Chapter 50

Friday afternoon.

After school, I headed to the office in Umeda with my bag.

I had already called Akaishi-san at the office to confirm the schedule.

Osaka Station was as crowded as ever.

I don't particularly like crowds, so I tried to move through them as much as possible.

The elevator hall in the building was still nerve-wracking.

There seem to be bars and restaurants on the upper floors, but they're not places I'd go alone.

I sighed a little and entered the office.

"Akaishi-san, hello."

"Hello, Ichino-sama. What brings you here today?"

"Ah, I have something to discuss about the magatama."

"Is it about the deadline? Well, there are quite a few, so if you can't make it, we can use the explorers from the Ashino Group to gather them. We'll do our best to support you—"

"Ah, no, I brought them."

"You brought them?"

"The magatama. One thousand of them."

I said this and placed my backpack on the floor.

Inside, there are exactly one thousand magatama.

I took them all out once, put 99 in my inventory 10 times, and then added 10 more.

There are definitely one thousand.

"You've already gathered them? There are still two months until the deadline."

"I thought it would be better to do it early."

Akaishi-san, with a blank expression, looked into the backpack and took out a magatama.

"Akaishi-san?"

"…I'm surprised."

"You were surprised?"

"To be honest, I didn't think you could gather them."

"…Huh? You didn't think I could gather them within the deadline?"

"Yes. Based on the information I received from Hime-sama, I judged that it was possible to gather them. However, I suspected that Hime-sama might have overestimated. So, I gave you a relatively easy task that I could follow up on if you failed, to gauge your abilities."

"You were that blunt about it?"

It seems you were trying to measure my limits by giving me an impossible task.

"I apologize for treating you unfairly. I'm sorry. You are even more capable than Hime-sama said."

Akaishi-san apologized again and started counting the magatama.

He didn't ask at all how I managed to gather them so quickly.

I had prepared an excuse, but I'm relieved I didn't have to use it.

"I've confirmed. The payment will be made as soon as the government's transfer is received. Good work."

"Thank you. By the way, what work do you have today, Akaishi-san?"

"I have various tasks, but the current challenge is hiring a blacksmith. There aren't many people with blacksmithing skills, and not just anyone will do. They need to be someone who can follow Hime-sama's philosophy. So, it's a bit difficult."

Working under Hime, who is seriously aiming for the best in the world.

I understand that you can't just give them any job.

I'd like to help if I can, but my connections are limited to high school friends and family.

In the end, I can only rely on adults.

My phone rang.

I checked the caller.

"Sorry, it's from Hime."

I said this and answered the call.

"About tomorrow, are you going to the Ishibutai Dungeon, Taiga?"

"No, I'm not. I'm at the office right now, and I just delivered the magatama to Akaishi-san."

"Really!? You're really exceptional. By the way, I have some business at my family home tomorrow, so I won't be able to go. You're free to explore the dungeon. I've already told Ayame."

"Okay, got it."

"Also, I was going to tell Milk, but she's not answering her phone."

"Apparently, she's busy with the sports festival preparations?"

"Eh? The sports festival at Kiriyo High School is in October, right? Why is she busy now? Besides, they don't use third-year students for the preparations. It's the lower grades who do most of the work during the exam season."

...

What's going on?

Is she lying to the maid about the sports festival and going somewhere else?

I don't think she's the type to go out at night, but you never know.

Maybe I should stop by her place on the way back.

"Got it. I'll take care of Milk. I don't know what's going on, but good luck with your family business."

"It's not really something to work hard at. Anyway, I'll leave Milk to you."

The call ended.

"It seems Hime has some family business."

"Her mother is returning from New York, so it's probably to welcome her."

Akaishi-san told me without hiding anything, as it's something I could find out if I wanted to.

Hime's mother is coming back.

I imagine welcoming a wealthy person must be quite a task.

Akaishi-san told me that Hime's mother spends half the year in Japan and the other half in America.

I wondered if it was okay for the president to be away so much, but apparently, the subordinates sent by the GDC Group are excellent, so it's not a problem.

Also, with the recent ability to work remotely, it's not an issue.

I left the office and headed to the station.

It took longer than I expected.

I had already told my mother I'd be late, but I need to walk Kuro and Shiro when I get home.

Thinking about this, on my way to the station—

"Milk? What are you doing here?"

"What about you, Taiga?"

There was Milk.

"The best in the world's office is in Umeda. I was just there. By the way, you didn't answer your phone, and you lied to the maid about the sports festival. What are you up to?"

"…I went to the dungeon."

"The dungeon? Didn't Hime tell you not to go on weekdays?"

"Yeah… but I wanted to master healing magic by tomorrow. It's a good opportunity since I learned the magic thanks to Taiga."

"You're not skipping school, are you?"

"I'm going to school. I only spend about an hour in the dungeon. I come back once I use up all my magic power."

Ah, if the goal is to increase the proficiency of magic, you don't need to spend hours in the dungeon.

"So, how did it go?"

"Yeah, I learned a few spells. My magic power has increased a lot. I'll show you tomorrow."

"Right, that reminds me. Hime has some business tomorrow, so you're free to do as you please."

"Really? That's a surprise."

"Yeah. Also, start using this from tomorrow."

"…A ribbon? A gift from Taiga?"

Milk looked at the ribbon and asked.

I nodded and explained.

"It's a Growth Ribbon. It has the same effect as the Growth Ring, increasing experience by 20%. If you use both, it's a 40% increase. I got it yesterday."

"Really? That must have been expensive, right?"

"I got it from a D-can from Ushizou-san. So, it's free."

I explained.

If it's from Ushizou-san's D-can, Milk would accept it without hesitation.

"Really, I called you yesterday to give you this as a gift, but you didn't call back—did you think I'd be angry?"

"Um… I wanted to surprise you with the magic on Saturday. If it was something important, you would have sent an email, so I thought it was fine."

Indeed, if it was something important, you would have sent an email.

My habits are completely known.

That's why childhood friends are so troublesome.

We headed home together.

"By the way, I found a stray dog. It's white—"

"Is it really a dog? It's not actually Fenrir, right?"

"It's just a dog. I'm going to take care of it for three months. Do you want to keep it?"

"Ah… I'd like to, but our maid is allergic to dogs. Sorry."

If she's allergic to dogs, there's nothing I can do.

My plan fell through, but I still have three months. I'm sure I'll find a home for it soon.

Still, I'm looking forward to seeing Milk's magic.

Thank you.

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