Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 6
「So basically, that’s what’s been happening.」
I explained how this room was connected to the dungeon, about Shizuku, and about Ria and Deet and Miri.
After that, about how I was trying to rescue Enami, who I always seemed to forget about.
Ayame: 『So Ria and Deet weren’t doing a homestay, they’re from the other world』
「Y-yeah.」
Now that I thought about it again, I wonder what had led to me to say that they were from Romania doing a homestay in my apartment.
Ayame: 『So when I told you about the manager, was i talking to Shizuku, and not you? ° • ﾟ• (ﾉД `) • ﾟ• °』
「Sorry.」
「It’s not Master’s fault. I was the one who took Master’s place without permission and spoke in his place.」
Just from looking at Shizuku, I could tell she was blaming herself. But it wasn’t her fault. After all…
「It’s my fault for staying up so late every night and going to work sleep-deprived.」
Abruptly, Tateishi, who was sitting on the edge of the bed I was lying on, stood up.
「W-what’s wrong?」
「I’m going home…」
「W-wait a sec! Ow-!」
Biting back the pain from my back, I hurried to stop Tateishi.
「You’re going to end up in the dungeon again!」
「Ah.」
Tateishi’s fingers began typing furiously again.
I received a message.
Ayame: 『( ´ ; ω ; ` ) S-sorry. Could you send me back?』
「S-sure.」
I opened the front door for her.
Tateishi gave a quick bow before leaving.
I returned to the bed and lay down stomach first.
Shizuku was still firmly attached to the wound.
「You know, Tateishi coming over was pretty bothersome, but I’m also a little glad she did. Since she’s always so cold towards me at work.」I said. 「Though, she probably hates me now. But at least everything got resolved.」
「Does she really hate you now?」
「Eh? It turned out that the person she liked was you, not me, and she got tricked for such a long time. Of course she hates me for that.」
「Is that how it works?」
「Yeah.」
But now wasn’t the time to brood over that. I should sleep. A wave of exhaustion enveloped me.
「Shizuku. Can I sleep like this? Is it awkward for you?」
「Not at all. I’m fine. Let’s sleep together!」
「’Kay.」
Time to sleep. Sleep sleep. The bed was really comfortable…
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
「Zzz… huh?」
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
「Ehhh? The doorbell?」
It was pitch black outside. The time on my smartphone read 3 a.m.
「Who could that be, Master?」
「Don’t tell me…」
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
「C-coming! Coming!」I hastily scrambled to my feet.
After ensuring I had the key on me, I carefully opened the door. I already had an inkling of who it might be- a suspicion which was confirmed when I saw Tateishi standing outside. Beaming, she came inside before I even gave permission.
「W-wait a second.」
「Hm?」
「Didn’t you go home?」
Ayame: 『( ´ • ω • ` ) *eh?* I was just getting some stuff. Like my pajamas, toothbrush, everything I’d need to stay over』
W-what? That’s why she went home?
「I thought you went home because you were angry?」
Ayame: 『I am angry! I thought I was talking to you, but it was Shizuku! ( ` Д ´ #)ﾉ *grrr*』
「T-then…」
Ayame: 『But Suzuki was also the one who cured my cold… and risked his life to save me from that monster *kya-* (/Д＼*))((*/Д＼) *kya-* 』
Shizuku, covering my wound, jiggled.
She was probably saying something like ‘See? I told you she didn’t hate you, didn’t I?’
「Um, you know. Ria or Deet, or even Miri might come back at any point.」
Ayame: 『(ሦ ° Д ° )ሦ Then, you should hurry up and solve it!』
「Solve it? Solve what?」
Ayame: 『All you need to do is solve the orphanage problem, the guild territorial dispute, and, uh, become the dungeon master, right? Then the girls won’t need to visit you anymore ☆ヾ(* ´ ∀ ` )ﾉヾ( ´ ∀ ` *)ﾉ *yay!* 』
「E-ehhhhh?」
Is that what she meant?
I got the feeling that Tateishi didn’t understand what was going on, maybe because she didn’t play video games or read light novels.
