“Hey, Momokawa, Futaba-san, help us beat the Boss, I’m beggin’ ya here!”
As his first series of words, Hirano-kun came to us with that.
“Err, by Boss you mean?”
For the moment, it seems like he isn’t bent on attacking us, so I try probing by returning a question.
“A Dog, it’s a dog man, a big version of those red ones! It’s like, super fast, and dodges Magic too, we seriously can’t do a thing with just me and Nishiyama”
“Uh huh”
Seems like a chief-like Monsters for the Red Dogs is the Boss Hirano-kun’s talking about, but it’s not like we’re in a game so something like Boss Monsters give a feel like, the hell’s with that.
“Am I right to think, Momokawa-kun, you don’t know about the Boss?”
Perhaps inferring from my face that seemed not to fully accept the premise, the glasses wearing Nishiyama asked. For now, let’s quietly accept my ignorance.
“You’ve been transferred here, so I’d have thought you beat the Boss”
“Do you mean, that frog?”
“Ah, so you had a frog. In our case, it was a Skeleton though”
From there, roughly according to Nishiyama-san’s words, it appears that this Boss is the Monster that rests in the room with the Magic Circle you use for warping to other areas.
This dungeon isn’t fully connected via physical passages, and in specific spots, there seems to be space-time displacement, in other words, warp enabled Transfer Circles set up. Furthermore, it’s decided that this warp room will have a large class Monster inhabiting it, and the mechanism’s set such that the Transfer Circle won’t activate unless you beat it. To be point-blank, you need that Monster’s core to work the Circle so all paths lead to beating the Monster anyway.
“First time I’m hearing it, all of that”
“Seriously? It was written plain and simple though”
“I think, the info getting to us has individual differences in timing”
At some point before I realized, my Note Circle was updated with the info on Goma. So it could be that, depending on the vocation, different amounts of information come in, it’s a possibility.
Anyway, rather than pondering on this kinda-useful but maybe not Note Circle info, I need to prioritize forming a pact of cooperation with these classmates.
“Err, So uhm, you mean to say, we can’t progress without beating that Red Dog Boss”
“Yes exactly, simple right?”
“Any alternate routes? Or what about secret passages or loopholes?”
“This floor is constructed in a simple box shape, so the farthest room is the Boss room any side you pick” [1]
(TN: Box isn’t accurate, it’s more like an ellipse with two pointed ends as we’ll see a bit later. )
According to Nishiyama-san’s explanation, right after exiting this Fairy Square, the path splits to the left and right. And going either way, you go the same distance in a monotonous path until the paths connect again. Finally, as if placed exactly opposite to this Fairy Square, you find the Boss Room.
The paths on both sides are connected to many other rooms, but don’t lead into any other passages, and apparently, a fixed number of Skeletons come out inside.
Hmm, maybe they’re being made somewhere else, and then sent to all the rooms with Transfer Magic? Well, there’s no way Monsters would just pop into existence in real life, so one could think it’s accomplished through the power of magic.
“About hidden passages, sorry but with our vocations and skill sets, it’s impossible”
“You gotta be a Thief or somethin’ for doin’ that”
A Thief’s detection Skills are something I’m well aware of from hearing about Natsukawa Minami from Futaba-san.
And, these two must also know of a Thief’s Skills since they mentioned it.
Implying, either one of them is a Thief, or they know one, I can think of those 2 possibilities. Right, let’s take this chance to probe them.
“Thief Skills huh, you know any details?”
“Y-Yeah, I mean, right...”
“Hirano-kun, we have to tell them. I mean, if we don’t, they won’t see just how scary that Boss is”
You’re right, said a paling Hirano-kun, as he collected his thoughts and began talking.
“Actually, we also had Itou”
In other words, Itou Seiji, it must be him. There’s no Itou among the girls so there’s no mistake.
He was like me, the type that doesn’t stand out in class. As for his club activities or friend circle, I only ever rarely spoke to him so I don’t know.
“So you mean, Itou-kun was a Thief”
“Yeah, thanks to that guy, we cleared the first place hella easy”
“He could find traps, and even open Treasure Chests”
“... Treasure Chests? There’s those too?”
Ridiculous, it’s become more and more RPG than IRL! as if reading my thoughts, “No way Momokawa, you don’t even know about Treasure Chests”, both their expressions seemed to say.
“Well, I guess you gotta be a Thief to find those chests huh. Anyway, I don’t really get it but they really exist, Treasure Chests.”
“Inside, you can find things like mana recovery potions, and if you’re lucky, even weapons. Look, this wand I’m using, we found this in a Treasure Chest too”
Looking at which, she’s holding a 50 cm~20in long thin branch-like stick with a big green marble-like stone fixed to the tip, “I’m a wind attribute wand!” it gave a strong impression as such. If I saw this in modern Japan, I’d think it’s a quality cosplay accessory, but come to the otherworld, this must be the genuine article.
