Tamer 26
===
Chapter 26: Match and Pump Collaboration
TL : Cnine
ED/PF :
Part 1
It was a mistake to just lie down and leave everything to Demon Boss because I had no motivation.
At some point, without even realising it, I had drifted off to sleep atop the slime mattress.
「Haa… Where did those fools run off to now?」
I flicked my gaze towards the faint stir of presence, only to find Demon Boss standing silently at my side.
There was no trace of the other allied monsters. Not that it mattered. They had likely slunk off to scavenge magic stones to barter for a few grains of rice.
Petty to the core, every last one of them.
「K-KIKYO!」
Uhm?
That voice—wait, wasn't she Haruno, the member of the Brave Saint Sword Demon?!
Why was she here—eh, whatever. That was not important right now.
At this rate, my lie about being a swordsman was going to be exposed. Not only that, she would definitely realise my monsters were absurdly powerful.
The only saving grace was that I had reached level 200 before the Dungeon Association could make a move.
Still, even if I had just barely scraped by in time, I wanted to avoid being noticed by high-ranking explorers for as long as possible.
So how do I fake this? Yeah, no chance. No amount of acting can fix this mess.
Should I just ditch her instead?
「Hang on! I’m coming to save yo---Wait, what?」
While I was frantically racking my brain, Demon Boss casually marched right up to Haruno on his own.
That idiot, moving without orders… Hold on.
Well played, Demon Boss!
Haruno was shouting for me to escape. Which meant she’d completely misunderstood and thought Demon Boss was attacking me.
That level of panic gave it away instantly.
She hadn’t even considered the idea that he was my monster.
「Kikyo, run!! I’ll draw his attention!!」
Yeah… Figured.
Since she got the wrong idea, then there were still plenty of ways to spin this.
Alright, Demon Boss, please don’t do anything stupid. Seriously, don’t attack her. Accidentally having my monster kill a human would be way too awkward.
I pushed my enhanced body to its limits, racing across the grassland and slipping in behind Demon Boss.
I made it… just in time.
「I suppose I’ll make one last stand.」
Oi, oi, oi! Don’t you go making some heroic last stand on your own!
What’s this rubbish about “I suppose I’ll make one last stand”?
If Haruno attacked Demon Boss without me giving any instructions, there was a real risk he’d retaliate. That was the last thing I wanted to see.
So I punch Lord Demon flat, shove his face into the dirt, and then casually go, “Hey Haruno, what are you doing out here?”.
Demon Boss was basically screaming “Why did I punched instead?!” with his eyes, but nope. Silence. No extras.
Honestly, the plan was simple. Grab Haruno, run away from Lord Demon, make up some harmless excuse, chat a bit, and send her home.
「I’ll deal with this one. Go back down to the 5th floor. I can’t fight properly if you’re here. We’ll regroup later.」
「Y-Yes.」
Nice. That’ll do.
Haruno and the Wild Wolf sprinted off towards the stairs down to the 5th floor.
Still, she ran on foot. On foot. With a perfectly rideable wolf right there. If she’d just hopped on, she’d have been gone in no time.
Refusing to ride even a monster that’s clearly built for it… Yeah, monster tamers are a special kind of stubborn.
◇◇◇
Five minutes later, the gang came back from another floor with magic stones, so I swapped them for rice grains.
That was close. If the timing had been even slightly off, Haruno would’ve ended up facing Demon Boss directly. That would’ve been a mess.
I was this close to punishing them for wandering off on their own, but hey, it was a great move, so I’ll let it go.
「Stay on this floor for a while. Kill time however you like until I return.」
With that, I turned away and headed for the 5th floor, where Haruno waited.
◇◇◇
「Haruno. You really came all the way here without any preparation at all. Do you have a death wish?」
「... My apologies.」
「No matter how skilled you are, this is your first time in the Aomori Dungeon, isn’t it? Walking into an unfamiliar dungeon like this is practically suicide.」
「Yeah…… you’re right.」
「Nothing went wrong this time, but what were you going to do if you’d actually died?」
「……」
The plan to smooth everything over with a firm lecture seemed to be working perfectly.
Haruno had gone quiet, like a child being scolded, her earlier boldness nowhere to be found.
After hearing all that, she probably wouldn’t even think about stepping onto the 6th floor of the Aomori Dungeon again.
「… All right. Are you hurt anywhere?」
「Eh? N-No.」
「I was worried about you, Haruno. You’d come all the way to a place like this. I’m really glad nothing happened.」
「Y-you were… worried about me?」
「Of course I was. If a beautiful girl like you, Haruno, were injured, it would hurt me deeply.」
「Eh!?」
She was clearly thrown off.
