Ch.29Fortress Conquest (3)

After defeating the boss, we regrouped.

Ding-!!

Something dropped from where the boss had disappeared.

It was a gem that looked expensive.

“A, a gem…!”

Umi’s eyes went wild at the sight of the gem. Women love things like jewels, after all.

“Couldn’t we sell it for some money?”

Taiga made a dangerous suggestion.

“No. If we sell it, it’ll be treated as stolen goods. Of course they’d be suspicious if minors suddenly tried to sell a gem like this. It would be troublesome if the police investigated us.”

Sasitsu made a cool-headed statement, befitting a protagonist.

“Ah… now that you mention it, that’s true.”

Umi understood immediately.

Well, there were limited places to sell valuable items obtained in the game.

“Then why don’t we sell it to that green-bearded guy at the weapon shop?”

I immediately offered the model answer.

“Ah. That’s a good idea.”

Sasitsu said.

He’s already doing illegal business selling weapons. He’d buy items like this without asking questions. That’s how you make money in the game.

“Then let’s go right away. Leave the negotiating to me.”

I said confidently.

“Hehehe. Want to get salted again while negotiating?”

Umi said with a laugh.

“Shut up!!!”

How long are you going to milk that salt incident?!

“If you get salted more… you’ll become pickled shota… hehehehehe!”

Taiga seemed to burst into laughter too.

“Taiga!! Stop being so funny… pickled shota… the shota will get all wrinkly… ahahahaha!!!”

Umi couldn’t hold back her laughter either.

These guys really made teasing me their life’s joy.

Anyway, we left the fortress.

Swoosh-!!

The moment we stepped outside, the fortress transformed into mist and disappeared.

“Is this… case closed then?”

Umi asked.

“Let’s hope so.”

Sasitsu said.

Well… this concluded the March event. The dungeons appeared at one-month intervals.

These monthly dungeons had to be cleared within a month. Otherwise, we’d immediately head down the bad ending route. Well… I needed to guide them properly to avoid that.

However, not wanting to arouse suspicion, I kept this to myself. Sigh… the feeling of secretly harboring a secret.

“Let’s go home and rest!! After selling the gem!”

I said, deliberately raising my energy level.

“I hope it sells for a lot.”

Umi said with a smile. Looking at the gem had awakened her materialistic desires.

——-

At the weapon shop, I immediately placed the gem on the counter.

“Hmm… it seems you’ve defeated a powerful enemy. I’ll pay a good price for this.”

Green Beard said with a smile.

Yeah, think I’ll let my guard down with those words? I was determined to negotiate a higher price. In the game, I had no choice but to sell without negotiating, but now I was different.

“I’ll give you 100,000 yen for it.”

Green Beard said.

“O-one hundred thousand yen?!!”

However, my companions seemed too shocked to even attempt negotiating.

Well… for first-year high school students, 100,000 yen was a fortune. That was truly in the realm of adults.

“We’ll sell it!!!”

Umi’s eyes gleamed with greed.

“Well… my kind needs these gems that come from monsters’ bodies. That’s why I’m willing to pay well.”

Green Beard smiled.

Right. As you might have guessed, this old man was of the same race as Blue Beard from the Room of Fate. According to the setting, they lived by converting monster cores into power. Other details were vague, but he was definitely a transcendent being. A resident of the hidden world. He was a kind of civil servant dispatched to prevent the hidden world from encroaching on reality. He was helping us under that mission.

“150,000 yen.”

But I had a heart of steel. I immediately raised the price. We went through hell to get this. We couldn’t sell our passion for a mere 100,000 yen.

Clatter-! Clatter-!

Green Beard then reached for something under the counter.

Heh. Trying to pull out some salt? But I had already developed immunity to salt. I was a being who had overcome even osmotic pressure.

However, what Green Beard pulled out defied common sense.

It was a glass bottle containing some dangerous-looking liquid.

I wasn’t sure what kind of liquid it was, but the label had a skull drawn on it. It looked like the kind of liquid that a cute deer-shaped character would put in the soup of her quack doctor mentor.

“Take 100,000 yen and get out before I spray this on your face.”

Green Beard said.

“By the way… what kind of liquid is that?”

I asked.

“Why don’t you find out?”

Green Beard replied.

“I’ll take the 100,000 yen.”

I immediately backed down.

“Hmph. That’s better.”

Green Beard handed over 100,000 yen in cash. The bills were stacked like bricks.

“Woooooah…!”

Umi’s eyes lit up as she grabbed the stack of bills.

“………”

Sasitsu didn’t show it, but he seemed excited about suddenly getting such a large sum of money.

“What should we do with this?”

At that moment, Taiga voiced a practical question.

“Buying equipment or stocking up on healing potions would be good.”

Sasitsu said. Yes, that’s it. If we can’t protect the world, it will perish. Using money for spec upgrades was the golden rule of RPGs.

“Rejected.”

Umi said in a stern, solemn tone.

“This is basically club funds!!! Let’s use this money to go somewhere fun!!”

Umi exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

“Oh. Come to think of it, Golden Week starts next week. Let’s go have fun then.”

