by Tôwa
“I…guess he does. But I think it’s just because he has a strong heart…,” amended Suzuna.
“He’s just really brave. It doesn’t even have anything to do with his level… He’s just a gutsy type of person,” said Elitia.
“That’s true, but I also feel like he’s just old for his age… Sometimes, he’s practically like a big brother to me,” said Igarashi.
“R-really…?” I’d never led an incredible life like everyone seemed to think of me. I worked a few different part-time jobs and got some life experience, before I decided to put everything I had into studying to live a decent life. People had always told me that I was pretty down-to-earth, so I guess that was just part of my personality.
“Um… Rikerton, it sounds like you want Melissa to be able to make the most of her adolescence, yes?” asked Igarashi, her cheeks turning a little pink from saying this all out loud.
“I do,” he replied, looking at Melissa. “Though, I bet if I try to act like her dad, she’ll tell me I’m being overbearing.”
“…No I wouldn’t,” said Melissa.
“Ah… Melissa, you heard that? Sorry, did we distract you?” asked Rikerton. Melissa had come over to us carrying what looked like a magic stone she’d gotten from the Plane Eater. Her eyes made her look like she was half-asleep, but there was a shine in them as she looked at the stone that revealed a fascination for monster parts.
“The Plane Eater had a camouflage stone. You can blend into surroundings if you equip it. A great find,” she commented.
“Wow… That’s amazing,” I said.
“Blending into your surroundings, huh. That sounds like active camouflage. I remember that from before I was reincarnated,” said Rikerton. So apparently, Rikerton was a first-generation reincarnate. Melissa, as a second-generation, didn’t seem to recognize the phrase active camouflage, because she just looked confused. “Ah, don’t worry about it. I think a fellow man like Mr. Arihito will know what I’m talking about. Active camouflage is something of a man’s fantasy.”
“Ha-ha, you’re right. But if I just blatantly equip it…,” I started.
“What are you talking about, Atobe? Of course you’re going to use it. As our rearguard, you can’t have too many ways of keeping enemies off our tail,” said Igarashi.
“Even if you do use it in battle, you can’t go crazy with it. The stone gives the skill Active Stealth, but it consumes a lot of magic,” explained Melissa.
In other words, constantly blending into the background would rapidly drain your magic. On the other hand, you could essentially turn invisible by expending this energy… But I wasn’t the only one who could benefit from avoiding enemies’ attacks or disappearing, so I decided to think more about who to give the camouflage stone to.
“Well, no waaay Arihito would use it for something pervy,” joked Misaki.
“…A-Arihito would never do anything like that. Honestly, Misaki…,” groaned Suzuna.
“…Besides, we’re in no position to talk where that’s concerned. Or did you already forget, Misaki?” asked Elitia.
“Erk… Look, I—I have no idea what you’re talking about! Everyone was just doing this and that while Arihito was fast asleep…”
“Uh… Misaki, what are you talking about?” I asked on a whim, but everyone looked like they’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. It seemed to imply I’d heard something I shouldn’t have… Were they saying that everyone did something to me while I was sleeping? I looked at Igarashi. She wasn’t normally one to get flustered, but she certainly was now. She looked at all the others as if begging them to help her, but they all avoided her gaze. She seemed to realize there was no escaping, so she cleared her throat and tried to regain control of her facial expressions. I was actually a tiny bit disappointed that, because she wasn’t wearing that knit sweater anymore, her chest didn’t get pushed up in the same way when she crossed her arms.
“D-don’t jump to conclusions, Atobe. You were sleeping, and your blanket fell off. We just put it back on you. Nothing else happened.”
“Y-yeah. You wouldn’t think we’d do something weird to you, would you?” said Misaki with a light touch to my upper arm. I started to wonder if they’d casually touched me like that… No, that was absurd.
“Did I look stupid while I was sleeping? That’s the only thing I wouldn’t want.”
“Uh, um… You were sleeping peacefully. You didn’t look stupid, and you don’t really seem to toss and turn a lot…,” said Suzuna.
