A little before Kageichi met with Ms. Smith Nyamdoré, Kiraboshi, entrusted with the task of choosing her weapon, wore a lost expression inside the shop.
“…Even if you suddenly tell me to choose my own weapon…”
Kiraboshi vaguely felt uneasy, wishing she had been given at least some criteria.
In the first place, Kiraboshi was the type of person who struggled to make decisions on her own.
—The things she wanted had always been rejected by her mother.
Her mother would always say “It’s your choice” but subtly guide Kiraboshi with “This one is better,” and if she disagreed, her mother would relentlessly nag and eventually sulk.
The teachers at school and her classmates were similar.
They would put on a good face but complain behind her back—acting as if it was only natural for Kiraboshi to bear the burden, and in the end, she often ended up taking on troublesome tasks.
Because of these repeated experiences, when Kiraboshi had to decide something for herself, she would first consider how others would see her.
Would she be scolded?
Would she be ridiculed?
Would she stand out from the crowd? …Would she be bullied?
(What kind of weapons do normal Hunters choose?)
When she searched on her Smartphone, countless recommended weapon sets for Dungeon beginners were displayed.
She was fed up with all the advertisements, but most of them recommended short swords and small shields.
They were versatile for both offense and defense, and the price was reasonable (though still around 100,000 yen). But…
(What would the teacher think?)
Would she be disappointed if she chose an ordinary weapon?
Would she be happier if she chose a Bow or Trap-type weapon, like the teacher?
But if she chose a weapon that didn’t suit her and couldn’t fight in the Dungeon, she would surely be scolded by the teacher.
Kiraboshi, being useless, would be fired immediately. If that happened—
“…”
If only it were a problem like math or physics, where you could solve an equation and get an answer.
Being told to choose a weapon that suits her… at this point, she might as well have a weapon personality test on the internet choose for her—
“Hello. You seem quite troubled, what’s wrong?”
“Eh, ah.”
Looking up, she saw the female clerk at the register—a college student with a ponytail wearing a green apron, with a friendly smile.
Her eyes were drawn to the name tag that swayed with her large chest, which read “Hako.”
“…Well… I’m looking for a weapon for Dungeon exploration.”
“Dungeon exploration can mean many things. For front-line fighters, there’s the tank role, which draws the enemy’s attacks. The attacker role, who leads the charge, and the magic warrior role, who uses Skills and swordsmanship together.”
Certainly, many Streamers fought in parties. The division of roles was often clear.
But Kageichi was basically alone.
He did everything himself and defeated everything.
So, what was Kiraboshi’s position?
“Miss, why do you want to enter the Dungeon in the first place?”
What. Why.
Kiraboshi bit her lip tightly.
…Kiraboshi, who couldn’t decide anything for herself.
—Wanted to change that part of herself.
She didn’t want to be ridiculed by others.
She wanted to be able to properly refuse people’s requests.
She wanted to get rid of her timid self, train in the Dungeon, and never… never experience being in a situation where she could be killed again—
“…To become stronger. So that I won’t be made fun of by my friends, parents, or teachers.”
“Then you don’t necessarily have to go to the Dungeon, right?”
“Eh?”
“Well, the Dungeon is easy to understand, but you could also do karate or kendo. Right?”
That was… certainly, those things were suitable for training the mind and body, but.
…Wait. Then why was she so fixated on the Dungeon?
Was it because she had witnessed the teacher’s achievements?
She didn’t know. She didn’t understand—
“…I, I…”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to accuse you. I just wanted to tell you that people are surprisingly unaware of their true feelings. And if you buy a weapon that doesn’t match your true feelings, you and the weapon will both be sad.”
“…The weapon will be sad?”
“As a weapon shop clerk, yes. I don’t deny buying swords, spears, or axes for their appearance or as collectibles. But weapons are meant to be used for fighting, right?”
“Hmm…”
The story of the smiling female clerk… Hako-san, was similar to the “root” that Kageichi had talked about earlier, and she couldn’t grasp the point.
She didn’t quite understand the idea of a weapon being sad either.
