arc03 · 047-ep41

Episode 41: 【Star Spirit Silver】 and a Bento

"Whoa, whoa—calm down, Aizawa."

"Hah, hah, hah... How am I supposed to calm down—!"

Apparently it really is that outrageous a find—Aizawa, uncharacteristically, raising her voice.

So she could put out a voice like that. Go figure. Anyway—setting that aside.

"Is this 【Star Spirit Silver】 really such a big deal? What can you use it for?"

"Never mind... I should have known common sense wouldn't work on you by now... Let's see, 【Star Spirit Silver】 is an alchemy material that can be used in a great many items. It's extraordinarily good as a binder—when you use it in Alchemy to transmute a new item, it massively amplifies the finished item's properties and effects. The scale of that amplification is staggering: if you used it while transmuting a barrier talisman, for instance, the talisman would come out able to endure multiple B-rank-class attacks."

"That's... yeah, that is staggering."

Put bluntly, it's a material that hauls an item's whole grade up by several tiers all on its own.

Just stockpiling items made with this stuff would be an overwhelming power-up.

"What's more, there are popular items that can't be made without 【Star Spirit Silver】..."

"Popular?"

"Yes. Namely—the 【magic bag】."

"Right! Aizawa, you've gotta make me one."

"No, no, no—not happening! I'm telling you, this is a material I'm nowhere near able to handle yet!"

"That 'yet' means you'll be able to eventually, right? Then I'm definitely leaving it with you, Aizawa."

"Yes……"

"…………Incredible, you two. Staring down ten million yen—a serious fortune—and the question of whether to sell it isn't even on the table."

"Huh? Ah—well, sure, it's a lot of money, but money just piles up on its own as long as you keep selling magic stones and such, so..."

"I-I earn plenty with potions too, so I'm all for keeping it over selling, but..."

So even here, being involved with dungeons changes how it all feels. Or are we just the abnormal ones?

"I-I can't promise when I'll be able to make one, you know? I'd think my 【Alchemy】 would need to be at least level 6... and I don't have the mana for it either, I'd say."

"Hmm... then how about this—say, around summer break, we hold a training camp to get your levels up, Aizawa. Level goes up, mana goes up with it, no?"

"A training camp?"

"Yep, yep. Forced leveling. I drag monsters in, and Aizawa somehow lands the finishing blow. It'd count as Dungeon Research Club activity, and the advisor's a healer with a C-rank license to boot. For worst-case scenarios, I'll drag her out too."

"Wellll... I dunno. I can't picture her actually going. Though as an activity, it does sound good, doesn't it?"

"Y-you say that, but you never come to the dungeon either, President—!"

"Now, now. It's a long way off, right?"

"C-come onnn..."

What's so objectionable about it? I thought it was a great plan, if I do say so myself. Come summer break I'll be stronger than I am now, so safety-wise I figured it'd be top-notch.

"Anyway, the camp's a way off, like the president says—for now just keep making all sorts of things like you always do. Your 【Alchemy】 level will climb bit by bit too."

"Mrrh………… Fine, then... There's no point arguing, so I'll take it into my keeping. I'll store it in the safe at home and guard it strictly."

"All of that's up to you. Heck, feel free to use some of it on a whim as a test—I won't complain."

"I honestly don't know whether to call that bold or what..."

That part's just about trusting Aizawa, is all.

I'm not handing it over to some alchemist I've never met, obviously.

Besides, I might just get my hands on another one. Next Sunday I'll go take down the boss again and see what pops out.

Done with my homemade bento, I take out the one I got from Azuma.

"Hm? A second bento? You're putting away a lot today, Takeru-kun."

"Ah—how do I put it—I got it. This morning. Out of nowhere."

"Oh? Oh my, oh my, oh my? Could this be talk of looove??"

"Wha—!? T-Takeru-kun, you have a girlfriend!?!?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. And I'm busy with the dungeon—no spare time to build anything like that anyway. It's a thank-you from somebody I helped out a while back."

"A thank-you, you say?"

"Well, she didn't say a word—just shoved it at me like 'take it.' That's probably the idea, anyway."

"...A woman?"

"Huh? Ah, well, yeah..."

"Ohh, and now things are getting interesting."

"What? Is there something I should know?"

"No, nothing at all."

For some reason, Aizawa went a little sulky after that—but what exactly rubbed her the wrong way? Aizawa, then Azuma... women are a mystery.

Could it be...? Am I in the middle of one of those popular-with-the-ladies streaks?

Though there shouldn't be the slightest whiff of that man-woman romance stuff between us.

Aizawa and Azuma both do give off some vague attachment or other... eh, I could be misreading it, and unless one of them says it to my face, I'll leave it alone. A dungeon fanatic like me—they'll figure out sooner or later that I'm not dating material.

Either way, I'm busy exploring the dungeon.

Until the day I'm the strongest, there's no time to be mooning over side business.

After all—Floor 11 starts today.

This is the floor where adventuring gets real. Up until now, nearly all the information had been laid out; from here on, that's over. The monsters that appear, the terrain and environment—everything is an unknown. Okay, 'everything' is overstating it. Of course there are things we know. For instance, Floors 11 through 14 are cave-type like before, but known to be intricately woven with branch paths, dead ends, and small rooms. The maps aren't shared, though, and nobody knows how big they are. And through all that, you push forward while fighting plenty of monsters. It'll demand even more vigilance than before.

Oh, right, that reminds me—treasure chests start appearing from Floor 11.

Until now they only ever showed up as boss subjugation rewards, but from this floor on they apparently get placed in the back of small rooms. The chests themselves are supposedly trap-free, but sometimes the room itself is the trap—you can't leave until you've defeated every monster that appears. The so-called monster house trap.

Getting boxed into a cramped space is a bit of a nuisance for someone like me, who wants to use 【Movement Arts】 to range far and wide. Well, I can walk on walls and ceilings, so I'll manage.

Ah, I can't wait.

Still, though. It might be rude to call it surprising, but this bento is honestly pretty good. I'll make a point of saying so when I return the box.

Tasty, that. Thanks for the meal.