arc02 · 042-The_World_Midori_Knew_2

Episode 42: The World Midori Knew (2)

Kobayakawa Takeru was a stranger person than anyone Midori had ever met.

◇

Her first-day impression was 'a really good person.'

Even when Midori's words caught in her throat, he waited without minding.

When she seemed to have trouble saying his surname, Kobayakawa, he threw her a lifeline and told her Takeru was fine.

When he raised his hand in greeting, she tried the high-five her father and his party did, and though he looked puzzled, he didn't seem to dislike it.

Every last one of those things was surely something he paid no mind to.

They might be trivial things, but that 'normal' made her incredibly happy.

The club president senpai he introduced her to was also a very easy person to talk to.

Having gained two people she could talk to at school in a single day, Midori was on her way to the guild after class, gazing at her chat app and letting her cheeks loosen all by herself.

(Today was a good day. When I get home I'll tell Mom and Dad all about it.)

Even while working hard on potion-making at the guild, she couldn't forget Takeru's words.

"I'll go get monster materials in the dungeon, so Aizawa, you make something with them."

It was a casual remark, but for Midori it was the first commission she'd make for one specific person.

She didn't know yet what he'd bring her, but she decided she'd make what she could with everything she had.

◇

Day two.

Yes—in just two days her impression of him had been repainted wholesale.

That he was a good person hadn't changed.

But beyond that, he was a person outside the bounds of common sense.

At lunch break the two of them ate their bento alone in the club room.

She was nervous, but she thought she'd done her best, bringing up topics herself.

The subject was mostly dungeons too, so the words spun out naturally.

Takeru wasn't familiar with the production guild, but he listened properly to what Midori said.

As the conversation went on, Takeru's ability as an adventurer came to light.

D-rank.

Already reached Floor 7.

Abnormal.

Midori had an active C-rank adventurer for a father, so she was well-versed in adventurer ranks.

E-rank and D-rank may be called beginners, but the wall at each rank is quite thick.

Normally, climbing at an average pace, you'd somehow get out of E-rank while still in high school, then spend four or five years graduating D-rank, and finally reach the C-rank where you're properly called a pro.

And at C-rank you continue working in units of ten years. Many feel their limits and retire, and this is the wall to becoming first-class. Her father was already in his forties and still a C-rank adventurer—which tells you plainly how thick that wall is.

And he'd done it in a single month. No—not even a full month had passed.

And he'd achieved that speed of promotion solo.

Unprecedented.

Yet from what he said, he was completely unsatisfied with his current state.

On top of that, he even declared that compared to those above, he was small fry.

Of course he was.

Of course.

And yet he said that even Midori could do it if she tried.

"These days, there are seriously few people going all-out on dungeon stuff, you know."

For an instant, her breath stopped.

Midori herself hadn't been going all-out.

Unconsciously, she'd believed the way everyone around her did things was correct.

She'd thought going slowly was fine.

"So I figure if you go all-out, you can probably blast past the rest of them and get up there easy, yeah?"

That was————if she could do it, how, how………….

It was a feeling she'd never known. Her heart pounded.

She'd learned of a new world.

She didn't want to be left behind—that's what she found herself thinking.

◇

After that, Midori's mindset changed entirely.

First she talked to her parents and extended her time at the guild.

They worried about her being out late, but she persuaded them she'd manage with talismans and self-defense items.

Both her father and mother were puzzled by Midori's state, but the daughter who never made selfish demands being this earnest in persuading them actually made them happy instead.

When they heard her out, she said she wanted to face 【Alchemy】 more seriously.

There was an incredible classmate, and she didn't want to be left behind by him—that's what Midori told them.

Her father and mother were surprised in a variety of ways, but in the end they gladly agreed and cheered her on.

She wanted to answer those expectations too. She'd work even harder, she thought.

Faced with the materials Takeru entrusted to her, she racked her brain—this way, no, that way.

Better quality than what was asked for. That she could produce what he wanted.

What lay there was a great responsibility.

