Chapter 96
Well then.
Another point to be wary of had arisen, but for now, I'd deal with what was in front of me one thing at a time.
For now, there was the matter of emailing Nishino-kun.
"First, let's let Nishino-kun know that Aisaka-san is safe."
"Sure thing. Got it."
Rikka-chan tapped away at the email screen.
As expected of a current high school student, she typed emails quickly.
"Also, please include details about 'Mail,' Aisaka-san's current situation, and, if possible, ask him to acquire 'Mail' and reply to us."
"Kudo-san, shouldn't we include information about magic stones and wild animals too?"
"Ah, you're right. Aisaka-san, add that too."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. W-Wait a second—don't tell me everything at once. I'm typing it now. Um..."
After that, I had her send the email she'd composed to Ichinose-san first, rather than Nishino-kun.
Like the status screen, the email screen was invisible to other people.
Other than reading it aloud or sending it to a third party, there was no way to verify its contents.
"...Yeah, this should probably be fine..."
The email fiend Ichinose-san approved it, so we had her send it to Nishino-kun.
"Do you think he'll actually believe me? Nissy's pretty suspicious by nature, you know...?"
Rikka-chan looked a little uneasy as she sent the email.
"He probably will. Nishino-kun saw Aisaka-san receive 'Mail' in the cafeteria. Besides, if you include a few details only Nishino-kun and Aisaka-san would know, he'll believe you."
Conversely, there was a chance he'd be wary and suspect a trap, but Nishino-kun would probably be fine.
He seemed like a realist, but he also seemed to care about his companions.
Besides, Rikka-chan was a core member of his group.
She was far too valuable to simply 'cut loose.'
He'd definitely make contact.
The one concern was that she couldn't acquire 'Mail' unless she had an unspent Skill Point.
Hopefully Nishino-kun had some spare points...
"Let's get moving, then. I don't want to stay here too long."
"Woof!"
"...Yes, I agree."
At my words, Momo nodded, and Ichinose-san stood up.
"Huh? Aren't we going to wait here until we get a reply?"
Rikka-chan, on the other hand, tilted her head.
"Didn't I just say that? With no idea when the monsters might come back, staying here is dangerous."
More precisely, it was the possibility of that Dark Wolf coming back.
As we were now, we could probably handle even a group of goblins, orcs, or zombies, but that Dark Wolf was a different story.
If it decided on a whim to attack us again, we had no way to fight back.
Even so, I thought the chances of that were low.
If it had intended to kill us, it would have done so the first time. There would have been no reason for it to wait an entire night for us to recover.
I still didn't know why it had let us go.
It hadn't been in a situation where fighting us would put it at a disadvantage, like with the High Orc, and it had seemed to have plenty of strength left.
Was it really just a whim, or was there some other 'reason'...?
"..."
I glanced at Momo.
Perhaps noticing my gaze, Momo came over and rubbed against my feet.
Adorable. I gave her fluffy fur a rub.
The reason I'd been spared and the reason it hadn't taken Momo probably weren't unrelated.
There was something about Momo.
Something that made her a target for that Dark Wolf.
Tch...
Don't screw with me.
Like hell I'd let that happen.
Who would hand Momo over to a monster like that?
This time, I would protect Momo. No matter what.
That was why what I had to do was simple.
I needed to raise my Level as much as possible and become stronger before encountering that thing again.
That was all.
As I stroked Momo, I reaffirmed that resolve to myself.
"Oh, right. Before we move, there was one thing I wanted to confirm."
"Hm? What is it?"
Rikka-chan turned toward me when I called out to her.
"If you don't mind, could you tell us about Aisaka-san's Level, Job, and Skills? Even if only temporarily, we'll be forming a party. It will be easier to work together if we know each other's abilities."
"Actually, I'm kind of curious about the Job Ricchan chose, too."
"Huh? Ah... yeah, I guess so."
For some reason, Rikka-chan wore a faintly sour expression.
"...The Job I chose was, um... 'Berserker.' It has a Skill called 'Berserk,' and when I use it, I get really strong in battle."
As I'd expected, that was the case.
"I'm Level 12 right now. Besides 'Berserk,' my Skills are 'Bravery,' 'Battle Continuation,' 'Slashing Enhancement,' 'Blunt Enhancement,' 'Body Regeneration,' and..."
