking is such a pain."
Someone is making a remark unbecoming of an adventurer—"walking is a pain"......
"Haruki, stick your right hand in and use 【Scouting】 too. You have to check the other side for monsters or people before you move."
"That's scary! Well, nothing for it...... 【Scouting】."
There's no chance a monster over there will smack my hand, right?
Tentatively, I put my hand into the 'Right Hand Gate' that had appeared and used 【Scouting】.
A landscape that isn't this warehouse spreads across my mind's eye.
Looks like it worked.
"Nothing there? Flat ground—no, there's a step to the right, a slope? It keeps going down and down...... I don't think there are any monsters, probably."
The ground is nearly flat, with only a few pebbles scattered about.
Wasteland, maybe?
"Looks correct. Then I shall confirm the far side myself."
Saying that, Watanabe-san shoved her head into the 'Right Hand Gate.'
Careful?! Aren't you trusting me a little too much?
Hmm—with just her head in, she wiggles her hips this way and that.
She seems to be checking the far side very thoroughly.
Wow, her legs are long......
"Ide-de-deh!"
Soushi is getting his ear pulled by Aikawa.
Not allowed, Soushi-kun.
That one is apparently MY girlfriend.
You keep your eyes on Aikawa.
Come to think of it, these two are dating, apparently.
Well, I did know Soushi had his eye on Aikawa......
But wasn't Soushi supposed to like busty, bouncy girls like Mami-tan?
I turn my gaze toward Aikawa......
"What?"
Noticing my rude stare, Aikawa glares at me, looking cross.
"No, I was just thinking—so you two really ARE dating......"
"Hmph."
Aikawa looks away—covering her embarrassment, maybe.
And the topic changed. Good.
"No problems, it seems. Floor 40, beyond a doubt. I could also confirm the Manticore's spawn position. The same as last time...... Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing......"
Head buried in the Gate, she apparently can't hear anything on this side.
"Then let us begin preparations for Saturday."
Preparations, huh......
"And what am I supposed to do?"
"Merely holding the 【Gate】 open like this is quite enough. Beyond that, you may simply observe...... The three of us will bring down the Manticore."
The three of you?
The Manticore is the Floor 40 boss, right?
In these past six months, no new Quadruple adventurers have emerged at all—let alone anyone so much as challenging it. It's supposed to be that kind of high-difficulty floor.
Shiraishi-san, who wants the promotion this time, is a recovery job, so her not fighting can't be helped—but shouldn't I join in too?
"While we're fighting, you'll be guarding Shiraishi-san. Same as with Mia-san back then. Counting on you."
Now that he mentions it, Mama-san is a Quadruple too, isn't she.
Miyako-chan said she'd make me a weapon I can fight with even without weapon enhancement, but if possible I'd rather Mama-san made it.
No wait, that would make Miyako-chan cry......
Huh? She's older than me again, right?
Spending time with Mimiko-chan, I guess, has me treating Miyako-chan—no, Miyako-san—like a kid, and it feels rude......
But still—guard duty, huh......
That's a heavy responsibility.
"It's fine, it's fine! It'll be over before we ever get to that side."
"The Manticore is the thing veteran adventurers couldn't beat no matter how many of them tried, right? How do the three of you manage it?"
Aikawa says it's fine, but all I feel is anxiety.
"How do we manage? Surprise attack, I guess? It's nothing special as long as it's airborne, so you kill it before it can fly. And 'three of us' is a formality—Soushi kills it all by himself, so just watch. I'll have all my skills lined up once I level one more time, too. And then it's a one-strike kill, you know."
Huh?
Soushi, all by himself?
Soushi is that strong......
They say firepower is everything for magic jobs—so Soushi was an amazing mage all along?
And Aikawa says one more level and she can kill the Manticore too.
A one-strike Manticore kill makes me think of 'Sword Saint-chan's' 【Dimension Slash】 and nothing else—can Aikawa really learn a skill to match it?
(But a surprise attack, of all things......)
Hiramatsu-ryu is a school that wins by knocking the opponent's technique down head-on.
For someone learning its spear, honestly, that's hard to accept.
Hiramatsu-san isn't so strict, but Mimiko-chan fusses over etiquette.
Bowing properly before you begin and after you finish, that sort of thing.
She scolds me about angles too—"Nooot that angle!"
Yukiya-san got scolded all the time as well.
She told him he couldn't win because he wouldn't bow.
"Haruki, that's dangerous—go ahead and put the 【Gate】 away."
True—if a monster came out of Floor 40, it would be a disaster.
Put it away, quick.
"Yeah, got it....... So, um, HOW do I put it away?"
I don't actually know how to dismiss it, you see?
"Huh? ......Use it again, maybe?"
"I see. 【Gate】....... D-disappear—huh? It just came out on this side again."
I held up my right hand and used the skill. The 'Right Hand Gate' vanished.
Vanished—but all that happened was a new one appeared......
What do I do now?