kscans

Chapter 97 - Miyoshi Mia's Request

"Hmph... Leave the front line to me. I shall be the one to slay this dragon."

"I’ll back you up, Paisen!"

"Then I’ll just shoot arrows from a distance."

With a triumphant air, Aira-san readied her longsword and leaped before the winged dragon.

In one fluid motion, the blade, nearly as tall as she was, sliced through the monster’s scales.

"I will protect everyone... my precious comrades! Erina-kun, some moving BGM, if you please!"

"Laaa! La-di-da-da-daaa!"

"Silence, you tone-deaf buffoon!!"

"That’s so mean, Paisen?!"

Well, it was just the usual three of us playing a game.

Matsuo the Hunter’s Chronicle: Apocalypse of a Hundred Demons.

It was a game where youkai appear one after another in the capital city of Kyo. The protagonist, Matsuo—an unemployed, single, divorced man drowning in debt—is roped in by Abe no Seimei’s smooth talking, or rather, cooperates with him to pay off his debts by defeating monsters for money.

You harvest materials from the defeated youkai to craft new weapons and armor. Accompanied by shikigami loaned to you by Seimei, you fight back the hordes of monsters assaulting Kyoto.

What’s that? "Doesn’t this look exactly like Mon-H*n?" I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Incidentally, while the player character is Matsuo, you can change not just his appearance but even his gender to your liking. The in-game explanation is apparently, "If Matsuo gets serious enough, he can change on a species level."

His profile described him as "an average Kyoto native, aside from his drinking problem and gambling addiction." ...The common folk of the Heian period were terrifying.

At any rate, I chatted with the other two via Telepathy while operating my game console.

"A youkai! It’s a youkai, isn’t it?! You’re a youkai! Drop your materials!!"

"You’re the youkai."

"What’s gotten into you, Paisen?! Go back to being the cool beauty we all know!"

"That’s not who Aira-san is."

"It’s because the materials won’t drop! It’s all their fault!"

"On second thought, this is her normal state."

"Oh, by the way, Kyouta-kun."

"Yes?"

Aira-san seemed to have recovered slightly from her frenzy and returned to her human self.

"About the demon’s drop item. It seems the possession permit was approved. Grandma said she’ll give it to you in person later."

"Oh, is that so? Thank you."

I hadn’t confirmed what kind of item it was yet, but it was a drop from a C-Rank boss monster.

The Ring of the Flame Horse dropped by Lefkos had been a great find, so I had high hopes for this one, too.

...Busujima-san was there for the subjugation, though. How should we split it? Is it okay to treat it as party property?

"Still, you know. Thinking about the Lesser Demons and the werewolves from yesterday, I’m reminded of how you’re just like the protagonist of a musou game. You charge into enemy hordes without a second thought. As expected of the ‘SSR’ I scouted."

"Huh? No, that’s not it at all."

"Hmm? You’re denying it rather emphatically."

"This is bad, this is bad! Paisen, a demon hermit crab just barged in!"

"What?! My longsword has the worst matchup against that thing!"

"Oh, I’ll throw some cow dung."

In this game, throwing cow dung makes enemy monsters flee.

What’s that? It’s a D*ng Bomb? Dung is dung. Nothing more, nothing less.

"So. Why do you say that’s not it?"

"Even if you ask me why... It’s not like I charge at enemies without hesitation."

"Oh? That’s how it looked to me."

"I make sure I have an escape plan before I charge in. Otherwise, I’d be too scared to move."

I’m neither a reckless boar who can only charge forward, nor a hero who can overcome fear.

True, I’ve grown more accustomed to fighting than I was before the Day of Awakening. Back then, no matter how much I thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to attack a group of enemies.

I hate to admit it, but I suppose I changed during the fight with the Orc Champion. Whether that was growth or just me becoming warped, I don’t know.

That was the first time in my life I came face to face with death. At that moment, I wasn’t consumed by fear, but by anger. Believing my parents and Erina-san had been killed, I’d charged the champion in a suicidal attack.

It’s fair to say that experience turned me into an adventurer. I still remember that battle even now.

Well, my fundamental cowardice hasn’t been cured. I hate pain and suffering.

Even as I think these things, I’m confident I’d lose my nerve if I got injured in a real fight.

"With the Lesser Demons, I only did it because my parents would have died otherwise. When I fought the werewolves yesterday, I was thinking, The moment I think I might die, I’ll use Byakuren as a decoy and run."

"How could you treat Byak-chan like that?!"

"No, that’s what she was originally built for."

That’s why I made Byakuren’s core a pseudo-Homunculus. So I wouldn’t feel guilty if it was destroyed.

My priority is myself first, my family second. Third and fourth are my comrades and friends, and Byakuren is fifth or lower.

"Besides, my level has gone up, so a werewolf’s attack wouldn’t kill me so easily anymore. I wouldn’t have charged in otherwise."

"That’s true. Yesterday’s exploration got you to level 27, after all."

"Yeah. And I have a feeling the next level-up is close."

The dream of LV:30 was now in sight. I was about to step into the realm of the strongest of the strong, a select few even among top-tier adventurers.

The thought filled me with a sense of accomplishment, but my goals were to save money for the future and level up for self-defense.

I’m still far from the finish line. I don’t expect to be able to hunt dragons as easily as in this game, but I’d like to at least be able to escape from one.

"Oh, darn it. The sharpness of my sword is starting to dull."

"Hey, that timing is—"

"Paisen! Above you!"

"Ueda? Who’s that? Ahhhhhh?!"

"Ouch."

Aira-san, who had taken out a whetstone just as the enemy leaped into the air, was trampled by the dragon.

She died before she could be healed. Well, she can just respawn at the camp.

