Let"s be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 29
Let"s Kill the Silver Wolf
There really was something twisted about Karaboshi Haruki.
But did she only feel this way because her perception was twisted?
Karen thought vaguely as she watched Haruki attack the pack of wolves.
The plans he would suggest were outrageous.
Especially during the stampede.
Entering the dungeon alone wasn"t bravery, it was just reckless.
It was the same with the potato monsters.
You could barely even see the potatoes, and yet he wanted her to dodge them at a close distance.
He thought that just because he could do it, other people could as well.
It wasn"t because he had high standards for those around him.
It was probably due to him having a very low opinion of himself.
Sometimes he would come off like a fanatical Adventurer who would say the craziest things without shame, and then he would be particular about things that have nothing to do with efficiency.
He wore that creepy mask in spite of what others thought. And he was extra sensitive about his lack of presence.
Furthermore, he would become incredibly depressed over not being able to gather potatoes, but then rejoice and recover right after that…
-It was strange.
He looked happy as he fought the wolves.
He didn"t balk even when the attacks. .h.i.t his body.
His opponent was a monster wolf that ate humans. But from the looks of it, he might as well have been playing with a dog.
-He was so strange.
The enemy of mankind was there, ready to take his life. So how could he enjoy himself so much?
Karen knew she wouldn"t have been able to do it.
And yet, just watching him fight started to make her feel happy.
In fact, there were times when Haruki"s laugh was so infectious that she laughed too.
But Karen was always behind him, so he probably hadn"t noticed it yet.
After the stampede started and her family was killed by monsters, Karen felt nothing but hatred towards them.
And yet, she was now laughing during a fight.
It wasn"t that she had gone crazy or anything.
The overflowing hatred hadn"t made her go mad.
It was just that Haruki was having so much fun right now. Karen couldn"t help but feel a little of what he was experiencing.
She still feared and hated the monsters.
And she wanted to become stronger.
She wanted to become stronger so she could fight stronger monsters. How much easier would things be then?
She wondered.
It was definitely because of Haruki.
Haruki had changed her.
She had been consumed by hatred before. But now she was different.
Still.
"Hah…"
Still!
Couldn"t he at least do something about his habit of getting so distracted that he would faint stamina depletion?
Karen watched Haruki as he wore his mask and breathed heavily. Her expression suddenly darkened as she muttered to herself.
"Why does this…why is this happening?"
His breathing was heavy under the mask. And yet he still laughed and killed the monsters.
If you just looked at the facts, there was clearly something wrong with him.
He was just a dangerous pervert.
And yet…
She sighed deeply once again.
As soon as he finished the hunt and returned to the surface, Haruki visited the prefab where Akane worked.
It was empty as ever, except in the back, where Akane sat at her counter and leaned on her elbow while staring into s.p.a.ce with a dead expression.
"…What."
It was as if she were trying to get as much out of using as little energy as she could. There was nothing but thorns in her words.
Haruki wasn"t angry though, he just chuckled.
But how long would that last?
Haruki laughed, and Akane"s shoulders shook.
What was he plotting?
"Grrrr…"
She had been here on the brink of death due to boredom, and yet he was chortling happily.
She was not amused!
"Hehehehe…"
Haruki laughed. He was imagining the shock that would soon appear on her face.
"Hahahaha…"
Akane laughed as well. She didn"t know why, she just didn"t want to lose.
"…"
Karen watched them with a smile. Ahh, now these were two people she should not have gotten involved with…
"Buy the materials from me."
"…No."
"Why? I"m your customer, you know?"
"It"s the clerk that says "the customer is G.o.d." But the customer isn"t supposed to think that they can get away with anything!"
"Still, buy the materials. It"s your job."
As he said this, Haruki received the magic bag from Karen and started to take out the Silver Wolf materials.
Akane looked at them, and instead of raising her voice, she started to appraise them.
"…Wait a minute. Why do you have so much!? This isn"t right!?"
"Hey, continue appraising them. Get back to work."
Haruki"s eyes had the vicious light of a black company boss as he demanded that she continue.
And while she complained all the way, Akane went through them with impressive speed.
However, as she did, her eyes also started to fill with tears.
"Ahahaha! How horrible of you to bring so many materials to my humble, humble, little store! Demon! Fiend! Idiot! Air!"
"Air isn"t an insult!"
…It wasn"t, right?
The materials that were dumped in front of Akane were the fangs and fur of 217 Silver Wolves.
Because of the way that Silver Wolves moved, each battle meant fighting at least 3 at once.
Thanks to this, he was able to kill a lot in just one day.
That being said, there were still many moments where he struggled.
But things would get a lot more efficient as he grew stronger.
"There are 234 fangs in all. Undamaged fangs are sold for 1000 yen. Damaged ones are 50 yen. The fur is 143 kilograms in all. Undamaged fur is 500 yen per kilogram. Otherwise, it is 10 yen. So that"s 188,000 yen in all."
"…I see."
Haruki didn"t have much of a reaction. Akane narrowed her eyebrows.
Of course, Haruki was happy to have made so much money.
The reason why he didn"t react much, was because he was comparing it to what he made the last time.
For the stampede, he had made 1,400,000 yen in all.
(How many monsters did I kill that time!?)
The stampede itself and the elation he felt over killing the boss had been so overwhelming, that he didn"t realize just how many he had killed.
But it was a stampede, after all…
When he realized what it was he had stepped foot in, a chill ran up his spine.
Now he understood why Karen had been so mad that it looked like she had summoned the grim reaper.
"Are you complaining about my a.s.sessment?"
"No, I was just thinking about how it didn"t take you very long to get through all of it. It"s quite impressive."
"…Right!? So, Air has finally joined the others in realizing that I"m beautiful and talented and the best shopkeeper! Though, it did take you long enough."
"…"
Who said all that?
And what did she mean by "others"…
He wanted to object, but there were too many things to object to, that he lost interest.
It was better to ignore her.
And so the money was sent to his IC card, and Haruki left the delusional Akane as he exited the store.
"Karaboshi. Do you want to go get something to eat? Um…there are different things that I"d like to talk about. Like the stampede and Shinjuku."
"Hmm. Sorry. I have things to do today. Can it be some other time?"
"Oh…of course."
He didn"t mind going out with Karen to eat.
However, there was something he wanted to finish today no matter what.
First, he had to go shopping at the DIY store…