Vol. 7 - Ch. 372 - Encounter with a mysterious Sister on the way back

In the end, I selected Aegis-san, who showed her desire to acquire ‹Dragon Knight Princess› as a member for our sub-guild.She also appeared eager to reset her level with ‹Job Transfer› and start from scratch by learning about my ‹Strongest Training Manual› lectures.

That's right. That's the will I want!

Whatever they want to learn, just bring it on. Fuhahaha!

This would also foster friendship between holders of ‹Advanced Princess Job›. We have already received the boon of 9 excellent members from previous mass interviews, and today, I have secured another terrific talent.

Was this it? The 'God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame'?

We only had initially planned to accept 6 members officially, but with the addition of 'Harmonic Trio' and Aegis-san, the number has suddenly boosted to 10!

For now these members will be the beginning members of the sub-guild. And finally, the mass interview spanning over one week could be put off.

Though members might be decided, it didn't mean we were yet done; there was still a lot on our plate like withdrawal procedure of accepted sub-member, formation of new sub-guild ‹Eden›, and the transfer procedure of sub-member.

There was also the negotiation pending with the parent guild of the sub-guild those members belonged to if I wanted to pull them out. I was intending to request Celestine and Rina to handle this task.

Well, this was a costly setup in the beginning but hey, at least it's for the future of ‹Eden›, or so I consoled my heart.

If there was anything I lamented at in this whole situation, it was the limited spots due to which I had to reject many talented students. How I wish I could get them all.

There was still quite some time before we rank up to D and have more vacancies. I guess it would be impossible this week? I mean ‹Eden› has yet to set its foot on Int-mid.

No, wait. Maybe not exactly impossible? I quietly pushed the gear of my brain to the max and thought about the situation on my way back to the aristocratic dormitory.

We have 7 days left till the end of Dungeon Week,

Once this dungeon week ended, we would be in term-end exam after one more week, leaving us unable to enter the dungeon. Dungeons were off-limits during the testing period.

As soon as tests were over, we would be welcoming the summer holidays in no time. There would surely be many returning to their home during summer vacation. So, we might not be able to have guild battle during that moment.

It was just unfortunate timing for us.

At this rate, reaching D-rank would be after the summer break, around early September.

It was not a bad progress as per say in the game. It wasn't bad, but since ‹Ranking Battle› was impossible during summer vacation, the whole of August was typically set to work hard in clearing the dungeon, just the correct timing to advance for D-rank.

But that means we would be back to 'normal' clearance speed. We were currently advancing at a pace much faster than when I was in the game, doing this would slow down the speed of our expressway to the level of 'average'.

Reaching E-rank in June and guild members working out to clear the Int-low dungeons was considered to be one of fastest clearance speeds in game. ‹Eden› was currently replicating the same feat.

One of the prime factors I assume should be the dungeon availability to clear right from the April due to the real life scenario.

Story start from May in the game, so we had done our assignment one month earlier than norm. Furthermore each day was like a Dungeon Week carnival. So we just got a head start earlier than planned.

In the game, splitting party and exploring was hardly beneficial exploration wise. We were currently divided into three parties for clearing dungeons, however I used to just select 'Auto-Explore' for every other party except main in the game.

With ease came the restriction, while the main party operated by player could intensively improve rapidly with ‹Official Hidden Tactic - Boss Farming›, the auto-selected party obviously couldn't.

The results of 'Auto-Exploration' were basically set to fundamentally three; ‹Success›, ‹Great Success› and ‹Defeat›. But the experience points and items they acquired were considerably lower than the main party.——Well, it was different now though, this was the reality and the members could explore at their own discretion and earn just equal amount of experience points and items as the main party would.

Obviously, this had further increased the pace of exploration since everyone was progressing at a similar pace.

Anyway, back to the topic.

It was once in a blue moon opportunity to get such a head start, but if I let the chance to become D-rank slip away from my hand now, we could kiss our ultra-fast exploration speed goodbye.

We would be eternally stuck at the E-rank till September. And I am sure I would regret this every bit.

"It might be somewhat impossible in this Dungeon Week, but should we still aim for D-rank? At Least, when the summer holiday comes, we can utilize that time to further accelerate our progress, and I can also take this time to seriously train sub-guild, and——Hmm?"

