Chapter 21

The remaining funds were starting to feel a bit thin.

Today, with Hiren around, I thought I'd go for a more lucrative hunt, the tanuki, instead of the usual gege.

"Kuusei, you defeated the boss, didn't you?"

On the way to the third floor, Hiren asked in a serious tone.

Her voice sounded as if she was accusing me of being left out.

"Why do you know that..."

"It's your blog."

"Oh!"

Right, she knew Seiki's handle.

A cold sweat trickled down Seiki's back.

Should I have invited her to the boss fight?

Seiki didn't particularly want to solo the boss hunt.

Of course, he wanted to know how far his own strength would take him.

But it didn't have to be the boss specifically.

"Am I... a hindrance?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I was just adventuring without thinking."

Seiki hurried to put out the fire.

It seemed Hiren had misunderstood and thought she wasn't needed because she wasn't invited to the boss fight.

Not being needed.

Being treated like air.

Seiki understood that pain all too well.

Before he put on the mask, he was a presence that no one noticed unless he spoke up.

Hmm, maybe I'm not needed here either?

If I'm not needed, why does the Earth keep spinning?

He even got philosophical and depressed about it.

"I want to get stronger..."

Her whisper pierced Seiki's heart.

Seiki also believed that getting stronger would increase his presence.

"Right. To do that, we'll start with the tanuki hunt. We'll go all out today, just the two of us."

"Okay!"

She seemed to have cheered up a bit, or maybe she was just putting on a brave face.

Hiren raised her newly purchased staff high.

Hunting tanuki alone was still too early for Hiren.

She couldn't keep up with the tanuki's speed.

She cast spells from a distance but missed, and when they got close, she swung her staff but also missed.

Hiren's strategy was strong when it worked, but her skills were lacking.

Should I raise her blunt weapon skill?

But that would also require raising her strength to increase damage and her dexterity to improve speed.

She had 2 skill points left, right?

Seiki checked Hiren's points on the skill board.

The last time he secretly adjusted her skills, he left 2 points.

But,

Skill Points: 2 → 3

Huh?

It's 3 points now.

"Right, a rare monster."

The extra point came from defeating a rare monster.

Seiki had completely forgotten about that.

However, he could allocate points to the desired skills, but was it a good idea to boost her front-line capabilities?

She had a rare advantage with magic.

It might be better to focus on that.

He wanted to discuss what to raise, but this magic device was a double-edged sword.

If the information leaked, the consequences would be far worse than just losing magic.

It would be good if an adventurer asked him to allocate points.

But there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't try to take Seiki by force or kill him to steal the device.

It was a real hassle.

Thinking of countermeasures was a hassle.

Even with countermeasures, Seiki was still a beginner.

If a mid-level adventurer showed up, all his plans would be for nothing, and he'd be overpowered.

For now, he couldn't talk about the magic device with anyone.

Maybe someday, but not now.

He decided to leave the points as they were and deal with it through other means.

"…Yeah."

That was the healthier approach.

To bring out more than 100% of his strength, he needed to come up with strategies.

Overcoming challenges would be valuable experience and build problem-solving skills.

His skills might naturally improve as well.

That was the essence of the game.

Blindly allocating points and brute-forcing it would be a waste.

After some thought, Seiki decided to take the front line.

He rejected the idea of just catching and killing the tanuki like with the gege, as it wouldn't improve his responsiveness.

To help Hiren gradually adapt to the tanuki's quick movements, Seiki blocked their escape routes at the front.

As the tanuki's escape options were reduced, Hiren's attacks started to hit more often.

"…Interesting, this is actually fun."

How to cut off the tanuki's escape routes.

Reading Hiren's breathing and timing his actions.

Whether the tanuki lived or died depended on Seiki's movements.

The results were clear.

Being a front-liner was a skill.

A playstyle he could never experience solo.

A pleasant fatigue as unused parts of his brain activated.

Good.

Really good!

Seiki got engrossed in cornering the tanuki.

Seiki would attack and wound the tanuki, drawing its attention.

