Dressed in a business suit, with a pair of spyglasses, a briefcase containing a job posting, materials approved by Supervisor Evvia, and a business card case in his breast pocket.
I have my ID with me to avoid being pawned off, so there shouldn't be no problem.
What they are doing is likely to be mistaken for solicitation, but it's okay if you don't step in at all.
That's what I thought, but there I was.
Yes, there was. Past tense.
"This is exactly what I wasn't expecting.
Now I would look like a loser.
I threw myself down on the back of a bench in a park near the station to soothe my tired legs after walking around all day and popped a pint of coffee from a vending machine.
He looks like a tired businessman who's completely exhausted from his job and is taking a break in the park before heading home.
"What's going on that we can't find a single person with magical aptitude?
I will also add that I have had zero success with my salespeople.
Last time I went out for a drink, there weren't many of them, but if you walked around a bit, they were definitely there.
This time I went to Shinjuku and Harajuku, or even to Akihabara, where I could find someone who knows and understands the fantasy and gaming aspects of the game, but the results came up empty.
I took a bus, a train, and walked around, trying not to be too sharp-eyed, but I couldn't find him.
I thought maybe I was just passing by, and if the traffic was slow, I could find it, so I went to a maid cafe for lunch, but I only ended up eating an omelet of rice with a strange look in my eyes from the people who were probably regulars there.
It was just a mentally exhausting lunch, but it didn't accomplish anything.
We had a full day of activities today, and there was still some afternoon left.
It was done with a sense of shame and embarrassment, but the result, which left me with nothing but regret and remorse, certainly lowered my motivation for work.
However, I couldn't give up the afternoon's work just because my motivation was low.
If you throw away your work, you will be in debt.
So somehow, you get into the swing of things, whip yourself into shape, go back to the same place you have yet to go, and somehow find a place you haven't been to yet, with your company spirit.
It was the last straw. I staked out the area around the station and searched through all the people who came and went.
The result was evident to me as I sat on a bench and puffed out a coffee.
I didn't see any fliers I'd handed out, and the only time I opened my bag was to take out my wallet.
Of course, I never had a chance to use the business cards in my breast pocket.
...... Huh? What to do about it?
I've stumbled from the start of the first day.
Should I change my approach, or should I just tweak my policy a little bit, I think as I savor my micro-sugar coffee.
I keep my gaze straight and follow the magic floating around me like purple smoke.
Although there should be wind, this magical smoke is not affected at all.
And the magic power that follows you around.
Hey, you there!
It was a spur-of-the-moment reaction, calling out to the male student as he jumped up from the bench .
'...... is that me?'
I don't know if I can say this about you, but I just thought you were a little boy with a bad eye.
And small.
And then the boy's voice came back to me, as if he didn't want it to be him.
"Oh, sorry to stop you on such short notice.
I don't feel comfortable with the way they're looking at me like I'm a suspicious guy, but now that I've talked to them, I'm going to go as far as I can.
If they think you're persistent, just back off.
Just talk to him in a sales tone so as not to give him any more bad impression.
"That's just the way I am. Would you listen to me for a moment?
Thinking to yourself that if the person who was lying all over the bench a moment ago suddenly jumped up and called out to you, it would be suspicious, you take out a business card from the breast pocket of your jacket.
With that, you can firmly confirm that magic power is entering his body behind the glasses.
''MAO corporation, tester division, Tanaka Jiro ...... is your real name?
That's my real name, and that's my driver's license.
An unlikely name will make you suspicious of the alias, but if you show your driver's license, you'll see that it's somehow convincing.
Revealing your identity is a way to gain a certain amount of trust.
Although there may be few people who would do this much, what we are about to do is obviously more suspicious. The more credibility you can get, the better.
''So, um, what do you want, Mr. Tanaka? I'm in a bit of a hurry, though.
Still, the difference between trust and lack of trust may be nothing more than an acorn comparison.
Contrary to his appearance, he's a serious boy.
He seems to pay attention to us and listen to us.
Then I'll just go on with it.
"Yeah, I'm a scout. I'm looking for testers for our facility, like my card says on it. And I'll think about it.
Scout? You seemed to be slacking off for that, though.
Well, it looks that way. Yeah, I've been walking around all day, too. It helps if you think you're taking a break.
