Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu 178 Defense Specialization and the Haunted Mansion
Some time had passed since they arrived on the 6th layer.
Maple had logged in today as well.
She was currently at the guild home because her white equipment had needed some maintenance.
While Maple was often oblivious, her armor would become damaged.
Maple received the equipment back from Izu and added the set to the ‘Quick Change’ bracket.
“Okay. I’m going to go exploring today as well!”
Just as Maple was about to leave the guild home, the door opened and someone unexpected came through.
“Huh? Sally?”
“Ah…Maple.”
“So you came after all?”
Sally then explained to Maple why she had come here.
The reason was that there were several things that she could not ignore.
However, she quickly realized that it was impossible her once she went out into the field, and so she came to get someone’s help.
“Okay, okay. Then, I will help you! I didn’t have anything to do anyway.”
“Thank you…so much…”
“Well, let’s get going then!”
And so Maple took Sally’s hand and they left the guild home.
Maple pulled Sally’s hand as they went out into the field. There, she called out Syrup and climbed onto its back. She petted the shell gently and said:
“Thank you. ‘Dedicated Affection’! ‘Throne of the Heavenly King’!”
The throne then appeared on Syrup’s shell, and Maple sat on it. Sally sat on the shell in front of her and squinted.
Maple had Syrup float up into the air and wait.
“Where to, Sally?”
“There is a European-style building west of the town…so there.”
“Okay. West.”
Maple had Syrup turn around and head towards the west.
“Hah…it starts from here…I hate it…”
Sally covered her face with both hands and rolled up into a ball.
They had been progressing smoothly at first, but then Maple suddenly let out a cry.
“Ah!”
“Huh? What…”
Sally looked up when she heard Maple.
She saw a woman with a pale face floating in front of her.
The woman stretched out a hand towards Sally.
“….!!”
“‘Deploy Barrels’ ‘Commence Attack’!”
Just as Sally threw herself towards Maple, the bullets hit the ghost and caused it to disperse.
/p>
“That came pretty close.”
“Ah, agh! Tha-that’s too much!”
Sally was still clinging to Maple as she pointed at the empty air.
“It can’t do anything but touch you, because of the throne. So don’t worry!”
“Ughhh…”
“But I didn’t actually kill it. It will be back soon. Oh, two of them this time!”
Two ghosts floated over with voices raised in pained howls.
“I’ll drive them away!”
Maple left Sally, who had hid her face in a scarf, and shooed away the spirits.
After a while, a run-down mansion became visible below them.
Compared to the rest of the area, the mist was especially thick there, and they could not see the entire building clearly.
“Sally! We arrived. Uh, I think… Can you check?”
“Is there anything there?”
“Hmm, nothing! It’s fine.”
Maple confirmed that there was nothing in the area and relayed this to Sally. And so Sally pulled down her scarf and peered over the edge.
“Yes. It’s fine. This is it. Alright…yes! Let’s go!”
“We’re going down then.”
Maple had Syrup slowly descend. Then she pulled Sally by the hand and they stepped onto the ground.
Then she made the throne disappear and returned Syrup into her ring.
This was because an enlarged Syrup would not be able to move inside of the mansion.
As they would be exploring, Sally would not be able to keep the scarf wrapped around her face, and so she returned to her usual appearance.
“If I think that I can’t do it…I just have to meditate…meditate…”
“Sally? Let’s go.”
“…I know that it can take more than an hour, and so I will harden my heart!”
Maple remembered that Sally had once prepared herself for a whole hour in order to enter a haunted house, only to run away with tears in her eyes.
Maple still had her weapons facing out.
And so, in order to prevent Sally from escaping, she shot through the half-open door by using her self-destruct flight.
Maple knew enough about Sally to see that using a little force would be good for her.
“Coming in!”
“Ahhhh!!”
With a thunderous crash, the two of them entered the mansion.