Chapter 24

She predicted my trite line of trying to tell her I couldn’t let her push herself over and over, and I could only smile awkwardly that she beat me to it. When I did, she suddenly brought her hand to her mouth at a sudden realization. “…S-sorry, I shouldn’t preach like that. I know you save me so often, but I worry…” “N-no, it’s okay. I know I put myself in danger. The most important thing is making sure we stay alive…” “You…really are a rearguard, but you put yourself so far ahead of everyone when we’re in danger.” As she spoke, her expression was that of a girl her age, which she rarely showed. No matter how strong she was, I couldn’t keep making a girl as young as her worry. “Uuuuhhh, don’t you think you two are getting a little toooo cozy for a silly skills meeting?” came Misaki’s voice. “Ah… We’re not cozying up… We’re just talking normally. Arihito, I’m going to take the skill I mentioned earlier. Good night.” “Oh, night. Misaki, Suzuna, sorry to make you wait.” “N-no, it’s okay. I told Misaki we should wait until you call for us, but it…ended up this way.” “Everyone’s just sitting in the room waiting for Arihito to call them, though. We need to make sure we stick to the assigned time. Suzuna and I are together, so we should get twice as much time!” Considering how everyone had to wait their turn currently, it did seem better for us to have a full-party meeting where we decided skills, but we’d sort of settled on our current style of individual discussions. Misaki sat down on my right without any hesitation while Suzuna sat across from me. Misaki felt too close, and I wished she would learn from Suzuna, who had kept an appropriate distance. “Arihito, this might go late—is that all right?” asked Suzuna. “I want to finish this tonight, though it’s tough on everyone else to make them wait until late…” “Everyone else is chatting with Falma. They were talking about you,” said Misaki. “I-it’s…stuff they can’t talk about when you’re around, but it’s not anything weird. Falma was a bit curious, so they’re just…” It was quite possibly the least helpful explanation ever, but I couldn’t really push Suzuna for more. What exactly could they have to talk about that they couldn’t talk about in front of me…? But this wasn’t the time to be trying to guess that. “There’s still a lot of people, so I want to hurry up and pick,” said Misaki. “Yeah, if we select our skills quickly, Arihito will have more time to relax,” said Suzuna. They had said something about wanting twice the time since they’re really two people, but they’d probably be considerate of the others and try to finish quickly. The two winked to each other, and Misaki held out her license, which I politely accepted and started examining her skills. After about an hour, I was finally able to finish looking at everyone’s skills, except Theresia, who was last. “Thank you, Arihito! See you tomorrow!” said Madoka. “Good night. I’m gonna rest a bit and then go back to work,” said Melissa. “If our equipment’s ready tomorrow, I think we’ll be going into a labyrinth. Melissa, I think you should take a break from this one along with Madoka.” “…I will. But bring me along if you go against another big one.” It was a huge burden on Melissa to have her seek right after having finished dissecting. She said she’d take a break, but there was potential for another target to pop up anytime. If we didn’t find anything, she could take the time off, but she might not be able to relax all day thinking about it. Something unexpected had happened to the Alliance, and they’d ended up stuck. It sounded like they had a way to get out of it, but I wasn’t certain things would go as they expected. Melissa and Madoka went back to their bedroom, and I decided to go outside to see Cion. Guard dogs apparently took their skills on their own, meaning I had no say in the matter. …Still, where has Theresia gone? Is she already asleep? I’d told her we were selecting skills, but she didn’t show even when it was her turn. My license display showed her inside the house, so she must’ve been resting in one of the other rooms. Part IV: New Skills / A Vague Premonition Cion was lying half in, half out of the doghouse in the front garden, and she opened her eyes when I came out. “Sorry I woke you.” “…Nnn.” “What’s with that whine? That’s not like you.” She made a sweet little sound, and I started petting her head when I got closer. She pressed her cheek against my hand and licked the back. “It’s nice you got to see Falma again… Oh, she’s going home tomorrow—are you sad she’s leaving? That must be it…” “Woof.” “Hmm… That’s not it? Are you going to stay with us from here on out, too?” It wasn’t like she would understand what I was saying anyway, but she stared at me when I talked to her. It made me think she was picking up some of what I was trying to say. Thinking back, Cion had also had the Trust Level bonus against being Charmed. That meant she was fairly attached to me. “Anyway, I should go to sleep soon. Will I get to see your new skills in battle?” I asked, but Cion was focused on licking my hand. She was a clever dog—or more specifically, a