arc03 · 077-ep71

Episode 71: Family

And so, Golden Week behind us, Friday—a weekday—has arrived. School today.

Holiday, school, holiday, school, holiday—the student take on Golden Week makes zero sense. Just give us the whole stretch off, come on…….

Nothing much to report from yesterday's dive.

Just that I ground 【Plunder】 nonstop against shadow wolves on Floor 11, and 【Shadow Magic】 climbed all the way to level 6. An outrageous feat, sure, but with storage-type magic still unlearned, personally I'm left going hmm about the whole thing. Surely it isn't just never going to show up…… right?

Well, the new spells I did pick up are plenty handy and strong in their own right, so I'm happy about that much. 【Shadow Bind】 and 【Shadow Crossing】 especially mesh perfectly with my fighting style—those two I want in my everyday kit.

At school, everyone's still buzzing about Golden Week as ever. Trips out with family and friends, nonstop gaming at home, holidays frittered away on nothing at all—seems everyone really spent their break their own way.

Ogi's group has the study session for the test-prep period starting next week properly in the works, too. I got invited, so I'm planning to go—but what's the right move here? Honestly, even with zero studying, first-year high school material is totally manageable, so maybe I should swing over to the teaching side? No—but it'd be pretty rich coming from me, the guy who never takes class seriously…… Eh, I'll just feel the room out and play it by ear.

◇

Lunch break. Lunch in the usual club room with the usual crowd.

"Aizawa, Aizawa—I've been grabbing new materials here and there, so I'll hand 'em over. There's even some glowing lake water."

"Oh—the lake water from Floor 13? You've already dived that deep, haven't you……"

"Yep. I've technically pushed on to Floor 14 now, but I'm putting the conquering on hold for a while."

"Did something happen?"

"I'm having new armor made. I've been ordered not to overdo it until it arrives."

"Hehe—that would be Sakurai-san, I take it. I think that's for the best, too."

"You too, Aizawa……? Well, there's plenty else I can be doing, so it doesn't bother me or anything."

"As for me, I've been thinking it over and over about the 【Status Appraisal】 magic item, and it looks like it's theoretically possible, more or less."

"Whoa! Seriously?!"

"But I'm still short on materials, and my 【Alchemy】 level and mana both fall short too—so please give me a little more time."

"Sure. Tell me whatever materials you need, and I'll figure out how to get my hands on them."

"Understood. I'll put everything into a list and send it over."

"Counting on you."

While the two of us talked, the president kept working away in silence on his laptop. Dungeon Research Club paperwork or student council paperwork, no telling—but he looked busy.

"Oh, that reminds me—speaking of materials. I've got someone in mind who'd probably take on shallow-floor gathering for us. What do you think? If it sounds like something you need, I'll set the request up."

"What do you, um, mean by that……? Shallow-floor materials are something we always need, but the only thing I'd call short right now is 【magic wood】—nothing else is really lacking."

"Ah…… how do I put it—I got acquainted with a high-school party aiming for C-rank. They're older than me, age-wise, mind. Sounds like they do gathering too, so I figured they'd be just the thing."

"I see. We don't particularly need anything at the moment, but there's a chance we might have requests for them down the line."

"Okey-dokey, roger that."

Then again, 【magic wood】 is the one thing nobody but me can haul back, huh. Maybe I should go pay the goblins a visit once in a while, too.

"Besides, my own skills have been coming along by leaps and bounds lately, so I was thinking it might be about time to put in commissions with Dad and his party—which means materials from floors you haven't reached yet, Takeru-kun, might come within reach too."

A little "hehehn"—and Aizawa shoots me a slightly smug look.

Huh? Or, more to the point—Aizawa's dad is an adventurer?

And if he's gone deeper than me, that makes him a more-than-solid pro adventurer. Seriously? He was this close all along?

"Hey, hey, Aizawa. Think you could introduce me to your dad sometime? I absolutely MUST say hi!"

"Eh…… eh!!? U-um, Dad's, his days off, they're never fixed…… I-I'll try asking him next time……"

"Sweet, thanks!"

Maaan, this comes right when I'd been thinking I want to pad out my circle of adventurer acquaintances.

Aizawa's family, I can trust—and adults like that probably know the ins and outs of this industry, too. Whoa, I'm getting seriously hyped here. Old stories and such—I wanna hear 'em~!

Still, I've sure been hearing a lot about everyone's families lately.

And I had been meaning to head home once and talk with mine, come to think of it. Hmm. Message them today and drop in for a visit? I did go and say I wouldn't overdo it until the armor arrives, after all. I'm curious whether my little brother's doing all right too, and it's the weekend anyway—yeah, let's do it.

I let the family know on our chat app that I'd be home tonight.

『You really are always so sudden. Fine—I'll have dinner ready with a portion set aside for Takeru, so come home before it gets late.』

Mom's reply came right back. I could picture her face, mildly exasperated.

All this time, I'd figured they were the ones keeping me at arm's length—but lately I've come to think maybe I was the one keeping the distance all along. Watching Mio, it starts to feel like I might be the same—that maybe I haven't truly faced them head-on, either.

What kind of person do I even look like, to my parents and my little brother?

Next, replies came in from my little brother and Dad as well.

『Big bro, you're coming home!? Let's game, let's game! I've gotten waaay better lately—this time I'm absolutely not losing!』

『Good—take care getting home. Also, apologies in advance. I've been making use of your training machines lately…… The treadmill and everything else are all stashed away in your room, so there's nowhere left to sleep. Sorry about that, but you'll be sleeping in the living room.』

Sounds like Dad hasn't changed a bit.

My little brother Suguru seems full of energy even through the screen. Might not be long before he starts beating me at games, though.

Dad took up working out? Never saw that coming…… More to the point—there's nowhere to SLEEP? My room's turned into a training gym in under two months? Eh. Fine by me, I guess.

Not that I'm homesick or anything—but somehow, I'm in the mood to head home this very second. Face to face, things might turn awkward again like before—but at least on chat, they're welcoming me back.

Maybe it's far too late for all this now—but I'd be glad if we could really talk things through, and grow even a little closer.