Power leveling

　

　When he returned to the entrance hall, Kashiwaba was waiting for him, ready to leave.
　In her hands, she held what appeared to be a piece of iron pipe, the origin of which was unknown, a bulletproof vest that she had probably borrowed from the Self-Defense Forces, and a helmet labeled "Disaster Response". On her back, she carried a large backpack, and at first glance, she seemed to fit in this world better than Akira.
　Seeing what Kashiwaba had worn, Akira suddenly remembered a conversation he had had with Nao in his previous life.

(――Come to think of it, we were talking about whether clothes could be used as armor because of their endurance. This is perfect, let's look it up here.This is perfect, let's take a look here.)

　Akira muttered to himself and activated 『Appraisal』.


(……The helmet has an Endurance of 2 and the bulletproof vest has an Endurance of 3. Somewhat useful for self-defense…… I guess? )


　It was better to have it than not, but in the end, even that slight increase in Endurance won't mean anything against the overwhelming strength of the monsters.
　After all, if you were going to fight monsters, the only thing that made sense was to create armor using 『Armor Crafting』.
　Akira came to that conclusion based on the appraisal screen that appeared in front of him, then waved his hand to dismiss it.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

　When he called out to her, Kashiwaba immediately noticed Akira.
　When her gaze fell on Akira, she shuddered and froze.

"What's wrong? "

　Akira opened his eyes wide and called out to Kashiwaba, who had stopped moving.
　Then, hearing his voice, she finally came to her senses. With a startled expression, Kashiwaba took a breath and addressed Akira.

"Ichijou-san…… If you're bringing something that big, please let me know in advance. It's bad for my heart."
"Eh?　A-Ahh…… My bad."

　Apparently, it was the first time Kashiwaba had seen Akira's Hatchet of the Raging Bull.


(Well, you don't often see an axe as tall as a person, do you?)

　Akira let out a small laugh in response to Kashiwaba's reaction and forced a smile.


"Well, I don't think I'll need it, but just in case. Better than needing it and not having it."
"Haa……"


　At those words, Kashiwaba let out a breath that was somewhere between a sigh and an expression of resignation.
　It seemed that she was slightly anxious about what was to come, given the unrealistic weapon that Akira had brought out.


　Akira smiled again to reassure Kashiwaba, and spoke.

"It's to keep you out of danger, Kashiwaba-san."



"For now, let's go. With basic magic, it seems that it is possible to fight monsters of a certain level even if your level is low, but at present, Kashiwaba-san has no choice but to attack by stepping forward like me. ……So, as I said earlier, Kashiwaba-san, you don't necessarily have to be at the forefront during this power leveling. I'll bring the monster back here when it's almost dead, and then you can finish it off. That way, you'll probably gain some experience and eventually level up. First, let's kill some goblins and gain some experience points."
"……I understand."

　Kashiwaba nodded uneasily at Akira's words.
　After leaving the hospital, Akira's party walked toward the city center, searching for goblins.

　Within a few minutes, the Goblins were found.

　Akira gently nudged the goblin, who was sleeping comfortably inside a private house, and knocked it unconscious. He then carried it back to Kashiwaba. Kashiwaba attacked the dying goblin and, once he was sure it was dead, went to look for the next one.
　Sometimes he would bring one goblin at a time, and other times he would bring several goblins, repeatedly transporting dying goblins to Kashiwaba and having her deliver the final blow, thereby gaining experience points for herself.

　Perhaps because she was unfamiliar with combat, Kashiwaba seemed uncomfortable with the task at first, but after repeating the same thing for about an hour, she began to feel more at ease. She mechanically beat the goblins to death as they were brought to her, dismantled them while Akira brought the next ones, carefully bagged their hearts, and stored them in the backpack on her back. Apparently, the backpack she brought with her was for carrying materials.


"It's about time we take on the next monster."


　Two hours after starting power leveling.
　Confirming that Kashiwaba's level had risen by two, Akira brought up the subject with Kashiwaba.

"Already? "

　Kashiwaba replied to Akira's words. In her hand, the iron pipe that broke immediately after power leveling began had been replaced by a goblin's stone axe.

　Akira nodded to Kashiwaba and replied.

“That stone axe has an attack power of 3, so with Kashiwaba-san's current strength, you should be able to deal with something like the Killer Bees. Killer Bees are monsters with troublesome poisonous stingers…… I'll break that poisonous stinger, don't worry."
"I understand. In that case……"

　Kashiwaba nodded at Akira's words.


