kscans

Chapter 220 - The Briefing, Again

I turned the calendar, and at last, it was October. The leaves of the roadside trees were beginning to turn slightly red and yellow, and the temperature had cooled down considerably. According to the weather forecast, the autumn foliage season would begin in another two weeks.

A few days after the camping trip, I found myself visiting Shizuku-san's workshop alone after school.

"Here you go. This is the exterior armor you ordered, and the backplate to match. You can disassemble your existing cuirass to attach the backplate. Just follow the instructions I gave you before."

"Thank you. I've sent the payment to your account."

"Right. I'll check it later."

I gave the exterior plating and backplate on the workbench a once-over before putting them in a large bag.

Her work was as good as ever. It was hard to believe she was the same age as me. It's probably due to her skill... but thinking that is probably rude of me.

"Still, you came alone today, huh?"

"And you're here without Aika-san today, too."

"She's at cram school. And it's not like we're together all the time."

"Well, it's pretty much the same for me."

"...Is that so."

Her sharp, narrow eyes stared at me.

I averted my gaze with a wry smile.

The reason I didn't come with Erina-san was because I had 'run away.' It seemed that was painfully obvious to everyone but me.

"...You know, I bet she'll be laughing like an idiot right next to you, regardless of what answer you come up with."

"...Yeah, you're probably right."

More than a week had passed since the Chief Cabinet Secretary's press conference.

It was slightly delayed due to backlash both at home and abroad, but still.

───Just as the conference had announced, the 'public access to dungeons' was reinstated.

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'That's so mean, Kyouta! Leaving me behind and going home?!'

"Ah, sorry."

'It's fine!'

As soon as I got home, Erina-san sent me a Telepathy message.

'Now, now. Don't be so angry, Erina-kun.'

'Huh? I'm not angry?'

'Kyouta-kun is a boy... which means, it must have been building up...'

"I'll sue you for sexual harassment, you hopeless college girl."

'What does 'building up' mean?'

'She means the anime and games he's been wanting to watch! And, Kyooouta-kuuun? Why, prey tell, should I be sued for sexual harassment? When did I ever say anything sexual? Why don't you explain it with that dirty little brain of yours?'

"So annoying..."

'Excuse me, were you just having a lewd conversation?'

"Mia-san took the bait. That's my proof."

'Tch, the situation is disadvantageous! I shall retreat to my lab!'

"You should have done that from the start."

'Oh, my sister is busy, I see. Then we'll talk about this later. Ah, and Kyouta-kun. I just got a call from the police, and they said they'll send over the tent and chairs we left at the campground.'

"Oh, that's great. Really."

'Yes. Well then, I still have a lecture, so.'

"You too, Brutus?"

Honestly, these hopeless sisters need to take their studies more seriously.

...Although, among this group, I'm the one with the worst grades.

In addition to the difference in our natural intellect, the world is overflowing with entertainment these days. I tend to get distracted by the internet and games... I need to reflect on that. I mean, I do have golem maintenance and other things to do, you know?

'Anyway, Kyouta. You went to Shī-chan's place, which means it's for Blanc's equipment, right?'

"Yeah. The exterior armor and a backplate for mounting the Magi Battery."

While we talked via Telepathy, I was in the middle of putting the 'insides' into the armor, comparing it with the instructions.

The homemade Magi Battery. If I were to describe its appearance succinctly, 'a heart made of metal' would be fitting.

The materials were almost all unrelated to dungeons, items from the surface world. Most of it was ordinary iron, but since it also used things like raw rubies and silver, it was quite expensive for things I couldn't procure myself.

If the materials had any excess mana attached, they weren't suitable, so not being able to prepare them through alchemy was a subtle pain. The Alchemy Enthusiasts Club might have the technology to use alchemy without imbuing mana. Or maybe they can strip the mana away.

In any case, since I couldn't use what they made, I had to prepare it myself. I placed it in the outer casing, opened the dedicated injection port, and poured in a homemade magic potion.

'Hooow is it? Think you can use it in a real fight?'

"Probably..."

