-43- Strange Coincidence 1

With the cla.s.s meeting closing, all of my schoolmates start to move.

Those who are preparing to explore the dungeon, those sleeping again to wake up earlier, and those showing an uneasy expression on their faces because of the new casualty.

In the clamor of the restless morning, the desperate struggle to wipe away the aftertaste of death after a long time somehow looked funny.

Accompanied by both Hiiragi-san and Heidi, I visited Maizuru"s room. Maizuru is not even disturbed after knowing about Miyazu"s death. On the contrary, she answered with a laugh.

「Ahaha, I was thinking if it will be later or earlier, but it was unexpectedly fast. Well, I don"t care, but should I at least see his corpse? I"m a little interested in what kind of disgusting anatomical model it is.」

It seemed that she thinks that there"s nothing special regarding the death of someone who liked her. Rather, she has a bad taste and interest in corpses which can"t be seen in our former world. Since she does not care about a former party member who was a close friend, I really don"t know what she is thinking.

She speaks in such a way that she seems really healthy, different from when I saw her last time yesterday. I regret just a bit that I was worried pointlessly.

I conveyed all the information I got from the cla.s.s meeting.

「Master, thank you so much.」

Looks like the name given to me yesterday is not temporary. It is natural for Heidi who heard it for the first time to be confused.

「Master?」

I haven"t told Heidi that Maizuru became my slave. Although one might say she"s a party member who I explore the dungeon with, we"re not in a relationship for me to disclose all the information with her.

She examined my and Maizuru"s faces with a puzzled look on her face.

「That"s right. I became Master"s slave. I was restrained so I won"t be able to move and humiliated. Because he was excessive, my health deteriorated a bit.」

「Unfair.」

Heidi directing her very envious stare towards Maizuru gave birth to a misunderstanding. She seems to believe that Maizuru became a slave as part of a play, but the one who was restrained and humiliated is me.

Guessing that I have not told the details to Heidi, Heidi used words to give rise to a misunderstanding. Maizuru looking at me with a grinning and ill-natured expression is slightly revolting.

「Is it all right if we also take a rest from exploring the dungeon today as well?」

Sensing that the conversation is heading the wrong direction, Hiiragi-san corrected it.

「Hmm, you still haven"t completely recovered, right? Does Yuuko-chan want to rest?」

「There"s no need to push it and hurry, so I think it"s fine to rest even today.」

「I want to earn points even a little. I need points to do it with Hibari.」

「In that case, isn"t it all right if the three of you go exploring the dungeon without me? It will be easy to safely hunt monsters in the deeper areas if you use the shortcut.」

Everyone agreed to the suggestion that Maizuru said after hearing Heidi"s request.

I also want to say I want to earn PP even a little, so there"s no problem if we allow Maizuru to rest. Only, the burden of each person will increase with the decrease in members so we should be careful. We don"t want to end up being eaten and killed by monsters like Miyazu after all.

I move towards the vortex of sparkling black particles. When the view turned from black to gray, an unprecedented change appeared.

My vision is covered in gray and nothing is visible. What made me aware of that is not the sense that uses mana. The black and silver collar wrapped around my neck writes the information directly in my head.

Two paths float in my mind. The first entrance and the half-way inside the dungeon. I walk following the guideposts pointed out by the device. The ashes turned white and arrived in the place I recognize.

「We arrived safely.」

「It seems so. Still, don"t you think monsters are not approaching this place very much?」

Hiiragi-san probably examined the surroundings using the MS sense. I also look around in detail using detection, but there are no monsters near the eight open doors. I think this is just a little strange.

There were even monsters the size of a finger at the entrance of the dungeon. Guessing from that, the transfer vortex itself should have no effect driving away monsters. But monsters that enter in the center of the vortex disappear. Perhaps, there"s also a possibility that this place is an exception, but I don"t have that feeling.

Although I"m sure that there are other factors, no explanations come out.

「I don"t know. But I"m relieved that there"s no need to worry about being attacked by monsters the moment we come out.」

「Uhm, which way will we go?」

Saying that, Hiiragi-san looked at the open paths and closed doors.

「Yuuko is not even here, so wouldn"t it be better if don"t go further?」

「Shouldn"t we at least check it?」

「We don"t even know what"s waiting on the other side of the door or if it will stay open, right?」

When we were discussing what we should do, one of the closed doors suddenly opened.

On the other side of the door were Wazuka and the Oyabe sisters who should have challenged the dungeon early this morning. They are also surprised because they did not expect to meet us here.

「Heidi?」

「Hi, Mikan. It"s unexpected to meet in the dungeon, right?」

「Right. You reached this place with three people?」

「If it"s our party members, there"s actually one more person. But looks like she"s in a bad condition today so she"s resting. Are you going back soon?」

Shaking her head, Oyabe-imouto denied it.

「We"re taking a break. Is your group planning to head deeper later, Heidi?」

「Right, is there a place to talk about that?」

Hearing Heidi"s answer, Oyabe-imouto frowns. She looked back towards Wazuka and Oyabe-ane and asked.

「Hey, can I talk with the girls?」

「Yeah. Do what you like, Mikan.」

「Prepare the meal.」

「Thanks.」

Getting the consent of the two, Oyabe-imouto came closer to us.

Looking closely, Oyabe-imouto was a beautiful woman without a doubt. Relaxing her stiff facial expression and smiling, Hiiragi-san looked at me.

「It has gotten a bit late for greetings, but good morning, Fushimi-san, Mukou-kun.」

「Good morning, Mikan-san.」

Matching Hiiragi-san"s greeting, I also lightly nod.

「Can I take a bit of your time, the three of you? I think there"s no harm in listening.」

We looked at each other"s faces and agreed to the unexpected discussion.

「Understood, Mikan-san.」

Both of them are Oyabe, so it was their given name when calling them. Hiiragi-san called her with her name just now, she calls Heidi with her nickname, but she never called cla.s.smates by their given names except for the Oyabe sisters.

While I was thinking about that unintentionally, Oyabe-imouto replied.

「Since we"re standing around talking, can we talk while sitting near Natsume and Onee-chan? They can add in where my explanation is lacking.」

「Ja.」

「Thank you.」

With the unexpected meeting and Oyabe-imouto"s goodwill, we got a chance to hear a story from them.