VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

「I’m so tired…today sure has been hectic.」 (Hind)

Since it was a fight after I had sprinted with all my might it had been quite tiring.

It wasn’t like I had been using my real body, but you ran out of breath here and it you can feel oddly tired.

Just when I stabbed my staff on the sand and threw myself into it, a shadow was cast over my head and I knew somebody had stood up.

「Thank you, senpai. I didn’t think you would really come. With an email like that.」 (Siesta)

Does she even realize how severe the contents of the email were?…Should the other person have taken that email as just a joke?

「…Siesta-chan. I got quite a few things to say to you since you were in a position to stop them from taking fights recklessly but…」 (Hind)

While I said that, I averted my gaze and raised the upper half of my body.

If I stayed like that, I would have been looking at that white piece of cloth in the space between her legs…doesn’t she realize she’s wearing a skirt type of defensive gear?

Should I tell her that she’s defenseless? Or should I keep quiet about it?

「You can look more you know? It’s not like I’m losing anything.」 (Siesta)

「It was on purpose!? …You should stop doing things like that. Something bad will happen to you one day you know?」 (Hind)

Her wavy long hair stands out and she has a lovely face.

Her sleepy expression could act as a sort of healing quality to people and there’s the possibility of it being a plus.

Her style too…yup.

I’m not Tobi, but my eyes will wander off even if I don’t want to…isn’t this dangerous? That last part was completely unnecessary.

However, she just stared at me with those absent-minded eyes that made me unable to read her emotions.

「Since I choose who I show it to there’s no problem. Only for senpai.」 (Siesta)

「Eh…I really don’t know what’s going through that head of yours…」 (Hind)

「Don’t worry. Sometimes, even I don’t know what I’m thinking about. My intuition takes preference?」 (Siesta)

「Isn’t that no good?」 (Hind)

「Right?」 (Siesta)

「Hah…I’m losing the energy complain about it…」 (Hind)

Or it could be that this was her aim.

On the other side, the three of them were sharing the joy of having defeated the gigantic monster.

Could it be that it was the area boss?…That gigantic buffalo.

My level had gone up by 1 too and since the fight took a long time, there’s no doubt that it was a boss class monster.

My level right now is 31.

「…The reason I managed to get here in time was because the timing was good.

「It just so happens that I had just finished the other quest I was invited to join by the other party.」 (Hind)

「Oh? A quest. Senpai, do you know many people? Are you a swindler?」 (Siesta)

「What do you even mean by swindler? It’s not like that at all, you know? The number of friends in my friend list is 7 counting you.」 (Hind)

「Fuun…it looks like it’s going to become 9 soon enough. Fuwah…so sleepy…」 (Siesta)

「??」 (Hind)

While yawning, Siesta-chan turned her back and took several steps.

Just when I thought that it was weird that she was taking her distance…I heard 3 people that were running draw closer and they stopped in front of me suddenly.

A wave of sand was advancing towards me…

「Whapuh!?」 (Hind)

And I was bathed in sand.

The inside of my mouth is gritty…but I somehow managed to protect my eyes.

「Ah, sorry Hind.」 (Yumir)

「「We are sorry.」」

「You girls…」 (Hind)

I stood up and dusted the sand off myself.

The cluster of sand fell off my clothes and returned to the sandy beach.

With sparkling eyes, the two girls started to talk to me excitedly.

「Even though I thought we would definitely be unable to win, with just being told a single thing to do, it was that different! Yumir-san’s wild movements are really cool, but I was really moved! It’s only because Hind-san is there that Yumir-san shines!」 (Lyco)

「Firing arrow rain twice in a row was really thrilling! Eh, if you don’t mind, please teach me about all sorts of things! I’d love to have them as a reference!」 (Sai)

「O-Oh…」 (Hind)

Being pressured with such vigor, I unconsciously took a step back.

When I looked at Yumir in search for help, she crossed her arms and just said.

