ch381-ch400 · 387-ch387

Chapter 387: The Skeleton Charge

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Couldn't this have waited for next week's training?"

I'm at the Hiramatsu family shrine first thing in the morning.

Here to beg Mimiko's papa for instruction.

Incidentally, I wasn't supposed to come today, so Mimiko is out playing.

Sorry, Mimiko—but if my Mountain Kata practice got interrupted, that'd be a real problem, so it worked out just right.

"I have to get stronger as fast as I can—even one single day sooner—to protect the person who matters most to me!"

"I see...... it means that much to you...... Ugh...... pardon me a moment. ...Right, understood. Your usual training method—and what you want to see is that thrust, isn't it? I'm not wearing the armor, but the fundamentals are the same."

Mimiko's papa had turned slightly away to think it over, but it seems he'll demonstrate for me.

Hiramatsu-ryu is, after all, a school whose techniques never leave the gate.

I haven't been fully accepted yet either, so his hesitation is only natural.

But thankfully, it seems he WILL teach me.

"One more time—just one more, please."

Unlike inside the dungeon, taking it in with one look is hard.

Even so, I hammer Mimiko's papa's movements into my head.

If I practice mimicking this inside the dungeon, the training effect should multiply many times over.

The 'Mountain Kata,' which forces everything into a contest of weight, is especially effective against light-built skeletons.

As things stand, every attack against the 'Sword Saint-chan skeleton' except the pure surprise strike gets deflected.

But this thrust of the Mountain Kata is what refuses to allow that.

"As many times as you like, really...... Eagerness is all well and good, but you can't just get strong overnight. Train slow, don't rush. It's the daily accumulation that matters."

I know that.

But if I start training even one day sooner, mastery comes that much sooner......

(So it IS top to bottom after all...... But if I raise the spear position too high, my own weight won't ride onto it......)

I mimic it barehanded.

Footwork seems to matter too.

Not just my body weight—my charging momentum as well.

The fact that Mimiko's papa doesn't teach that part probably means he does it unconsciously.

A 'kata' soaked into the body over long years of training—THAT is what mastery means.

"Ahh, no, no. Completely wrong. Don't twist it. Grip it firm. The Mountain Kata is the Mountain Kata—keep them separate. Like this—LIKE THIS!"

His teaching style is the spitting image of Mimiko's.

Is Mimiko imitating her papa?

︙ ︙

"Sorry about yesterday!"

First words out of her mouth—Aikawa came to apologize.

"Mm-hm. Mm-hm."

Soushi nods along as she talks.

Apparently Soushi handled things well after that.

I did yell yesterday, but I can't entirely blame Aikawa for her feelings.

'Blue Ocean''s popularity now surpasses any idol group.

Being asked to join by a national idol, in person—getting swept off your feet is only natural.

More than that, the sword Aikawa uses is a Sword Saint model.

Maybe 'Sword Saint-chan' is someone she admires.

"You were worried about Watanabe-san, right? Sorry for not thinking about Haru-kun's feelings."

"No, I'm the one at fault. I yelled without explaining anything. I'll explain everything, so......"

But being apologized to first makes this awkward.

I was planning to come groveling and win her over, and......

"The situation?"

"Yeah. The reason 'Sword Saint-chan' came yesterday is a dream she's been having."

Talking things through.

That's what we need, I think.

Tell them everything honestly, and get their cooperation.

I need these two.

"Um...... you mean the story where Watanabe-san shows up in the dream doing the recruiting, right?"

"In her dream, apparently Ao-san and Yukiya-san die."

"Huh?"

The two of them blurt it out in unison.

"In the dream I saw the day before yesterday, Kasumi-san...... died."

"Huh? What do you mean? So if we go to Floor 50...... Sorry. Right. Then Watanabe-san absolutely can't be allowed to go."

Aikawa accepts it.

Well, yes, but.

"Hey, hold on. Does Watanabe-san know about this?"

"I told her yesterday. But Kasumi-san says she's going to save them......"

She herself says she's going.

That's why I have to do something.

I tell the two of them the dream's details.

Starting with the contents of my first dream, and that once I cleared it, I saw the next one.

That in her dream, the three of them faced five skeletons.

That in my dream, it was just Kasumi-san and me.

That my skeleton kills Kasumi-san......

"......Dreams can change, right?"

Aikawa asks, half afraid to.

This concerns her too, seeing as she has that dream of turning panda down to the heart and all.

"That much is certain. In my first dream I died over and over before clearing it. So dreams DO change with actions. But the dream I had after that—this time......"

"'Died over and over'—dude...... No, more importantly—is 'not going' not an option?"

Soushi asks.

"In that case, Ao-san and the others die. That's why Kasumi-san says she's going......"

"That's...... What do we do?"

I have a plan.

A brute-force one, though.

"'Sword Saint-chan' seems to think five people will manage, but I don't want Kasumi-san going. If anyone goes to save them, it's me alone. So I have a favor to ask you two. If I've failed to persuade Kasumi-san by the day itself, hold her back so she can't enter the boss room."

"Don't ask the impossible."

"Just the one minute before the boss room's gate closes."

"That's dangerous, you know. You think Watanabe-san won't chase after you? If she enters after the minute's up, she connects to a DIFFERENT boss room!"

True.

Way too risky.

"Then how about sending Kasumi-san off to the warehouse?"

"In that case, 'Sword Saint-chan' and co. find out about 【Gate】, though?"

That the fifth member uses 【Gate】 at all—both 'Sword Saint-chan' and Ao-san should already know that.

And the moment I go, they'll know it's me......

They just won't know what grade of special skill it is yet.

Who to tell, and how much—that's the problem.

We'd be entrusting each other with our lives, so laying it all out is the proper course—but that means no going back.

"That's all a ways off—let's think it through. For now, the point is: Kasumi-san isn't going, so cooperate with me. If I persuade her properly, problem solved, after all."

"Hmm. Isn't this impossible? Even while saying she won't go, she'd probably yell 'Surprise!' and leap straight into the boss room."

Please don't say terrifying things.

"Wait, if you're not taking Watanabe-san, that means entering the boss room as four, right? Will 'Sword Saint-chan' and co. accept that? You'll need to persuade THEM too."

Ugh......

A plan riddled with holes.

"Huh? If we're restraining Watanabe-san on site, that means we're going there too, right? Which means we'd be joining 'Blue Ocean'?"

She caught on......

"You don't have to join, formally. Just come along as escort."

"Then why did I get YELLED at yesterday!?!"

I said I was sorry, didn't I.

Because at that point yesterday, Kasumi-san hadn't said she was going......

After that, the three of us racked our brains, but no good plan came to mind.