clever silver hound. I had a feeling she’d learn new skills when she needed to use them. I went back inside and decided to have a bath before going to bed. I got undressed in the changing room and headed to the bathroom, using a towel to cover my front as I opened the door. There, I looked up at the ceiling only to learn I no longer needed to wonder where Theresia was. “……” “T-Theresia… I’m not gonna run away or anything, so you don’t have to make yourself practically invisible.” “So this is the kind of relationship you and Theresia have. I knew it.” In front of me was Theresia, and now, behind me was… Well, I knew their voice, but I was afraid to turn around. “Oh, you don’t need to be that embarrassed. You’re like a little brother to me, Mr. Atobe.” “Uh… L-little brother…? B-but I’m twenty-nine… And, Falma, your children are still young, so there can’t be that big of a difference in our ages…” Actually, there was definitely a possibility that I was older than Falma. Either way, it really made no difference in a situation like this. “Whoa… F-Falma, what are you doing?” came another voice. “Oh, I just wanted to thank Mr. Atobe for being such a good customer…” “Mr. Atobe, Falma is a little drunk right now. I would like to respect your intentions, but Falma is married, so…” This other voice was Louisa. The first was Igarashi. She and Louisa had thankfully come to stop Falma from doing whatever she was trying to do and led her away. I just wanted to profusely apologize to Falma’s husband if I ever met him. I couldn’t exactly argue that it was perfectly fine because all she saw was my back. “……” “Sheesh… Ahem. Theresia, be careful not to stay in the hot bath too long.” Theresia nodded, then brought a stool over. She set it down and knelt behind it. It was like she was telling me to sit. “……” I wanted to hear what Theresia was thinking in times like this. I still found it too bold to say that it was fine for us to take a bath together because she was wearing a bathing suit. That could be said about Igarashi and Elitia as well. Even a slight change in the bath’s temperature could mean death for Theresia, so I made sure she was careful. I personally thought it was understandable that I’d become overprotective, considering the time she almost passed out. “Theresia, sorry for making you get out of the bath so quick, but I’d like to select your new skills and then get some rest.” “……” Since Theresia didn’t have a license, I had to select them for her. I poured her a glass of water and had her replenish her moisture while I sat on the couch and considered her skills. She stood behind the couch and looked at them from there. “Can you see from there? You can sit next to me if you like—it’s fine.” “……” I knew she wouldn’t really listen even when I said it and didn’t push it too much. I pulled Theresia’s skills up on my license, saw something I was interested in, and was about to ask Theresia her opinion when she reached her hand over my shoulder to point at the display. “……” “Ah… You’re interested in that skill?” She was leaning over from behind, so her face was fairly close to mine. Her eyes were covered, and I couldn’t gather any emotion from her mouth, either, but she responded to my question with a nod. As I looked at her new available skills, I couldn’t help thinking how weird Theresia’s standards were if she was hesitant to sit next to me on the couch but perfectly fine with this situation. I’d also need to choose my own new skills later. The next morning, Falma helped prepare breakfast as thanks for letting her stay with us. There was pan-fried bacon, soup, and salad, all of which more than satisfied our morning hunger. I brought up the special contract with her again while we ate, and Falma reassured me that she would be happy to. That meant we could ask her to open Black Boxes for us in the future, too. She made some packed lunches for Ceres and the others in the workshop, and we waved good-bye from the front of the house as she headed off to the Guild’s teleportation door. “I pray for your good fortune in battle! I hope to hear from you again.” “Thank you so much, Falma. Really. Tell Eyck and Plum I said hello.” “Of course. Oh, and Mr. Atobe…” Falma seemed like she wanted to say something else. I looked at everyone around me, but for some reason, none of them would meet my eyes. “…They all said it doesn’t matter whether you’re on the first or second floor—you’re always protecting them. They really admire you,” said Falma. “Uh…” I hadn’t thought anything of sleeping on the first floor, but apparently, that put me in a position where I was behind everyone else. “Last night was a lot of fun. It felt like I was back in my seeking days. Everyone, make sure you stay good friends with Mr. Atobe like this from now on as well.” “W-well, I think we are all slowly getting closer as friends, but I’m not sure about anything more than that, Falma…,” said Igarashi. “You said you definitely wouldn’t say anything… You really are a mischievous one,” said Louisa. Igarashi was flustered, and Louisa seemed confused but smiled. Madoka, Melissa, and Suzuna all turned bright red for