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“The more I eat this… The more addictive it becomes…!” (Kure)
Kure mumbles as if he is being drowned in the heat. He is breathing hard, sweating profusely, pupils fully dilated, but still continuously gobbling the food.
“I can’t stop… why can’t I stop…!” (Sou)
The figure of Utsuki, who was sobbing but still kept on eating, I suspected that we might be on some kind of weird drug.
After eating the noodles for dinner, we all lay down with our stomachs full. The smell of garlic and the sense of immorality that rises up from our stomachs fill our chests. If I burp, I feel like mosquitos will die.
“You smell like a big garlic, squeak! Don’t you dare breathe, squeak!” (Tamiko)
A ferocious protest came from the lone squirrel that escaped from the clutches of the devil. I couldn’t do anything about it. I’ll have some mint mushrooms later.
“Ah… I was thinking of having you pick us up in the city tomorrow for the first time in a while… but that’s impossible…” (Kure)
“I’m afraid I’m going to get a bad reputation, so can you please stop?” (Shuu)
I think it’s best that he should refrain from going to the guild tomorrow. It’s no way to be depressed if you’re given a nickname such as a mouthy rookie or worse.
Noa comes back after cleaning up. I put the tea on the table, and finally it’s time to get down to business.
“Um… There were a lot of things, and it’s too long to talk about… So, I’d like to hear about Noa first.” (Shuu)
Once again, I encountered the shadow of a demon, and on top of that, I got up close and personal with a Beast King. The content is too much and will take time to understand, so it would be better to put it later.
“At any rate, that means you can transfer from the Ikebukuro branch, right? Did you have some kind of trouble?” (Shuu)
First of all, I want to clarify the reason for the dark ambiance. If not, the damage done to the body and mind will not come to light.
Noa and Kure looked mystified.
Noa takes something out of her backpack and lays it out on the dining table. It was a piece of paper with a circular pattern on it the size of a business card–the Test Sheet that Tamiko and I had used when wee registered with the guild. There are two types of paper: one for Fungal Level verification and the other for Fungal Class verification.
A [Dagger] is pressed against one of her fingertips. The finger, beaded with blood, is placed on the test paper for the Fungal Level verification.
The blood slowly and stretches further out as if drawing a thread. The red line that follows the scale stops at exactly 30.
“Oh, level 30. …30? Weren’t you 28?” (Shuu)
When we first measured it at the inn in Sugamo, it was 24. Then she went up four in Ouji. If I’m not mistaken, it should be 28.
“…Yes, even by my calculations, it should be 28. But… as you can see.” (Noa)
What’s going on inside her head? Tamiko and I looked at her confused. Continuing on, Noa also pressed her finger on the Fungal Class Tesh Sheet.
A hexagonal shape showing the six Fungal Classes. The red line extends to [Craftsman] in the lower right corner – and reaches the end.
“……eh?” (Shuu)
As I recall, the last time she did this, it stopped about two-thirds of the way down. The [Craftsman] a basic Fungal Class that stops in the middle, and the [Puppeteer] its advanced class reaches the very corner.
The [Knight] system at the top and the [Illusionist] system at the top left are also growing, as before, but there is also a small growth in the [Healer] system at the bottom left. This was not the case in the previous test.
“…why is it different from before?” (Shuu)
Unless this is a bug, it means that Noa is now a [Puppeteer] and can learn from the [Healer] system as well.
“…Yes. At this moment, it seems that I am now a [Puppeteer] the advance class of the [Craftsman] system.” (Noa)
“Wow! A class change! …Is that possible?” (Sou)
I think I heard a glimpse of it before, was it Obuchi who said it? As I recall, he said that basically the Fungal Class is inborn and never changes throughout one’s life, but on rare occasions it can change to a Higher Rank Fungal Class.
As expected, the three of us, with the exception of Tamiko and I, looked at each other with serious expressions on our faces.
“I’ve never seen it before, at least not with Ms. Ikari,” Kure said.
“I’ve heard rumors about it,” said Utsuki. “Most of the time it seems to be a case of an error in the initial registration or a defective piece of Test Sheet. But if that’s the case with Ms. Ikari, If that’s the case with you, it could be with my first time, too.”
Why did such a rare phenomenon suddenly happen to Noa?
With that in mind, I can only think of one thing. I clenched my jaw tightly.
Tamiko looked around at everyone.
“Noa, you are getting stronger, squeak? Are you not happy, squeak?” (Tamiko)
“……I am……” (Noa)
Noa closed her eyes. Her face is filled with emotions like confusion and fear, not the anger and frustration she had before.
Five days ago. Around the time that Tamiko and I arrived at Rikugi Village after accepting the quest, Noa and Kure had also arrived at Ikebukuro by the crocodile bus.
That same day, they went to the branch office and applied to be transferred to Sugamo. Since she had no appointment and the staff was not available, the examination and processing were to take place the next day.
In her spare time, Noa looked around the territory and visited her parents’ home in a former settlement outside the territory. It had been six months since she had been there, so she was not as nostalgic for her hometown.
“I will be looking for something, at my parents’ house.” (Noa)
“Is it something important?” (Kure)
“… well, something like that.” (Noa)
Kure was not a constant companion to Noa, and he was able to enjoy his first visit to Ikebukuro to his heart’s content. The first time he went to Ikebukuro, he went to a dojo that teaches swordsmanship and martial arts to test his skills and check out some of the city’s good-looking men. I’ll let that par slide.
The next day, the examination was held as promised. If there were no problems, the procedure would be completed the next day at the earliest, but a problem occurred.
The applicant’s test paper was required to be attached to the documents to be submitted to Sugamo. So Noa used the paper as she was told, but found that she was “Fungal Level: 30” and “Fungal Class: ‘Puppeteer'”. Both the Fungal Level and the Fungal Class were different from what she had reported.
The most surprised person was Noa herself, but the problem was not that her level was not the same as when she registered as a hunter. Since the Test Sheets from three years ago were kept together with the documents (normally, used test papers are often discarded, but apparently the staff at that time kept them diligently), she was not suspected of “reporting a false Fungal Class at the time of registration,” but for the time being, the branch was to deliberate the matter.
This was an unprecedented change to a Higher Rank Fungal Class in the Ikebukuro branch, which has a long history. Although Noa herself had no idea what was going on, she was interviewed in detail about her past activities (as much as she could tell them, of course), and her physical examinations and Fungal Skill test was also conducted. There, once again, a new revelation was made. Noa had acquired a Fungal Skill that she did not remember ever having acquired.
“Oh, seriously? What kind of ability?” (Shuu)
I asked her, but a shiver ran down my spine as I thought of it.
(No way—the [Spirit Ball] from that time?) (Shuu)
Noa stands up silently. Spreading her palm, showing the back of her hand to the others and me, she lightly waved her hand in front of her chest.
Then, I could see something glittering in the light of the lamp in the living room.
“Woah, no way—” (Shuu)