“T-totally. You sleep like a log, and you’re suuuper quiet. Not like my dad, who snores like a freight train,” continued Misaki. Actually, along with Misaki, Suzuna had let something slip, but I didn’t dare point it out. They saw how I slept, which meant it was a fact that, at the very least, they had all been watching me.
“A-anyway… Back to Melissa. Would you perhaps like to join us on a seeking expedition?” I asked.
“Sure. If someone could take me along when they need a Dissector from time to time,” she said. She had been listening closely to the whole conversation I had with Rikerton. If she was on board with the idea, then I didn’t think Rikerton needed to worry about her not wanting to do as he suggested.
“Oooh… Looks like I just stumbled across someone who could be a vanguard for the second party I’m in charge of!” said Misaki.
“Misaki, you can’t just randomly assign people like that. Depending on how strong Melissa is, we could just add her to the first party. Swap you out for her,” I said.
“Heeey! Although, actually, I’ve been thinking it’s about time I take a break. I can warm the bench for you guys! Seeeriously, seeking’s just stress on top of stress on top of stress. I think I’m aging twice as fast as normal.”
“Oh, s-stop it with the superstitious talk, would you? …But… You know, if we keep seeking, one day, we might find something that restores youth,” said Igarashi. She seemed interested in the possibility. It did seem feasible that there was something like that, but I wondered. I had the impression that anything could happen in the Labyrinth Country.
“I’ve heard rumors that certain monster meats have anti-aging effects,” said Elitia. “Obviously, it’d be too easy if it were your normal monster, and I guess it doesn’t do anything if you’re under a certain age anyway.”
“So there really is something… Good news for you, Igarashi.”
“Hmph… You don’t have to act like I need it because I’m the oldest girl in the group!”
“Arihito, what age for a girl is a complete no-go for you?” asked Misaki.
“Um… I’ve never really thought about it, I guess. I suppose the most important thing is if you mesh well with someone… Wait, what am I saying?!” The way I phrased it almost made me sound like I was admitting that I’d never actually dated a girl. Thankfully, the party didn’t pick up on that and just took my words at face value.
“I get the impression that you always have good relationships, Mr. Arihito,” added Rikerton. “You already… Oops, I think I might be overstepping my bounds here.”
“Rikerton, you make it sound like… We’re just—” Igarashi tried to say something but ended up fumbling for words.
“Anyway, let’s talk about the materials,” interrupted Rikerton. “I’ll go through the uses for each one. There were seven Gaze Hounds, and we found two gaze stones on them. You can attach them to a weapon to enable a special Stun attack, or you can use them on armor to improve its capabilities.”
“Those sound good. I’ll have to think about whose equipment I want them added to, though,” I replied.
“Understood. The fur can be used for mops and such—what would you like done with them? They do have a slight flame resistance, so they could be made into defensive equipment…”
Apparently, Gaze Hound fur had flame resistance, but their pelts were quite heavy and weak to lightning-based attacks. I decided not to use them and instead sold them.
The gaze stones were tiny, ebony-colored magic
stones that formed in the Gaze Hounds’ eyes and could be easily added to a weapon.
“I’d also like to use this ore and rune to improve our equipment, if possible,” I added.
“Ah, it would be best for you to visit a smith, then. But this rune… Normally, they’re made by compressing multiple magic stones, but surprisingly, this one appears to be naturally occurring,” observed Rikerton with curiosity as he looked at the character that appeared in the middle of the stone. It seemed he’d seen runes before. “…The ring I gave my wife had a natural rune in it as well. Here in the Labyrinth Country, they’re also used as high-class gemstones. Take good care of it.”
“Thanks for the advice.” I decided to take the materials to a smith instead of having them do the modifications here in the Dissection Center. I’d do that tomorrow morning. Now we needed to talk about the Plane Eater materials.
“Plane Eater meat is in high demand, so I can offer you fifty gold pieces to purchase the meat alone. Otherwise, I could process the meat into jerky or other long-lasting foodstuffs,” continued Rikerton.
“We’ll sell half and process the other half, if that’s all right,” I said.