Just as I had reached a conclusion, my eyes spotted a lone girl sitting on the bench in the corner of the road.

Sitting alone in the darkness, while being illuminated by the street lamp, it looked like a mystical scenery. The girl, sitting with excellent posture, seemed to be gazing straight ahead, lost in thought without any particular purpose or focus.

There was particularly nothing strange about her, still I was mysteriously intrigued by her. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and ended up staring at her for a while.

"Are you here for an errand?"

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I called out to her when passing by her side. However the way she shook her head was a bit strange, which further deepened my curiosity. I turned to look directly at the sitting girl.

Looking at her from this way, I was finally able to make out some details about her. She was dressed like a 'nun'.

She wore a pristine attire resembling a nun's habit, with a deep white veil covering her head. Her hair slightly peeking out of her veil was a faint aqua color, and her eyes were a transparent shade of similar color, aqua blue.

Looking at her from my height, it looked as if she was wearing a wedding dress. It was a beautiful and dazzling piece of equipment.

I know these equipments. They were——

"‹Silver Sancity› huh?"

"You know these clothes?"

"Clothes eh, though they are equipment. And kind of, I know about them."

As I recalled the name of the equipment, I finally understood why I was intrigued by this Sister. It was this equipment. Though they in itself were just one of the couple reasons.

The ‹Silver Sanctity› set was a specific healer-oriented equipment. In fact, these were the gear for advanced dungeons. And as far as I could see, from head to toe, she was wearing all the 5 pieces.

Considering this world had only advanced to Int-high dungeons, these must have dropped from rare bosses. So they were arguably one of the strongest equipment in the current world.

So I could somehow sense who she might be. There was something else tugging in my mind as well, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Was that a response from my 'Intuition'?"

"I am sorry for staring. These are some rare equipment, so I unconsciously ended up attracted to them."

"I see."

A short reply.

It wasn't like she looked appalled or anything, if anything, it was as if she just didn't have any interest in her surroundings...... something like a lethargic state?

I kind of couldn't leave her alone and called out to her.

"Hmm~. Did something happen? Isn't it dangerous to stay out in a place like this at this time?"

"It's fine."

It would be 9:00 p.m. soon.

The public order in the labyrinth academy wasn't quite bad, but still not advisable for a lone girl to sit alone so defenseless in the night. So I had raised my voice out of concern, though she herself sounded like 'whatever happens, happens' attitude.

But was it that she finally took some interest in me, she looked up and our gazes met.

"Are you going to do something unspeakable to me?"

"Like hell I will!"

"Oh."

I reflexively responded, but why did her murmur sound like she was a bit disappointed?

"The current me is free to do."

"What fascinating words, eh!"

"Want me to strip?"

"......There is a limit to apathy..."

No good, all of her words sound like she no longer cares whatever happens. Her words were quite bizarre, though it sounded more like she was crooning to herself, rather than speaking to me. As if it didn’t matter who, she just wanted to say it.

However, at this rate, something might actually happen.

The equipment Sister-chan in was truly in a league of their own, I have this nagging feeling that if I really let her be, she would really be stripped of them. I mean, she herself was surrounding herself in such a vibe that she wouldn't resist even if a thug were to attack her.

"You should go home quickly. Or better yet, go back now."

"I don't want to go back."

Oh the heavens, could anyone tell me what should I do in my current situation?

Sister-chan shook her head and peered into my eyes once again. What?

"I don't want to go back, so carry me?

"......Sorry. I think my brain just crashed and didn't understand what you said, so can you repeat yourself?"

"I don't want to go back."

"Why the hell did you correct yourself?"

"You see. I don't want to go back, so I want you to take me away."

"............"

I quietly rummaged through the words of Sister-chan, who said it with an expressionless face.

'I don't want to go back', words kept repeating. No, that's not it. Just what the hell is with the situation?

"You don't want to go back to your place?"

"Hmm."

"So you want me to take you back?"

"Yeah."

"In short, you want me to take you to the place I am living in?"

"Bingo."

‹Dungeon Activity› had an age rating of B (for 12 years and older).

And today, I was facing my life's biggest dilemma. What should I do? Just what was the correct answer for it?

There was no solution for the situation in my ‹Dungeon Activity› database!