We decided to depart from the cottage for our last run of the day at Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins.
“We’ve only got five people. Can we go without a sixth?” Yano asked.
Emily left us short a party member, but it wouldn’t be much of an issue this time.
“Yeah. We’re just gonna investigate, so five is enough,” I responded.
“Oh, want me to phone a friend? I bet she’s free right now,” Akira suggested.
“Who?”
“Nozomi, duh.”
“Wow. You two are close enough to just call each other up like that now?”
“Yeah, thanks to you.”
“Cool. Let’s do it, then.”
“Okaaay!”
Shizuku cut in, “Halt. Are you referring to Ryuugou’s granddaughter, Nozomi?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“But aren’t you the Aoyagis’ girl? I recall the Akabane and Aoyagi households were famous for their rivalry.”
“Our families can do what they want, but we’re our own people. We’re gaming together, which shows we have similar interests. Why shouldn’t we get along?” Akira smiled.
“Hmm, I see. You’ve matured.”
“Huh? Um, what do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. Forget I said it. Ahem.” Shizuku cleared her throat.
“Okay, Ren. I’m gonna call Nozomi!”
“Awesome. Let’s wait, then.”
It was kinda like we were summoning a friend. I was slightly worried that we were normalizing calling on Akabane whenever we had trouble, though. Lately, she was working with our guild quite often. Maybe we ought to have her join Hell’s Crafters? That might be difficult, considering she was already in her brother’s guild.
Either way, a short while after Akira called her, Akabane came to the cottage.
“Quite bold of you to summon me so freely. Be grateful that I decided to grace you with my presence.”
So Akabane said, but she was clearly happy to have someone relying on her.
Heh. Putting up a frosty front as usual, I see.
“Sorry to call you out here, Nozomi.”
“Well, I do not mind. I suppose I was rather bored. Say, where is that Emily you mentioned? Here I was hoping to give her a piece of my mind.”
“Oh, no. She already went home.”
“My, is that so?”
“Yeah, her husband came to pick her up.”
“Excuse me? Her... husband?”
“Yeah, she’s married.”
“Excuse me?! This changes everything! If that’s the case, we were in real danger of turning to the dark side and—”
“H-Hey, Nozomi! No more of that!”
I felt totally lost. “What in the world are you two talking about?”
“Nothing, nothing! I swear!”
“Right! Not a thing!”
Akira and Akabane shook their heads vigorously.
“Uh, anyway, we wanna go to Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins, but we don’t have enough people. We figured if you weren’t busy, maybe you could come.”
“Oh, I see. Well, I do not mind. My brother said you all had such fun in Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins together.”
“Pardon, but don’t you think you and your brother may be embracing some rather... problematic clothing choices?” Shizuku posited, looking her up and down. “You’re at least far better off than him, but I’m still not altogether impressed by girls as young as you wearing such attire.”
It was the normal sword dancer gear. Sure, it did show off a lot of skin, but that was just the usual operating condition for a sword dancer. I kinda liked it, myself. The responsible adult that Shizuku was, she was being a little prudish.
“That’s of no concern to me. I’m not ashamed of these garments in the least.”
Indeed, Akabane was much the same as Akira in this regard, although she was more of a classic beauty than Akira and her general cuteness.
“Erm, that’s not really the issue here. It’s a problem of feminine modesty.”
Having heard that, Akira whispered to me, “I think we’d better just wear the yukatas around Shizuku, huh?”
“For sure. No point in rocking the boat.”
Akira turned to Akabane and suggested, “If it bothers Shizuku, how about you change too? We’ve got yukatas for days. They also have a pretty nice effect!”
“Hmm. If you say so, perhaps I shall.”
Thus, Akabane changed into a yukata as well.
“Okay! Now, let’s go to Aswarth’s Undersea Ruins!”
We headed to the entrance where, once again, I fed our peppy friend the lion head a tasty Warp Stone. This time, we warped to B6F. We were off to find that Death Chariot!
Once we arrived, however...
Bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop!
It’s a Monster House!
Monsters are spawning in huge numbers all over the floor!
“Whaaat?!”
This is what we get after phoning a friend?! Do we have bad luck, or did they intentionally make this awful?! Sorry for wasting your time, Akabane!