Chapter 113: The Mystery of Diniel

"Ah! Yes, there! That's the spot! Ah-hah!"

Tsutomu, Amira, and Daryl, returned to the Clan House after wrapping up their experiment on the use of <<Dragon Form>> in battle. They were welcomed by Hannah's provocative voice echoing from the living room. Tsutomu and Daryl turned to each other and tilted their heads, then the former knocked on the living room's door and waited for about ten seconds before letting himself in.

"Ah, welcome back."

"Whew! I'm really feeling it!"

In the room was Hannah, lying face down on a sofa with a blissful look on her face, and Ollie, her sleeves rolled up and holding Hannah's legs, apparently massaging them.

"You can do massages, Miss Ollie?"

"Yes. I used to work as a massage therapist's assistant, you see."

One look at Hannah, relaxed as if she was a roll of stretchy pizza dough, and one could tell that Ollie was indeed a professional. Tsutomu, while thinking how amazing that was, went to the refrigerator-like magic tool and took out a jug of orange juice with pulp.

"Where've you been today, Teach?"

"The Dungeon, just for a little bit."

"Oh, I see, I see..."

Hearing Hannah sound so lazy as she spoke, Tsutomu cracked a dry grin while pouring the orange juice into a cup, first for himself and then for Daryl as the latter held out his cup to him. Tsutomu then placed the jug back into the refrigerator.

At the same time, Diniel came down from the second floor, yawning. Apparently in a good mood, she searched through the contents of the refrigerator, took out a pot of milk, then went to sit on a chair before pouring the milk into a cup.

"So, tomorrow's another day off..." Hannah said as she laid face down on the same sofa, swinging her legs up and down.

"Right..." Diniel replied as she proceeded to drink her milk.

"Have you ever thought that two days is a bit too much? I think I've had more than enough rest in just one..."

Diniel suddenly stood up, her usually sleepy eyes now wide awake, looking as if she was doubting Hannah's sanity.

"Rest is essential for everyone. Overwork ourselves, and our efficiency is sure to drop — there's no need to subject ourselves to that."

"...It doesn't sound all that convincing coming from you, Diniel."

"Tsutomu's words, not mine. You'd be insane to even consider taking any less. Right... maybe you should get yourself checked by a doctor, just in case."

"W-wait, isn't that a bit overkill!?"

"Come on, I'll go with you," Diniel said and pulled Hannah's hand, showing that she was perfectly serious about taking her to see a doctor.

"I'm NOT going!" Hannah exclaimed and shook Diniel's hands off, having not expected the latter to be so insistent.

Tsutomu, seeing that happen in the corner of his eye, proceeded to facepalm.

"Really, how many days off would you like, Diniel?"

"Forever. Ideally while observing your every move."

[What the hell is she on about now...?]

Tsutomu looked on, exasperated as Diniel tried pulling Hannah's hand again, then he sat on another sofa and took a drink from his cup.

"Well, nothing's changing for now — you still get two days. Don't worry."

"Good to hear."

"You can always do your own training, of course, so do feel free if you'd like to."

"Cool. I'll gladly sit that out."

Looking satisfied, Diniel proceeded to drink the milk from her cup, then passed the empty cup to Ollie before walking up to the second floor. She seemed quite eager to lie around idly on her bed — one she had brought in herself, no less.

Hannah looked at Diniel go, then sat up and looked up at Tsutomu.

"S-she sure is confident in herself, isn't she...?"

"She IS one of the best Archers in town, you know."

"I don't get it... like, when does she even train?"

Hannah, having been paired up with Diniel before, knew full well how strong the latter was. However, she did not understand just how the latter was so strong, considering that lazy attitude.

"She's an Elf, so it's safe to say that she's been alive for much longer than the rest of us."

"I know, but it's like... She's kinda... unreadable."

"...Right."

"Sounds like you almost sighed there, Teach. Something up?"

"No, nothing. It's just... I don't know what's the deal with Diniel, either."

"Whaaa... Aren't you supposed to be closest to her, as far as this Clan goes?"

"Uh-huh."

Diniel's tone toward the Clan members was neutral and disinterested, but toward Tsutomu, she was quite casual. That was not a bad thing in and of itself, but Tsutomu felt that it was somewhat creepy, what with him not knowing why she was like that.

Tsutomu had tried asking her at one point if she had been influenced by Amy, but never got any substantial answer, so he was even more confused.

"Wait, Teach, are you and Diniel dating, by any chance?"

"No."

"Oh-ho... From what I see, she's probably got her eyes on you..."

"Absolutely not."

"Well, it's a maybe — just maybe! I've heard that Elves rarely fall in love with people of other races, but there are exceptions, you know?"

Hannah grinned at Tsutomu, seeming to be into such stories. Tsutomu himself, however, looked upward, seeming as if he was recalling some distant memories. Hannah, seeing how Tsutomu suddenly turned quiet, had her expression shift to that of curiosity.

Tsutomu, noticing how Hannah was looking at him, brought his mind back to the present and proceeded to look at her.

"You see, that sort of relationship among Clan members is bound to cause all sorts of issues. I'm not about to forbid Clan members from being an item, of course, but it's definitely not happening for me."

"...You seem to be speaking from experience?"

"I guess."

Back in Live Dungeon, Tsutomu had joined two Clans before. He'd had a good time with his second Clan and stayed with them for a long time, but in the end, it had disbanded after some members' real-life dating meetup went wrong. As such, Tsutomu had been sensitive to love affairs within organizations such as Clans and workplaces.

It was not uncommon in this world for Clans to collapse due to such relationships, either. In fact, it happened quite often among newly founded Clans and even mid-tier Clans.

Hannah had heard some of such stories herself, and she had been involved in some relationship problems before, though not romantically. As such, she was quick to realize what Tsutomu was talking about.

