Chapter 12 : Morning Harmony and Shizuku’s Secret


“Funfufunfufu~n“

Today was Monday and a night has passed since the subjugation of the boss golem. As usual, I hummed to myself as I made breakfast.
The menu for today was egg rice porridge. An easy-to-eat work of art in which I finely chopped the vegetables, gently boiled them and used the refreshing acidity of tomato to add in some flavor.
With this, I’ll invite Shizuku out of her room today for sure……!!

“Leave it there and don’t lie in wait for an ambush today.”

Yep, it was impossible.
Shobo~n⁽¹⁾. Even though I felt dejected over the usual exchange, I cheerfully lined up a mini table right in front of the door to her room.

“Then, let’s talk through the door again! I’ll eat out here!”

“…… You’ll be late for school.”

“It’s fine if I’m just a little late!”

Soon after I’d said that, a sigh of resignation along with a small hand reached out from the door and pulled in the breakfast that I had brought over.

“Nfufu…… Ah, which reminds me Shizuku, thanks for introducing me to Cocoa-chan yesterday. Because of her, I managed to subdue the plains area. The huge boss golem at the end was pretty strong~.”

“I heard. She complained that onee-chan would rush in like an idiot and it was troublesome to follow up with.”

“Uu, That’s umm, I’ve caused some trouble for her, huh…… Haa, I’ll have to apologize the next time I see her in FFO.”

“Not really, its alright since she seemed like she didn’t mind. That’s the way it is with beginners after all.”

Gachagacha, Shizuku asserted so as the clinking sound of the plates resonated.
Her tone of voice made it appear as though she was saying it herself. With a hint of jealously, I thought to myself that they sure were close friends.
Gununu, even I wanted to be able to talk intimately with Shizuku……!

“B-but thanks to the defeat of the boss golem, I obtained 2 new skills called, «Mana Breaker», and «Parrying».”

«Mana Breaker» was an offensive skill that consumed MP and would fire off a deadly blow that was strengthened based on the numerical value % of the mana that was consumed.
Only, it wouldn’t instantly activate after the MP was spent, but rather, the impression was that the end of the staff would gain 10 charge per second. The power could be doubled, but it wouldn’t work unless I stood there without doing anything for 10 seconds.
If I attack or took damage during the channel, the effect would be lost and so would the MP that was expended. Finally, it would be the same as if I’ve used the skill, so I needed to wait until the end of its CT to cast the next one. I considered its ability to be quite conditional.

The other skill I learned, «Parrying», had nothing like restrictive drawbacks just for the «Magician» class and anyone was able to acquire this passive skill. Its effect allowed even normal attacks to be able to activate the parry. It would nullify your opponent’s physical attacks and produce a knockback as well.
Its flaw was that since it would only stubbornly defend with “normal attacks,” it couldn’t be used at the same time as «Mana Breaker», so they perfectly conflicted with each other. Well, the CT on «Mana Breaker» was long anyways, so it’s not like it’ll spoil or expire if I don’t use it.

By the way, the prerequisite for learning «Mana Breaker» was “defeat a boss monster using only attacks from a staff,” and for «Parrying», it was, “successfully parry 10 times or more in a row.”
Aside from «Mana Breaker», I actually learned «Parrying» in the middle of the battle, didn’t I. I was so engrossed in attacking, I never realized it.

“This has paved the way towards defeating the field boss in the forest area Shizuku talked about! I’m almost there, so wait for me Shizuku!”

“I’m not particularly waiting for you or anything…… but, well, I think you could probably defeat it as you are now. Bringing it down in 3 minutes was a different matter though.”

“Ehehe, Is that so? Thank you, Shizuku!”

She was just as aloof as ever, but getting an endorsement from Shizuku herself made me increasingly more confident.
Alright~, the moment I get home from school today, should I try heading over towards the forest area? I thought about going to the mountains area beyond the plains area, but I wanted to experience what the forest area would be like.

Ah, speaking of which.

“By the way Shizuku, you said you were usually farming in places I couldn’t go to, but where was that exactly?”

“I’m playing in the lakeside area that has a recommended level of 40. It’s deep within the woodlands area which was past the forest area. Even if you overdo it, you can’t really make it by without being at least level 30 here. Also, when beginners reached the upper level limit at 20, they’ll have to defeat the field boss in the forest area to complete the quest that would release the cap on their level.”

“Heeh~, so that’s how it is.”

A level cap quest, huh. That kind of stuff existed too, didn’t it. I was still only level 17 right now, so I didn’t know about it at all.
Though, I see. In her own way, Shizuku might’ve purposely appointed that forest area’s field boss as the condition because I’d have to defeat it in the first place. Fufuu, if so, that sure makes me happy.

Well, I ended up not noticing that and went on to subdue the field boss in the plains area before the one in the forest area though…… ahaha……

“Which means, Shizuku was playing in the lakeside area yesterday too?

“…! T-that’s right? Is something wrong with that?”

Even though I innocently asked a question that was related to the conversation, Shizuku’s voice somehow seemed randomly shaken.
Eh? Really, what’s the matter?

“No, I was just wondering what Shizuku was doing. I’m curious about how you were usually playing after all.”

It’s the same as yesterday, but I was the only one talking and I haven’t heard much from Shizuku at all. I’m having fun just chatting, yet if possible, I wanted to know more about Shizuku. I wanted to know everything about her. Because I’m her onee-chan, okay?

“I-it’s not like I’m doing anything especially different. I’m just levelling up with Elaine-…… Ranka and her friends. That sort of thing.”

“Heeh, leveling…… you’re only leveling? I see…… wait, hm? I thought Ranka was banned from gaming since she had to take her supplementary exam……”

“Aaah~~!!! Come on now, if you don’t leave for school soon, you’ll be late you know!? Hurry up and go!!”

“Eh? Ah, okay.”

For some reason, Shizuku urged me on to the point of even knocking against her door. I realized I wouldn’t be able to delve into this any further, so I quickly tidied up my breakfast and stood up.

“Well then, Shizuku, be a good girl and wait until onee-chan gets back, okay? Even if there’s a delivery, make sure to properly secure the chain, alright?”

“Come on, I at least know that much already! …… Have, a safe trip. Take care along the way.”

Considering how she had raised her voice, perhaps she was upset at how she was treated like a child…… but even so, my kind little sister showed concern towards me at the very end.
That alone, filled my heart with the sensation of a certain warmth.

“I will, thank you!”

Good grief, Shizuku really isn’t honest at all. If you like onee-chan, just say that you like her.
Still, that was just fine. No matter how cold Shizuku was, I’ve long since known that she actually felt lonely.
That’s why, for Shizuku who can’t be honest, I’ll shout time and time again, loud enough for even her fair share.

“Shizuku, I love you–!! I’m going now–!!”

“You’ll bother the neighbors, so stop it, Baka-ane—-!!”

When I shouted from outside of the house, Shizuku opened up her window and hollered back.
Upon seeing that Mimori-san was watching over us heartwarmingly from the cafe across the street, Shizuku bashfully retreats back indoors.
I knew that Shizuku was shy so I purposefully yelled from outside, but was that maybe a bit too mean? Since she was being cute, I ended up doing it against my better judgment. Still, I should hold back a little. Well, I feel like I’ll ultimately do it again tomorrow though.

While thinking of such matters, I greeted Mimori-san before dashing off to school.

Now then, Shizuku was waiting for me. Today, I’ll quickly finish school and go home…..
All so I can hurry and catch up to the place Shizuku was at!!

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⁽¹⁾ : It’s this face, (´・ω・｀). An expression that shows how disheartened or sad you are and it’s also referred to as denko for some.