“Ah, sure thing!”
Tsukasa had invited him to conquer a Dungeon.
And that was the party leader’s booming response.
His loud voice echoed through the restaurant where they had gathered.
“Are you sure you can agree so readily?”
Keiichiro asked while sipping his coffee.
Sitting across from him was a large, bearded man.
He looked to be in his forties.
Apparently, he was the party leader.
He had introduced himself as—Oishi.
“Of course! If Tsukigase introduced you, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“—Even as a [Trapper]?”
Keiichiro pressed.
If the reason he was accepted was trust in Tsukasa.
If it was based on the assumption that anyone Tsukasa introduced would be a capable fighter.
Would he still be fine with it, even knowing Keiichiro’s class?
That was the question he posed.
Oishi froze, his coffee cup still in hand.
Perhaps mulling over the meaning of Keiichiro’s words, he remained rigid for a good few seconds—
“Even as a [Trapper]!”
Oishi declared.
“It might be different if we were a party aiming for the Magic Capital in the future. But for a party like ours, at our age, where we can’t really aim for higher ranks anymore, whether someone’s a [Trapper] or not isn’t that big of a deal.”
Oishi grinned, mouth open wide.
His rank was C.
It was a grade high enough to earn a comfortable living if one explored Dungeons regularly.
“You don’t seem to have any personality issues either, from what I can see. In a dangerous Dungeon, that’s the most important thing when trusting someone with your back. So, you pass.”
He wouldn’t struggle financially.
But that didn’t mean he was at an age where he could greedily aim higher.
Perhaps that was why he wasn’t too particular about strengthening their fighting power.
“Besides, even if it’s a temporary party, we’re a team! It’s true that [Trappers] are said to lack individual combat power!”
Oishi stood up and clapped Keiichiro on the shoulder.
Given that his class was the warrior-type [Soldier], the patted shoulder stung a little.
“But it’s a different story in a party! If a [Trapper] can’t demonstrate their strength in a party, then that’s a failure of the commander—in this case, me!”
Oishi stated firmly.
Seeing this, Keiichiro let out a small laugh.
(Come to think of it, back in the day, I really was able to contribute properly.)
It was back when 【Holy Sword】 had just been formed.
Before the level difference had become fatal.
Back then, Keiichiro had still functioned as a member of the party.
He would halt enemies with Traps, buying time for the other members to thin their numbers.
He couldn’t defeat enemies one after another.
Still, he had a proper role.
Until he couldn’t even properly stop the enemies anymore…
“I’ll make sure you’re put to good use! Don’t worry!”
Oishi accepted Keiichiro with a carefree smile.
“Tashiro, Kurata, you guys are fine with this too, right?”
Oishi glanced at the men sitting to his left and right.
Tashiro, an [Archer] skilled in ranged attacks.
Kurata, a [Wizard] who wielded magic.
They were also members of this party.
“I don’t mind.”
“It’s not like the leader listens even if we object, right?”
Tashiro and Kurata replied with exasperated looks.
They were also C-Rank Adventurers and had apparently known Oishi for a long time.
So, essentially, Keiichiro and Tsukasa were temporarily joining their usual three-person party.
“Well, yeah! Anyway, looking forward to working with you today, Kageura-kun!”
“…Yes. Likewise.”
Keiichiro bowed his head.
At least he had avoided being turned away at the door.
“See? They’re nice people, right?”
“………………Yeah.”
He replied to Tsukasa, who was beside him.
Tsukasa seemed to have never doubted Keiichiro’s acceptance from the start.
That was likely because he understood the nature of this party.
“Alright then, shall we head straight to the Dungeon!”
“Yeah!”
As Oishi stood up, Tsukasa energetically thrust his fist into the air.
They had finished eating, and the members were assembled.
From here on, it was work time.
(Why…?)
Keiichiro stood up along with the others.
—His steps felt heavy.
Clank, clank.
The sound of Oishi’s and the others’ armor scraping as they moved.
It was a sound Keiichiro had grown accustomed to over the past few years, and it vibrated in his eardrums.
The tightness in his chest grew larger.
(I can’t shake this strange feeling I’ve had for a while now.)
Something dark swirled in his chest.
A bad premonition.
An unfounded hunch.
Something within Keiichiro was unconsciously picking up on a sense of unease.
(This exploration—)
The Dungeon wasn’t far from here.
The exploration would likely begin within the hour.
So, if this premonition was correct—
(—I feel like something is going to happen.)
☆
This Dungeon was a rocky area.
A world stretching out with only a gray, rocky ground and a blue sky.
Such a picturesque, desolate landscape.
