arc01 · 014-ep14

Episode 14: I Believed in You

Exploring floor 7 was different from before—I barely got to fight any monsters.

I mean, sure, I was probably fighting more than those D-rank folks running in parties… but avoiding slimes and hunting goblins in the empty stretches tanked my encounter rate per hour, hard.

Couldn't be helped—I absolutely could not let anyone see me using 【Plunder】.

That said, I had a decent haul by the time I headed back.

Short swords, small shields, short spears, clubs, shortbows—a few of each. Thanks to 【Plunder】, rare drops were a guaranteed 100 percent pickup, so I was feeling pretty smug. The flip side: my backpack was stuffed full, so I wrapped up earlier than usual. Fight count was way down, so as a leveling floor, this one might not be great. Eh, if I just stopped collecting weapons I could fight plenty like always—this was a temporary grind until I bought a new weapon.

But still… was this actually okay?

Turning in this many rare-drop weapons at once—wouldn't that raise some eyebrows?

The guild is basically a government-office type outfit—it doesn't pry much into adventurers' business… Would 'I just got lucky' fly? Well, it had to fly, whatever it took.

Going solo had already made me a little conspicuous as it was. I wanted to avoid giving fellow adventurers an excuse to pick a fight. Maybe I'd ask the receptionist to take the whole backpack and process it out back…?

Yeah, let's do that. At a late hour there wouldn't be many people around—I could probably pull it off.

On the way out, I ignored every monster and sprinted straight back.

◇

I made it to the guild reception without incident, so I set down my backpack and asked for the exchange.

"Um, it's kind of full in there… Could I hand you the whole backpack and have you process it in the back? Cash it all in, please."

"Oh, certainly. We'll take it. Your guild card as well, please."

"Sure. I'll wait around over there, so call me when it's done."

"Of course."

Phew. Looked like I'd get away without any other adventurers seeing. There weren't many people at this hour on a weekday, but a few were around, normal as anything.

Come to think of it, Aizawa comes to this guild too, right?

Wonder if she's still around. Her affiliation's the production guild, apparently, but its counter is right there in the same facility as the adventurer guild. The areas are separate, but I've never been to the production guild side, so I don't really know. Might ask her sometime.

For now, I'd wait while browsing the net. Hmm, hmm… no news that looked like it concerned me…

After a while, they called me over, and I headed back to reception.

"Kobayakawa-sama, thank you for waiting. Your exchange has been processed—please confirm the amount."

"Ah, thanks. Let's see… Huh?! Why is the club priced insanely high compared to everything else!?"

"Ah, yes. Rather than its value as a weapon, the material it's made of is in high demand, which pushes the buyback price well above the others."

"Huhhh…? But it's just wood."

"Oh no, it's 【magic wood】—wood imbued with mana, so it has all sorts of uses. Lumber only becomes available in the dungeon from floor 15 onward, so it can actually be more precious than magic iron and the like."

"I… see…"

"Still, though… it's been a while since anyone brought in this many rare drops. You must have good fortune."

"Huh? Ah, I guess so! They dropped for me out of sheer luck!"

"All of them are fairly valuable, so the buyback counter is open for you anytime."

"If any more drop, I'll bring them right over."

"Very well. Will there be anything else today?"

"Nothing else. Thanks a lot."

"Thank you for your patronage."

She bowed so crisply it threw me off, but the guild must be delighted to have 【magic wood】 come in, whoever's bringing it. And money-wise, from here on out, clubs might be the only pick for me. Anything not carrying a club could get instant-killed without a second thought.

Over 100,000 yen in income today alone.

Heh, hehe, fahahah, HAAAH-HAHAHA! I can't stop laughing!

At this rate, a C-rank-or-better weapon would be within reach any day now!

Maybe I'll go window-shop at the gear store tomorrow!?

Kufufu. Tonight, maybe I'd treat myself to some fancy sushi on the way home.

What's this about 【Plunder】 being a garbage skill?! It's the best!

No need to form a party anymore, that's for sure. The road to being the strongest solo was opening right up!

Ahh, 【Plunder】-kun, I always believed in you. I knew you could do it if you tried.

The skill description says it's strong, so obviously it is, right?

Past 【Plunder】 holders just didn't have the fighting spirit. Back in the day there might've been real grit—the kind of lunatic who'd plunder even their own allies—but these days the information is too complete, so too many people give up from the start. No, wait—plundering your allies is still straight-up stupid, grit or no.

Anyway, one thing was now settled in my mind: 【Plunder】 was no garbage skill.

Going forward, I'd keep leaning on it—along with 【Martial Arts】-sensei.

Right then—time to hit the sit-down sushi place before it closes!

Tonight promised good dreams.

◇

The next day, I headed to school in high spirits, yesterday's triumph still on my mind.

Before morning homeroom started, the president showed up in my classroom, for whatever reason.

"Huh? President, what brings you here?"

"Morning, Takeru-kun. I just came to hand over a spare key to the club room."

"Ah, morning—wait, aren't keys normally managed by the school?"

"Well, yes. But everyone in our club had spare keys last year too, you see."

"Huhhh…? Is that really allowed?"

"It's fine, it's fine—the advisor knows. Just don't lose them or hand them to random people, that's all."

"Lax much."

"Right? So anyway—here you go. This one's Aizawa-san's; hand it to her later, would you?"

"Why not just go deliver it yourself, President?"

"No no—if a senpai like me showed up in her classroom, Aizawa-san would probably go into full panic mode."

"Ah, well… fair point…"

"Anyway, thanks—take care of it~"

"Will do~"

Panic-mode Aizawa was easy to picture. Fine, fine—this much, I could do.

There still looked to be time, so I headed over to Aizawa in Class 1-D.

"Heeey, Aizawa."

"Ah, huh? G-good morning!"

"Morning. Here—a spare key to the club room. From the president."

"H-huh?"

"I've got one too. Apparently we're free to use the club room as we like."

"Oh, is that so? Th-that's a big help."

"Right? I'm gonna use it at lunch and stuff to eat my bento."

"Oh, nice. C-can I drop by too?"

"Of course. Anyway, mission done, so I'm heading back to my class."

"Okay, then, see you, at lunch."

"Yeah, later."

Mission complete.

Was Aizawa getting a little more used to talking with me?

Good trend. Hope she can overcome the shyness at this rate. Cheering for you.

Feeling pretty good about things, I actually paid attention in class all morning for the first time in a while.