Chapter 45

The next morning, after waking up, I took a shower, changed into my exploration outfit, and finally put on the long coat I received when I joined the clan.

"Does it suit me?"

I looked at myself in the full-length mirror, but I couldn’t tell if it suited me.

I feel a bit out of place in this outfit now, but I hope I get used to it soon.

Seeing myself in this outfit, I’m reminded once again that I’ve joined *Silver Hare of the Night Sky*.

After finishing my change, I sat down in a chair and ate the portable food I made myself.

During dungeon exploration, it’s not uncommon to make intense movements.

If I eat a heavy breakfast, I might end up vomiting in the worst-case scenario.

That’s why when I go to the dungeon, I eat a small amount of portable food that I’ve made, which is nutritious.

I’ve also experimented with the taste to make it at least edible.

After finishing my simple breakfast, I went outside and bought three newspapers.

Then I returned to the clan headquarters and headed to the briefing room, which is today’s meeting place.

On the way, I picked up a book from the library and entered the briefing room.

It was just past 7:00 AM.

I had about two hours until the meeting time.

I placed the newspapers and the book I brought on the central table and sat down in a chair.

I decided to pass the time by reading until the meeting started.

◇

After reading for a while, the door was suddenly flung open,

"Here I am, first one here! -- Wait, Orun-kun is here!? That’s early~"

Lucre entered the room with high energy.

"Good morning."

Without moving my gaze from the book, I greeted Lucre.

"Yeah, good morning. Are you reading a book?"

I finished reading the book at just the right time, closed it, and turned to Lucre,

"Sort of. I had some time."

"Still, isn’t that too many? You won’t be able to finish them all, right?"

There were thirty-two books on the table.

On my right, there were thirty books stacked in groups of five.

On my left, there were two books.

"These ones on the right are the ones I’ve already finished."

I pointed to the thirty books on the right as I answered Lucre’s question.

"…Huh? What, did you stay up all night reading from yesterday? We have a dungeon exploration today!?"

"No, I did sleep. I’ve been here since around seven."

"Ah, that’s good. But you couldn’t have read this much, right!?"

"Lucre’s point is valid, but I can speed read. So, I really did finish these books."

"O-oh… Speed reading, huh? Reading this much in an hour and a half is amazing!"

Lucre praised me sincerely.

I’m aware that I can be a bit cynical, so I usually find it hard to deal with people who are straightforward, but I don’t feel that way about Lucre.

I wonder why?

"Thanks. I was just reading leisurely before the dungeon exploration."

As I said this, I stood up and, just as I did when I brought them, activated a magic spell to make the books float.

"Huh, magic…? That’s amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it!"

This is one of my original magic spells.

I can only make light objects float, so I can’t lift people, but it’s very useful in daily life.

I thought *Silver Hare of the Night Sky* might have some secret techniques, so I wondered if this spell was one of them, but since Lucre was surprised, it seems this spell isn’t known here.

That’s a good thing to know.

At that moment, the door opened, and Rain came in.

"Lucre, don’t be so noisy in the morning, really. -- Wait?"

When Rain was scolding Lucre, she must have noticed the floating books.

Looking at the floating books, she trembled and muttered, "Poltergeist… Ghost…?" while being quite scared.

"Rain is scared of ghosts. Even though she’s fine in the dungeon. -- Ah, right. Hehe."

After Lucre whispered an explanation to me, she seemed to have an idea and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"Ah, Rain-san, ghosts are scary!"

Her delivery was really flat…

Lucre, with a smirking face, sought help from Rain.

"Really a ghost!? D-Don’t worry, Lucre. I-I’ll take care of it!"

Her voice trembled, and she sounded unreliable.

Still, perhaps out of a sense of responsibility as the older one, she tried to protect Lucre.

Her scared appearance matched her looks.

It looked fun, so I didn’t correct her and just watched.

Then,

"…Huh?"

Magic power gathered around Rain, and a magic circle appeared.

"Hey, Rain-san, that’s not good!"

Lucre, surprised by the magic circle, tried to stop Rain.

(An attack spell!? This is bad!)

Judging from the amount of magic power flowing into the magic circle, I determined it was an intermediate-level spell and immediately disrupted the magic power around Rain.

"Magic power isn’t flowing properly!? Can ghosts do that!? But I won’t lose!"

Despite her surprise, she tried to forcefully channel magic power into the magic circle.

She’s a mage from an S-rank party, after all. -- But this isn’t the time to be impressed!

"Sorry, Rain-san! This isn’t a ghost, it’s my magic! So don’t use an attack spell here!"

As I said this, I quickly canceled the magic and stacked the books on the table.

"…Huh? Orun-kun’s magic?"

Understanding that it wasn’t a ghost, Rain dispelled the magic circle.

I was really worried…

"Yeah, I was using magic to put the books away."

"Ah… I see… Don’t scare me like that. I almost attacked."

"Almost? It was suppressed, but still…"

Lucre, who had been standing close to me, moved closer.

"Sorry, Orun-kun. I didn’t expect Rain-san to react so seriously…"

"It’s good that nothing happened… I promise I won’t use this gag on Rain-san again."

Thank you for reading to the end.

If you found it interesting and want to read more, please support the work by rating it from the stars below!

Give it 5 stars if you enjoyed it, 1 star if you didn’t, and feel free to leave an honest review.

I’d also be grateful if you could bookmark it.

Thank you very much!