“Of course. We have one skin from the Plane Eater, which can be made into one piece of armor.”
“Okay. Could I have you work it into Theresia’s equipment? She would find it the best to use.”
“All right, shall I make some gloves, then? I’ll need some time to work on it, but they should be ready tomorrow.”
“Please,” I responded. We didn’t return with many materials this time, so we were able to settle things quickly. Or so I thought.
“Right, next, we will discuss the materials from Juggernaut. I can offer you three thousand five hundred gold if you sell all but a portion. That’s the amount the Guild set,” continued Rikerton.
“I don’t have anywhere to put that much. Could I use that for future work with you?”
“That’s perfectly fine. I arranged for the parts that could be used as weapons to be sent here… But it will take some time until they’re delivered from where Juggernaut was dissected. I believe it should arrive tomorrow.”
“Thank you for taking care of that.”
I didn’t expect we’d be able to suddenly get something as powerful as some physical attack-immune armor, but I was excited at the prospect of getting a weapon made from Juggernaut. I didn’t mind at all about having to pay. If we could dissect, then we could keep all the profits to ourselves, but that’d take our own time and effort anyway.
“…Can I join you tomorrow?” Melissa asked me.
“Yeah, I’ll come meet you. We’ll probably go into a labyrinth, so make sure you’re ready.”
“Okay. Nice to meet you all… I’m Melissa. I can perform autopsies and dissections.” She timidly bowed to the rest of the party, although the butcher’s knife still in hand made her seem a little menacing. Regardless, we were able to add one of the jobs that I’d been hoping for: a Dissector.
I wondered what kind of skills Melissa could use for seeking and in battle. She had long, wavy silvery hair and well-proportioned features, making her look like a porcelain doll. She suddenly realized she still had the bare butcher’s knife, so she placed it in its case and smiled.
Part V: Room Assignments
Our new lodgings were in a place called the Lady Ollerus Mansion. As the name implied, it was a house built by a female adventurer for her to spend her retirement years in. Lady Ollerus lost her husband and all her companions in an infamous labyrinth in District Four known as the Corridor of Failure. She continued to seek in the labyrinths until she was elderly in hopes of having her revenge and didn’t retire until she was so covered in injuries that she could no longer walk.
A maid named Millais came out to greet us when we arrived, and she told us a lot as she showed us to our room. As we were climbing the stairs to the second floor, she stopped us on the landing, where there hung a beautiful shield, and told us its story almost like she was our tour guide.
“This is the shield that Lady Ollerus used. It is known as the Kite Shield of the Queen’s Knight +8. Very few people are capable of using it due to its heft, but it is a very strong shield and also has value as a piece of art,” explained Millais. The shield was so big that it was more than large enough to cover an entire adult’s body. Apparently, Lady Ollerus was a vanguard, even though she was a woman.
“What was Lady Ollerus’s job?” asked Igarashi.
“She was not a reincarnate but rather from a clan who worked as guards for the royal family. Her job was Royal Order Knight,” replied Millais.
“I didn’t know there was a job like that… I was thinking she would be a Shield Knight or something,” said Igarashi. I had imagined the same thing as her. But even though she was a Royal Order Knight, her party had been stopped in its tracks in District Four. And then there’s the royalty of the Labyrinth Country. They were one of the forces in this country other than the reincarnates. Someday, we’d probably run into them… Though, that was a long way down the line.
“Is maid a job?” I asked.
“Yes, it is,” Millais replied briskly. “Most of us change jobs to become Maids, but there are those who selected Maid as their job when they were reincarnated. There are quite a few skills that are useful during seeking, and there is a surprisingly wide range of equipment to choose from. There are, however, some skills that you can only use when you are wearing a Maid uniform.” She was mild-mannered, her soft brown hair pulled back in a loose braid. But the way she spoke gave me the impression she was a force to be reckoned with.
“Did you also seek in the past?” I asked Millais.
“I still do occasionally, though I have never left District Eight. I sometimes seek with my coworkers or people living in the mansion who have done a lot for me.”
