Chapter 11: Playing in the Water with My Childhood Friend ②
“Hyaaah!”
Otama-chan kicked up water, and it splashed all the way to me.
“Cold! Hey, I didn’t bring a swimsuit or anything!”
“Ahaha, you didn’t care about stuff like that back in the day! Just come on in! Hah!”
Splash!
Spray flew again, sparkling as it caught the sunlight.
Otama-chan’s slender, white legs were dazzling.
“Jeez…”
Just when I thought she was making me flustered, now she starts playing like nothing happened…
Well, whatever. I’ll join in and not worry about it.
I was hesitant to end up in just my underwear like yesterday, so I decided to take off my shoes and go in with my pants on.
Instead, I took off my shirt and waded into the river.
“Hey, you splashed me! Take this!”
“Kya! It’s cold! Eeei!”
Bashaa!!
“B-Bwah! How can you splash so much water?”
“Don’t underestimate an Explorer’s leg strength! You newbie, Ko-chan-kun!”
“I’ve leveled up recently too, you know! Hyaaah!”
“Kya! Not bad! Then how about this… W-Wah!”
Zabun!!
Otama-chan lost her balance and fell on her butt into the water.
“Ugh~, I used too much strength~…”
Her white T-shirt was soaked, and her blue, floral-patterned swimsuit was visible underneath.
“Are you okay?”
Trying not to let my gaze drift to her see-through chest, I offered Otama-chan my hand.
“Ah, thanks…”
She gripped my hand tightly, and I helped her up.
When Otama-chan stood up, her head was right at my chest level.
“…E-Ehehe. You’ve become quite the reliable man, haven’t you?”
“W-Well, yeah…”
Her face looking up at me from such close range made my heart skip a beat.
Was she always this cute…?
“…Alrighty then.”
Otama-chan splashed backward.
“Gotta play some more… Huh?”
Suddenly, Otama-chan fell silent and looked up at the sky.
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
“Eh, eh…?!”
“I said, what’s wrong?”
“U-Um, well…”
Saying that, Otama-chan made a gun shape with her hand and pointed towards the forest.
“Was there something in the forest…”
“【Water User】 Skill, activate—Water Gun!”
The next moment, water shot out from Otama-chan’s fingertips like a laser beam.
“Wh-What…?!”
The water scraped off the tree bark, leaving a thin, horizontal gash.
“Y-You could do something like that?”
“Ah…”
Then, Otama-chan looked surprised herself.
“Wooow! What is this?! This is awesome!!”
She grabbed both my hands.
“H-Hey…”
“Ko-chan, thank you! It seems like, I don’t know, I achieved something like ‘Get Soaked Inside a Dungeon’ and learned the 【Water User】 skill!!”
“Huh…?”
So that can happen, huh.
“My tactical options will expand! Yes, I’m so happy!”
Saying that, Otama-chan hugged me.
Mugyu!
“H-Hey, wait a sec…”
I could feel something soft through her wet T-shirt, but I tried not to mind…
“The Secret Base is the best!”
Mugyu mugyu.
Try not to mind… As if I could!
“H-Hey, calm down a bit.”
“Ehh, why? Something good just happened~”
“Just get off me!”
If she clings to me any more than this, I’ll lose my composure.
I grabbed Otama-chan’s shoulders and pulled her away.
“You could share the joy a bit more… Oh well, can’t be helped.”
Otama-chan obediently moved away.
“Jeez…”
Was she doing it on purpose, or did she just get carried away by her excitement and stop thinking?
…Probably the latter.
“Alright, let’s try it out… Wooow! I can do all sorts of things!”
Otama-chan created a veil of water, made water orbs float, and was, true to her words, playing with water.
She looked like she was having a lot of fun.
“Hm…?”
Kira…
Just then, something seemed to glint silver in the water a short distance away.
I strained my eyes and looked closely.
“It’s a fish…!”
A fish about twenty centimeters long was swimming in the shadow of a rock.
It somehow resembled a char.
“Otama-chan, take a look over there for a sec.”
“What is it? Oh! There’s a fish.”
“Can you use that skill from before to herd it over here? I want to catch it.”
“I’ll try. Say, Ko-chan, are you going to catch it with your bare hands? Are you sure you’ll be okay without a net?”
“Yeah, I still remember the feel.”
“Alright, here I go!”
Otama-chan used her 【Water User】 skill to create a bank of water behind the fish, gradually herding it towards me.
She must have just learned that skill, but her control is surprisingly good.
