Chisato Shirabe became a seeker after being invited by her older brother Hajime.
In her last year of high school she had to decide whether to go to a vocational school or university to become a childcare worker, and she was invited to become a seeker.
She accepted it, thinking she would give it a shot.
She later thought of it as a rash decision, but at the time she wanted to get different stats from others, so she decided to be a seeker for two years.
She defeated the boss of the tenth floor with her brother’s guidance, and the Appraisal skill she got told her detailed information about monsters.
It was a useful ability.
Chisato wanted the Healing Magic skill, so this was an unfortunate outcome to her, but the Appraisal skill was useful to the point where she was being scouted in the seeker association. Even companies sought people with Appraisal, making it a valuable skill.
Hearing this made her feel better, but she had a lot of trouble starting on the eleventh floor.
She could not swing a sword properly, use a bow, and fighting hand to hand was out of the question. And she had no magic.
After much worry between her and her brother, they ended up with the expensive weapon called a magic gun.
Her physical strength increased a little as she leveled up, so shooting it was no problem.
At first the recoil made her miss, but she got used to it, and bullets started landing where she wanted.
But it took over a thousand bullets to reach this point, meaning over a million yen disappeared from her brother’s bank account.
“You want to be a childcare worker, right Chisato? Aren’t you going to university?”
Asked Mio Hazuki, a friend from high school.
“Hm, I already accepted the invitation. I’m going to be a seeker for now. My brother said I could just go to university while doing this, but I don’t think I would keep up with the others. I’ll just stick with it for two years.”
It was too bad, because Mio and the others thought she would go to university with them.
Chisato’s party included university students. They told her she could do the same as them, but she would rather focus on being a seeker for these two years.
“Isn’t being a seeker dangerous?”
Asked Mayuri Hanasaka, a tanned beautiful member of the softball club, with concern upon hearing about Chisato being a seeker.
Mayuri had known her since grade school, and went to her house to play a lot.
“It’s okay, my big brother is with me, and the others are strong too. And you’ve been to the dungeon too, right Misaki?”
She asked Misaki, who was messing with her smartphone not too far away.
Misaki was someone she met in high school, who sat next to her in the first year. They naturally started talking, and that was how she became friends with her friend Mio.
“I’m a casual, so I don’t know much about seekers. But if Chisato says it’s okay, it should be, right?”
“Geez! You’re just saying that.”
Complained Mayuri.
Chisato smiled awkwardly, but she was happy that her friends were concerned about her.
“I’ll buy you something when I’m paid, so look forward to it.”
They giggled, thinking about how this time was coming to an end, as their high school life would soon be done.
Three years felt long and passed by quickly, and while they were short on romance, they were fun days, and she felt she was blessed with her friends.
After graduation, Chisato’s seeker life would truly begin.
◇ ◇ ◇
“It went that way!!”
“Leave it to me!”
An orc ran past Toufu Kaname and Naito Asano on the front line, towards Ruri Nijou and Chisato on the back.
Ruri was about to use Fire Magic, but it was not in time. Chisato fired her magic gun to keep it back, but the cheap bullets lacked power, so they did little damage to the orc. All they did was slow it down.
But it was enough. Takeshi Asano swooped in with the tower shield and blocked the orc’s charge.
He then swung his axe at its legs, making it fall, and ended the defenseless orc with a swing to the neck.
Takeshi’s fluent combo shocked Chisato, but she came back to her senses after a tap to her shoulder.
“Thanks. Let’s keep going like this.”
Ruri thanked her with a smile.
She wondered if she would be useful in a party that was far more experienced, but this gave her some confidence.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Cheers!!”
Toufu started the exploration’s closing party in a bar they visited a lot since the last year. It seemed to be a popular place.
They usually celebrated the day they finished an exploration, or the day after. But this time, they were celebrating Chisato’s formal introduction to the party.
“Kah! That’s good!! This really brings me back to life.”
“Hey, we’re welcoming Chisato, so don’t get all worked up on your own.”
The guys started drinking, ignoring Chisato, but there was foam on Ruri’s upper lip as she complained.
Chisato sighed, and reached towards her soda.
They also had a tentative welcome party when she first joined, in the same place. By the second tentative welcome party, she realized it was an excuse to drink.
“Do you have a boyfriend, Chisato?”
Asked Naito, who was also drinking soda.
Like Chisato, he was also invited by his older brother, in his case Takeshi. She figured being the same age would make them closer, but being asked that every time made her cheeks twitch.
“No, not yet. And yes, I’m jealous of you and your girlfriend.”
“I see! She cried with happiness when I bought her a ring…”
When she responded with a trembling voice, he started bragging.
It was always like this. He loved to brag about how much he treasured her, and how devoted she was.
Chisato responded with lifeless sounds as he continued.
If she actually had to hear it, she was confident she’d punch him, so she emptied her mind. Empty, empty.
“Shut up Naito! You’re annoying Chisato!”
It was Naito’s brother Takeshi who stopped the psychological assault.
Unlike the slender Naito, Takeshi had a body like a rugby player, and the strength and skills to match.
Recently, after confessing to her for the thirty-second time, he started a relationship with Ruri, and he was very happy.
That was why he was not upset about Naito’s bragging, but rather looking for an opportunity to do the same.
“Come on Naito, listen to this.”
“No thanks bro. Shouldn’t you be with Ruri?”
Chisato looked at Ruri, and saw her pestering her brother Hajime to drink.
Hajime was a non-drinker, and would fall asleep if he drank half a mug.
“You wanna drink with me or what!? It’s good. This sake here was made with carefully chosen rice… Drink it!”
“Give me a break, I said I’d collapse if I had more. Go over there, Kaname wants to drink instead of me.”
“Hey, don’t drag me into that! Go there, Ruri, to your boyfriend!”
“It’s okay, I’ll play with Take later. Come on, drink. You’re the only ones who’ll do it with me.”
Hearing her call him Take turned Takeshi’s cheeks red.
It was a reaction fitting of a grade schooler, but cute. Still, everyone was thinking someone should stop Ruri.
She had fun with her friends in high school like this too, but this sort of chaotic gathering wasn’t so bad, thought Chisato.
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