The moment the tanuki focused on Seiki, Hiren's spell would hit.

At first, it was a struggle, but once they got the hang of it, the formation clicked into place.

Solo hunting couldn't provide this level of stability.

Hunting alone was good, but teaming up was also fun.

Seiki found the joy of teamwork and focused even more on clearing the third floor of tanuki.

"Excuse me."

After the hunt, Seiki was sitting seiza in front of Hiren.

Hiren's face was scary.

Even with the mask on, her gaze seemed to pierce through it, making Seiki flinch.

"It's good to get engrossed in the hunt, but don't push yourself to the point of collapse!"

Right.

Seiki had gotten so engrossed in chasing the tanuki that he lost track of his fatigue.

Blocking the tanuki's escape routes as a front-liner required more movement than solo hunting.

Unaware of this, he kept moving and eventually collapsed.

They had been hunting non-stop for about 5 hours.

Chasing tanuki for 5 hours straight.

Even with enhanced physical abilities, collapsing was inevitable.

"Sorry."

"Huh?"

No, Hiren's smile was scary.

"…Sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

"Really? What would you have done if I wasn't there?"

She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks, but there was a hint of relief on her face.

If she had a tail, it would be wagging proudly.

The sound of her fluffy tail wagging seemed to echo.

It was partly because she was glad Seiki was safe.

But mostly, it was because she realized she could help someone.

Hiren had helped Seiki this time.

She had thought she was only a hindrance, but she could actually help him.

This fact made her very happy, though she couldn't show it.

Still, the situation had been close.

She had to use magic to keep the tanuki at bay as they tried to bite the collapsed Seiki.

If it were the old Hiren, that would have been the end.

But thanks to Seiki's relentless hunting, which had pushed her to the brink of insanity, she had leveled up enough to handle the tanuki alone.

Plus, the new staff helped.

Magic required focusing energy into a single point and releasing it with pressure.

With the old cudgel, it was hard to focus and activate the spell.

But with this staff, the energy flowed smoothly to the tip without resistance.

The power and speed were probably 30% higher.

The staff was likely designed for mages.

Finding such a rare item for 35,000 yen was thanks to Seiki.

If he hadn't haggled, it would have cost 1,000,000 yen!

Totally out of Hiren's reach.

She had almost fallen into despair after being tricked by the adventurers she met on 'Narou'.

But Seiki had helped her.

He had stood up to the situation where the adventurers who were active on the 9th floor of 'Chikaho' had fled.

Just to save Hiren!

Moreover, he didn't mention her name in his blog.

He didn't even hint at saving someone.

Publicizing a rescue could increase blog traffic.

Saving people.

That's what adventurers do.

Like firefighters who don't boast about saving lives.

Or doctors who don't brag about saving lives.

It's a given, not something to flaunt.

But such adventurers were rare.

They exaggerated facts to earn points on the daily rankings.

They altered facts to make them more appealing.

If Seiki had publicly announced saving people from Montparnasse, Hiren might not have followed him this far.

The slightly creepy mask bothered her a bit, but she didn't feel any creepy vibes from him.

He didn't look at her the same way the shield team did.

His short sword equipment also caught her attention.

Wearing a strange mask and a minor weapon.

Risking his life to save a stranger and not boasting about it.

These qualities alone were enough to draw Hiren to Seiki.

But there were also concerns.

Sometimes Seiki seemed to disappear from her sight.

Without any warning...

He was very detached.

He had emotions.

When fighting the gege.

When finding the magic bag.

When fighting the centipede.

He was emotionally charged.

But his emotions were missing something.

The same void as Hiren.

His emotions must have been damaged during the initial stampede.

If he even slightly thought she was unnecessary...

To prevent that, Hiren had to improve her usefulness.

She couldn't lose sight of his back.

After finishing the tanuki hunt and heading to the gate, Seiki noticed something odd.

"An earthquake?"

"!"

His heightened senses from leveling up detected the slight tremor.

Seiki frowned and focused, but it didn't seem to be getting stronger.

