Episode 117: Water Magical Power
Yuma and Tanaka peered into the silver case together, voices of admiration escaping their lips at the sight of over ten Magic Gems.
“I gathered them in a hurry, but the Mana Index is only around 370. This was the limit. Sorry, Kanzaki-san.”
“Hmm, well, can’t be helped! I’m grateful just to have gotten this much.”
Kanzaki-san honestly thanked him and patted Ishikawa-san on the shoulder.
“Sorry for asking the impossible.”
“It’s nothing. More importantly, your company is on standby duty on the surface, right?”
“Yeah, it’s easy work.”
Ishikawa-san directed a stern gaze at Kanzaki-san, who was laughing as he said that.
“Don’t let your guard down, Kanzaki-san. Even on the surface, there’s a high possibility of Monsters crawling out. In fact, just recently, a pretty strong Monster escaped.”
Kanzaki-san snorted.
“It died in the end, right? Monsters can’t exert much power once they get to the surface. I’m not worried at all.”
Kanzaki-san took a cigarette from his inside pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it. Ishikawa-san was about to say something critical at the sight of this, but—
“More importantly, you’re going down to the hundredth floor, right? Are you sure you’ll be alright?”
“Hmm? Ah, yeah, we’re fully prepared. We have plenty of Seekers, and the number of Seekers involved in construction is also sufficient.”
Yuma was surprised to hear that.
“Eh!? Seekers are doing the construction of the shelter too?”
Kanzaki-san and Ishikawa-san exchanged glances and started laughing in amazement.
“Hey, Yuma! Did you think we could take civilian contractors down to the hundredth floor of the Dungeon? It’s way too dangerous!”
Kanzaki-san pointed out, and Yuma-san agreed, “Indeed… You’re right.”
“We have several Seekers who specialize in construction work. They’re pretty strong.”
Ishikawa-san explained with a smile.
“Of course, even if civilians were undertaking the construction, I’m confident we could protect them.”
Saying that, Ishikawa-san turned his gaze in another direction.
“Speak of the devil. Here they come.”
Yuma also shifted his gaze. Two vehicles were advancing along the asphalt road leading to the dome.
A black, large wagon and a luxurious-looking black 4WD. They cut in front of Yuma and the others and stopped near the entrance of the dome.
The doors opened, and Yuma’s eyes were glued to the person who got out.
“Isn’t that… Elceed Corporation’s Tennoji Hayato-san?”
“Ah, that’s right. That’s our company’s strongest Seeker Clan, ‘Roar of the Raijuu’.”
Tennoji Hayato-san. A Seeker boasting the highest Mana Index in the country, and a user of Thunder Magic.
Yuma, who hadn’t originally known much about Seekers, had recently started studying and had seen Tennoji-san’s figure in magazines many times.
People were getting out of the cars one after another. A giant who must have been over 190cm, and a beautiful woman with tanned skin. “Roar of the Raijuu” was, if he remembered correctly, an eight-member group. As he was thinking this, Yuma’s eyes widened at the person who got out last.
“Rui!”
“Ah, Yuma.”
His usual refreshing smile was there.
“What… what are you doing? In a place like this?”
“Ah, well, actually…”
Ishikawa-san spoke in place of Rui, who was scratching his cheek bashfully.
“Rui is joining ‘Roar of the Raijuu’ from today. As a formal member.”
“Eh? You’re joining ‘Roar of the Raijuu’…”
Behind the bewildered Yuma, Kanzaki-san started laughing cheerfully.
“Hahaha, that’s amazing! Hope-kun, you’ve only been with the company for a few months, right? And you’re already joining the strongest Clan in the country.”
–That’s right. Rui is becoming a member of that “Roar of the Raijuu”…
“N-no… I’m still just a burden.”
Ishikawa-san patted Rui-san on the shoulder as he was being modest.
“He may not have much experience, but his skills are not inferior to the others. He’s truly a rookie beyond expectations!”
Rui-san shrugged bashfully. Seeing that, Kanzaki-san muttered sarcastically.
“So, once again, ‘Professional Scout Ishikawa-sama’s’ hunch has hit the mark perfectly.”
“Scout?”
When Yuma asked curiously, Kanzaki-san replied, “Ah, that’s right.”
“This guy also scouts Seekers for Elceed. He’s the one who discovered Tennoji-san, and he’s scouted many other talented people. He’s good at spotting talent, apparently.”
When Yuma-san said, “Oh, that’s amazing,” in admiration, Ishikawa-san scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
“It’s not like I have a specific job for that. It’s just that I have a hunch, or something like that.”
“A hunch?”
When Yuma asked, Ishikawa-san showed a troubled expression.
“It’s hard to explain, but I can somehow tell whether someone is suited to be a Seeker. I felt a strong talent in Tennoji-san and Rui-san in particular.”
“I see.”
“Well, there was another kid I felt a strong talent in, but that kid didn’t become a Seeker. I do try to recruit them, but not everything goes well.”
Ishikawa-san said that and narrowed his eyes. Was he remembering someone?
“Hey! What are you doing, Rui? Hurry up and come over here!”
A member of “Roar of the Raijuu” who was heading to the dome called out to Rui. Rui also hurriedly replied, “I’ll be right there!” and,
“Sorry, Yuma. I have to go now.”
“Ah, I see. Do your best!”
“Yeah, Yuma, be careful too.”
Rui jogged over to the members of the Seeker Clan and entered the dome-shaped building as they were.
“Well, I’m going too. The other companies’ Seekers should be here by now.”
Ishikawa-san also followed after Rui and the others. Seeing them off, Kanzaki-san said, “Well then,” and turned to face Yuma.
“Let’s leave the big jobs to those guys and do our jobs. Yuma, swallow this.”
What Kanzaki-san held out was the “Water Magic Gem” in the silver case.
“There’s quite a few of them… one, two, three…”
“You can just swallow them all at once! Tanaka-san, water!”
“Ah, yes, yes. Yuma-kun, here you go.”
Tanaka-san took out a plastic bottle from his knapsack and handed it to Yuma. Yuma thanked him and accepted it, grabbing a few Magic Gems.
It seemed difficult to swallow them all at once, so he put about half of them in his mouth.
He took in fourteen Magic Gems in two batches and waited for a while. Then, as usual, his abdomen became hot and gradually subsided.
“It seems I was able to absorb them successfully.”
Yuma clenched and opened his hands repeatedly. He didn’t feel anything particularly different.
“You should be able to use ‘Water Magic’ with considerable power now. Want to try it out?”
Kanzaki-san lowered the drum bag he had been carrying and took out three divided short cylinders from inside. He fitted them into the joints and twisted them to make a single club.
“This is the ‘Water Vein Club’. You should be able to handle it well now.”
Yuma gripped the club handed to him by Kanzaki-san with both hands. The [Magic Enchanted Armament] that he couldn’t use until now because he had almost no Water Magical Power.
Yuma slowly poured Magical Power into it. He had practiced how to release the magic many times.
“Please… please let it work!”
As he stared at the club as if praying, the part he was holding gradually became hot.
A thin blue line stretched out and spread throughout the whole thing.
“Oh!”
The Water Vein Club was imbued with Magical Power and shone with a blue light.