A/N: 7/24 – Tweaked Abe Shuu’s age, years in the story, etc.
Let’s go home.
Having won the deadly fight
with Yokozuna, I am filled with a sense of extreme satisfaction. Today’s dinner
is going to be delicious.
“Abeshuu, you forgot the
interview, squeak.” (Tamiko)
I come to my senses when the
idiot squirrel gives me a perfectly reasonable tsukkomi. The aura of an
absolute winner that had been emanating from me suddenly vanishes.
We all return the interview
room to its original look. Aomoto, who was being lectured outside the room by
the branch’s top official, returns, and the interview resumes in earnest at
last.
“Well, uh… Well then, Mr.
Abe,” said ‘Nokota’ Kaike. “Let me resume the interview. I’m very
sorry for trying to test you earlier. Even though this was intended to test
your ability, I cannot deny that there were some deviations from the regular
test. As a member of our staff, I would like to apologize.”
“I’m sorry too,”
Aomoto said. “You were so strong that I forgot my main task and got
absorbed in the competition. I’ll even apologize for this multiple times, and so,
once again, I apologize again.”
“No, it’s my fault, too.
…I got very excited and I felt like I was being rude…” (Shuu)
“That’s all right. I’d
like to say this, though. I was clearly superior in terms of skill and
experience. But it was purely your strength, your level of effort, that
overturned the odds. You were the real deal, Mr. Abe.” (Aomoto)
“No, Aomoto-Seki was
really strong. Next time… if you become a hunter of Sugamo, let’s meet in the
finals of the chapter tournament.” (Shuu)
“Oh! Stay undefeated
until then. Don’t lose to anyone other than me, Abe-Seki!” (Aomoto)
Despite the lukewarm glances
from Tamiko and Kaike, the rivals shake each other’s hands in praise of their
fierce battle. As for Kaike, she has an ulterior motive. This should help
Aomoto get a better decision.
“Abe-seki, no Mr. Abe.
I’m convinced that you are an influential person commensurate with that level
and fungal occupation. According to the application form, you are from a
village in the northeastern part of the Ikebukuro Tribe territory. Can you tell
us?” (Aomoto)
Here we go. I got a little
heated, but I didn’t care about sumo. This is where my real fight begins.
“Yes, it’s going to be a
long story…” (Shuu)
This is where the real test of
my eloquence comes in.
Anxious? Since I have come
this far, I’ll just have to use my momentum to get through it.
~3rd Person Perspective~
Abe Shuu was born and raised
in a small village of around ten families near the Ikebukuro Tribe territory in
the year 79 of the Tokyo calendar (twenty-eight years ago).
Most of the people in the
village were registered citizens of Ikebukuro, but Shuu and his father were the
only Free Folk without a family register.
His father was a hunter. He
did not belong to any guild because he was an eccentric person who was not good
at socializing, and despite his superior strength and skills, he disliked
crowds. Shuu does not know about his mother, because his father never spoke
about her.
Shuu, a Free Folk’s child,
could not attend school, only learning letters and knowledge directly from his
father. His Father learned from his grandfather in the same way. While his
father was hunting, Shuu’s good teachers were the children of his age who
attended the city’s elementary schools and the many books they borrowed from
him.
Realizing early on that his
son had the qualities to become a hunter, his father waited until he was five
years old to allow him to accompany him on hunting trips into the forest. They
shared their prey with their neighbors who lived on their farms and livestock,
and their slow and stable life continued until Shuu was twelve years old.
One day, when Shuu and his father
returned to the village with their catch, they found collapsed houses and the
corpses of their neighbors lying on the ground. According to the survivors, a
large, powerful Metro Beast had appeared from somewhere and, despite the
resistance of the adults, had laid waste to them as it pleased.
His father left Shuu behind
and went after the Metro Beast. When night fell and his father did not return,
Shuu spent a sleepless night in prayer. The next morning, his father returned
with the head of the beast, though severely wounded.
It was not to remove the
threat of another attack on the village. The survivors, including his father,
had already realized the limits of life in this village. His father wanted to
pay his respects to his kind neighbors with whom he had shared his hardships
for the past ten years or so.
