arc3 · 057-ch57

Episode 57: Movie

"Oh, are you heading out, Suzuka? I thought you were taking a break from the dungeon?"

When I came downstairs after getting ready, my mother called out to me as she folded laundry while watching TV.

"Yeah. Going to see a movie. I'll be back by evening."

"My, that's nice. With Yasu?"

"No, that guy betrayed me."

I had invited Yasu to the movie, but he ended up going with a girl from cram school—a traitor of the highest order. The kind of guy you can't help but envy.

"Going to Tachikawa?"

"Yeah, yeah, Tachikawa."

"Be careful on the train. Don't get on the Ome line."

"Okay, I'll be careful. I'm off."

"Okay, have a good day."

Seeing me off, Mother, I headed to my destination, Tachikawa.

◇

The Tachikawa station I was visiting for the first time since coming to this world was just as lively and prosperous as in the old days. There's a movie theater in Hachioji too, but the one in Tachikawa is bigger and more famous. I heard the sound system is good, but I don't really understand that stuff.

When I arrived at the movie ticket counter, one of the members who would be watching the movie with me today was there.

"Ah, uh, um, good morning."

My awkward greeting made her notice me and our eyes met. Today as always, she wore her long black-purple hair in twin tails. Her perfectly applied mine-style makeup featured many piercings in her ears. Her outfit wasn't the Gale Rabbit armor I saw yesterday—today she wore V-kei style clothing with lots of decorative accessories.

Standing there silently with her beautifully arranged face, she really looked like a doll.

"Ah, good morning. You're early."

"Ah, yeah, I guess. Not really."

I was feeling nervous because the other person was an acquaintance of an acquaintance. If it were a stranger, it would be easier to talk to. But acquaintances of acquaintances are impossible. I can't say anything.

As for how it ended up like this, we have to go back to yesterday.

Yesterday was the last day of exploration in District 3. While I was doing an area boss rush—defeating the area bosses in District 3 in order—I noticed the last one, the Water Blade Weasel, was missing.

Wondering if someone had defeated it, on my way home disappointed, I found Kirin, the only explorer acquaintance I had, fighting the Water Blade Weasel. Watching from nearby, she seemed to be in a pinch, so I stepped in to help, and surprisingly, Kirin let me take the last fight against it.

I defeated the Water Blade Weasel without any issues, but unfortunately, my Swordsmanship skill level didn't go up. The Water Blade Weasel attacks with many strikes, so I thought it would be perfect for raising Swordsmanship skill levels, but it didn't work out that way.

One way or another, after defeating the Water Blade Weasel, I looked around and found explorers who were exhausted and lying around like corpses. Given that state, they probably wouldn't scream "You stole our prey!!" which was a relief.

Having defeated the Water Blade Weasel, I thought I should at least greet Kirin. While I was at it, I asked a question I'd been wondering about—is this how Explorer High parties gather in groups to fight area bosses in raid battles? Kirin laughed and denied it.

Yesterday's incident was caused by a monster train, and the area boss was just attracted to it. Since they hadn't been prepared to fight an area boss, they were actually grateful that I defeated it instead.

I too had once considered creating a massive monster train myself to gather all three area bosses and practice the ultimate efficiency, but I gave up because it would bother other explorers. I never thought there would be explorers at Explorer High who actually did that—they're really enthusiastic.

Despite the monster train being that large, there were no critically injured people where I joined in. Even the child who was cut by the Water Blade Weasel apparently recovered with a potion, so it wasn't life-threatening.

However, it seems one of the party members who caused the monster train was killed by a monster. They were being vague about it, but they probably died. Even though they were tired, the explorers other than Kirin's group thanked me and went off to search for their missing member. Maybe they went to pick up their personal effects too.

Left behind were me and Kirin's group. When I tried to go home since I had a curfew, Kirin called out to me.

"I want to thank you somehow, but what would be good? The only items I can prepare are from Rabbit Demon Iron Skin and Fresh Green Great Wolf."

Area boss items are quite valuable—one is worth over a million yen. Also, since you can't fight them again once your level rises, many explorers keep them as mementos even if they don't use them.