In fact, it's true, but to someone who doesn't know anything about the situation, it sounds like an excuse.
"Look, we'll keep this short, but I don't want to keep you up too late or your parents will get worried. Would you look at this flyer?
When you don't feel much of a response, you decide that it's no good and hold out the job flyer.
"Are you looking for a job at ...... game?
I understand that he was very conflicted and didn't say anything.
But this confirms that he's the magic aptitude holder.
I'm relieved, including the fact that I thought I wouldn't be able to blame him for being recognized as a wacko the moment I showed it to him.
The proper number is written as five from this angle.
That's a fair number.
''Is that right, in a way? When it comes to physical sensations, I'm proud to say that I'm as good as any other attraction. Well, as I said, testers can be dangerous. Probably more so than you might think.
I don't need to explain the danger here, but I decided it was better to explain it than to keep quiet.
In fact, you are going to challenge it with all your might, with your body and soul, so the attraction is more powerful and thrilling than the attraction where safety is taken into consideration.
Since you are actually in a real fight, rather than just a temporary one, it is better to tell you in advance than to find out later, which will lead to trust later.
It's also an office that is guaranteed for life but not for trauma.
It's a shame if this doesn't work out for you, but it's better than having someone cheat you into coming here and having a horrible relationship with you.
Don't you believe me?
Well, honestly.
I'm sure it's hard to believe, because to a normal person, there's no doubt it's got some crazy stuff in it. Besides, you can't imagine this kind of thing without seeing it in person. I'll give you the information, so if you're interested, contact me and mention my name and I'll get in touch with you.
I understand.
You know, it's nice to have an honest-to-goodness bag of materials and flyers to put in the bag.
I'd be devastated if this went into some dustbin.
Do you have any questions?
I know it sounds like a lot of questions.
I'm tempted to say yes, but I'll let you go ahead.
"Why me anyway?
It's kind of an obvious question.
But if this was an idol scout, we could tell him he's a natural-born talent and good-looking.
But there's no way we'd know that she has a talent for magic.
They'd just call you crazy and that's it.
Wouldn't it be quicker if you went to ...... and saw it in person?
So this is faster.
"I'm not in, so give it a call and you'll see why I recruited you.
"? ......!
You see that smoke? That's the magic coming out of the pendant on my chest.
Hearing the word "magic" and taking and putting the glasses back on, I feel a bit of a response like a guest in front of a magic trick .
''In case you're wondering, if you give them to someone who doesn't have the aptitude for them, they'll just be a pair of glasses.
......
I'll add an explanation, but he doesn't look the way I imagined he would.
My prediction was that he'd either be surprised or smelly.
But, contrary to my expectation, he is staring at his glasses with a serious expression.
"Is it a trick?
In this case, I'd say there's a magical device. To put it plainly, both the glasses and this pendant are like batteries that can be used for storing magic power.
Is this what it means to lose track of the clouds, or should we be worried about this pure boy .
I'm telling the truth within the bounds of what I'm allowed to say.
I don't know all the ins and outs of that company, or even the Demon King's Army, but I've been working there for months and I'm sure it wasn't a dream or a surprise.
If you tell me it's not, it's not just a new scam.
It's just that I'm crazy enough to bring my grandiose fantasy into reality.
Anyway, can I have my glasses back? That's just a prototype.
Oh, yes.
If you put on the glasses you received, you'll see they work just fine.
"As you have seen, you have an aptitude for magic. This aptitude, I might add, is not possessed by everyone. I've been walking around all day and you're the only one who's found it. Do you understand? You know why I recruited you.
...... for now.
He seems to be a boy who thinks more deeply than he should.
I'm afraid I'm going to fall for some really weird religious group.
"Don't think too much, a job is not something you should do out of spite. Some people continue to do a job they don't like out of a sense of duty, but those are the few. If you want to do, or if you dare to express it in realistic terms, doing a job that you don't like can be a problem for you and the people around you. This may sound strange to you after I asked you to join us, but our job is a very unusual one. Take your time and if you think it's impossible, then you should forget it.
I understand.
Yeah, thanks for listening to me. It's late. You should go home. Here's my contact information and you can call me if you need anything.
Yes, sir.
Slowly, and that's exactly what the boy, who had been listening to me halfway through and thinking about something else, walked through the park after dark.
