kscans

Chapter 74 - Damn It! My Gaze Keeps Getting Sucked In!

After that, I continued to harvest Fluffy Grass, and once I had made about thirty Buff Potions (Defense), I decided to hunt Skeletons to raise my level and rank. I kept hunting Skeletons, and just before noon, I sat down in a dilapidated building to eat lunch.

"This is so boring..."

Today, I'm Okita-kun, so I'm not surrounded by people like Eleanor-san is. That's a good thing, and I can do things at my own pace, but being alone is just plain boring. To make matters worse, my only opponents are Skeletons. Between them and the Hide Skeletons, I don't even know how many I've defeated anymore.

"To think I'd start missing Nanapon..."

Hunting invisible Skeletons in a dark mine is tough. But even if I'm defeating visible enemies in a bright place, doing it alone gets old. I prefer adventuring while chatting with Nanapon.

What's more, a Skeleton's sword is only worth five thousand yen, so my motivation isn't very high. And to top it off, my level isn't rising either.

Conclusion, it's boring.

"To think I've reached a point where I consider five thousand yen to be chump change."

I can earn five thousand yen from a small fry like a Skeleton. Ten of them would be fifty thousand yen, and if I defeat fifty, that's my salary from when I was a corporate drone. It's seriously a gold mine. But I'm earning so much now that I can consider that a mere byproduct of leveling up.

Thinking I should have started as an adventurer a little sooner, I took out my lunch box and opened it. Inside were a few slices of the pizza we ate yesterday, and on top of them was a folded piece of paper.

I picked up the paper, unfolded it, and read it.

【Good luck with workー】

It was written in cute handwriting with a heart mark.

Thinking that a bento from a loving wife is truly amazing, I ate the cold pizza.

"If Nanapon were here, she could have warmed this up."

She could just toast it with her Fire Magic. Maybe I'll try that next time.

Thinking I'd come up with a brilliant idea, I munched on the pizza.

After finishing the pizza, I stood up, intending to resume my Skeleton hunt, when I saw Saegusa-san walking towards me from the front, all by herself.

Alone...? I think?

Saegusa-san was, by all appearances, alone. I couldn't see Lin-san or the other three rookies.

Wondering what was going on, I waited for Saegusa-san right where I was.

"Hey, have you eaten lunch?"

Saegusa-san called out cheerfully.

"Yes, I just finished. Are you alone? Where are Lin-san and the rookies?"

"I left the rookie training to Lin. Okita-kun, do you have a minute?"

"Sure. What is it?"

What if she asks me out on a date?

"Want to join my place?"

Huh? My place? Her house? For real?

"That's rather sudden..."

"You think so? Well, maybe it is a bit sudden."

"By the way, do you live alone?"

"...By 'my place,' I don't mean my house. Should I email Kaede?"

Crap! This person has Kaede-chan's contact info!?

"I'm kidding. You mean your party, right?"

Well, I knew that. But a guy can hope, can't he?

"That's right. So?"

"Isn't your party all girls, Saegusa-san?"

"It is. To be honest, my party is made up of people who used to be in Satsuki-nee-san's party."

"Satsuki-san? So Kaede-chan was in it too?"

She never told me anything about that...

"Didn't Satsuki-nee-san tell you?"

"Not really... I heard from Kaede-chan that when Satsuki-san retired, she quit with her and got a job at the guild."

She said she was able to get a job at the guild because she had the Appraisal skill.

"Kaede had the Appraisal skill and wasn't a combat type, so she retired with Satsuki-nee-san. But the others chose to continue as active adventurers. That's when I, who was in a duo with Lin at the time, was asked by Satsuki-nee-san to take over the party."

Huh...

"...And despite that, you transferred from Ikebukuro?"

The whole party?

"Yup... That's why Satsuki-nee-san was furious. We can't even face each other anymore because of it."

"Was the reason for transferring money?"

"That's right."

No wonder they call her a money-grubber.

"Didn't the members of Satsuki-san's party say anything?"

"There was some conflict. Some people wanted to stay loyal."

"Did you persuade them?"

"As you said before, being an adventurer isn't a job you can do for a long time. You have to earn while you can... I was headhunted by the current Headquarters Director. I get paid quite a lot."

Does she have to come right out and say she's the Director's pet... Well, since she's inviting me to her party, I guess she has to.

"And everyone was convinced by that."

"Some of them even got on their knees and begged Satsuki-nee-san. That's when Satsuki-nee-san gave in."

What a terrible story.

"Hmm, and now the Ikebukuro Guild is quiet because of it."

Personally, I'm happier that way, though.

"No, that has nothing to do with us. It was like that from the start. The guild master before Satsuki-nee-san was skimming from the adventurers' earnings. That's why that place lost its credibility."

Well, that's no good. You can go to the Frontier from anywhere, so it doesn't matter which guild you belong to. In that case, you'd go to a trustworthy one. If I had known that, I wouldn't have gone to the Ikebukuro Guild either.

"I see. I had no idea."

"I thought you would have heard from Kaede or Satsuki-nee-san."

"I haven't. Well, it's probably a difficult topic for them to bring up."

If I heard that, I might transfer. Well, Kaede-chan is there, and there's the whole Eleanor-san thing, so I'd never transfer.

"Maybe. So what do you think? Want to join my place?"

"Are you trying to pick another fight with Satsuki-san? I'm still E-rank, but won't she get angry if you poach me?"

"No, I wouldn't go that far. You can form a party even if you belong to different branches. No matter which Gate you pass through, you end up in the same place. I've even heard of people from Hokkaido and Kyushu forming a party."

Come to think of it, that's true. It's convenient for long-distance relationships. Though it would be a Frontier date.

"Hmm..."

What should I do? If I join this person's party, I won't be bored like I was this morning. But I have my Eleanor-san identity, and I'm technically in a party with Nanapon. Yeah, no way.