some reason. Falma smiled contently as she looked at them all. “All right, well, please feel free to use the services of Arthur Chest Cracking anytime.” Falma’s last words were a graceful salutation before she turned and walked away. We were also ready to go out, so we left then as well. “…Oh, Atobe. Did you sleep okay last night?” asked Igarashi. “Y-yeah… I slept pretty well. Did I talk in my sleep or anything?” “N-no, you slept very quietly…,” said Suzuna. “Arihitoooo, you can’t tempt Suzu! She is such a pure young girl!” cried Misaki. “Oh, uh…I’m still half-asleep; I don’t really remember what happened. I feel like there might have been something inappropriate with Arihito…,” said Suzuna. Igarashi had seemed like she was probing for something when she asked me how I slept, but all I could really say was that I slept well. But there was something about what Falma said that caught my attention. “……” “Wh-what’s that—? Theresia, what are you…?” Theresia’s hand lightly touched my arm. Was she saying I shouldn’t worry about it? On top of that, her lizard mask was slightly red. “Moving right along… Arihito, should we go see what the Alliance is up to?” asked Elitia. “Yeah, let’s change into our new equipment, then we can head out. Madoka contacted me earlier to say Ceres and the others were done with their work.” “The Beach of the Setting Sun… Even if we do just go to check up on the Alliance, we might run into the powerful monsters that live inland. We need to stay on our toes.” Igarashi was right; there was a high probability that we could run into both those spiders and mantises. We might be able to avoid fighting them if we scouted well, but I also wanted a chance to try out our new equipment and skills. There wasn’t any need for us to avoid battle altogether. I looked over the new skills everyone took again while we headed to the workshop where Ceres and the others were. I grew more and more excited as I considered how we could use them most effectively. ♦New Available Skills – KYOUKA♦ Level 2 Skills Lightning Rage: Adds Lightning attribute to attacks along with random additional area attacks. (Prerequisite: Thunderbolt) Lancer’s Protection: Enemy’s piercing attacks are nullified when skill is activated. Level 1 Skills Evasion Step: Dodge rate increases the more user evades enemy attacks. (Prerequisite: Mirage Step) Throw 1: Attacks by throwing a spear. Increased hit rate compared to normal throwing attack. Remaining Skill Points: 30 ♦New Available Skills – THERESIA♦ Level 2 Skills Hidden Viper: Special demi-human skill. Allows user to bind target when attacking from a Hidden state. Pickpocket 2: Steals multiple specified items from target without their knowledge. (Prerequisite: Pickpocket 1) Activate Trap: Activates a trap without touching it. Has a chance of trap affecting nearby people or objects. (Prerequisite: Trap Detection 1) Level 1 Skills Trap Detection 1: Detects when a trap is nearby. Remaining Skill Points: 30 ♦New Available Skills – ELITIA♦ Level 3 Skills Scarlet Dance: Consumes magic while using Red Eye to execute a chain of attacks. Power increases with each attack. Effects stack until defense reaches zero. (Prerequisite: Red Eye) Remaining Skill Points: 41 ♦New Available Skills – SUZUNA♦ Level 2 Skills Exorcism 2: Effective against undead-type monsters. (Prerequisite: Exorcism 1) Dance of the Shrine Maiden: Draws target’s attention with a dance. Increases dodge rate. Level 1 Skills Archery Master: Increases damage from shooting a bow using proper archery techniques. Resonant Sound: Allows user to use musical instruments as weapons. Sacred Words: Houses written characters in equipment, temporarily granting it the Holy attribute. Remaining Skill Points: 31 ♦New Available Skills – MISAKI♦ Level 2 Skills Surrender: Makes it easier to retreat from battle by reducing monster’s hostility. User is unable to re-engage target before exiting the labyrinth. Extra Turn: Takes one action on behalf of indicated party member. Level 1 Skills Fake Hand: Creates the illusion to the enemy that user’s next attack will be powerful, canceling the enemy’s action. Small Bet: Divides user’s vitality and magic among others during battle. Recovers twice the given amount when battle ends. Remaining Skill Points: 32 ♦New Available Skills – MADOKA♦ Level 2 Skills Trade: Determines whether an item in the target’s possession is valuable to your party and conducts trade negotiations for said item. Cart Attack: When a cart is equipped, skill inflicts an attack whose damage is proportionate to the amount of goods in the cart. (Prerequisite: Equip Cart) Level 1 Skills Equip Cart: Allows user to equip a cart. Bargain: Negotiates purchase of goods currently excluded from a store’s available stock. Remaining Skill Points: 42 ♦New Available Skills – MELISSA♦ Level 2 Skills Break Bones: Adds Bludgeoning damage to attack regardless of weapon type. Inflicts greater damage than normal attack. Loud Voice: Emits a threatening cry that causes target to faint and reduces their magic. Level 1 Skills Cat Walk: Allows user to pass through extremely narrow spaces. Sharpen Nails: Increases