I stayed behind to see him off, but the boy was nowhere to be seen, and I felt tired from the business tone I hadn't used in a long time, so I turned my shoulder to relax my stiff body.
I'm not sure if kids today are that serious, or if there's a smoking area nearby: ......
I took out my cigarette as I was going through the process, but remembered that this was a non-smoking area and there was no smoking area nearby, so I reluctantly put it back in.
I got a hit, but I gave myself a 50/50 chance.
It was my first time as a scout, a conversation with a lot of reflections on whether this was the right thing to do.
In addition, I can't help but feel skeptical that it was at least a little bit responsive or impossible.
I'd be happy to see you.
I think that's all you need to know.
What I'm wondering about is what you were thinking along the way.
I was struck by the dramatic change in his demeanor when he was exposed to the magic of the glasses.
At first I thought he was encountering the unknown and wondering what to make of it when he realized it was real, but the further we went, the more it looked like he was thinking in a different direction, and one step further.
But there's no way for me to confirm that.
If I had a way to get inside your head, I'd have lived a different life.
Well, you'll see if there's a chance. Let's just go home.
It's late today, and considering tomorrow's schedule, we won't be able to do any more scouting.
Maybe this time of day would be more efficient, but we'll see.
There's a lot more to think about than that.
We need to make a manual based on what we have learned from this scouting session, purchase equipment and create a schedule and report for future dungeons, create training materials for Kaido, coordinate the training schedule with the instructors, prepare equipment and main dungeon testers, as well as the new members we had today. There's also a practical job as a scout for
Just thinking about it, I know there's a lot of paperwork to be done.
And my current department, or in this case, the team, is the best way to describe it.
I'm the only one on the team, and I have to juggle it all by myself.
It's a headache.
I wish I could dismiss it with a single word that it was worthwhile, but I have the feeling that I'm lacking a hand.
'If only Kaido could become a thing, at least.
Today I remember the image of a junior who was flying beautifully in the air with his instructors.
In terms of ability, I was at the beginning of my training, just starting out.
You can't expect me to do that when I'm still learning by taking seven hits and failures.
It'll take a long time to tackle the dungeon together.
I understand, but I've been asking for something that can't be done any faster.
"Will I get one day off a week for a while?
On the other hand, I can't help but let out a bitter laugh as I understand with my work brain that I have to do something about it .
Honestly, I had more time to spare when I was working steadily as a solo artist before I took a job as a scout.
I had more time for my personal life than now.
But solo time was solo time, and there were problems.
I didn't feel that I was limited in my ability to tackle dungeons, but I realized the inefficiency, and that's why I'm here now.
I tried to solve this problem, and that's why we're in this situation.
First of all, we can't start complaining about our actions one by one.
We just have to work our asses off, one by one, and that's it.
The bottom line is...
The same old thing.
Then the words naturally came out of my mind that I could handle it, and I made my way back to my dormitory.
'So you came to complain to me that the scouts are not doing well?
You're obviously here to buy something, Memoria.
It's Saturday, and while I've been preparing to take on the dungeon since this morning to make up for yesterday's delay, the vampire girl, if I tell her about yesterday's scout, she replies in the same dry manner as before.
I'm sure you'll find a lot of consumables such as recovery pills and bandages lined up on the familiar counter.
"Is this new person not with you?
'I haven't finished my training yet, so there's a limit to what I can consciously cover. At least when you're at the level where you can defend yourself. Fortunately, our status is slowly but surely improving. They'll be coming to this facility in the not-too-distant future.
From what I've heard, he's quite the womanizer, and I think he's going to be stuck in the innermost area if he doesn't.
It's probably the last facility in the back, the pink ones that are off-limits to minors.
"By the time you're looking for a denial factor, it's probably too late, I'll be careful.
As usual, the information network, when you're a family organization, a certain amount of gossip is inevitable, but most of the stories that come into Memoria are in-depth stories.
After work is over, Kaido's actions to find a beautiful woman with his remaining strength like a dregs of milk can be overlooked.
Are you going to take on ...... another dungeon?
Yeah, we're forming a party now. We can't keep playing the same dungeon over and over again. I'll take a look around to see what I can do.
Well, maybe it's because Memoria has a keen eye for observation, so maybe it's because she's actually seen it.
