Chapter 34: The Occult Slayer and the Young Man (2)
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…I slew the fish moving through the sand walls and ceiling, completely absorbed in single-mindedly destroying the enemy while aiming for the top floor.
Climbing one of the many sand stairways I’ve seen so often by now, I crushed the enemies, who had become stronger with the floors, with single blows, just to finally reach the highest floor. Beyond the stairway lay the fifth floor with the boss room.
At the end of a long sandstone corridor waited a guy on a throne of sand with elaborate design. As if claiming to be the king of this world. He slowly got up and directed his bloodlust alongside his mana at me.
The monster facing me was a bipedal, humanoid sea slug abomination. Its whole body was covered by the shell of a crab. This shell, a crafted armor for the slug person, looked like it possessed quite a bit of defensive power. It had a sea slug mouth on its face which was covered by a helmet. It wasn’t scary or anything, but simply creepy.
However, it’s doubtlessly as strong as the Devourer I fought earlier today. I can tell from the sensation of my skin tingling being the same as the one in my memory. But, the will to face this fear exists within me.
For now I’ll forget everything and revel in battle once again.
I readied my sword, but just before I could fight it…
A sword flash. The slug head was suddenly lopped off. Having lost all strength, its body shook violently and crumbled on the spot.
Haaah? My slug boss…
Blended into the sound of the boss turning into embers and bursting were footsteps of someone walking across sandstone.
“Hahahaha, Hiro, how foolish. How truly foolish you are. You foooooooooool!!”
Probably having used Invisibility, Satoha revealed herself. It looked as if her body regained its colors. She was holding a western sword. The remains of the boss were stuck to its blade as ash.
“It’s vexing to have the boss snatched away from you right under your nose, isn’t it!? It’s mortifying that you couldn’t fight it, right!? Y-Yaaaay!”
Satoha’s face was twisted in rage and her tension had become slightly weird.
“This is because you selfishly charged into the dungeon while leaving me behind! T-That’s terrible of you, you know!?”
“…Satoha.”
She had used her Invisibility to tail me without a doubt. This time I didn’t manage to notice her either.
“You might be angry that you didn’t get to fight the boss, but that’s your fault! Yes, you’re to blame, Hiro!! Never had I expected that you would just rush into the dungeon like that without chasing after me! Watching you enter the dungeon, I pulled a face as if I was an idiot! I-I was worried about you, okay? Any normal person would have run after me back there!”
Her cheeks twitched in apparent anger. She was talking to me with her face and movements clearly telling me that she was extremely pissed.
It’s my first time to see her reveal her bare emotions so openly. Watching her move in a way that was quite opposite to her first impression of being level and calm, I felt like I could see the true motive hidden within.
“Come on, Hiro! Don’t you have any excuses to make? If you like, we can also fight just as you always wish, you know? If it’s right now, I will thoroughly beat you up without holding back anything. Seriously. You will end up in tatters within seconds.”
She whirled the spear in her hand around as mana gushed out of her. The fighting spirit coming from here was the strongest I had encountered thus far. But, she──
I tried to forget things by forcing myself to fight, but eventually I’ll run out of enemies.
“…Sorry.”
“Eh?”
“…Seriously, I’m sorry for leaving you behind. I probably hurt you, Satoha. And, you probably followed me in here thinking that it’d be bad if something happened and because you were worried, right?”
Come to think of it, I feel there were only a few fish attacks coming at me from behind. She probably thinned them out for me.
I should have talked it over with her. After all, we’re going to fight together from now on. I have no doubts that she got her own reasons, and I also have my own reasons…and wishes.
“Eh…no…umm…”
“…I’m really sorry. And thanks, Satoha. Let’s go outside for the time being.”
“It’s different from what I had anticipated…,” muttered Satoha and returned the spear into an octahedron, before putting it away underneath her hem while looking as if she didn’t understand what was going on.
“If it was until a little while ago, he should have slashed his sword at me as soon as the challenge left my mouth…he should have been more than happy to duke it out, going by his attitude so far…he’s a “warrior.” He shouldn’t be actually thinking of anything but battle, and yet…just what the heck is going on…?” She kept mumbling under her breath, but I couldn’t quite catch all of it.
Anyway…how should I put it…I suppose it’s all fine if we got this out of the way now. Still I feel emotionally touched since it’s been a really long time since I actually felt depressed.
Satoha stopped her brooding, took a deep breath, and said while staring into my face, “…I’m also sorry for not having listened to your side of things. Please forgive me, Hiro.” She looked me straight in the eyes as she curtly bowed her head. “But, just to make sure, let us set up some rules. Otherwise, you will probably dive into dungeons until you die.”
At that point she stopped, suddenly lowered her eyes, and seemed quite hesitant for some reason. Then she continued with a quiet voice as if weighing each of her words, “Also, I’m not saying this so as to order you around, but because I’m genuinely worried about you. Besides…I don’t want to see you become such a person.”
She said those last words with a weak, fading voice.
If she were to take this in a business manner, she could just make me stronger and thus follow the management’s expectations of her. But, she doesn’t do that. Instead she’s trying to properly communicate with me and show me a walkable path. Realizing that, a warm feeling spread in my chest.
What, so Amamiya Satoha is a kindhearted girl after all.
“Thanks, Satoha.”
She averted her face a bit, looking embarrassed, and then headed towards the reward room, leaving me behind. After I went after her, we picked up some good-looking items, and then searched for a restaurant to eat dinner together.
There’s a business district right next to the train station. In a set-meal restaurant, where you could drop-by, we discussed and decided the rules while eating.
Agreement with Amamiya Satoha
- I won’t enter C-Class dungeons and above without Satoha. The frequency depends on discussion.
- Diving into D-Class dungeons and below is limited to five times a day.
- I will always inform Satoha about the time and location whenever I raid a dungeon by myself.
“Let’s go with these as general rules.”
She let the fountain pen, which she had taken out of her bag, dance on top of her slender fingers. Then she handed me the note which had the rules written down in such a pretty and clear writing style that you could wonder whether she was a professional typesetter or something.
Given that those rules had been created while taking my opinion into account, I could come to terms with them.
There’s a lot of things both of us don’t know. I’m quite sure she knows about stuff as Occult Slayer I never heard of. Maybe she happened to see people like me in the past too.
After finishing our dinner, we left the restaurant. The sun had already gone down and it was night outside. With the electric lightning in front of the station in her back, she looked at me.
“Hiro, if you fight a lot, you need just as much rest, okay? I will accompany you in that as well.”
“That’s…why?”
About to leave just like that, she quickly walked up to me, leaned forward with her arms behind her back, and peered at me.
“It’s only during times of peace that you can find a balance with battles that strongly stimulate human instincts.
Also────
It’s okay if you tell me when you’re ready for it, but I would like to know why you wish to fight so much, Hiro.”
Her eyes were pinned at my face, trying to peer into the depths of my being.
This was the beginning of my life of dungeon clearing with the Occult Slayer Amamiya Satoha.
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