“Whoa.”
The moment I exit the dungeon, I lose my balance. And suddenly, I feel the weight of the two girls I’m carrying. It’s not like they’ve gotten heavier, so I’m weaker.
Did the effect of Adamantine Strength run out? No, it can’t be just that.
“Ah, I’m getting off you.”
“That was lovely.”
They probably noticed the change too, because they quickly jump down. But even though I’m not holding them, something still doesn’t feel right.
“Shouta, are you feeling sick?”
“It’s because you went all crazy like that. But you really look tired. Wanna rest somewhere?”
“…No, it might be because of Adamantine Strength. It wasn’t all that different from Super Strength II, but it lasted a lot longer. And I feel like this is the recoil from that. Apparently it’s a risky skill.”
It has the plus of giving me a power up for a long time, but once it runs out, it gives me a debuff. It’s looking like a pretty niche skill. At the very least, not something I can use all the time.
“Hm… Wait, you used that to carry us!? Are we that heavy!?”
“Shouta…”
“Ah, no no, I was just testing it. And you’re carrying all those items, plus swords and gold items.”
““Puh.””
I answer awkwardly, but then they laugh.
“Just kidding, just kiddin’.”
“Fufu, let’s go back and report.”
“Good grief…”
Fooled me completely.
I follow the two girls who are in a good mood, and cross the door into the association.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
They ignore the counter where they lined up this morning, and head straight to an employee near a wall. The employee talks to them normally at first, but then she gets flustered and takes us to a room in the back.
In the middle of this back-and-forth, I feel my strength coming back. It looks like the debuff lasts five minutes, and brings me down to about eighty percent. Yes, it would be bad if this happened in the middle of a fight… I need to be mindful of the timing when I use it.
We’re taken into what looks like a reception office, and we sit together as we wait for this branch’s manager.
“What did you tell that employee?”
“To call the branch manager.”
“That wouldn’t be enough for someone to make that face.”
“I wanted this to go without a fuss! So first, I showed our association rank. Normally that would be enough to let us through, but apparently they have something important they can’t leave…”
“And so I whispered in her ear. I told her an unidentified rare monster has appeared on the first floor. It’s known for being a safe spot for dates, so anyone would panic upon hearing that, right?”
“…Don’t do something so nasty, Aki…”
If a rumor like that got out, this attraction might end up being closed. That thing couldn’t move from a corner of the map, but just the idea of an unknown rare monster is scary. And that misinformation might drive couples away.
…And I’m the one who was so eager to summon something that could cause that?
…Let’s not think about it.
It’s more productive to think about how to deal with it from now on.
We keep waiting, taking it easy, but the branch manager still isn’t here.
“Apparently she’s really busy. I know why though…”
“Really?”
And you forced them to call the branch manager anyway?
“But I think this information is just that valuable. No matter how busy they are, they have to hear it. You purposefully went after it, Shouta, but someone might summon it accidentally.”
“By the way, since we have time anyway, what’s that association rank you mentioned? I’m curious.”
Apparently there’s an adventurer rank too, but I was never too interested, so I never looked into it.
“Ah, yes. Simply put, people of the association have their jobs and positions quantified.”
“Maki’s rank three, and I’m four. Our mother is six, and the highest is seven. Basically, one is an apprentice, and two is a middle rank. Three is a high rank, four is a special rank, five and six are the executive class, and then seven is the highest position.”
“Receptionists fall between one and three, with four through six being branch managers, and seven being the chief of the main office. Well, it’s something borrowed from the adventurers’ system, so it doesn’t mean a lot to people outside of the association.”
They say, as they show the name tags they usually wear. Looking at them more closely, Maki has three stars, and Aki four. So this is their rank?
“Hm. I don’t really get it, but I do get that you’re great.”
“Hehen.”
“Hehehe.”
As we chat like this, there’s a knock on the door, and a young woman and the receptionist from earlier come in. They have four and two stars, meaning that one is the same rank as Aki… Which means she’s the branch manager.
“I apologize for the delay. I was in the middle of a meeting.”
“Hi Youko!”
“S-so it’s you, Aki!? I noticed you weren’t in the branch manager meeting, but you’re actually…”
“Eh? Do you know each other… Wait, meeting?”
I’m surprised that Aki and her know each other, but there’s another word in there I can’t ignore. I look at Aki, and she puts out her tongue in a cutesy way.
“Ah, there was a message through the app earlier about an emergency meeting being called. But we were in the dungeon. And it was just in a good time too, so I messaged them saying I was skipping it because my work as an exclusive took precedence.”
“The meeting was called because of the report you sent in, and you had the nerve to not show up.”
“Sorry about that.”
“You’ve always been like this…!”
The way the manager of the 810 branch… Youko, speaks, leads me to believe Aki was like this when she was a student too. And I’m guessing she caused a lot of trouble for her senior here. I have no trouble believing it.
“So, what is it? I guessed from how pale this girl looked that it’s not something she could’ve said during the meeting, so I excused myself…”
“Ah, I will take over.”
“You… You’re her younger sister, Maki, right? I’ve heard about you from Aki. And how great you are.”
Maki smiles, but then quickly switches to a serious expression.
“Thank you for making time for us. I will jump straight into it. We found a rare monster on the first floor, and defeated it. Here is proof.”
Maki then places the three dropped items and what she recorded on her tablet in front of Youko, who is turning pale herself.
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