damage of attacks inflicted with user’s nails. Heals any psychological status ailments. Remaining Skill Points: 3 In the end, there were a lot of skills that we felt could be useful, and we weren’t able to immediately assign all the available points at the moment. The skills with the mark next to them were the ones we selected. We decided to hold off on the rest for now. Being unable to choose a skill among all the ones we wanted wasn’t a bad problem to have. Igarashi began to specialize in attacks so she could be the second-best attacker after Elitia. Theresia started focusing on dealing with traps, taking a role in the party that only a Rogue could. Suzuna, Misaki, and Madoka all had specialized jobs and, along with them, a lot of skills that would only be effective in specific situations. Since skill points were limited, we decided to take a few priority skills, and then the others they could take if they became absolutely necessary. I wanted to have Melissa focus on skills that would help her with her job as a dissector, but she didn’t have any skills like that among the new ones she could learn. Instead, we decided to hold on to all of her skill points. She could take any appropriate skills when she was fighting with us if need be. Then there was me and what skills I should take. As always, the decision came down to what was necessary. Cooperation Support 1 was the only one that I’d been wanting for a long time, so it was the only one I took right away. ♦New Available Skills – ARIHITO♦ Level 2 Skills Command Support 1: Makes frontline allies accurately strike your current target. (Prerequisite: Cooperation Support 1) Back Slip: Temporarily increases user’s speed, allowing user to move first. Back Order: Activates a skill with insufficient magic by taking a portion from your allies. Level 1 Skills Cooperation Support 1: Activates a frontline ally’s combined skill. Pass Back: Passes an attack onto target behind you. Can only be used when there is an available target. Remaining Skill Points: 32 I’d have a hard time using Pass Back even in an emergency. I could tell it was a powerful skill, but I was generally the very last in formation in our party anyway, and we shouldn’t really be making a situation in which there was someone behind me. It’d be fine if it were an enemy, but I didn’t really want to get flanked like that, either. It was hard to decide which skill was best out of the level-2 ones as well. I could imagine situations in which each of the three would be useful, so I decided to take the first one that became necessary. “I feel all excited thinking about taking a skill on the fly when I need it, you knooow? Oh, can I be all like, You haven’t seen my true power! or something?” “Misaki, I really hope we don’t find ourselves in a situation where we need your Surrender skill, but it could end up being effective. That and Extra Turn,” I said. “If I can gain one more level, I can take them boooth. But then, I’ll probably get new skills I can learn that seem good, too. Haaah. Oh, but you’re so cool now, Suzu! You can use an instrument to fight.” We had Silvanus’s Flute, and it would be nice if we had someone who could equip other types of instruments if we came across them. I had suggested that, and Suzuna had agreed. “I used to practice a few different instruments so I could play them during the kagura performances we dedicate to the gods. I should be able to use a flute, too. I don’t really know how it’ll be useful just yet, though…” “You might be able to attack with the sound, since Silvanus’s Messenger had an attack like that.” “I’ve seen a few people who could use instruments as weapons, but they often have special effects depending on the characteristics of the tone. I think if you don’t have any musical performance skills, that special effect is entirely dependent on the instrument itself.” According to Elitia, Guitarist and Minstrel jobs existed, but they weren’t very common. That meant Suzuna’s Shrine Maiden was also among the few jobs that could equip musical instruments. “New equipment and new skills… With all this, we won’t need to be afraid of any of the monsters in District Seven.” “But, Igarashi, you’re getting pretty focused on attacking…” “Atobe, I should be fine staying in the front lines and fighting as long as I can use Evasion Step effectively. I couldn’t evade chain attacks with just Mirage Step.” “O-okay… But you don’t need to stay up close the whole time. You have Thunderbolt, too.” “You don’t have to worry about me; I won’t get in too deep.” Igarashi smiled as she walked ahead, but I really did worry. A Valkyrie could be in the vanguard position, but it wasn’t actually specialized in vanguard fighting. “……” “Woof.” “…Yeah, maybe I am just being a worrywart.” Both Theresia and Cion acted as our vanguards, making a total of four. Igarashi probably wouldn’t get too far ahead of them anyway. “Ah, good morning. We managed to get everything done today like we promised.” Steiner was out front of the borrowed workshop waving as we approached. Ceres must have been tired and was resting. I really wanted to thank her for all her hard work.