Chapter 223: Floor Boss Coins and Wishes
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7583de/
Author: Hirukuma
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
ur party had grown considerably, easily exceeding the vehicle’s load capacity, but thanks to Pitee’s <Weight Manipulation> Gift, everything ran smoothly. Honestly, her skill was nothing short of miraculous, and I had never been so grateful to have her in the team.
It had been three days since our encounter with Leader Keyroil’s party, and all of them had fully recovered and were now happily absorbed in the games I provided. The resilience of Hunters never failed to astonish me.
As for Sulrim, she was always with Ash and never spoke to anyone unless it was through the boy. At this point, he might as well be her interpreter. Still, she was not openly hostile, so that was something. So long as she remained calm and cooperative, I had no complaints. Whenever she gets a little moody, Ash would immediately sense it and coaxed her by acting sweet and cute.
Although, lately I get the feeling that she has been acting moody on purpose, just to get Ash to act cute with her. Still, let’s keep our thoughts to ourselves for now.
When the next break time came, I set out the portable toilet and prepared drinks for everyone. Starting from today, Leader Keyroil’s party will be joining the daily training. Right now, there were eight people sparring near the cliff edge, which I must say was rather nerve-wrackingto watch. I should keep an eye on them and throw up a <Barrier> or something to make sure no one falls off by accident or something.
“You are a strange magic tool, Hakkon.”
Sulrim said as she stepped up to me, her eyes like chips of glacial eyes.
Ash stood beside her. This time, instead of the usual childish smile, he had a serious, almost guarded expression on his face. He was clearly watching her, ready to intervene in case she did anything she shouldn’t.
My response was the usual:
“Welcome”
“I will take this sweet brown drink,” she said as she pressed the button for cocoa with a slender white finger. The can dropped into the dispenser, and I guided it towards her with <Telekinesis>.
“A magic tool with the powers of Barrier and Telekinesis. I’ve never even heard of such a thing. Though I had once heard rumours of a field that fought against the Demon Lord’s army. I had laughed it off as mere tall tales, but perhaps…”
Ah, she must be talking about Kikoyu’s Mister Field. That fellow had sacrificed himself so that his friends could escape. I could respect that.
“Still wary of me, eh? Understandable, but I have no intention of attacking any of you. Now that the Demon Lord’s army has abandoned me, I gained nothing from making more enemies.”
A shadow fell over her face. To be so easily disposed of by the one she had revered as her saviour must have cut her deeply. Every now and then, she would touch the tacky silver, thorny bracelet on her wrist, which was apparently given to her by the Ruler of the Netherworld. Looks like whatever her feelings were, she was not completely free of them.
“No matter what happens, I’ll always be on your side, Sister Sulrim!” Ash declared suddenly, wrapping his arms around her at just the right moment.
Seeing the way he swoops in just in time to comfort her in times of need… no wonder she was so devoted to him.
“As long as I have Ash with me, all is fine.”
“Hee hee, that tickles, Sis!”
The way she was rubbing her cheek against his… if the genders were reversed, it would have been an immediate crime. No, this would still be considered a crime in Japan. At the very least, it is very heavily frowned upon.
Still, it looked like so long as Ash stayed with her, she would not betray us. That said, I still won’t be letting my guard down any time soon.
While the two of them were gushing over each other, a stray arrow flew over and I casually blocked it with my <Barrier>.
“Oh my, to think that you’re willing to extend protection to someone like me. You’re more trustworthy than any humans.”
“Thank you, Hakkon,” Ash said.
“Please come again”
Customers must be protected. This is just common sense for anyone in business.
To be honest, it would be great to have Sulrim on our side. I had already experienced firsthand just how terrifyingly powerful Snow Spirits could be. It would really be great if she could be on our side for real, but if this was just her trying to deceive us… Well, I have no choice but to do everything I can to protect my comrades.
While I was lost in thought, the training break started to wind down. While Hyurumii set up folding tables with practised ease, I prepared everyone’s favourite post-practice dishes.