Taiga, apparently also an expert in having fun, immediately mentioned Golden Week.

Golden Week. A uniquely Japanese event.

Students call the roughly one-week period in mid-March, when holidays are concentrated, Golden Week. It truly couldn’t be a better custom.

I wondered why Korea readily absorbed terrible Imperial Japanese remnants like all-school assemblies and sports day ceremonies, but stubbornly refused to adopt good customs like Golden Week. It felt almost unfair.

“Hmm… I was planning to spend all day training in kendo then.”

That’s what I said. With a week-long vacation, I was thinking of improving my specs. Besides, holidays were prime time for web novel writing. I was planning to use Golden Week to run some consecutive uploads and boost my view count.

“Really!! Don’t waste your youth!! A chance to hang out with a beautiful girl like me? Aren’t you excited already?”

Umi asked.

“I’m always excited just being near Umi. Since it’s my normal state, there’s no need to verbalize it.”

“Hehehehe!! Such a flatterer!!”

While saying that, Umi vigorously patted my head. She pretended to dislike flattery, but her body was honest. That sounds weird when I put it that way, though.

“What about being near me? How’s that?”

At that moment, Taiga addressed me.

“Scary. I feel like you’ll extort money from me.”

I answered honestly.

“You little shit!!!”

Taiga immediately tried to punish me.

See!! That’s what’s scary!! You immediately resort to violence!!!

“Hey. Just because it’s Golden Week doesn’t mean monsters won’t appear…”

Sasitsu tried to point out. Yes!! Sasitsu!! Drop the cool loner act and back me up!!

“Golden Week!! Golden Week!!!!”

However, Umi seemed unwilling to listen.

“Kiryu… listen to me…”

“Golden Week!!!!!! Yeaaaah!!!!”

Umi threw an excellent tantrum. She was completely blocking all dialogue. This girl… is surprisingly childish. Wasn’t she supposed to be a somewhat dignified character? That’s what I thought.

“…They say people grow similar when they like each other… I guess it’s true.”

Sasitsu muttered to himself.

Who’s similar to whom? I wasn’t that much of a nuisance. I was just expressing righteous anger.

Wait… am I wrong? Come to think of it, I might have been quite a nuisance too.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

Sasitsu said with a tired expression. Giving up already?

“Yay!!!!”

Umi immediately started jumping up and down. Well… due to her unique jumping posture, Umi’s voluptuous breasts shook with tremendous force. My excellent dynamic vision couldn’t help but track the movement of Umi’s chest.

Click-!

I pressed the shutter of the camera in my mind. I wanted to preserve this scene forever.

“Where are we going?”

Taiga asked in a languid tone, suddenly seeming to be in a bad mood. She has mood swings too, huh.

“Hey. I opposed this until the end. Umi, as the planner, should decide.”

Sasitsu immediately deflected.

But he was right.

“Then…..”

Umi smiled brightly before saying one thing.

“Let’s go to an amusement park. Okay?”

Umi said.

“An amusement park? That’s a safe pick.”

I found myself muttering. Suitable for minors too.

Besides, there was an amusement park in Emoshita City. In the game, you could go on dates at the amusement park if your relationship with the heroine progressed. Yes. It would be perfect to just have fun together, have a closing party, and then part ways. How wholesome and nice. If she had suggested something like hot springs, I would have had to talk her out of it.

“But the remaining money will be properly saved as activity funds.”

Sasitsu tried to assert his authority as leader.

“Sasitsu, you’re like a nagging mom.”

Umi said with a smirk.

“Who’s a nagging mom?!!”

Sasitsu was indignant about his cool loner image being shattered.

Anyway, that’s how our first dungeon conquest was smoothly concluded.

———

When I was casually checking my phone after returning home.

Ding-!

A message came in the special operations club group chat that had been created at some point.

The date for the amusement park outing was set for the first day of Golden Week. The plan was to spend the whole day there until night.

‘Well… I should keep the first day free.’

That’s what I thought.

Ding-!!

Just then, a message came from somewhere else.

It was a message from Eri.

‘Shota. Next week is Golden Week from Monday to Sunday, right?’

Eri’s message continued.

‘Are you… free from Tuesday to Wednesday?’

Eri suddenly started making plans.

‘Could you… help me babysit? My parents are going on a business trip during Golden Week… I’d appreciate help looking after my siblings.’

Eri made a request.

Well, it doesn’t overlap with the amusement park day. I casually replied that I would.

Ding-!

Then another message came.

‘Hey.’

It was Taiga.

‘Come out on Thursday.’

The message ended there. Feeling like I couldn’t refuse, I replied with trembling hands.

Ding-!!

This wasn’t a hidden camera prank, but another message came at an awkward timing.

‘Shota…..’

It was Umi.

‘From Friday to Sunday… could you come along on our family trip? My mother wants that.’

‘It’s not like I want it, so don’t get any ideas.’

She added a lame excuse at the end.

If Mrs. Gonzaemon, no, the real power Asuna-san said so, I had no choice. I replied that I would go.

Suddenly, my Golden Week schedule was completely packed. This… is going to be intense. I desperately started planning my writing schedule in my mind.