ch61-ch80 · 070-inter10

Interlude: Their Rematch — Part 1

Depending on their faculty and department, university students have vastly different levels of freedom.

Some students revel in college life, while others shut themselves away in the lab, endlessly writing reports. And then there are those who throw themselves entirely into club activities.

The University Adventurer Club.

It was first formed around 2005 to 2010 by university students who wanted to become adventurers. You could call it a mutual aid society for adventurers centered around university students.

"Phew..."

"Soma-kun, don't you think you're getting a little too worked up?"

"Yeah, seriously. Yamana-san said not to get too tense during adventures, remember?"

"I know. I know that, but..."

The three university adventurers — Soma, Gakuto, and Tetta — had come to floor 2 of Shinjuku Tower.

Today's objective was to take down a Raging Bull.

"Oh — sorry, gimme a sec, I gotta hit the bathroom!"

"You should've gone before we came, Tetta..."

"Don't forget to mute your audio and cover the camera when you're in there!"

Tetta said this as he ran off toward the permanent toilets in Shinjuku Tower.

On floors 1 and 2, the Shinjuku Guild had installed semi-permanent toilets. Occasionally monsters attacked, so there were guards nearby — a rather unusual setup.

Watching Tetta sprint off, Gakuto could only sigh.

Still, bodily functions couldn't be helped.

As a side note: it was common courtesy to mute the audio and cover the camera when using the toilet.

"Come on, come on. If we go up to floor 3, we'll have to use portable ones anyway..."

The one who said this in consolation was a woman.

Joining Soma's party today were three women from a separate party.

"An-san, sorry about this. I know you're in the middle of job hunting..."

"Don't worry about it, Gakuto. Besides, if I hear a junior's in trouble, helping them out is just common decency, right?"

The one who said this was the woman called An. She was equipped with a sword and front-line gear.

"Hopefully we won't be needed. Especially you, Kaori-chan."

Her name was Sora.

She was equipped with a large shield, which made her look like a shield-bearer.

"Yeah. I'd rather nobody get hurt..."

The woman addressed by Sora was named Kaori. She was a magic-user equipped with a magic staff.

She was also one of the few healers who could use recovery magic.

All three of them were also club members — one year senior to Soma and his group.

Currently, they were fourth-year university students. People being battered by the brutal waves of job hunting.

Now then. Since Tetta was in the bathroom and the surrounding monsters had already been taken care of by other adventurers, a slightly relaxed atmosphere hung in the air, despite being inside Shinjuku Tower.

"Speaking of jobs, what are you guys gonna do, Soma? You're third-years, so you should be starting on your entry sheets around now, right?"

Sensing Soma's tension, An tried to ease into a conversation with him.

"I'm going to become an adventurer."

"Lucky. Sounds like you'll be able to keep adventuring..."

"Yeah. Kaori's family put the brakes on her, huh."

"Yeah. Since I can use recovery magic, my employment options are probably hospitals or research institutes..."

Not everyone can keep being an adventurer.

Some people have their families put a stop to it.

Even Tetta, who was currently running to the bathroom, had his older sister worrying, "Maybe you should quit being an adventurer?" after the Raging Bull incident.

So he needed to build up solid achievements and prove he could make it as a full-time adventurer.

"An-san, Sora-chan — you guys are going for adventurer-related companies, right?"

"Yup! Me and Sora both submitted our entries together!"

"I'd like to find a company that lets me do adventuring on the side, if possible..."

"But even adventurer-related manufacturers, a lot of them don't allow adventuring on the side..."

Even companies that develop adventurer equipment and supplies were often reluctant to permit adventuring as a side job. Adventuring carried constant physical risk and frequent injuries.

So if you aimed to be a regular company employee, you had to consider retiring.

"That's why we want to stock up on as much adventurer experience as we can while we still can."

"Huh? Didn't you say this might become a story you could tell in interviews?"

"Gack!"

An and Sora continued their conversation like a comedy routine.

"Even as a story, it's fine. Honestly, I'm really grateful for this."

Soma bowed his head to the three women accompanying them.

This time, their goal was to take down the Raging Bull that appeared on floor 3.

Soma and the others already had the strength to reach floor 6, but they still hadn't managed to defeat the Raging Bull.

They'd found out when they tried to challenge it a while back.

Whenever Soma saw a Raging Bull, his legs started shaking.

He'd developed a mild trauma.

He'd been rammed by a Raging Bull and was on the verge of death.

Back then, Sai had saved him, but the wound in his heart hadn't healed.

At the time, he seemed fine. But it was only when he actually stood before one and his legs started trembling that the problem finally came to light.

This was a serious issue for the three who aspired to become adventurers, and they judged it needed to be dealt with quickly.

Bull-type monsters weren't limited to the Raging Bull.

If they ever needed to conquer another floor in the future, this could become a major problem.

But challenging the Raging Bull with just their three-person party, when one member was suffering from trauma, would be far too reckless. So ideally, they wanted Sai to come along, but recently Sai — though he'd probably come if they asked — had become a teacher to so many people.

He did instructional streams, and he also accompanied people into Shinjuku Tower to teach them.

Just the other day, he'd done a collaboration stream with the Shinjuku Adventurer's Guild rescue team.

On top of that, he apparently had some connection with the rumored Great Mage, Hexaria.

Someone like that couldn't possibly not be busy.

It was hard to ask someone like that, so they'd consulted within the club, and that's how An and the others — one year their senior — ended up offering to help.

An's party in particular had Kaori — a precious healer capable of recovery magic.

If the worst happened, they might need her help.

Plus, An was an aggressive front-liner, and Sora was excellent at defense.

Having women who had conquered up to floor 7 helping them was a huge relief for Soma and the others.

"I told you, it's fine! More importantly, don't forget our reward!"

"Roger that."

An responded with a smile to Soma's earnest expression.

He still had fear, but his heart felt just a little lighter.

By the way, the reward for accompanying them was dinner at a delicious sukiyaki restaurant in the old downtown area of Ningyocho. The top course called "The Finest Feast" was the reward.

It was a cow-themed connection.

Whether this was expensive or cheap as a reward for hiring them was hard to say, but through that flow, this time they had a six-person party.

As they were talking, Tetta returned.

"Everyone, sorry for the wait!"

"Alright then. Let's head to floor 3!"

The university students' battle began.

================

Thank you for reading.