ch401-ch420 · 413-ch413

Chapter 413: For the First Time in a While......

"Where is this?"

Things got a little rowdy, so we took a lunch break and are resuming now.

"This is the warehouse Haruki-san rents. Our base of operations."

We had the weapons brought out and moved to the warehouse.

"Inside, please."

"We're going in? Weren't we having another match?"

'Sword Saint-chan' throws the question at me as I usher them along.

Given how the morning ended, I suppose that reading isn't unreasonable.

No no, that was quite an ordeal, you know.

"No, this is......"

Ao-san looks at me.

"I'm not going in there! Stay back!"

Mia-san, who went inside first, edges away along the wall.

I'm being treated as dangerous, I see.

"What the heck is this? Rubber boats? Why are there three of them?"

Yukiya-san's question is fair enough.

If you knew nothing, that is.

"I bet that's another trick to deceive us too! Floor 50 this time, mogo mogo......"

Mia-san has been secured by Kasumi-san.

"Floor 50...... So inter-floor movement IS possible after all!? Then from here......"

Mia-san, you need to watch the spoilers.

You're about to be found out by Ao-san.

But coming up with something even beyond that prediction—that's what makes a surprise, right?

"What? What? What's going on? Ao, if you've figured something out, tell me."

"Probably that earlier......"

"We'll head through first. Aikawa-san, the spear, please."

Kasumi-san moves the conversation along before they can.

"Kay~! Soushi, push."

"Moga moga! Mogaaaaah!"

Everyone seems ready, so I place my right foot in front of the rubber boat Kasumi-san and the others have boarded......

"【Gate】"

"Hm? Something came out. Is that the 'dark magic' from before? What's going on? Haruki, your hand just vanished!"

I've put my hand through and am using 【Scouting】 on the far side.

From Yukiya-san's angle, standing right beside me, my hand must look like it disappeared into nowhere.

No hippos nearby, it seems, so I nod to Soushi as a signal.

"Huh? It vanished! Where'd it go?"

"Figured as much...... Which floor does it lead to, I wonder?"

Ao-san asks, but......

"That's a surprise for after you go through. If you can use 【Scouting】, feel free to put a hand in and check for danger."

Saying that, I set up the next rubber boat and urge 'Sword Saint-chan' and the others to board.

Kasumi-san went ahead specifically to watch that moment, after all.

I'll leave the spoiler-revealing to Kasumi-san.

"No, what IS this? Did the 'dark magic' make it invisible?"

"He's been saying 【Gate】 this whole time."

Only Yukiya-san seems to have no idea what's happening.

"Ah—please don't say that so loudly. We'll talk on the other side."

"The other side? What do you mean, the other side...... Ao?"

"......An unknown place. Only the three who went ahead are over there. But this is...... So THAT'S why the boats......"

He seems to have understood that the far side of the 'Right Foot Gate' is open water.

"The footing is unstable, so please don't stand up. Soushi."

"Here we go!"

"Eh? Eh? You......"

Yukiya-san was saying something, but it cut off partway.

The destination is, as you know, Floor 21 of the rain dungeon.

The stretch of wall where you can see the base of the World Tree.

"Alright, we're clear. Let's go too."

"Let's just put it halfway in, and move across once we're through."

I confirm that the rubber boat Ao-san and the others are on has drifted away on the push Soushi gave it, so we decide to move across as well.

Just as Soushi says—we put the rubber boat only halfway into the 'Right Foot Gate,' move across ourselves, then row away from the 'Left Foot Gate.'

"Soushi, can you gather everyone up?"

"They're too far apart. Come in a little closer."

We advance our boat so it sits between the two rubber boats, and Soushi draws the two vessels together with 【Water Manipulation】.

Ao-san and the others are busy as can be—their eyes darting straight up, then to the base of the World Tree beyond the wall.

Once the two boats have come close enough, I signal Kasumi-san: all yours.

"The surprise: a huge success! What you've just experienced is Haruki-san's special skill, 【Gate】."

Yaaay!

"【Gate】—the 'Gate' that moves between floors, right? This makes no sense. What is even happening......"

"Ao-senpai, that thing over there......"

"The World Tree, I'd say. But it shouldn't exist in Japan. If Chiba had the same composition as the HQ dungeon, terrain like this would be impossible...... Don't tell me this is Floor 51? Have you already cleared Floor 50?"

Ohh, so that's the conclusion he jumps to.

As far as anyone knows, this is impossible in Chiba—so it must be scenery beyond Floor 50.

"It's not that, I'm afraid. This is one of the new dungeons discovered in Chiba—its 21st floor. Land negotiations are still underway, so the existence of the World Tree hasn't been made public either. It'll be quite a while before any of this is announced."

"I see—if word got out that the World Tree was here, the landowners might come to harm. So Japan has a World Tree too......"

"No, wait. A different dungeon? What's going on? We were at the Chiba branch, weren't we? Isn't this the Chiba branch's dungeon? Isn't a 'Gate' something that moves between floors?"

That's the sticking point, isn't it.

He hadn't imagined movement between dungeons, apparently.

We went above his prediction, so this can safely be called a huge success.

"Right, I nearly missed the important part getting distracted by the World Tree. You can move not just between floors, but between dungeons? To any place you like? Incredible."

"Ao-senpai predicted a short-range teleportation skill that worked within visible range—so he was wrong across the board."

"Then where the hell ARE we...... The World Tree is that thing that recovers MP, right? Haruki did all this? Too much is happening too fast—my head's about to burst......"

Yukiya-san looks ready to break down, but Kasumi-san is delighted watching the reactions.

I'm glad her mood's back.

"This dungeon is closed off, so there shouldn't be anyone here. There's no worry of being overheard, so I'll explain my skill properly."

Let's have that information exchange, for real this time.

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"Anywhere I've placed a pair of 'Gates,' huh...... If that's true, you should only be able to place them where you've been, no? What I'm curious about is how you placed them in THIS dungeon......"

So he noticed that.

"A quick little job before the landowners noticed......"

"Isn't that exactly what the mafia does?"

"We went in while catching that mafia, so it counts as safe."

It was when we did the quick-little-job on the mafia, after all.

"You were high schoolers until the day before yesterday, you know? The Chiba branch lets high schoolers do things like this? No—how much does the branch manager here know about you?"

"He should have noticed the three of us hiding our strength, but we never told him about the special skill. The branch manager took an interest in Haruki-san's talent from the start, but we've told him nothing ourselves."

Come to think of it, he IS the warehouse's guarantor.

When I thanked him, he played dumb, though......

Well, I suppose all that persistent lecturing was the flip side of his expectations?

"Wait! A gang of foreign mafiosi was caught in Chiba, you say...... Then is this the dungeon at Shiori's house?"

'Sword Saint-chan' calls a halt.

That's right—it's Saori-san's......

Hm?

"Shiori......? You mean Mizuki Shiori?"

Shiori? Mizuki's name is Saori, though?

"Ah! Kasumi-san, what are you doing! W-w-water's coming in! I can't swim! Natsuki, help!"

"Mia-san, don't cling to me! Soushi—do something!"

Apparently Kasumi-san snagged the water with her spear and put a hole in the rubber boat on the other side.

The water only comes up to your waist even if you fall in, so it's fine, you know?

No wait—is it dangerous for Mia-san?

'Where's my return gift for the boneless chicken!?'

Oi, the timing......

Crap—I haven't thought of anything for the White Day return......