Chapter-11 · EP-169

Episode 169: Tank

It was during a break.

"Ichinose…"

Akaishi, sitting next to me, spoke to me.

Akaishi was taciturn, a quiet guy. Unless I spoke to him first, he wouldn't initiate conversation.

For him to speak up on his own was very unusual.

"Oh? What's up?"

Somewhat surprised, I asked Akaishi what he wanted.

He seemed hesitant as he began to speak.

"Yesterday, when I went to work, I talked with my senior there about the exploration the other day."

Akaishi apparently worked part-time on weekdays after school and on weekends. A working student.

Many people starting out as dungeon explorers can't make a living from exploration alone and hold multiple jobs.

So explorers having part-time jobs isn't unusual.

But this academy is supposed to train you so you can live off exploration alone. Besides, Akaishi is still a student but works part-time – I respect that, or rather, he seems mature.

"What kind of part-time job do you have?"

"Ah, yeah. Road construction."

"Road construction? That's manual labor again…"

You need a certain level of academic ability to enter this academy; I thought it was more for people who would end up doing desk work, but Akaishi seems to be doing physical labor.

"I'm confident in my stamina… Anyway, I apologized to my senior for suddenly taking time off last weekend, but he encouraged me to do my best as an explorer instead."

"He sounds like a good senior."

"Yeah… This is the first time I've been expected to do something like this. So, I want to work hard again, but remember when the group of Angry Goblins appeared during the exploration?"

"Yeah."

Was he going to complain that I had deliberately increased the number of goblins going their way to make things harder for them?

"Back then, there was a time when four goblins came at us three at once."

Bingo? Oh no. How should I apologize?

"Y-yeah… that was to see how well you guys could fight…"

Just as I was about to give a desperate explanation, Akaishi continued.

"Back then, I desperately took on two at once. I thought that way the other two could fight one-on-one as before. It was the right call. The two quickly defeated their goblins and came to help me, who was fighting two."

"O-oh. Nice teamwork."

"At that moment, I felt it. That I was being useful to the two of them. In the past, even when I fought, no one ever thanked me; it was just empty. But during that exploration, I felt a kind of excitement that made my chest burn."

It didn't sound like he was blaming me.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So I thought. I want to be a shield for the two of them. That way, they might be able to fight more easily."

Akaishi seemed to be searching for his own role within the party.

"I see. So you want to be a tank."

"Tank?"

"Yeah! A tank is a party's shield, a role that takes the enemy's attacks on behalf of their companions. They often take the hits for long-range attackers, but Murasakimura and Sendo are an ultra-offensive party, so if Akaishi becomes the tank, it might make it even easier for them to move."

Akaishi listened intently to my explanation.

"You're big and strong, so being a tank might suit you. Then you'd want a large shield."

"Th-that's it. I wanted a shield too. I thought I'd ask Ichinose what kind of shield to buy. You always carry a small shield, don't you? So I thought you might know about shields."

"Mine is a buckler. I've been carrying it lately but not using it. A buckler is too small for you. Hold on. I'm not knowledgeable about shields either, so I'll search."

Saying that, I searched on my phone for what kinds of large shields there were.

When I think of shields, I imagine metal ones, but wouldn't they be heavy? If so, carrying one around all the time would be quite tough. Preferably, it would be moderately heavy and reasonably durable.

I searched for shields that fit my image.

Reading the information on my phone, I explained to Akaishi.

"Ah, even if it's metal, if it's thin, it might not be that heavy."

"I'm confident in my arm strength, so I can handle some weight. More importantly, there are various shapes, right? Round ones, square ones. What kind would be good?"

"Give me a minute. Um… Oh, how about this? A polycarbonate shield."

"Polycarbonate… what's that?"

"It's the transparent plastic shield the riot police use. It's apparently quite durable. It might get cloudy with repeated use, but it seems to cost around 20,000 to 30,000 yen."

"That's within my budget from my part-time job."

"With iron shields, used ones might be cheaper than new, but with polycarbonate, new is probably better."

"Then I'll look for an armor shop."

"Yeah."

Having gotten the answers he wanted, Akaishi looked satisfied.

When I turned back to face the front, Yuno was grinning at me.

"What?"

Seeing that our conversation was over, Yuno approached.

"Well, I was just thinking it's nice that Shirou has made a friend."

"Mind your own business."

"Because, you know, in middle school, you didn't really fit in with the class, right?"

"Uh…"

Indeed, in middle school, I somehow didn't click with my classmates and didn't have many chances to talk.

But now, my hobby – dungeon exploration – is something the whole class does, so there's no reason I wouldn't get along with people who share the same interest.

So, since entering this academy, I've had quite a few opportunities to talk with various people.

This wasn't the time for such analysis.

Yuno didn't seem to have come to be sarcastic.

Could it be that she was worried I might become a loner in this academy too, and had been talking to me often?

Strong social skills are amazing… I couldn't be that considerate.

I felt a bit of respect for Yuno.