There—a black lily bloomed.
“Hyaaah!”
As Tsukasa spun, his black dress fluttered lightly.
He was surrounded on all four sides by wolf-type Monsters, Hound Wolves.
Hound Wolves were C-Rank, but they possessed relatively high intelligence and were known for more advanced coordination compared to Goblins, but—
A black slash flashed.
“””Grr…?!”””
Two slashes instantly decapitated the Hound Wolves.
Spider lilies bloomed brilliantly across the rocky terrain.
Standing amidst the wolf corpses, Tsukasa stuck out his tongue playfully.
“Easy peasy☆”
He even flashed a V-sign for good measure.
“Oishi-san, you okay~?”
“Course I am!”
Replying to Tsukasa’s call, Oishi charged a Hound Wolf.
His role was the tank.
Stopping the Monster with his large shield—
“Alright, stopped its movement!”
With Oishi’s declaration, arrows and magic flew past his back.
The attacks traced arcs and ended the life of the Hound Wolf in front of Oishi.
The tank holds the enemy, and ranged attacks annihilate it.
It was one of the basic party tactics.
“Are you sure you want to attack me?”
Keiichiro called out to the presence approaching from behind.
However, the enemy was a Monster.
While high-level ones might be different, there were no C-Rank Monsters capable of conversation.
“Kageura-oniichan! One’s coming from behind!”
Noticing the Hound Wolf targeting Keiichiro, Tsukasa shouted a warning.
But—
“No problem. Already—dealt with.”
Keiichiro leaped sideways.
The jaws of the Hound Wolf aiming for him snapped shut on empty air.
“Are you sure about that? There’s a Trap there, you know.”
Keiichiro had set a Trap.
Right where the Hound Wolf attacking him was about to land.
“Gyaaah?!”
A fire Trap roasted the Hound Wolf whole.
It didn’t even have the strength left for a desperate counterattack.
Keiichiro’s role was to defend the rear guard members.
Tsukasa acted as a speed attacker, independently hunting Hound Wolves.
Oishi was also stopping enemies as the tank.
However, there were directions the two couldn’t cover alone.
Keiichiro’s job was to set Traps there and protect Tashiro and Kurata, who served as the rear guard.
(Against enemies of this level, I can handle them without [Arrow].)
Tsukasa and Oishi were dealing with most of the enemies.
Therefore, Hound Wolves only attacked Keiichiro sporadically.
In that case, luring enemies onto Traps was easy.
Thus, Keiichiro fought without using his [Arrow] Trap.
Unique Skills were special.
Precisely because of that, they weren’t something to boast about.
Unique Skills often became targets of jealousy due to their power.
Even if the user had no such intention, one should avoid fighting in a way that flaunts a Unique Skill.
He had seen parties where the atmosphere soured after one member awakened a Unique Skill.
That’s why Keiichiro had no intention of using his Unique Skill in this Dungeon.
“Looks like we’ve cleared out the enemies in this area.”
Oishi scanned the surroundings.
There was no longer any sign of Hound Wolves.
“Alright then, let’s go find the Boss Room!”
“Geez, three out of five of us are old guys. This ground is hard on the back as it is, and you’re just bouncing around so lightly…”
Oishi followed Tsukasa, rubbing his lower back.
(He’s a stronger Adventurer than I thought.)
Keiichiro thought, watching Tsukasa’s back.
The cross-dressing boy acted flippantly the entire time.
That didn’t change even during combat.
The only thing that changed—was the way people looked at him.
Tsukigase Tsukasa’s class was, as expected, [Assassin].
His speed was undeniable.
What was particularly noteworthy was the finesse of his movements.
His footwork, his weapon handling.
Both were refined to a high level, allowing him to exhibit the agility of an Assassin without any wasted motion.
He was undoubtedly—an Adventurer destined to climb to even higher ranks.
(Which makes it all the more worrying.)
Walking at the very back, Keiichiro furrowed his brow.
—The bad feeling still hadn’t disappeared.
(There are no signs of the team falling apart. The Dungeon hasn’t exceeded the expected difficulty either.)
Very rarely, dungeons existed whose difficulty differed from the initial prediction.
He had been wary of that, but upon actually entering, that wasn’t the case.
The difficulty was equivalent to C-Rank, just as he had heard.
He had a bad feeling.
But he couldn’t see the reason why.
Even now, their progress through the Dungeon was stable, and there was no sign of them taking any heavy damage.
At this rate, they should be able to proceed with the exploration smoothly and clear it without any problems.
(Was my premonition… just my imagination?)
The true nature of this bad feeling was—