Mob
Kousei No Ore Demo Boukensha Ni Nareba Riajuu Ni Naremasuka: Chapter #87
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
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Episode 87: The Summer Continues
“---- Maybe that's Maro's Unique Link.”
The
race was over, and that night. When I got home, I talked to my Teacher on the
phone.
We
talked about how I had won the race and how I was thankful for his help. We
also talked about the new power that Eliza had awakened ...... and her unique
skill.
An
unknown skill column, neither innate nor acquired, was etched in the card's
status section. I asked Teacher if he knew anything about this.
Of
course, I kept my knowledge of [My Fair Lady] a secret.
Although
I only knew that ability intuitively, I was aware that it seemed to be the
ability to copy the acquired skills of enemies and allies temporarily.
Copying
skills was a foul skill that was only reserved for special-type dungeon bosses
among all dungeon bosses.
It
was not something that could be talked about so easily, even if it was with my
Teacher.
Teacher
also appeared to be curious about the contents of the skill, but he did not go
into it too deeply, which was a relief to me.
After
listening to what I had to say, Teacher said those words.
“Unique Link, huh ......?”
I
ruminated over Teacher's words in my mind.
Unique Link...... is a kind of pinnacle of Link, achieved
when an adventurer has mastered the attributes they possess.
The only way to master it is to use cards with the
attributes that suit them best, and most people, even professionals, have not
mastered it.
It
was hard to believe that I could use such a Link, having only been an
adventurer for less than a year... but,
"That skill of Eliza's isn't written on the card
anymore, you say?"
"Yes, it was gone when the battle was over and the
Link was disconnected."
I
looked at Eliza's card as I said this. The name of the new skill that I was
sure I had obtained was nowhere to be found there.
At
the same time, the [Absolute Obedience], [Multiple Skills], and [Clear Mind]
skills that had disappeared were back in the acquired skills list.
“So I stopped by a dungeon on my way home, Linked up
again, and it showed up.”
“It appeared and disappeared... It seems to be
unstable...”
On
the way home, I casually looked at Eliza's card on the train and noticed that
her unique skill was missing. So I hurried to the nearest dungeon and made
various attempts to make her unique skill appear again.
I
found out that only when I was synchronizing with Eliza, did some of the
acquired skills disappear in rare cases and were replaced by the unique skill.
"Maybe, this is a half-awakening. In any case, the
fact that it only appears during the Linkage should suggest that it is
influenced by Maro's attributes.”
Half-awakening... I wonder if it means that the Unique
Link beginning to germinate in me has temporarily taken shape in response to
Eliza's higher qualities.
“And regarding Eliza's growth being faster than the rest
of Maro's cards..."
'Ah, yes."
"She, might be Gifted..."
"Gifted...?"
"It's a very rare thing, I've heard. Some cards are
strangely fast in acquiring skills or are stronger than their combat power and
skills. What is called the genius among the cards. They are referred to as
Gifted cards, a gift from the dungeon. ...Well, it's more of a baseless rumor
though."
“Hoo~"
Gifted, huh? A person who shows exceptional ability in a
certain field can indeed be called so, and Eliza can truly be called a gifted
individual from among the cards.
As for the Unique Link, considering that Renge and Yuki,
who are as close to Eliza at the moment, show no sign of being able to activate
it, it is rather fitting to think that the cause is Eliza's rather than my
talent.
“...By the way, it looks like you got quite a few
Carbuncle Garnets during the race, and what are you going to do with them?”
"What do you do with them? ......I'm
planning on cashing it in, or giving it as a gift to my mother and sister.”
“Hmm... I see.”
"Why do you ask?"
"Nothing? It's not particularly important. I just
thought... maybe you will give it as a present to Oribe-san or
something~."
“Wait, wait wait wait. Why is Sayo's name popping up
here?"
When
I hurriedly answered that, Teacher's voice sounded as if he was teasing me,
"Huh? But you're planning to go on a movie date
soon, right?"
“No, date, isn't exactly what I'd call it. We're just
going to see a movie on a day when we're free."
