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Memento Mori
「Pardon our intrusion. Rinko-senpai.」
「Hmm. Welcome. Touma-kun.」
Rinko, listlessly tending the store at the counter, raised her face.
Her sleepy eyes twinkled, as she yawned and went 「Kua」.
「What can I do for you today? Shopping? Maintenance of equipment? Or perhaps sex?」
「
 I don’t think a girl should be talking about sex so casually.」
「Hmm. Then, maintenance of our club members who have been broken by you, Touma-kun?」
Rinko’s corners of her mouth, as she propped her elbows on the counter and rested her chin on top of it, rose at once.
Rather than a smile, it was a meaningful grin like that of a Cheshire cat.
Even though it was a pleasant season thriving with fresh greenery, for some reason Touma’s face was dripping with sweat.
「What might you be talking about?」
「Hmm. The girl I asked you to take care of the other day, rather, all of them are showing prognostic symptoms, you see. So I’d like to ask you to take some responsibility, or something.」
「My memory is–.」
「About once a week, please. If you are unwilling, then I’ll request it through Mikan-chan, though. She’s a President who is dearly care for her club members after all, so if I explain to her the circumstances in detail
」
「Yes, ma’am.」
Listlessly, 「Then please」, she said as she pushed her will onto Touma, who was dripping with sweat.
「Hello. Thank you for the other day.」
「You’re welcome. You girls are Touma-kun’s party members, right? There are quite a lot of you today, aren’t there?」
With a sweet smile on her face, Shizuka greeted her as their representative.
「Yes. It seems that Touma-san will end up getting caught in trouble if he’s left to his own device, so we, his partners, have decided to accompany him.」
「Hmmm. Trouble, huh? Indeed, Touma-kun is a lot like a troublemaker, after all.」
Shizuka, maintaining her smile, and Rinko, still with a grin like that of a Cheshire cat, were staring at each other.
Leaving aside Touma who had turned into air, Saki was nervous and flustered, while Miharu and Natsumi were trembling and clasping their hands together.
「It’s not common to have four partners, you know? I wonder if it won’t catch the eyes of the people around you?」
「Touma-san has a strong desire to monopolize. If something bad were to happen to us, it would surely give raise to an uproar.」
「Oh, hmm, looks like he’s taking good care of you. I wonder if all of you have become like that?」
「
 Yes.」
「That is to say, looks like he’s really not a 『Gigolo』 or a 『Peerless Lord』, huh. Since when it comes to these classes, the more they spread it, the weaker their dominating power becomes, after all. It’s quite hard to believe, though.」
When it came to enslavement effects toward the opponent sex, those of 『Gigolo (Elf)』 branching classes were weak, and mostly ended up getting nullified.
In the case of 『Harlot (Nymph)』, on the contrary, the opposite sex was all object of their enslavement, and they were not dependent on anyone in particular.
「Then, as expected, I guess I should forget the matter of recruiting him, huh. If I have him shoulder them all, even Touma-kun may end up dying, after all.」
「I, understand. Let us have a talk later.」
「Yea, yea
. It seems tough, huh?」
「The name is Shizuka. Let’s get along well, senpai.」
Giving a sidelong glance to Shizuka and Rinko, who were exchanging a firm handshake, the pale-faced Touma was drenched with sweat.
「To easily and thoroughly overwrite them like that, it’s completely unforeseen. Hmm, well, him snatching them away from those previous bastards is worthy of celebration, though. But Shizuka-chan, that means it’s impossible for you girls to overcome it, perhaps?」
「Educating Touma-san is also the duty of his partners, after all. Please cooperate with us too, Senpai.」
「Okey dokey. You can just call me Ringo. Let’s get along well, okay?」
◇ ◇ ◇
「Whoa. What’s wrong, Touma-kun? You don’t look so good.」
「Don’t worry about it.」
To the point of my sight being on the same level as Mikan-senpai’s, my stomach and intensities are pressured by some mysterious burden.
I am soothed by Mikan-senpai who looks into my face with concern.
「Did you stay up late? You have to properly sleep at night, you know?」
The figure of her raising her finger in the lecturing pose is pretty.
The only one seated on the opposite side of me at the chabudai space at the back of the club room is Mikan-senpai.
Saki and the twin sisters are also seated, but it’s already cramped with us alone.
The prefab clubroom building doesn’t have that much of a space to begin with.
By the way, Shizuka is talking with Rinko-senpai at the counter.
I do think that deepening friendships is a good thing, but for some reason cold sweat is running down my back.
「I’m sorry for making you wait. The factory is still closed, you see.」
An apologetic Mikan-senpai comes offering some rice crackers.
The fault lies with the ineptitude of the academy, so I have no intention of blaming her.