"And?"
"...Um, oh... and the 'Mail' I just acquired. That's everything."
I see. A Skill setup befitting a Berserker.
So that incredible rate of healing had been the 'Body Regeneration' Skill.
How convenient. I want that Skill too.
"So, what Job did you choose, Nattsun? You're carrying a gun, so are you a Sniper? That's so cool!"
"Uh... um, no, Ricchan. The first Job I chose was—"
Ichinose-san explained her Job, Skills, and Level with some difficulty.
When Rikka-chan heard that she'd chosen 'Shut-in,' she wore an oddly complicated expression. When Rikka-chan said, "It's my fault, isn't it?" Ichinose-san replied, "I don't worry about it anymore. It's in the past." Rikka-chan then said, "Yeah, thanks," in an exchange only the two of them understood.
I was curious, but it probably wasn't something I should barge into.
I deliberately didn't ask. If she ever wanted to talk about it, she could tell me then.
Ichinose-san also told her about the new Jobs and Skills she'd obtained from the Gacha.
They were excellent abilities that made up for the weaknesses of 'Shut-in' and 'Sniper.'
This girl really did seem to have absurdly good luck with the Gacha.
Recovery Potions appeared whenever she needed them, and she'd obtained second and third Jobs without even maxing out a Job, unlike me. It was enough to make me wonder if she had a Skill like 'Luck.'
Rikka-chan was also quite surprised when she heard Ichinose-san's Level.
Well, Ichinose-san was Level 23.
Nearly twice Rikka-chan's Level.
She quietly muttered, "Nattsun is freaking incredible."
I also told Rikka-chan my Level, along with the Jobs and Skills I could safely disclose, such as 'Ninja' and 'Shadow Figure.'
Even if I used Item Box to attack, I could pass it off as 'Ninjutsu,' and Ichinose-san agreed to keep her story straight with me. She was on board with this too.
I still hadn't placed my complete trust in her, after all.
I also explained Momo and Aka's Skills.
Rikka-chan's reaction when she heard about Aka's ability was, "That slime is freaking incredible."
"Then, I look forward to working with you for a while."
"Yeah, same to you, big bro!"
We shook hands.
Incidentally, Rikka-chan wasn't a member of our party.
She was already in a party with Nishino-kun and the others.
To be honest, she probably wanted to form a party with Ichinose-san, but it would be better to decide that after she reunited with Nishino-kun and the others.
Besides, we didn't even know how to leave a party in the first place.
All right, then. Let's get moving.
We went outside through the battered school entrance.
"Now that I'm seeing it again, this really is awful..."
Rikka-chan muttered under her breath.
Every part of the school building had been wrecked, and things were no different outside.
The tents and awnings set up in the schoolyard had been destroyed too. Corpses lay scattered everywhere, with crows swarming over them. The smell of blood was overpowering.
Even though we'd gotten fairly used to it over the past four days, it still wasn't a pleasant sight.
(I can't put corpses in Item Box, either...)
For whatever reason, corpses, like living creatures, couldn't be put in Item Box.
I didn't know whether it was because they were 'people' rather than 'things,' or because the Heavenly Voice had different criteria, but corpses simply couldn't be put in Item Box.
They were breeding grounds for pathogens, and ideally we'd cremate them somehow, but burning a single person would require a tremendous amount of heat and take a long time.
We couldn't afford that effort right now.
I could only say, "That's right," and we left the school just like that.
However, there was something I failed to notice at the time.
The look in Rikka-chan's eyes as she stared at the corpses.
Alongside emotions like grief and pity, another, entirely different emotion was mixed in.
(I lied...)
Rikka sighed inwardly.
No, she hadn't lied.
More precisely, she had simply failed to tell them.
The Skills she possessed.
Those weren't all of them.
At the very bottom of her Skill screen,
there was one more Skill listed.
―――'Kinslayer'.
That was the one Skill she couldn't tell them about.
(How could I possibly tell them...)
Her best friend, whom she'd finally reunited with.
How could she tell that girl about such an accursed Skill?
(I'm sorry, Nattsun. But... this time, I'll definitely protect you.)
They had finally reunited.
She had been happy.
But there was still a murk in Rikka's heart.