Live Dungeon!

”Gah—haaah!? I-I’m gonna puke!!”

”♪”

Hannah, wings bound with rope, had been conscripted into a form of transportation: the Gnome riding her back, bouncing merrily like it was riding a festival float. She groaned beneath the Spirit’s weight, eyes bulging as she staggered along. While she suffered, Tsutomu sat calmly near the Black Gate, taking a short break. In front of him, the colors of three skill auras: [, [, and [. They floated above the ground, forming a model of a battlefield. He used them to recreate the flow of combat and demonstrate his positioning and role to Daryl and the others.

”This party’s been together a while now, so my movements are mostly routine. But if we keep doing the same thing, we stagnate, and I get bored. So I’ve been mixing things up each time we’ve gotten used to a layer.”

Earlier, Leleia had approached with her usual composed smirk and pointed out that his performance had been off this morning, no doubt referring to the lingering aftermath of the encounter with Eunice. But Tsutomu knew himself well; he would never let an annoying conversation disrupt his rhythm in a place as lethal as the Dungeon. The irritation he had felt had been less about Eunice herself and more about Hannah’s assumptions about it being a love affair.

Now, as he calmly explained how he had intentionally varied his actions and visualized the changes like a tactical map through his skill manipulation, his gaze drifted from Leleia’s blank expression to Hannah, who was still groaning under the bouncing Gnome.

”If you spout nonsense like that again, you’re going to be the Gnome’s next ride.”

”In that case, I’ll bind YOU to a full-day contract with Undine,” Leleia replied without missing a beat.

”…That’s supposed to scare me?”

”Oh, I’m sure you’d be able to manage for half a day. But a full twenty-four hours, including while you sleep…” Her smile deepened, eyes glittering. ”…Well, let’s just say you’d better pick either God or the Devil and start praying.”

Spirit [ could not be declined; if Leleia wanted to, she could bind him permanently. And if that happened, Tsutomu would spend his days downing Blue Potions just to keep up with the mental energy drain. She’d do it, too, not for any advantage, but simply for the petty joy of watching him suffer.

”Ugh… you know what, let’s call a truce.”

”On one condition: arrange another meeting with Camille. I won’t press if it’s not possible, but I think she’d be pleased.”

”I’ll ask her later.” Tsutomu agreed with a weary nod.

”Much appreciated.”

Leleia, it seemed, knew precisely how to press him without ever lifting a weapon. Tsutomu had already been having less time to himself lately; if she were to subject him to the Undine’s 24-hour curse, he would most likely lose his mind.

As the two shook hands solemnly, Daryl peered at the skill-formed map, eyes wide with curiosity. Beside him, Diniel tracked the movements of his swaying black-furred tail with a detached gaze.

”These are all made with skills, right?” Daryl asked. ”[, [, and so on?”

”Yeah, all of them.”

”…So if I touched it, it’d vanish?”

Daryl’s eyes sparkled like a child before a fragile tower of stacked blocks. And just as he reached out…

Tsutomu sliced through the magical map with both hands, dissipating it instantly.

”Ahhh!! I wanted to do that!”

”Too bad,” Tsutomu said flatly. ”If you want to wreck something, go make your own battlefield model with [ or something.”

”But I can’t make it that detailed!”

”Then practice. Keep at it and you’ll get there.”

”…[…”

Among Tanks, Daryl had some of the best control over his skills. He could send his [ flying like a spear exactly where ordered. His [ accuracy was high, and he could slip in a [ between strikes to fine-tune enemy aggro. Most of that came from observing and mimicking Garm’s movements, and he’d taken to the practice well.

But even with all that, he had not yet mastered the kind of compact, efficient [ that Xeno used. There had been a time when both he and Garm tried to emulate Tsutomu’s precise, bullet-like quickshot casting, thinking it might improve aggro control. Neither had managed it.

”…I don’t think I can pull that off.”

”I dunno, Xeno’s version is more compact than yours, so maybe try that first?”

”Different people have different strengths.”

”That’s true, too. But I think in your case, it’s less about talent and more about effort. Maybe if you spent less time training those orphans from the Capital, you’d get more practice in and see better results.”

”…W-wait, you knew about that?”

”Ran into Riki the other day at Dorren Workshop. He was beaming as he told me all about it.”

As it turned out, Tsutomu was still in some degree of contact with Misa, Riki, and some of the other orphans. He had heard from the boy while visiting the workshop for advice on Team 2’s equipment setups; apparently, Daryl visited their shabby inn every other day, bringing supplies and giving lessons to the children.

”I’m not mad or anything,” Tsutomu said with a shrug. ”Teaching others helps you review your own fundamentals. It’s not a bad habit.”

At that, Daryl’s ears, which had drooped with guilt, perked right back up.

”Oh… yes! That’s true!”

Just then, Diniel reached out to grab his tail, and he batted her hand away with it, managing to look flustered and smug at once.