Beside him, Hiren's face turned pale. She seemed to be afraid of earthquakes.

The earthquake quickly subsided.

Probably a magnitude 1, a weak tremor.

He cautiously looked around, but there were no signs of danger.

"An earthquake, huh."

"Yeah. The dungeon shakes too."

Of course, the dungeon would shake.

But the dungeon was a separate entity from the natural world.

Even a nuclear bomb would only slightly widen the entrance.

It was understandable to think it was earthquake-proof.

"Hopefully, it wasn't a major earthquake."

If the dungeon shook but the surface was devastated, that would be a different story.

Seiki sighed in relief when he saw no earthquake damage after passing through the gate.

Today's kill count was 178.

He could have reached 200 if he hadn't collapsed.

He was frustrated with himself.

Thanks to the magic bag, he could transport materials that would otherwise be too much to carry.

This alone greatly improved efficiency.

If the dungeon wasn't near his home, it would take at least an hour to transport and sell the materials.

An hour that a high-level adventurer could use to earn 1,000,000 yen.

The magic bag was worth every bit of its price.

He truly felt that way.

He had Hiren carry the magic bag.

She was hesitant, but a man with a strange mask and a pochette would be suspicious.

Either his fashion sense or the usefulness of the pochette would be questioned.

Given the price, the latter could lead to theft.

It was better if it didn't look like a magic bag at first glance.

So, Seiki had Hiren carry it.

A girl with a pochette wouldn't raise suspicion unless she used it incorrectly.

Tanuki claws. Out of 18 claws per tanuki, only the two longest were usable.

500 yen each, 1,000 yen per tanuki if both were undamaged.

"Guh..."

A total of 356 claws.

Selling them for 156,100 yen made Shuon grind her teeth in frustration.

It exceeded 20% of today's equipment purchase.

At this rate, he could recover the full cost in 3-4 more days.

The equipment wouldn't be replaced for a week.

This time, it was a losing battle for Shuon.

"---Hmph"

"Kiii!!"

Victory was in sight.

He deliberately smiled, and Shuon turned red, slamming the counter.

Just wait!

She glared at him with a murderous look.

The atmosphere was tense.

But this kind of relationship would likely yield better results.

She would try her hardest to outdo Seiki.

To do that, she had to provide the best equipment.

Well, I hope she does her best.

"---By the way, are you okay from the earthquake earlier?"

"Earthquake? What earthquake?"

Maybe it was too small for her to notice?

Well, that's fine too.

If a major earthquake hit, prefab buildings would be the first to suffer.

They're just small concrete blocks with a structure on top, easily knocked over.

Thanks to this shop, his income efficiency had greatly improved.

It was natural to feel relieved that nothing happened.

She didn't seem like she was in danger.

After all, she was a woman who could beat up adventurers.

Seiki waved and left the shop.

* * *

【Earthquake】Report if you feel an earthquake. 50【Scary】

54 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Ezo)

Earthquake!

55 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Edo)

It hit here too!!

56 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Edo)

>>55 Liar

It didn't shake at all

57 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Edo)

>>56 No, really

It shook a bit in the dungeon, like a magnitude 1

58 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Edo)

Really?

I didn't feel anything on the surface

59 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Dewa)

I felt it too

A minor tremor in the dungeon

60 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Nagato)

Did the whole of Japan shake?

61 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Ezo)

About a magnitude 1?

62 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Tosa)

Didn't feel anything outside

63 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Ezo)

So it was only in the dungeon?

64 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Mutsu)

Is that even possible?

65 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Ezo)

The dungeon is like an underground world

Or maybe the dungeons are connected underground

66 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Harima)

>>65 Romantic

Adventurers from different regions

Meeting and falling in love deep underground

67 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Bizen)

>>66 Ah!

68 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Harima)

Not gay!

69 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Ezo)

Anyway, I'm Wakame

It's creepy, so I'll pass it on to the front-line guys

70 Name: Earthquake Radar Anonymous (Edo)

>>69 Sure thing