I"m back everyone....
Sorry, I"m very busy with my work for the last 2 weeks.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter.
Translator: LN&WN Warrior
Editor: -
Haruki decided to hunt the racc.o.o.n which had a higher unit price than the House Centipede down as he felt uneasy looking at his credit balance which was low.
In addition, Karen also accompanied him today.
"Karaboshi-san, you defeated the BOSS here, right?”
Karen asked him in a weak tone when they were on their way to the 3rd floor.
Her tone was like blaming him for leaving her out.
"How do you know about that......."
"It"s from your blog."
"Ah!"
Came to think of it, she knew Haruki"s username.
Haruki"s back was drenched with sweat.
"Is it better if I subjugate it with her?"
Regarding defeating the BOSS, Haruki didn"t think of doing it alone.
Of course, he wanted to know the extent of his ability but, he didn"t have to deal with the BOSS to do it.
"Am I...... a burden?"
"Ah, it"s not like that. I just did it without thinking.”
Haruki frantically tried to calm her down.
It seemed like Karen misunderstood, she thought that she wasn"t invited to defeat the BOSS because she wasn"t needed.
"Unnecessary."
"The presence and treatment are similar to air."
Haruki really understood the pain in that position.
Before he put on the mask, no one noticed his presence if he didn"t speak loudly.
"Ah, my presence won"t affect anything, right?"
"The earth is still spinning even though I do not exist, right?"
As he was too sad, his thought became like a philosopher.
"I want to be stronger......."
It was due to her murmur that Haruki felt his chest was like being pierced.
Moreover, Haruki knew that the stronger he was the more his presence would increase.
"That"s right. For that, the first step is to hunt racc.o.o.ns. Today we will hunt them down completely."
"Yes!"
‘Has her feeling improved or is she just pretending?"
The stick which was bought by Karen let out a loud sound.
It seemed it was too fast for Karen to defeat a racc.o.o.n alone.
She couldn"t keep up with the racc.o.o.n speed.
Her magic attack could hit it if it was launched from a distance. However, her stick swing attack couldn"t hit it when it approached.
Karen"s tactic was strong if she could hit it, but her ability was not enough.
‘Should I increase her blunt-weapon skill?"
‘But, even if I do it, she still doesn"t have enough Strength to increase damage and Agility to increase speed."
‘If I"m not mistaken, she has 2 skill points left."
Haruki took out the skill board to check Karen"s total skill points.
Previously, he left 2 points after allocation her skill points secretly.
However,
Skill Point(s): 2→3
"Eh?"
‘It becomes 3 points."
"Ah, the rare monster."
The additional 1 point was gained after defeating the rare monster.
Haruki really forgot about it.
"She will have enough power to fight as a vanguard if I allocate her skill points to a blunt-weapon skill, but is that the right thing?"
"She has a rare advantage, the magic."
"Therefore, it"s also good if I improve is as her main skill."
"I want to discuss what skills need to be improved, but this magic tool is a double edge sword."
"If the information spread out, there must be a day when she can"t use her magic to fight."
"It would be better if there were adventurers who said, “please increase these skills.”"
However, that didn"t mean the group that wanted to take the magic tool from Haruki"s hands even if they had to kill his would not appear.
"This"s really troublesome."
"It"s troublesome to think about various countermeasures."
Haruki was still a beginner in taking countermeasure.
If an intermediate adventurer appeared, it didn"t matter whether there was countermeasure or not, everything would be finished only with brute force.
‘For a while, I can"t talk about this magic tool to others."
‘Maybe it will happen someday."
‘But, not now."
‘For now, I have to allocate the current points and think of other countermeasures.
"......Yup."
‘That method seems better."
‘I have to set a countermeasure that can help her to let out more than 100% of her current strength."
‘It will be a good experience if she can pa.s.s it. Furthermore, it will also be an exercise to solve problems.
Moreover, there was a possibility that her skill would grow naturally.
‘That"s the real charm of the strategy guide.
‘It"s a waste if I forcibly improve her skill."
Haruki who had thought of the pros and cons decided to become vanguard.
He rejected the idea of capturing and beating it as he did when facing the House Centipede due to his lack of strength.
In order for Karen to be able to deal it gradually, Haruki decided to move forward to cut the racc.o.o.n"s escape route.
Knowing that it would be cut down if it fled, Karen"s attacks gradually began to hit it.
"......I see this is also interesting."
‘How to destroy opponent when it tries to run away?"
‘How to follow Karen"s timing from her breath?"
Haruki"s moves would decide the life or death of the racc.o.o.n.
The actual result finally appeared.