”Just don’t push yourself to the point where it interferes with Dungeon runs. As long as you keep it balanced, I’ve got no complaints. You should know your physical limits.”

”Yes, sir! Of course!”

Still, they were on the very front line in terms of progress down God’s Dungeon. Even if their run would end by evening, Daryl’s stamina must have already been near its limits. Considering he still made time to visit the orphanage most nights, it was a miracle he was not dropping from exhaustion already.

Daryl’s seemingly endless stamina could be attributed not just to his own rigorous training regimen, but also in no small part to Ollie’s diligent support. The nutrient-balanced meals he ate each morning and night, and the massages he received whenever he looked visibly fatigued, played no small role in his recovery rate.

He wasn’t the only one who benefited, either. Hannah and Amira were also regulars of Ollie’s massage therapy, and even Amy, who frequented proper massage parlors, openly acknowledged Ollie’s skill and effectiveness. Tsutomu, however, had never once availed himself of Ollie’s services. Aware of the high demand from other clan members, he was the only one in Absolute Helix who deliberately refrained.

”All right, break’s over. Let’s get moving.”

”Mm-hmm,” Diniel murmured, already standing up.

She finished adjusting her bow, then loosed a few arrows in different directions, activating [ to scout ahead. Daryl began putting his armor back on, piece by piece. Leleia stood as well, sparing a glance toward the Gnome currently tormenting Hannah.

”Dying… I’m dying…”

”[. [.”

Tsutomu sent off a pair of restorative skills toward the wheezing Hannah without so much as a pause in his step. The Gnome, having finished its bouncing spree atop her back, hopped off lightly and began toddling after Tsutomu.

▽▽

[Hmm… okay, that’s definitely a problem.]

Milway folded her arms, brows furrowed in thought. Earlier, this morning, she had been dragged along by Eunice in an impulsive charge to confront Tsutomu right in Absolute Helix’s Clan House, and now, with the heat of emotion cooled, she found herself mulling over what he had said to Eunice at the time.

Milway had originally entered into a marriage contract with Leon purely for financial gain. Like her, many others, those confident in their bodies and appearances, had seen Leon’s wealth and position as a means to elevate their own status. Most of them, after spending a few nights with him, eventually fell for him in earnest. Milway, however, had remained largely detached.

Part of it was familial obligation; she had practically sold herself for her family’s sake. But more than anything, Lycanthropes were never her type, and she had never found herself particularly drawn to Leon as a person, either. She had always intended to leave once she’d saved up enough; that mindset made her something of an anomaly within the Golden Tune. Because of that, she had not flown into a rage at Tsutomu’s criticism of Leon like Eunice had.

It was her admiration for Eunice that had compelled her to act emotionally in the moment. But now, as she replayed Tsutomu’s words in her mind, she found herself nodding in reluctant agreement.

[He’s not wrong. Looking at their fights on the Pedestals, it’s clear that Weiss and Leon haven’t been effective Tanks against the Winter General. They had that one success against the mutated Shell Crab, and now they’re clinging to it. He was right about that; they’re being dragged along by a single past victory.]

There were many perspectives on what made a good Tank, but at its core, it required a certain degree of willingness to be an unsung hero. Tanks were not there to deal damage or stand out; they were the shield. But both Weiss and Leon acted more like Attackers, fixated on crushing monsters rather than controlling them. That made them blind to aggro shifts, which was fatal for a Tank.

In all honesty, they would be better off either slotting in a proper Tank or just going with the classic all-Attacker formation.

It was not a comfortable truth; they had tasted success before, and with the Scarlet Devil Squad playing a part in that, no one within the Clan dared say it aloud. But Tsutomu had dared to point it out without restraint.

[Still… he really sucks at expressing things. Not that Eunice is any better.]

And what Tsutomu had pointed out was not something anyone could notice at a glance. He had probably reviewed countless battles on the Monitors to come to that conclusion. Even so, he had not softened his delivery when speaking to Eunice. Quite the contrary, he had come down hard, saying exactly what he thought. And Eunice, instead of asking calmly about what the ‘silly’ comment meant, had chosen to burst in all fired up, bringing Milway along as an unwilling participant in her dramatic confrontation.

”This won’t do… I need something more… something that’ll surprise everyone…!”

”Haaah…”

Milway sighed as she watched Eunice mumbling to herself nearby, clearly trying to devise some new skill application that might wow the audience… or more likely, Tsutomu. To Milway, it was a case of two people equally bad at handling their emotions.

[If we can’t get past the Winter General like this, the sponsors might give up. And with Eunice still like that… I suppose it’s time I made a move.]

Though she was currently part of Team 2, Milway began quietly re-evaluating their current party composition. Watching Eunice fret and murmur over her next big idea, she steeled herself to take initiative, and maybe, just maybe, snag a win against the Winter General.