In the first place, if I really did somehow become dungeon master, Deet would probably visit more, not less.
And not only that, but Tateishi had forgotten about finding Enami as well, despite my explanation.
「B-but, what does that have to do with you coming to my apartment?」
Ayame: 『I’m going to help you! *hip hip hooray!*＼（* ´ ▽ ` *）／*we got this!*』
「W-what do you mean?」
Ayame: 『I’ll accompany you to work! And when you go into the dungeon, I’ll go with you!』
「…」
Ow. Ow ow ow ow.
「Master, are you alright?」
Ayame: 『Oh no! *ah!* ‵ ( ´ Д ` ;≡; ´ Д ` )ﾉ *ah!*』
「I-I’m going to sleep for a sec…」I said, even as my vision began to fade to black. When my wound got better, I was definitely going to make her go back home, no questions asked.
Ayame: 『If your condition doesn’t get better, let’s go collect that medicinal herb together. It cured my cold, so it could help you too』
Did she plan on staying at my place forever??
♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎
I scattered pet food in front of the closed iron door.
「My levelling progress just keeps slowing down. It really is just like a video game.」
I’d been consistently grinding day after day, but I’d only risen a single level from 16.
The clicking method of levelling up was gradually becoming more and more bothersome without much results to show, so I didn’t really do it much anymore.
Though according to Deet, it was still an exceptional levelling method.
But if I was no longer employing the clicking method, why was I still scattering pet food in front of the iron door?
After all the pet food was laid out on the ground, I returned back to the apartment. My phone buzzed- a LIME message.
Ayame: 『Tooru, welcome back (* ´ Ɐ `*)』
Somehow, through great perseverance, I managed to convince Tateishi to not sleep over at my apartment. Instead, she decided to drop by whenever she was free. And… for some reason, she would play the level-up click game.
Ayame: 『Thanks for preparing the pet food! (ˡ-ˡ*)』
「N-no problem. I should be the one thanking you for helping me with chores.」
Tateishi often helped with various chores around the house. And unlike Ria, who was terrible at everything but laundry, Tateishi was remarkably skilled no matter the task. Not to mention that her cooking was superb as well.
It was just as if we were a married couple who happened to live in separate homes. I watched the computer screen as the iron door closed, felling a giant centipede.
Ayame: 『I just levelled up! I can feel it (Ɐ ` *ゞ)*ehehe*』
Previously, when I checked Tateishi’s status, she’d been level 6 and was making pretty good progress.
By the way, her [Occupation] was ‘priest,’ probably because she was born in a temple.
Since Tateishi had zero supernatural sensing ability, I originally thought that she might be ‘unemployed’ like me, but she turned out to be a priest, which was supposedly a rare occupation even in the other world. She had already learned to use some basic holy magic. In other words, healing magic.
And thanks to that, the remaining stiffness in ‘my back caused by the wound was healed in the blink of an eye.
However, Tateishi was still rather limited in her abilities. The average level for humans in the other world was around 15, and she was only 11.
Ayame: 『Oh, right. I saw that you’re taking off from work for 3 days. Are you going to the other world? Take me with you!』
Well, she wasn’t wrong. I was planning to visit the other world during the days off.
The large rats were one of the stronger monsters on the 5th floor, but as evident in my most recent encounter, as long as I was careful, they were nothing but small fry.
And in terms of pure numbers, my level 17 was more than satisfactory compared to the average adventurer.
I only planned on travelling to the surface from the first floor and hunting slimes and monster mushrooms on the second floor, so I figured there wasn’t anything risky about that.
In that case, it was fine to take Tateishi along, right? Hmm…
Having someone who could heal could only be an asset anyway.
「Okay fine. You can come with me. I think it’ll be fine.」
Ayame: 『Thanks! ‵(* ´ Ɐ ` )ﾉ *wahoo!*』
As always, Tateishi’s eyes were cold and harsh, glaring down at me. However, I saw the corner of her lips rise slightly, forming an ever-so-subtle smile.
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