ch401-ch420 · 407-ch407

Chapter 407: 【Aikawa Natsuki】A Bear's Cub Is a Panda, a Troublesome Child 【Part 6】

SIDE: Aikawa Natsuki (Haruki's Party Member)

"Whoa, it's the real thing? Getting his autograph later, for sure."

"If we get a connection to a top adventurer, everything changes. Don't lose, got it?"

"His daughter? Doesn't look a thing like him. And here I thought she'd be some bear of a woman."

"Tch. So they really did come."

The day after next, waiting for us at HQ—not just Minami's group, but last year's graduates, Shimizu-senpai and the others too.

Well, HQ is their home turf, so of course they're here.

As for our side......

Haru-kun keeps scanning the surroundings.

Might as well ask for him.

"Shimizu-senpai, is Gotou-senpai not here?"

"Like she'd come? The kid's barely a month old."

Right—I did hear the baby was born.

You can't bring a baby into a dungeon, so Gotou-senpai isn't coming, that's all.

Ah—he's visibly deflated.

That's a little worrying.

If Gotou-senpai had come, he might have tried to show off and single-handedly wiped the floor with every one of them......

Well, today we'll put our hopes in Soushi.

But this man—despite having someone like Watanabe-san—is ALWAYS like this.

Watanabe-san turning out like that must be this man's fault.

"Then we begin. Ready?"

"Let's have a good one."

Dirty. Genuinely dirty.

K○ Ossan calls the start, and before anyone's even taken position, Haru-kun casually claps Minami on the shoulder.

The match was decided before it began.

If it weren't me, I'd have missed it.

And Souma-san's camera caught it all on film, you know?

"Hm? You—where's your equipment?"

"I have it. Please start already."

That's aimed at Minami.

"MP's going to waste, so hurry up and start"—is that it?

"Don't come crying to me. Begin!"

"You're looking down on...... Huh?"

It's started, but no one moves.

No......

The others are starting to notice too.

It's not that they won't move—they CAN'T move.

Before the start, 'Armor Manipulation' was laid on them, and the instant it began, they were locked down.

Even I can barely move when it's on me—for a Single, getting hit with it means it's over.

Apparently it doesn't work if you've already cast your own 'Armor Enhancement' beforehand—but that's not the kind of skill a Single has, and he set it up before the match even started.

Dirty. Truly befitting the Hiramatsu-ryu.

"Ugh—what did you do?!"

Haru-kun toys with him for a good while, then strolls over and pulls the spear out of Minami's hand.

Then he points the tip at his throat......

"Match over. That's all."

He deliberately did NOT finish him right away—to make the gap in ability sink in.

Did it sink in?

Minami's free now, but he's on his knees, unable to move.

It wasn't even a match, was it.

Kukukuku.

Well, Minami's not a bad guy.

But for us to be free, we NEED them to move to Chiba.

After all, there's been a tip-off that Hayashi-san is planning an opposition campaign......

'What was that? A skill? Anyone know that skill?'

'No clue. A special skill, maybe?'

'Can we win?'

'Not unless we figure out the trick......'

Oh?

Just as planned, this side too.

I'd like to ship the senpais off to Chiba wholesale as well.

But first......

"Pathetic. Leave the rest to me!"

And here we go.

At best, he'll be a foil for Soushi.

"Soushi-kun as well...... no weapon, I see."

Well, facing THESE guys, he brought nothing today.

He's in everyday clothes, too.

Isn't that a bit too cocky?

If he gets serious on him—"I'm the one he's fighting!"—people could die.

Haru-kun has actually failed to hold back and nearly killed people before, and I've had that urge myself.

Even Watanabe-san often overdoes it and has to apologize—so I want them to understand: for adventurers whose levels keep climbing, holding back is HARD.

"Right. My sub-job is a magic one. 【Conversion・Water】, 【Water Pressure】—there."

Soushi bores a hole in the ground with 'Water Magic.'

Um, if you fire that at a person, it bores a hole in THEM, you know?

See—Murakami's face has already gone white.

"Nothing excessive, please. Begin!"

"UWAAAAAH!"

Murakami charges in, in pure desperation.

Murakami's weapon is a katana.

So his job is 【Katana User】, probably?

A shield would have changed things, but no.

"【Conversion・Water】, 【Water Manipulation】."

"Ugeh."

Soushi creates a water ball bigger than a basketball and slams it into the charging Murakami's stomach.

To me, that water ball flew at a speed that screamed "dodge that much, at least"—but apparently it was impossible at around Level 10.

Murakami lands on his rear and drops his weapon too.

'Water Magic' does have a proper attack spell called 【Water Ball】, but using water made with 【Conversion・Water】 and slamming it with 【Water Manipulation】 is far more versatile—or so I hear from Endo-san, a fellow 【Water Mage】.

He made desperate excuses that he wasn't helping clean the tank with any ulterior motive, but it wasn't entirely a lie.

"Still going?"

The water he just fired was only half of what he created.

Soushi asks, the other half still floating in the air.

......That's kind of cool, actually.

"That's enough. The winner is Soushi-kun."

Looking down at Murakami, who can't stand back up, K○ Ossan declares Soushi the winner.

"Nice one, Soushi."

"More or less."

High-five.

Now then—home time......

'What are you DOING!'

'We can't end it like this!'

'Alright! Next one's me!'

'Tch.'

The senpais start clamoring.

Well, I saw it coming.

But Haru-kun walks over to the senpai who called next......

"Please, I look forward to it."

"Y-yeah."

He takes the startled senpai's hand and shakes it.

That's a bad move......

It's already match over.

"Then, please begin."

"Well, I...... You sure? Then—begin."

Haru-kun urges an immediate start; the flustered senpai looks my way, and I nod.

And right on cue......

"Wh—what!?"

Can't move, can he.

Same as before—weapon taken, game set.

Is this really okay......

"Next one's me!"

"Please!"

Ah, there goes the handshake again......

From the outside, I suppose he could pass for a well-mannered young man?

"Begin. ......Winner: Haruki-kun."

Yeah, no.

"Oi, Shimizu, do something!"

"Like hell—YOU go......"

Well, I suppose fighting something you can't comprehend is scary.

Hm? Haru-kun is looking somewhere else......

"That's far enough! At last, the tail shows itself! Everyone, apprehend!"

Ah—Kuwashima-san.

Behind her, a stream of staff and adventurers.

'Bear Ossan, huh. Was the suspicious guy that middle-aged man?'

'Certainly looks suspicious.'

'Dammit—give Ryoko-san back!'

'What do we do?'

'What do you mean, "what"? We can't do anything, can we?'

What?

What did this K○ Ossan DO?

"Wait. This is a properly filed, official mock battle. I've done nothing wrong, you know?"

Right—we're in a proper practice space, so there's nothing to punish.

And no one's injured.

"That Kasugano Haruki standing there is on the blacklist as a risk of harming other adventurers. The ticket gate flagged him, so we came to check—sure enough."

"No—surely he'd never do such a thing."

Blacklist!?

And HARUKI!?

What did this man DO?

......Too many candidates to count.

Rank fraud is...... that's not actually a problem, is it?

Then—is it World Tree related?

"No, just the other day he put THREE Triple-Rank adventurers in the hospital. In short, he's a baaad man!"

Isn't that those foreign adventurers you're thinking of?

Ugh—unpleasant memories.

"The dangerous criminal is Bear Ossan? Oh—Haruki. Huh? You? Is that really you, Haruki?"

Oh—a heaven-sent helper?

Furuta-san.

Someone who might actually listen to reason.