ch321-ch340 · 339-ch339

Chapter 339: The Type Who's Strong Because of Skills, Not Themselves

"So these are 'charms'...... I see, I see."

I'm observing as Soushi makes his charms.

You prepare 'charms' like these in advance, set them at the boss's spawn point within one minute, and activate them the instant it appears. I get it.

Soushi's 【Talismaneer】 is a seriously strong job, huh.

"【Fujutsu】, 【Conversion・Water】. 【Fujutsu】, 【Water Pressure】."

Two spells per charm.

Apparently the effect is water created by magic, fired out in a jet like a laser.

Not a wide area—a small area, at high power.

He can apparently also make a blade of water, like a 【Water Cutter】, but if you widen the range it collides with the neighboring charm's spell and loses power—so this is the form he settled on.

Really well thought out.

"Dance—here we go!"

A charm, it seems, delivers exactly the power it had at the moment it was made, no matter who activates it.

So they buff up their Magic BEFORE making the charms—and that buff is this dance.

Aikawa's job is 【Dancer】.

Dance together with her and you get buffed, apparently.

"Can I dance too?"

I am curious what a buff actually feels like.

"No!"

Again, huh......

"Why not? Just a little, come on."

I look over at Watanabe-san, pasting 'charms' onto iron stakes, and she shakes her head too.

Yes, yes. Not allowed, I know.

"Haruki......"

"......Fine, whatever."

I sit down and start sticking 'charms' onto the stakes too.

In the dungeon, thanks to my Status I suppose, I can do fine detail work without a single mistake.

The rehab paid off—my fine control is perfect.

"That's it for today."

"You've finished making the 'charms,' then?"

"Mostly. Counting the MP I spent on other things, I've still got five or six to make—but that's tomorrow."

He's out of MP, so we're done for the day, huh.

He kept at it the whole time I was off training at the shrine, after all.

So...... what do we do now?

"Haruki-san, let's study properly again today."

An awkward mid-afternoon hour, but there's no escaping the studying, apparently.

︙

︙

"Brrr, it's cold!"

Down the shrine steps, heading for the branch.

December has arrived and the cold has gotten serious.

Today is especially bad—the kind of cold that stings.

I think outdoor training is about at its limit, but apparently Hiramatsu-san practices outside every morning, even in this.

Rain, snow, whatever......

'When the enemy attacks, will you tell them, "It's cold today, let's call it a day"? Rain may fall, spears may fall—the enemy waits for no one!'

So he says.

If spears were falling, I don't think the enemy would be attacking either.

More to the point—what enemy, exactly?

Well, apparently the way of the spear is not mastered in a day.

By the way, Hiramatsu-san wasn't there today—his shift starts in the afternoon.

The only one who kept me company in this cold was Mimiko-chan.

I hope she doesn't catch a cold......

(Hm? What's this?)

A black minivan that had been driving slowly pulled up right beside me.

(Huh? Isn't this bad?)

Not just one.

Three black cars in front and behind have stopped too.

This is......

(C-could we call it a day because it's cold today?)

I backed up warily, and the window of that minivan slid open.

"Haruki. Studying at the branch now?"

"Ah—Yukiya-san."

My heart genuinely leapt into my throat, but seeing a familiar face poke out, I relaxed.

"I'm headed to the Chiba branch too. Hop in."

It'd be rude to refuse, so I suppose I'll take him up on it.

I was getting chilled anyway—lucky me.

"Sure. Then, please."

The power door slid open with a whir and my heart lurched again.

The eyes that met mine belonged to Kinoshita Ao-san—a member of 'Blue Ocean' like Yukiya-san.

'Japan's Number One Adventurer.' And 'Blue Shadow the Ninja.'

I met him the other day, but we didn't exchange a word then......

"Hello again."

"H-hi, thanks for having me. Hyaah!"

I'm actually a fan, but what IS the correct response when you suddenly meet a celebrity?

Do I ask for an autograph, or......—mid-thought, I climbed in, and there in the seat behind, of all people, sat 'Sword Saint-chan' herself, and my heart lurched a third time.

