Fuyo Mimori became a seeker when a friend invited her.
She said no at first, because of all the dangers that came with it, but eventually gave in.
This ate up all the new year’s gifts she had saved, but it was a small price to pay considering it would protect their friendship.
And she regretted becoming a seeker right after.
The problem was not that being a seeker was harsh. She knew it, and was ready for it.
No, the problem was with her friend. It was a party of five friends, but the leader was the first to leave. Apparently because of stress over this activity being harsher than expected.
Liar, thought Mimori.
She wanted to say it was just because she got herself a boyfriend, but held onto it to preserve their friendship.
With the leader who invited her gone so soon, the party was in the middle of breaking up.
This made sense, since it was a party of friends without much motivation who were just screwing around playing seeker. And it would end at that, just playing seeker.
That was all.
Except Mimori did not quit.
She spent fifty thousand yen registering as a seeker, and some hundreds of thousands on equipment, and she was not going to stop until she recouped that cost.
She went to the dungeon alone, but she hit her limit in a day.
She could not beat big ants by herself, and mining alone was not easy.
On her own, this was like an unfairly hard game.
When she asked for advice in the guild, she was soon introduced to a new party.
Since she had the rare Enchanter skill, she was welcomed with open arms.
This was a party with one male and three females, what some would call an harem party.
She was impressed that such a thing actually existed, and despaired upon realizing that joining it would make her a member of that harem.
“My name is Touya Hino, and I am the leader of this party. I heard you’re an Enchanter, but is that right?”
The boy who called himself Hino did not seem to treat Mimori as someone of the opposite sex. This frustrated her, but she forced herself to accept it thinking it would be fine if she was safe.
“Y-yes! My name is Fuyo Mimori! Thank you for having me! I’m an Enchanter! Yes! No doubt about it!”
She responded with a nervous loud tone, but it could not be helped.
Attending an all girls school meant this was the first time she spoke to a boy her age in two years.
But if anything, she was more concerned about the pressure coming from the girls behind her.
Then the girls all introduced themselves, and she understood their roles.
Yuka Kanba used her Swordsmanship skill to fight on the front line with the leader Hino.
She was tall for a girl, like a model, and her face was beautiful. Her hair was in a ponytail, which suited her and boosted her face’s beauty.
Kanako Kokonoe had the Earth Magic skill and a role as the party’s firepower. It was not as strong as the Fire Magic skill in terms of raw power, but the earth element was very useful due to the possibility of it also being used defensively.
She had a big hat you would see a mage wear in a fantasy tale, and that combined with her loli appearance made her stand out.
Yuumi Momoyama was an archer with the Sure Hit skill. She stood in the back row and hit monsters with precision.
She had a bright personality, and treated Mimori in a friendly manner from the start. Her smile suited her very well, and no one would object to her being called beautiful. And one part of her in particular was bigger than you would expect for an archer.
And all of them were enamored with their leader, Hino. Not to mention that apparently Momoyama lived with him.
Actually, it was more like Hino was living with her family, but Mimori refrained from asking what led to that.
This party had conquered the twelfth floor.
Their lack of equipment was one reason, but also, they had trouble with the rock wolves that started appearing on the thirteenth floor.
But with Mimori joining the party, it was time to try again.
◇ ◇ ◇
The exploration went well.
They got through rock wolves, and felt all too well the power of Mimori’s Enchanter.
Before, the rock wolves’ coordinated attacks threw them for a loop, and their lack of power meant they had to retreat. But this time, they managed to accurately pinpoint the monsters’ movements, and deal big damage with each attack.
Everyone was surprised by this clear difference, and praised the Enchanter.
“Amazing amazing amazing! Fuyo’s Enchanter is amazing!”
Said Momoyama while grabbing Mimori’s hand.
“I didn’t expect this effect. With you around, we can probably go even further.”
Said Kanba with a smile while sheathing her sword.
“Yes, it’s incredible! It boosts the power of magic too. Your Enchanter is incredible!”
Kokonoe raised her pointy hat and showed her red face.
She was excited because she did not expect the effect to work on magic.
“I’m glad you joined us, Mimori. Let’s advance even further.”