"Hahaha,
let's just put it that way. ...Well, I will look into this unique skill
thing."
“Ye- yes... thank you very much.”
"Anyway... congratulations on winning, Maro. See you
later."
“Yes, see you.”
The
call ended with a click.
"Phew~..."
I
plopped myself down on the bed.
In the end, even Teacher didn't know about the unique
skills...
But a Unique Link, huh?
If this is due to my Unique Link, would it mean that my
strength is "a Link that adds unique skills to a card"?
…For
some reason, I felt that this was not the case.
I am sure that the unique skills themselves are a system
that every card has.
Therefore, they are listed as a column in the status,
just like inborn and acquired skills.
If this is the case, then we can think of unique skills
as skills that are acquired through the development of a card.
So, does it mean Unique Link is "a link that makes
it easier for a card to awaken to its unique skills"?
...... I think it's still slightly different, but I think
it's the right direction.
Teacher told me that my cards grow fast, and maybe my
Unique Link is the type of Link that helps them grow.
...No, I'm sure it is.
Specializing in developing cards. That is my quality and
strength as an adventurer.
I
finally felt like I had found the path I wanted to take as an adventurer, so I
clenched my fist.
-------Two
days later.
I
was at the largest swimming pool in Tokyo.
Today
was the day we had promised to go to the pool on the last day of school.
“I'm glad that Kitagawa's business finished ahead of
schedule."
Shinto
said that as I changed into my swimsuit in the locker room.
"When you suddenly said that you couldn't go to the
pool because you had to join the MonColo race, I thought the pool appointment
was completely off the table."
“I'm sorry. The offer came out of the blue. But I made
sure it was done by the day of the pool, didn't I?"
I
answered Shinto.
“That's what's so crazy. In a race that was supposed to
last a week, you finished within 24 hours?"
I
heard that comment coming from the other side of Shinto.
I
let out a sigh and turned my head in that direction,
"... Why is Ono here?"
"Isn't it you who is cold, Shishou? You're
going to leave your cute disciple out and go to the pool with girls..."
"What do you mean, a cute disciple?"
I
looked at Shinto sideways as I remarked to Ono, who was pretending to cry.
The
guy said "Sorry" while clasping his hands together.
"Well, I guess he heard somewhere that we were going
to the pool. I couldn't refuse."
"Well, it's fine."
It
was not that I did not owe Ono anything or that I was seriously against it.
However,
when I went to the meeting place on the appointed day, this particular guy was
standing there like it was a matter of course, so I just wanted to poke him a
little bit.
“Yeah, yeah, let's have fun today and not worry about
trivial things! It's
not every day we get a chance like this!”
But
it was still somewhat irritating, so Shinto and I kicked Ono in the ass, and we
left the locker room.
When
we went out to the poolside, the pool was quite crowded with customers.
The
pool area itself was quite large, with more than ten different pools just
looking around, including a wave pool, a flowing pool, and a waterslide. Some
of the pools were large entertainment pools where shows could be held, but
there seemed to be so many visitors that it still felt a little small.
"Wow, it's really crowded. Hmm... I found an
F."
"There are quite a lot of people lined up for the
water slides and such. It will be a long time before we can play there. Oh, I
found G."
"Not G, but rather H. ......I think we should enjoy
the waves and the flowing pool until the crowds clear up to some extent."
Like
that, we waited for the girls while admiring the ladies in swimsuits.
"Sorry to keep you waiting~!"
Finally,
the moment we had been waiting for arrived.
All
three of us turned around at the same time with great energy.
"""Ooh~!"""
We
cheered and applauded.
Shinomiya-san's
swimsuit was a black cross-halter bikini, the type of design that only someone
with a confident figure could wear.
As
you would expect from a magazine model… you can see that she really had a great
figure.
Her
moderately sized cleavage and slender white legs that stretched out from her
narrow waist were truly dazzling.
Her
hair, usually tied in a single low ponytail, gave off an energetic vibe.
Ushikura-san,
standing next to her, was wearing a black and white striped tankini, a type of
swimsuit that hid her figure.
