ch421-ch440 · 434-ch434

Chapter 434: A Dish Full of Memories

"Huh? Wait, where are we? We were on Floor 10 and then went back to Floor 1, so shouldn't we be coming out on Floor 10 again?"

"Hm? It's raining...... wait, the river's insane! It's about to flood!"

"I fell—I fell, and—Pye. H-Haruki, what's going on?"

Hm? Now even Mia-san is confused.

Strike while the iron is hot—I explained we were heading to Floor 20, and Mia-san agreed, right?

"This is the World Tree dungeon, you see? Look. It's all right—Floor 20, no danger."

I point at the World Tree.

Seeing it from this distance, the World Tree is at its most beautiful.

That said, even Mia-san, who would normally have bolted for the exit ages ago, apparently has no choice about leaving the two girls behind.

Good for her.

"Huh? This is Floor 20? It's only been a minute or two since you said 'preparations' and we left, right?"

"Floor 20's where the big orcs show up, right? Wasn't it all hills and stuff?"

Look—running from Chiba's Floor 10 to Floor 20 takes longer than reverse-running Floor 21 of the World Tree dungeon......

"No, hold on. I can't swim!"

That's your issue here......

This is Floor 20, so while I wouldn't say Mia-san alone could handle it easily, she shouldn't be unable to beat the boss.

The river being the scary part—that's the one thing I didn't plan for.

I could have them wait at the warehouse, but you never know.

They're nominally here as the two girls' escorts.

Well, the girls are Level 20 at least, so short of a catastrophe they could manage to escape through a 'Gate.'

"Now, now, calm down. I'll leave that 'Gate' open, so hide behind it. Even 'Sword Saint-chan's 【Dimension Slash】 can't break it, so you'll be fine no matter what. Now then—I'm off to beat the boss."

I approach the river and splash the surface with my spear.

"Idiot, stop! You get swept away and you're DEAD!"

Mia-san, as usual, pokes only her face out from the shadow of the 'Left Foot Gate' and shouts.

The crocs would come flocking even without the splashing, you know.

"That tree is amazing! How many meters tall is it? I should've brought my phonee~"

"I get that we teleported, but isn't this still Chiba? So that 'Gate' over there is one of the dungeon's built-in ones?"

Meanwhile the vampire girl and the delinquent girl have got nerves of steel—or something. No tension at all.

And no photos, please.

That part, at least, I'm explaining firmly once we're home.

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"Mia-san, help me out here~!"

"CAN'T! Magic stones only!"

I took down the Armor Crocodile and ten other crocs, and the battle was over.

I want to bring the crocodile back, but carrying it alone is hard, so I asked Mia-san—and got refused.

"Fine, fine. 【Gate】"

"Pieeeeee!"

Ah—since it's heavy, I pulled the 'Left Foot Gate' closer, and Mia-san shrieked in fright.

"Manager, you've been pretty funny lately, huh?"

"Don't laugh, Hina. They say people with a fear of heights freeze up just stepping onto a rooftop. The manager's scared of water, that's all."

That sounds more like rabies than anything......

But hearing that does make me feel a bit guilty.

For now—so long as a 'Gate' sits by the riverbank, Mia-san can't go home—so I activate Super Mode, hurl the crocodile through, come back to Mia-san and the others, and set up the return 'Gate' properly.

"Right, I'm crossing to the far bank, exiting at Floor 21, and heading home from there—so you three go back to the warehouse ahead of me."

"Pye? Cross? How?"

"Swimming? Haruki, you're insane."

"As if. He's totally gonna run across the water."

That would be even more impossible......

What do you people take me for?

Ah, though I suppose a 'Ninja' could do something like that?

Come to think of it, I did fly through the sky once.

But my being 'Ninja Spring Shadow' is a secret.

"No—I'm using 【Gate】. Oh, right, I never actually checked: did you two get your jobs?"

"Yep. I became a 【Pharmacist】. You, Hina?"

"Nailed it. I'm officially a 【Chef】. As thanks, I'll cook tonight. Man, Double-Rank in a day, huh~. At this rate I'll be stronger than Cocoa-nee in no time."

Ah—her rank is supposed to be secret too...... eh, no need, actually.

I'm a Double-Rank as well, and we'll say Mia-san took them there.

Can't submit crocodile magic stones, so I'll need Orc General stones from the stockpile...... did I have any left?

Still, I have to make them swear to keep ME secret even from people close to them.

Of course that includes Cocoa-nee—the one who loves cocoa. No telling, you know?

The vampire girl should be fine, given her own skill situation.

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"Whaaat? So that golem was you carrying it home for us too, Haruki? Man, sorry about that...... is what I'd say, but with THAT thing you can just—well, consider me grateful. Thanks, Haruki."

It happened to be lunchtime, so the delinquent girl made pasta for us.

And while we eat, I ask them to keep the secret.

But seriously—she just boiled the noodles and warmed up a can of meat sauce. How is this so good?

The 【Cooking】 skill is terrifying.

"Well, that's the situation, so Haruki's a secret, got it? Miki, if it gets out, it's off to the research lab for you too, so you understand all that, right? ...Huh?"

"I've already been sent to the research lab, you know. Ah, this......"

Come to think of it, she was handed over to Dr. Amamiya's care, wasn't she.

Just then, the vampire girl's fork stops mid-bite.

"Miki, what's wrong? Still can't eat it? Sorry—maybe I botched the skill......"

It's her first time, so a skill failure was always possible.

All she did was warm both of them up, after all.

Maybe the skill didn't take properly......

"It tastes like Hina...... This is the same taste as the spaghetti I used to secretly eat back in middle schoooool......"

There, there—she's crying......

Far from a failure, it looks like a roaring success.

The 【Cooking】 skill can do this too, you know.

There's an effect that makes certain dishes bring the past rushing back.

"Huh? It's a different canned sauce, though? Man, that takes me back. At the facility the little kids would swarm us, so we used to boil it at the park. Hey, hey, don't cry."

"But I got to eat Hina's cooking again after so long. Hina's cooking is the best, after all."

What a touching story—Mia-san crosses her arms and nods along, mm-hm, mm-hm.

Worth helping with the job acquisitions, then.

"You're totally planning to dump cooking duty on me after saying all that, aren't you~! Geez. Me, I've got no good memories of Miki's cooking~"

Now that part does have me curious.

What happens when Bad-Cook-san uses the 【Cooking】 skill?

And if the nostalgic dish was a bad one, could serving that same dish again make it taste bad?