"Hm? Haruki as in THAT Haruki? Senpai, trouble—a vampire just got on."

Yukiya-san and I settled into the very back seat, and some distinctly ominous conversation started flying around.

"Huh? Now that you mention it, I saw him with Watanabe-san before...... So this is that Haruki-kun. I took it for the Chairman's idle gossip, but this timing...... Yukiya, did you get lured in?"

"What are you talking about?"

See?

What ARE you talking about?

"Watanabe Kasumi's lover. Apparently an unbelievable specimen."

"Eh?! Seriously? Haruki, you...... What about Mimiko?!"

There's nothing to say to that, though......

The other party is in the lower grades of elementary school.

Ten years younger than me, you know?

"Another woman's name just came up. He really IS unbelievable!"

"You've met him before too, Yukiya. Back during the Umemoto business."

"I met him because he was Atsushi's acquaintance, that's all!"

"No—earlier, at the incident. When we all went to the Chiba branch. The boy who was with Watanabe-san."

Hm?

Apparently this isn't my first meeting with 'Blue Ocean.'

"Ahhhhh! That's the guy Asuka was bullying!"

Yukiya-san points at me as he says it.

Huh? Bullied? What's that about?

Asuka as in the 'Queen of the Sky'—Uehara Asuka-san, right?

"You didn't notice? ......No, come to think of it, neither did I, just now...... Chiharu, good memory."

"I could see my own attacks coming at him. It left an impression...... He looks weak now, but inside the dungeon I think the atmosphere would come out. Back then, I actually believed it was this Haruki—not Watanabe Kasumi—who beat the 【Berserker】. Honestly, if someone told me he was stronger than Yukiya-senpai, I'd believe it."

"Oi! ......No, honestly? Haruki is...... weak."

Do you really have to say it out loud, though?

"Yeah—probably the type who's strong because of his skills, not himself. Should be a buffer job."

"Ah—so he's an Ao-type, huh. Is that right?"

Ohh, same as Ao-san...... no, wait, surely not.

A buffer—so is Aikawa close to Ao-san's type?

She said hers was some-such Dancer, an upper job of 【Dancer】—the type who buffs her allies while fighting herself, presumably.

So, asked whether that's what I am......

"I really couldn't say."

That's all I can answer.

"That's right—this one took a knock to the head. Doesn't remember much about the dungeon."

"Common enough, in the dungeon. But......"

"If it's THE rumored boyfriend, it's the kind of story that makes you want to suspect a con."

I appear to be under suspicion of something.

"What do we do? Take him back to headquarters like this and interrogate him?"

"No, that's straightforwardly a crime. If the last incident had been reported, it would've been license revocation...... And this time he's an actual high schooler. His parents could sue regardless of what he wants, and that would be the end of it. For now, let's just head to the Chiba branch as planned. If we enter the dungeon together, there are things we'll be able to tell, right?"

What would we be able to tell?

"This one can tell with 【Presence Detection】 whether the other party has hostile intent, apparently. And with 【Skill Detection】, whether skills are in use. Chiharu can apparently read strength. What a prodigy, huh."

Yukiya-san fills me in.

"Yukiya, that's supposed to be a secret, you know...... Well—when we met before, there was no hostility, I'm certain. If there had been, he'd remember it."

So it's a secret.

Those who learn the secret get...... no, surely it doesn't come to that, right?

The 【Skill Detection】 story is famous, at least.

I can understand a master reading an opponent's strength—but can 【Presence Detection】 really read hostility?

I can't even tell people from monsters, you know......

"Well, he's Haruki, so it's fine, right?"

"Trouble! He's already been ensnared and is spilling secrets! He may have been bitten!"

"Bitten? What's that supposed to...... Ah, right! If Haruki's Watanabe Kasumi's lover, couldn't we have HIM persuade her?"

Persuade her of what?

No—more importantly, what's this about biting?

A vampire, wasn't it? They said something about a vampire, right?