ch441-ch460 · 446-ch446

Chapter 446: We Can't Go Home

"【Gate】. 【Gate】."

First things first: 'Eye Gates' placed in front of the gate and directly above the invincible box.

We just barely made it before the gate opened.

But Kasumi-san's movements don't stop—her fingers slide from my neck into a gap in my armor, searching for something.

Kasumi-san's black armor is dungeon-made, so the gauntlet's fingertips are pointed, and it stings a little......

"I've never seen you do this."

She means the pair rings dangling from the necklace she's fished out of my collar.

"In case I lose them......"

Inside the dungeon, the force involved could reshape them in an instant......

Ah, the gate's opening.

Skeletons come pouring out all at once.

The bow attacks have gotten stronger too.

Even so, of the skeletons atop the castle gate, only a few are attacking.

Out of range, most likely.

"I wear mine at all times, you know? You're no longer even a high schooler, Haruki-san—you could wear yours every day, couldn't you?"

At school I didn't because it would stand out—that was the reason.

Wearing it was basically a date-only thing; I never had a habit of rings day to day—but apparently that's a grievance.

"Ah, skeletons are falling. You can let go now. 【Gate】!"

The skeletons that burst from the gate first and got sucked into the 'Right Eye Gate' come dropping down.

Only—my 'Gate' is one meter across, and the castle gate is a good four meters, so inevitably they leak out the sides.

This time I re-stick the 'Right Eye Gate' onto the lead skeleton of the overflow coming our way.

But the width is still short, so after a little while I have to move the 'Right Eye Gate' again.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm! You want to get AWAY? This invincible box is precisely so we CAN flirt safely, isn't it? We must verify it's truly safe!"

She scoops me up tight, and my feet leave the ground.

"【Gate】, 【Gate】, 【Gate】." Ah, I'm about to lose sight of the front. Could you slide sideways a little?

I'd been dropping skeletons right in front of us, so the bones have piled up and visibility is getting bad.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm. Very well, then. Nguh-gh-ghh."

Kasumi-san sets me down and slides the invincible box along.

The tires won't move sideways by design, so it looks rough going.

Having set the invincible box down with a THUD, Kasumi-san hugs me from behind once more.

Look, it's fine now, though......

"We'll be making contact soon, so you should stay back...... Huh?"

"We can never meet outside lately, and there's always some third wheel tagging along—we never get time alone. So I want to keep this up a little longer. We can talk on the phone, but seeing your face in person, being close like this is...... What's the matter?"

Thanks to thinning them out with 【Gate】, the skeleton count is way down—but even so, more than ten skeletons reach the invincible box and open their attack.

Of course, the shield enhancement covers every face, so something like this doesn't budge it one bit.

It doesn't budge one bit, but......

"......I just realized something. How are we supposed to END this?"

"Huh?"

GANGANGAN. DON-DON-DON. Listening to the skeletons hammering the invincible box, we fall silent for a while.

"We can't retrieve the box until the skeletons around it are dealt with, can we? Worst case, the two of us can get home by 【Gate】......"

The box can't pass through a 'Gate' unless it's folded.

Surrounded by skeletons—with arrows and magic flying everywhere—that's a hard ask.

"First things first, let's fall back. If we can get outside bow range, sallying out is safe. How much time do we have left?"

MP: 239

"Under two minutes. What do we do about the enhancement? Keep it going?"

But no MP is the problem.

Even if I get out, facing this many might be a stretch.

If there's even one strong one......

"Please keep it going for now. Nguh-gh-gh-gh-gooooh"

As Kasumi-san lifts the invincible box, I release my shield super mode too.

Pulling backward with everything I have.

But the front face is slanted, so the skeletons find it hard to attack there—they're hammering the back as well, which adds to the load.

We can't retreat as planned......

"No good. Time's nearly—let's go back once. 【Gate】! Kasumi-san, you first!"

"Ngh. Very well. We retreat."

I summon the 'Left Hand Gate' before the MP runs dry and we fall back.

