ch341-ch360 · 345-ch345

Chapter 345: Mia-san's Skeleton

"Come on, chin up."

Soushi is comforting me.

The Manticore's massive body came out, and I was too spooked to do anything......

Doing nothing was the plan, but it was all over before I stopped shaking.

Compared to that, Soushi is incredible.

He took down a Floor 40 monster all by himself......

"Hmm, there's something called 'evil points' showing up under my skill points."

"Evil points...... I've heard of those. The more bad things you do, the more they accumulate, apparently......"

"Then I just save up these evil points and use 【Heal・Evil】—that's the ticket."

Shiraishi-san seems to have gotten the job she wanted without a hitch.

It was apparently already among her options back at Floor 30, so there was never anything to worry about.

"Bad things—specifically what would I do?"

"Hmmm...... Shall I lend you some money, Nacchan?"

"Absolutely not. Nobody borrows money from a 【Wicked Woman】 willingly, you know......"

"It's fine, it's fine. Just a trial loan. Ah—it went up!"

Aikawa joins them on the other side, and the three of them are busy combing through the skills learnable from their new jobs.

"And the important part—the buff?"

"Oh, there's a doozy. The name: 【Miracle・False】! This one's a sure thing."

"No, that's exactly the kind that ISN'T a sure thing!"

They're really going at it.

Lucky them, the result screen......

I already took my fourth job, so I don't get one anymore.

And my skill points are at 0.

No wait—if I level up, I'll get skill points......

"I know how you feel, Haruki. I was the same way, you know......"

Soushi says it like a veteran adventurer.

So I'm the rookie listening to the old-timer's stories, huh......

"What should we do about the schedule? I had planned to ask Fuyumi-san during Umemoto-san's examinations, but if Umemoto-san isn't coming, relying on Fuyumi-san looks difficult. She's the person of the hour now...... In that case, we've no choice but to ask Miyuki, who has time on her hands......"

"Why not call both of them instead of just one? The HQ clinic is closed over New Year's, right? Our side lets staff come and go until the very last minute—let's just call both of them over."

"Won't they both be going home for the holidays? More importantly—couldn't we get time off for Christmas?"

The reason we went all the way to Floor 40 this time so Shiraishi-san could take her job was, apparently, to bring back my memory.

If my memory comes back, will I be able to fight like Soushi does?

Both Hiramatsu-san AND 'Sword Saint-chan' have certified that I have no talent, so my job might end up being nothing but the there-and-back escort, like today.

Well, neglecting that sort of thing is against the conventions of banishment stories, though.

"Ahh, Christmas is out of the question. All these couples come for dungeon dates and the injuries pile up every year. And this year the dungeon is closed over New Year's, so I expect customers will be coming by for year-end greetings—my hands will be full, I tell you~. Besides, if I could take Christmas off, you people wouldn't be helping me out, would you?"

"Fuyumi-san does seem like she'd come, but she's under watch, after all. In that case—New Year's, then. It looks impossible for me to enter. How do you plan to get Haru-kun in?"

"Come New Year's, the branch manager will be standing ready in front of the 'Dungeon Gate' the whole time, so there's no one to talk to but the branch manager. We'll ask Dr. Amamiya too, just in case. Then, let's firm up the schedule—Shiraishi-san, please practice your skills and gather evil points."

Gathering evil points—what does THAT entail?

"Shall I lend you money, Nacchan? I happen to have this week's food budget right here."

"Why are you asking ME? Lend it to Watanabe-san."

"Watanabe-san has money, doesn't she. Lending to a high school girl is where the meaning is. Ah—it went up again. Won't 'Sword Saint-chan' come over here?"

It seems to be accumulating nicely.

"Gambling again? Well, I'll overlook it this once...... But doing bad things outside the dungeon seems pointless, so please be careful. And nothing arrest-worthy either. Please keep it to the degree that doesn't become a crime."

"Sounds like the crackdown's going to be lax for a while. Gotta tell everybody!"

"Don't tell me you just want to gamble?"

"Geez, of course not! It's for the little boy's sake! ......Oh, it went up again."

What matters for skills is what you believe—so with that, the shop staff's meals became plain white bread and nothing else.

But rest assured—Soushi is secretly feeding them properly behind the scenes.

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"Miscalculated. The Drill Nukite was no good, huh......"

The Hiramatsu-ryu secret art where, when firing 'Armor Shot,' you twist your wrist at high speed so the spinning gauntlet becomes a drill that tears into the enemy—it didn't work on the 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton.'

It worked precisely because the Rocket Nukite could be fired with no motion at all.

I only twisted my wrist for an instant, and she was on guard and parried it with her sword.

Well, the sword that caught it snapped, so I managed to push through after that, but she fired 【Flying Slash】 even bare-handed and I got worn down a little.

Whew—I let out a long breath and slump down to the ground.

Nothing has changed except that Kasumi-san's spear became that lovely silver naginata.

I check my Status for some breakthrough, but nothing's different.

The skeletons here are clearly stronger than the Floor 41 ones, but no EXP seems to be coming in.

Or maybe everything resets the instant I die?

If I only had spare skill points, I could have run that test......

"Ah! DAMMIT! 'Charge Shield'! 'Magic Shield'!"

A fireball is falling from above.

The moment I sit down, this is what happens.

Fortunately it fell straight above me, so my shield erased it.

As long as you erase it with 'Magic Shield' before the fireball touches something and explodes, it vanishes without any damage.

But I got irritated, so I pick up a spear lying on the ground and throw it in the direction the fireball came from.

I know it's pointless.

That thing is a Wraith—a thing with no physical body, I'd wager.

Physical attacks don't work on it.

'Pyeeee—'

Something let out a piercing, birdlike shriek and came falling down—no, the Wraith came falling down.

What just happened?

Did my spear hit it?

Why?

Is there some vital spot somewhere?

No—more than that, this thing......

"The Wraith was Mia-san's skeleton!"