Her
top was a long tankini that completely concealed both her ample cleavage and
her waist. She also wore a pareo under it, which even hid the lines of her
thighs.
Could
it be that she was concerned that her body was not as slender as
Shinomiya-san's?
It
was a choice that revealed Ushikura-san's secret complex.
However,
in her defense, Ushikura-san was not fat by any means.
Many
women with ample breasts possessed a body shape that the word 'chubby' cannot
do justice to, but Ushikura-san certainly was not fat compared to other girls
of her age.
In
fact, if one took into account the size of her chest, she would be considered
quite slender.
Her
complex was probably because she had been next to Shinomiya-san, who had an
ideal body shape for a girl.
So don't be shy, wear a daring bikini...!
I
exclaimed inwardly (since I couldn't say it out loud).
......
And then, there was another one. I turned my attention to the third person.
There,
in a white bandage bikini, was Ichijo-san.
She
had a voluptuous bosom that was not as big as Ushikura-san's, but it looked
like it could be F or G. She had a narrow waist that was parted vertically, and
thighs that were slender and smooth...
There
was the contrast between her tanned brown skin and the provocative swimsuit
that didn't even try to hide her voluptuous body.
This
was indeed too erotic. ...It was as if there was a person who had come to this
reality from the world of erotic novels...
I
managed to hold back from unintentionally swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
It
would be too obvious if I reacted like that here.
However,
I could hear the sound of gulping from next to me.
Unlike
me, who was somewhat immune thanks to the cards, these guys seemed unable to
hold back.
Seeing
the men's reaction, Shinomiya-san sighed and Ushikura-san smiled wryly.
"See, I told you, Kaori. That swimsuit is too
stimulating."
“Really? It's not that unusual, is it?"
Saying
this, Ichijo-san brushes her hair back with a disinterested look.
Even
such a casual gesture seemed erotic now.
"Nice, Shishou."
"Thank you for inviting Ichijo-san."
Ono
and Shinto whispered to me stealthily.
The
reason why Ichijo-san, who wasn't originally supposed to come, was here was
because I invited her.
When
I had previously encountered her while she was walking her dog, I made a
contract to rent cards for a fee.
The
basic terms of the agreement were that the rental fee would be 50,000 yen per
month, with a maximum of two cards, and that in the event of a Lost card, I
would be reimbursed at market value, with an initial deposit of 500,000 yen as
collateral.
The
rental contract was based on a rental arrangement at adventurer's clubs at
universities, but it differed from those at universities in that it required a
certain amount of money as collateral and did not have a mentor system.
The
mentor system was a system in which the lender, a senior, would provide
guidance (and supervision) in exchange for keeping a certain percentage of the
reward for completing the dungeon. While it was safer in the event of an
emergency, it had the disadvantage of making it impossible to dive into the
dungeon when the senior was not there.
This
mentor system had some problems, such as the existence of malicious clubs that
abused the fact that new members could not dive into the dungeons by themselves
to increase the rental fee and put them in debt. But it was basically a
countermeasure against Irregular Encounters, and had many positive aspects.
Because
I could not act as a mentor, we agreed that the quality of the card would be
higher than that of the universities and that I would hold 500,000 as
collateral to prevent theft.
What
clinched the contract was what Ichijo said as a form of compensation in case
the card was lost: "If anything, I'll return it with my body."
.......
And so, the contract details were settled on the spot, but the question was
'when to hand over the card'.
I
had been busy this summer and had few chances to give her the card, so I
suddenly had an idea and asked her to join me at the pool today.
Asking
with: I am going to the pool with Shinomiya-san, Shindo, and others. Would
you like to join us?
Ichijo-san
nodded her head and the other participants readily agreed, which was why
Ichijo-san ended up here with us today.
It
was a fine play, I must say.
“Well, where shall we go first?"
I
asked everyone as I looked around the pool.
The
pools include the standard wave pool and flowing pool, four types of water
slides, a vast lake-like swimming pool, a maze pool that resembles an
underwater cave, an adventure pool with a pirate ship theme, a heated pool, and
more.