Again, she foresaw me changing the dungeon by looking at the antidote I usually don't buy.
Then you might as well buy some anti-smell potion too. With all the inorganic materials in the King's dungeons, they lag behind other dungeons in terms of smell. On the other hand, the demons in these dungeons may be able to find you in ways you haven't experienced.
I'm not sure if this vampire girl has a business spirit or not.
It's a pretty good price for .......
But there were times when it was useful, if not necessary, when she suggested it.
In fact, although the inorganic golems responded to sound and sight, they never responded to smell.
It would be a good thing to have them, considering that we will be dealing with living creatures in the future.
A colorless liquid in a perfume-like container, with an indicated price of four thousand nine hundred and eighty yen.
About five thousand yen is no small expense.
How long does it last?
"One puff is about 30 minutes, and although it looks like a liquid, it's a kind of magic. It's what we call simple magic. So it lasts for a period of time.
Simple magic, a consumable that can be easily activated by beings with magical powers instead of only activating one type of magic.
It's a good idea to make sure that you have the right tools for the job.
They are also known as magic items, such as wands and perfume bottles.
However, the cost of the high-ranking substitute is not worth the risk, and the simple magic that goes beyond a certain line is useless.
The examples are endless, but one example is that in order to make the annihilation magic I mentioned earlier simple magic, it seems that the magic enough to use up the Demon King's latent magic power is needed.
It's a good idea to use that much magic to fire dozens of annihilation spells rather than prepare for it.
I'd say about 50 in that bottle. You'll be able to tell how much is left because of the leveling off.
If they use it, they're either on the run or the scent-tracking type, no doubt.
Thirty minutes is surprisingly little.
If you walk around the dungeon, 30 minutes goes by very quickly.
It's too much trouble to use it every time.
And if you consider that you probably won't be able to use it in battle where your hands are often busy, your use is even more limited.
This one's done. Do you want to add that one?
Did anyone ever tell you you're a tough guy?
'You're the first person to be told that, at least as far as I can remember.
What bothers me is the effect and the intended use, and, distastefully, the price tag that the product has been used so many times that you can recoup your money back.
But the fact that they're coming at you like this means you're going to need it.
"Add to that.
I understand.
We'll end up spending some more money.
Whether this will be good or bad, I don't know.
If you don't need it, you just don't buy it next time.
Well, let's go.
Come again soon.
Oh.
After the preparations were finished, a calm voice sent me on my way, and with my partner's backpack on my back, I left the shop and headed for the dungeon.
I think this magic print is really useful.
The eyesight to catch your surroundings even in dimly lit places, the legs and feet to jump around even on unlevel ground, and
"Goblins are so persistent, dude!
Swinging the mineral tree with one arm, it gives you enough strength to split your body open.
Unlike the golem, this is a living, breathing creature, and when it swings the tree, its upper body and lower body will be split into tears as it moves.
Cockroaches!
The sight of these goblins that keep coming up again and again, reminds me of G in the kitchen.
And unlike the goblins you see in the office, the goblins have eyes that don't show any reasoning, and they have madness in them that wants to destroy the intruders.
Although they are weaker than the golems by far, they will be overwhelmed by the numbers if they crowd around like this to crush your foothold.
But...
It seems that even their numbers couldn't escape the premise that they were living things .
With a flash of brilliance, he cleaves them while shouting from left to right.
Unlike golems, the monkey scream seems to work for goblins, which have more ups and downs in their emotions.
Some stop and some back off, but they're all held by the same energy.
Those enemies are easy to kill.
There are enough unarmed attacks and defenses to kill multiple goblins with a single swing.
Also, the interval between my mineral tree and the goblin's dagger with a slightly longer knife is different.
The reason spears were common during the Warring States period was so that you could attack from farther away than the enemy.
In a sense it's a natural order of things that it has been replaced by guns with greater range of attack.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh... !!!!
I'm going to be able to cut through the dagger and turn the goblins into magical particles, but there are so many more reinforcements coming from deep within that I can't even count them.
I've been thinking about this as a challenge for my first party, but it's not so good, is it?
It may be that I'm calling you out with my strange voice, but what I actually felt when I faced this dungeon was that the purpose of this dungeon was to crush you to death with goblins that took advantage of the advantages of the cave, or in this case, I guess in other words, to drain your strength.
