I’m in front of the Honto Corporation, just like I was two days ago.
I walk through the automatic door, and the receptionist looks suspicious when I go in front of the reception desk.
This is the same receptionist I talked to last time, who I’m sure remembers me and is wondering why I’m here again.
Also, I’m not wearing a suit this time, I’m wearing my regular clothes. Not really the outfit you’d wear to visit a company.
She’s probably wondering if I’m plotting some sort of revenge.
She puts her hand on the table. There’s probably an emergency button there that she’ll press to call security if something happens.
I don’t want that to happen, so I put my hand in my pocket to take out the business card I got from the executive vice-president… And the alarm rings.
Hey! Aren’t you jumping the gun here!?
Do I look that suspicious!? I’m just a normal guy!!
Security swarms in from somewhere and holds me down, while the receptionist makes a phone call.
Is she calling the police?
I panic, and yell for them to call the executive vice-president.
I say I have the business card as proof, and a security guard hands it to the receptionist after checking it.
She sees it’s real, and I’m released.
She calls someone again, and I’m taken to an elevator. There’s someone else in it when it comes down, who takes over.
That receptionist didn’t even apologize.
I get on the elevator, and go up the fourth floor, where the executive vice-president is waiting.
I pass by that bald interviewer along the way, and he says something, but I ignore the annoying baldy.
Eventually, I reach the place where the woman I met in the dungeon is waiting.
She prompts me to sit down, and gets me coffee and sweets.
No, no sugar, just milk. And those chocolate cookies will do, nothing more.
I munch on the cookies and gulp down the coffee. They’re so good. Nice cookies and coffee beans.
I’m satisfied, and I get up to leave the room.
But then she calls me.
Thank me? Oh, right.
I was so pleased with the coffee and cookies that I forgot she was supposed to give me something.
Eh, yes yes. You want to tell me something first.
Hm.
Hm hm.
Hm hm hm.
Hm hm hm zzz.
…
Ah! Honey was taken!?
Ah, sorry. No no, I wasn’t sleeping, I’m listening.
According to the executive vice-president, there’s a civil war going on in the family running the Honto Corporation. The father of the executive vice-president and current chairman has fallen ill, and is between life and death.
This prompted a discussion about succession.
The current president is the brother of the chairman, and uncle of the vice-president. If they followed things in order, she would go up, but that’s where her uncle, the president, came in. He wants to make his son the next president.
And of course, Ai, the vice-president, is against it.
In fact, the president’s son was ousted from the company due to ties to criminal organizations in the first place.
She said it was insane to bring a man like that back to the company, let alone make it its face, but they said there was some sort of mistake and wouldn’t pay any heed to her.
Eh, that’s crazy… I listen as if it has nothing to do with me, but apparently the president’s cohorts had a hand in what happened in the dungeon the other day.
The vice-president explores the dungeon as a hobby, and as she explored it with someone from the company, she suddenly felt very sleepy.
When she came to, the greasy face of a fat guy was near hers.
I say I sympathize with her and that it must’ve been tough, and she says that face really made an impact.
…Hn?
Anyway, she came back to the company and called the person that was with her, but they didn’t show up. The next day, she went to visit their house, and found it empty. That person escaped in the night.
Ai thought this was clearly the president’s power at work, and thought she had to come up with concrete countermeasures.
And she wondered if there was a way to stop this fighting.
Two things came to mind.
One was making the president’s son disappear. If it was done to her, no one could complain about her getting back at them.
But she didn’t want to sully her hands, so she thought to bet on the other idea.
Curing the illness currently keeping the chairman in bed.
Doctors said nothing more could be done for him, but apparently Ai found a way.
Ooh, that’s incredible. I say as I think that this is getting really long, and grab my bag to get ready to go home.
Apparently some people who can use Healing Magic can heal not only wounds, but diseases too.
There are very few Healing Magic users around. People with magic related skills are rare, and Healing Magic users are rare even among them.
Eh, really…
“You can use Healing Magic, right?”
Eh? I can.
I say it frankly and without reservation, because it’s not really something I need to hide.
She looks at me like she was expecting to argue about it, instead of me immediately admitting it.
I ask her what about it, and she says she wants me to go with her tomorrow.
I smile.
“No.”
I say.
◇ ◇ ◇
I’m on the twelfth floor of the dungeon, looking for the staircase to the thirteenth.
Eh? Why did I say no?
You know. That company keeps treating me badly. Why would I work for a company that I have only ill feelings for?
And in the end, I didn’t get a reward.
I hit a big ant on the head with an earth bullet, and it survives. It comes at me to attack, but stops after I fire three more times.
Those last ones were fired like a shotgun.
The big ant’s body is blown back, and its head explodes.
I see a goblin further away, and shoot it with a bullet made to be like one fired from a sniper rifle. It stumbles but hangs on, and then runs this way.
I skewer it with earth thorns, and then check out what happened to the part that was hit by the sniper rifle bullet. There’s a bruise, but the wound isn’t bad enough to be fatal.
I try this a few more times, but Earth Magic gets really weak when it’s away from the earth.
Normal bullets and shotgun are still close enough to the user to not get that much weaker, but a long range attack like a sniper rifle won’t do.
I keep going as I test things out, and see that harem I saw yesterday.
Today there’s one guy and four girls. That’s one more girl than yesterday.
There’s girls of all types too. The guy looks plain though, so what’s the attraction?
Looking at them is making me feel bad, so let’s move on.
I eventually find the staircase to the thirteenth floor, and while I’m cautious thinking there might be a hundred rock worms or something, I don’t see anything.
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Haruto Tanaka (24)
Level: 11
Skills: Earth Magic, Trace, Healing Magic, Spatial Grasp, Toughness, Magic Energy Control, Physical Strengthening, Poison Resistance, Storage Space, See Through
Equipment: Agility bracelet, greatsword of fortitude
Status: Fat (All abilities boosted)
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