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「… Narrative of a vagabond named Ishmael….」
「Shizuka-chan!」
Shizuka, who had been crouched in a corner of the dimly lit upper floor with a rag over her whole body, stood on the spiral staircase.
Her feverish smile and murmured fragmented words brought chills to the hearts of the members.
The worst trouble that could occur in a raid quest: mental collapse.
As the compensation of their memories and experiences not getting reset, the damage received to their minds would last even after they went outside.
「Shizuka….」
Mai covered her mouth, but the twin sisters supporting Shizuka from both sides sported a happy look on their faces.
「It’s okay. I’ve figured out what kind of place this place is.」
「Err, Shizuka-chan. Are you really okay?」
「Yes. I got a contact from Touma-san. Right now he’s on top of the boss together with Doggy-san.」
「… Oh my.」
In the midst of the excited members, Kaoru let out a sigh and scratched her cheek.
「Danna-sama is so unfair. I want to slay the boss too!」
「I wasn’t worried, but…. As usual, he’s too over the top, isn’t he?」
「I’m not sure what you mean by contact…, but, well, it’s Touma-kun we’re talking about after all, so I guess anything is possible. But to make everyone worried, when he comes back, he need to be punished.」
「So, Shizuka-chan. What do you mean by you’ve figured it out, I wonder?」
Shizuka nodded at Kaoru’s words, but then looked up at the top of the lighthouse.
「The name of the boss, the scaffolding where Touma-san is, is Moby Dick. In other words, this place is the world of 『Moby Dick: Or, the Whale』, a full-length novel written by the 19th century American novelist Melville.」
Name, 『Moby Dick』
Race, Divine Beast
Attribute, Water
Rank, 217
Ability, 『Lord of the Depth (Abyss Lord)』, 『Envy』, 『False God』
Existence Level, ☆☆☆☆
「A Tatarigami (Curse God) born from the grudge of whales, which in the latter half of the 19th century were overfished by American whaler fleets in all oceans throughout the world.」
◇ ◇ ◇
As there was the case from the last time, I was worried about Shizuka who had ended up getting separated from me, and when I tried to stroke the Shizuka crystal, somehow, I ended up being able to access it easily.
I think it would have been nice if there had been a bit more of such a dramatic bonding event.
Feeling-wise, it feels like we’re separated about as far away as Asagi-sou and the academy building.
The communication with Shizuka was like a radio with poor signal condition, but I’m glad we were able to confirm each other’s safety.
It appears that the experience of doing a slightly maniacal abandonment play, following Shizuka’s suggestion, has paid off.
It was a chaotic situation, with Shizuka-san being so frantic that it was a little scary, and Miharu and Natsumi for some reason jamming the transmission, but I think we were able to share the bare minimum information.
「… I’m hungry.」
Slumped down with a plop, Doggy-san is making a feeble complaint while her stomach is growling.
The style that incites sympathy to the limit.
There is by no means imminent danger in our current situation, but starvation is a slow-acting poison that kills humans.
Hunger can easily cloud one’s judgment as well as cause hypoglycemic hunger-knock.
In addition, even from a survival standpoint, we most likely would not last more than three days if we couldn’t secure some drinking water.
I can’t help but say that we’ve fallen to an extremely severe situation.
「U~u~」
As I eat the dango that Yuki-chan has supplied me with, I defend myself against Doggy-san who is clinging to me with moist teary eyes.
The country-style mitarashi dango has a gentle taste.
Moreover, I’ve also been given some blue coconut-like fruit, so I pluck off the stem parts and drink the coconut water.
The tropical taste is very fruity.
I think this is probably the fruit of an ent that was mimicking a coconut tree.
It seems that they are raised rapidly in Yuki-chan’s field inside the Item Box.
「U~u~u~…」
I come to feel as if I’m bullying the teary and drooling Doggy-san, so I decide to eat it with her.
「Dango is yummy~.」
「Mmm.」
The additional dango, which are wrapped in bamboo leaves, are a collaboration of an (red bean paste) and zunda (edamame bean paste).
The half-crushed mochi, where there are still some grains of rice left, has a handmade feeling to it.
While offering gratitude to Yuki-chan, we’re having a dango festival, which is arranged in a neat manner.
The ▼ GP bar memory of Doggy-san, who is blissfully biting into the skewers held in both hands, is recovering heartily.
It’s rare to see a dual SP and GP bar.
I’ve never seen such a thing on anyone besides myself.
「It was delicious~.」
The bar memory of Doggy-san, who is happily grooming herself, is decreasing rapidly, even though she is not doing anything.
「… I’m hungry.」
「The fuel efficiency is too low.」
Being able to recover GP, which is hard to recover, just by eating food seems convenient.
