ch421-ch440 · 426-ch426
Chapter 426: 【Idol】
"Desert again, huh. Can't tell if this makes it easy to attack or a pain in the neck."
The 40s floors look to be a siege war across the desert.
"On the surface, attackers would have it brutal. This heat means water management decides everything. The defenders would build their fortress on an oasis, so there might just be water inside if you get in."
Ao-san answers Yukiya-san's question.
All of which assumes "if this were the surface," mind you.
With earth magic you could ride the sand right up onto the fortress walls, but nobody here has 【Earth Mage】.
How are we doing this, then?
"No change. Straight up the front."
Now THAT is a 'Sword Saint-chan' answer!
"I don't think it'll happen, but the snake and scorpion skeletons might carry venom, so be careful. Have one of each brought back for testing, just in case. Then—Haruki-kun, camera prep, please."
This floor gets a survey filming too, after all.
The first run has to be cleared without 【Gate】.
"Soushi, you're out of MP—don't go stepping forward."
"Yeah, yeah."
Soushi burned through his MP in the earlier shoot, after all.
No, no—it was splendid work.
Three Shadows versus the Quetzalcoatl. I think we got some great footage.
Look forward to the release.
"Then, beginning~ Three, two, one, start!"
I switch the camera on and filming begins.
"We are now on Floor 41. The difference from the HQ dungeon is that the field is a desert, and also......"
Ao-san narrates the floor for us.
I'm getting a little used to the camera—maybe I'll fuss over my angles today?
︙
︙
"That's probably it for today's shoot. Let's cut for now."
We've taken the fortress and occupied one of its rooms—filming ends.
Camping in the 40s floors is actually easy: find a room with no skeletons and block the entrance.
As long as you don't make a racket, the monsters don't approach the rooms, apparently, so you can rest in peace.
There was a well inside the fortress, as predicted, so we can refill water.
Minus the fact that MP doesn't recover, we could probably hold up in siege, I thought—but the 40s-floor monsters are all skeletons, so there's no food to be had.
Go back down to Floor 39 and we'd have to fight the Floor 40 boss all over again, so living here isn't happening.
Normally it's over a week on nothing but rations, huh. Adventurers have it rough, I thought all over again, and accepted tonight's curry.
"Do we post a night watch?"
"Loosely. The camera stays pointed at the door overnight, but nobody being there would be a little odd. A skeleton knocking on the door while everyone ignores it—that'd look strange, right? The barricade won't break, so if one comes, just show your face in front of the camera. Stay quiet and it'll wander off eventually."
After dinner, the usual rotation for night watch.
By day three, staying silent all shift is getting rough.
In exchange, when the camera isn't running, I talk with Kasumi-san.
So at night, we've set up a notebook for passing notes.
'Why practice shuriken? You have a spear—why not throw that? If it's size you want, there's the Lilliputian Spear, no?'
Ah—she's still angry about yesterday's shuriken practice, apparently.
Ao-san taught me shuriken-jutsu on a break from work, and it did not meet with her approval.
Kasumi-san was left entirely out in the cold while I threw shuriken around, after all.
Must be careful.
(Sorry. Next time we'll practice together, Kasumi-san.—and with that, I write.)
Scribble, scribble.
"Mmm-mmm-mmm."
'That is NOT what this is about!'
Then what IS it about?
︙
︙
"Then I'll sing a song!"
On Floor 42, Aikawa shows off her 【Idol】 skills.
Less 【Idol】 than 【Singing】—the skill even the lower-rank 【Singer】 job can learn.
So it buffs us, then?
"Boee~♪"
Hmm. Huh?
It's not working, though?
Or can I just not feel it?
"Oi, the gate's opening."
"Battle stations!"
"The spear's coming! Please don't break it!"
"I'll be careful."
【Singing】 is a skill that produces all sorts of effects in combination with other skills—and what Aikawa used was apparently a hate-gathering skill.
Wait—with no shield?
"Ah, here they come! All right, let's DO this!"
In Aikawa's hand: the great axe she picked up on Floor 41.
And she cuts down the incoming enemies with more power than usual.
The story afterward: 【Idol】 has a skill that makes the singer herself stronger through her song.
The stat gain apparently varies with the conditions—a stronger listener, a bigger audience—and with Chiharu-san here, we must be getting the maximum effect.
I should move to catch Aikawa's face while she fights.
(Oh, the one in armor—over there, NOOO!!)
Sliced clean in two by Aikawa......
(Oh, that one too—NOOO!!)
This time cut down by Chiharu-san.
Please, aim around the armor, I'm begging you.
Could Mia-san fix something cut in half?
(Oh, now Yukiya-san's hammer is......)
Is everyone targeting the ones in armor!?
The worst part is I can't make a sound while filming.
～～～～～
Kakuyomu Con 10 has begun, so please allow me a plug.
My new work is below.
'The Unluckiest Man in the World Steps on the Level-Down Trap Twice in His First Dungeon'
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093086054561683
Chapter 5 is up.
I'm writing it in parallel with this one, so this story's chapter lengths may shrink......