...But
as I surveyed the area now, the wave pool and flowing pool were too small with
too many people, and there seemed to be long lines for all four water slides.
“The water slides probably won't be vacant until around
noon...I don't intend to stand in line in this heat without getting into the
water~."
"Me neither."
“But then again, I'm not a fan of starting in a swimming
pool or a heated pool. Those are places to relax and dip when you're tired of
playing."
The
boys took into consideration the opinions of the three girls and summed up the
discussion.
"That means we should go to the underwater cave or
the pirate ship."
"Hmm, the pirate ship is pretty crowded with kids
too. ... We'll have to go in pairs, but why not go to the underwater cave
first?"
"Okay, let's do that. ...How do we decide the pairs?"
I said so, and Ono immediately answered,
"Why not just play rock-paper-scissors or
something?"
"I think that's good."
"Yeah, I agree."
Ono
is indeed a capable man, and while inwardly nodding our heads, Shinto and I
agreed with him.
In a
situation like this, it is a bad idea to pick someone and say "I want to
be with A".
If
the three of us could pick different people, there would not be much of a
problem. However, if our targets were to conflict, a girl would inevitably be
left out.
If
that were to happen, it would certainly hurt the pride of the girl who was not
chosen, since all the girls present would be confident in their appearance.
That
was a situation that we, as gentlemen, definitely want to avoid.
......
This was just a front though, and the real reason was that the pure boys would
be sad if they were rejected by the girls they had chosen.
---But,
"Eh, I'd rather be with Kitagawa."
""Huh?!""
Ichijo-san's
comment sent a tremor through the place.
Not
only Ono and Shinto, but even Shinomiya-san and Ushikura-san looked a little surprised
and their eyes widened.
I
never thought that a girl would name me... I, I never expected that. I mean,
uh, wh- why me? Co-
could it be that Ichijo-san is, towards me......?
The
adolescent in me was about to go out of control when,
"To be honest, the main reason I came here today was
because I wanted to talk to Kitagawa about the card rental. I want to get it
over with quickly so I can have fun without any worries."
Ah, so that's what you mean...
My
adolescence died down in an instant.
No, I'm not depressed. I'm devoted to Ushikura-san. Yeah,
I really didn't think that Ichijo-san would be an option at all.
As I
was internally making excuses to no one in particular, Ono poked me in the side
with his elbow.
“What does it mean, Shishou? What is this about card
rental?”
"Huh? Ichijo-san said she wanted to be an
adventurer, so I'm just renting out cards for a fee."
“Hee, if you've started something like that, you should
tell me too. What kind of cards do you rent out? Do you rent out C-rank cards?"
"I don't have enough C-rank cards to rent out.
Well... we'll talk about that later."
"Later, okay? Definitely."
Ono's
eyes lit up, but he backed down for the time being.
...This guy's getting pretty serious now. It seems like
he's been diving into the dungeon a lot this summer, so maybe, just maybe,
he'll make it in the new semester...
"Ahhh, Ichijo-san, I guess we can talk about that at
lunch, right? The
card handover itself will be when we leave anyway.”
"Nn...... well, I suppose so."
When
I said that, Ichijo-san also quietly backed down.
Shinomiya-san
seemed a little relieved when she saw that.
“Then, we can decide with a simple rock-paper-scissors
game, right?"
""OK.""
We
nodded and held out our fists.
Then
----
"In the end, it's Ichijo-san..."
I
let out a quiet wry laugh as we navigated the cave-like waterway illuminated by
fantastic lights on our rubber boat.
Ichijo-san,
who did not miss my little mutterings, raised a thin eyebrow and looked at me
in anger,
"Huh? What? You think I'm not good enough?"
"No, no, no, of course not! I'm honored, yes!"
When
I hurriedly explained myself, Ichijo-san snorted in annoyance.
"...Well, whatever. It's that, right? Kitagawa
wanted to be with Ushikura, yeah?"
"Eh?! ...W- why?"
"Because Kitagawa likes big breasts."
"Huh...?!"
No, no way..... How did she know that.....! Don't
tell me it's a magic item for reading minds!
As I
was appalled, Ichijo-san looked at me with pity.