As the leader, Hino felt responsible for them being at a standstill. And he was relieved because Mimori’s addition meant they could get through the thirteenth floor.
It felt good to be praised by the rest of the party.
Mimori puffed out her small chest with pride, feeling very excited.
That might be what cursed them.
Eventually, she found her first ever treasure chest. It was a first for the others as well, and they could not hide their excitement.
It made sense, since it was not uncommon for treasure chests to have things worth a lot of money. At their cheapest, it could be worth ten thousand, but their contents could also soar to the hundreds of millions. They could be looking at money high schoolers could never even dream of.
Hino opened it, since he was the leader, with the others expectantly peeking from behind.
Inside was a white baton.
There was a green jewel embedded in the handle, and the point was rounded.
When Hino took it, a trap was sprung.
A bright light made Mimori avert her eyes, and when she opened them, everyone was gone.
“Eh!? What!? What!?”
She panicked, and could only move around the empty treasure chest in confusion.
Mimori was an Enchanter. She relied on this skill, and all she had for combat techniques was swinging her tough staff. She could take down a big ant if she cast buffs on herself, but a rock wolf would eat her.
It was over. Totally over.
If she came across monsters, she would die.
And as she cried with despair, a saving hand reached towards her.
“Mimori! I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Hino!”
The leader of her party soon found her.
Apparently he was sent relatively near that place. It seemed they would be reunited with the others soon as well.
And so, they began their search.
“I’ve been living in Momoya’s home ever since my family died. So…”
Hino suddenly started talking about himself.
They were on their own, and they did not know what else to do, but she was not interested in such a heavy topic. She would rather they talked about something lighter, like students would do. Something like love. But Hino was in his own world, and continued.
Hino’s family died in an accident three years before, leaving him alone. And since the Momoya family were friends of his father, he stayed with them.
He was supposed to go to a relative, but forced himself to accept it.
He was depressed at first, but his childhood friend Yuumi Momoyama did a great job cheering him up.
After that, he focused on studying and sports. Having goals helped a lot, and so working hard was not a problem.
But he had another thing in mind.
He wanted to repay the Momoyama family, but for that, he had to stand on his own first.
They tried to convince him that was not necessary, but he was very firm about that, and so he got permission to become a seeker.
This also led to their daughter Yuumi becoming a seeker, and they made her promise not to overdo it.
“I’m going to confess to Yuumi once I become independent.”
What is this guy talking about all of a sudden? Does he know that’s a certain death flag in this situation? Thought Mimori.
She did think about talking about love, but not like that. She thought he had to study anime and manga a little more.
And then, two rock wolves came running towards that death flag, confirming what Mimori thought.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Hum, what do you think about Kanba and Kokonoe?”
After beating the two rock wolves, they continued looking for the others.
It was a death flag, but it was still only two monsters. But she still wished he would set up flags when she was not around.
“Hn? They’re both dear companions. They said they would support me in my quest to become independent by also becoming seekers.”
“…I-in what situation, d-did they say that?”
It was frightening. Could it be that he was unaware of their clear feelings!?
With a trembling voice, she asked how he mistakenly ended up inviting them.
Surely something happened that led them to misunderstand.
“That was…”
He met Kanba in middle school.
They were in the same year, but never really interacted. But when they moved on to high school, he saw her with delinquents that looked nasty.
She was clearly troubled, so he took her hand and pulled her out of there. And when the delinquents came at him to hit him, he did a great job beating them back.
They moved somewhere quieter, and with a nice mood going, he talked about wanting to be independent.
Something similar happened with Kokonoe.
They went to the same kindergarten, and met again after joining high school.
She attracted the attention of some boys due to her beauty and short stature, and was pampered by them.
This also attracted jealousy from girls. It was a small number of them, but they started bullying her. And after doing something about it, Touya told her about his dream of independence, in a classroom as the sun set.
Also, he had recently realized he had feelings for Momoyama, but never expressed them.
Yes, fall straight to hell, she thought behind the smile on her face.
And her wish came true in the form of many monsters approaching.
I said, when I’m not around, she thought…
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Thanks for the treat.
Shouldnt it be her “enchantments” instead of “enchanter”? I mean technically it should be buffs but im guessing this is terminology the author insisted on using