“What? Tanaka wants to join us?”
As they explored the dungeon, Toufu suddenly raised his voice and informed the others as if he just remembered it.
Haruto Tanaka wanted to join the party, but Toufu wanted to know what the others thought.
Toufu, Hajime, and Naito were for it.
“I don’t mind. What about you?
Takeshi seemed to also agree.
Ruri nodded, and said fine.
All eyes were on Chisato, who was quiet as if she was thinking about something.
“What’s wrong? You really don’t like the idea?”
“What do you mean really don’t? It’s not like I’m against it, but I’m wondering if he’ll really join.”
He meant what happened when Chisato and Tanaka first met.
This prompted Chisato to think about the stats she saw the previous day.
His level was not that out of the ordinary, considering he passed the twenty-first floor, but the number of skills was a different story. How did he get them? Did he really get through that many irregular encounters? She could not figure it out.
Levels did not equate to strength. A high level seeker without combat skills could very well lose to a low level seeker blessed with good skills.
Chisato was level seventeen, but would not stand a chance against a level ten with a Swordsmanship or Physical Strengthening skill.
That was why it was said that beating regular encounters and getting skills took seekers to another level.
Nothing was more precious to seekers aiming to go deep into the dungeon than skills.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Is Tanaka really twenty-four? He just looks like a student.”
“I’d believe it if he said he’s young enough to have to go to school. Did you cast Appraisal on him, Chisato?”
Chisato jolted to her feet after Toufu’s question, and shook her head.
It was too obvious, but she figured it was better this way instead of talking before she sorted everything in her head. Also, disclosing others’ stats was reason enough for a fight, so she wanted Tanaka’s permission.
The others knew this, and did not press any more.
However…
“I think he really is twenty-four.”
Was all she said.
◇ ◇ ◇
This exploration went better than the last one, and they found the staircase to the thirtieth floor. And they ended it after exploring a third of it.
Next time, they would challenge the boss, was what they had in mind as they finished the current exploration.
◇ ◇ ◇
Recently, Chisato had been going to the dungeon with Mio and the others on her days off a lot.
Mio wanted to be strong enough to protect herself, and to challenge the dungeon to better herself. Mayuri and Saki tagged along, as well as three men from their university.
It was all so youthful that it attracted considerable jealousy.
“Chisato, are you trying to become a pro seeker?”
Casually asked the man who introduced himself as Shou Amateru. He had dyed blond hair and a shallow smile. That combined with his nice face attracted caution.
He was a philanderer, right?
She put up her guard, but it was a normal question, so she cleared her throat and responded.
“I’m planning to retire after this year.
“Why? I heard you’re almost past the thirtieth floor.”
“I’m going to train to become a childcare worker next year. I’m not planning to become a pro even if I pass the thirtieth… Floor!”
Chisato cut an attacking rock wolf with the blade of her magic gun.
After that, they continued taking down rock wolves that gathered up ahead on that passage.
They stopped talking and focused on fighting.
A flaming spear pierced a rock wolf, and from there, the flames spread to other monsters around it.
Among the university students, one named Ren Komori stood out from the others, and he was a part of the same circle as Saki.
He looked normal among the other boys, plain even. But his handling of the Fire Magic drew a line between their strength.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Ah!”
Yamato Mitsurugi held a Japanese sword, slid forward quickly, and unsheathed it to strike at a jumping rock wolf.
The rock wolf’s head said goodbye to its body, and fell to the ground.
He thrust, swiped, stroke, and swung diagonally up at other approaching rock wolves.
Every move was swift and fluid like a dance.
Japanese swords were seen in the dungeon as unreliable low durability weapons, but their sharpness was second to none.
“Nice going Yamato!”
“Don’t get careless Mayuri.”
“Yes.”
Mayuri Hanasaka swung her echoing staff at the ground, and after infusing it with magic energy, she controlled two vines that grew from it. They caught the big ant crawling towards them, and pulled it into the ground.
