NOVEL NEXT Book 2: Chapter 49
Chapter 49
After drinking Chariot's special drinking water that had a slight recovery effect on their strength, the three slowly stood up as they recovered.
The atmosphere there was that Tenji was no longer needed, and it was convenient for Tenji.
[I hope there is a situation where I can summon the goblins at somewhere... I'd have to do it in secret.]
Seeing them, Tenji was waiting for an opportunity to summon the goblins.
"All right, let's go one more time."
"Yeah."
"Yes!"
Mizue's shouts got them both fired up.
There wasn't much of a hierarchical structure among explorers based on age, and there was a tendency to follow the strong. Perhaps because they know this, Rikka and Kusatsu seem to have complete trust in Mizue as a leader who is supposed to be younger than them.
The members of the 26th group started to make their way back to conquer another one of the sub-dungeon's routes.
The three were about thirty meters ahead of Tenji, diving and fighting with the six diving Mice.
Tenji and Fukuyama observe the situation closely from behind.
So Tenji tried not to be too loud and asked a question to Fukuyama, who was judging next to him.
"Fukuyama-san, can I ask you one question?"
"Hmm? What is it? If I can answer you, I will."
Fukuyama never once looked at him, but his gaze caught the three people in front of him as he replied to Tenji's question.
But Tenji knew that the consciousness was dispersed over him as well.
For explorers, multitasking is a natural skill, and a chariot-grade explorer has a wide range of peripheral vision and spatial awareness at a monster level. Tenji knew this from his previous experience.
"How is this test judged by someone other than Mr. Fukuyama? In the first place, I don't think it is like Chariot, whose weapon is fairness and impartiality, to hand down a pass/fail decision based on the subjective judgment of only one person."
"Oh, so you did notice?"
"I don't know how, but somehow I think that's how it is."
"The first thing to do is to get a good look at the other side of the room. Before you guys entered this sub-dungeon, weren't you stamped by Godo-san?"
At these words, Tenji saw what looked like a red formation stamped on the back of his right hand.
"This is it, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's it. There's quite a variety of effects engraved into it, heart rate, exercise distance, muscle mass, fatigue, video recordings of the surrounding area, and so on. There are people in the other room judging it. And, of course I'm one of the judges."
"I see... There's such an item."
"Incidentally, this is an original magic circle created by one of Chariot's personal explorers. We can't tell anyone about it. Well, it's a story included in the contract we signed at the beginning."
"So, there are people like that enrolled in the guild as expected of a top guild."
"Oh, no, that's not it. He's not enrolled, but he's a pretty weirdo who comes to Japan every once in a while, and sells these awesome magic figures. When he comes to see Commander Kujo, he says, 'I made you a new original magic circle. I've made a new original magic circle. I don't have any money, so you'll have to buy it.'"
"I've met Ms. Kujo in person once, and I was almost crushed by her intimidating presence and piercing gaze."
"Hahaha, she's the kind of person who lives her life in an intimidating way, no matter what. But there aren't many people who are that strong and beautiful. The truth is, the reason I joined the Chariot is because I fell in love with Kujo-san at first sight. Do you find this weird?"
"No, I don't think so at all. I got this from Mr. Godo, who told me that as an explorer you should verbalize your desires, no matter what they are. Since then, I've come to think so too."
"I used to hear that kind of thing from him back then. Oh, it looks like we're almost done. Let's go meet up with the others."
Perhaps recalling a slightly nostalgic memory, Fukuyama's eyes shone like a little boy.
Then he walked up to the three who had finished fighting. The three began to fight their impressions of the battle while treating their post-battle wounds with clothes and other first-aid measures. They were all tired and trying to catch their breath.
"That was a very good one! I was surprised when Kusatsu-san made two tackles in a row. He is indeed a Japanese national rugby player."
"Oh, thank you."
"Rikka was good too. You should be able to do more."
"I'm going to have to be more and be more diligent!"
Their atmosphere was warm throughout.
This was probably because they not only pointed out the bad points but also constantly tried to verbalize the good points and communicate them to the others.
It's also because all three of them refrain from making negative comments and are always thinking about how to improve the cooperation between them.
They were chosen as one of the 100 best out of 3,000 talented people in Japan, so it was apparent even before they started fighting that they had some special skills that needed to be noted.
Then Fukuyama joins the conversation.
"Yeah, yeah, you guys are really good! Especially this time, Kusatsu! That was a great tackle on two of them in a row! The shield role is not only to protect your comrades, but also to create an easy battlefield for the attackers. You were able to do that in this battle. Intuition?"
"Ha, yes! I could see Mizue-kun and Rikka-san's standing positions more clearly than usual..."
'Good, you've got the language down. Don't forget that feeling because it's a feeling that's going to be important to you as an explorer in the future."
"Yes!"
Apparently, the MVP of the event was Kusatsu Gouta.
After every battle, they started making their impressions, and from the middle of the battle, Fukuyama began to join in. The three were trying to brush up on their so-called general opinions through their own real-life experiences. Still, Fukuyama gave them advice as professional explorers every time.
That advice helped them refine their moves even further.
However, Tenji was left entirely out.
"I guess your injuries are still okay. Just in case, but we can't afford to have anyone die in this test, so if we determine that you need to heal, we will stop the test immediately. Keep that in mind and do your best."
"Yes!"
Interrupting Fukuyama meant that if it were determined that healing was required, the trial would be terminated at that point.
The goal of this test was probably to conquer this fifth-grade sub-dungeon.
In short, once you have suffered more injuries than necessary, you will fail the test eventually.
"Then let's move on. We are almost at the second boss area."
The fact that the second boss area was so close, they were told without hesitation, made the three of them nervous again.
Somehow it even seemed to Tenji that Fukuyama was intentionally manipulating their feelings.
[I knew there was something wrong within this test...]
The anxiety was not something that could be clearly expressed in words.
But this test seemed somewhat eerie to Tenji, who had watched Fukuyama next to him for a long time.
"Come on, let's go!"
Fukuyama pushes the three of them firmly, making them feel even more excited.