Sulrim would glance at the dishes set out on the table, but not join the team. She only ate whatever Ash brought to her. Still, I noticed her eyes lingered just a little longer on Pitee’s after dinner desserts. By the way, I already knew her favourites from that time when I was held hostage, so it was no problem preparing some pasta carbonara and pudding especially for Sulrim.
“A-sh” [1]
Ash scampered over and, like the smart cookie he was, immediately recognised what I was trying to do.
“Are these… for Sister Sulrim?” he exclaimed in a fairly loud voice. Nice job.
“Ye-es”
“Thank you, Hakkon! Big Sis, come eat this!”
Just watching him trot over to her melts my heart a little. If even his little skips were calculated… then, I must say that Ash was a frighteningly talented negotiator.
“Humph, I have no particular interest in those… things, I-”
“Let’s eat together!”
“…Fine. If you insist.”
So smooth. A masterclass in pushing through with a smile. I had prepared a large portion for them to share, but just in case, let’s prepare another portion. Her vendetta was against humans, but since I was a magic tool, I was perfectly positioned to slowly whittle down her defences.
After all, winning someone over through their stomach was a time-honoured tactic.
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Another week passed, and Sulrim’s attitude toward me softened further. Perhaps noticing this, Ramis and Pitee sometimes narrowed their eyes suspiciously at me. Ladies, I understand why you would be suspicious, but please understand that this special attention is needed to develop this fragile peace.
The journey itself remained uneventful. No monsters, no obstacles, just an endless, straight road. Every day, we break for the warriors to train for at least four hours. During travel, we watched movies, played games, and read magazines—well, they looked at the pictures. Weekly manga anthologies were especially popular; Hyurumi had already mastered hiragana and katakana.
If only this were a sunlit plain. Instead, beyond the beam of headlights and magical lamps, all was pitch black. I found myself deeply admiring the Hunters who had walked this same road alone. If it were me, I would have probably gotten crazy along the way…
Lately, to change the mood a little, I started playing music through <Jukebox>. My comrades heard the songs on repeat so often that they eventually started to hum along. So, of course, the next thing was to introduce karaoke to them. I transformed into a <Karaoke Machine>. Suddenly, singing became a huge hit.
Being able to sing as loudly and obnoxiously into the darkness melt stress away under laughter and cheers.
And so our noisy, cheerful journey continued, until its sudden end.
After roughly three weeks on this floor, the road just simply stopped. Not in a cliff, but at a massive double door embedded into the rock wall ahead.
“So this is the end of the line,” Leader Keyroil muttered, hopping down from the trailer. The rest followed a moment later.
The double doors towered above us. It was roughly the same height as two human men and was carved with a giant branching tree bearing small apple-like fruit. However, there was not a single leaf in sight. Oddly enough, each fruit looked looked like a deeply carved in groove.
“Looks like something’s supposed to fit here,” Hyurumi murmured, examining the lowest fruit carving.
These kinds of doors usually require a special key.
“Let me try pushing first,” Ramis said.
“No traps I can see, but let’s stay alert. Hakkon?”
“Welcome.”
Ramis pressed both hands against the doors and pushed with her full strength. The ground cracked under her feet, but the doors didn’t budge.
“Hufff, oooofffff, haahhhhhh….”
She strained for nearly a minute before finally stepping back.
“Sorry, it didn’t move a single bit.”
“If Ramis can’t move it, then there should be a special method,” Hyurumi concluded.
We checked every inch of the door, but aside from the carved fruit, nothing stood out. Ramis set me down, and I studied the indentations closely. A thought struck me.
I owned something that matched that size perfectly.
“Co-in.”
Everyone turned toward me.
“Bo-ss co-in”
“The Floor Boss Coins!!” Hyurumi gasped, her eyes widening.
Everyone sucked in a breath, staring at the carved tree.
If my hunch was correct, then Floor Boss Coins existed for this very moment.
[Gumihou: Oho, ohohoho!!!] [1] The original was ‘a ni’, because Hakkon didn’t have the syllable to pronounce ‘hai’ for ‘grey’, which is Ash’s Japanese name. However, since I scrapped the syllable count thing, the explanation is pointless. Also, ‘Grey’ is uncool, so I went with ‘Ash’ instead.
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