Chapter 55: Shopping with My Childhood Friend
“Yaho~, Ko-chan.”
Two weeks after the date for the A-Rank Party certification exam was announced.
I pulled up to Otama-chan’s home in my brand-new black SUV.
“Nice car you bought. Looks like it’ll be easy to load materials in too.”
“Well, I had some extra income. I figured if I’m going to keep being an Explorer, I might as well buy one.”
Today, the two of us are planning to go to an outlet mall to buy clothes for exploring Utsunomiya Dungeon.
Otama-chan got into the passenger seat and closed the door.
“Have you given anyone else a ride yet?”
“Nope, besides myself, Otama-chan is the first person I’ve given a ride to.”
“Really? Ehehe… That makes me kinda happy.”
Otama-chan stroked the passenger seat with her right hand.
“Alright, shall we go? I seriously don’t know any of the stores, so I’m counting on you.”
“I’m not that familiar with them either, but… I guess we can start by checking out the famous places.”
I slowly pressed the accelerator and started the car.
The quiet hum of the motor, characteristic of a magic stone-powered vehicle, resonated.
Music that was popular a while back played from the speakers linked to my smartphone.
“Ah, this is the same stuff I listen to in my car.”
“I heard it in your car when we went to that restaurant the other day. It made me nostalgic, so I downloaded it.”
“Ko-chan, you liked this song too?”
“Yeah. I used to listen to it a lot when I was a kid.”
Ever since I was declared incompetent by the National Dungeon Aptitude Test, I just couldn’t bring myself to listen to upbeat songs.
Lyrics singing about dreams, hope, love, and youth were just too dazzling, and I couldn’t stand them anymore.
However, after becoming an adult and meeting Otama-chan, my resistance to this kind of music strangely disappeared.
“La~, la~♪ I’ll spread my wings and fly to you~♪”
Otama-chan sang carefree with the window open.
She seems to be in a pretty good mood.
And I’m starting to feel happy too.
…Those roughly ten years, from the national aptitude test until I was fired from my job.
It’s as if that time was some kind of mistake, and I’m now walking towards a new future.
“…I never even thought I’d go to an outlet mall.”
I also had an aversion to sparkly, glamorous places.
I thought those kinds of places were for someone else, not me.
I can’t believe I’m actually looking forward to going.
“Maybe it’s thanks to Otama-chan and everyone else…”
“I’ll always lo…ve…ve yo—”
Otama-chan mumbled her way through the chorus of the song.
“Huh, you don’t quite remember the lyrics?”
“Y-Yeah! That’s right!”
Her face was a little red, perhaps from embarrassment.
It’s pretty rare to only vaguely remember the first chorus.
Well, I guess this free-spiritedness is one of Otama-chan’s good points.
Feeling the corners of my own mouth turn up, I drove the car onto the national highway heading towards the outlet mall.
☆★☆
At the Sano Millennium Outlet, there was a walkway paved with something like bricks (interlocking pavers), lined on both sides with Western-style buildings.
Each building had automatic doors, and inside were individual brand shops.
“The grounds are huge…”
Even looking at the pamphlet, it only lists brand names, and I have no idea what’s where.
It’s a total deathtrap for beginners.
The only names I barely recognize are a high-end chocolate brand and an overseas toy brand.
“Hey, Ko-chan. The brands for Explorers are all grouped together at the south end, so let’s head there first, okay?”
“That’s a relief.”
“What about SEEKERS? You’d be matching with Harmin-sama, though…”
“I guess we can check it out first. The payment for the Green Dragon Variant materials came in yesterday, so I’ve got plenty of money.”
“…The 300,000 yen robe Manamin bought was a bargain, so it was probably an older, outlet model. I think the budget should start from around 500,000 yen.”
“That’s pretty expensive…”
And so, we first went into SEEKERS.
Inside the store, there were many clothes primarily in black.
“Huh? This long-sleeved T-shirt costs 500,000 yen?”
“That’s because it’s woven with dungeon materials, making it blade-resistant and magic-resistant. It’s probably on the cheaper side for this store, don’t you think?”
“…Seriously? I can’t just decide on something from this store right away.”
Even though I poured way more money into the car, my normal sense of money comes back when it comes to clothes.
“Yeah, let’s look around more. All black doesn’t really fit your image, Ko-chan. …Besides, I want you to buy from the same place as me, Ko-chan…”
“Hm? Did you say something?”
“N-No! Nothing at all!”
“Alright, shall we check out the next place then?”
――After that, Otama-chan and I went around to several different brand stores.
“Ah, this would look good on you, Ko-chan!”
“Let me see…”
The clothes Otama-chan recommended were things like cherry blossom pink or a color between green and gray—all things I would never think of buying on my own.
But.
“Ah… Ko-chan, you look cool!”
“You think so?”
When I try them on and Otama-chan praises me, I can’t help but get carried away.
Before coming to the outlet, I thought anything would be fine as long as it was functional, but now I’m starting to want to choose clothes that would make Otama-chan happy.
“Next up is that store, huh?”
Dungeon Flags, I guess it’s called.
It really looks like a shop for Explorers.
