ch401-ch420 · 418-ch418
Chapter 418: A New Dream
"Lately, mealtimes have become my favorite part of the day. Ah, but it's MP conservation today, so I suppose I won't be getting anything fresh-made. What a shame."
What do I do—this girl keeps talking to me nonstop......
April has arrived, university life has settled down, and the new dungeons' Floor 40 conquests have begun.
I have successfully infiltrated as 'Ninja Spring Shadow.'
The new dungeons don't have ticket gates built yet, so no evidence gets left behind—very convenient.
Besides me and Summer Shadow, the support team is to accompany us up to Floor 29.
Beyond that, it'll be just the three of 'Blue Ocean' and our four.
We entered in the morning and have broken through ten floors—it's nearly noon, but Mami-tan keeps talking to me and it's a problem......
"N-Nin-nin."
Is she close with that other Spring Shadow?
No—if she were, she'd notice, right?
Their builds are nothing alike, you know.
"Ah, I'm being watched again...... Spring Shadow-san, have you talked with Watanabe-san yet? I feel like she's been glaring at me all day today? Last time we met, she seemed like such a nice person, though?"
You notice THAT, of all things?
"Nin-nin."
I'll just get by on 'nin-nin' alone from here.
Ideally she'd realize I'm a different person and leave me be......
No wait—would that be bad too?
"Ah, those two get along sooo well, don't they? Are they together? Come to think of it, it seems Nacchan-san hates me now too~"
Those two would be Aikawa and Summer Shadow.
They've been walking around glued to each other, after all.
Soushi's a Mami-tan fan and went all lovey-eyed, so Aikawa got mad, I bet.
No, I'm perfectly fine, you know?
Even with a girl in a swimsuit walking beside me, there's none of that at all.
Still, I was shocked when she started stripping right at the "well then, let's begin" moment—but apparently, with her skill active, she stops feeling heat or cold.
In fact, the 【Naked King】's skill apparently makes being stripped MORE comfortable.
"That's why it's fine," she said earlier herself.
If she says it's fine, nothing to be done.
"Nin-nin."
"Ah, you think so?"
N-Nin-nin?
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"Sorry, but this is as far as we go. Watanabe-san, our members are in your hands."
"Yes. I will give it my all."
After breaking Floor 10 and taking an early lunch break, Kaito-san and 'Her Majesty the Queen' drop out.
Going further means an overnight stay, after all.
We take our first night at Floor 19, move up to Floor 29 the next day for another night, and in the morning send Mami-tan and the remaining members home, pushing on with just us.
From there 【Gate】 works, so we can take it slow.
If anything, Mami-tan and the others' way back worries me more.
"......"
'Her Majesty the Queen,' having handed her luggage to Kasumi-san, is looking this way.
Have I been found out?
She won't think it's me, but she's probably noticed I'm not that other Spring Shadow.
"Then shall we move on?"
This dungeon is one of the new ones that appeared in Tokyo—up through Floor 10, savanna fields.
The only monsters are smallish deer that bolt the moment they spot you—no real combat to speak of.
From Floor 11 the vegetation thins out drastically—wasteland, I'd call it.
Hyena-like, scrawny dog monsters appear.
Deeper in, their numbers grow, and they attack in packs, it seems.
"I'll take point from here. See you at dinner!"
Up to here, Kaito-san had led the way; from here on, the support members fight their way forward with Mami-tan at the center.
The support members number ten.
They all seem to be Level 30 and above, but with only two magic-job holders among them, Mami-tan is the only one who could be called a true combat job.
Well, as long as we don't spend MP, we can join the fighting without issue.
Today aside—from tomorrow, if it looks dangerous, I'll step in to help.
"You looked to be having quite the fun time."
The formation is arrayed around Kasumi-san, who carries the luggage, so I move over to it.
"See? She seems to be on good terms with Spring Shadow. I'm worried a weekly-magazine romance scoop might come out of it eventually."
She's a net idol with an astronomical subscriber count, after all.
I can see a future where Spring Shadow gets torn apart by the mob.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. Perhaps I should drive the nail in beforehand."
Which direction, I wonder?
No—both, probably.
Swapping Spring Shadow's contents at this point would be, well...... you know?
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"Come out!"
"No. I'm sleeping here."
We reach Floor 19, eat dinner, and then......
Since sleeping is 'work,' 'Sword Saint-chan' and I are exempt from night watch—but there's a dispute over where to sleep.
"S-so popular, indeed......"
"N-Nin-nin."
'Sword Saint-chan' insists sleeping together is better for sharing the same dream, but Kasumi-san rules out the tent.
"What's all the commotion?"
"Ah, just a little dream experiment. We're trying to see whether we can share the same dream, but somehow......"
Ao-san explains to the support members.
We're the ones about to end up in a weekly magazine here.
But these folks keep their mouths shut, I hope?
"The same dream, you say? I see...... If it's only sleeping, wouldn't it be fine as long as the two aren't left alone? Or perhaps, not using a tent?"
One of the support members, the magic user, offers a compromise.
Normally, tents aren't used outside of campsites, after all.
"Pathetic. No, that's not—'Summer Shadow,' we're on the morning watch, so let's just sleep already."
Soushi and Yukiya-san get up at three, so unable to keep up with this, they head into their tent.
"Hah. Right. Let's do that, then. Aikawa-san, can the first watch manage without Watanabe-san?"
"Yes~! Mami-tan's here too, so we're OK~!"
Sorry about this.
Well, it IS Floor 19.
I'll do watch duty properly tomorrow, so go easy on me.
"Mami-tan, you too, please. Then—Watanabe-san, sleep with her; three to a tent would be cramped, so somewhere around here, I suppose."
"Mmm-mmm-mmm. I will take the middle. You are over there."
"We have to be closer than that. You go to the far side."
Now they're fighting over positions......
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......I wake up.
Inside the fortress—is it?
"You conscious?"
'Sword Saint-chan' speaks to me.
"No, I'm asleep, so...... Three of us, is it? A first-time pattern."
With Kasumi-san included, there are three of us here.
Not five, huh......
Might be a bit rough?
"The other two can't get in. Something is wrong. Furuta-san should have entered before me. Haruki-san, retreat!"