Live Dungeon!

The next morning, it was painfully clear to anyone with eyes that Hannah was not fine. Her face was flushed, her steps unsteady, and she could barely stay upright. What had happened the day before had shaken her to the core, both mentally and physically.

”Hannah, you’re definitely running a fever,” Korinna said.

”I’m fiiine!”

”You should take the day off. We just cleared a new layer yesterday; you’ve earned this much.”

”I’m really, totally fiiine!”

In the end, she barely touched her breakfast, and Korinna had to carry her on her back up the stairs and lay her down to rest.

Tsutomu’s expression turned a little strained as he watched the two disappear upstairs. He nursed a glass of pulpy orange juice as he sat across from Daryl and Diniel, both wearing unusually serious faces.

Then Amira leaned over from her seat beside him, eyeing him suspiciously.

”Hey. Don’t tell me this means we’re taking the day off too…”

”…No, I don’t see why we would. We’re behind them in terms of layer progression… Unless someone here is also feeling sick?”

”Hah! Like any of us are that soft.”

At her brash reply, Daryl narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing, continuing to eat in silence. Tsutomu, meanwhile, turned to Amira with a gentle but firm look.

”Amira. You haven’t even been down to the ninety-second layer. Maybe think twice before speaking like that.”

”Huh? Sure, I guess. But it’s not like I’d end up depressed as hell like Daryl or start bawling like Hannah, y’know? I’m not carrying some noble conviction or whatever. You’re the same. I’ve seen it all over the news. You were getting slammed for not healing the Fenrir properly.”

”I didn’t hold back on healing because I WANTED to,” Tsutomu replied. ”I’m guessing those articles were from my first time through. Even the Rampage Elephant was enough to give us serious trouble back then, you know? And when the Fenrir joined the fight perfectly healthy, I just KNEW someone would die. So I didn’t heal it. That’s all…” He spoke smoothly, but somewhere mid-sentence, something snagged inside him. That brief moment’s hesitation made his words taste bitter on the tongue. ”…Actually, one more thing. If you DO understand how Daryl and the others feel, then you know calling them ‘soft’ isn’t fair. I get you weren’t trying to insult Hannah, but from their perspective, it could come off that way. You really need to stop–”

”Um, Sir Tsutomu? I know she doesn’t mean it. I’m not offended at all,” Daryl interrupted.

”Shut it, you damn mutt. No one asked you to chime in with that pathetic look on your face,” Amira snapped.

”Actually, I think you actually meant what you said, Amira,” Diniel cut in coldly. ”So you’d stop talking if you know what’s good for you.”

”What the hell!?”

As Diniel and Amira broke into a full-blown argument, Tsutomu sat there with a tight knot in his throat, as if a bone had caught halfway down.

Yesterday, he had distanced himself from everyone’s suffering, laughing like none of it concerned him. But seeing Hannah actually bedridden, her body failing under the emotional shock… that wasn’t something he could laugh at anymore. Logically, he KNEW that such behavior wasn’t well regarded in this world. That was why he had made the deliberate choice to find a quiet, secluded spot from which to watch the broadcast alone. It had been for his own entertainment.

And now, any guilt he felt seeing his comrades suffer felt self-serving at best. Even what he had just said to Amira felt hollow, causing him to stumble over his words. Was he actually being nice simply because it was the right thing to do, or was it just his own half-hearted way of atoning for that guilt?

[And honestly, I can’t even tell which world is the real one anymore…]

Amid the lingering tension, the rest of the Clan finished breakfast. One by one, they headed upstairs to prepare for their next excursion to the Guild. Tsutomu, whose only real preparation involved throwing on his usual robe, was the first to return to the living room. There, he began checking the supplies Ollie had laid out for the day’s exploration.

”Umm…”

”Hmm?”

Tsutomu was in the middle of counting Potion vials when he looked back… and found Daryl crying. Startled, Tsutomu froze. Daryl quickly wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, clearly embarrassed.

”A-ah, sorry, I…”

”No, it’s fine. What’s wrong?”

”…I didn’t realize. You were hurting too, weren’t you?”

”Huh?”

Tsutomu blinked, unable to make sense of the boy’s words. But Daryl continued speaking, his voice trembling, his tears still falling.

”When you said all that earlier… I could tell that you’ve had to put up an act this whole time. You didn’t want to not heal the Fenrir. But I… I thought you’d do that kind of thing without batting an eye. I even believed the stuff in the papers…”

”Hey, wait a second–”

”But I was wrong. You were taking the heat to keep everyone safe. And I… I blamed you. I even thought you were some heartless strategist or something, but really, the one being cruel… was me. If we’d fought the Fenrir under those conditions, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. But you went and made the hard call for our sake.”