“Ah, DanFura! They have a lot of men’s stuff here too~”
“Otama-chan, you know this place well?”
“Y-Yeah! I always buy my stuff here!”
“I see…”
So it’s Otama-chan’s favorite brand, huh?
We immediately entered through the men’s section entrance, and…
“Ooh…!”
I can’t quite put it into words, but there were a lot of clothes that somehow matched my taste.
No, rather, I should say they matched Otama-chan’s aesthetic sense, which has been drilled into me since we arrived at the outlet…
“This feels pretty good.”
“Right~?”
Otama-chan was smiling brightly.
Well, if I bought clothes based on my own sense, I’d just end up buying the same kind of stuff I always do.
Since we came all this way together, I might as well go along with what Otama-chan has laid out for me.
“I like this stuff, so maybe I’ll buy a full set here.”
“Y-Yeah! I think that’s great! Ehehe…”
“How about this one?”
“I think it’ll look absolutely cool!”
“R-Really…?”
Being praised so loudly made me feel a bit embarrassed.
Even though we’re shopping as an Explorer party, I might mistake this for a date.
Maybe there’s some kind of suspension bridge effect going on in this deathtrap for beginners, the outlet mall.
“Alright, I think I’ll buy this whole mannequin set.”
“Ah, wait a sec. Ko-chan, your speed stat is already high, so it might be better to go with this outerwear to boost your magic resistance. This one looks cool too.”
“Advice from a senior Explorer is a big help.”
“Ehehe, leave it to me.”
And so, my full set of equipment was decided.
Top and bottom, a total of 850,000 yen.
One way or another, stuff made from dungeon-derived materials is expensive.
The set I got from Eeyon was only about 20,000 yen for the whole thing.
I probably shouldn’t have been diving past the 10th floor of Ota Dungeon with that stuff.
“Ko-chan, thanks for buying what I recommended.”
“No, thank you. You were a real help. …Since I dragged you along shopping today, Otama-chan, I’d like to get you something as a thank you.”
I feel like this outlet mall was harder to conquer than Ota Dungeon.
“Since we’re here, how about I buy you some Explorer gear?”
Anything in the outlet shops will probably cost at least 100,000 yen, but after 850,000 yen, it feels like a rounding error.
“E-Explorer gear is too expensive, I can’t let you buy that for me! Th-Then, maybe some miscellaneous goods…”
“Is something like that really okay? Alright then, let’s go to the store.”
☆★☆
On our way to the miscellaneous goods store, a little girl ran past us, pulling a red balloon along.
The balloon probably wanted to float lightly in the air, but it couldn’t keep up with the girl’s speed and was being pulled almost horizontally.
“Rin-chan, wait!”
Her mother chased after her from behind.
“That girl’s as energetic as you were when you were little, Otama-chan.”
“Was I really like that~?”
As I watched the girl, feeling a warm smile on my face—
Thud!!
About ten meters ahead, the girl tripped and fell.
“Ah…”
The balloon slipped from the girl’s hand and floated up into the sky.
“F-Fuuueee…!”
――Before I could even think, ‘Poor thing,’ my body moved.
Using 【Godspeed】, I closed the ten-meter distance in an instant, then jumped about two meters straight up and grabbed the balloon’s string.
Landing smoothly, I handed the balloon to the girl.
“Here you go. Be careful now.”
“Fueh… Th-Thank you…”
“Ah, thank you so much! Huh? Eh? But, how did you…?”
“K-Ko-chan!”
Otama-chan rushed over to me.
“Ko-chan, that just now was…”
“…Yeah.”
I surprised myself too.
“It’s my in-dungeon ability.”
“I knew it…!”
The mother and child walked off towards the parking lot, thanking us.
I asked Otama-chan once more.
“Why is that? Even though we’re outside the dungeon, I was able to move like I was inside…”
“Ko-chan… what’s your level right now?”
“Huh? It’s 42.”
My level had steadily risen while I was catching bugs every day and running around with 【Godspeed】.
At that, Otama-chan said.
“It’s Magical Element Residue…”
“Magical Element Residue?”
According to Otama-chan, this was how it worked.
When humans enter a dungeon, they are converted into a Demi-Magimatter Body, their physical abilities improve, and they become able to use things like magic.
Conversely, when they leave the dungeon, the magical elements are reconverted back into their physical body, so they can no longer use the kind of power they had inside the dungeon.
—However.
If someone has a magical element density (level) above a certain threshold, even when they go outside the dungeon, the magical elements don’t completely leave, and a slight Body Enhancement is said to continue.
“So, does that mean I can fight even outside the dungeon…?”
Not that there’s any need to fight, since there are no monsters.
“…Yeah. Probably, but I think it’s a state where only your high 【Speed】 stat is enhanced even outside the dungeon.”
“Seriously…?”
At this rate, I could probably even compete in the Olympics.
☆★☆
—In the end, I ended up buying Otama-chan a small teddy bear.
“I’ll love you forever and ever, loooove you~♪”
Otama-chan was in the passenger seat, hugging the bear and singing cheerfully.
I recalled the 【Godspeed】 from earlier as I felt the wind from the window.
—I am growing.
For the first time in a while, a sense of fulfillment enveloped me.