CH 28.3

It’s not that we’re ignoring the opinions of the ladies group, but circumstances have led us to a stance where Seiichi and I decide the course of action of the party.

Shizuka basically agrees with my opinion, while Saki simply avoids it, as she is not good with complicated talks.

Miharu and Natsumi are also not the type to express their own opinions.

As for Mai, she finds it a pain, so she openly says that she leaves everything to Seiichi.

「Now then, the basic plan is to conquer the second stratum while looking for the realm gate. And if we happen to pick any new members, we level them up against goblins. Something like that?」

「Yeah.」

「Okay. Now then, clean mine too.」

「Hyan… Geez, you sure are such an Ore-sama, Seiichi.」

Despite her dissatisfied words, she voluntarily kneels down and takes the member into her mouth.

Shizuka-san is a bit too zealous and shows no sign of calming down, so I’d like her to go easy on me.

◇ ◇ ◇

「Ah… A, treasure chest?」

It seems that Miharu and Natsumi, who have been using 『Location』 periodically, have found a treasure.

The range is narrow, but it’s a skill that allows them to perceive the surrounding corridors and chambers with them as the center.

Within this range, it doesn’t really matter whether it’s within their line of sight or not, or whether it’s physically connected or not.

They can’t seem to perceive monsters, but they seem to be able to see all other elements.

Everyone is saying, 「Oh」, but no one pays much attention.

According to my Interface, there’s no doubt that Miharu is a level 10 『Healer』 while Natsumi is a level 10 『Officer』.

But Miharu is using 『Location』 while Natsumi is using 『Heal』, I wonder if it’s a special skill of the twins or something?

「Looks like today’s dungeon dive is a hit. The second treasure chest~」

「More importantly, it’s thanks to 『Location』 skill, isn’t it? I think being able to even see places that are invisible to the eyes is very useful.」

「Yes, you’re awesome, Natsu-chan.」

The one who used 『Location』 just now was Miharu, so Natsumi replies to Saki’s praise with a troubled smile.

I ought to pat Miharu, who promptly gives her a follow up.

「『Officer』 class may be essential in a party.」

「Yeah, it seems that you can’t easily find any treasure chests on charted maps, after all. The competition is too fierce.」

Treasure chests (jackpot) seem to be randomly generated in the chamber inside the dungeon.

Once taken place, they will remain in existence until they are opened, but if the traffic is high, of course the chance of encountering them will be low.

Also, treasure chests (jackpot) are a singularity of the dungeon, just like the realm gates, so there are no cases of them existing in a large number on adjacent coordinate points.

That’s why, rather than you’ll find treasure chests lying around all over the place if you go to the uncharted area, the area is dangerous, so it’s advised to stay away from there as far as possible, or so they said during the class.

「Like, is ignoring it a no go?」

「The heck are you talking about? Are you stupid? Do you want to die?」

Mai curses Seiichi, who is in low spirits alone.

「In fact, I did suffer a near death experience, though….」

The moment he opened the treasure chest, I was surprised to see it explode.

Getting somewhat sooty, and if not for the shadow shumag, I think his hair would have also become all dusty.

Even among 『Thief』 branching, not only is the superior derivations of 『Rogue』 skilled at disarming such traps, it also seems to have skills specialized for it.

Even though they are similarly second step classes of 『Thief』, 『Assassin』 and 『Ninja』 seem to be designed more for battle.

The magic item that came out was a double-edged, single-handed straight sword called the 『Blue Sword』.

The Interface can only display the name of the item, so it’s yet to be known what kind of magic weapon with what sort of abilities it is.

I’ve been told by Mikan-senpai not to use the items we pick up as is, so I think I’ll go ask for an appraisal later.

「The kinds of potion also might appear from the treasure chest, right?」

「… I suppose that’s true, too.」

Seiichi’s tension is revived.

It seems that the kinds of potions come out from treasure chests at a high probability.

They come in varying qualities, but most of them are the likes of ointments that restore damage to the flesh.

The effect seems to be on the level of being capable of making your arm grow back even if it is torn off, but they are treated a miss.

They will deteriorate if you take them out of the dungeon, and to begin with, any damage on the flesh will be reverted to how it used to be by the time you return to Rashomon.