While I'm grateful for such an offer, I didn't really want anything. If anything, I wanted to thank them for letting me fight the Water Blade Weasel last.

"No, I don't need that sort of thing. I didn't do anything that important."

"That won't do, Suzuka-chan. Explorers need to handle these things properly."

Since Kirin knows more about explorers than I do, that must be the case. She probably wants to clear up any debts between us.

But I didn't really want anything in particular. Wondering what to say, I thought for a few seconds and had an idea.

"In that case, how about we go see a movie tomorrow? Summer Wars."

That's the movie I was planning to see with Yasu. I've seen Summer Wars before, and I saw it in theaters in my original world too. But good things are worth watching multiple times. I need to show Summer Wars on the big screen to Suzuka's body in this world.

I was thinking of going alone, but if Kirin can come, it'll be more fun to watch together. I want to see the movie, but the main thing is exchanging information.

With the incident of mistaking the monster train for a raid, and everything else, I realize I'm not very knowledgeable about explorers. I might make a big mistake someday, so I want to hear from Kirin, who seems knowledgeable. If I can gather information over a meal after the movie, that would be perfect.

"A movie? I don't mind, but is that really okay?"

"Of course. I was planning to go tomorrow, is that okay?"

"It's fine. Everyone else is fine too, right?"

That's when I realized I had a misunderstanding with Kirin. I had only invited Kirin. Naturally, since I didn't know the other three. But Kirin had taken it as being invited as a party.

I didn't have the strong mental constitution to say "Everyone else is fine!" in that situation, so after getting consent from the others, it was decided that Kirin's party would also participate.

"Wait, by the way, is your arm okay?"

She said she used a potion, but from what I saw yesterday, it looked like it was fractured. But now she didn't have a cast or anything.

"Yeah. Someone from the Explorer Association healed me with recovery magic. At Explorer High, they heal you for free, right?"

Since lower-grade potions can't heal fractures, you need middle-grade potions or recovery magic at skill level 4 or higher. Conversely, it means that even with a fracture, you can move immediately if you use recovery magic.

Recovery magic feels like the most broken thing.

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Nekoyashika. Everyone calls me Nyako, so please call me Nyako."

"Ah, likewise, nice to meet you. I'm Jozenji Suzuka. Jozenji or Suzuka is fine."

With the fatal mistake of not introducing myself, my salaryman self from the previous world unconsciously appeared. Since Kirin calls me Suzuka-chan, I should let her know that calling me Suzuka is fine too.

"Why are you using formal language? Anyway, thank you for saving us yesterday."

Nyako bowed deeply.

"It's fine, it's fine! I'm glad nothing serious happened to you."

"I'm sorry we couldn't thank you properly yesterday since it was so rushed."

"Yesterday you were injured, so it couldn't be helped. I was in a hurry too since I had a curfew."

After deciding to go to the movie, I got Kirin's contact information and hurried home alone. I almost missed my curfew.

"Oh, did I keep you waiting?"

When I turned at that voice, Kirin was there. Behind her were the other two members.

"It looks like Nyako already introduced herself. Sorry we couldn't introduce you yesterday, Suzuka-chan."

"No, it's fine. Ah, I'm Jozenji Suzuka."

"I'm Inurakuse Yuurai. Thank you for yesterday."

Inurakuse was a tall woman, larger than me. With her long, slender limbs and simple outfit of white shirt and jeans, she looked like a model. Her light brown hair was tied in a low style, and her narrow eyes gave her the impression of a capable career woman.

"I, I'm Nitta Kotori. Th, thank you for saving Nyako-chan yesterday."

This one was the complete opposite of Inurakuse—a small, cute woman. She had her orange hair in braids and wore loose-fitting clothes with ethnic-style decorations. With her small stature and well-arranged face, she looked like an angel.

"Let me express my gratitude again. Thank you for yesterday."

When she said that, all three bowed deeply to me, just like Nyako. Since the zoo members and I were already strikingly beautiful, having all three bow deeply made us stand out even more.

