Shin's Apprentice

ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

About an hour after Tatsuo finished eating and washing the dishes, he received a text message. And to no one's surprise, it was from Sumire.

Minami Sumire: Do you have some time to meet up?

Soramoto Tatsuo: Sure.

Soramoto Tatsuo: When do you wanna meet?

Minami Sumire: Is an hour later good?

Soramoto Tatsuo: No Problem.

Soramoto Tatsuo: I'll be waiting for you at my place.

Minami Sumire: Okay.

Minami Sumire: I'll see you soon.

Putting his smartphone down, Tatsuo exhaled a heavy sigh.

"Well, I already know what this is going to be about." Tatsuo muttered to himself as he decided to sit down in his bedroom and circulate his [energy] until Sumire arrived.

A little less than an hour later, after Tatsuo managed to raise his Magic Stat by 1, he received another text message.

Minami Sumire: I'm downstairs.

Instead of replying to Sumire's text, Tatsuo stood up, checked his clothes for any wrinkles, and made his way to the elevator. Then, once the elevator arrived, he pressed the button for the ground floor and waited for it to descend.

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened. When they did, Tatsuo immediately saw Sumire, who was looking around nervously. Smiling at the girl, he stepped out of the elevator and approached her.

"Hey, Sumire-San." Tatsuo called out while waving his hand.

"Tatsuo-Kun…" Sumire mumbled as she also approached Tatsuo.

"You didn't bring a bag." Tatsuo said after looking Sumire up and down. "So, I guess that means no sparring today, right?"

"That's right." Sumire replied with a slight blush coloring her cheeks from Tatsuo's inspecting gaze.

"Alright, then let's head upstairs." Tatsuo said with a smile before turning around and heading back to the elevator.

Nodding in response, Sumire followed Tatsuo into the elevator. Then, the two remained silent until the elevator reached the penthouse. However, instead of going into Tatsuo's bedroom, they sat at the kitchen table to have their conversation.

"Okay, although I can guess what you wanted to talk about, I'd rather hear it from you directly." Tatsuo said, the smile never leaving his lips.

In response, Sumire fell silent for a few moments while gripping the hem of her t-shirt. Then, just when Tatsuo was thinking this would be a long conversation, she lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire said in a sincere tone. "I thought about it for a while and I figured out why you were talking like that in the Communication Channel."

As he was expecting to be scolded because of the way he talked to Hwaya, Tatsuo was taken aback when he received an apology instead.

"You were right." Sumire replied. "Hwaya-Neesan was a bit overboard to tell you how to use your Dungeon Explorer appointments. She apologized for that, too. She said she did not think about it from the point of view of those who worked hard to gain that right."

Hearing the way Sumire addressed Hwaya, Tatsuo was not surprised. Especially since that was the way she referred to Hwaya in the novel, as well. However, he did raise an eyebrow since he thought that would have happened later, after they got to know each other better.

"She apologized to me?" Tatsuo asked in a slightly confused toen. "Even though, from her perspective, I should have been the one being rude?"

Instead of replying immediately, Sumire started fidgeting uncomfortably. However, she knew she could not keep this a secret from Tatsuo.

"It's also because…" Sumire said, her voice getting quieter with every word as she lowered her head to the point her chin was buried between her breasts. "I told her about the people who stole from your family's dojo. And why you don't really trust people so easily."

Tatsuo could feel his anger starting to rise after hearing that. He had just told Sumire that she was giving out information about herself too easily. But now, she had even told Hwaya about himself. However, he did his best to press down his anger.

Over the past few months, he had gotten to know Sumire pretty well. At least, by his standards. So, he knew that she had no malicious intent. And he could tell that she knew she had done something wrong by the way she lowered her head.

"*Sigh* You know I'm not happy that you told her about my business, right." Tatsuo said in a low tone.

"Yes…" Sumire replied softly.

"But you did it for my sake, didn't you?" Tatsuo asked in the same tone.

In response, Sumire nodded her head.

"You didn't want there to be any bad blood between me and her, right?" Tatsuo asked once again, his tone lightening slightly as he did so.

Sumire nodded her head again.

"*Sigh* I appreciate the fact that you're trying to look out for me, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said in a tired tone. "But you could have just told her that I have trust issues or something, you know?"