Not having worked out a plan for retrieving the invincible box...... how mortifying.

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"......And that's how it went."

I report the whole affair to Mia-san.

"I see, I see. Invincible is all well and good, but you can't attack from inside, so once you're surrounded, all you can do is run. And you left it there."

"We're very sorry."

The two of us apologize for abandoning the invincible box.

"Ah, but you leveled up. And Kasumi-san?"

"No change on my end. At that distance the EXP should have come through, but I'll need another run to say for sure. But for that......"

My level is 47 now; Kasumi-san is still 46.

EXP doesn't show on the Status, so whether it reached Kasumi-san is still unknown.

One or two more trials and if her level doesn't move, that'll mean it didn't—but testing THAT requires the invincible box again......

"So build an improved model, is what you're saying. The problem's the means of attack, right...... Any other improvements?"

Mia-san isn't angry about the abandoned box.

If anything, she's apparently going to build it again.

Then I'll take her up on her kindness......

"No, the thing itself was perfect—first, could I have another one exactly like it? Safety's confirmed, so next time I'll bring Soushi along and have him attack from outside."

I shouldn't say just Soushi—if everyone had been on standby, sallying out from that spot would have been fine.

Chiharu-san could handle that kind of number even while watching the bows.

The fire magic that came flying made the inside a little warm, but if Soushi prioritizes dealing with that, we're set.

And saving MP.

The bow attacks, maybe because of the distance, were surprisingly nothing much.

Even without enhancement, the invincible box's armor dented but I don't think there was an attack that punched clean through.

At least on Floor 46, up until we make contact with the skeletons coming out of the gate, shield enhancement shouldn't be needed.

When I tell the two of them this......

"In that case, trigger the operation at the 300-meter mark, and after that have you 【Gate】 while retreating like a fighting withdrawal—that buys time until contact. They'll chase us relentlessly once they're out the gate. And of course, keeping the operation going throughout is also an option, I'd say."

So we retreat backward WHILE flirting......

Without the enhancement, Kasumi-san's 【Equipment Weight Reduction】 should work at full strength, and we'd be able to fall back at top speed. Next time, let's try that.

With a backward retreat, I'll have to adjust the 'Left Eye Gate's' position too, so the skeletons drop nearby and the EXP lands.

Well, that part's on me to manage.

Dropping them onto the invincible box risks them launching attacks right there—so dropping them to the side, after all.

I made the mistake this time of dropping them right in front and ruining our visibility—like I said, there are things you only learn by actually fielding it.

Testing matters.

"Or should we bolt on a motor and rolling tires? You're not fighting inside anyway—build a platform too, and ride on top of the whole thing."

No tires, platform, or enhancement needed for the box itself—have those made as separate parts, and as long as the image is riding on top along with the invincible box, it should be fine.

But......

"That would cost quite a bit, wouldn't it? And then we couldn't just use it as a one-shot throwaway like this time......"

A throwaway means, price-wise, a bit of a......

"Ah—speaking of which, this month's shop numbers came in. Profit alone is over 100 million yen...... And that's on the assumption the 40s-floor weapons and armor came free, no? How are we splitting this?"

The 40s-floor weapons go on sale through Mia-san—but the state of things is I pick them up and just hand the whole lot over to her.

I've been flowing them to Anego-san's crowd at practically giveaway prices, but everything's been distributed now except the special pieces like Hondo-san's whips and chains, so general sales have started too.

The quantities are kept limited, but the market rate is at least 2 million yen a piece......

Just 50 sales makes 100 million.

We carry them out direct by 'Gate,' so there's essentially no cost—the whole amount is profit.

Normally it'd be a two-week expedition, so prep funds and escort fees would be the cost, and our cut on top would be the purchase price......

For us, it's long since felt like just picking things up on the side while leveling, so we'd completely forgotten.

Hmm. 100 million in a month.

1.2 billion a year, huh......

And the armor—which must fetch even more per piece—hasn't even gone on sale yet.