Unlike Ki-Oh's dungeon, where the quality of the goblins was the key to their attrition, this dungeon was one where the quality of the individual goblins was inferior by far, but what they lacked in quality, they made up for in numbers.
I personally can run away or fight off the enemy, but that's because I've broken through the levels of the game solo.
There's no way I could tell a beginner to break through this place and I was ambushed several times.
I'm sure there are several testers who quit the company after getting wiped out by surprise by the poor visibility of the cave, plus the advantage of being able to deploy on narrow paths using their small bodies.
It's a good example of how even a small fry on the plains can become a pain in the ass if you have the advantage of the terrain.
Well, we can't afford to be wowed.
Still, that doesn't mean I don't have a weakness.
We'll have to break through and map it out.
One of the weaknesses I noticed was that their equipment was only equipped with melee weapons .
I thought that since it was one level, there would only be such goblins, but even in Kirou's dungeon, there were four types of monsters, or five if you include the boss in front of the stairs.
However, although this dungeon is troublesome in number, its equipment and attacks are monotonous, and with this one, you can handle it as much as you want once you get used to it.
In fact, if we made a single point breakthrough while cutting through, we were able to get through the siege in the blink of an eye.
"It looks like we'll be able to find more improvements than the King's Dungeon.
It's not for beginners, but this place might be good in terms of being able to become a dungeon.
Run away from the goblins and map them onto your notepad.
It's time to round up.
He closed his notepad with a snap and looked at his watch, five hours of duty protocol had already passed.
What they were doing here was the same as what any Bakumatsu warrior would have done, but it worked here.
When the enemy has gathered together, run and when their numbers are thin, they attack like street killers.
In short, I just kept running and running and running, but I was able to kill enemies that I couldn't even bring myself to count, and I was able to do some mapping while they weren't coming.
I scribbled down my own carefully written notes in one hand and held a cigarette in the other, and kept an eye on my surroundings.
I guess I'm getting used to it.
The map on the notepad is in much better shape than the first one.
I wrote down all the important points and improvements before I forgot to write them down, but I didn't cut corners when I thought I would be using this map.
Even if you compromise, you have to set a minimum line, so you can make a good one.
In this way, you can safely get out of here at the end.
Thinking that a beer will be waiting for you when you get out of here, you pass through the escape device (gate) with a little effort.
Tanaka-san, may I have a word with you?
But it looks like I'm going to have to hold off on the after-work beer for a while.
More trouble than battle was right in front of me.
There's a nice man in plainclothes who has no intention of going into the dungeon.
Yeah, you're one of the other party's. What do you want? As you can see, I'm up in the dungeon, so hopefully you can get it done tomorrow.
You look familiar.
As did my training, or more recently, one of the party leaders who was present at the recruiter's meeting.
"I'm going to be straight with you. I'm going to need you to turn your hired men over to me.
I implied that I was tired and told him to come back later, but the man in front of me wasn't listening to me.
...... Huh.
His tone is respectful, but his insolence is palpable.
It's in his eyes, his posture, and, most importantly, his expression.
He's completely disrespecting me.
I'm sure he's using the term of respect because I'm older than him.
I won't be complained about it, and I won't care if he does.
So I'm going to light a cigarette while making an obvious show of it.
"I'm going to ask you something. What were you thinking when you told me that?
An eye for an eye, irreverence for irreverence, I don't follow the Code of Hammurabi, but I'm not going to speak to these people respectfully.
Their names are a bit vague.
I'm not going to be polite.
Do I have to tell you that?
Ha, ha. Well, I guess I don't have to tell you. Good luck with that.
And then he wouldn't answer my questions.
"What do you mean?
It's like I said. No more talk, no more preamble, no more end. I'm not gonna listen to you.
A job is only as good as it gets.
It's especially important when you're asking someone to do things for you.
It's especially important when you need someone to wipe your messes.
"...... Don't act like you're older than me, okay? A fall guy who doesn't even make the rankings.
Oh, you're losing your cover, young man.
You're ruining a good boy's face.
I bought him a fight he sold me, but either he's always like this or he's just gotten a little stuck up with his magic or he's got a strange temper.
If anything, you smell like a small fry.