But one thing was certain—she was a veteran when it came to Dungeon weapons.
Kageichi had also told her to consult with her if she was having trouble. Then…
“Um, Ms. Clerk… Hako… Hako-san?”
“Hako is correct. It’s an easy-to-remember name, right? Destroying light, it’s very weapon shop-like.”
“I don’t know if it’s weapon shop-like, but… could you help me find a weapon that suits me?”
She was told to choose one herself, but a novice couldn’t do it alone.
Besides, if Kiraboshi chose, she would inevitably worry about appearances…
She felt like she would be scolded for letting others decide for her, but—
Raising her face with a bitter feeling, Hako-san smiled and shook her ponytail.
“Understood. Then, close your eyes.”
“Eh?”
“The magic density on the surface is low. But our Weapon Shop ‘My Shop’ is directly connected to a broken Gate, so the magic concentration is higher than on the surface. That’s why it’s easier to access your magic—your unconscious root.”
Kiraboshi had no idea what she was being told, but she closed her eyelids.
She held out her hand, and Hako-san gently grasped her fingertips and whispered.
“Close your eyes. Imagine your own world in the darkness. …What do you see? It can be something recent. It can be something from the past. Good things, bad things in your life. Remember them.”
“…………”
Kiraboshi felt a sharp pain in her chest as she sank into the sea of memories.
Good things… she didn’t remember many.
At most, that the ice cream today was delicious, or that her grades at school were good.
…If it was bad things… there were mountains of them.
Being called the serious Class Representative at school. Knowing that it was a mockery of her.
Being teased and pushed down by sisters who pretended to be her friends.
Being treated coldly by her mother when she consulted her, being told it was embarrassing. Her father was indifferent, and there were always marital quarrels…
Always. Always only she, enduring—
“…”
Emotions overflowed from the bottom of her heart, and Kiraboshi’s consciousness became clouded.
Ah. The world was truly cramped, suffocating, painful, and arrogant—full of Stress.
And she was truly—towards herself, who only endured and did nothing—
“What do you want to do about it?”
What did she want to do?
She wanted to escape. She wanted to hide. She wanted to be left alone. But… everyone was watching her.
Her parents. Her teachers. Her classmates, entangling her with chains, trapping her, telling her she was a good girl.
That’s why Kiraboshi was suffocating.
Who asked me to be called Class Representative?
I. I—…
“Detection.”
Scolded by Hako-san, Kiraboshi reflexively released Magical Power around her.
A Magical Power Detection method in the Dungeon that she had recently been training and was gradually becoming able to do.
Closing her eyelids, focusing her ears and skin, and releasing Magical Power around her… perhaps because this shop was half Dungeon, the Magical Power returned properly.
Hako-san in front of her. The walls. The shelves. And countless weapons. Each of their Magical Powers rippled against Kiraboshi’s skin like an echo.
—Among them.
One strange reaction that echoed particularly brightly in red.
“…………”
That Magical Power was strangely sweet.
…She didn’t know why, but it was like a smell.
Sensing something that should be described as delicious Magical Power, Kiraboshi, with her eyes closed, was drawn to the delicious-smelling weapon as if she were wandering into a bakery on the street.
She gently reached out her hand.
Even with her eyelids closed, she somehow knew the location of the handle.
She didn’t know the reason.
…However, the moment she held that weapon—something that Kiraboshi Yoshiko had been suppressing.
Against the muddy, hopeless depression, it showed a clear answer—the moment she held it, she was convinced by its existence, which fit in her hand as if it were a part of her body.
…A slightly long, rod-shaped weapon.
Could it be a greatsword? Or a longsword?
Kiraboshi finally opened her eyelids and was dumbfounded, “…Huh?”
The weapon held in her hand was…
Gleaming with jagged teeth, with a dull-colored body—it was a Chainsaw itself.
“…Huh? Eh?”
“Thank you for your purchase. It suits you well.”
Hako-san clapped her hands, and Kiraboshi’s eyes darted back and forth, thinking, “That can’t be right!?”