Undecided t.i.tle Arc
Haku-san"s Referral
"Soto apparently told Kinue not to wash her underwear with yours for a while."
"What did Kinue say about that?"
"She was actually happy since it increased her workload."
She"s such a hard worker. That"s Kinue for you, a workaholic.
Maybe it would be better to force her to rest a little…
"Kinue is irreplaceable, so it"s difficult to let her rest. The current s.h.i.+ft scheduling is already tight, like in the dining hall."
"What do they usually do for when she"s resting?"
"They have her store prepared meals in [Storage]."
I see, since [Storage] stopped time, the prepared meals could be stored fresh.
"So why did Soto end up doing that?"
"Well, I was practicing [Super Transformation] and thought it would be fun to surprise Soto."
"The Hero Skill, right? … What level is it now?"
"Level 7. I can use the skills of the person I transform into."
"That"s amazing. So you can use Dragon Breath?"
"I need to practice first. I"ll ask Redra to teach me next time."
Dragon Breath could become a powerful finis.h.i.+ng move.
[Elemental Burst] was overwhelmingly faster and easier, but the visual impact of Dragon Breath while transformed into a Dragon was strong. It"d be very versatile as a showy technique.
I should be able to adjust its power too.
I"ll borrow the Dragon King"s form for practice.
"By the way, are you okay with the soul contamination?"
"Yeah, that"s what worries me… I wish there was a hero I could hit up to check the contamination caused by the Hero Skill."
"Isn"t Anee-sama researching Hero Skills?"
"… That"s true, huh?"
The expert on heroes was"t a hero but a high-ranking official of the country that hired and managed heroes, Haku-san.
It was the most suitable position for objective observation, but it was ironic that a Dungeon Core, which should be an enemy of all heroes, was in that position.
"The level increase was from the recent Dungeon Battle with Core Number 10, right? Let"s have Anee-sama take care of your aftercare. I"ll send her an email."
"Hmm, yeah. It"s probably better than diagnosing myself…"
Amateurish attempts can lead to serious injuries. Yeah.
"Oh, I just thought of a great way to make sure Kinue gets proper rest. Kehma can transform into Kinue and work in her place. You can use the [Cook] skill too, right?"
"Let"s have Kinue-san work hard from now on. Yeah."
And so it was decided.＊
"My sister replied. She"s sending a Hero Skill expert."
"A Hero Skill expert…? I didn"t know such a person existed."
An expert on the skills of heroes, who are extremely rare beings.
It"s surprising that such a person exists.
"They"re apparently in Pavuera right now and can come right away."
"Right away? Even if Haku-san contacts them… Can they really get in touch that quickly? Maybe they can communicate using the [Possession] skill."
If that"s the case, they would be someone related to the dungeon.
However, it wouldn"t make sense to call any of the Four Heavenly Kings, like Dolche-san the Wraith, a Hero Skill expert.
"What"s the person"s name?"
"She just said we"d know when they arrived."
"Hmm? So it"s someone we know?"
Someone related to the dungeon and who we know. Not telling the name means she wants to surprise us? Then it must be someone unexpected…
"… Wataru? No, Wataru isn"t really related to the dungeon."
"Why bother guessing when we"ll know when they arrive?"
"It"d be fun if our guess is right. Yeah, I"ll give you a nice present if you guess right, Rokuko. Like a dress or something."
"Really…?"
Rokuko puts her hand on her mouth and starts thinking seriously.
Her wide-open eyes were big and beautiful, attracting attention.
"Ah!"
A quiet exclamation slipped out as if she had a flash of insight.
"…"
"What"s wrong?"
"Well, I was just… using the process of elimination? There was one person who seemed to fit the bill, but…"
"Hmm? Who?"
I urged Rokuko, who hesitates to answer.
"First of all, the fact that they might be in Pavuera and that they"re someone we know narrows it down considerably. And if they know about heroes… that alone would leave…"
"Who?"
"Only Leona."
… Wait, Leona?
She"s hostile towards Haku-san, so that"s ridiculous.
"… How about Ontentoo or Redra?"
"Those two are in Mt. Tsuia, not Pavuera. They might know something about heroes, but Anee-sama would definitely know more, so they couldn"t be called experts."
"Ah."
Someone Haku-san would call an expert. In other words, someone who knows more about heroes than Haku-san. In that case… indeed, I couldn"t think of anyone but Leona.
"… What about the Core Number 10 from the Holy Kingdom?"
"No, we already killed that one. Besides, Kehma was the one who delivered the final blow."
"I mean, like, what if it somehow survived?"
"No way… Even if it did, I can"t imagine Anee-sama introducing it as an expert."
On the other hand, if it were Leona, she could even communicate via email. At this point, it was impossible to think of anyone other than Leona as the answer.
"Doesn"t the possibility of it not being Leona come out now that we"ve built up this many flags?"
"Who else could it be? Just say it."
"… O-Otou-sama, maybe?"
"Actually, if it"s the G.o.d of Light, they might be considered an expert… but the chance of them just happening to be in Pavuera is slim."
Ugh. The Dark G.o.d and the Light G.o.d have a significant impact on the mortal world, so they can"t just casually descend.
If we were to meet them, it would probably be in a dream world using something like the "G.o.d"s Futon"…
"Well, all we can do is wait patiently. Since it"s an introduction from my sister, there must be some circ.u.mstances, and I"m sure they won"t do anything bad, right? There"s no need to be so frightened."
"Y-yeah, I"m not scared. It takes a lot to scare me."
"Yeah, Leona is quite something."
I can"t help it, she"s my complete superior in every way!?
At that moment, Niku arrived.
"Goshujin-sama. A guest who is a hero expert…? Has arrived. Could you please come to the reception room…?"
It was clearly earlier than expected. How far did they think it was from Pavuera to here even if they moved right after contacting us…? It"d be about right if they could use [Teleportation], but still.
Niku"s eyes clearly looked confused and, as she guided us to the reception room, it seemed like she was thinking, [Why is that person a guest?]
"… Um, who"s the guest?"
"Yes, well, um…"
As I steeled myself and asked, Niku said the name.
"Karinisoto-sama…"
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
Rokuko and I tilted our heads.
"Soto?"
"No, not Miss Soto, but Karinisoto-sama…? Huh?"
She put her hand on her cheek and her eyes were spinning in confusion. What"s going on?
I looked at Rokuko. She shook her head sideways.
"Sorry, I don"t know what"s going on either… but let"s go to the reception room for now?"
"Yeah, let"s do that. For now, let"s head to the reception room."
With that, Rokuko and I went to meet the hero expert, Karinisoto.
… What"s going on???