”Uh, Daryl, you’re making a lot of assumptions there,” Tsutomu said flatly, with complete honesty.

But Daryl only gave a gentle smile in return, eyes still shining with tears.

”Of course you’d say that. But still, I wanted to understand. I’m really sorry for how I treated you before. And good luck with the ninety-first layer!”

”Wait, hold on. We’re not done talking.”

”It’s fine. Really. I’m okay now.”

”What part of this is okay!? Don’t just wrap everything up on your own, man!”

Tsutomu tried to hold him back, but Daryl was already turning away, calm and resolute. Despite Tsutomu’s protests, he showed no sign of stopping. Driven by desperation, Tsutomu lunged forward and clutched his shoulder… but it was like trying to stop a grown man with a child’s strength. Daryl was, at the end of the day, a larger man, his muscles rock solid from years of training and fighting.

Realizing brute force wouldn’t cut it, Tsutomu dropped his weight and grabbed onto Daryl’s waist, yelling as he clung like a barnacle.

”GARM! HELP! THIS IDIOT’S GETTING AWAY!!”

His voice rang through the Clan House, and within ten seconds, Garm came leaping down the stairs.

…But upon seeing Tsutomu being dragged across the floor by the much larger Daryl, even Garm paused with a baffled look on his face, unsure whether to intervene or laugh.

▽▽

In the end, Tsutomu had somehow managed to clear up Daryl’s misunderstanding. But despite that, it hadn’t been a true resolution. The undercurrent of guilt still lingered as he made his way to the Guild with his current party.

”Come to think of it,” Amira said with a sly grin as they waited in line at reception, ”you can’t even beat Daryl, right? …Which means, by extension, you can’t beat ME either.”

”If you’re coming at me with brute force, I’ll have Garm and Amy guarding me. I’ll ‘win’ just fine.”

”You coward.”

”Winning is what matters. Style points don’t count.”

The two went back and forth with their usual blend of sharp barbs and smug smiles. A short while later, after registering their party contract, Tsutomu raised a casual hand in greeting to a woman with conspicuously large rabbit ears and a personality to match.

”Hey, Lorena. Congrats on the clear.”

”Why so casual!? And wait… what!? That’s it!? You really had nothing else to say!?”

”Oh, sure. The ninety-first layer’s even tougher, so good luck.”

”Wait, wait, wait! Seriously!? After all the hell we went through to clear it, and that’s all you say!? Sure, the spectators were all acting like, ‘Oh, about time,’ but YOU’re supposed to react like a proper friend!”

”We already celebrated in advance, didn’t we?”

”……”

Lorena stared at Tsutomu, speechless, her fists trembling in front of her chest. Tsutomu offered a sheepish smile and raised his hand in a mild placation.

”Relax, I’m just pulling your leg. Like I said during the pre-celebration, it was just a matter of time. I always figured you’d make it through.”

”Hmph, I’m NOT convinced…”

”I mean, Silver Beast isn’t exactly a powerhouse, but seeing that you guys have been patching your weak points, I figured you’d make it just fine, you know?”

”Oh, yeah?”

Lorena folded her arms and turned away, clearly sulking. Still, Tsutomu didn’t want to keep Garm and the others waiting. He gave her a light nod and started to leave… only to hear a pained sound behind him, the kind of muffled shriek someone makes after jamming their pinky toe on the corner of a dresser.

”–Hnggghhh!!!”

He turned around in confusion to see Eunice crouching on the floor, gripping her hand, her face twisted in agony. Tsutomu blinked, utterly baffled, as she slowly stood up, eyes watery, and pointed at him with her left hand.

”Why is there a [ around you!? I just sprained my finger because of it!”

”It’s to defend myself. Against lawless THUGS like you.”

”I only wanted to get your attention!”

She had, in fact, merely tried to tap him lightly on the back to say hello, unaware that Tsutomu had kept a [ up around himself.

”Oh wow, you’re right. He IS shielded.”

Lorena, ever quick to adapt, gave his shoulder a few tentative knocks, confirming the fact for herself. Tsutomu sighed and brushed her hand off with the weariness of a man who had already resigned himself to a bunch of nonsense.

”Look, I’m going now. If I keep my party waiting too long, it might interfere with our schedule. Lorena, take care of this idiot for me, would you?”

With that, he cast [ on Eunice’s finger and turned away, deliberately avoiding the narrow-eyed stare Amy was giving him. He fixed his gaze on Monitor #1, where the Ealdred Crow party was currently being displayed, and pretended he did not feel those catlike eyes burning holes in his back.