First, I scold her, leaving her with the impression that I’m someone scary.
Then, without hesitation, I follow it with concern. “I was worried about you. I’m glad you’re safe.” Fear quietly shifts into kindness.
Classic gap appeal.
Psychology calls it the gain–loss effect. When an impression flips from negative to positive, the affection it creates grows stronger than it otherwise would.
And given that she’d only just escaped danger, Haruno may also be feeling the effects of the suspension bridge phenomenon.
Pile on the gain effect, then finish with a blunt pick-up line and shove her straight into maximum confusion mode.
If everything worked out, Haruno would start paying attention to what I told her.
「Geez, Kikyo... I thought you didn’t care about me at all. But… was that how you were looking at me?」
「Yes.」
「T-Then.」
I patted Haruno on the head and gently put an arm around her shoulders.
「You're scared, right?」
「... Uhm.」
「I'll stay with you until the 2nd floor.」
「Thanks.」
「It's not a big deal.」
And just like that, the story held together. Not bad for an adlib.
If Haruno, an agent of the Dungeon Association, stayed away from the 6th floor, it would make things much easier for me.
All that remained was to guide things naturally, without raising suspicion, and somehow lead her into betraying the Dungeon Association.
It was a gamble. I didn’t yet understand her completely. But even so…
「Thank you… truly.」
「Knowing you’re safe is more than enough for me, Haruno.」
「Let me thank you properly!」
「You don’t need to.」
「No, I do. You saved my life. If there’s anything I can do, just tell me.」
Here it come!!
I knew she’d say something similar, but this was almost frighteningly on point…
「You say "anything", but what if my wish were indecent? Don’t offer something so lightly.」
「Indecent…? IWell, f it’s with you, Kikyo, then I’d...」
「Woops, just kidding.」
Damn it! I actually want to make an indecent request!
But there’s something far more important right now!
「Haruno, have you ever felt any discomfort with being an explorer as a profession?」
「Discomfort?」
「Yeah. Things like, don’t you think the Dungeon Association is way too secretive?」
「You’re right.」
I mean, I’m doing the same thing, but let’s not dwell on that.
「They hide info about dangerous dungeons. That’s literally why you almost got wiped out today.」
「…That makes sense.」
「I agree with protecting explorers’ personal information. But hiding dungeon data is unacceptable. That’s why I don’t trust the Dungeon Association at all, and why I keep my own information hidden from them.」
「Wait, seriously?!」
Yep. Hook, line, and sinker.
「Haruno, you should hide your information too. As much as you can. Stop updating your explorer card from now on. You said you’d do anything I asked, didn’t you?」
「Yeah! I’ll do exactly what you say, Kikyo! Your info’s totally safe with me. I won’t tell a soul!」
「You're a lifesaver」
This should ensure Haruno wouldn’t leak my information to the Dungeon Association.
Even if she were working for the Association, it was easy to imagine that she only thought of it as a job.
There was no way she’d betray someone who had saved her life. Especially now, when I’d also managed to leave her with the impression that the Dungeon Association couldn’t be trusted.
「You know, at first I kind of wondered if you were that bloody idiot who showed up on the Monster Tamer forum. Just a little bit. But you saved me, so I guess I was wrong.」
…The bloody idiot from the forum?
「What are you talking about?」
「Well, you see… there was this awful person on the Monster Tamer forum who posted that goblins are low-tier creatures! I just couldn’t forgive that. I really couldn’t…」
Someone who wrote that goblins were low-tier creature on the Monster Tamer forum…
Was that me?
No, but still, how did she ended up assuming the poster was in Aomori? That part didn’t make sense. Surely it wasn’t something as ridiculous as a hunch…
「Why did you come to the Aomori Dungeon, Haruno? You can’t identify someone from a forum post alone, right?」
「Well, the idiot kept bragging about eating miso curry milk ramen. Like, really rubbing it in. I looked it up, found out it’s from Aomori, and since Aomori only has this dungeon, I came to check. Then you said you’d eaten miso curry milk ramen too, that's why I…」
「I see.」
So Haruno wasn’t an assassin, a spy, or anything dramatic. She’d just followed a tiny clue all the way to Aomori like an absolute idiot.
This one was entirely on me.
Letting her realise that would be troublesome, so I decided to bury it with nonsense.
「Haruno. Sorry to disappoint you, but in Aomori there are people who eat miso curry milk ramen three times a day.」
「Say what!?」
「Some lunatics even call it a drink. Didn’t you see anyone around who looked like miso curry milk ramen?」
「No, wait— what does that even mean? A miso curry milk ramen face? Are you serious?」
「I am.」
It was a lie, though.
But hey, maybe someone like that exists. I couldn’t prove they didn’t either.