　Akira's party walked around the city looking for the Killer Bees.
　Along the way, they were attacked countless times by monsters, including Black Wolves, but Akira fought off all of them.
　Power leveling with the Killer Bees went smoothly.
　The only problem was that Killer Bees often acted alone rather than in swarms.

"Oh."

　In the midst of this, Akira, who had been glancing at the “progress” display, suddenly let out a sound.
　This was because the inversion rate, which had been gradually increasing since morning, had finally reached 3%.
　Akira immediately pulled out his phone to check the time.

(……Right around noon, it seems. So, after defeating the werewolf, it took about half a day longer to progress? )

　Last time, when he defeated the Minotaur, he also gained a 1% grace period, but it lasted only half a day.

(I can't really judge until I defeat a few more bosses, though…… Maybe if I defeat a boss, I'll have half a day to spare? )

　He was not sure if that idea was correct.
　However, it was certainly enough information to form a hypothesis.

(In that case, the inversion rate will be 4% a day and a half from now…… Today is the fourth day since monsters appeared in this world, so the inversion rate should be 4% on the sixth day.)

　What he needed to be wary of was the monsters' increase in strength.
　Based on his past experience, he knew that nothing would happen up to an inversion rate of 3.37%.


(3.37% means…… About thirteen hours from now?　I still have plenty of time.)

　Akira roughly calculated the speed using the calculator on his smartphone.


(For now, I think we can spend some time power leveling until around evening.)

　Akira muttered to himself and closed the “Progress” screen.


　　　　　　　　　　　　　◇　◇　◇


　A few hours after Kaoru Kashiwaba began power leveling against the Killer Bees.
　Perhaps influenced by the fact that Killer Bees, their power leveling opponents, were higher level than the goblins, Kashiwaba's level had already reached 15.
　She disposed of the Killer Bees that were brought in with practiced ease, showing none of the anxiety she had displayed before power leveling. With a calm expression, she swung the goblin's stone axe like a skilled professional.

(……It's about time for a break.)

　They had been working nonstop since morning, and quite some time had passed.
　Although they had taken breaks at appropriate intervals, they should probably take a longer break at this point.

"Kashiwaba-san."

　Akira called out to Kashiwaba, who was sliding a knife intended for dismantling toward a Killer Bee that she had killed herself.

"Let's take a break from leveling and grab something to eat."
"I understand. That being said, do you even have any food? "

　Kashiwaba tilted her head slightly as she stuffed the carapace she had peeled off the Killer Bee into her backpack.

"Just now, I found some snacks at a store in the building I snuck into. There isn't much, but it should satisfy our hunger."

　Akira smiled and held up the bag of snacks he had in his hand.


　Akira's group leaned against a nearby guardrail, sharing a snack between the two of them.
　During the break, Akira decided to ask Kashiwaba about the cult group he had seen that morning as a topic of conversation.


"Speaking of which, this morning. Someone from a cult called Lilith Laila came here."
"Ahh, them…… Again?"

　Kashiwaba smiled in annoyance at Akira's words, looking like she knew everything.

"Again?　Did they come many times? "
"At least, as far as I know, they have been coming repeatedly. They always say the same thing, like offering up people who were originally hospitalized at that hospital, people who couldn't even fight monsters, as sacrifices to calm the chaos in this world or make wishes come true. They seem like suspicious people."

　Kashiwaba tore open the wrapper of the snack and said as she put it in her mouth.

"Ever since monsters appeared in this world, I've been hearing about them a lot lately…… It's weird to worship someone called a demon, and I definitely don't want to get involved with them. ――――Did you know?　Those people all have similar tattoos. "
"Tattoos? "
"Yes. Like the chess piece called rook. It's a mark that looks like a tower with big eyes stuck on it."

　Saying that, Kashiwaba crouched down on the asphalt pavement and scratched a mark on the ground with a stone.

"Something like this."
"……I've never seen that before. Where did you see this, Kashiwaba-san? "
"When was it? A little while ago, several people from Lilith Laila came to the hospital…… They got into a heated argument with the people who were there, and a fight broke out. At that time, I saw that mark on the arms and necks of the Lilith Laila people."
"I see……"


　Akira nodded at Kashiwaba's words.
　Perhaps the group called Lilith Laila used their tattoos to identify fellow believers. This meant that people with the same mark were gathering and engaging in extreme behavior.

(Monsters alone are troublesome enough, but now there's a strange group of people appearing too…… What the heck is going on?)

　Akira let out a deep sigh and turned his gaze to Kashiwaba.


"Is there anything else you know? "
"Eh?　Hmmー……No, nothing else……"
"I understand. Thank you for sharing all this information with me."

　Akira bowed his head to Kashiwaba and dropped the subject.

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