“No, I can tell. I could feel your eyes on me when you were
talking to me. On the other hand, when you talk to a girl with a small chest,
you don't look at their chest at all. ....I think probably all the girls in the
class know that?"
“Are you serious..."
Ugh... I, I want to die... So all the girls knew I was
looking at their breasts. Guh! For some reason, I don't want to go to school
this new semester...
As I
hung my head in shame and self-loathing.
“I'm the type of person who doesn't care about that kind
of thing, so I don't care how much people see me."
"Eh?!"
Does that mean I can look as much as I want?!
“But that doesn't mean staring at me is okay."
With
a snap, the direction of her neck is changed. Uhh, I just heard a strange sound
coming from her neck....
"I don't really care, but older girls tend to have
self-consciousness about it, so maybe it's best not to stare at them so
obviously. Ushikura is probably a typical example."
"...Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
I
sat upright on the rubber boat and bowed my head.
I can't believe that girls notice me staring... Could it
be that this was why I'm not popular despite how much I earn and how well-known
I am? It hurts to hear, but I'm glad I got to hear it here today.
From
now on, I'll have to be careful... and improve my viewing skills so I don't get
caught.
"......By the way, I'd like to get down to business,
what kind of cards can I borrow?"
"Ah, yeah. I thought this one might be good."
I
took out a few cards from the card holder on my waist.
"I recommend this one for now. Living Armor."
[Race] Living Armor
[Combat Power] 170
[Inborn Skills]
・Living
Armor: A vengeful spirit that resides in a knight's armor. It will not
disappear unless the nucleus somewhere in the armor is destroyed. It contains
resistance to abnormal status.
・Armorization:
An elementary-class equip skill. By possessing another card or the Master, a
quarter of the user's own combat power will be added (if equipped to the
Master, all combat power and skills can be shared).
・Martial
Arts
[Acquired skills]
・Hollow
Heart
・Swordsmanship
・Protect
“It's definitely safer when there is an equipping skill.
This Living Armor has [Swordsmanship] skill in addition to [Martial Arts]
skills, in case of emergency, it is possible to equip it together with magic
items and have the master fight personally."
“Hee~ if you have the equipping skill, it is possible for
the master themselves to fight?”
I
was surprised to see Ichijo-san seemingly more enthusiastic than I expected
about fighting personally.
"What's with that face? I may look like this, but I
was in the kendo1 club in middle school and I am a first-dan2."
"Seriously?! That's amazing..."
“Well, I've been skipping dojo3s lately, but ......"
“Hee,...... If that is the case, I'd recommend Living
Armor even more. Those with experience in fighting or kendo can make better use
of the [Martial Arts] skill. I'll also give you a magic sword as a
complimentary gift."
"Really? That's super generous."
When I took out the
Holy Silver Long Sword of pure goodwill, Ichijo-san's eyes fluttered,
"...Could it be, that you expect me to repay with my
body?"
"No, no, no, no, no, no! It's not like that! It's
pure goodwill!”
I shook my head in
panic and denied it.
I was already labeled
as a guy who always stared at women's chests, and it would have been terrible
to be thought of as a guy who was trying to curry favor with her and asking for
her body in return.
"Oh really? I felt bad so I thought I'd at least let
you touch my bo*bs."
"Huh..."
My gaze was
instinctively directed to Ichijou-san's chest.
There, the voluptuous
fullness of what must be an F or G was swaying seductively.
"But if it's pure goodwill, then maybe that's the
wrong thing to do. Sorry sorry."
"Ah, yeah....."
"Hm? Are
you feeling a little down?"
"Hn? No?"
I shook my head with a blank expression on my face.
Ichijo-san laughed.
That was when I
finally realized that I was being made fun of.
Dammit... you're playing with me! If I get another chance, I'll definitely squeeze those
bo*bs.
With a firm
resolution, I pull out the next card.
“The first card is a Living Armor for sure, so the other
one should be either a supporter or an attacker. I'm thinking of these two
cards as candidates."
I offered her a
Unicorn and a Bicorn card.
