CH 44

44. Mail



What, what was that just now…?

That’s not something I’ve heard it say before…?



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The voice rings in my head again.

…Mail.

It really did say ‘mail’ just now, didn’t it?

I heard it right this time.



“Bark!”



“Uh…ah!”



I return to myself at hearing Momo.

That’s right. I needed to hide for now.

Momo and I quickly move over to a nearby wall.



No one would be able to see us from the mansion now.

They would not be able to snipe at us.

Well, given that whoever it was, killed the monsters and let the students go, they at least seemed to not be targeting humans. But still, it was good to be cautious.



Though, if the person wanted to shoot me, they had plenty of opportunities to do so.

…The thought sent chills down my spine.

I didn’t know who it was, but if they wanted me dead, I would be lying on the ground right now.

Just knowing this makes me sweat.

I’m so stupid…I let my guard down too much.



“Bark.”

“…(shaking)



Momo and Aka looked at me with concern.

Oh, sorry you two.

That’s right. Instead of just feeling down, I can just use this experience to do better next time.



Alright. I feel better now.

I feel much calmer.

Now then–what was this mail thing!?



Judging by the voice in my head, it seems that there is a ‘Mail’ skill.



I open my status plate.

Then I check the column with additional skills.

There was something called ‘Mail’ there now.

I needed 1 point to acquire it. That was lower than the other skills.

I was obviously curious, but I currently only had 0 points.

I wouldn’t be able to acquire it until I gained a level.



But I wanted to know…



Couldn’t I at least check the content of the message that was just sent to me?

As I wondered about this, the status screen changed.

Huh?



When the status screen changed, it displayed something called ‘Mail Menu.’

I look through the categories and see Compose Message, Inbox, Outbox, Unread, and Address Book.

On the bottom, there was a keyboard to enter your message.

It was like a three-dimensional computer screen.

I had no idea that such features existed…



Among the items, the one that read ‘Unread’ was blinking.

I try touching it.



1 Unread message.

From: Natsu Ichinose

Subject: Hello



…It really is a message.

What was happening in this world? Anything goes huh?

No, perhaps this was a method of contacting people that was established because we can’t use phones anymore?

In any case, I should probably see what this is all about.



I mean, who is this person anyway?

Natsu Ichinose…?

I don’t know anyone by that name, and I don’t think there was anyone with that family name at the company.

Of course, I didn’t have that many friends, to begin with.

I could count the number of friends I had on one hand, and so I’d remember someone with that name.

When had we met?

I look through the contents of the message.



Sorry to message you so suddenly. My name is Natsu Ichinose.

You saw the fight happen just now, didn’t you?

I’m the one who was shooting.



“…What?”



I couldn’t help but say aloud.

What…?

It was this person’s work?

A lot of questions enter my head, but I decide to continue reading for now.



I saw that you were hiding and watching the fight.

It was only a coincidence that I saw you.

I was looking from the roof of the mansion and saw the students raiding the store of food. And then I saw you and your doggy.



I was going to send you a message then, but the monsters appeared first.

While they were complete strangers to me, I thought it would be unfortunate to see them die, and so I helped them.



I am sorry to have alarmed you.

But it did save their lives, and so I think that I made the right choice.



Now, let me get to the real subject. The reason that I am writing to you like this, is because I want to join you and your doggy’s party.



Why all of a sudden? You may ask. But the truth is, I knew of you from before.

Do you remember?

It was yesterday, you were at a store that is several kilometers away from here. You were fighting against several goblins.

While I was far away, I was able to observe your methods for fighting.

Seeing your calculated and refined style filled me with much admiration.



And the shiba dog that accompanies you is just wonderful.

Strength, adorableness, quality of fur. All of these aspects have taken a hold of my heart, and will not let go.



And seeing all of this has given me a strong wish to help you.

I am sure that this sudden message must be confusing to you, but I hope that you understand, and consider my proposition.

I eagerly await your answer.



“…”



Er, what is this?

Some kind of business mail?



Well, I think it is in fact, an invitation to join parties, but the language is so formal.

It was like something you’d get from a management company.



But what should I do?



“…At least, it doesn’t seem like something from a bad person…”



But I didn’t know anything about the sender.

And the text was so stiff.

But this part:



‘And the shiba dog that accompanies you is just wonderful.

