ch81-ch100 · 085-ch85

Chapter 85: A Long Phone Call

He hit me. The only one who's ever hit me is the Ogre King!

...None of that happened.

When I got home, Father was already there, and all he did was give my shoulder a couple of light pats and say he was glad I was safe.

He tapped me. The only ones who've ever hit me are the Ogre King and Kasumi-san!

Actually, at this strength, this feels like how Soushi taps me from the seat behind to get my attention.

The Ogre King, Kasumi-san, and Soushi—those are the only ones...

"One of my coworkers, Tanaka, goes to the dungeon on weekends too, you know. Brags all the time about how much money he makes."

Does his company allow side jobs? I hope that's okay...

Come to think of it, my high school requires notification for part-time jobs too... Never mind. Moving on.

Father works in Aomori, living alone for his job.

When he heard I hadn't come home, he caught the first shinkansen back.

He arrived just after noon—which means he was home by the time I came out of the dungeon.

(Aomori Dungeon... that means the 'Sword Saint of the North,' huh...)

Of the three 【Sword Saints】, one has already passed away.

That leaves two.

One is 'Sword Saint-chan,' and the other is this 'Sword Saint of the North.'

The Sword Saint of the North is apparently an old man, famous in the kendo world even before dungeons appeared in the world.

According to Hayashi-san, the Aomori Dungeon is where that grandpa Sword Saint's disciples hold sway.

One of Hayashi-san's cohort works at the Aomori Dungeon, and they're apparently rivals.

The Sword Saint of the North and several of his disciples are Triple-Ranks.

Meanwhile, the Chiba Dungeon doesn't have a single Triple-Rank.

We could never win, no matter what we did... at least, that was true until yesterday.

From now on, they've got me. And Kasumi-san will be a Triple-Rank soon too.

Time to repay my debt to Hayashi-san for the skirt.

Without that, I might not have survived today's scolding session.

"Still, Haruki getting married already... time really flies. So when do I get to meet this Kasumi-san of yours?"

"Hey, hold on. Haruki is still in high school. Marriage comes after he passes his university entrance exams."

Hey. We haven't even gotten to that conversation yet.

We are currently at dinner.

With Father home for the first time in a while, dinner feels a bit fancier than usual.

That's right. Steak.

"I see, still too early, hm. Well then, at least I'd like to greet her. This time, I'm not going back until I've met Kasumi-san."

"Meet her where, exactly? If she's coming to our house, we'll have to renovate."

'Renovate'? The house isn't even ten years old.

Just clean it. Cleaning.

Eh? Me? Well, I do need to do something about my room first.

"And how long would a renovation take? Dad, you'd get fired before it's done."

"Oh my, you're right?"

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!"

A family gathering for the first time in ages, but I'm somehow already sleepy.

The fatigue is hitting me like it just remembered it exists.

"Haruki, why don't you come out with me tomorrow? We could play catch?"

It's a regular weekday, you know.

Well, I'm not going to school.

"Sorry, I've got the hospital again tomorrow. So you go out with Mom instead. I won't be back until after five, and I won't need dinner either."

The plan is to stop by the branch on the way back from the hospital, report to Kasumi-san, and ask her on the date.

I'd like to have dinner with Kasumi-san too, but...

"The hospital? Didn't they say you were fine? Are you going to be okay?"

"Apparently I'm getting checked at the university hospital. No dinner needed—do you have plans with Kasumi-san? Then let's all eat out together. We have to send your father home before he gets fired, after all."

"Oh, that works. Your mother's always thinking."

"Um, dinner with Kasumi-san isn't set in stone. I'll go see her, but... I mean, I'll ask. I don't think it'll be a problem, but it's sudden, so she might turn me down. You two understand that, right?"

I want to tell them not to butt in, but she did say she'd like to meet Father before he leaves.

Fine. I'll just take it under consideration.

"Uh-huh. Nice, nice. Oh, Mom—I've got nothing to wear out. Let's go shopping tomorrow."

"Good idea. So tomorrow it's a date—our first in ages."

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!"

︙

︙

I felt bad for Father, home for the first time in a while, but I was exhausted, so I told them I'd turn in early and headed to my room.

I'm tired, so I need some healing.

That's right.

Time for my phone call with Kasumi-san.

Should I mention tomorrow's plans in advance too...

"...Kasumi-san? It's Haruki. Yes, I'm fine. Have you eaten, Kasumi-san? I see..."

It started out like that, with fun talk about how Shiraishi-san ate not one but three parfaits, but somewhere in talking about yesterday...

'What on earth were you thinking!?'

And we've entered scolding time.

She'd already chewed me out for overdoing it, so I'd been chatting away, at ease...

'Why didn't you choose 【Multi-Spearman】!?'

I got scolded over the high-rank job selection.

I mean, I didn't consult her, so fair enough...

But 【Multi-Spearman】 in that situation? Ehh...

If anything, 【Berserker】 would've been better than 【Charge Shielder】.

'A high-rank spear job right in front of you, and you pick 【Charge Shielder】? Hm? Huh? Don't you give me some newbie-receptionist answer like that. I will get angry.'

She's angry.

All I've done today is get scolded...

God, it was long.

When the date changed, I was somewhere past Floor 25, I think.

Going off the intel that no adventurers go below Floor 25, I ran, pulling a monster train behind me.

And from Floor 25 on, the Forest Ogre density dropped, so I crawled forward on my belly through the pitch dark.

That crawling was something else. It took forever, but as long as the enemies didn't spot me, 【Presence Concealment】 was overwhelming. I slipped through grass right beside Forest Ogres and somehow made it past Floor 21.

Then I used the detour route for Floors 19 and 18.

I surprised myself, remembering the route from a video I'd watched exactly once...

The detour route, and the crawling too—I owe it all to that ninja's video.

He might just be the man who saved my life.

What if 【Ninja】 comes up at Floor 40?

Spearman and 【Ninja】...

'To begin with, you were trying to become a 【Ninja】? That's unbelievable. ...Are you listening? Haruki-san? ...Haruki-san? ...Did you fall asleep?'

If she's going to scold me, I'd rather she do it to my face.

I'm just so... sleepy...

'Hey. Are you at least sleeping in your bed properly?'

...

'...Haruki-san. ...I love you.'