Seeing Midori shut herself in the workroom more earnestly than ever, the other three alchemists and the guild staff all looked puzzled.

As if answering Midori's efforts, 【Alchemy】 rose to level 3.

◇

While Takeru was working hard to make money for the weapon he wanted.

Midori was earning more than ever in her own way.

It was because Takeru brought back magic stones and materials every day as a side effect of his money-making, and she made all sorts of things with them.

The goods she made for Takeru—just selling a portion of them to the guild earned her more than double what she'd made before. Every one was extremely useful and of good quality, apparently.

That money went into getting new materials and tools too.

Thanks to that, she could make more and more kinds of things.

The people around her watched Midori grow with breakneck momentum, dumbfounded.

(People really don't go all-out very often, do they.)

The reason she'd been comfortable was that she'd been soaking in lukewarm water.

She didn't think that was a bad thing at all. But neither could she think it was a good thing for the Midori of now.

At any rate, they were days of relentless study and effort.

Days like that went on for a while, and then one day Midori had a bucket of ice water dumped over her.

『I survived thanks to you, Aizawa. Thank you, truly. I've used up the potion, so it would help a lot if you could make me another.』

How rare for a message during class, she thought, opening the screen casually—and it said something outrageous.

Survived.

Which meant—he nearly died?

Why? How? What happened?

Thinking about it, it had always been dangerous.

Between Takeru's usual manner and his coming back unscathed every time, she'd completely forgotten the danger of solo exploration.

For now, the fact that a message had come proved he was safe.

First she'd share this with the president at lunch break.

She didn't know how to reply, and in the end she couldn't send anything.

◇

"P-President. Did you get a message, on your end?"

"A message? From Takeru-kun? Not in particular."

"I-I see… A little while ago, during class, I got this message."

"Let me see… Wha—huh!? Is he all right!?"

"I-I think he's fine, since he messaged me like this, but…"

"Ah, no, right… I was just so startled I panicked."

"S-so, um. I think you know this too, President, but Takeru-kun is diving into the dungeon solo."

"Hm? Yeah. That's really amazing."

"I really do think solo is dangerous. Is there any way, we could do something…"

This was what Midori had wanted to consult about.

She didn't want Takeru to die. That was all it was, but it felt like an extremely difficult thing.

"I see. Well, that's definitely worrying. But he absolutely won't stop, will he."

"R-right…………"

"Probably there's nobody who can keep up with him at just the right level, either."

"…At the very least, not among people our age."

A university student surely couldn't do it either.

Even C-rank-and-above adventurers don't dive into the dungeon every day.

"Then… the only option left is for you to support him, Aizawa-san, isn't it?"

"M-me, you mean?"

"You're an 【Alchemist】, aren't you? Production types and adventurers do form partners, right? Supporting him that way is about all that's left, isn't it?"

"Partners………… true. That's—true, isn't it."

The word partner, which she'd completely forgotten.

Surely that had mostly been the situation up until now.

Takeru brought materials for Midori's sake, and Midori made items for Takeru's sake.

"He's telling you he survived thanks to you. Then I think you should keep helping him more and more from here on."

"…Yes. I'm glad I consulted you, President."

"Yeah? Then I'm glad too."

The Dungeon Research Club.

A new place for Midori besides home and the guild.

Even though they'd only just met, Takeru kept showing her new worlds.

And just then, Takeru poked his head into the club room.

The same breezy, cheerful attitude as always. He didn't look like someone who'd nearly died.

But surely it had been close.

She'd been so worried.

So surely she was allowed to throw a little emotion at him.

◇

From now on, she'd give him the maximum support she could so that it would be all right even if Takeru was reckless.

Thinking that, she volunteered to be his personal supporter.

For Midori it was the greatest courage she'd ever mustered.

Takeru accepted with a smile.

He would surely become the world's strongest adventurer.

She'd do her utmost so she could be at his side then too—that was her resolve.

And if she did, he'd surely take her to new worlds again.

She had that feeling.