ch381-ch400 · 384-ch384

Chapter 384: The Receptionist Is a Losing Flag 【Watanabe Kasumi】 Part 13

SIDE: Watanabe Kasumi (Haruki's Girlfriend)

A Happy New Year to you all.

I am Watanabe Kasumi, of the Chiba branch, which recently gained a shrine enshrining the god of spears.

Last year was a fine year, with so many wonderful things happening.

And this year?

It opens with the new dungeon, then Haruki-san and the others' entrance exams, the graduation ceremony......

It looks as though I, too, will be leaving the Adventurer's Association and becoming an adventurer.

And Haruki-san will go on to university, which means......

(The wedding!)

I suspect the occasions will keep right on coming.

It promises to be a very good year indeed.

And yet, with the new year barely begun, there are already several matters to be concerned about.

The new dungeon, at least, is going smoothly.

Apparently nearly all of the dungeons have already been located.

That "nearly" is what concerns me, but the rumor circulating online says only one remains undiscovered at this stage.

Information this precise never reaches us staff, so I cannot speak with certainty—but at the very least, within Chiba's jurisdiction, as many dungeons as vanished have been found, and the search teams have already been disbanded.

The troublesome matter in Chiba is the land issue.

The airport to begin with, then the amusement park, then inside the station, and the crowning one of all: 'the home of the central figure of the anti-dungeon movement'—and so the days since New Year's have been one frantic scramble after another.

Complicating matters further is the World Tree problem—we have been refused even permission to enter and survey it.

If the child is like that, the parent is too, I suppose.

(Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm)

Pardon me. Merely recalling it has made me angry all over again.

Well, that matter has been handed over to headquarters, so we shall leave it to them.

As it stands, the official word is that no World Tree has been discovered in Japan, and it has adventurers across the country thoroughly disheartened.

There is even a rumor going around that the undiscovered dungeon in the sea of trees at Fuji has a World Tree growing in it.

Speaking of the World Tree—overseas, people who have obtained its leaves have apparently already appeared.

Not from Floor 30 or Floor 40—someone reportedly picked one up on Floor 1, of all places.

How did they know it was a World Tree leaf? Apparently because a tree leaf had fallen—even in a desert dungeon, one with no trees growing whatsoever.

And the leaves from every dungeon match in shape, or so it goes.

At present, research institutions inside and outside the dungeons alike are investigating these leaves, and their reports are awaited.

There is even a 【Pharmacist】 job, and if an MP-restoring potion can be made from them, it will revolutionize dungeon conquest...... or so they say.

The world at large, of course, has no idea that adventurers already step outside the dungeon over lunch break to recover their MP.

That sense of "rest whenever you grow tired," "head home when night falls," "pick it up again tomorrow"—it was not merely revolutionary; it felt like heaven and earth turning over.

Perhaps Haruki-san was simply born for dungeon conquest from the very beginning.

(And I was born to protect that Haruki-san. Mufufu.)

I find myself recalling that little brat from earlier...... the 【Sword Saint】.

When I crossed spears with her before, the gap was simply too vast—since then, I hesitate to call her a little brat.

I say "gap," and the match itself came down to a hair's breadth—but that single hair's breadth, I was made to understand, will never close.

The dream that 【Sword Saint】 saw.

Floor 50, where even that 【Sword Saint】 fails to protect her companions and lets them die......

But with our help, she said.

That with Miko-san's 【Gate】, 【Dimension Slash】 could be stopped......

The dreams one has in the dungeon are fearsome things.

They lay bare even the performance of a special ability one has never witnessed.

They have mistaken it for Miko-san's, but for 【Gate】 to be exposed in this fashion......

Leave the dungeon before it is exposed.

That appears to be Haruki-san's thinking—but the dungeon may not permit it.

I do find myself considering simply drawing them over to our side.

But in that case, we would lose sight of when to withdraw from the dungeon.

(How troubling.)

Should I tell Haruki-san what I heard just now?

When he hears it, what choice will Haruki-san make?

The moment he learns that someone will die unless he goes, he would dive in knowing the danger.

That is my feeling.

But the only one who can save them is Haruki-san.

To tell, or not to tell......

Even though I told her only moments ago that honesty was best......

'So—why the hell has it turned into THIS!?'

Haruki-san, is it?

A loud voice carries over from the warehouse.

It is rare for Haruki-san, normally so even-tempered, to raise his voice like this.

'Haruki, calm down.'

'What are you even so mad about? If Watanabe-san is going, there's no harm in us tagging along as her escort, is there?'

'Not happening! Kasumi-san is NOT teaming up with those guys!'

Hurrying to the warehouse, I hear the argument from the second floor.

It seems he is quarreling with Aikawa-san.

"What is going on here?"

"Ah......"

Haruki-san's face registers surprise.

He must have been angrier than I realized, not to notice my arrival.

︙ ︙

"......So, Aikawa-san received an invitation from 'Blue Ocean,' and the two of you were arguing over whether she should take it?"

The matter itself is a common one.

Surprising as it may sound, adventurers do not quarrel with other parties.

Punishment would mean they could no longer continue as adventurers, after all.

But instead—strange as the phrasing may be—fights and arguments within a party are an everyday occurrence.

The most common cause is the splitting of rewards; next come disputes over ability, such as jobs and skill sets; and third most frequent, leaving the party.

Well, all of them tend to blur into one......

Invitations from other parties in particular tend to erupt into proper scenes, and we staff frequently step in to mediate.

"It's not like I think it's all about me or anything! Why don't we ALL just join 'Blue Ocean'? Apparently they're recruiting strong people right now—we'd clear their requirements with room to spare."

I see. Because Aikawa-san played guide for that little brat today, she caught the brat's eye, apparently.

She did say something to the effect of seeking escorts for the road to Floor 50.

Aikawa-san is right that, in pure strength, Natsukawa-san is well past the passing line.

However......

"We're hiding out in Chiba specifically to keep Haruki's ability secret—what's the point of marching off somewhere conspicuous?"

Natsukawa-san has a point as well.

"You could just be clever about hiding the special skill part, you know...... But Watanabe-san, what are YOU going to do? 'Sword Saint-chan' doesn't look like the type to give up. In that case, we should......"

"I said no! Kasumi-san is not becoming one of their companions, and she is not going to Floor 50!"

Haruki-san, silent until now, raises his voice.

What has come over him today?

"Very well! Let us leave it there for today. Haruki-san, it is time you headed home, isn't it? Natsukawa-san, please speak with Aikawa-san, just the two of you, for a while."

I clap my hands—Pan!—and cut the conversation short.

I should hear each of them out individually.

I will leave Aikawa-san to Natsukawa-san and hear Haruki-san's side myself.

Honestly, that little brat and her unnecessary meddling.

......Then again, I do recall the little brat saying her dream had moved on to the next stage.

In that case, Haruki-san's dream, the one where he defeats the Lich, should have advanced as well......

Which makes Haruki-san's odd manner when he woke yesterday all the more concerning.