ch61-ch80 · 071-inter11

Interlude: Their Rematch — Part 2

Shinjuku Tower, floor 3.

Here, a six-person party including Soma, Gakuto, and Tetta was pushing through the exploration.

Their target: the Raging Bull's head.

And Soma's trauma — overcome it.

"So we've been searching all high and mighty, and we still can't find it..."

Gakuto shrugged his shoulders in a "oh well" gesture.

"Well, it can't be helped. There's only one Raging Bull on floor 3, you know."

"But even on social media, there's no reports of anyone taking it down today. So I think it's somewhere around here."

An grumbled, while Tetta continued his investigation with a smartphone in hand.

For some reason, cell signal worked inside Shinjuku Tower.

No matter which floor, no matter how deep you went, streams worked flawlessly.

Nobody knew why it worked, but since the rules said it was allowed, it'd be a waste not to use it. Adventurers fighting on the lower floors especially — floor 10 and below — gathered information through social media as they fought.

It was a method of information gathering that the old man couldn't keep up with.

"Uh oh. Looks like someone got hurt up ahead."

Tetta, gathering information on his phone, said with a panicked look.

Party leader Gakuto asked a question.

"...What's the situation?"

"Let me see... ah, okay. Looks like the rescue team's already on it. Guess they got attacked by a whole swarm of Giant Bats."

"Phew... that's a relief."

"Hehe, Soma-kun, you were about to rush off and help, weren't you?"

"Obviously. After being taught by Mr. Sai, there's no way I'm just leaving people in trouble."

Several months had passed since they started receiving instruction from Sai.

At first, there were troubles like their video being spread around, and they caused Sai some trouble — it was rough. But what they'd learned was worth its weight in jewels.

To Soma, Sai was a signpost — a goal — for becoming a proper adventurer, the kind he'd always admired.

His way of fighting. His way of walking. His way of thinking.

Soma believed all of these were essential for becoming a great adventurer.

"Hearing Soma-kun say stuff like that feels kinda weird..."

"Yeah, his eyes are like, dead serious..."

Sora and Kaori whispered to each other.

(For the record, Kaori was a bit of a fujoshi. Not saying what, but...)

"You guys are talking crap! It's nothing like that!"

Soma couldn't help but get worked up.

Why did they always have to jump straight to romance?

Just as he was about to shout that — the next moment.

"Tch!"

From a corner a little ahead of Soma's group, an insect-type monster burst out.

Soma read the enemy's movements, confirmed it was alone.

He immediately coordinated with Tetta to take it down.

Seeing such smooth coordination from their juniors, An and the others couldn't help but applaud.

"Nice, you spotted that fast!"

"See, that's what the old man said. Five Senses Enhancement. It's all about Five Senses Enhancement."

According to Sai.

If you enhanced your five senses, enemy detection became significantly easier.

By clearly sensing the enemy's footsteps, the flow of air, and things like that, you could tell where monsters were. And if you knew what kind of enemies appeared in the dungeon on top of that, you could even predict the enemy type.

The seniors, including An, had also received Sai's instruction.

But whether they could master Five Senses Enhancement by graduation was, honestly, doubtful.

They planned to continue magic control training from now on, but Five Senses Enhancement and Mana Perception were still a long way off.

And yet, Soma was already demonstrating Five Senses Enhancement.

He hadn't even been learning for half a year.

Just how much effort had he put in?

They couldn't help but applaud.

But the man himself only looked frustrated.

"That wasn't Five Senses Enhancement. I haven't reached the point where I can taste scents with my tongue, like Mr. Sai said..."

Wasn't that something you'd only achieve if you mastered it? The other five — excluding Soma — all looked at him and thought the same thing.

"...What do we do?"

"Just leave him alone..."

Tetta and Gakuto also admired Sai.

But Soma... wasn't he getting a little too into it?

That's what the party members were thinking.

◇

And so, the exploration of floor 3 continued.