Would she choose the
Unicorn which was good at healing and auxiliary, and therefore more stable, or
the Bicorn which was good at attacking and dealing with abnormalities, and thus
could compensate for the lack of attack power in Living Armor...?
This was now a matter
of the adventurer's preference, so it would be better to let her choose for
herself.
However, this... was
just a pretext, and the real reason was that if I gave her a Unicorn and she
said, “I can't ride this,” I would feel awkward.
Ichijo-san then
looked at the two cards...
"...Is this Kitagawa's way of trying to get revenge
for what I did earlier?"
"Huh? No, no, no, no! I
didn't mean it like that! Really!"
Ichijo-san's stern
look made me deny it in a hurry.
If you think about
it, making a girl choose between a unicorn and a bicorn was nothing short of
sexual harassment. No matter how you look at it, it seems like they're trying
to find out if the other person has had experience.
Obviously, that
wasn't my intention, but it was inevitable that it would seem that way from an
outsider's perspective.
Ichijo-san looked at
me suspiciously while scrutinizing my eyes, but then she said,
“Hmmm......... Well, that's fine. I'll just say it is
okay either way."
"I, I see..."
I sighed in relief
and thought to myself,
If it's okay either way, that's what it means, right? I'm a little surprised, to be honest...
"Huh? These cards look similar. Are they sisters or
something?"
Ichijo-san, who had
been looking at the deck of cards while I was doing that, suddenly pointed at
two cards.
It was the card of
Fenja and Menja.
"Oh, these are two cards in a pair, Pair of Two. You
can summon two in one summoning slot, and summoning them at the same time lets
you use a special skill."
“Hee...”
When I explained
this, Ichijo-san picked up the Fenja and Menja cards and stared at them with
great interest.
She was obviously
more interested in them than the Unicorn and Bicorn. I put my hand on my chin.
To be honest, I
wasn't really planning on lending out the Fenja and Menja cards, I just brought
them out to explain that there are cards like these out there.
These two cards were
indeed valuable Pair of Two cards, and they also have an interesting skill
called [Song of Grotte], so it would be a shame to lend them out. ...But,
On the other hand, if
you ask me if I'll actually have a chance to use these two cards, I have to
wonder.
They are indeed rare cards in many ways, but to be
honest, I can't deny that they lack combat power compared to my current
members.
So, rather than leaving them lying around in my girl card
collection, I'd rather...
“...... if you like it, do you want to take those with
Living Armor?”
"Huh? But
I thought you said you could only rent two D-rank cards?”
It was true that the
original agreement was that the cards that could be rented out were two D-rank
cards.
This was because two
cards were the maximum number of cards that could be afforded on a stable basis
with the one-star adventurer exploration reward.
Even if we were
acquaintances, or rather, because we were acquaintances, I would not allow the
rental fee to be overdue.
There should be
courtesy even among acquaintances. I would only lend her what she could afford
to pay.
But, well...
“...... Those cards are useless unless you have two of
them, so I'll only charge you the rental fee for one.”
If I want to rent it
out here, I'm willing to compromise a little.
Rather than letting
the cards sit on the shelf for a long time, it is better to let them grow by
renting them out, and even if they end up being bought eventually, that's not a
bad deal.
......The word
Dragonet crossed my mind for a moment, but I shook that one off.
————I'd decided with Renge that I would keep that card
with me.
"Hmm..."
Ichijo-san seemed
hesitant or somewhat apologetic for a while, but eventually,
“...... Then, is it okay if I ask you to do that?”
"Okay. ...Well, you see, it's that. I'd be happy if
you could take good care of them."
"Of course. I promise."
Ichijo-san nodded vigorously and gently stroked the three
cards with her fingers.
After that, we
changed pairs and went around and around, competing to see who could get out of
the underwater cave the fastest, and it was just about lunchtime.
“I'm getting hungry. What do we do for lunch?"
Shinto said while rubbing his stomach, and Ono answered,
“Mm, why don't we split up into boys and girls and play
rock-paper-scissors, with the loser of the boys‘ group buying the food and
treating the others to lunch, and the loser of the girls’ group helping
out?"