He's been irritated with me from the start, but now he's starting to smell like a killer.
This is starting to sound like a little thing.
'Watch your mouth, when I get serious.
The lines were just like I thought they would be, and I had to stifle a laugh.
I'm going to have to get serious.
I don't even have to imagine what to say afterwards.
Hearing Yuuo's words was getting tedious .
It wasn't much of a negotiation, but if not by mouth, then by force this time, I could feel the flicker of magic and see that Yuuo had shifted into a state of battle.
I mostly kicked that story off by declaring that it was all right, but I stumbled and couldn't do anything about it. The solution is more men. But we're off the hook and we can't talk to the supervisor directly. Then take it from me, the only person who has the right to do so. I guess that's about it.
......
Silence is an affirmation.
And the intensity of the killing spikes.
This one's fully armed, whereas you're lacking, and the killing intent and the weapons don't mesh.
It's a sign that he can cook me any way he wants.
"You're so shallow, use your head a little more. It's either you have the power or you have the brains to get people to work for you. You know where you belong, don't you?
The answer to your stress-relieving provocation is a fireball the size of your fist that just barely passes by your face.
Hey, hey, I was still smoking.
That's how I lost half the cigarettes I was holding in my mouth.
It's a waste and you spill it all over the place.
Shut up, if you want to talk, you should have been able to do this. Well, there's no way you can do that.
The attack must have cleared some of the air.
Her face has gotten a little more comfortable.
That fireball was definitely fast, depending on its initial movement, it might go straight through and you won't get burned if it hits you.
Huh?
Okay, just do what I tell you.
A luxury that morphs into pride as it grows.
And nothing is more unbearable than to see that pride on display.
Oh, shut up ...... that's how you scare people.
And I've seen and experienced things that are faster than the fireball I just saw.
Maybe I couldn't handle a goblin, but it's a shame to be compared to me.
You'll change your mind in a flash as you get used to it.
I spit out the cigarette with nothing but ashes and step in.
Before you can finish, you pull out a piece of mineral wood and hold the tip to your throat.
That's all it takes, and the man in front of you is unable to react to the movement with all his might.
It is a good idea to have the tree at the distance of the throat of such a man, so that if you thrust it forward even a little, it will definitely pierce him.
"You can't even threaten me if you can't feel it. You need to make sure the killing intent is contained in your weapons and magic. or else they won't know you're serious.
Like this and I'll let the magic leak a little.
I'm a quiet person, but I'm not a pacifist.
I sometimes hope that trouble doesn't happen, but I can't say, "Let's just put up with it and forgive him when he gets hurt.
If I get hit, I will hit back.
I pulled out the mineral tree with the intention of not stabbing her, but I'd stab her if I felt like it.
It's easier to kill someone with that simple thought.
It may not be very deadly, but when confronted by a mineral tree, even the slightest bit of it will convey the reality of the situation.
The spirit of death is literally the desire to kill.
There's no hiding it, let every little bit of it out, like this.
"I hit you. I'm ready to get stabbed. ...... Hey.
I let the tip of the blade touch his throat.
The reddish face of the man who had been red a moment ago is now turning blue.
"......... I'm going to stop.
It makes me feel like I'm bullying the weakest person in the room...and my thoughts gradually cool down.
I pull the mineral tree to avoid hitting the opponent.
And then you pass by the side of Yuuo, who collapses in a daze.
If I do something here, there will be trouble later.
You've been beaten this badly, there's no way you're going to tell someone.
''...... Is it my fault if he quits because of this?''
I suddenly realized and turned around at the entrance, but all I could see was Yuuo sitting there stunned.
Well, okay. The time is right.
Bottom line is, don't be shy about people who come in here and try to fight.
There's nothing in it for me to care about.
It's better this way.
Did anybody see that?
The gaze he had felt since he came out of the dungeon was more worrisome.
Normally, he would have dismissed it as being due to his imagination, but it was a sensation he'd felt while his nerves were in a state of sharpness right after coming out of the dungeon.
It wouldn't be a mistake.
I stopped feeling it before I even walked past Yuuo's side, but the gaze as if I was being priced out left a bad aftertaste.
''d*mn, that beer doesn't look good today.
There's no point in worrying about it.
For now, let's have a beer with Kaido, who is probably stuck in his room with muscle pain.