I kept my hands submerged in the water, trusting Otama-chan and waiting.
Eventually.
“Ko-chan, I’m counting on you!”
The fish darted into the shadow of a rock near me.
“Alright.”
I slowly and quietly approached the rock and reached for the fish from behind.
And then.
Bachabacha!
I grabbed the fish and lifted it into the air.
“I caught it!”
And just like when I was a kid, I let out a cry of joy.
“Wow, you’re good at that, Ko-chan!”
“I’ve still got it.”
I remembered the old days when we all used to play together.
Bowahn!
The fish I caught turned into a magic stone about the size of a large candy.
“Oooh, so this is how you can get magic stones.”
Next, the Monster Creature Encyclopedia appeared before my eyes.
Encyclopedia No. 138/251
Name: Iwakage Fish
Rarity: ★
Capture Skill: Water Resistance (Small)
Capture EXP: 250
Drop Item: Magic Stone (Medium)
Description: A fish that inhabits only clean rivers with a certain water level within dungeons. There is very little terrain that meets its habitat conditions.
“Oooh!”
It’s a 1-star rarity creature.
“Eh, what is it, what is it? Let me see!”
Otama-chan peeked over from the side.
“You can see data on the creatures you catch.”
“Hmm, let’s see… Huh?! You get 250 EXP for just one fish?! And what’s a Capture Skill?!”
“Well, I don’t really know either, but it’s probably something useful.”
“H-Hey, show me your stats! Please!”
Otama-chan grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.
“If you don’t show me, I’ll cry! C’mon, c’mon!”
“Alright! Alright, just stop making a fuss.”
…Jeez. During the Explorer training, she was the one saying it’s bad manners to ask for someone’s stats out of curiosity.
Well, it’s not a bad thing to have someone familiar with dungeons take a look, so I don’t mind at all.
I displayed my stats in the air.
“There, I brought it up.”
“Ehehe, allow me to take a look.”
Name: Natsume Kouichi
Level: 16
EXP: 358/812
HP: 110
MP: 67
Attack: 58 (Bonus +13)
Defense: 46 (Bonus +2)
Speed: 92 (Bonus +1)
Intelligence: 40
Skills: 【Childlike Heart】, 【Item Drop Enhancement】, 【Water Resistance (Small)】, 【Sleep Skill Nullification】
Special Abilities: Monster Creature Encyclopedia, Mass Assault, Monster Capture Net (Lv1)
“W-Wait a minute! Why has your level gone up by 10 since last time?!”
“Even if you ask me why… Oh yeah, yesterday I caught a rare bug, and I think its EXP was 1200. Look, this one.”
Saying that, I flipped through the Monster Creature Encyclopedia and opened it to the “Golden Scarab” page.
“Cool, right? The actual thing turned into a magic stone, though…”
Then, Otama-chan said while staring intently at the encyclopedia page.
“1200 EXP is about the same as a monster from the deeper levels… like a Red Cyclops… And you even have skills I’ve never seen before…”
“Is it that amazing?”
Speaking of Cyclops, that was a one-eyed giant, right?
I certainly don’t feel like I could defeat one right now.
“Ugh, no fair! No fair! I’m Level 21, so at this rate, you’ll catch up to me!! I’ve been working hard as an Explorer for three years! Waaaah!!”
Saying that, Otama-chan started lightly hitting me.
“H-Hey, stop it.”
I haven’t done anything wrong.
“Uuu…”
Otama-chan looked down for a moment, then looked up at me.
“Alright! I’ve decided!! I’m going to make this dungeon my regular spot!! That’s okay, right, Ko-chan?!”
Otama-chan clasped her hands together, pleading with me.
“Please!! I’ll do anything!!”
…Jeez, this girl.
She’s being way too dramatic.
It’s not even something I need to think about.
“—Of course, it’s fine. This is everyone’s Secret Base, after all.”
I gave the obvious answer.
Then, Otama-chan…
“Ah… Th-Thank you!!”
She hugged me again.
“H-Hey!”
“I love that part of you, Ko-chan!! I love it so much!!”
“If you say things like that, I’ll misunderstand, you know…”
――And so, we played in the water, explored, and relaxed inside the dungeon until it got dark outside.
==================
【Addendum: Other Spoils from Today, etc.】
Encyclopedia No. 116/251
Name: Ninja Water Strider
Rarity: 0
Capture Skill: Water Walking
Capture EXP: 5
Drop Item: Magic Stone (Small)