kscans

Chapter 62 - Room Share

I started living with Kaede-chan. Officially, it’s a room share, but in my mind, we’re living together.

After eating our moving-in soba noodles, we were relaxing on the sofa in front of the television.

"Sofas are amazing."

My previous apartment didn’t have one, of course, and neither did my parents’ house.

"They are, aren’t they. So, is Nanaka-chan okay?" Kaede-chan asked. I had just given her the gist of the Nanapon kidnapping incident.

"She’s fine. Not a single scratch. Claire protected her, and they were just small fry anyway. I made them rust on my sword."

Although, Harry was the one who killed them. I never thought he’d deal the finishing blow just to swipe the Healing Potions. My consideration was all for nothing.

"Hmm, I feel like you’re casually saying something outrageous, but I’m glad Nanaka-chan is safe. Do you think more assassins will come?"

"Who knows? If they do, they’ll probably be from overseas. It all depends on how far the Guild, Harry, and Claire are willing to go. But it’ll be fine. If we’re attacked, it’ll likely be inside Frontier."

I couldn’t fully trust Harry and Claire, but they were A-rank former soldiers. They’d get the job done when it mattered.

"Please be careful."

"I know. I wish I could have shown you my swordsmanship, Kaede-chan."

"I don’t want to see it. Nanaka-chan was complaining that you’re someone who unnecessarily lops off heads."

No, I don’t go that far… This is bad… At this rate, I’ll be branded a headhunter or some kind of killer. I don’t need that kind of character trait.

"Maybe I should switch weapons… to a spear or something."

"Can you use one?"

"I’ve never tried, but if I practice, eventually…"

Maybe a spearmanship skill will just pop up…

"No, just use a sword like you normally do. You have Swordsmanship level 5, after all. It’s dangerous."

"Well, about that, take a look."

I took Eleanor-san’s Status Card from her bag that I’d brought and handed it to Kaede-chan.

"The level is still 6. I think it’ll be 7 soon………… Hmm!?"

Kaede-chan stared intently at the Status Card. Then, she slowly looked up at me.

"Eleanor-san is incredible, isn’t she? Her Swordsmanship is level 6!"

The witch element of her character was fading away more and more.

"Um, I’ve never heard of Swordsmanship level 6 before…"

"They’re probably just keeping it a secret. It’s normal for A-rank adventurers."

Though Harry only had level 3 and Claire had level 2.

"I don’t think it levels up this easily…"

"Maybe it didn’t level up so much as it returned? She did have a long break. And we hunted a lot of Hide Skeletons."

I had a vague feeling my movements had gotten better. I thought I was just getting used to Eleanor-san’s body, but my Swordsmanship level had actually increased.

"Wow… Senpai, you really are amazing. I never even had a Swordsmanship skill."

"That’s right, you were an Adventurer too, Kaede-chan. What was your job?"

"I was a Rogue. It’s a class for finding monsters and guiding people through areas."

Sounds like a grunt.

"There are all sorts of jobs, huh."

"You and your group are still in the beginner areas, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but you’ll need someone like that when you go to intermediate zones. Well, I’m sure Nanaka-chan can handle it."

I’ve been doing my own research, and forming a party is still the standard. Even in the Kunaar Ruins, there were only occasional amateurish solo players, most people were in parties.

"Well, as long as Nanapon dislikes me, I have to go as Eleanor-san, so I’m fine without a party. The two of us will manage."

Though I was worried that Okita-kun seemed to be disliked even more than he was at the start. She talks normally with Eleanor-san and we’re getting along, but the closer Eleanor-san and Nanapon get, the more Okita-kun is disliked.

God, what is this all about?

"Please look out for her. She’s still only nineteen."

"She’s so young. When I was nineteen, I was up all night playing mahjong."

"I was playing around a lot, too. Though I’m sure Nanaka-chan is playing around even more than we did."

She cheats on her tests with Clairvoyance, so it’s like she doesn’t have them at all. It's incredible.

"Clairvoyance sounds amazing…"

"What would you use it for if you had it?"

Kaede-chan asked a question full of dreams.

"I don’t have tests anymore… hmm."

Stare…

"Ah, never mind. I figured it out the moment you looked at me."

That’s just how guys are. My first thoughts for using the TS Potion and Invisibility Potion were to sneak into the girls’ changing room.

"So, what would you use it for, Kaede-chan?"

"Lotteries, maybe?"