But if you don’t eat anything, it seems to decrease on its own and end up making you hungry.
Quite a tricky type.
Well, I think it’s due to the influence of the unreadable status, but I wonder if there’s something buggy about it.
Name, 『. ￡⌒ ki A. . †.』
Race, . .an
Attribute, None
Rank, 10+34e
Ability, 『Hu. ∽』, 『The Deadly Sin of Gluttony』
Existence Level, . . ★
「Fem . . . dent ◇. ±third￢ Ox Group . ∂ashi . . emy .」
When I try staring at Doggy-san with the upgraded Interface, as expected the reading is still weird and buggy.
I get the feeling that that’s totally not good.
It’s like the one that ought to be there originally is being encroached or something, and if left as is, it will end up turning into something completely different.
「Doggy-san.」
「What’s up? I mean, c’mon, call me properly by my name. … Err, yes, it’s Asura. Asura-chan is me!」
I think that’s not quite the case.
There’s not much left already.
It seems like Doggy-san, who is puffing up her chest while her stomach is growling, is somewhat aware of it herself.
I try tracing the Interface, but there is no response.
I wonder what the difference is between her and Shizuka and the others.
「Doggy-san.」
「Boo boo. Hand over your food~.」
「This quest is a raid that we, the Orders of the Divine Workman (Adept Orders), are challenging. You’re an extra, Doggy-san.」
「Err, yes… I’m sorry…」
The docile Doggy-san is reflecting.
I guess she was merely lured by the delicious scent and didn’t mean any harm.
「The president of the club is me, in other words I’m the leader of the raid party. You’re one of the party members, Doggy-san.」
「… I can join too?」
「Yes. I’m the leader and you’re a member, Doggy-san. Is that okay?」
「Yes. Ehehe.」
Alright, I got her commitment.
The reaction of Interface has been liberated.
I think this 『The Deadly Sin of Gluttony』, the only ability that is active continuously, is the cause of it all.
In front of Doggy-san, who is making a dubious face, I use the pop-up command to restore her status information.
For some reason, the backup data necessary for the restoration is pulled from the 『Watchdog of the Bottomless Pit (Over-Gluttony Gear)』.
I wonder what kind of item it really is.
It’s like it’s assimilated with Doggy-san, like it’s unified with her.
At first, I thought it was the cause of the problem, but in fact, it seems to have been protecting Doggy-san.
Name, 『Kamizuki Asura』
Race, Human
Attribute, Apostle
Rank, 10+10e+1e
Ability, 『Human』, 『Original Sin of Gluttony』, 『Apostle of Gluttony』
Existence Level, ☆★★
「Female student of the third-year Ox Group at Toyoashihara Academy.」
Pretty much something like that.
Her level appeared to be overflowing, so I ended up secretly letting her have a class change.
Her cumulative level ended up decreasing a bit, but I hope she doesn’t mind it.
Or rather, Doggy-san-slash-Asura-san turned out to be a girl.
「Hmm? Hmmm? Huh, somehow… I’m hungry~.」
Doggy-san tilts her head, but in the end, her stomach is growling.
It seems that not much has changed.
◇ ◇ ◇
Under the curtain of night, the endlessly repeating sea roar was reverberating in the air.
The day and night that went around in the Raid domain, the 『Demon of the Deep』, were nothing more than a stage set.
With a click, as if someone had flipped the switch, day and night suddenly switched places.
Six hours of day and six hours of night were the set time of the first act.
Compared to the daytime world, which closely resembled the real world, the nighttime world looked like an eerie real-life fairy tale, with suspended stars and a smiling crescent moon.
「Thanks for the night watch. It’s time for shift change.」
「Oh, my. Thank you.」
The scent of tea rising from the offered mug made Kaoru, who was standing guard in front of the lighthouse gate, smile.
「But is it really okay, I wonder? I don’t mind being the night watchman all the time, though….」
「Currently, you’re the greatest fighter we have, so we’d like you to be on your top condition all the time, Senpai.」
「That’s not it, I mean, is it really okay to let me into a place where there are only girls?」
「Ah… It’s okay, I guess. To be honest, I was never worried about that.」
Sitting down next to him, Seiichi took a sip from his cup of instant coffee.
「Well, I think you’re probably someone of my kind, Senpai.」
「… I see. He’s that much of a conspicuous child, so I figured someone must have been keeping him in check.」
The sea roar was simply repeated.
「Just in case, there’s something I’d like to make sure.」
「What is it, I wonder?」
「The students of our academy who are in that town… Is there really nothing we can do about that?」
「… Yeah. Nothing.」
As they had ended up getting trapped in the 『World (Raid)』 once, the method to detach them was yet confirmed.
Those girls were the mere shadow of their former selves, who were thrown in to stabilize the singularity of the dungeon.