Chapter 76 Monster Appraisal
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
The Student Freedom Alliance briefing ended quickly, and Akiyama and Kageyama left after chatting with Higurashi about diving next.
Higurashi told me to handle the cleanup and said she would be back soon before rushing outside.
Cleanup just involved putting 10 chairs back in place and doing a quick sweep. With Himeno, Kanon, Maekawa-san, and Satou-san, we finished in no time.
After a while, Higurashi returned, proudly holding a stack of prints, shouting, “Extra! Extra!” and started handing them out to us.
Extra edition of the Newspaper Club? I have a bad feeling about this, but I can’t not look.
Glancing at the large print, I see a big photo at the top with Kibakura and Vice President Sogahara facing each other, with the headline ‘Kibakura Attacks Student Council Headquarters! Vice President Sogahara, Shocking Defeat!!’
Below that, the headline continues with ‘The Return of the Mad Dog, Tsuchimiya! Accidentally Hits Kibakura with a Spear Throw and Gets Furious!?’ There are photos of me swinging the Kondou Spear in mid-air and walking with my hands in my pockets while glaring.
Below that, there’s a photo of someone playing a vertical flute taken at a panty-shot angle, along with the headline ‘Kamen Papillon Joins the Fray! Four-way Chaos!’ After a brief article, there’s a promotional line saying ‘For more details, check out this week’s issue!’
”Wow! This photo looks so cool!”
Himeno and Kanon are excited, but to me, it just looks like I’m acting like a crazy person, getting all worked up over Kibakura. Even though I’m sticking to my point, I sense malice in this article.
”Should I… kill them?”
The newspaper club is a nuisance to my peaceful school life.
”Tsuchimiya-senpai, you’re making a face like a demon. I’ll go directly to the newspaper club to provide information, so don’t act hastily.”
”Ugh…”
I’ve been caught up in Higurashi’s trap. Well, if Higurashi is going to provide information directly… I wonder how that will turn out. It should be fine, right?
”Things are getting pretty intense, huh…”
”Well, it’s Tsuchimiya-kun after all.”
Maekawa-san and Satou-san (the scout) are a bit taken aback while looking at the extra edition.
”I’m back! I bought the ingredients for the party!”
Hano-san and Nishina-san entered the open meeting room carrying lots of bags in their hands.
The special room was already equipped with dishes and furniture, but it seemed they also bought some missing cooking utensils. Nishina-san, with numerous plastic bags on both arms, was holding a large pressure cooker box.
”Tomoko-senpai! I’ll bring this for you!”
Himeno said as she quickly ran over to Nishina-san and took the pressure cooker box from her.
Hmm? I was worried it might turn into a chaotic situation since I accidentally told Himeno about various things involving Nishina-san, but it seems Himeno is showing respect to Nishina-san as a senpai. Is that okay with Himeno?
We decided to distribute the luggage among everyone and bring it into the room.
I received a bag containing three 1.5-liter bottles of komeabura the rice oil, but thanks to the title of Brave Warrior, it doesn’t feel that heavy. Since everyone in Evold is stronger than me, the weight itself isn’t that much of a burden. It’s kind of funny how I have the least amount of luggage, and I’m completely treated like a girl among the boys in the group.
As we ride the elevator up to the fourth floor, we head to the left side of the hallway, which is opposite of the usual direction.
ano-san rushes to the sturdy door and happily takes out the key to unlock it.
”Everyone, come in, come in!”
We place our luggage neatly on the large table, and Maekawa-san and the others quickly start organizing it.
The top floor special room has four rooms, two are corner rooms, and two are long and narrow. This room is the same corner room as Himeno’s room, with the layout reversed, but the built-in furniture is subtly different, and the atmosphere is slightly unique.
”Everyone, it’s not lunchtime yet, right? I’ll start making yakisoba now if that’s okay.”
Hano-san asked while wearing the apron she bought.
”Oh, that’s helpful, Hano-san. Do you need some meat?”
”Yeah, I need it, Tsucchi!”
I took out a block of Wild Boar meat on the cutting board. It was leftover from yesterday, but there was still a kilogram left.
”Since there’s still plenty left, I’ll give you all of this.”
