ch381-ch400 · 398-ch398
Chapter 398: A Grade
'Aiming!'
The day after the World Tree talk, we came to Floor 10 for the vampire girl's and delinquent girl's job acquisitions.
This time, it's my turn to look cool beating the Minotaur—so I lightly toss a charged 'Lilliputian Spear' to show off.
There. Nailed it.
The 'Lilliputian Spear' punches a fist-sized hole in the chest of the Minotaur that appeared and......
"Ah—it just kept flying."
"Eh? Seriously?"
It should die on hit, so I really did throw it lightly—or was supposed to?
I hadn't even charged 20 MP......
It didn't reach the wall, right?
Anyway—running off to find the 'Lilliputian Spear.'
"......Found it?"
I show Soushi the 'Lilliputian Spear' I retrieved.
How did things go over here?
"......Unchanged, I think. Check. Miki?"
Aikawa had just copied the jobs from the status screen into her notebook and is comparing it against last time's.
"Hmm, me too, maybe? No 【Chef】...... Sorry, after you helped me and all. Hina, don't hold back—take 【Swordsman】."
The delinquent girl, told to pick a high-stat job, apparently chose 【Swordsman】 from among the melee jobs.
We all talked it over and decided not to go deeper into the dungeon for a while, starting today.
Focus on exams, in other words.
Once exams are over, we'll aim for the vampire girl's 【Chef】 again—and if it doesn't appear on the selection screen even then, it's already decided the delinquent girl will take 【Chef】 at Floor 20.
So I want her to take 【Swordsman】 without holding back.
Though, watching my showing just now, she might want 【Spearman】 instead.
"Ah—there ARE more! And wait, this is......"
Aikawa, mid-comparison, cries out.
What she points at, to show us......
"【Pharmacist】—!"
Of all the timing......
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"......and that's what happened."
Back at Floor 1, studying with Kasumi-san in the warehouse—but first, today's report.
My theory: mixing ingredients measured out in fine detail got judged as blending rather than cooking, and that's what made 【Pharmacist】 appear.
But isn't baking and such basically the same thing?
For now, the vampire girl's job is on hold.
【Pharmacist】 is a production job, but with a scout-tilted skill set and stats higher than other production jobs.
Still nowhere near melee jobs, though—so the call was: if her common test scores come out bad, she should go melee.
Bottom line: right now it's all about exams.
If need be, she can take it at Floor 20 later—no reason to rush.
If anything, she should be rushing her studying instead.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. To think she'd pick 【Swordsman】 of all things...... I had assumed SHE would become the 【Chef】, and neglected my proselytizing. Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm."
"No, that's not the......"
That one's partly my fault too.
I really should have full-charged and blown the Minotaur apart.
I eased off thinking it would be too intense for the girls—regretting that now.
"Ah, my apologies—【Pharmacist】, wasn't it. I think that was a fine call. But Nishino-san taking a melee job and becoming 【Pharmacist】 at Floor 20 simply won't do. In that case, Higashi-san would be bound for life making Nishino-san's meals. Higashi-san taking 【Chef】 is fine as a division of burdens, but ultimately Nishino-san must take 【Chef】 for herself as well. That is for both of their sakes."
I see......
Living her whole life FOR the vampire girl would end up the same as being 【Blood Suck】ed, after all.
The delinquent girl would probably say that's fine, but while things have gotten much better, at this stage we can't say for certain that 【Blood Suck】's effect isn't coloring that decision.
Well, the delinquent girl's treatment we'll leave to Dr. Amamiya—and the vampire girl's 【Chef】 is a must.
That's the premise we have to build on.
"Anyway, the rest depends on the test results."
"Indeed. Let us all strive so that she may take 【Spearman】!"
Only if the results are bad, you know?
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"I can't accept this. Why do THESE two get A grades?"
Being lumped in with Soushi, huh.
No wait—I'M the one who can't accept being lumped in with Soushi!
A few days after the common test, the self-scored first-choice-university verdicts came out.
All three of us—including the vampire girl, so four—got an A, but the delinquent girl apparently got a B.
What's more, Soushi and Aikawa, different departments but the same university as me, rank above the delinquent girl's choices.
Still, the vampire girl's and delinquent girl's first choices are good public universities.
A B means "plenty fine, you'll pass with this final push"—so it's OK.
Their stats only shot up these last few days; this is only the beginning.
After all, Soushi caught up to me in a matter of months.
"Well, nothing on the test but questions we knew."
Exactly. That's what it was like.
Every single one: oh, this is what that cram session covered!
The answers came so smoothly it was startling—even math, which I'd expected to be a war against the clock, left me with time to spare after redoing every problem twice.
"Well, it's self-scored, and Soushi's is dubious. He scored better than me, though."
The verdict rests on self-scoring, but in my case there's no doubt.
No—I had several subjects at PERFECT SCORES. Startled even myself.
Utterly suspect.
Thank you very much.
Even if I fail my first choice now, there are plenty of universities I could enter on this common test result alone......