That's when it happened. Tetta, who'd been gathering information on social media as usual, shouted.

"I've got a Raging Bull sighting! Around D-5, D-6!"

Shinjuku Tower had a flat map layout.

So modern Japanese adventurers divided map info vertically by alphabet and horizontally by numbers to keep track of positions.

"That's northwest!"

Soma shouted. But his expression was slightly tense.

If you looked closely, his legs were trembling.

"Soma..."

Gakuto read his expression and grew worried.

"What are you scared for! You wanna be strong like Mr. Sai, don't you?!"

An's sharp reprimand struck Soma.

"It's okay. I'll absolutely protect everyone."

"That's right. And even if you get hurt, I'll definitely heal you."

Sora and Kaori also encouraged Soma.

Soma remembered.

He couldn't afford to falter here.

There was no way he was letting his dream end like this.

Hadn't he vowed back then, in the hospital, that he'd keep being an adventurer?

He still hadn't passed on that intermediate recovery potion to anyone.

He held his admiration close to his heart.

A fire lit in Soma's heart.

And so.

Just as the social media report said, the Raging Bull was roaming the northwest.

No other adventurers were nearby.

The enemy hadn't noticed Soma's group.

They confirmed the target's position from around a corner where the enemy couldn't see them.

Soma and the other two nodded silently to each other.

An and the others stood ready to jump in at any moment.

This was their fight.

First, they wanted to let Soma's group fight. That was their intention.

When Soma and the others burst out from the corner, the Raging Bull noticed them.

Immediately, the bull began charging.

"When facing large charging monsters, never stand directly in front of them!"

Gakuto shouted, intending to convey Sai's teachings to Soma.

His goal was to overwrite the trauma with Sai's guidance.

"Watch your posture when dodging a charge, yeah!"

Tetta caught on to the intention and shouted Sai's lessons as well.

The Raging Bull, which had been charging at Gakuto, couldn't trample Gakuto or Tetta as planned, and shook its head with a snort.

But the bull found a straight line where Gakuto and Tetta were aligned.

And immediately, it began charging again.

"Heheh! I was waiting for this!"

The one who shouted was Tetta.

Actually, Tetta had recently become able to use magic.

After working hard at his magic control training, he'd finally become able to use magic.

But he still couldn't even use a magic bullet. What he could use was generation magic — the step before creating a magic bullet.

It was magic that was practically useless in real combat. But at this moment — against a charging opponent — there was one perfect spell.

"Create Stone!"

A pathetic spell that just generated a slightly large rock in front of the caster.

And it would disappear after a short while. That's how insignificant this magic was.

But for a charging Raging Bull, it was anything but insignificant.

A massive rock suddenly appeared right in front of its eyes.

The bull couldn't help but crash its front legs into it, stumbling and toppling over in a frenzy.

"BOOOOOOH!?!"

"SOMA!!"

Seizing this opening, Gakuto and Tetta called out.

"OOOOOHH!"

The young man chasing his dream — as if remembering that day — leaped at the Raging Bull and delivered a large diagonal slash to its neck.

Soma was an adventurer who'd reached floor 6.

An adventurer who'd continued his efforts not to waste even a single thing he'd learned from Sai.

The powerful strike beautifully severed the great bull's neck in one blow.

The Raging Bull, its neck completely severed, stopped struggling and disappeared.

After the disappearance, a magic stone and a large chunk of meat remained.

Soma's arms and legs were still trembling slightly.

Was this from the trauma, or the thrill of having taken it down?

"Ooh... OOOHHHHH!"

Having achieved his goal, Soma couldn't help but shout.

"You did it!"

"I'm so glad——!"

Saying that, the three men embraced each other.

An and the women's party watched them and applauded.

That evening.

Sai was invited by Soma and the university adventurer club members, and treated to yakiniku. When he learned that the meat was from the Raging Bull they'd taken down, Sai rejoiced and praised Soma and the others for their hard work.

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Thank you for reading.