It"s nice that we have sneaked in, but how should we proceed from this point forward? I ponder while watching the man named Fujita walking in front of us.
(I must find an opportunity to act alone)
Although my hiding skills are geared differently from Ichinose-san"s "Cognitive Impediment", they are nonetheless very valuable in this type of situation. And it"s easier to roam about independently.
(Should I use the restroom… As long as Rikkchan covers for me, I could earn a lot of time by leaving a part of Aka and a tape recorder behind.)
It"s a cla.s.sic tactic, but it might work. If it"s simply pressing a b.u.t.ton, a portion of Aka"s body would have no trouble doing it. Furthermore, it shouldn"t be unnatural considering Ichinose-san"s normal behavior.
"By the way, Ichinose-san, where did you get that gun?"
"Ichinose-san?"
"Uh, yes? What?"
Shoot, I naturally dismissed it. Right now, I"m Ichinose-san. As I thought, this is hard. I should put up a proper act.
"Hahaha, Natsun, you"re panicking too much. You don"t have to be so surprised just because your name"s called."
"A, hahaha…"
"Sorry, oji-san. This girl is bad with strangers, so she must be nervous."
Nice follow-up, Rikkchan. Surprisingly, this girl can be extremely attentive. Unlike me.
"Ah, is that so? I"m sorry for acting overly familiar with you."
Fujitsan is convinced and looks apologetic.
"Ah, no… I should be the one saying sorry."
"It"s okay, it doesn"t bother me. Going back to the question, where did you acquire that gun?"
Fujitsan seems interested in the gun (Aka disguised) on my back. But there"s no helping it. For an average person, it isn"t something one could see in real life, not to mention acquiring it.
"Well, I got it with a skill."
Fujitsan narrows his eyes.
"Hee, is that a skill that can produce guns…. No, weapons?"
His voice is slightly low. I cough roughly predict what he"s thinking.
"Yes, yes. It"s something like that."
"That"s amazing. Then --- can other people like us handle the weapons?"
As expected. A powerful weapon. In today"s world, it"s something that everyone would desire so badly that their hands might come out of their throats.
(But that is impossible.)
The items that Ichinose-san gets through Gatcha is designated as her possession. I wasn"t able to put her items in the Item Box. Also, although I haven"t tested it, there might be limitations in the usage as well.
Another problem is with the ammunition. Even if someone else could use it, the bullets would run out in one or two shots. But this isn"t something Ichinose-san has to worry about.
(Was it … "Ammunition Creation"?)
I heard from Ichinose-san before that she got a total of four skills from the Sniper Set. ""Long Distance Sniping", "Hit Correction", "Enhanced Penetration", and "Ammunition Creation."
"Long Distance Sniping" is a skill that corrects the attack damage as the distance from the enemy increases. Currently, her maximum distance is about 800 meters.
As the name implies, "Hit Correction" boosts the accuracy of her sniping skills.
"Enhanced Penetration" is a skill which increases the sniper"s attack power.
And "Ammunition Creation" is a skill which consumes the user"s MP in exchange for the creation of ammunition. It is very good and burns little MP. This is also the reason why Ichinose-san was able to hunt down such a large number of monsters.
"Um, this gun is for my use only… Others can"t use it…"
Saying so, I give the gun to Fujitsan. It"s easier to believe my words if I let him confirm it in person.
(Aka, I"ll be relying on you.)
(Furu furu)
"Try it. There"s no ammunition there, but you can try pulling the trigger."
"Is it okay?"
With my approval, Fujitsan examines the gun.
"Sure enough, the trigger doesn"t move at all. The other parts don"t work either…"
After all, Aka is doing its best. Fujitsan who checks the gun for a while drops his shoulders. He must have had some faint expectation. He returns the gun.
The moment I receive it, I could feel Aka saying "that was ticklish" to me.
Sorry about Aka. But thanks for your hard work.
"I"m sorry that I couldn"t be of help to you guys…"
"Nah, it"s good."
Fujitsan puffs at his cigarette.
"Oh, but could you tell me what skill you have for reference?"
"Okay."
I explain to Fujitsan about "Gatcha" and "Hiki Komori". Ichinose-san has given me her permission in advance, and it isn"t something that we have to hide like the Item Box. Although it is the job of a Neet, there must be some people like Ichinose-san that chose this occupation.
"I see, a "Hiki Komori"… Well, some people have mentioned that such a profession exists, but I thought it was a joke. To think they can acquire such a powerful skill…"
So there are government officials who have the apt.i.tude for such an occupation…
"1 SP per gacha… The risk is huge, but depending on their luck, people could get stronger skills and weapons… I see, it was a good reference. I"m grateful."
"No, it was nothing."
"But the children these days are quite courageous, choosing a job that sounds like a joke."
I could only laugh vaguely at his words. Ichinose-san, apparently you"re quite courageous.
"By the way, what occupation did oji-san choose?"
Rikkchan who is walking besides me asks a question casually.
"Me? I"m an "Axe Wielder". It sounded like the most powerful occupation among my options."
An "Axe Wielder". So there is an occupation like that. Additionally, it seems like they store their weapons in one location unless they"re going outside or patrolling.
"Isn"t that inefficient?"
Rikk-chan asks.
"We had a chaotic accident a few days ago. Since then, we"ve minimized the armaments inside of the government building."
"Hmmm, so a lot has happened."
"Yes, a lot has happened."
A lot….They most likely had an internal conflict. And quite the ugly one at that. My olfactory sense which has been sharpened by "Enhanced Senses" makes it easy to imagine what occurred. But in the current world, this should be quite common.
We continue to walk down the corridor while chatting with each other. After a while, we arrive at a room that says "Napping Room".
"It"s here."
Nis.h.i.+no-kun and his companions must be resting here. I pick up the presences of the people inside… Three in total. We enter after knocking.
Beds are lined up next to each other for people to take naps. There are several vacant ones, and three of them are being used. He is the one in the middle.
"Rikka?"
He turns around and mutters so. He opens his mouth in surprise.
"Oh, Niss.h.i.+, it"s been a day."
Rikka waves at him slowly while laughing.
"Ah…"
Nis.h.i.+no gradually leaves the bed and comes near us. Then, he stands in front of Rikkchan while staring her face.
"Don"t disappear without any notice…idiot."
Rikkchan smiles bitterly at the words that Nis.h.i.+no-kun barely manages to squeeze out.
"Ahaha… I"m deeply sorry for that."
"I was really… really worried."
"Yup."
"You don"t listen to my words and you disappear without notice. It was really hard on me."
"Yup, I"m sorry about that."
"And what was with that emoticon. You"re too relaxed. Use your head a bit more."
"Yup."
"Really, you"re an absolute…idiot."
"Yup."
"……I"m glad that you"re safe."
"Yes, thank you."
Speaking until this point, Nis.h.i.+no-kun gently hugs Rikkchan. What a surprise. So he shows such a vulnerable side of him to his companions. It slightly changing my thoughts about Nis.h.i.+no-kun.
By the way, while I"m moved by the reunion, I lost my chance to sneak away by myself. Should I just throw up? Like what Ichinose-san would do?
Never mind. Let"s just wait for now. The chance to move alone should come soon enough.