“Hee~, pretty cool... but, Itou-kun not being here means...”
“Well, uh yeah, you guessed it”
“It’s when we first encountered the Boss, see. In the floor before this, it was really easy, and there’s also that fact that we got a bit cocky...”
Looking at their pained expressions, they’ve faced real human death, and understand the cruelty of the dungeon, is the impression I get.
“But dude, we can’t just stay here right. The Boss is scary as hell, but if we can’t beat it, we can’t get outta here”
Of course, with the area set up so simple that there’s no use looking for other routes, it’s the same as saying we’re stuck here. Thanks to the Fairy Square, we won’t starve right away, but sooner or later we’ll reach the limit no doubt.
“So we’re beggin’ ya man, all 4 of us workin’ together, we might just do it!”
“Yeah, well, that’s fine and all but...”
At this point, I’m not denying we have to beat the Boss to progress. What’s bothering me is, what comes after.
“You two, you already know, about how only 3 people can escape right?”
“Y-yeah, that a, well, yea...”
Hirano-kun makes a slightly awkward face. Once you know this utter despair-inducing number restriction rule, it’s a truly natural reaction.
“Momokawa-kun, I don’t think it’s the right time to think about that. And with only 3 people, don’t you think we won’t progress in this dungeon at all?”
I see, Nishikawa-san makes a valid point. Even the Armor Bear, it’s too dangerous a Monster to challenge it with just three people. As we go through the dungeon, I can’t think there won’t be powerful Monsters lying in wait. No, if we go with the premise that the whole dungeon has a Boss Room system like this place, then the deeper we go, there will definitely be tougher Monsters stationed.
There’s no way I can disregard the merits of gathering more than 3 members.
“But, there are guys who won’t think like that. They won’t cooperate, that much is still ok, but guys who like to kill first ask questions later... could also be there”
In fact, I can attest to it. Case in point, there’s Higuchi who made no pause in deciding to kill me. But I don’t need to particularly mention that. I need to be very careful how much of my info and experience I reveal to these two.
“Think a bit, if we have more than three on our side, they can’t attack us so easily right?”
Power in numbers. Adding to that, us having vocations make it so that our strength is likely more than meets the eye. Even with a gathering of frail-looking girls, it could be that actually, all of them can blast out fire balls or something.
“So you’re saying, we prioritize conquering the dungeon, and leave thinking of escape for later?”
“Yes, somewhere along the line, we could even find something other than that Divine Gate. Also, look at us, aren’t we strong? We can probably make it out of the forest outside too”
Finding fault... or opposing these hope-filled words, it’s too early for that. Certainly, we do know too little about this otherworld. What we can do, what we can’t. It may be time to not narrow down, but look into increasing our choices.
“Got it, I’m sorry for the nonsense. For now, let’s work together, and aim for crushing that Boss”
“Ooh, thanks a bunch Momokawa!”
“Thanks Momokawa-kun, we finally got some hope!”
We laugh, and somewhat exchange handshakes. For the time being, we’ve established a cooperation pact, and the mood is calm... but Futaba-san has been silent for all this while so I’m worried.
“... Momokawa-kun, you’re fine with this?”
As I glance towards her, she brings her face close and asks in a whisper.
“For now, it’s better to work together. But... if the time comes, be ready”
It may be obvious, but I don’t wholeheartedly trust Hirano-kun and Nishiyama-san yet. I can say I agree with Nishiyama-san’s opinion. But while saying logical niceties on the outside, they could be secretly planning to trick us, it’s a possibility I can’t deny.
It’s a sad story, but if they betray, I can’t really do much. If on top, even Futaba-san betrays me, then it’s really over. A Shaman with no allies, is much too powerless.
“OK, leave it to me, Momokawa-kun”
I’d given her the obvious warning, but Futaba-san smiled and replied powerfully.
“Hirano-kun, Nishiyama-san, from me too, best regards”
Along with Futaba-san’s bright smile and exchanged greetings, our jolly party of 4 was formed.
“Well then, first is self-intros, or rather should I say vocation-intros?”
“Oi Nishiyama, that stuff, we can just figure out with some Skeleton hunting right?”
“Ah, right, that’s right. You could say it’ll be much more clear that way. So Momokawa-kun, Futaba-san, we’d like to go fight some Skeletons, and have everyone see each other’s powers, is that alright?”
Now then, it’s a bit sudden, but seems like it’s come to the time where I must reveal my vocation.
Well, there’s no way we can fight the Boss without everyone having a grasp of each other’s abilities. So long as we’re cooperating, we need to lay out our powers, to the bare necessity that is.
“... Got it, let’s go”
[1] Box isn’t accurate, it’s more like an ellipse with two pointed ends as we’ll see a bit later.