Chapter 45
I felt like I'd just seen the darkness of modern society.
Email is scary.
Or rather, this person is scary.
Actually, I don't even know whether this person is a man or a woman, but they're probably a woman.
This is bad. Really bad...
This person has to be crazy.
Forty-five emails in one hour!?
That's practically a horror story.
I could feel the madness.
Every minute or so, the voice from above would ring in my head: ≪You have received an email.≫
I thought I was going to lose my mind.
This may have been the most mentally exhausting thing I'd ever experienced.
How bad was it?
It was enough to raise the level of 'Stress Resistance.'
It went from LV 5 to LV 6.
Thanks to that, things got a lot easier. Damn it!
"Ah... I feel absolutely awful..."
I crouched down and held my head in my hands.
I'd really attracted the attention of someone important...
Seriously, what am I supposed to do about this...?
No matter how it played out, I had a bad feeling about it.
Ah, I want to run away, ignore them, and pretend this never happened.
I want to punch myself for casually thinking I might have gained a long-range attacker as a companion.
I may have hunted monsters more desperately today than at any point over the past three days.
Even while searching for monsters and fighting them, the voice from above kept ringing out: ≪You have received an email.≫
The moment I leveled up, I learned the 'Email' Skill without hesitation.
Then the very first thing I did was look for a 'Block Function.'
I wondered if I could block their messages.
But there wasn't one! Damn it!
It was bad in every sense of the word.
If not for Momo's fluffy fur, I'd have been dead on the spot.
"Whiiine?"
Momo cocked its head.
Ah, so cute.
That little gesture alone was soothing.
I could keep doing my best today, too...
"...(shiver)"
Ah, sorry, Aka.
It's not like I'd forgotten about you.
Yeah, this is pretty comfortable.
Once you get used to it, even a slime isn't so bad.
"Whew... They don't seem like a bad person, but..."
Except for being crazy.
Ah, no—that's a fatal flaw, isn't it?
≪You have received an email.≫
They sent another one...
I only just told them I'd think it over.
What is it this time?
I scratched my head vigorously as I opened the email.
‘By the way, there was something I forgot to tell you. If you raise Email to Level 2, the chat function will be unlocked. The time lag will also be reduced, and you'll be able to get to know each other better, so I recommend it.’
Yikes...
That was information I never wanted to know.
It was already this bad as it was.
If the chat function ever got unlocked, it was obvious things would get completely out of hand.
Yeah... I'll just leave Email at its current level.
‘I see. Thank you for the valuable information. As for becoming a party member, please wait a little longer. Also, you don't need to send emails quite so often. I do read them carefully, and I understand how you feel.’
All right, sent.
Even after I replied that I'd think it over, they kept sending emails every now and then...
This person is unbelievably inconsiderate.
Try thinking about the other person a little.
And the fact that they seem to be doing it without realizing it somehow makes it even worse.
There really are people like this sometimes.
The type who bothers other people without realizing it, even though they don't mean any harm.
I really can't stand people like that.
Think about other people a little more.
"Whuff..."
"...(shiver)"
Momo and Aka both gave me pointed, questioning looks.
What? I'm perfectly normal, aren't I?
Still, what kind of person is Ichinose Natsu, anyway?
Their Level, Job, Skills, and that gun...
There were too many things I wanted to know.
Especially that gun—where could Ichinose Natsu have gotten it?
Even setting airsoft guns aside, there was practically no way to obtain a real gun in Japan, a country governed by law—especially a rifle, probably for long-range sniping. If there was any way, it would have to be through some illegal black-market route, like the yakuza or some other criminal outfit.
The fact that they'd taken down a Lesser Wolf with a single shot from that distance showed that the gun's power was extraordinary.
An anti-materiel rifle would be something like a Barrett or a Hecate, right?
I don't know much about guns, so I barely know what I'm talking about.
They had the skill to handle a gun like that with ease.
Their Level must be high, too.
Or could they have a Skill that allowed them to obtain weapons—or even 'create' them?
It was possible...
There was a Skill called 'Email,' after all.
There might even be Skills called 'Internet' or 'Online Shopping.'
"Thinking about it won't get me anywhere..."
Asking them directly would be best, but there was no way they'd tell me if I just asked outright.
"Anyway, I've bought myself some time, so I can think it over at leisure..."
Long-range support certainly was appealing, but if they betrayed us, we'd get shot in the back.
I couldn't jump to an easy conclusion.
I had to determine whether they could truly be trusted.
Maybe I should use 'Email' to get to know them for a while.
I didn't want to. I really wasn't looking forward to it.
I could gradually learn more about them and figure out what kind of person they were.
Since I'd used 'Email' instead of meeting them in person, they probably intended it that way, too.
"Does this make us email pen pals, in a sense?"
As I pondered something so trivial, we resumed exploring the town.
≪You have received an email.≫
...That was fast! Why do their emails arrive so quickly!?
Do they have no patience at all!?
And so, our exploration gained a suspicious email pen pal.
Meanwhile, back at the home improvement store―――.
Ono, the bespectacled student, had safely returned to the base.
His companions greeted him with smiles.
"Ono, you're back! Thank goodness you're safe! ...Where is everyone else?"
"Y-yeah... Well, we got attacked by monsters on the way and got separated..."
"...I see. All right. I'm just glad you made it back safely. Really..."
Nishino showed no sign of doubting Ono's words.
Seeing Nishino worry about him made Ono's heart ache.
"Yeah... I suppose. Um, I found some food. It's not much, but..."
As though trying to cover up his lie, Ono handed Nishino the backpack packed with food.
The sight made not only Nishino but also the students standing behind him smile.
"Thanks. Get some rest."
"Yeah. ...Oh, what about Shibata-kun and the others? They haven't come back yet?"
"Yeah. They're well past their scheduled return time. Something may have happened."
"I see..."
"Yeah. If they haven't come back in another hour, I plan to send out a search party. We're short on people, so the ones who went with you, Ono, will have to come second, but... I hope you understand."
"..."
As Ono watched Nishino worry about his companions, his heart twisted with unbearable pain.
Saying they'd gotten separated was a lie.
He had abandoned them and run away.
(...It's not my fault. I'm not to blame...! They went off and did whatever they wanted. And they ignored everything I said... That's right. I'm not to blame. I didn't do anything wrong...!)
He repeated those words to himself again and again.
A few dozen minutes later, Shibata returned.
The information he brought back would cause major ripples among Nishino and the others.