Furthermore, the potion Seiichi wishes for is an abnormal state recovery potion on the level of gene therapy.

In other words, the five top-ranked potions: Elixir, Sacred Wine (Soma), Rejuvenating water (Amrita), Immortal Nectar, and Timeless Fragrance (Ambrosia).

These potions have side effects that affect you even outside of the dungeon, such as making you younger or not aging at all, so you need to be careful when taking them, it seems.

Speaking of the probability, in the entire academy, it’s a matter of whether they are able to find one item in a year, one of the five at random, or none at all, such is how rare these items are.

It may not be an item that’s easy to come out, but if you don’t open it, the odds remain zero.

From the second treasure chest, a ring called the Vulcan ruby ring comes out.

It is adorned with a heart-shaped, red gem the size of a toe.

The girl members’ eyes change in color, but it looks like a candy ring sold in a candy store.

By the way, the treasure chest exploded as expected.

It seems that the contents are safe even if the trap is triggered.

It’s just, if the potion is in the form of a bottle, I have a feeling that it might break, so I think Seiichi should take training on the matter.

◇ ◇ ◇

「Good work for today~. Cheers~!」

「Good work for today.」

「Good work.」

「Cheers, yes」

We all do a healthy toast of oolong tea.

「Well then, let’s get the grilling started at once. You raise your own share, alright?」

While saying this, she puts the kalbi on the grill in one go.

What an outrageousness.

You ought to raise yakiniku while earnestly facing it piece by piece.

「These are my meat anyway. Why don’t you grill your own as you like, Touma-kun?」

Mai, who is sizzling and grilling a bunch of kalbi at once as if she were killing them, smiles with a lips like a cat tormenting its prey.

Before me, there lies a pile of salted cabbage.

Don’t look down on salted cabbage.

It’s the partner of yakiniku that serves as a special remedy for heartburn.

The problem is that the star, meat-san, is nowhere to be seen.

「But of course~. To eat delicious meat without paying off your debts, that would be a failure as a human being, right~?」

「Gununu.」

Serving as cash down, my share of monster crystals was confiscated directly into Shizuka and the others’ prepaid cards as it was.

If they let me have an unnecessary amount of sen on me, I’ll end up perpetrating something unnecessary, so it’s a no go, or so their unanimous opinion seems to be.

「Mmm~… Sho hood. Bone-in kalbi is the best~.」

I think it’s a torture that’ll surely get you killed.

Some of the tables in the student cafeteria have a removable round lid in the middle.

I had wondered about this, but it turned out to be a yakiniku table with a burner and air conditioning installed within.

「Tare is good and all, but salt is good too~.」

I wonder if someone could bring down divine punishment on this devil.

「It makes you want some beer, right~?」

Saki, who is putting sagari and harami alternatively on the grill, is floating a whole face smile.

She seems to like hormones, as she also has shirokoro on her plate.

「Just in case, I have some prepared, but keep it in moderation, okay?」

Seiichi, who is ostentatiously searing shrimps along with their shells, seems to be attacking from the seafood side.

Plucking off the head of the shrimp, which is tinted in madder red, he bites into it.

It would have been great if he died then and there.

Such a thought naturally crosses my mind.

Miharu and Natsumi are arranging chicken wings on the grill.

These kids are surprisingly unwavering.

I guess they probably like chickens.

Sizzling, a thick lump of sirloin meat is being roasted on the grill.

Shizuka’s chopstick tips, as she silently grills the meat, upset me.

Given the fact that she turns over the moment 「aan」 crosses my mind, I think I’m completely being toyed with here.

「Here. Touma-san.」

I can’t say it’s a perfect 100, but the sirloin, which hammers down a high score of 80 points, is presented toward me.

Ah, but perhaps I don’t mind giving the dripping state of these juices 90 points.

*Tsss*Once again, a thick tenderloin is dropped onto the grill.

Not good, even though I know that I’m being toyed with, I can’t help but continue going 「aan, aan」.

「… That’s totally a disciplining, isn’t it?」

「Well, it’s fine, isn’t it? Rather, I’d like her to do her best and tighten the reins.」

Shizuka-san, the way to grill a bakudan beef tongue is not like that, not like that.