I closed the lid, tightened the screws, and placed it on the desk. The potion didn't seem to be leaking.

Though it's called a Magi Battery, it's different from a battery that uses electricity. It was something I had put together after repeatedly comparing the club's documents, the book on Arcane Gear, and my own written recipes, wracking my brain over and over.

I immediately channeled mana into the homemade Magi Battery in front of me. I hoped it would work properly...

"...Alright."

'Oh, it worked?!'

"I think so, at least."

Mana was definitely accumulating inside. And quite a lot of it, too.

Compared to the ones made by the club, this Magi Battery had a larger mana supply rate to its target. In fact, if I tried to restrict the flow too much, it would break. It would run out of fuel faster because of that, but this much was necessary to support Blanc's full-power combat.

Both Blanc and Byakuren were finicky golems whose performance had been forcibly enhanced at the expense of fuel efficiency to compensate for my own lack of skill. I'm sure technical specialists would criticize me for trying to solve the fuel problem without improving the golems themselves.

Still, I believed this was the best I could do for now.

"Now I just need to make some adjustments to Blanc's body, and once the test run is over, I can deploy it in a real fight. I've prepared two replacements, so I need to make sure I can swap them out properly on-site."

'Are you going to a dungeon?'

"...No."

My words got stuck for a few seconds before I managed to force them out.

Even I had been thinking on the premise that I would 'go to a dungeon' as a matter of course.

And yet, when I actually thought about going, my hands would stop like this.

"I want to... think about it, just a little longer."

'Yeah, I think that's fine. Grandma always said that worrying about things is important.'

"Thanks..."

I stroked the Magi Battery, which was now more or less complete, and let out a small sigh.

I felt pathetic. Mia-san had found her answer, and I was the only one in our group still holding back.

My rational mind knew I shouldn't rush it, but my heart was restless───

'Stop right there, Kyouta!'

"Yes?"

Erina-san suddenly shouted, and I tilted my head.

Stop? Stop what?

'Even I can tell! You were starting to enter mopey mode, weren't you?!'

"Mopey... well, I can't deny it."

'It's fine to worry, but it's not okay to blame yourself! Alright, let's play right now! Turn on your game console!'

"Well, I was about to start adjusting Blanc..."

'C'mooon, let's playyyy! You went home without me, Shī-chan left early saying she had work, and Ā-chan went straight to cram school, so I had to go home all lonely, you knooow?!'

"If you teleport home, there's no such thing as being lonely, is there...?"

'Come on, come on! Let's get a change of pace and lose ourselves in a game!'

"...Alright."

I ended up giving in, but there was some truth to what she was saying.

With a wry smile, I nodded and took out my game console.

'Alright! Which one should we play? What do you wanna play?'

"Let's do a racing game."

'Alright! My ox cart is gonna spit fire!'

"Isn't that just an accident?"

After about an hour of such silly banter, I noticed I had an email on my phone.

I'd been getting a lot of spam lately, so I wondered if this was another one.

Thinking that, I checked it and saw it was from the Dungeon Agency. It could be a phishing attempt, but I opened it just in case to check the contents.

"...Huh?"

An absentminded sound escaped me as I read the text on the screen.

Setting aside the stiff opening and other formalities, the content was something like this:

'To all B-Rank Adventurers. The government is considering adding A-Rank Adventurers to the Dungeon Law and plans to hold a briefing session regarding promotion. The schedule is as follows, so we hope you will attend.'

...But they just created B-Rank a little while ago, didn't they?

And this wording. It said 'considering,' but wasn't it pretty much a done deal? No, they probably phrased it that way so they'd have an out if the media found out.

That aside... could it be that this country is actually in serious trouble?

Even I, someone ignorant of politics and economics, could predict the public's reaction to creating 'A-Rank Adventurers' at this timing. The fact that they were going through with it meant they were no longer concerned with appearances, didn't it?

With a frown, I closed my eyes and looked up. Then, I channeled mana into the earring I was still wearing.

This was definitely not something I should be thinking about alone.