「So, there you have it. Exchange friend requests with these two, Hind!」 (Yumir)

「There you have it you say…it’s not like I mind though…」 (Hind)

「「Thank you very much!」」

However, they sure have gotten along really well in such a short span of time.

Leaving aside the fact that among the three of them, I get the feeling that Siesta-chan is always one step ahead.

To begin with, Miyu is someone that tends to be adored by younger girls, she’s even popular at school so I can sort of understand this result.

Even though she doesn’t particularly like to look after others, if you told me that it was strange, I would say that it is…just as Lycoris-chan had said, younger girls would probably see that sort of thing as cool.

If you asked Rise, she would just say that she’s savage and vulgar, so I guess it depends on the person you ask.

After we finished exchanging friend requests, as expected, we had been playing for a long time so we decided to break up.

It’s also quite late for middle school students to be awake…ah, now that I think about it they are middle school students.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so I guess they were allowed to stay up a bit later than usual.

We all returned to Heathrow town and decided to log out for the day.

I entered the hallway from my bedroom and saw light coming out from Rise’s room.

So she’s still awake…she sure is working hard.

It might be a bit late, but should I bring her a warm drink as I had planned before?

I went down to the kitchen on the first floor, heated up a pot and blended milk and soy milk.

I put in some cocoa powder and mixed it and with that, a hot cocoa to warm oneself up was made.

If this was a coffee shop, they might have put in salt or black pepper.

Carrying the cocoa I knocked the door lightly…but there was no response.

Since Rise doesn’t really listen to music while studying, she should have been able to hear it.

While letting out a 「I’m entering」 I opened the door…and there I saw the figure of Rise sleeping on the desk.

…I guess I should drink the cocoa I made myself?

I placed the cap on top of the desk for the time being and rolled up the futon on the bed first.

From within it, a hugging pillow with a colourful patchwork made from my old clothes appeared.

It was something I made for Rise when I was still a beginner at sewing, so it holds a lot of memories for me. That’s why, it’s a bit rough.

Luckily, Rise was studying in her pajamas, so I carried her small body to the bed.

I gently placed her on the bed and put the covers on her and when I tried to take my distance…

「Hnn!?」 (Wataru)

I tried to, but at some point she had grasped the hem of my clothes firmly.

When I tried to gently make her hand let go, she put more force into it and refused to let go…the truth is, she’s probably awake?

「Hah…」 (Wataru)

Since there’s no helping it, I reached out to Rise’s desk chair and brought it closer, then I used it to sit down next to the bed.

The cocoa too…oh, I can just about reach it.

While drinking that, I decided to stay there until Rise decided to let go.

Things in Rise’s room are kept in order and it’s pretty tidy, but I get the feeling that there might not be that many accessories for a girl.

Well, I’ve only know of Rise’s and Miyu’s rooms though.

Just for the record, if I don’t clean up Miyu’s room, she would do as she pleases and leave things scattered around.

Like that, I looked around the room for no particular reason, and my eyes met my own self looking at me.

…It wasn’t the projection of a mirror or the window.

There was a framed picture on top of the desk, inside, was a picture of me wearing the school uniform.

I wonder when that was taken…at the very least, I don’t remember taking that photo.

She changed the photo without me realizing…each time I enter Rise’s room, I get the feeling I see a different one.

If it was a family photo it might be fine, but having a picture of just me on top of her desk was quite embarrassing…let’s turn it over when I leave the room…

「Hnn…」 (Rise)

「Oh.」 (Hind)

With a moan, Rise released her hand, so without a moment of delay I stood up from the chair.

Just in time, I had finished drinking the cocoa.

「Uuu….」 (Rise)

When I did, her hand was creeping about lonely so with my empty hand I put the cup on the desk and had Rise clutch the hugging pillow.

She buried her face in the pillow and held it tightly and with an expression of relief then she switched to breathing like a sleeping person, like that I proceeded to leav-

「Ah, I was about to forget.」 (Hind)

At last, I turned over my own photograph placed on the desk, switched off the lights and left Rise’s room in a hurry and returned to my own room.

Good night, Rise.