Chapter-01 · EP-018
Episode 18: Morning Run
When I woke up the next morning, the shock from the serious injury I sustained in the dungeon yesterday was completely gone. The potion's effect was impressive, but this was also the recovery power of a teenager.
My daily morning routine started with waking up at five o'clock.
After doing some warm-up exercises, I ran about ten kilometers around the dormitory before breakfast.
I had been doing this since middle school.
Now that my past life memories had returned, I realized this was abnormal.
Shirou Ichinose had an excess of physical energy that couldn't be helped. Even when I was younger in my past life, I never had this much energy.
I hadn't done any club activities until now, but I had kept up this running. Partly it was because I had so much energy that I ran, but running was also a full-body exercise that trained my cardiopulmonary function. Thanks to that, I was confident in my stamina and was good at any sport.
This stamina would probably serve me well in future dungeon exploration. So I intended to continue.
As I ran around the academy grounds, I spotted a female student in a tracksuit jogging ahead of me. Her pace was considerably slower than mine.
As I got closer, I realized the girl was my classmate, so I called out to her.
"Momota-san, good morning!"
My classmate Maika Momota, surprised, turned around.
"Ah, Ichinose-kun. G-good morning."
I slowed my pace to run alongside Momota.
"Do you run every morning too, Momota-san?"
Seeing her still surprised expression, I wondered if I was being too familiar, since we had barely spoken in class. Come to think of it, this might be my first time talking to Momota at all.
"N-not every morning, but…"
She answered, looking down slightly shyly.
Now that I thought about it, she had said she wanted to become an explorer to lose weight. Running consumed calories, so it was effective for dieting. But if she overdid it, she might gain too much muscle.
"By the way, Momota-san, you were practicing your magic skill after school yesterday, right? How's it going? Are you able to use it properly?"
"Huh? Ah, you… you saw that?"
"Yeah. I went into the dungeon for a bit after school too."
"I see… That's amazing… Someone like me…"
She sounded unsure of herself, her voice trailing off.
"You still can't do it well?"
"Y-yeah…"
In situations like this, saying something groundless like "you can do it if you try" was pointless. She just had to keep practicing.
"Well, then you just have to keep practicing steadily. Let's both do our best!"
"Y-yeah."
I myself wasn't good with people, and she seemed to be as well. The conversation didn't flow.
Feeling awkward, I quickly said goodbye.
"See you."
"Y-yeah."
I picked up my pace and started running again.
When I arrived at school and took my seat, my classmates gathered around me to ask about what happened yesterday.
Akaishi, sitting next to me, looked annoyed at the crowd gathering around. Sorry.
"Hey, hey, Ichinose-kun! Is it true a Rank 4 potion dropped and you used it?"
"Y-yeah."
The one leaning in to ask was a girl named Isuzu Konno.
"What a waste! You could have sold it for a high price!"
"What's done is done, I can't change it."
"Well then, if you get another one, sell it to me!"
"Do you even know how much it's worth? I heard it's about ten million yen, you know?"
"Fufu, you're so naive. That's the trade-in price at the academy. There are plenty of rich people in the world who would give their right arm for a high-rank potion."
"You're planning to resell it?"
"That sounds so shady. My family runs a general store for explorers near a dungeon. It's called procurement, or purchasing."
Now that I thought about it, I think she mentioned that during self-introductions.
But this girl, how much was she planning to sell a Rank 4 potion for if she got one? She'd probably sell it for an unbelievable price.
I didn't want to earn more money than necessary.
Money was fine as long as I had enough to spend on my hobbies and necessities. For me, that meant dungeon equipment, games and DVDs, and being able to eat as much as I wanted. Among those, dungeon equipment would probably get more expensive the deeper I went, but for now, I had only explored the first floor. So I didn't need huge sums of money. That's why…
"Even if I get another Rank 4 by some chance, I'm not selling it to you."
"Why not?!"
"It's not like I'm willing to do anything for money. Besides, I already have a prior arrangement."
That's right. I had already promised to sell it to Hikaru Kujo from A-Class before Konno asked.
"Who is this prior arrangement?"
"A young lady from 1-A."
"You don't mean Hikaru Kujo? Why? What connection do you have with her?"
"No connection. I just happened to meet her and she asked."
The one I happened to meet was her aide, Mei Kisaragi, and the young lady herself came to the nurse's office to see me right after, but I gave a brief explanation because going into detail was a hassle.
"I see… If it's a noble, I guess there's no helping it."
When I mentioned Hikaru Kujo's name, Konno surprisingly gave up easily.
"Well, I doubt I'll get another Rank 4 anyway."
"That's true."
After that, other classmates also bombarded me with questions about the injury and the Acid Slime. It was exhausting. I wasn't used to being talked to by so many people, so I wished they'd cut me some slack.
As I spent the morning like that, our homeroom teacher Majima entered the classroom in a fluster, even though it was still early before the morning assembly.
"Is Ichinose here?"
"Yeah, I'm here!"
When I answered, Majima beckoned me over.
"Come with me for a bit."
Thinking what a pain internally, I went over to Majima at the entrance.
"I'm in a staff meeting right now, but sorry, I need you to come with me."
What did this mean?