The households of the
survivors were scattered. Most of them were moving to the Tribe’s territory
with their meager reserves, and my father had given them the head of the beast
to take with them as a souvenir. He hoped it would at least add to their lives,
which were expected to be more difficult than before.
So began the life of Shuu and his
father alone in the village. They continued to hunt in the forests, mountains,
and nearby Metros, as well as study. Shuu had already decided that he would
become a hunter in the future, but his father still had him hold a pencil
because he believed that it would surely be useful one day in Shuu’s life as a
human being.
Shuu turned thirteen years old
after a hard but fulfilling youth in homeschool learning, training, and
practice. His level had reached 15.
—He had reached the age of
15, and he would be able to register with the official hunter’s guild and live
as an honest citizen.
“I have given you as much
of my knowledge and skills as I could. How you use it in life is up to you. You
can choose your own path.” (Shuu’s Father)
With this talk, his father
poured sake into Shuu’s cup for the first time. It was the first and last time
Shuu and his father drank together, and although it was not a good drink, he
only remembered that it made him feel warm and fuzzy as it went down his
throat.
The next day, they entered the
Outsuka Metro.
His father’s level was 55, and
he was one of the best [Knight] in the world. Even Catoblepas and other large Metro
Beasts were no match for him, and even after several days of descending to the
30th underground floor, the two of them had not faced a single crisis of any
kind. Shuu had improved one level during the hunt along the way, and he was
getting a feel for how to protect his father’s back.
“I heard that there is a
powerful boss on the 49th floor here. I want to defeat it if possible. But it’s
going to be a hard road from here on. The lower we go, the stronger and more
cunning the beast becomes. That’s what the Metro is all about. If you’re afraid,
we’ll turn back here.” (Shuu’s Father)
“I’d be lying if I said I
wasn’t afraid, Father. But more than that, I believe in you, Father. If there
is a path in front of us, if there is something to hunt, then let’s go.”
(Young Shuu)
“I see. Then, for your
trust, I will protect you even at the cost of my life.” (Shuu’s Father)
As it turned out, the promise
was kept. His father protected Shuu with his own body, while Shuu escaped.
The king of the amorphous
blobs, eerie watery masses that nested on the 40th floor, was a Slime. At the
time, the Slime was not even called Satan Slime, but it was a monster worthy of
the name of the Demon King Satan, stronger and more formidable than anything in
the world, even his father’s strength was not enough to overcome it.
After a fierce battle to the
death, his father’s legs were taken from him, and a trap door cut off his way
out. He realized that he could neither escape nor defeat it. With his last
ounce of strength, he let his son escape to the stairway to the 50th floor.
The father was devoured, and
the son was thrust into an even more dangerous zone.
With grief and despair, Shuu
was forced to live alone in the depths of the Metro, where vicious beasts were
everywhere.
At the time, Shuu had no idea
that it would be fifteen years before he would avenge his father’s death and
see the Sun on the surface again.
Well, this was all a lie.
~Shuu’s Perspective~
If you want a believable lie,
mix some truths into it.
It is a well-worn technique
today, but I am practicing it now.
What he is telling the two
interviewers is a biography of “Abe Shuu”, a mixture of his own story of
drifting in the Metro for five years with a squirrel and someone’s own personal
life story as a young man, which he borrowed from Noa. Everything is forged
into a convenient yarn to hide his true background, history, and abilities. It
is a joint work of three people and two beasts, and the reality of the story is
such that even the most popular online novelists who write only contemporary
dungeon stories would be sent packing, tails between their legs.
The two hardly interrupted me,
breathlessly listening to the epic adventure tale (a big fat lie) of the tragic
boy who lived, Abe Shuu. It is heartbreaking in its own way to be listened to
so earnestly. My back and sides are drenched in sweat, and my knees are shaking
slightly. I wondered about my complexion.
Aomoto looks at me with some
sympathy, probably thinking I was holding back the pain of remembrance.
“—Then I survived on
the fiftieth floor for fifteen years. I was lucky enough to get a hideout where
the Metro Beasts couldn’t find me, and I slowly and steadily raised my level,
hunting only those whom I thought I could hunt. In the beginning, I even had a
hard time with Ghost Wolves and Blue Goblins, and I could barely escape with my
tail between my legs from Orthruses and Ogres.” (Shuu)
“It’s unimaginably
harsh…” Aomoto said. “To be left alone in the depths of the Metro
at the age of thirteen. It’s a miracle for you to even survive for a month,
instead, you lived for fifteen years…”
“… I was desperate. I
couldn’t die so that I wouldn’t make my father a liar when he told me, ‘I will
protect you even at the cost of my life’.” (Shuu)
I’ll do my best to put aside
the fact that I’m becoming a massive liar.