What? It is Mn-Hn, you say? I-don’t-know-that-game.

"A careless mistake! I thought for sure it was going to move...!"

"Don’t worry about it, Paisen! Uwoooooh! Your opponent is me! But I’m actually out of healing items!"

"I’ll cover you. Oh, another youkai just joined the fight."

"Huh, that sounds scary. Can I just stay in the camp?"

"Get back here, you disappointing college student."

"Yes, ma’am."

As we were messing around like that, my smartphone buzzed with an incoming message.

Somehow, we managed to defeat the monster and finish carving it, so I put down my game console and picked up my phone.

"Fufufu. Did you see my brilliant swordsmanship...? It seems the game recognized it as well, for I have finally obtained the material I was after!"

"Yay, yay! Hooray, hooray!"

"Yeah, yeah, good for you... Huh?"

The name displayed on the screen made me tilt my head in confusion.

"What’s the matter, Kyouta-kun? Need to use the restroom?"

"No."

"That’s right, Paisen! You have to be more ladylike!"

"I see. Let me rephrase. Do you need to evacuate your bowels?"

"Yep, a hundred points!"

"Perhaps we should have the professor grade you on that."

"Hey, hey, hey. We’d be dead."

"Oh, my, what a predicament, Aira-san. Please have a long, thorough discussion with your grandmother."

"You sure pulled the rug out from under me with impressive speed, didn’t you?!"

Ignoring the two disappointing beauties, I checked the contents of the message.

The sender was Miyoshi Mia-san.

Can we meet, just the two of us, the day after tomorrow?

...Huh. Could it be? Has spring finally arrived for me?

*

Two days after that message, Mia-san and I were alone together in a certain place.

I got out of the car she was driving and shut the door with a thud.

"Well then, I’ll be in your care, Yagawa-kun!"

"Right..."

In the parking lot of the Dungeon Store, Mia-san turned to me with a brilliant smile.

...Yeah. I mean, she did just tell me the reason in a follow-up message.

But still... A guy can dream, can’t he...?! I’m a guy, after all...!!

An outing alone with a beautiful, blonde, busty college student. The reason it turned into such a dangerous affair was due to a certain circumstance.

Apparently, Mia-san has been dealing with persistent party invitations lately.

The group in question is a mixed party of working adults and college students. Having heard somewhere that she was a solo adventurer, they’ve been pestering her with lines like, "It’s dangerous to be alone," and "You should team up with us."

On the surface, what they’re saying is perfectly reasonable, but they’re E-Rank. And Mia-san, who had apparently been promoted at some point, is C-Rank.

Their goal to leech off her couldn’t be more obvious.

She continued to refuse them politely but firmly, yet they showed no signs of giving up, and had finally started showing up at her university.

She said she even consulted the police, but they wouldn’t take action for something like this.

So, she came up with an idea. If they knew she already had someone to party up with, they would surely give up.

And so, I was chosen to be her fake party member, like a fake boyfriend. Today, we had come to a D-Rank dungeon for a "trial run."

...Is this plan really going to work?

I just hope the people trying to recruit her are the reasonable type.

"And so, Yagawa-kun. I know I’m being persistent, but..."

"Yes. I haven’t told Aira-san and the others anything more than the fact that I’m going to a dungeon with you. I came here alone."

Switching my mind to work mode, I straightened my back.

Whether exploring a dungeon or fending off recruiters, things would surely go smoother with Aira-san and the others’ help.

But, Mia-san said.

"Yes. I’ll be sure to pay you properly, so please. I don’t want to... show them my weakness."

She clenched her pale hands tightly, her gaze fixed on empty space.

...I thought they had made up, but it seems there’s still a deep rift between them.

Well, even in a normal family, there are times you want to put on a brave face. In fact, it might be easier to keep up appearances with a stranger you can hire with money.

Of course, just telling Erina-san that "I’m going to the dungeon alone with Mia-san" without explaining the details seemed to be enough for her to guess something was up.

As for Aira-san...

"You fiend, Kyouta-kun! Are you abandoning us to bury yourself in Mia’s huge boobs?! You boob demon! No, you wouldn’t have the guts. Then why on earth...? Hah, could you be planning to conquer Mia, my very own sister? You eroge-brained fool!!"

...She didn’t seem to understand anything at all. I’ll have to give that woman a piece of my mind later.

Putting that aside.

"I understand not wanting to worry your family. However, in the event of an emergency, I will contact Aira-san for help. That’s part of our contract."

"...Yes. I understand."

I took an earring out of my pocket and showed it to Mia-san.

I can’t initiate a Telepathy call from my end, but there’s a mana connection between the earring Aira-san has and the one I’m holding.

If I force my mana into it, she should notice. It would probably produce a rather jarring ringing sound, but if it comes to that, Mia-san and I can go apologize later.

Safety first. In the adventurer business, you can never have enough insurance.

After confirming Mia-san’s nod, I joined her in pulling back the tarp covering the bed of her light truck.

I channeled mana into the two golems made with Civil Engineering Magic, and into Byakuren, to activate them.

Thud. The golems stepped down from the truck bed.

"Once again, I look forward to working with you today."

"Yes. Likewise, please take care of me."

After bowing to each other, we passed through the store’s automatic doors with the luggage-carrying golems in tow.

...Aren’t we attracting an absurd amount of attention?

Every eye in the store was drawn to the thudding footsteps of the dolls and the beautiful, well-endowed Mia-san. And, as an afterthought, to me as well.

I was already nervous being alone with a member of the opposite sex I barely knew, and now my stomach was starting to hurt.

...Oh, man. I already want to go home.

I strode toward the changing room, and breathed a sigh of relief as the stares were blocked from view.

This is going to be a different kind of exhausting from my usual explorations.