So there were those kinds of Seekers out there, too. I’d learned from the people I’d met that, other than retirees, there were essentially two roles in the Labyrinth Country: Seekers and Seeker support.
The mansion was separated into two wings that branched off from the entrance hall. Our room was on the second floor of the right wing. Millais unlocked the door to our room, provided me with a key, and then showed us into the suite.
“I made the beds in advance—will six be enough?” she asked.
“Ah, yes, it will. Although, it’d be nice if I could have a separate room, since I’m the only man.”
“Oh… I do apologize. I failed to take that into consideration… I prepared beds in three of the rooms, two beds to each. I will set up a bed in the unused room,” said Millais in a fluster as she headed toward the bedroom. Supposedly, she would take pillows and sheets there for me, though I felt bad for making her do the extra work.
“Arihito, it’s not a big deal if we’re just sleeping, right?” said Misaki.
“Uh… I guess, and it’s more work for Millais… Sorry, Millais, please don’t worry about what I said. The rooms are fine as they are.”
“As you wish. I will bring your dinner up to your room at dinnertime. If you need absolutely anything, please just ring that bell to call me. I will be able to hear it no matter where I am.” Millais bowed once and left the suite.
Misaki waved as she left, then grabbed a memo pad and pen that was provided and started writing something.
“…? Misaki, what are you writing?” I asked.
“In times like this, we need the fairest way of deciding, riiight? Ta-daaa, time for a lottery!”
“H-hey… Don’t draw a heart around my name!” I protested.
“Why nooot? No matter how you look at it, you’re basically the prize.” I wondered if I should just take that as innocent affection… But then I saw the amusement on Misaki’s face, and I had a feeling she was messing with me.
“All right, I guess everyone else should write their own name… There,” said Suzuna.
“Hey, Kyouka, no peeking! I know you wanna share a room with Arihito, but so does ever
yone else,” chided Misaki.
“……”
Theresia was the person who reacted the most obviously to Misaki’s remarks; her lizard mask began to gradually turn red. We played rock, paper, scissors to decide who would pull names, and the five girls carefully shuffled up the names. In the end, it turned out I would be sharing a room with Suzuna, though I felt weird saying that she’d “won.”
“Suzu, you sure that sharing a room with Arihito won’t make you too nervous to sleep?” asked Misaki. “Wanna switch with me?”
“N-no… I’ll be fine. Arihito, I want to be of more help to everyone as a rearguard, so would you mind if I asked for your advice later?”
“If you say so, Suzuna… We can trust you to be a gentleman, right, Atobe?” said Igarashi.
“Igarashi… Don’t look at me like that.” No one seemed too upset about the room assignment results, since we did it by lottery, but Igarashi did warn me… It wasn’t without reason, since men in our previous world did tend to prefer young girls. I probably couldn’t convince them that wasn’t the case with me, but I wanted to at least prove I was closer to a toothless wolf…or a sheep even.
“…Since we’ll be staying in this suite for more than one night, I think it would be a good idea if we rotate. I also would like to get Arihito’s advice on something,” proposed Elitia. We decided to go with Elitia’s suggestion that we only use three of the four rooms in the suite and then swap who sleeps where every night.
“Thank you for agreeing to help me tonight, Arihito,” said Suzuna.
“Oh, no problem… What’s wrong, Theresia?” I asked.
“……”
Theresia was staring at us and seemed to be thinking something as she sat on the couch in the living room.
“Oh… Theresia, don’t worry about it. I’m used to your lizard mask by now… Though, I guess it might surprise me if you pop up in the middle of the night,” said Igarashi.
“I’m totally fine with it, tooo!” added Misaki. “Actually, since you’re all smooth and cool to the touch, I think I’d like to share a bed with you when it gets too hot to sleep in the summer… Hey, don’t gooo! Running away just makes me wanna chase you!” Theresia must have been picturing Misaki using her as a body pillow, and she attempted to protect herself from such a fate. I was suddenly curious if the Labyrinth Country had all four seasons or not, but before I could ask Elitia, Igarashi saw something in the middle of the room.