Change of plans

“So, to sum it up,” Takemi began, summarizing what Tamashi had just explained with a dubious expression. “Japan is not the only place in the world where these dungeon breaks happened, with some other countries experiencing the same thing. But there are still two places that can be saved, because the dungeons there won’t get their apocalypse for another month or so. And you want us to... go there and clear all the dungeons before they collapse. Did I get all that right?”

“Yes,” Tamashi confirmed, his tone calm. “Hokkaido and the Czech Republic.”

“Why these two?” Takemi questioned, still somewhat skeptical.

“I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know either.”

Tamashi’s face was as cold as ice, however, his azure eye was hiding a deep ocean of secrets. Luckily for him, no one in the room had the ability to gaze that deep into his soul.

“Clearing the dungeons in Hokkaido will be much easier, because the dungeons there are only levels one or two. While the Czech Republic also has primarily low-level dungeons, there are two much more dangerous ones: a level four and a level six. The last gate I’ve cleared had also been a level six dungeon, and while I managed to conquer it without that much effort, it won’t be nearly as easy this time.”

“What kind of monster did you fight there?” Kengo asked curiously, interrupting Tamashi.

“A kind of stone dragon,” Tamashi replied monotonously. The others’ reactions were anything but calm, though.

“A dragon?! Really? Was it super big?” Mika inquired with a high-pitched voice.

“You fought a dragon and didn’t tell me?” Kengo glared at Tamashi, feeling both betrayed and a bit jealous.

“I can tell you about it later, but it’s not important right now,” Tamashi quickly calmed his siblings down, then looked over at Uyumi and Takemi.

“First of all, I need to take a look at your stats.”

Both the girls followed the same procedure Tamashi’s family did back then, making their status window public. As Tamashi was carefully looking them over, he immediately froze.

Again? he thought, utterly bewildered.

Uyumi’s stats were mostly below average, which was to be expected, given she had been blind for most of her life. A slight surprise had been the fact that her Mind stat was 21, while Tamashi’s was only 20; that technically made Uyumi smarter than him, even if not by much.

However, that wasn’t what shocked Tamashi. It was Uyumi’s Soul stat, which, just like Mika’s, had shown the number 11.

I’ll have to inquire more about that later, Tamashi made a mental note, moving over to Takemi.

“Man, both you and Kengo are such gym rats,” Tamashi commented when he saw how high Takemi’s physical stats were. “When you add up the three stats concerning your overall physique, Takemi’s add up to sixty, while Kengo’s were sixty-one when he was level one.”

Kengo looked over at Takemi with a teasing smirk, to which she responded by sticking out her tongue, then she faced away, pouting.

“Now, you may not be happy to hear this,” Tamashi continued, preparing himself for some inevitable backlash. “But for us to clear all the dungeons in time, I suggest we split into two teams, one going to Hokkaido, the other to the Czech Republic.”

“What?!” Kengo, Mika, and Takemi yelled at the same time, all three of them shocked by this revelation.

“Are you sure that it’s safe, Tamashi? We were barely able to clear the level one dungeon the first time,” Himawari argued calmly, keeping her cool unlike the rest.

“It’ll be fine,” Tamashi reassured, then proceeded to explain in further detail.

“The first team will be me, Awayuki, and Uyumi. The second team will be everyone else. This way, Awayuki and I can carry Uyumi, who has by far the worst stats at the moment, while the second team will have two fighters: Kengo and Takemi, and two supporters: Mom and Mika. Besides Takemi, you all have at least some experience, so I don’t think it will pose an issue. Now, I expect some complaints, so now is your time to voice them. Please raise your hand so you don’t end up talking over each other.”

Surprisingly, the room was enveloped in silence after Tamashi finished. Eventually, though, it was Takemi who raised her hand first.

“Uyumi, are you okay with us splitting up?” she asked, her hazel eyes full of concern.

“Don’t worry,” Uyumi reassured her gently, taking Takemi’s hand in hers. “Tamashi already asked me, and I agreed. I also think that splitting up is the only option if we’re not to rely on others. The two teams are also balanced well, so this is definitely our best move if we want to make it in time.”

Seeing her big sister still not convinced, she added playfully: “What, are you scared to be alone, without your little sister protecting you?”

“...Fine,” Takemi gave in, then glared at Tamashi across the room. “You better make sure there isn’t a single hair missing from her head, you got it? There will be serious consequences otherwise.”

“You got it,” Tamashi responded with a nod, his face as calm as ever. “Awayuki here is an actual angel, so there’s no need to worry.”

Tamashi rubbed Awayuki—who was sitting on his shoulder, finally awake—under his little beak.

“That little snowball?” Takemi questioned, yet again skeptical of Tamashi's words.

“Cheep!” (You better believe it!)

“This little snowball can freeze your entire body in a matter of seconds, so I’d not provoke him if I were you,” Tamashi cautioned, sounding dead serious, sending a shiver down Takemi's spine.

Seeing Takemi was creeped out and shifting her body uncomfortably away from him, Tamashi added just in case: “That was a joke. While he is certainly capable, he won’t do it without a good reason.”

“Moving on... Does anyone else have anything to say?”

Nobody raised their hand, so he was about to move on to the next topic when Uyumi suddenly spoke up.

“Would it be a problem to do one dungeon with all of us together first, so me and Takemi can get accustomed better? Then, we can steal a plane in Hokkaido instead of here. I don’t think it will slow us down that much either.”

“Hmmm,” Tamashi pondered, while everyone else once again started freaking out.

“HUH?! You want to steal a plane? Do you even know how to fly?”

“That won’t be a problem with the Fast Learner spell.” Tamashi reassured. “Plus, I don’t have to land it, we can just jump out or teleport out before it crashes.”

“.....”

“WHAT??!!”