Hearing that, Sumire raised her head with her eyes opened wide in surprise. Although she had not thought of that at the time, that was not why she was surprised. Instead, it was because Hwaya had said the same thing to her when she explained why she thought Tatsuo was so prickly.

A moment later, she lowered her head again in embarrassment.

"You're right." Sumire replied. "I didn't have to tell Hwaya-Neesan any details about you. In fact, Hwaya-Neesan said the same thing. She scolded me, telling me it wasn't right to tell another person's personal information like that."

'Well, I already knew Hwaya was that kind of person.' Tatsuo said after sighing internally. 'I actually don't have anything against her. It's just her high and mighty attitude when she declared herself the strongest really bothered me. I'm not sure why, though. I've never had problems with that before.'

"Anyway, I forgive you, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said, his tone turning warm and gentle. "but please don't do that again. And not just with me, but with your own information, too. You know there are a lot of people in the world that can find out a lot about you with a very small amount of information, right?"

"I know." Sumire replied with a nod. "I just thought that because we're all Dungeon Explorers, we should be comrades, you know?"

'Nakama power.' Tatsuo thought to himself before shaking that stupid thought out of his head.

"Honestly, I don't think that most of the people in the Communication Channel are bad." Tatsuo said while still shaking his head. "But that guy called Edward Walker, I get a bad feeling from the way he speaks."

"Huh?" Sumire asked in a confused tone while tilting her head to the side. "but you two seemed to have the same thoughts about Hwaya-Neesan's plan."

"I don't' know, just call it a hunch." Tatsuo replied. "But out of the other four people, I trust him the least."

Not understanding why that would be, Sumire simply nodded her head. Then, she looked up with pleading eyes.

"Anyway, Hwaya-Neesan is going to come to Japan to visit me in a few days." Sumire said with puppy-dog eyes. "And… Well… You see…"

"And you want to introduce her to me while she's here, right?" Tatsuo asked while smiling wryly.

Sumire nodded in response.

"I mean, it was obvious from the way we spoke to each other in the Communication Channel that we knew each other." Sumire replied. "so, I thought… Maybe you two would get along better if you met in person."

Tatsuo could only look at Sumire blankly for a while. And Sumire, embarrassed by Tatsuo's stare, once again lowered her head with an embarrassed blush and a nervous expression on her face.

"*Sigh* Fine…" Tatsuo said in an exasperated tone. "I'll meet her… For you."

Hearing that, Sumire raised her head again. This time, however, she was wearing a happy smile. Then, she flung herself forward, embracing Tatsuo tightly.

"Thank you, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire cried happily. "and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I told Hwaya-Neesan about you without your permission. I promise, it will never happen again."

Smiling in return, Tatsuo patted Sumire's back to try and calm her down. Then, after a few minutes, the two moved into Tatsuo's bedroom where Tatsuo played the piano for Sumire for about an hour. After that, they just chatted for a while about everything and nothing until Sumire decided to head home for the evening.

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 20th Floor Shop.

The next day, Tatsuo returned to his normal routine. Meaning, he entered the Dungeon in the morning to do his three Floor Master Raids. And because of his timing, he was able to do two of them with Shin. However, unlike usual, when they did their party raids, there were only three members in their party, Tatsuo, Shin, and an Explorer who Shin took it upon himself to train, Ren, a Beastman from a world known as the Panan Continent.

Ren was a large, bulky man, perhaps even a little better built that Shin, with a hairstyle that made it look like ha had a golden mane with a matching, scraggly beard, orange eyes, and a someone immature and naïve looking face compared to his stature. He also carried a large claymore on his back.

However, the two raids that Tatsuo participated with Shin and Ren were slower than their usual raids. And that was by Shin's request, since he wanted to use this time to train Ren. Or rather, to beat all the bad habits out of Ren.

Still, it was not so time consuming that Tatsuo would rather fight the Lizard Knight with a pick-up party instead.

"*Pant* *Pant* I never thought... *Pant* That I would see another… *Pant* Explorer as strong as you… *Pant* Crowned Prince." Ren, who was lying on the Floor Shop's floor like a dead dog, wheezed out through labored breaths. "*Pant* Is your… *Pant* world filled with… *Pant* monsters? *Pant*"

"Well, he's not technically wrong." Tatsuo said in a tone filled with schadenfreude while looking down at Ren. "I mean, there are monsters everywhere in our world."

