arc03 · 067-ep61

Episode 61: I Want to Hide in the Shadows

Phew. I got a little too carried away.

Looks like I hunted the Floor 11 shadow wolves clean out—for the time being, anyway.

Well, they'll respawn soon enough, and there can't be any adventurers out there gunning for shadow wolves, so it's fine.

Still, thanks to that, I got some serious results out of the trip.

Even though I haven't used the 【Shadow Magic】 I learned yet, its skill level is already at 3. It's gone and caught up with 【Martial Arts】…

At last, 【Plunder】-kun is showing what he's really made of. Time to clear that garbage-skill stigma once and for all!

Well, I've known for ages, personally. It's a god-tier skill.

That said, being able to stack skills isn't specifically a 【Plunder+】 ability, so there might be other 【Plunder】 holders out there putting it into practice. If there are, they'd have clawed their way up on raw ability just like me, so they'd be strong… I haven't heard any rumors to that effect so far, but they'd be hiding it the same way I do, so it being unknown isn't strange at all.

Right then—setting all that aside for the moment.

Let's get right to practicing the 【Shadow Magic】 I just picked up, shall we?

First, I duck into an empty small room and start trying out the assorted techniques that came pouring into my head.

『Shadow Blade』, 『Shadow Clones』, 『Shadow Dive』 and the like—the shadow wolves used all of those on me, so I could reproduce them right away.

『Shadow Dive』, though, is a strange sensation. Inside the shadows there's no sense of wide or narrow. You can move around in there, but step out of the shadow and you're right back where you started. Seems I still can't do things like moving from one shadow to another.

Being able to breathe inside the shadow is seriously nonsense, but hey, magic itself is nonsense, so let's not worry about it.

Beyond that, I learned 『Shadow Sword』 and 『Shadow Wall』 and some others. 『Shadow Blade』 is the one that fires off a flying slash, while 『Shadow Sword』 is a close-combat technique that wraps shadow around your arms or legs and shapes it into a sword. Freakin' cool. Having a cutting-type option in combat is hot stuff.

As for 『Shadow Wall』, its defense isn't much, but it's probably strong when it comes to blocking line of sight. My style is basically to move at high speed and dodge, though, so I might not use it much. Ah, but I could set up a 『Shadow Wall』 and then leave 『Shadow Clones』 behind to fool someone. Loads of uses to think up—fun.

Unfortunately, there's no storage-type skill-within-a-skill as of yet, but I'll keep my hopes up for the future.

Anyway, let's call it a day and head home.

Oh—if I spot Mamono Dokutake and Poison Fairy, I'll try fighting them.

◇

On the way back, I spotted that pair, so I tried launching 『Shadow Blade』 from a distance.

Unlike 【Martial Arts】's hakkei, I can't adjust how much mana I put in myself—magic is fixed cost, fixed power—but even so, five shots was enough to bring them down. Damn strong.

Is that it? Is it 'cause my INT's on the high side? Though I don't get why my INT would be high when I never used magic in the first place. This side of things is a mystery too, huh.

And so Floor 11 got completely cleared without much fuss. Nice.

Incidentally, the poison they sprayed vanished the moment the monsters themselves did. Sure makes the magic stones easier to pick up.

After that I made it back with nothing else of note.

Man, what a thoroughly satisfying day.

I came back in such a good mood that Sakurai-san laughed at me.

Well, that just means I'm building a good relationship with my dedicated contact, so that's a win too!

◇

The next morning.

"Oh yeah, Mio—any progress on finding other 【Plunder】 holders?"

"No, sorry. Those three were quick since I spotted them on social media, but I haven't really found any others yet. There's plenty of posting on anonymous boards and the like, of course, but pinning anyone down is hard, and steering them along is slow going…"

"I see. Well, when we're both anonymous, all there is to go on is how shady it looks. Nobody's gonna come waltzing out normally. We're not in any hurry, and you've already been plenty of help as things stand, so you don't need to push yourself hunting for more."

"Hmm. Well, I won't push it… but I'll keep looking for now. Oh, right. I'm still in touch with those three from the other day now and then, and it sounds like Haga-san and Hasegawa-san are going to learn some skills somehow and keep adventuring. I want to give them weapons like I promised, so could you procure those, Takeru?"

"Ooh, that's great news! Glad things are at least turning around for them. Got it—I'll go get the weapons."

"Please do."

So today, let's go get ourselves caught in a Floor 11 monster house trap, shall we?

After that, it's back to clearing Floor 12. Time to blaze on through and push for Floor 13. If things go well I should make Floor 13 today, so I'll keep the fighting limited to Goblin Swordsmen and Statue Knights only.

I'm bringing the weapons home without selling them, so no earnings today. Well, a day like that every now and then is fine.

◇

Today's another day off, so I headed to the guild in the morning like always—and there was a crowd gathered around reception.

Ugh…… bad feeling about this.

"Ah, there he is, there he is. Heeey, Kobayakawa-kun, over here, over here."

The one calling me over in that breezy tone is Akechi-san of the A-rank party 『Steel Wings』. Ugh, worst possible timing.

Talk about a plunge straight down from yesterday's giddy mood.

I'm pretty sure I turned down the clan invitation properly last time…?

What does he want?

With no choice in the matter, I trudge over—and beside Akechi-san stands a terrifyingly well-built macho guy. His suit is about to burst at the seams, though…

"Well, well, Kobayakawa-kun. Our leader said he wanted to say hello, so we've been waiting on you. Sorry about that."

"…Right. Is that so. I'm fairly sure I declined the clan invitation, though."

"I know, I know. I'm not gonna invite you again. Seems our leader just plain wanted to meet you."

"That's, uh…… an honor?"

"Ahaha, well, I think he just got happy over a rookie adventurer with a fighting style you don't see these days. Right?"

Akechi-san says that, tossing the question to the macho man beside him.

"Nice to meet you, Kobayakawa-kun. Sorry to drag you into this first thing in the morning. Like Akechi said, I really did just want to meet you. Oh—that's right, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kujo Masayoshi. I'm the one serving as leader of 『Steel Wings』."

"Ah, hello. I'm Kobayakawa Takeru. A solo adventurer who recently made C-rank."

"I know all about you. You've even got a dedicated contact already, and the guild has high hopes for you—that too."

Kujo-san says it with a quiet chuckle.

Seriously? So basically everything's leaked out, huh.

He certainly seems to have a high opinion of me, and 【Plunder】 doesn't look exposed, so is it safe to assume…? Though there's also the possibility he does know and just doesn't care because of the level gap…

For the moment, I answer quietly too.

"Sorry, I don't really want to stand out, so could you maybe give that sort of thing a pass?"

"Oh—my apologies. Right, then. First, let's scatter the gallery."

Saying that, he looks around at the crowd, then raises his voice a little and says:

"Sorry, everyone! I simply took an interest in him and wanted to have a little chat, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't pay it much mind! We'd only be a nuisance to the other adventurers too, so if you have no business here, please disperse!"

The adventurers around us exchanged looks, glanced around at one another, and then gradually drifted away.

Guess this is what an A-rank party's clout looks like too, huh.

That aside—if they were going to come meet me, I wish they'd put a little more thought into it.