Episode 7: Day Forty-Six
From the next day onward, Yuma’s steady battle continued. He was awakened early in the morning by Mamezou’s barking, and he went out into the garden, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
He held the prepared set of Hammer, Gas Burner, and Cooling Spray under his arm, and peered into the hole where the dog was barking. As expected, the metallic Slime was wriggling around.
“Alright, let’s do it with the usual procedure…”
First, he sprayed the Cooling Spray to stop the Slime’s movement, then he scorched it with the Gas Burner. After repeating this two or three times, fine cracks appeared on the surface of the Metal Slime.
“Now, with this…”
Yuma swung down the Hammer he was holding, and a high-pitched sound rang out with a pariin.
The Metal Slime’s body, which had become brittle, shattered into pieces and disappeared as sand.
The work itself was simple, but he had used up the Gas Burner’s canister, so he had to buy a new one.
Yuma looked at his wallet and sighed deeply.
“If I have to buy this every time, my allowance will disappear.”
Purchasing a new one each time it ran out was quite tough on a high school student’s wallet. He repeated this kind of life for many days, and then came the forty-sixth day…
“Darn it! It won’t appear!! Magic Gems aren’t appearing at all!!”
Yuma stuck only his upper body out of the Hole and collapsed onto the ground. Mamezou, his pet dog, whined worriedly, “Kuuuuhn.”
“It’s no good, Mamezou… I’ve been doing this for almost two months, but there are no results at all. I’m already getting tired of this.”
Mamezou licked Yuma’s face as he complained.
“Ummm, that’s right. It’s for the sake of one hundred million. Waking up early every day for nothing, my allowance disappearing on strange expenses, it’s all for the sake of one hundred million… I have to endure it.”
Yuma brushed off the mud on his body and crawled out of the Hole. When he stroked the head of Mamezou, who came close to him, Mamezou wagged his tail while panting.
“You’re happy when the Slime disappears, aren’t you?”
Yuma smiled wryly at the opportunistic Mamezou and returned to the house.
◇◇◇
The season changed from summer to autumn, and a slightly chilly wind brushed his cheeks.
On the way to high school, Yuma walked along, constantly thinking about how many more Slimes he would have to defeat.
“Yo! Good morning!”
“Whoa!”
Suddenly being called out to made his body react with a jolt.
When he turned around, Kaede Ichinose, his childhood friend, was there. Although they were in different classes, their houses were close to each other, so they often saw each other on the way to and from school.
“You’re amazing, you used to come to school at the last minute, but you’ve been early lately.”
“N-no, I just started waking up a little earlier.”
“Hmm, a change of heart, perhaps?”
Kaede brought her face closer and teased him. Her short bobbed hair swayed softly, and he could faintly smell her shampoo.
When they were children, she dressed like a boy, but now she had become completely feminine.
When she gave him a cheerful smile, his heart pounded in his chest.
“Maybe it’s because I’ll be a senior next year, so I’ve become more aware?”
“That’s not it!”
Yuma couldn’t help but turn his face away from Kaede, who was smiling innocently.
“Hey, do you know what Rui’s been up to lately?”
“Rui? What’s wrong with Rui?”
Amasawa Rui was another childhood friend of Kaede’s. They used to play together a lot when they were younger, but after entering high school and being in different classes, they had fewer opportunities to meet.
“He’s obsessed with Dungeons now, and he’s just studying that.”
“Dungeons!?”
Yuma’s eyes widened at the sudden word.
“He wants to work for a Dungeon-related company in the future. He seems to be visiting Dungeons in various places on his days off.”
“H-heeh~, are Dungeon-related companies profitable? It seems unstable, though…”
“Eh? Yuma, don’t you know? Dungeon-related companies are a growing industry now. Medical ventures are all entering the market.”
According to Kaede, there are several types of Dungeons, and the most important of them is the “White Dungeon.”
The Magic Gems that are Generated are colorless and transparent, and the magical effect is “the healing of injuries and illnesses.” It is said that a skilled user can completely cure injuries and illnesses that cannot be cured by modern medicine.
As a result, enormous amounts of money are involved, and some overseas Dungeon-related companies have a market capitalization of several trillion yen.
“I didn’t know at all. So that’s what’s been happening…”
“Rui is amazing, isn’t he? He already has a clear vision of his future.”
Yuma felt complicated as he glanced at Kaede, who was muttering in admiration.
–Like me, Rui is also involved with Dungeons. And he’s thinking about his future realistically… That’s completely different from me, who’s been hitting a lump of metal every day.
“Yuma, have you thought about your future?”
“Eh?”
Yuma was suddenly asked by Kaede, and he could only manage to answer, “Not really…”