ch361-ch380 · 377-ch377

Chapter 377: The World Tree Surpri-Tree

"No! No way!"

Just like Mimiko, that......

"Please calm down. There's no danger. It's a really lovely place, you know?"

"There's something I want you to see" got us as far as bringing her to the warehouse—but the moment she laid eyes on the 【Gate】, Mia-san sensed something.

"Liar! That's what you said before you dragged me to Floor 30 and Floor 40! Ha! It's Floor 50, isn't it? It's FLOOR 50, isn't it? I am absolutely not going!"

Glancing, glancing—she keeps eyeing the back door, and Kasumi-san, noticing, blocks the route.

"Oh, right—Haruki said he already beat the Lich!"

Soushi, volunteering what nobody needed.

That was the dream.

And I've lost the urge to go anyway......

Ah—Mia-san, mid-ruckus, has gone white.

"Eh? It's really Floor 50? I'm only Level thir......"

"YOU don't get to add commentary! Come on—in you go first!"

"Eh? No way? Wait, one minute inside and......"

Aikawa shoves Soushi into the 'Right Foot Gate.'

"Ah—umbrella, umbrella!"

Still on the mend, and he'll get soaked.

"WAAAH, Soushi—! You heartless fiend—!"

Seeing ME panic makes her panic harder.

Well—first things first, get Soushi his umbrella.

"......Whoa."

"Soushi. Umbrella. Umbrella."

I hand one to Soushi, who's staring up at the World Tree, rain be damned.

"Hey, so what is......"

"Ah, kind of busy right now—later, 'kay?"

"O-oh. This isn't Floor 50, is......"

I have to deal with Mia-san first.

"H-hey. Where's Soushi? Don't tell me you left him behind......"

"As I said, it is not Floor 50, so he's fine. I'm sure you'll love it. Come along!"

When I come back, Kasumi-san has closed the distance inch by inch.

And Mia-san has backed away inch by inch, exactly that much.

With Aikawa behind her......

"All right! Off we go!"

"Nooooo, let goooo! Wait, seriously, wait! My job isn't even decided! Let me get mentally prepared—MENTALLY prepared!"

Aikawa can't make much headway carrying a squirming, kicking Mia-san.

Squeeze wrong and she might get hurt, after all.

"C'mooon. Hurry up, or Soushi dies~. He doesn't know anything, you know."

Well, it's true Soushi knows nothing, and catching another cold and dying isn't entirely off the table.

"Ugh. You heartless fiend......"

The Vanda-human had long since lost all human feeling.

Mia-san, her resistance spent, goes docile, and Aikawa carries her to the 'Right Foot Gate.'

Once everyone's through, I follow with an umbrella for each of us.

"Whoa—it's raining? Where's my umb—Eh? What IS that......"

Mia-san freezes the moment she spots the World Tree.

"Surpriiiise!"

Kasumi-san and Aikawa announce it at the top of their lungs.

"I KNOW THAT MUCH!"

"Mmm-mmm-mmm. The surprise failed, then......"

She's so guarded now she refuses to even step into a 'Gate,' after all.

"But she IS startled, so I'd call it a success."

Better comfort the moping Kasumi-san.

If this teaches her there's no danger, then even knowing it's a surprise, she might enjoy the next one.

"More importantly—what IS that tree? It's way too big!"

"That is the Surpri-Tree!"

Kasumi-san answers, utterly serious.

"I get it—a tree that surprises, a Surpri-Tree...... You dumbass! It's the World Tree! Like I wouldn't know that!"

"Then don't ask, if you already know."

Aikawa piles another retort onto Mia's.

"No—it's called confirming. Whether it's REALLY the World Tree. Anyway, where even IS this? A dungeon with rain falling, that's...... No—World Tree means new dungeon. The airport one?"

"Rain means this place has water...... It's the new dungeon WE went into, right? There was no tree like that! What floor is this? Not 50, right?"

Soushi ends up fielding Mia-san's questions, but the mention of Floor 50 sets Mia-san acting suspicious again, checking her surroundings.

"Floor 11. Up through Floor 9 it's only faintly visible—without being told, you'd never notice. The 'Gate to Floor 9' is right there, so we can pop back and check if you like."

Floor 10 was a Minotaur, and coming back won't take long.

︙ ︙

"It's THIS close at Floor 11...... Kasumi-san, I want one of those branches!"

We went back to Floor 9 to confirm the World Tree was a thin line, then returned to Floor 11.

None of us had weapons, so I figured Floor 10 would be Rocket Kick's moment—but Soushi pierced the Minotaur's chest with water magic and that was that.

Magic's strength is that it works empty-handed, all right.

"You can ask all you like—that branch is beyond the height limit, so my hands can't reach it."

"Well?—Kasumi-san looks at me.

"Even my 【Gate】 can't. Beyond a dungeon's walls is actually a kind of dark void, so what we're seeing might be an illusion anyway."

"What's this 'dark void'? Aren't dungeon walls transparent?"

Ah right—Mia-san's never seen a hole punched through a wall.

"Wait—so not a leaf, a branch?"

"Yeah. Figured it might make a spear haft. There are places where wood beats metal, you know? If we go deeper and the base of it comes inside the walls—maybe some's fallen to the ground?"

"Mmm-mmm-mmm. For a haft...... True—my silver spear is silver to the very grip, and it does feel a little strange to use."

There are times a bit of flex is better, after all.

With weapon enhancement, strength isn't much of a worry—wood might actually be the better choice.

"Ah, Mia-san. I'd like you to make me a silver spear too. And make the Shield Gauntlets silver—and I need one for my right hand as well. And armor, while we're at it. Japanese armor, if possible......"

Hmm. Too many wants, too little Mia.

"The spear's half done already. A jumonji spear. But I never asked your preferences—length, head shape—so it's not finished. And armor, huh...... Anego's crowd will want theirs too, so really I should be scavenging a base from the 40s floors."

"Ah—weapons for the two of us as well, please!"

Everyone loves Mia-san!

"For swords, if you're fine with the same as the 【Sword Saint】's, I've got a few forged already. Soushi's would be a kitchen knife at the tip, then...... Silver grips too?"

"But all three of them are exam students. And I'm busy with the new dungeon myself—I can't just send anyone off to the 40s floors, you know......"

Study comes first, after all.

"Then we'll push this dungeon for a while, okay? Up to Floor 29's fine, right? Next time Watanabe-san's off, we clear Floor 30, and at Floor 31 we'd basically be able to reach the World Tree, wouldn't we?"

Aikawa's proposal......

The World Tree, huh......

The leaves' rumored effects have me curious too—no loss in pushing ahead, right?