"You, you're welcome? People are staring, so please raise your heads."

"Ah, we don't want to cause trouble for Suzuka-chan."

Saying that, Kirin raised her head. Today she was wearing round sunglasses with blue lenses, and her casual clothes were full of style. She had a cool punk-style look.

If I have time, maybe I should have her pick out some clothes for me.

"Let's continue after buying tickets."

Saying that, we all headed to the ticket counter.

◇

After finishing the movie, the group visited a French restaurant in a back alley for lunch. While it's a casual restaurant, it's somehow a stylish place where you can feel a bit of Paris, France.

We ordered galettes. This restaurant has a galette course, so you get a main galette and two dessert galettes. The sweet galette is delicious, and it's a place I often use when returning from seeing movies in Tachikawa.

"G, galette is my first time eating it. I, it's delicious!"

"Right! Suzuka-chan knows a stylish restaurant~!"

"This is about the only place I know. I'm glad you liked it."

I felt good hearing Kotori and Inurakuse's words. I had wanted to eat galette here again for a while, so I'm glad I could come today.

By the way, even though I'm called Suzuka-chan, the zoo members are aware that Suzuka is male. Nyako and Kotori knew from the start that I was male, while Kirin and Inurakuse had misunderstood. Though the misunderstanding was resolved, they still call me Suzuka-chan.

Kirin and Nyako were also cutting and eating the galette with knives, looking like they were enjoying it.

After eating to some extent, Kirin started talking about what happened yesterday. Since the restaurant staff realized we were explorers and guided us to a private room in the back, we could talk about these things without worrying about our surroundings.

"The Urban party that caused the monster train will likely get away with a stern warning and suspension."

She explained while drinking after-dinner coffee.

The ones who suffered damage from this monster train were Kirin's group, zoo, and another explorer party called Parks. Both had injuries but no deaths, and since they didn't intend to file a damage report, the punishment ended up being light.

Also, the fact that everyone was a student at Explorer High probably helped. If this had happened on Floors 2 or 3, the explorers involved would have belonged to different guilds, and the issue would have escalated with compensation payments and such.

"However, it seems one member of that Urban party died."

When I arrived, everyone was gathered and fighting, but originally, Urban had been wandering around the dungeon, which caused the monster train. The trigger for wandering was apparently a party member being defeated, and they searched afterward but found them already dead.

Even though a person—and a student attending the same school at that—had died, neither I nor any of the zoo members were grieving. That's how explorers are—if you're weak, you die. Whether it's a middle schooler, high schooler, or adult, it's the same. Entering a dungeon means that.

"Even so, party members can die and there's no particular punishment. The one who died might have just been framed, though."

"That's fine, Suzuka-chan. The drone footage is evidence. After seeing that, the judgment was that it was an accident this time."

Ah, right, there was a drone flying.

Drones move with the power of magic stones and record dungeon exploration. Inside dungeons, where there are no surveillance cameras or even human eyes, there are many cases where you just have to accept it when crimes occur. Therefore, by constantly recording exploration with drones, you can use that as evidence if any trouble arises. It has the same function as a car's dashcam.

"Suzuka-chan didn't have a drone flying. Don't you use one?"

"Yeah. It was expensive so I haven't bought one yet. You guys really could buy one, huh."

"We students at Explorer High get one drone distributed per party. We're not allowed to explore in District 2-1 without recording with a drone."

Even though they cost a million yen each, you can really tell it's a school supported by the Explorer Association. The usefulness of drones was also clear from this monster train incident.

"By, by the way, I, I have something I need to give to Suzuka-chan."

What Kotori took out from storage was "Water Blade Weasel's Tail." It's a short sword that drops from the Water Blade Weasel, and I also have one. Compared to "Calm Short Sword," which I enhanced with my Snatch skill, it has a more bone-like appearance with more white parts on the blade.

"Hm? Why me?"

Kotori stood up from her seat, trotted over to me, and handed over "Water Blade Weasel's Tail." I don't remember lending Kotori my "Water Blade Weasel's Tail."