Her magic energy suddenly bottomed out, and she sat on the ground, immobile.
“Ahn, no good. Can you protect me, Yamato?”
“Again? Okay…”
Mayuri played the part of the frail maiden, calling for Mitsurigi’s help with a soft voice.
He seemed to agree reluctantly, and stood in front of her.
It was just like a hero protecting the weak heroine.
“…What are you doing?”
Saki Hayami had an exasperated tone as she read the monster’s movements, and swung her sword to cut one down.
Her cheeks twitched at this silly charade that was happening as monsters attacked.
They were not a couple, and she realized recently that Mitsurugi was not actually interested in Mayuri.
Mitsurugi did ask Mio what Mayuri liked, but it was just to learn what women in general liked.
Mayuri was completely unaware, and acted as if to test him.
She could leave it be out of amusement, but not when they were being attacked by monsters.
“Mayuri! Stop screwing around! You could die!”
Mio fought with her naginata even as she yelled.
She was having trouble with a rock wolf, because she could not keep up with its moves.
She followed it with the tip of her naginata, but it dodged like it was playing with her. It opened its mouth and closed in on her with a jump, but it was struck with the other end of the naginata, and pierced with it after falling.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Good work. You’re getting pretty good.”
Said Chisato to Mio after the monsters were dealt with.
She used a bow before, but turned to the naginata because she desperately lacked power. She was still training, but improving well.
“Yes, I managed to do it. Not like you though.”
“Of course, I’ve been at it for two years. You’ll be just as good when you hit that mark.”
Said Chisato while shooting a big ant that was hiding. And she posed while blowing on the muzzle.
Mio smiled awkwardly.
“Are you going exploring the day after tomorrow?”
“Yes. If it goes well, we’ll get through the thirtieth floor. Wish us luck.”
“Yes, just don’t push yourself. I know I don’t have the right to say this, but what’s most important is that you make it back safely.”
She knew Chisato was working for her sake. And that might be forcing the party to increase their pace.
And she did not want that to lead to failure, or death.
“It’s okay, Kaname is reliable. Ah, and someone else is joining the party after we pass the thirtieth floor.”
“Who?”
“Fufu, it’s a secret.”
Said Chisato with her index finger in front of her mouth.
She expected her to be surprised.
◇ ◇ ◇
They finally started exploring with the goal of getting through the thirtieth floor.
Tanaka tagged along for some reason when they were on the twenty-first, but stopped on the twenty-second.
There was an orc walking with him, which even Hajime did not notice. They were surprised by this, but even more by how Tanaka was speaking to it. He said have a nice seek, but that might have been a normal goodbye for him.
The exploration went well, and they reached the staircase to the thirtieth floor in a few days, on schedule.
They decided to camp on the twenty-ninth, and then tackle the thirtieth. Normally they would camp there, but the monster encounter rate there was too high.
“Is Tanaka really human?”
It was Hajime, Chisato’s brother, who suddenly asked this disquieting question.
“Hey! That’s too far. Just because he was walking with an orc…”
Toufu reprimanded him, but Chisato provided more information.
“I’ve seen him talk to an orc before. And there’s a video of it on a video site.”
“Are you serious? Tanaka is weird, but I’m pretty sure he’s human… Jokes aside, let’s talk about tomorrow.”
They talked as they had dinner.
Their exploration area became smaller and smaller, and they would certainly find the boss room the next day, or the day after that.
With only three days worth of food left, there was no going back. They had to take down the boss and activate the portal.
Worst case scenario, they could eat monsters, but killer bees and gale weasels smelled bad. And wood golems had no edible parts.
Going back to a floor with orcs took time, so they had to finish the exploration.
“Chisato, why do you call Tanaka Haruto? Isn’t he older?”
“I feel weird treating someone who looks like that as such. And he doesn’t feel older.”
The others nodded.
She felt she was going a bit far behind his back, but he would surely laugh it off. Or not, thought Chisato with an awkward smile.
She met Tanaka often for some reason.
