“Are you done talking?”
Asks Miki, who has been quiet this whole time.
“Ah, sorry, mother-in-law.”
“Mother-in-law?”
“Ah, didn’t I tell you? This is Miki, the branch manager and Aki and Maki’s mother.”
“Eh, then…”
“Fufu, you’re going to be my daughter too.”
Let’s leave the astonished Kasumi going ‘hawawawa’ aside.
“Oh, right, you wanted to talk about something.”
“Yes. You accepted a request from adventurers of the beginner dungeon, right? We branch managers of area one want to get in on it. That is what I want to report today.”
“So… What does that mean?”
“Once you’re done conquering the beginner dungeon, where will you go next? We do intend to let you make the decision, but since two fevers have happened here, it is likely they can happen elsewhere. And people want you to go to their dungeons first.”
“I see.”
Two fevers. The festival on the fourth floor in particular brought a lot of activity to the beginner dungeon, as well as a lot of profit for both the association and adventurers. I get others dreaming of something like that happening in their dungeons, and I’d like to make it happen too if I can.
I’m sure there’s all sorts of different set ups depending on the dungeon.
“It looks like many branch managers will be getting you things to try to catch your interest. Of course, if you accept them, they want you to prioritize conquering their dungeon, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get anything from dungeons you didn’t pick. There is a chance it could turn into a competition between branch managers.”
“…I understand. For now, I want to think about where I want to go next by myself.”
There’s the Linchpin System. Choosing what dungeon to conquer to connect the lines changes things.
“Thank you. Ah, but Youko doesn’t want a fever to happen, so I don’t think she wants you to go there.”
“Hahaha. But… it is on my radar because I’ve already started it.”
“Fufu, of course. Well, it’s your decision.”
We head straight to the dungeon from the association, and reach the second floor.
We could go straight for the fourth, but… Yes, we’ll make a little detour. In an area with few people, I peek over at my sister. She’s looking around with interest, surveying the situation.
Yes, this isn’t a stroll, she’s vigilant. It makes me feel emotional that my sister became a proper adventurer while I wasn’t looking…
“Kasumi, do you have a tent and stuff on your back?”
“Yes… Wait. Don’t you have too few things? Do you borrow facilities in the dungeon because you’re high rank?”
“No. Aira has what we won’t need right now.”
“Aira?”
Right, we never told her about Aira’s bag.
She’s surprised when I tell her, but accepts it because I’m an S rank. But we have two, and we can take a house out of… Well, she’ll learn soon enough.
“Kasumi, I should’ve asked before you came with us, but I want to know how strong you are. Can I see?”
“Ah, yes. It’s fine, but… Do you have Appraisal!?”
“Yes, I have all sorts of things. Everyone in this team has Appraisal.”
“Well, it’s an S rank team… You can all see too!”
“Well then.”
＊＊＊＊＊
Name: Kasumi Amachi
Age: 19
Height: 157 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Three sizes: 85 / 56 / 87
Level: 96
Physical Strength: 769
Dexterity: 769
Constitution: 389
Agility: 579
Magic Energy: 293
Intelligence: 293
Luck: 10
Equipment: Seventh generation ・ mica 【Headliner】, seventh generation ・ flower furisode 【modded】
Boost skills: Great Strength, Fast Run, Iron Wall
Passive skills: Physical Strengthening Lv1, Martial Arts Lv1, Sword Knowledge Lv4, Sword Drawing Lv2
Arts skills: Presence Detection
＊＊＊＊＊
“Hou…”
It’s a little awkward seeing my little sister’s three sizes, but this is stuff you can’t see if you don’t have Appraisal LvMAX, so she won’t know if I don’t tell her.
But she really has grown. She’s properly strong.
“…Eh? Your stats are high across the board.”
“Uwah, she’s stronger than I was until a while ago!”
“W-wow!”
“The difference between you and master is clear. I think I understand why he thought to move away, with someone so promising near him.”
“Au…”
That’s right. Kasumi’s base stats were good, but what she got from leveling up and her SP are all top class too.
Her base stats from Physical Strength to Agility were all a surprising nine. Magic Energy and Intelligence were eight, also above average. And she had ten Luck from the start. It makes sense that the association scouted her, but even putting that aside, her fighting ability was good enough at a young age that she could easily kick around goblins even at level one. Before I went to a boarding school, the association was eager to scout her, and she got permission to take down goblins even though she wasn’t officially an adventurer, just to confirm her SP. She was treated above the rest.
Then it was discovered that her Physical Strength and Dexterity growth rate were the maximum, five. Constitution and agility were four, Magic Energy and Intelligence were three, and her SP was also the maximum, eight. She was a bona fide front liner.
She was the picture of a great prospect, so the association happily threw in their support.
At that time, people started looking at me even more coldly.
Looking back, I think Kasumi and our dad protected me. But from my point of view, I was feeling more and more miserable, and I couldn’t take it. So I wanted to run from home.
But even after escaping the bad reputation I had in my hometown, my stats were still trash. I was treated the same in school, or even worse, because it was a closed space.
I heard about Unlucky Hall around the time when I graduated, saw a light of hope, and got myself a room that was basically a bargain.
“Big brother, hum…”
Until a while back, I would’ve been depressed seeing these stats, or throw a fit… but now I just see that Kasumi has been working hard. With these stats, she must have been the opposite of me, experiencing endless jealousy.
I should have been supporting her as the older brother… Is it too late?
“Kasumi.”
“Y-yes?”
Even after all that hardship, Kasumi stayed firm and climbed to B rank. I should praise her a lot for that.
“You’ve been working hard while I was away.”
“…! Y-yes. I have. I really…!”
I’m sure Kasumi never had someone that fawned over her like that. She cries and hugs me, and it’s like we’re back to the friendly siblings we were ten years ago. I pat her head like I used to.
The dam breaks, and Kasumi starts crying loudly.
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