ch381-ch400 · 393-ch393

Chapter 393: What About Brakes?

"Owaaah—stop, stop! Brakes!"

Accelerated by 'Water Magic,' we shot through the 'Gate' with great momentum—that much was fine, but the rubber boat just keeps going.

"Eh? Brakes? How do you even put them on?"

HEY!

"First things first, get your hands out of the water and stop accelerating!"

So it wasn't that we weren't stopping—we just kept accelerating.

It's slowed down, but......

"It's headed toward the hippos."

If this keeps up we make contact.

Should I get off?

"Leave it to me—【Water Manipulation】!"

Soushi puts his hand in the water again.

At the same moment, the rubber boat turns ninety degrees.

【Water Manipulation】 is the magic Endo-san uses to wash the tanks installed in the buildings inside the dungeon.

The one he went out of his way to learn so he could help her.

Wait a second, if you could stop it with that, why didn't you?!

Actually, does this boat even have paddles?

Ah—there's a spear.

"Let's stop for a moment."

I poke the ground with the butt end a few times and bring the rubber boat to a halt.

The hippos...... aren't coming closer.

They should be able to see us from over there too—are they just not aggressive?

"Can't see the 'Gate to Floor 22.' Next 'Gate' then, please."

Aikawa stands up and checks our surroundings.

Well, even if we find the 'Gate to Floor 22,' I'm planning to head over to the wall regardless.

Though honestly, how can she stand up in this wobbly rubber boat?

"I'll put one up, but knock off what you did just now? Prop us along with that long-handled kitchen knife."

It was funny, though.

"But with that, this dungeon looks easy to conquer. It might become the mainstream method once this dungeon opens to the public."

Movement that uses MP?

"The Floor 20 river is probably too much for a rubber boat. We couldn't outrun the crocs, either. But what about those hippos? If we CAN outrun them, could we get through the 20s floors without any fighting?"

"Hey, you two—that's called training, and it's against the rules. It inconveniences other parties, so no."

Let me drive the nail in.

If that were allowed, I'd sprint through Chiba's 20s floors too.

"Ahh—so we can only do it now, huh."

"Maybe a little test, then."

Please don't—we'll get thrown off.

"Get a better boat first. Speeding up and turning would capsize us. And there's nothing to hold on to. Let's move. 【Gate】."

If I let this conversation run, they'll start saying "straight lines would be fine," so I cut it short and press on.

Not today—but once we've prepared properly, coming here to play might be fine.

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"No good after all......"

Through the dungeon's transparent wall, the giant trunk of the World Tree sits a stone's throw away.

Water pools on the far side of the wall too, but the current stops there—water can't pass back and forth, it seems.

Naturally, we have no way of getting beyond the wall either.

In the first place, there's nothing beyond this wall.

"Still, it's huge. Isn't the trunk alone a hundred meters or so?"

A hundred meters wide.

Height has to be in the kilometer range.

Even the lowest branch looks like it's a kilometer up—from Floor 11, the World Tree's upper reaches punched through the clouds.

"If we dug down, wouldn't roots come up?"

"Probably not. There's a wall below too, and I think the roots run just beneath it."

It's a dungeon, after all.

It would be built with exactly that kind of spite.

Material harvesting looks impossible here.

"Then that makes this the tenth floor, huh...... Shall we press on?"

"No—if Nishino and the others are coming, let's take them to Floor 10 as planned. Starting now, we should make it back before dark."

Mia-san's shop mostly does online sales, so she's busy even without customers coming in.

She even ran a New Year's first-sale.

At certain times of day she goes outside the dungeon, checks online orders, makes shipping labels, and packs parcels at the shop—there are busy stretches like that.

But outside of those, it's just tending the store, so taking her out should be fine.

The morning shipping prep is just finished around now.

"Ughhh, walking—"

Aikawa makes a remark unbecoming of an adventurer.

We walked to Floor 20 in this dungeon too, you know.

Eh? The way back is a hassle? I see......

"I wish the boat worked in Chiba too—"

"Stick some tires on and you're set, aren't you?"

If we're putting on tires, there's no point insisting on a boat, is there.

Besides, in Chiba 【Water Pressure】 alone wouldn't cut it—you'd need 【Conversion・Water】 too, and wouldn't your MP run dry right away?

Ruddering via 【Water Manipulation】 wouldn't work either, so you'd need to link the tires to a steering wheel—lots of things look impossible.

And don't forget the brakes.

Wouldn't it be better to have Robo-ko-san build us a car that runs on 'Water Magic' power?

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"So, how strong are you guys, actually? Stronger than Kokoa-nee? That foggy-glasses person said something incomprehensible like being stronger than 'Sword Saint-chan.'"

Foggy-glasses person?

How strong the Kokoa-loving big sister is, I can't say.

I haven't seen her recently, so I haven't been able to use the 'Umemoto Method of Measuring Strength.'

"Kasumi-san is head-over-heels for Haru-kun. It's fine—finish it off."

It was Kasumi-san......

That's a conversation about how, in the future, it might come to that, you know.

"Ei!"

The vampire girl, aka Nishino Miki, runs her rental spear through a hobgoblin Aikawa has kicked to the ground.

Right now we're taking Nishino and Higashi to Floor 10, with Aikawa disabling the goblins along the way and the two of them taking turns finishing them off.

This is power leveling as it should be.

"Once more! You can break the magic stone, so give it everything!"

"O-Okay. Ei!"

One thrust doesn't finish it—a second finishing blow.

Dead this time, I think?

"Um, what were we talking about? Ah—how strong we are, right? ......Well, how about it?"

The question turns to Soushi and me, standing a bit apart so we don't leech EXP.

"How strong are we?"

Soushi asks me too.

By the cover story, we're Double-Ranks who can keep pace up to Floor 29.

The Kokoa-loving big sister didn't participate in the recent 'Everyone to Floor 30 Operation,' so she's under Level 30.

Which means, by the cover too, we're the stronger ones.

"Probably us. We're as strong as Double-Ranks on the verge of Triple."

That second half is a word to Soushi and Aikawa: keep it at about that level, okay?

In reality, the only Japanese adventurers stronger than us are 'Blue Ocean.'