"For yesterday's Water Blade Weasel, it seems we also had a drop item lottery. And Kotori won that. So we're giving it to Suzuka-chan, who actually defeated it."

"I, I should have given it immediately, but, I thought it would be bad with people watching, so it got delayed."

Area boss items are expensive and very rare. Even though Kirin and zoo are strong, they're District 3-level explorers. If mid-level explorers target them, they're only strong enough that they can't win.

That's why transactions for rare items like this are done in Explorer Association conference rooms or completely private rooms at explorer-favored restaurants. This is a private room at a regular restaurant, so it's somewhat defenseless for such a transaction, but it can't be helped.

"No, but why me? Kotori won the drop, right?"

"Ah, from there. I'll explain."

Before I defeated the Water Blade Weasel yesterday, zoo's members had also fought it. Thanks to that, they were eligible for the drop item lottery when the Water Blade Weasel was defeated.

However, when contribution is low, a proper lottery doesn't occur, and it becomes a lottery at a lower drop rate than usual. The fact that the guaranteed drop item from the Water Blade Weasel, "Water Blade Weasel's Pelt," didn't drop is proof of that.

If you fought together, the obtained items belong to the explorer who dropped them, but for drops from monsters that you couldn't handle and fled from, like this time, the common thinking is that they belong to the explorer who defeated them.

"But since no one can see the contents of storage, if you say no one got a drop, that's that. It's more like a manner thing."

"So, Kotori has good manners so she's giving me the item, is that it?"

"Y, yes, that's it."

I see. I understand the story. That's exactly why I can't accept this.

"If that's the case, I don't need it. Kotori won the drop, so wouldn't it be better for Kotori or someone in zoo to use it?"

"Suzuka-chan. This is not something you need to decline."

"There's no need to be modest or anything."

Saying that, I handed the "Water Blade Weasel's Tail" I had once received back to Kotori.

"I watched for a little while as everyone fought the Water Blade Weasel. I never thought you could paralyze the Water Blade Weasel. Since you did that much, that item is something you fairly obtained through a lottery."

It was a good experience seeing their coordinated party battle up close, and I was able to learn how to use poison magic from Nyako. Even now, they're teaching me about explorer common sense.

To take a drop item obtained through such life-risking battle from the side—I couldn't really accept that. It feels wrong somehow.

"I, in that case, I'll gratefully accept it. Thank you so much."

Kotori thanked me with a happy smile. Kotori uses dual swords, so a short sword should be easy to wield with one hand, so it's probably a weapon she can use.

"I'm ending up with various debts to you."

"You don't need to think about debts so seriously."

"I'm the type who wants to handle these things properly. If anything comes up, please ask me."

The zoo members seemed to agree with Kirin, so they'd probably happily accept my requests.

"Ah~, then, how about we go eat together like this again? I don't have any explorer acquaintances. I don't know much about explorer rules or manners, so I want you to teach me."

I want to secure this valuable explorer acquaintance. Especially since everyone in zoo are good kids, even aside from that, I want to get along with them.

"Eh~, aren't we already friends? We can go eat anytime."

"Just as Wanko says. I still have a lot I want to talk to Suzuka-chan about poison magic."

"I, me too! I, I want to ask you about attack techniques, Suzuka-chan!"

Inurakuse, Nyako, and Kotori all agreed. In their minds, I'm already a friend.

After becoming a working adult, I never made friends. The ones I made were colleagues at work—people the same age or seniors and juniors I got along with—rather than friends. Somewhere along the way, I forgot how to make friends, and I was scared that maybe I was the only one who thought of them as friends, so I stopped making them.

I'm that awkward, but they accept me easily. In that, I feel youth, and I feel like I'm in a warm, ticklish world.

"I'm the one who wants to ask. Suzuka-chan's stories are very stimulating. Let's get along as friends from now on."

At the end, Kirin also said that with a smile.

This summer vacation. I explored Districts 2 and 3 of Floor 1, got many items, raised my level, and earned a lot of money. And at the end, I was able to make my first friend since coming to this world.

And so, Suzuka's 15-year-old summer vacation was a great success.