”Yay! This meat was delicious!”
If they explore the 3rd floor, Hano-san and the others will probably get it soon too.
”Chikako-senpai! Can I watch you cook?”
”Sure! It’s just stir-frying the ingredients and pouring sauce over it.”
Himeno is studying cooking with Hano-san. Himeno is serious and good with her hands, so she’ll probably improve quickly. Maybe.
When I sat on the sofa, Maekawa-san poured bottled tea into cups for everyone and brought them over.
Higurashi, who was sitting next to me, is explaining our situation to Maekawa-san and Satou-san in front of us.
Kanon and Nishina-san are sitting close together at the corner of the sofa, whispering to each other. They look shy, occasionally glancing at each other, but surprisingly the conversation seems lively.
”So, will Tsuchimiya-kun and the others dive together without you for a while?”
Maekawa-san, after hearing a brief explanation from Higurashi, asks.
”Yeah, if the group is too small, I might be worried about the rearguard’s defense when surrounded by many monsters. If Maekawa-san and the others is okay with it, I’d like to wish for it.”
”That’s totally fine! With Tsucchi and the others, exploration will definitely go smoothly and we’ll feel safe!”
Hano-san interrupts loudly from the kitchen while shaking a frying pan.
”Hehe, just like Chikako said, I really want to wish from this side too.”
”Well then, I’ll leave it to you.”
Since our teleportation point party through the official route will be the same magic circle that Maekawa-san and the others use, we’ll end up being neighbors either way.
As eight servings of yakisoba are brought over, everyone gathers around the dining table.
”We’re also part of the 2nd-year Class D, so if you need any help, just let us know.”
”Sure, I’ll count on you when the time comes.”
Maekawa-san offers to help with Higurashi.
Although homeroom was canceled today, there might be a discussion about this matter with the class rep soon.
”I’ll make plenty of delicious food today, so look forward to it!”
”Yes! I’d like to watch too, Chikako-senpai!”
”Sure thing. I’ll teach you more things later.”
”Yes! I wish you the best!”
Himeno is eagerly responding to Hano-san’s call. By the way, yesterday, Himeno said, “I’m going to make a lot of delicious food, so look forward to it!”
Himeno might be competitive and wanting to seek revenge.
Nishina-san is feeding Njorn. She cautiously offers cabbage and meat with chopsticks to Njorn, who pokes their head out between the buttons on Kanon’s chest and eagerly eats it up. That snake will eat anything.
”Tsuchimiya-kun, you’ve been having conflicts with Kibakura-kun and the others for a while, huh?”
”Well, even before that, I’ve been at odds with Iwakura since my time in the previous world. Those rumors about me were their doing.”
”But, Tsuchimiya-senpai, why do you hold such a grudge against Iwakura-senpai?”
While I talk with Maekawa-san, Higurashi asked me a question.
”They were bothering a girl who didn’t like it, so I warned them that it’s not okay to do that. Then it turned into a brawl. In the end, I stripped Iwakura and two others n*ked, hung them upside down on the long fence in the park, and that’s when the harassment started.”
”Oh, I can understand feeling like wanting to kill Tsuchimiya-senpai.”
”Eh!? Well, maybe I was a bit lenient, but if I did more, my dignity would be questioned, so it can’t be helped.”
”…Well, let’s change the subject. Is Tsuchimiya-senpai not moving to the special room?”
”Me in the special room? It’s too spacious and feels excessive. I prefer a room like this for now, it’s more calming.”
I think it’s wonderful to have everything within sight and most things within reach.
”But, it looks like more students are starting to move into the dormitory. The popular A and B buildings will probably fill up first, but since B building has become Demiurge’s base, regular students will probably avoid it. In that case, surprisingly, the C building will start filling up early too. However, since the dorms are double rooms, eventually Tsuchimiya-senpai will end up sharing a room with someone else. Is that really okay?”
”Hmm… that does sound like a problem.”
That room won’t be just my castle anymore. It’s only natural since it was originally a double room.
”If you want to live in a single room, why not put a bed in the living room? It’s much larger than your current room, and having your own toilet and bath is incomparable in terms of convenience. Some students have already formed parties, and if you hesitate, the special room might end up being full before you know it.”