She tended to visit the shopping district near the dungeon, and since Tanaka visited the dungeon a lot, it wasn’t that strange.
But the fact that they seemed to get closer every time made her think they had a connection of sorts.
They met in the shopping mall, park, dungeon, and station, and every time, he left an impression.
He wondered why he went to the dungeon, communicated with orcs, had bugged stats… And he looked cool when he saved that girl.
Then again, the way he confused Mio for someone weird canceled out that coolness.
The conversation about that high schooler was funny. It was one thing for a boy to be dense and not realize girls liked him in fiction, but actually seeing it happen made her excited.
Thinking about it made her smile.
She hoped that party would not break up, and closed her eyes as she thought being with Haruto was not boring.
◇ ◇ ◇
“…Why are you here, Tanaka?”
That day’s exploration was taxing, and they were both out of stamina and magic energy by the time they found the boss room.
Toufu made the call to challenge it the next day, so they went back to the twenty-ninth floor to rest. And there they found Tanaka.
“Hey. It’s been a week, right?”
That was definitely Tanaka.
He had a big body and a youthful appearance, and wore a white armor with blue lines. He also had his boorish boots and battleaxe.
That was most certainly Tanaka.
“Tanaka, do you have partners?”
“Partners? This portacool behind me, if you count that. Don’t make me say it, I’ll cry.”
That was definitely Tanaka. The stupid answer sealed it.
“How’s your exploration?”
“Eh? Hum, we found the boss room and we’re challenging it tomorrow.”
“I see, good luck.”
“Thank you… It can’t have been easy getting here on your own, right?”
“It sure wasn’t. Listen to this, during the night…”
He continued talking, and ignored the others’ confusion as he prepared food.
He took a lot of food from the cart, that he then handed to everyone.
They thanked him and ate, but Hajime detected monsters approaching.
“Three monsters are coming.”
“It’s okay, I’ll take them out. Rest.”
Tanaka motioned for the others to stay, and faced the monsters alone with his battleaxe.
His moves were crisp and bold, and he skewered a gale weasel without looking at it, immediately followed by cutting the arms off a wood golem and destroying its core.
It was incredible.
That was the only word that could describe it. Even Ruri could not beat an enemy with magic without looking. Even the strong Takeshi could not easily carve a wood golem.
Even the whole party would not have finished them so quickly.
Only one man could perform this.
“…Incredible.”
Toufu barely got the word out.
“Yep. Eat up.”
Looking at the unconcerned Tanaka told them what a real powerful person was like.
Chisato approached Tanaka while they talked, and touched his shoulder while sitting next to him.
ーーー
Ha** **naka (24)
Level: 21
Skills: Earth **gic, Tr**, Healing **, Spa** Grasp, Toughness, ** Control, ** **ning, Poison Resistance, ***, See **gh, Pa** Think**, Sewing, ***, Dismantling, Magic **, ** Reduction
Status: Fat (All abilities boosted)
ーーー
His level was higher than last time, and he had more skills.
Chisato could not imagine what he must have fought to get there.
She turned to him with a smile, and spoke.
“Why did you leave? Mio and the others thought it was too bad.”
“I’d just be a bother, right? I was a complete outsider.”
“Didn’t you save them? They wanted to thank you.”
“I heard that before. Tell them it’s okay. I only did my job.”
“Say it yourself. And she was thinking about that weird nickname too.”
“Ahh, tell her not to worry about that either.”
“I said, tell her yourself. I’ll arrange for you to meet again.”
“Is that really necessary?”
“You’re going to be partners. You should get to know each other.”
“Partners? Who?”
“Mio. I can’t say why yet, but she’s joining the party.”
“Daiko… Okay, do it then.”
Tanaka accepted, bringing a big smile to Chisato’s face.
The fact that they would continue to see each other made her happy somehow.
And so, she asked him to do something.”
“Make sure you protect her if anything happens.”
Tanaka silently nodded.
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The real twist will be that they all survived