134 Part 1
Lets be an Adventurer! ~Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board~ 134
Lets Solve Our Problems!
Leaving the confinement room and breathing in the outside air did not calm Vans heart at all.
The cause of him losing his composure was none other than Air.
He had secretly wished for him to fail in his task, but instead Air returned triumphantly from his adventure outside.
He hadnt only succeeded in his mission.
He had achieved results that exceeded Kagemitsus expectations.
That fact really had ground Vans gears.
To think that Air was more useful to Air than himself.
To think that Kagemitsu expected great things from him, and he would even exceed his expectations.
What he had was exactly what Van had longed for.
To meet Kagemitsus expectations, and to achieve more than expected. How many times did Van dream of such a scenario?
Van and Kagemitsu have known each other for the longest time out of the rest of the group.
They had been through many hard times together.
Van is well aware of how Kagemitsu, who couldnt really handle attracting so much attention to himself, wore himself out for his companions.
Thats why Van didnt want to be a burden to Kagemitsu.
He wanted to help Kagemitsu and take up as much of his stress as possible.
But a hard fact remained, and it was that Van was the only one who didnt help in this operation.
So far, Van had been in the same position as Air Teams Karen.
She was also one of the members of this team that wasnt able to do anything towards the goal of defeating the Dungeon Lord.
Van was somehow relieved by her being there.
He felt utterly useless, but at least she was there as well.
However, she drove the enraged Yoshioka away with her own body.
A woman no, a young girl, to risk herself to that extent in order to drive away a man as big as Yoshioka, would have needed more courage than a man could have imagined.
She also used her staff to destroy one of the walls of the headquarters in order to show her strength.
That attack was something that Van had never seen before.
It wasnt just that she was just physically strong.
If it had been only her strength, she would have only made a hole on the part where she had struck the wall.
There was no way a small staff like that would have destroyed a portion of 3 square meters of that wall as if it had been hit by a wrecking ball.
Maybe she also had access to an Enlightenment Skill.
(That would make me the only one here who doesnt have one)
Van compared himself with Karen and thought about how useful they would both be in a fight.
However, even in an actual battle, would Van be able to beat Karen in terms of contribution to the team?
After seeing the power of her staff attack, he had little confidence in beating her.
Not only that, she also said she was 18 years old.
That fact surprised Van even more.
Because that meant that she was an adventurer who just got her license in April of this year!
At her young age, she was able to receive a request in equal terms to Team Aerial.
Even if that was partly thanks to Air.
At least Karen didnt seem to be the type of party member who would just idle about near Air.
Van understood that after seeing her astonishing staff attack.
(What were these past 5 years for?)
That thought would intermittently appear in his mind.
(What on earth am I supposed to do?)
Even though the sky was clear and blue, thick clouds continued to drift in Vans heart.
Damn it, damn it, damn iiiiiit!!
After returning to his office, the brightly red faced Yoshioka threw all of the documents on his cabinet to the floor.
He loosened the reins on his anger, throwing the documents to the floor one after another.
Haaah Haaahhh!!
Why didnt it work?
Everything was going according to plan!!
Yoshioka was grinding his teeth as he breathed anxiously.
His expectation was that about half of the Self-Defense Force would die violently at the hands of the Dungeon Lord.
At worst, they would all be completely annihilated.
As long as there was someone to lead it, and as long as it could get around well, the Self-Defense Force would always recruit new people and be revived.
This time, Yoshioka had sent the Self-Defense Force on a suicide mission in order to improve the situation of the Self-Defense Force.
The budget of Hakodate Citys Self-Defense Force was almost nothing but labor costs.
The Self-Defense Force couldnt possibly defeat monsters with their bare hands. And they couldnt dive into the dungeon naked.
They couldnt defeat a dungeon without being properly equipped with weapons and armor.
Despite this, their meager budget almost disappears into labor costs.
No matter how worn out their armor would become, they wouldnt be able to buy new equipment.
At this rate, if a Stampede occurs again, the Self-Defense Forces would soon cease to function.
According to the city, the equipment cost of the Self-Defense Force should be covered depending on how much of a dungeon they conquered.
(But we cant buy any equipment with that kind of money!!)
Yoshioka had tried explaining his plight to the city.
But the city wouldnt consent.
The city was only collecting data on Adventurers who were looking for an income.
Yoshioka couldnt hope to know how much they would make on Mt. Hakodate, so his plight fell on deaf ears.
In order to overcome this stalemate, Yoshioka took the decision to send the Self-Defense Force to the slaughterhouse.