”I see, having a private bath and toilet does sound appealing. I don’t want to room with someone I don’t know, so maybe I should consider moving to a special room…”
I think it’s too big for me to spend alone, but I guess I should consider every room as necessary. It’s better than sharing a room with a stranger. Plus, the advantage of being able to practice spear immediately once you go to the rooftop. It’s hard to practice in the courtyard when there are more dormitory residents.
”Yeah, we have enough funds, so maybe we should move to a special room now.”
”Since I still have time until the Appraisal of Monsters, let’s check the rooms now and finalize the contract. Haste makes waste.”
I decided to accept Higurashi’s proposal. After lunch, we headed to the boys’ dormitory together and got Gil-san’s permission to view the special room. Then, I signed a contract for the corner room facing the school and moved in.
* * *
After submitting the documents to Gil-san, I received the keys, and it was the perfect time.
I collected the furniture from the two-person room and then headed to the teleportation facility with everyone.
In addition to Maekawa-san and the others, Himeno and the others also wanted to see it, so we all decided to go.
There were staff members waiting in front of the teleportation facility. When they spotted us, they didn’t let us inside but guided us to the left side of the facility. We entered through a door at the back and walked through a corridor to find ourselves in the forest behind the facility.
Following the staff’s guidance, we proceeded further back and eventually reached a large open space.
Several tents were set up in the open space, and staff wearing aprons and masks were bustling around. We were led to Lugia-san, who was standing under one of the tents with arms crossed, accompanied by a sharp-eyed staff member wearing glasses.
”Lugia-san, hello.”
”Ah, Take… You’ve come well, 2D17.”
Lugia-san seemed to lack energy in her voice and had a drained expression. Oh, right, I remembered I had a confidential document that seemed to have been dropped by Lugia. I should return it to her soon.
”It didn’t work out…”
”Huh?”
Lugia-san muttered softly.
”I failed to drain the hot water from my cup noodles properly and ended up throwing away the noodles…”
”Eh! Why didn’t you just pour it out from the drainage spout!?”
”Well, I didn’t realize the drainage spout had a double layer! I accidentally peeled off the bottom paper!”
I see, so she accidentally flipped over the packaging without noticing the top seal. In that case, it’s no different from pouring it out. For people in this world, that structure itself must be unexpected. I should have been more careful. This was also my carelessness.
”Lugia-san, I’m sorry. My explanation was lacking.”
”It’s okay… I was also a bit flustered… But I feel sorry for the noodles that got thrown away…”
Lugia-san lowered her eyes sadly.
”The thrown away noodles can’t be brought back, but this is my apology for causing sadness.”
Tina chose a bag containing various cup noodles as an apology.
”Ugh… thanks, Takeru-kun.”
Lugia-san, with tears in her eyes, accepted the bag.
”Oh, and this document was lying on the stairs. It’s yours, Lugia-san, right?”
”Huh, what’s this?”
As Lugia-san took Kondou-senpai’s investigation report and glanced at it, her face paled as if all the blood drained from it.
”Huh? W-why…?”
With a trembling hand, Lugia-san reached for the black cylindrical tube hanging from her waist.
”Facility Manager… this, it’s upside down.”
”What!? Upside down!?”
Turning over the tube, which probably contained the documents, the lid came off, revealing it was empty inside.
”I-I, this is the first time I’ve received something like this… D-did you see it? Did you see it?”
”No, I didn’t see anything.”
There’s no way I didn’t see it, but I’ll play dumb. The nearby staff members also suddenly turned their backs, pretending to point and discuss something non-existent in the forest, acting oblivious.
It seems Lugia-san didn’t even notice when she dropped it while being distracted by the cup noddle.
”Ugh, losing this would have been no joke… I’d get more than just a sarcastic remark from the Commander-in-Chief. Thank you so much.”
”Sarcastic remark?”