"That's not what I meant!" Ren shouted in an aggravated toen. "*Sigh* You're just as annoying as the Crowned Prince, Solitary Assassin."

"I still don't understand why I got that nickname.' Tatsuo said while shaking his head. "I mean, I do just as much party play as Kang-San. But I somehow got labeled as 'Solitary'."

"It's probably because you don't' really talk to anyone in your party." Shin replied casually after buying three [Fatigue Recovery Juices] from Loretta. Then, after handing one to Tatsuo and stuffing one into Ren's mouth, he continued. "Maybe if you're a bit more friendly to the people you meet in parties, that nickname will change."

Shrugging his shoulders uncaringly, Tatsuo opened the bottle of juice in his hand. Then, he gulped it all down in one go.

"Anyway… Yeon Hwawoo, huh?" Tatsuo asked with a teasing smile on his lips.

"Ugh!" Shin groaned in reply.

"You know, you really should have just used your real name." Tatsuo continued. "I mean, I could always be persuaded to give up your real identity, you know."

"No, after fighting alongside you so many times, I know I can trust you.' Shin replied firmly.

The teasing smile on Tatsuo's lips vanished immediately after hearing that as he looked away awkwardly.

"What is this Yeon Hwawoo, Tatsuo-Sama?" Loretta, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, asked in a curious tone with her eyes sparkling.

"Nothing you need to worry about, Loretta." Shin replied quickly, trying to stop Tatsuo from answering.

However, Tatsuo would not be stopped by such a weak attempt. So, he told Loretta all about the conversation that happened in the Dungeon Explorer Communication Channel yesterday.

"Well, I agree with you, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said in a serious toen. "But to call everyone you have yet to meet either an enemy or a potential enemy, isn't that a bit much."

"If you knew what I've been through, you wouldn't say that." Tatsuo said with a distant expression on his face.

Neither Shin nor Loretta knew how to react to that. However, there was one person who seemed as if he could not read the mood.

"Hey, Shop Keeper, why do you call them by name?" Ren asked as he sat up from the floor. "but you always call me Customer?"

"Because they are special." Loretta said as she glanced at Tatsuo with a doting, big sisterly smile and at Shin with a slightly embarrassed smile of a maiden in love. Then, she returned an indifferent gaze to Ren. "And you're just a customer, Customer-Sama."

Hering that, Ren looked as if he had been struck physically.

"Anyway, that Mastiford-San will be coming to Japan in a few days to meet Sumire-San." Tatsuo said, ignoring Ren's dejected appearance. "*Sigh* And Sumire-Sanis gonna bring her around to meet me, too."

"That's probably gonna be a little awkward." Shin replied with a teasing smile. "Well, good luck."

"*Sigh* Yeah… Thanks." Tatsuo replied in a tired toen. "Anyway, I'm gonna head back. I need to train."

"Okay. See you tomorrow." Shin replied.

"Have a good day, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta added while waving at Tatsuo.

"See ya. Tatsuo replied as he opened the door to Earth.

"Oh, before you go." Shin said, interrupting Tatsuo's exit. "Where did you get that gear? That body suit, those weapons, that coat? I've never seen anything like them in the floor shop. Did Named Monsters drop them?"

"These?" Tatsuo asked while looking down at his clothes. "I made them using drops from monsters in the dungeon and the remains of monsters that I killed on Earth."

Hearing that, Shin was totally dumbfounded. Ren looked at Tatsuo in surprise, as well. The only one who was not surprised was Loretta, who knew that Tatsuo had talent in crafting for a while.

"Oh, speaking of that, Lin is still waiting to see what you plan to do with the Dark Ratman Set]." Loretta said, just before Tatsuo could walk through the door.

"I know." Tatsuo said with a wave. "It's almost ready. If it works, I'll make sure to tell you so you can let him know."

"Okay~." Loretta replied in a sing-song voice. "Then, I'll be waiting. See you tomorrow, Tatsuo-Sama."

Waving once again, Tatsuo stepped through the door to continue his item crafting experiments and train his [Skills].