ch381-ch400 · 385-ch385

Chapter 385: The Receptionist Is a Losing Flag 【Watanabe Kasumi】 Part 14

SIDE: Watanabe Kasumi (Haruki's Girlfriend)

"You had a dream, didn't you?"

Normally we head home separately, but today the two of us left the branch together.

My own home is just nearby, but he insists on seeing me to the station, so I walk along beside Haruki-san as he pushes his bicycle.

With no telling who might be watching, being alone together is not ideal—but surely I can be forgiven once in a while.

We enjoyed the atmosphere, walking in silence for a time, but it couldn't go on forever, so I bring it up.

I had wavered over what to ask, but in the end, I decided to ask this.

"—!? ......, ........."

"How did you—" was his instant reaction, but the words after that wouldn't come out, it seems.

"The little brat came today to report a dream she'd just had...... no, to consult, perhaps? She told me what the dream contained and asked how she ought to handle it."

"A new dream...... 'Sword Saint-chan' did? ......And what were the contents of this dream?"

Mmm-mmm-mmm. Ever so interested, aren't we.

To begin with—having a girlfriend, and yet sharing dreams with a different woman. Isn't that infidelity?

There was a song like that, wasn't there?

Let us have Endo-san render a verdict.

'Infidelity!'

Mmm-mmm-mmm.

"It seems she has well and truly begun dreaming of Floor 50. The setting is inside the fortress; besides the usual five skeletons, the boss appeared at the same time. The 【Sword Saint】 side's fighting strength came to three, counting Kinoshita Ao and Furuta Yukiya. Right at the opening, 'her skeleton' killed Furuta Yukiya, and for all his brave fight, Kinoshita Ao too lost his life. Meanwhile, the little brat herself was held in place by 'the naked skeleton' and 'the empty armor' and couldn't move. She woke the moment Kinoshita Ao died, apparently."

No one is nearby, but we are outdoors, so I blur certain parts as I speak.

"......I see. And so 'Sword Saint-chan' is giving up on conquering Floor 50?"

Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.

Walking home with the woman he loves, and worrying about another woman.

This is......

'Infidelity!!'

Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.

Doesn't this call for making him sleep until he dreams the same dream as mine?

"Not a chance. She came to consult on how to persuade those two. She showed no sign of giving up. So I instructed her to tell those two honestly what the dream contained. How they judge it after hearing that—well, the talk starts from there, doesn't it?"

"Honestly...... But the one who dies wouldn't be you, would it? And yet you'd take them along? A dream is not reality, you know?"

Exactly—that is why she came to see me.

With me there—no, with Haruki-san there, the balance of strength becomes even.

At the very least, there would be a means to stop 【Dimension Slash】.

As it stands, neither I nor that little brat knows of any other adventurer in Japan who could stop that attack.

Even she herself said the range and speed are beyond what any half-baked evasion skill can dodge.

If we become their companions, those two might be saved......

Put the other way, if we do not go, those two......

I do want to help them, if I can.

The old me might have tried to stop them from going to Floor 50 altogether.

But the me of now catches herself thinking: so long as Haruki-san comes home safe, it's fine either way.

Hearing this, what will Haruki-san think?

Would he want to save them, even at real risk?

"Haruki-san, please tell me the contents of the dream you had yesterday. Before you woke, what happened? Why did you scream my name and bolt upright? What happened to me?"

Here the conversation circles back.

Haruki-san must be having a similar dream.

If their party numbered three, ours should number two.

Didn't I appear in Haruki-san's dream as well?

If the 【Sword Saint】 gets held down by 'Haruki-san's skeleton,' then the reverse holds true as well.

Even if Haruki-san stops the 【Sword Saint】's 【Dimension Slash】, over there stands 'Haruki-san's skeleton.'

In that case—where am I, at that moment?

"Kasumi-san, you absolutely must NOT go to Floor 50. Whatever 'Sword Saint-chan' and the others say, you mustn't go along with them!"

"......If I go, will I die?"

I ask, looking Haruki-san straight in the eye.

This is the answer, surely.

"......Ngh. It's fine—we simply won't go to Floor 50. Let's forget this whole thing. We'll turn 'Sword Saint-chan' and the others down flat, and stop pushing any deeper, too. That's right—I'm never sleeping in the dungeon again. I won't have dreams like that."

Haruki-san, after a moment's caught breath, rattles it all off.

The air is not right for observing that his proposed solution should do wonders for his exam studying.

It would prevent infidelity besides—two birds with one stone. A splendid idea, really.

Haruki-san is a kind person.

Could such a kind person—stranger or not—endure the deaths of people he knows?

......I could not.

I would probably regret it again this time, too.

That said, there is nothing I can do.

I have no......

"Haruki-san, please do something! At this rate, those people will die! If it's you, Haruki-san, I know you can manage it!"

If we simply leave it alone, perhaps no one dies.

They may find new companions, and those companions may somehow manage things.

If 'Haruki-san's skeleton' never appears, that might even make it easier.

It's fine. Surely it's fine.

......That is how I have always stood by and watched, and then regretted.

Worrying in words alone, from somewhere safe.

In the end, I have never once staked my life.

Even entering the dungeon, I took the utmost care, adventuring only where my life was never in danger.

That is why my words never carried any weight.

No one ever lent an ear to my words.

"So you're not going, right? In that case......"

"Not a chance. Wherever Haruki-san goes, I will follow—anywhere."

As if I would ever let him go alone.

THAT would be the irresponsible thing.

"No—did you not hear the part where you DIE!? If Kasumi-san's going, then I'm not going!"

"And that's exactly why I'm telling you to do something about it! Protect me, and while you're at it, save Blue Ocean too! You can do it! You're the only one who can!"

I know I am talking nonsense even as I say it.

Pushing onto Haruki-san what I cannot do myself.

And I have just declared I'll be coming along as dead weight.

I have no need to stake my life for those people, and I would flatly refuse to let Haruki-san do anything dangerous.

But Haruki-san can do it.

That is what I believe.

This is not dangerous, not in the least!

"Asking me to do what even 'Sword Saint-chan' can't—yeah, that's impossible."

"That little brat, honestly! You are far stronger than she is! And I'm not saying right away. They won't drag us off to Floor 50 the moment we join, surely. I will demand time to level up, so until then, please think of countermeasures. It's all right—exams come first. Once those are over, we can level up at our leisure."

That's right—no need to rush.

Level 43—exactly where Blue Ocean stood when they became Quadruple last year, I believe.

I'll simply have to ask them to allow a year before Level 50.

With that much time, Haruki-san will grow stronger and stronger still.

"Hah? What's not allowed is not allowed, you know. Worst case, I'm leaving Kasumi-san behind!"

Useless, you know?

I will follow you to the very ends of the earth.

So do protect me properly.