“After I mastered [Self-Regeneration]
and [Great Shield], I was able to push myself to a certain extent. I spent all
my time fighting Metro Beasts with the sole intention of not only going above
ground but also gaining the power to avenge my father’s death. Ten years later,
five years ago, I met Tamiko on the 50th floor.” (Shuu)
“Squeak?” (Tamiko)
Tamiko looked up and wiped her
drool off her face. The idiot squirrel was sleeping through the interview. What’s
with that mental fortitude?
Aomoto is staring at Tamiko
with a confused look. I can almost hear my teeth grinding.
“*Glare*(Why are you
squeaking looking at me?).” (Tamiko)
“*Glare* (Do squirrels
have weak memories?)” (Shuu)
“What’s wrong?”
“Well… Tamiko’s mother
and her partner, a hunter, challenged Satan Slime. Unfortunately, the hunter
was killed, and only her mother escaped to the 50th floor. There she gave birth
to Tamiko, who was growing in her belly, and the two of them, mother and daughter,
lived in the gap between the metro. That was ten years ago, and perhaps because
the 50th floor was so large, and because we were in separate areas of the city,
neither of us met the other. We met one year after Tamiko’s mother passed away,
five years ago. Since then, we worked together and lived our lives cooperating
with each other.” (Shuu)
“Is that so.”
(Aomoto)
“That’s squeak?”
(Tamiko)
“That’s right (Phew).”
(Shuu)
“The reason why your
level is abnormally high is that you have been crossing swords against powerful
beasts of the deep Metro for such a long time… If you’ve been toeing between
the line of life and death so often, it’s no wonder you’ve made it to 68 at
such a young age. It’s insane, though. If there were a hundred hunters, a
hundred would not make it out alive, myself included.” (Kaike)
“But… thanks to those
fifteen years, I was able to honor my father’s sacrifice.” (Shuu)
Aomoto then leans forward.
“You beat it! You beat the
Satan Slime all by yourself!?” (Shuu)
“I was there too, squeak.”
(Tamiko)
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
(Aomoto)
“The subjugation of the Satan
Slime… If that is the case, it will be necessary to report it to the headquarters.”
(Kaike)
“Well, I don’t have any
proof or anything… But I think the place where it was standing is empty…”
(Shuu)
I am feeling anxious. It may
become a beacon to receive unnecessary attention. I might have to prepare
another story, well, there is no lie in me defeating it though, so I am quite proud.
“…Anyway, both of you are
finally back on the surface.” (Kaike)
“Oh, yes. A young hunter
we met along the way was very kind to us, in our Urashima Taro-like life, and
brought us to this town. That was just last week.” (Shuu)
“Urashi—Oh, that’s an
ancient fairy tale? You know it quite well.” (Kaike)
“Oh well… my father told
me that story before I go to sleep…” (Shuu)
I’m not saying bad things. I’m
inwardly disappointed.
“The other day, there was
a report that a passing hunter and a Free Folk took down a [Udeochi] bandit who
was hiding out in the area.” (Kaike)
“Well, I helped a
little.” (Shuu)
“Just a little?”
(Kaike)
“I was part of it.”
(Shuu)
“Of course.” (Kaike)
“You may not believe me,
but that is all I am.” (Shuu)
Well, now all the
preliminaries are shot. Now it remains to see how the two of them will take
this (tall) tale of adventure about the man and squirrel sitting in front of
them.
Aomoto leans back against the
backrest. She sighs heavily and nods deeply.
“It’s too ridiculous to
be a story, though it’s like a heroic tale you read in a picture book… But I
guess that’s why we have to believe in it. Mr. Abe, or rather Abe-Seki’s
strength and ability, are real.” (Aomoto)
“Thank you… Aomoto-Seki…”
(Shuu)
A bond, formed in the ring.
A/N: Next chapter, the interview will be finalized. Will the two pass
or fail?