Chapter 50

The planned extermination period is one week.

During this time, Haruki will stay in Sapporo.

Hiren was not invited by Kagemitsu.

Hiren's magic is limited to single-target attacks, which is a disadvantage in Montpare, where multiple targets need to be dealt with. Even if Kagemitsu had invited her, Haruki would have declined.

For a while, they won't be able to hunt together.

Haruki thought Hiren might show some dissatisfaction about this, but she supported his trip to Sapporo.

"It's such an honor to be invited by Mr. Kagemitsu!"

"Please do your best for both of us!"

With Hiren's encouragement, Haruki moved to Sapporo alone.

After securing a hotel room, he headed to the address Kagemitsu had given him.

The place Haruki visited was a house not far from "Chikaho."

It was a three-story concrete building.

It was spacious enough to comfortably accommodate about ten people.

When he pressed the intercom, the door opened immediately.

"Here I a—Huh!!"

A woman in her early twenties appeared.

The moment she saw Haruki, her body stiffened.

However, the way she quickly composed herself gave a glimpse of her capabilities.

"I'm sorry for startling you. I'm Kuki."

"Eat me!? ...Ah, ah, you mean Kuki. You scared me!"

What exactly was she startled by?

From her words, Haruki sensed a significant misunderstanding.

But it seemed she had recognized him as the blogger Kuki.

Her wariness quickly subsided, though about 20% remained.

It couldn't be helped that it didn't go to zero.

After all, they were meeting for the first time.

It was natural for her to be cautious.

Convincing himself of this, Haruki was led into the house by the woman.

In the living room, Haruki narrowed his eyes when he saw a man sitting on the sofa.

"Hey, you made it."

"...Hello, I'm Kuki."

The man exuded a powerful presence that demanded attention.

Despite wearing ordinary clothes, he seemed to glow as if illuminated by a spotlight.

"I'm Kagemitsu. Nice to meet you."

His name was Kagemitsu.

One of the Rankers and the idol of adventurers in Hokkaido.

In front of Kagemitsu, Haruki's body trembled.

This is bad.

He's so dazzling!

His presence is so strong, I feel like I'm going to disappear!!

Like a ghost encountering an exorcist, Haruki's body rejected the man.

Haruki trembled, fearing the disappearance of his already thin presence.

Kagemitsu was the most famous adventurer in Hokkaido,

and the one with the strongest presence.

He drew attention wherever he went, whether in town or in the dungeon.

His body was more than a size larger than Haruki's.

Despite wearing casual clothes, the bulging muscles were evident.

Most of all, he had a similar oppressive aura to Masatsugu.

If Haruki were to face Kagemitsu in battle, he would lose without a chance to resist.

Just looking at him made Haruki realize the gap in their abilities.

Kagemitsu invited him to sit, and Haruki cautiously took a seat in front of him.

This is bad.

What should I do?

I feel like I'm going to disappear!

In the presence of such a real presence, the masked Haruki couldn't settle down.

Or perhaps it was because he sensed Kagemitsu's strength.

In any case, Haruki fidgeted, shifting his seat continuously.

"So, what do you think of my team house? It's pretty big, right?"

"Yes, it is. This is my first time visiting a team house."

"There aren't many teams that have their own base, you know."

A team house, as the name suggests, is a base for a team.

It's where teammates live together and store items obtained from adventures.

Larger teams tend to have such houses.

Masatsugu, Bacon, and Shizukanae are also adventurers who own houses.

Conversely, only adventurers of that caliber can afford to have a house.

It costs money just to have a house, so beginner or intermediate adventurers can't afford one.

But it's nice. It feels like a secret base.

The inner child in Haruki was tickled.

"Ah, right. We'll be risking our lives together for a while. No need to use formal language."

"But..."

"You're older than me, right? Don't worry about the details."

Indeed, the age he publicly disclosed on his blog was older than Kagemitsu's.

If that were true...

But Kagemitsu was a Ranker.

For Haruki, who had worked in a company, speaking informally to someone older required a lot of courage.

He even suspected that Kagemitsu was trying to gauge his character by deliberately asking for informal language.

Was it really okay to speak informally?

While he was thinking about this, Kagemitsu stood up.

His knees were slightly trembling.

Was he tired from daily leveling?

"First, let me introduce the team members."

The woman who greeted Haruki must have called them.

Led by the woman, four adventurers entered the living room—

and they all flinched when they saw Haruki.

...Why?

"Did you tell them my name? I'm the main tank, using a greatsword. Next—"

Kagemitsu pointed to a short man.

"That's Yoshi. He's an archer."

"I'm Yoshi. Nice to meet you."

Yoshi was a man but had a slender build like a woman.

He seemed a bit timid and nervous.

"Next is Becky. She's also an archer."

"B-Becky. Nice to meet you."

Becky was the woman who greeted Haruki.

She was still a bit hesitant.

"Next to her is Van, who uses a greatsword like me."

"...Van."

Van was similar to Kagemitsu.

He must have a lot of muscles; his arms looked strained in his clothes.

His eyes seemed troubled for some reason.

"Last is Doraneko, who uses a spear."

"D-Doraneko!"

Doraneko straightened his back.

He seemed to have stage fright and was trembling.

"This is my team, Aerial."