"I'm... sorry."

"It's all right. That's all in the past now... and it's not exactly applicable here anyway. Don't worry about it." Tsutomu said to Hannah and stood up.

Unlike his previous case in an online game, this time it involved people constantly meeting face-to-face and even living in the same house, so such love affairs may simply be an inevitability.

"Well, I'm a little tired, so I'll go on a walk for a bit. Excuse me."

"Ah, sure thing," Hannah said and looked at Tsutomu walk outside, feeling awkward to see how he had a bit of a melancholic aura about him.

――▽▽――

The next day was also a day off for Absolute Helix, so everyone went their own ways after breakfast. Tsutomu went to the market, with Daryl following him. Diniel stayed in her room. Amira had to be forced by Tsutomu to rest for the day, since her use of <<Dragon Form>> the previous day had put a huge strain on her body.

Hannah, perhaps feeling too energetic because of the massage she had received yesterday, prepared to visit the Guild by herself. In her room, she took off her casual clothes and changed into the thin cloth outfit that served as her combat gear.

It was getting cold these days, so she also put on a jacket over it... which she would end up taking off while in the Dungeon anyway. Since her gear was from a treasure chest within God's Dungeon, wearing any other equipment over it would nullify its STR and AGI-boosting benefits.

[Maybe it's time I look into getting different armor.]

She had not had the chance to think about it since she had been too busy working for Ealdred Crow's second main team, but considering it now, she was reminded just how revealing her gear was. Adding her large bust to that, and Hannah was bound to attract many eyes to her.

In fact, that had already caused her trouble on several occasions during her time in Ealdred Crow. Men would often stare her way, naturally, some of the women as well. Whether it be positive or negative looks. Since then, she had become secretly conscious of her bust size.

She had been prepared for that when she joined up with Absolute Helix, too. Considering the things she had, this revealing gear was the best performance-wise for her evasion-based Tank role, and fortunately, the other women of this Clan did not seem to mind that, which was quite a relief for Hannah.

As for the men, she had noticed them looking, at least to some degree at first — which she simply considered an inevitability. Still, Daryl had been making an active effort to not stare, with him being so innocent, and Tsutomu had entirely stopped looking at her that way at some point. All in all, she was quite surprised how she no longer felt the stares after a few days in.

Having seen how Tsutomu acted yesterday, Hannah had a hunch that similar troubles had occurred to him in the past. She did not know whether or not he had been active as an Explorer before the Lucky Boy fiasco, however, so she decided not to ask him the details, even though she was curious.

"All right."

After checking her tools and putting them into her Magic Bag, Hannah went out alone, with Ollie seeing her off. The air was slightly chilly, and the sky was clear. Squinting under the strong sunshine, Hannah walked on along the stone-paved road.

While feeling somewhat tight on her wings because of her wearing a coat over them, she headed to the guild without any detours.

Hannah used to not each much for breakfast, so she would usually need to stop somewhere on the way to grab a bite. With Absolute Helix, however, short briefings and reports would happen during breakfast, so now she ate normal-sized meals in the morning.

Moreover, Ollie cooked each of her dishes to accommodate the tastes of individual members, so Hannah could eat in the morning just fine despite not feeling like it. The food over at Ealdred Crow was good as all, of course, but she felt better having breakfast customized just for her.

[Man, I really need to get the hang of this evasion-based Tank thing soon.]

All things considered, Absolute Helix was just as welcoming as Ealdred Crow had been, and moreover, she was comfortable being around all of her new friends. Daryl, a fellow Tank, albeit one with high level; Diniel, one of the best Archers in the scene; and even Amira, who had been getting better at cooperation and was currently working on controlling her <<Dragon Form>> — everyone was trustworthy. It went without saying that Tsutomu was, as well.

Still, one piece of report from Tsutomu had caught Hannah's attention: it was still unknown when Amy and Garm would be joining the Clan. With the number of available members now being just enough for one party, those two joining would bump the number up to seven, and there was sure to be conflict over who got to be in the main team.

Having been in Ealdred Crow, where the competition to be in the main party was quite fierce, she was conscious of it occurring. She intended not to spare any effort to defend her spot while she still had it.

Feeling pumped up for some action, Hannah checked her card at the Guild's reception desk, then queued up to teleport to the Wasteland layers. Her plan today was to practice dodging projectiles. She would have preferred to practice against the Wyverns in the Canyons, but losing her gear there would be a waste, so she had settled for the easier Wastelands.

Treasure chests in God's Dungeon could be anyone's, and the weapons and armor pieces that appeared from it would alter themselves to fit the size of the person who opened the box. It was more advisable that those with average builds opened them, due to making them easier to find buyers in case one wanted to sell off the loot.

Hannah was small in stature and had a large bust, however, so it was difficult for her to find good Dungeon-looted equipment, or even any she could equip at all, in the market. She could aim to find more treasure chests, but since the loot would be in her size, it would be difficult to sell off, making it so that she was the only one who could use it.

Although there were some new vendors recently that specialized in disassembling and reassembling Dungeon-looted equipment, resizing the items, or adding new effects, their works were not guaranteed to be successful, running the risk of losing the item altogether. As such, Hannah's only feasible way of getting better gear was to find her own treasure chests. This meant she could not afford to lose what she currently had, either.

[...I wonder when I'll be able to find randos to form short-term parties with again.]

Explorers were still calling Hannah the 'Feather Tank' and avoiding association with her, so it was difficult for her to find a party through the Guild's services. With a short-term party, she might have been good to go down to the Canyons today.

Sighing at the fact that she still occasionally felt mocking stares from people around her, Hannah stepped onto a Magic Circle alone. Then, once she reappeared in the Wasteland, she began training against the Skeleton Archers there.