ch41-ch60 · 041-ch41
Chapter 41: Just a Good Person
After school, I came to the dungeon.
I passed through the 'Dungeon Gate' and looked toward the counter.
Watanabe-san isn't... here.
One seat was empty, and only the newbie girl was there.
The newbie girl glanced at me for a moment, but then she immediately returned her gaze to her hands—was she maintaining some kind of weapon?
A bow...? It's huge.
It has pulleys attached.
That would be a compound bow, I guess.
It's huge either way.
A bow's power depends directly on its size, so I guess it makes sense to use one in the dungeon.
So the newbie girl is a bow user.
No, maybe she's a healer or production type who uses a bow to attack from the back line.
Should I say something?
"Hello."
"Watanabe-saan! That regular guy is here~"
"Yees. Please wait just a moment."
That was Watanabe-san's voice from the back.
The newbie girl is deliberately not looking at me.
"Um... That's a nice bow...?"
"It's a secr-et. I'm not telling you."
I see.
Watanabe-san has started an information lockdown.
And the retaliation has already begun....
"This just arrived today. It cost three months' salary. Of course it's a nice bow."
What happened to "it's a secret"?
She got a new weapon and wants to show it off. I get it.
But three months' salary?
If she's working at the dungeon counter, shouldn't she be getting hazard pay or something?
It must cost around 1 million yen.
That's quite a splurge.
The black bow suits the newbie girl, who looks serious with her black hair, at least appearance-wise.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go.... Could you please stay here a little longer?"
Watanabe-san came out from the back.
She already has a mop and a competition naginata in her hands.
That last part was directed at the newbie girl.
"Ah, I'll put my stuff away."
Since I came straight from school, I have my things with me, and today I also brought an empty Boston bag.
I put them away in the changing room locker and head to the back of the warehouse with Watanabe-san.
"Let's begin."
We haven't talked much up to this point, and I'm handed the naginata as our sparring begins.
Is this really okay?
Well, there's something I want to test today, so I'll go with it.
([Charge・Spear] activated.)
I want to confirm if "super mode" can be activated with [Charge・Spear] even when using this competition naginata.
It worked.
With this, I shouldn't have to worry about it not activating at the last critical moment.
However, it's still too early to reveal my hand.
([Charge・Spear・Endurance Up] activated.)
Just raise my defense.
'If you don't have armor, just wrap yourself in skills, right?'
So said a French female adventurer, or so I heard.
With this, even if I take a hit to the head, I probably won't be seriously injured.
I'll go with the same movements as yesterday.
I move at full speed to Watanabe-san's side and try to sweep her legs.
My posture is lower than yesterday.
Now, to raise my leg... wait.
Huh? What?
Thwack! My attack was blocked with the mop.
The next moment, a horizontal sweeping attack comes.
"Urgh—"
I didn't mean to make that sound.
The skill seems to be activated properly.
Everything is going according to plan.
I haven't made any mistakes.
Whoops, my MP is decreasing. Deactivate, deactivate.
"...That was an odd response. Was that a defense skill? Also, it seemed like you had some kind of strategy in mind. But just because you do the same thing yourself doesn't mean your opponent will do the same thing they did yesterday."
Yes.
As a result, I've only revealed that I have a defense skill.
She probably hasn't figured out it's [Charge・Spear].
I'll let her keep thinking it's just a defense skill.
"One more, please."
We did two more after that, but I lost with the same pattern—she would block my attack with the mop and then counterattack.
I had received advice not to finish with single attacks, so I tried combo attacks, but that didn't work either.
One, two, three—she rhythmically blocked them all, and when I created an opening, her attack would come flying.
Watanabe-san, sticking to defense, is in a practically ironclad state.
I'm completely stuck.
My hands may rise, but Watanabe-san's feet never leave the ground.
It hurts when I take hits without raising my endurance.
"Are you satisfied?"
"Yes. Thank you. I'll come again tomorrow."
".... Isn't that a 'No'? Well, I suppose it's fine.... Let's talk a bit on the surface."
Oh? The cashing-in is finished?
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And so, we're in what seems like a conference room on the surface.
"I told the branch manager that you're the representative of a promising new party that I'm training, and asked them to leave it to me. They said 'Excellent adventurers are welcome,' so there was no problem there. This should handle magic stones up to the 20th floor."
I see, so she made it seem like I usually party with people from headquarters or something.
Even the branch manager probably can't easily check the headquarters' records.
As long as I don't do anything too flashy, that is.
There was also an implied restriction that I would join that "promising new party" before getting magic stones from floors beyond the 20th.
"As for the dungeon staff, when I told them I would handle everything concerning you, they accepted it surprisingly easily. However, some have expressed dissatisfaction about me not providing them with your information. It's not entirely a lie that you're a promising new adventurer."
I feel like they might be expecting something else from me... but.
It's also not a lie that I'm a party representative. I'm the leader of a one-person party.
In other words, I haven't lied to the branch manager.
So far, so good.
"Just be careful with what you say and do, and if you don't show them the magic stones, they shouldn't be able to tell anything more. So please, just interact with everyone as you have been."
The newbie girl didn't say anything either, and today she wasn't taking notes either.
If the newbie girl is okay, then the black gal receptionist will probably understand to keep quiet too.
Hiramatsu-san might even give me information, and Sato-san doesn't talk much.
Well, only one person will probably push for details anyway.
"Regarding the cashing-in, I've just started, but it's quite a substantial amount. The biggest hurdle is delivering it to you without going through the counter. There are also procedural system issues, so I can't bring it up from the dungeon and hand it to you. So I'd like to do it via bank transfer."
"Um. You mean I need a bank account, right?"
"Yes. I'll handle the paperwork and procedures. I just need your account number and signature."
It's because I'm earning an obviously suspicious amount every day.
The worst thing would be for that to be seen.
A bank account, huh.
My current bank account is probably managed by my mother.
Mother...
I'm keeping it a secret from her too.
I need a new one urgently.
Should I skip school tomorrow and go set one up?
Fortunately, when I got my adventurer license, I got plenty of necessary documents from the government office.
I'll only need to go to the bank.
"I understand. I'll get it done by tomorrow."
"Then that's all for today.... Also, please don't do anything reckless today. That's a promise."
That's right.
The fact that she's taking care of the troublesome procedures and doing everything secretly is all to stop me from doing anything reckless.
She's trying too hard for an Association employee's duty...
No, ever since she lied to the branch manager, she's gone beyond the scope of an Association employee's duties....
While it's too soon to judge since we haven't known each other long, I can tell she's worried about me.
And there was this guy who was desperately trying to sweep her feet out from under her.