「I’ve come for a different matter from that. We picked up a lot of things in the dungeon, but just in case, I thought about asking you to take a look at them, Mikan-senpai.」
「Umm, yes. I’ll take a look at them as many as you like, but are you sure you’re not pushing yourself?」
I wonder if I’m that pale.
No, perhaps she’s worried that I’m forcing myself to dive into the dungeon.
Mikan-senpai sure is a compassionate person.
As I am feeling warm and fluffy, with a tak, a cup of tea is served on the chabudai.
It’s not one directly poured from a PET bottle, but a warm sencha.
「Thank you, Kurumi-chan.」
It is glaring-san-senpai who I have recollection of.
And sure enough, she is intently glaring at me.
Among the senpais who are observing us from the other side of the partition, dazed-senpai and chubby-senpai are also present.
「For her to take out her treasured tea, looks like you have completely become a valued customer.」
I thought I was being glared at as if to tell me to get the hell out of here at once, but could it be that I am being welcomed here?
As they whisper something among them, I can hear words like beast, licentious beast, the size is impossible for Prez, or something.
It’s a mystery why they’re edging slightly ahead and going whoa~ and kyaa~.
Also, Miharu and Natsumi are secretly pinching my butt, but it hurts, so please stop.
「First of all, these are items that came from the treasure chest.」
「Wow, it’s a Maken (magic/cursed sword). It’s Blue Sword from the elemental series.」
Her eyes glitter at the blue colored sword on the table.
「A maken, is it? Is it different from the magic items you told me before?」
「Both drop items from monster and weapons that come out of treasure chests are basically the same.」
What I was told before was about the grades of 『No Name』, 『Named』 and 『Origin Gear』.
Actually, this grade category has nothing to do with the strength of the armament.
Even if it contains a lot of magical energy, if it doesn’t have any special abilities, then it’s 『No Name』, and even if it contains a tiny amount of magical energy, if it has special abilities, then it’s 『Named』.
As for 『Origin Gear』, regardless of it being powerful or weak, at any rate it’s 『special』, it seems.
Blue Sword seems to fall under the category of 『No Name』.
It seems to contain an elemental spirit (Element) 『Water (Aqua)』 as an attribute.
This so-called attribute is an elemental spirit (Element) contained in the material metal, and can’t be called a special ability, it seems.
Also, there are two systems of elemental spirits (Element), the four elements (Elemental) and the yin-yang and five elements (Wuxing).
The four elements (Elemental) are fire (Flame), water (Aqua), wind (Air), and earth (Erath).
The Yin Yang and the Five Elements (Wuxing) are based on the five basic phases of fire (Flame), water (Aqua), earth (Earth), metal (Metal), and wood (Wood).
Most of the elemental spirits (Element) that come out of Western dungeons are of the four elements (Elemental), and only some parts of the Eastern dungeons produce magic items of the Yin Yang and the Five Elements (Wuxing).
Just in case, the ones from our dungeon are also of the yin-yang and five-element systems (Wuxing).
It will appear on the second-year test, so be sure to memorize it, okay? Or so what Mikan-senpai said with a smug look on her face.
「Auu
.」
Saki’s holding her head with her eyes rolling, but if you just let it go in one ear and out the other like I do, it’s no big deal at all.
Perhaps getting tired of pinching my butt, Miharu and Natsumi are relaxing and becoming all fluffy with a cup of tea in their hands.
There sure is no girl who seems to be bright headed in our party, huh? Or so I think.
Well, Blue Sword is a watery sword, I guess taking it as such should be alright.
「
 Well, you are not mistaken, but it works well against monsters that have a lot of fire components, you see.」
「I see.
That sounds like a pain, so let’s just beat them all up with physics.
I think if you crush them, they will mostly die.
As for Vulcan Ruby Ring, it’s a boost item for magic that contains fire (Flame) attribute, and its grade is 『Named』.
It seems to be a mouth-watering item for the superior class of 『Arts User (Magi)』, especially 『Spirit User (Shaman)』 branching.
Looks like we can sell it for a good price.
「Huh, you’re going to sell it? I think it would be better to use it yourselves, though.」
「It doesn’t fit well with the class of my party members.」
Blue Sword is a double-edged straight sword, a long sword with about one meter of blade length, but for Saki, a 『Sword Master』, the uchigata she is currently using seems to be easier to use.
As for Seiichi, it doesn’t suit his style, so he declines it.
I could have given it to Shizuka and the others as a spare weapon, but I feel like they’ll end up cutting their feet or something, so it’s scary.
As for the ring, Mai may want it, so further discussion is needed.
「I see, Saki-chan is aiming to be a 『Samurai』, huh. That means it’s not good if it’s not a katana, right
.」
「Ah, err, yes
. Umm.」
Saki is a good girl who can’t tell lies, so her gaze and slip of the tongue are plain suspicious.