"I'm Kuki. Nice to meet you."

He stood up to greet them.

Immediately, the members of Aerial flinched.

"I said you can speak informally."

"Ah..."

It seemed he really wanted Haruki to speak informally.

Feeling Kagemitsu's displeased aura, Haruki decided to comply.

"Got it. ...Is stage fright common in Aerial?"

"Of course not."

"Everyone seems tense."

"That's because of you!"

Kagemitsu's face contorted as he spoke.

"Me?"

"I heard about you, but seeing you in person, that mask is really scary."

"Is it?"

Haruki unconsciously traced his mask.

"Your presence is so thin that the mask looks like it's floating."

"..."

"However, the way you cut off your presence is extraordinary. Do you have an Awakening Skill?"

"..."

Haruki's vision began to distort.

N-no, I'm not crying!

I just yawned!

He sniffed and opened his mouth.

"I'm being myself."

"Huh?"

"I'm naturally... thin... in presence...!"

The moment he said those words, his mental strength was drained.

He clenched his teeth to resist losing consciousness.

"I saw on your blog that you're 'Kuki' because of your thin presence. Was that just a character trait?"

"..."

If it had been a character trait, it would have been better!

Damn it!

Kagemitsu's confirmation pierced Haruki's heart.

His mental strength was about to reach zero.

The truth is always... painful.

"I see. I can really understand how you feel, Kuki!"

"Huh?"

"I wanted to be stealthy... but my presence is so strong, I can't hide it at all!!"

How envious!

Haruki wanted to protest loudly.

But his sadness was genuine.

He seemed to be seriously troubled by his strong presence.

Tears welled in his eyes as he trembled.

The members of Aerial muttered, "Here we go again," as if they had heard his complaints many times before, with a sense of weariness.

Haruki, who was affected by the curse of a thin presence, comforted Kagemitsu, who was trembling from the curse of a strong presence, and they discussed the specific strategy for Montpare.

However, there wasn't much to discuss.

Haruki's role was to handle Montpare.

Yoshi, the archer, would assist Haruki.

While Haruki dealt with Montpare, Aerial would focus on the boss and defeat it.

That was the plan.

"Mr. Kagemitsu, are the Montpare extermination members just me and Yoshi?"

"Hey, no need for formalities."

"No, no."

"We're brothers who struggle with our presence, right?"

"O-Okay."

Feeling a special sense of closeness from Kagemitsu, Haruki let out an ambiguous breath.

It was impolite for a low-level adventurer to speak informally to a Ranker.

But it was hard to refuse.

"Let's make the best of it."

That's all he said.

"There are no other Montpare extermination members."

"Why?"

"Do you think there are other idiots who want to take on Montpare?"

"..."

Who's the idiot?

He wanted to retort.

But what Kagemitsu said was true.

No one wanted to face Montpare.

At most, they would be involved in Montpare while fighting other monsters and try to escape.

That's why it was a great achievement.

But because his presence was so thin, he didn't get the spotlight.

"Well, it's not just that. Right now, the strong adventurers are all heading to Shinjuku. Those left are mostly upper-level leveling groups. Gathering mediocre people who can fight the 10th floor monsters would only result in casualties. It's better to face Montpare with a small, elite team."

"Hmm."

"I'm not saying we have to succeed in one attack. If it gets dangerous, we'll retreat immediately. If we're not strong enough, we'll repeat the attacks and gradually wear down Montpare."

Indeed, there was a point to what he said.

Facing Montpare with a mediocre number and strength would make it hard to coordinate and require extra effort to support, potentially leading to a bad fight.

It might be better to gradually wear down Montpare through guerrilla tactics.

"We'll support you fully. Whether we can survive the lizardmen depends on you, Kuki."

They would support Haruki to ensure their own survival.

It was a good balance of pressure and support.

A good statement.

It showed a welcoming attitude.

From there, Haruki and Kagemitsu discussed the specific strategy in detail.

* * *

【Montpare】Thread about Chikaho 75【Avoidance】

54 Name: Kagemitsu★

Hey, the guy who told us about the adventurer who broke through Montpare in the previous thread!

If you're here, come out!

55 Name: Anonymous (Avoiding Montpare)

What's up?

56 Name: Kagemitsu★

It's you, huh?!

What kind of monster did you tell me about?!

When I saw that guy at the team house,

I almost had a heart attack from shock!!

57 Name: Anonymous (Avoiding Montpare)

>>56 Haha, you're more of a coward than I thought.

58 Name: Anonymous (Avoiding Montpare)

Was it a floating mask with tentacles and plants?

Was it really as rumored? w

59 Name: Kagemitsu★

>>57

No, you should see it up close.

The floating mask comes right at you.

Some of my team members almost cried.

>>58

No tentacles.

Instead, it had wings.

60 Name: Anonymous (Avoiding Montpare)

Wings wwww

Damn, my abs are hurting wwww

So, is the mask really a monster?

61 Name: Kagemitsu★

I don't think it's a monster.

...Probably.

62 Name: Anonymous (Avoiding Montpare)

Don't lack confidence wwww

So, are you going hunting now?

I'm curious how you kill monsters with a dagger.

Looking forward to a detailed report!

62 Name: Kagemitsu★

Sure thing!

Leave it to me!