Strength, adorableness, quality of fur. All of these aspects have taken a hold of my heart, and will not let go.’



This part alone made me confident that the sender was not a bad person.

Why?

There was no way that someone who understood Momo’s adorableness could be bad.



Well, leaving that aside.

What should I do…?



I couldn’t be for certain that it wasn’t a trap, and I could always just ignore the message for now.

No, that wouldn’t be good.

After all, this person knows about me.

If they saw me fighting the goblins yesterday, they must have seen the moment when I pulled out the items.

It would be safe to assume that they knew I had the ‘Item Box’ skill, or something similar.



…Maybe, was it that feeling I had of being watched during that time?

I felt like someone was watching me then, and so it would make sense if it was this person.

If there was a chance that they would tell everyone about my skill, then I couldn’t just ignore it.



And there was a possibility that the desire to join our party was genuine.

A partner who was capable of ranged attacks, like I had wanted.

And with enough firepower to kill monsters in one shot from a great distance.

There was no doubt about it. Having this person join would be a huge bonus to our strength.



I wasn’t completely convinced yet, but it seemed that I should at least reply.

I would just say, ‘let me think about it’ and buy some time.

I click on the ‘Reply’ button.



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The voice says in my head.

Hey, hey. I can’t reply without getting the Mail skill?

I check the other options just to see, and they are all inaccessible as well.

Apparently, the only thing you could do without the skill was to read incoming messages.



I would have to level up first.

I would leave this area and kill monsters to level up. And just try to get this skill as soon as possible.



“I’ll reply later then.”



I had to get away from here first.

The fact that this person found me meant that there was a high likelihood that they could see through my Presence Block and Conceal skills.

As I wasn’t sure I trusted them yet, and since they could snipe me from far away, it would be too dangerous to get any closer.

We carefully moved so that we could not be targeted from the apartment building, and left the area.



On the other hand, on the apartment roof—



“…This is fine, right?”



The girl, Natsu Ichinose, looked at the message she had sent.

How exactly did you get in contact with someone you didn’t know?

The answer was through ‘Mail.’

She was a shy person, but this was a method of communication that she could use.

She was so happy when she got this skill, that she almost started dancing.

Now, this was something made just for her.



With this useful skill, she would be able to get in contact with anyone that she had met before.

Of course, it was limited to humans, but that was hardly a problem.



“Now I will be able to meet that doggy…!”



That was the only on her mind when she sent the message.

But she had always wanted to join someone’s party, and everything in the message was said from the heart.

Even if he was trash, she saw that he had good points as well.

She specialized in ranged attacks. He specialized in close quarters combat. They could supplement where the other fell short.

It was a win-win situation.

Well, that was all nothing next to the shiba dog.



She had felt that it was fate when she just happened upon them a moment ago.

Now it was just about waiting for them to answer with an okay.

She had no doubt that they would say yes.

She was used to being spoiled.



“…I can’t see them now that they are behind the wall. Did he even check the message I sent?”



He was behind the building now, and so she could not see them.



Maybe it would be best to send a second one, just in case.

What if he thought it was suspicious, and just ignored it?



The first impression was always important.

She had sounded too formal the first time. And so she altered the message a little.



“…Is it still too formal?”



She pushed Send.



“Oh…there’s a typo. Oh, no. I have to send it again now.”



Send.



“…Maybe I should have praised the doggy a little more?”



Send.



“Yes, this one. This one is perfect.”



Send.



“…When is he going to reply…”



Send.



“I’ll just send one more. Just in case.”



Send.



“Hmm, I’ll change the wording a little.”



Send.



“Also…”



Send, Send, Send.

Send, Send, Send, Send.

Send, Send, Send, Send, Send.



And after one hour of constant sending–



“Oh, I finally got a reply.”



What a relief.

She had sent 54 messages, and it looks like he finally noticed them.

It seemed that he lacked sufficient SP, and so he couldn’t get the Mail skill.

And so he had to level up, which is why it took time to reply.



“Ohh…that’s good.”



“Please give me some time to consider your offer. Rest assured, that I have been reading your Emails. It is unnecessary for you to keep sending them. Please stop. Please.”



That was his positive reply.

Yes, things were looking good.

She would reply with an ‘I understand, I hope to hear from you soon.’



However, there was something about his reply that seemed very careful, like he was trying not to offend her. What could be the reason for that?

She tilted her head in puzzlement.