”I’m disliked by the Commander-in-Chief here and often get nagged at. At first, I was in a completely different unit, and when I delivered a message, I ended up being rude due to nerves to the Commander-in-Chief who was a Squadron Leader at the time. Since then, it seems like I’ve been targeted. Suddenly, I received orders to be assigned to the Commander-in-Chief’s unit, and even if there are reassignments, I always end up back in the Commander-in-Chief’s unit. This time, I was brought here even though as a civilian with no connections, there’s no way I could end up in a place like this, and before I knew it, I became a Squadron Leader and was made to be a Facility Manager. I feel like I’m going to die from stress.”
Could it be that she’s actually quite well-liked here?
”Facility Manager, let’s start focusing on the Appraisal soon.”
”Uh, yeah. Well then, Takeru… 2D17, follow the instructions according to this Fugel staff, please.”
Following the glasses-wearing staff member Fugel-san, I was taken to another tent. Then, a staff member wearing an apron and a mask who was waiting there began muttering something in an unfamiliar language.
Is this a spell incantation?
I remember that in the ‘Player System’ created for people from another world, shortening incantations is a basic feature. These people must be locals, so they need incantations to use magic.
”I have set up a barrier around the tent. Please bring the body of Bloodthorn here. If there are any other threats in the vicinity, keep them ready to be brought out.”
After everyone out of the tent, I retrieved Bloodthorn from the ‘Storage’.
”It’s not the Storage Bag from the other day but a different dimension ‘Storage’. Is it really a gift after all?”
”Well, yes, that’s right.”
It’s one of Tina’s support functions, but it’s definitely a gift. There’s no way information will leak from the staff to the students, and there’s no way to hide it here.
”No problem with saving.”
”We’ll appraise Bloodthorn.”
As the staff began examining Bloodthorn’s body, we returned to the square.
”It’s fine to bring out the remaining monsters here. If possible, I’d like them to be arranged so they don’t overlap.”
”Understood.”
However, it’s all up to Tina.
In the next moment, the bodies of monsters appeared all over the square.
”This is…!”
”Wow, it’s spectacular!”
”These are monsters I’ve never seen before.”
Fugel-san gasped, and Higurashi and the others looked around with great interest.
The monsters of the same kind are neatly arranged.
”These are really just monsters from the first half of the 10th floor. That’s a Durander (snake-like monster). Did you defeat it in close combat, even though its head is cut off?”
Lugia-san stood beside me, letting out a voice of disbelief.
”Tsucchi took down the enemy all by himself! It was so cool!”
”Aww… I wish I could have seen it too!”
Himeno clung to my arm.
As we watched, the staff efficiently dismantled the monsters, extracting their parts and magic stones.
”Everything seems to be in good shape. But you don’t seem to be struggling much. I mean, even a beginner-level player would have trouble with just one Rock Scorpion…”
”I’ve heard that there are always a few overpowered players in every school, but I’ve never heard of anyone staying at level one.”
Lugia-san and Fugel-san were talking. This time, Nishina-san, who uses ice attributes, which are the desert monsters’ weakness, was greatly enhanced by Nectar’s staff.
After the calculation was done, we were shown detailed documents with appraisal values written on them.
The most common desert wolf costs around 40,000 yen each, but a Durander is valued at 2.5 million yean. The total amount is approximately 8.8 million yen. We decided to split it evenly among the five of us, including Maekawa-san and the others, who bought some monster meat for food.
After that, we handed in the documents at the purchase counter and had the money transferred to our player cards.
”Alright, let’s head back to the room and organize our stuff for the party.”
”We should also prepare the ingredients for cooking!”
Hano-san is carrying a large scorpion claw, which apparently tastes similar to crab.
”I’ll help too! Oh… but Tsuchimiya-senpai, you also have to organize the room, right?”
Himeno suddenly looks at me.
”Oh, I’ll just take the bed out of ‘Storage,’ so don’t worry about it.”
I’m thinking of creating my own room because I’m not sure about living in the living room. Using ‘Storage’ should make it not too difficult.
”Thank you! I’ll make sure to learn how to cook properly, so please wait for me!”
The day when I can eat Himeno’s homemade cooking might be near.
”I’ll do my best too!”
Kanon seems to be motivated by Himeno.
Himeno and Kanon returned to the dorm with Maekawa-san, while Higurashi went to the newspaper club to provide information and parted ways on the way.
I decided to return to my new room alone.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.