‘Being a vanguard is about technique."
‘This is something that can"t be felt when hunting alone."
By activating parts of the brain which were previously rarely used, he felt a comfortable feeling of fatigue.
"Good."
"This"s really good!"
Haruki who was too absorbed finally cornered the racc.o.o.n.
Haruki"s attack hurt the racc.o.o.n"s skin.
The racc.o.o.n which was busy turning his awareness toward Haruki.
At that moment, a magic attack came.
At first, there were many difficulties, but the battle formation became really suitable for both of them after they learned the trick.
When fighting alone, he couldn"t feel a sense of stability like this.
‘Solo hunting is good, but doing it with a team is also interesting."
Haruki who found the true charm of the team increased his concentration and killed nearly all racc.o.o.ns on the 3rd floor which he could find.
"You know...." (Karen)
After the hunt was over, Haruki was kneeling in front of Karen.
Karen"s face looked scary.
Haruki felt sacred as he felt Karen"s gaze could penetrate the mask.
"It"s okay if you are too absorbed on the hunt, but please don"t fall!”
"Well."
Haruki, who was chasing after a racc.o.o.n didn"t realize that he was exhausted as his concentration was too high.
As a vanguard, he must cut off the racc.o.o.n"s escape route, the thing to do compared to when fighting alone is very different.
Haruki who understood that tried to move without realizing it but he fell in the middle of the trip.
He who hunted and kept chasing racc.o.o.ns for 5 hours without rest, no matter how much his physical abilities are strengthened, even falling can"t be helped anymore.
"I"m sorry."
"Hmm?"
"No, Karen"s smile is scary."
"...... I"m really sorry. Next time, I"ll be careful."
"Are you really sorry? What will you do if I"m not there?"
"Good grief," Karen folded her arms and puffed her cheeks.
But actually, on her face appeared a small relief.
If she had a tail, she would shake it to and fro.
*Swing swing*, sounded like the sound of a tail swinging with pride and relieved that Haruki survived.
But the most important thing was the feeling that her presence could help others.
This time, Karen was the one who helped Haruki.
Before, she thought that she was only a burden to Haruki, but now she realized that she could help him.
Even though she didn"t show it, but Karen was really happy.
However, that was really close.
The racc.o.o.n which tried to bite Haruki who had fallen was held back by magic.
He would have finished if Karen was still her old self.
But, Haruki-- until now violently hunt monsters like a crazy guy. He could kill all the racc.o.o.ns alone only because he had been level up.
Besides that, it was also thanks to Karen"s new stick.
Her magic, which seemed like increase by one point, was concentrated to raise the pressure before being fired.
With the previous club, she couldn"t fire her magic if she didn"t fully concentrate.
But with the new stick, the magic seemed could gather at its end without any obstacles.
Its strength and speed definitely increased by around 30%.
That stick seems like special equipment for a mage.
That was thanks to Haruki, a treasure like this could be bought with only 35,000 yen.
If he didn"t cut the price, she would need to pay 1,000,000 yen!
It"s impossible for Karen to obtain it.
If it"s posted on "Let"s be", surely in an instant the crowd of adventurers will split apart.
However, Haruki"s action had helped them overcome it.
He previously faced adventurers that he didn"t know whose was actively hunting on the 9th floor of "Chikho" just to save Karen!
Plus, he never mentioned Karen"s name on the blog.
There was no sign that he had helped someone.
If he stated that he had helped someone, it probably would increase his blog"s visitors.
Helping someone is adventurer"s job.
Like there is no firefighter that boasting after helping someone, or a doctor who is boasting after saving a life.
It is a natural thing that doesn"t need to be spread.
However, it is a rare thing for adventurers.
They exaggerated the reality to get ranking points every day.
The reality was changed in order to get a good rating.
If he stated that he had helped someone from a Monsters Rampage on the blog, Karen would definitely not follow him like this.
Well, the girl seemed to be curious about the disgusting mask that he was wearing, but she never felt the same disgust on him.
Karen"s gaze was similar to the shield user"s on that team.
She was also curious about his dagger.
He wore a strange mask and a minor weapon.
Although helping people without thinking of his own life, he as an adventurer didn"t use the opportunity to boast around.
This was enough reasons for Karen to become interested in Haruki.
However, she still had anxiety.
Sometimes, she felt Haruki disappear from her sight without warning.......
He was also very boring.
But he still showed his emotions.
Like when fighting with House Centipede, when finding a magic bag, or when fighting with Centipede.
He looks very excited.
But that emotion had disappeared somewhere.
It was the same shortcoming as Karen have.
His emotions must be broken when the monsters stampede occurred.