Money, huh… Well, that’s about right.

"Well, either way, I’m glad a small-timer like Nanapon has it. She probably couldn’t misuse it for anything serious anyway."

"Cheating is pretty serious, you know. But she said she’d turn a blind eye since it’ll help protect you, senpai, and she seems to have a talent for it."

Talent, huh… She seemed kind of slow, but maybe she has guts.

"Well, she’s my disciple, so I suppose I’ll train her."

"Oh, you really made her your disciple?"

"When she got caught, she blabbed that she was Eleanor-san’s disciple. So now it’s decided that if I get caught, she’ll be dragged into it too, with a plea not to harm my disciple."

Normally you’d say you have no connection to them. What was she thinking, confessing so quickly. Ah, so that’s why she was completely uninjured.

"Well, please get along with her. Trust is important on adventures."

That was certainly true. You’re entrusting your life to them, after all.

"It’ll be fine."

Still, I wish I could have gone on an adventure with Kaede-chan.

"What are your plans now? Auctions, adventuring?"

My plans from here…

"I’ll take a break from the auctions for a bit. First, I’ll prioritize my contract with Claire."

I’ll take a short break and get the personal contracts out of the way. My level might go up by then, and I might get new recipes.

"That was for the Healing Potion Lv2, right?"

"Right. And I’m supposed to sell a 1000kg Item Bag to her personally for one billion yen."

"One billion yen… You really are amazing. But why?"

"It’s the reward for rescuing Nanapon. I knocked the price down from 1.2 billion to 1 billion for her. Considering fees and stuff, it’s a good deal."

The 1000kg Item Bag from this auction sold for 1.2 billion yen. Of that, ten percent goes to the Guild and ten percent goes to Nanapon. That means… my share is 960 million yen. Considering that, one billion is more than enough.

"This auction pretty much set the market price for a 1000kg Item Bag. You might start getting requests for personal sales."

"I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it."

At the very least, I’d heard from Oppai, I mean Saegusa-san, that she wanted me to sell her an Item Bag. I haven’t heard what capacity, but I’ll probably get similar requests from other A-rankers.

"I understand. What about adventuring? Are you and Nanaka-chan going back to the Diana Mine?"

"Yeah. We’ll stick with that for a little longer. But separately, I was thinking of doing some solo runs as Okita-kun."

"Ah, you haven’t gone at all recently. It’s probably a good idea to go."

It would be suspicious if I didn’t go adventuring at all. It’s better to go every now and then.

"Right? Plus, at this rate, my level will be lower than Nanapon’s forever. That’s not good. It’s unacceptable for the disciple to have a higher level."

"…………Senpai, you really are like that sometimes, aren’t you."

Don’t call me petty!

"You’re the one who told me to become an A-rank adventurer. Hurry up and make me D-rank."

"D-rank, huh… You’ll have to accomplish something first."

"I cut down some foreigner."

"That’s a really bad accomplishment. It’s a hitman mission."

So she really does see me as a killer. It’s probably because of my name.

"What kind of mission do I have to complete for you to make me D-rank?"

"Then please defeat 100 Skeletons. I’ll make you D-rank after that."

"That really sounds like a mission from a game."

"Well, it’s basically like that. By the way, senpai, you haven’t cleared your daily mission for today."

Daily mission? Oh, my daily quota…

"You’re cute again today, Kaede-chan."

"Mission clear. Your reward is the beer in the fridge."

How lame…

"What’s your daily mission, Kaede-chan?"

"I figured you’d like it, senpai, so I wore a nice skirt, didn’t I."

She was indeed wearing a slightly short skirt today. It was about knee-length, though.

"You usually wear long skirts."

"I thought it would make you happy, senpai."

"Hmph, today’s daily mission is cleared. Your reward is a beer."

"Shall we drink?"

"Let’s."

Having cleared our silly daily missions, we decided to start drinking in the middle of the day.

When evening came, we ate the dinner Kaede-chan had bought beforehand and took our baths separately. Then, when it got late, I returned to my room and unpacked my things.

My room only had a bed and a work desk for now. I took various things out of my Item Bag and set them up.

As I was doing that, the time passed eleven o’clock.

"Alright! Time for the real daily mission!"

I grabbed my pillow, left my room, and stood in front of Kaede-chan’s room right nearby. Then, I gripped the doorknob and pulled.

Gan!

It didn’t open…

"Locked, huh…"

So this is a room share…