"I'm good with that..."
I nodded and looked
at the Shinto. Ono and I have money, so we can at least buy lunch, but Shinto,
who was busy playing tennis, must not have a lot of money...
"I'm OK with that too.”
I thought so, but
Shinto unexpectedly nodded his head easily. Maybe he had some allowance money,
or maybe he was just trying to appear like a man.
Anyway, the boys
agreed, and when I looked at the girls, they seemed to have no problem either.
So the men and women
split up and played rock-paper-scissors...
"Then, let's go, Shinomiya-san."
"Un.”
Shinomiya-san and I
will go shopping.
"What did everyone want to eat?"
“Let's see... Shinto wants kebabs and Aquarius4, Ono wants
onigiri, yakisoba, takoyaki, fries, and hamburger... That fat guy eats way too
much.”
I swore as I read the
paper that everyone had given me with their requests on it.
That fatty, perhaps because he knows I have money, has no
restraint at times like this.
"Oh well, we'll just have to go back and forth a few
times."
"Right. Well, Ono's can wait."
"I totally agree."
We both nodded our
heads and walked side by side to the food court.
"Uwah, it's really hot when you get out of the
pool~."
"You're right, my skin is already getting dry."
Looking up at the brilliant
sun, we both complained.
It had been less than
a few minutes since we got out of the pool, but our bodies were already
becoming dry.
In a sense, it was a
perfect day for the pool, but the sun was indeed annoying.
"But you know, around this time last year, I never
imagined I'd be coming to the pool with Maro like this."
"That's true. ...To me, Shinomiya-san and the others
were completely out of my league, like people above me."
"Pfft, what's that?"
Shinomiya-san
chuckled at what I said.
"No, seriously. I felt it was too much of a
disrespect to even exchange words with you guys."
"Hmm, weird. Unlike in clubs and part-time jobs,
we're all the same age, and we're all students. We're in the same class."
"I know... now it seems like that to me too, but it
was different then.
When Shinomiya-san
tilted her head in wonder and I nodded sincerely.
By taking a half step
out of the children's world of school and stepping out into adult society, I
realized that there wasn't as much difference between my classmates as I
thought... but at the time, the differences in the class caste system were huge
to me.
In particular, the
difference in appearance, which could not be changed by effort, was an absolute
difference to me.
"...I see. I don't really get it though."
Saying that,
Shinomiya-san took my hand.
She smiled
mischievously at me who was surprised and said,
"But now that we're standing next to each other like
this, it's fine, isn't it?"
"...I guess so."
We started walking,
holding hands somehow.
Looking up, the sky
was high and the crisp wind breeze blew across my skin.
It was only the
eighteenth day of summer vacation. The summer still continues.
[Tips] Gifted Cards
Cards also have
things like aptitudes and talents.
Just as cards of the
same race have different appearances and personalities, there can be a big
difference in their talents.
A card's talent
affects the ease with which it can learn skills, the maximum number of acquired
skills that can be learned, etc. Cards that can only be described as geniuses
are called Gifted Cards.
Eliza and the Maid
Master Silky are also such Gifted Cards.
Although Gifted Cards
and highly talented cards cannot be detected from their appearance or stats, they
often have rare acquired skills from the beginning as a characteristic of
Gifted Cards.
Silky, the Maid
Master, is of this type, but often the true genius... ‘genius through hard
work’ does not have such easily recognizable characteristics.
***
Notes:
1 Kendo (means 'sword way' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese martial art that descends from kenjutsu (old Japanese swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). It was the samurai's customary swordsmanship exercises.↩
2 Technical achievement in kendo is measured by advancement in grade. The kyū (級) and dan (段) grading system is used to indicate one's proficiency in kendo. Before moving on to dan, there are usually six grades below first-dan, known as kyu. The dan levels are from first-dan (sho-dan) to tenth-dan (jū-dan). Eighth-dan hachi-dan) is the highest dan grade attainable through a test of physical kendo skills now since the ninth and tenth are no longer awarded. ↩
4 An American-owned Japanese brand of sports drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company.↩
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