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'Even Aira-san, who is often called a 'government stooge' on the internet, has no choice but to say this... What a total mess! The Japanese government! And it looks like they're on the brink!'

Erina-san and the others had received similar emails, and after calling the Dungeon Agency directly to confirm, it was established that they weren't fake.

As a result, Aira-san had shouted with a laugh.

'My, oh my. I wonder if this is Akasaka-shi's idea... Is he himself getting quite desperate? I'm starting to get a feel for both possibilities.'

"Is that so?"

'Well, we don't know the actual situation yet. However, it's almost certain that 'A-Rank Adventurer' will be newly established. But they'll probably leave some time in between. Instead, they'll likely throw people into dungeons as 'A-Rank Candidates.''

"That's what I figured."

It was the same as with the 'B-Rank Candidates.'

Incidentally, the email had a line at the end that said, 'Please refrain from disclosing this to anyone outside of those involved as much as possible,' but Aira-san is our work colleague. No problem there, check!

'So, what will you all do? Are you going?'

'I'm going! Because I'm a ninja!'

'I think I'll go as well. I'll decide whether to aim for A-Rank after hearing the briefing.'

'Senpai's a ninja too, after all!'

'I am not a ninja.'

'?!'

'And you, Kyouta-kun?'

"...I'll go."

After a moment's hesitation, I nodded.

"I'm still debating whether to continue as an adventurer, but there's no harm in just listening. Besides... I want to know the reason they decided to propose this policy."

'Is that so. Well, if it turns into a 'Now that you've heard, you're going to sign this contract!' situation, you can just use your gorilla power to escape.'

"Who are you calling a gorilla?"

'A ninja!'

"I'm not a ninja."

'!!??'

'U-Uhm... a completely lewd human?'

"You don't have to force yourself to play along, hopeless girl number two."

'I am not hopeless! At least, I'm not!'

'Mia? Kyouta-kun?'

I grit my teeth and held back the retort that she was the lewd one, and ignored hopeless girl number one, who was muttering nonsense like, 'I'm a cool beauty, you know? Not hopeless, you know?'

Poor Aira-san. She must have used the telepathy mirrors so much she forgot their original purpose...

That aside. I checked the contents of the email on my phone again.

"...Well, if I have one complaint..."

I could feel my own mouth turning down into a frown.

"Why is it that every time, the meeting place is in Tokyo? Can't they hold it in about four different locations across the country?"

'What's wrong, country bumpkin-kun? Are you scared...? Of Tokyo Station...!'

"Shut up, hopeless girl number one. If I get lost, I'm counting on you."

'Understood.'

'That, too... is the way of the ninja!'

"I'd hate to be a ninja who gets lost in a train station."

I sometimes wonder if there's a monster lurking in Tokyo Station that confuses people and eats them.

Shinjuku and Osaka stations were called labyrinths even before the 'Day of Awakening.' Just how demonic have they become...?

I'm not supposed to have a particularly bad sense of direction, but a cold sweat trickled down my back.

Must I challenge the labyrinth known as Tokyo Station before I challenge a dungeon...?

'Hah. I bet Kyouta-kun is cracking joke after joke in his head right now, isn't he?'

"I'm seriously worried about this, damn it."

'I have good news for such a Kyouta! By purchasing this ninja set and undergoing ninja training directly from Erina-chan, you won't get lost anywhere! And right now, it's 0 yen! Sooo cheap!'

"That's the text of a scam. I'm not falling for it."

'Kyouta-kun getting lost... Kyouta-kun as a toddler... th-that's shameless?!'

"Shut up, pervert."

'Pervert?!'

Excuse me. Could you please give me a moment to think more seriously? You hopeless, perverted family.

While searching for a map of Tokyo Station on my phone, I sighed, realizing I'd have to buy a bullet train ticket again.

At this point, I wish they'd just do the briefing online. ...But they probably can't, for reasons like confidentiality. Or they'd likely say something like, 'Because those are the rules.'

Cursing the bureaucracy, I sighed again and headed to a convenience store to print out the map.