Vol. 9 - Chapter 460 - A little prelude - Boy's only exploration party! Shark attack!
Celestine shook his head in negative when I inquired about the situation. Mert crossed his arm and adopted an enigmatic expression hearing that.
"It\'s so strange. How in the world are skills used on that? Isn\'t it funny that the shorter the cloth size is, the more defense it boasts?"
Good take, Mert. It\'s indeed funny how the logic on swimsuit equipment works. Imagine a mere trunk swimsuit for male working like a charm against a dragon breath instead of a full armor.
Girl\'s bikinis even sported far more impressive ability value even underwater. It\'s dazzling I tell you... in a lot of meaning.
There were quite a variety of swimsuit-fashioned equipment for girls, like school swimsuits which while not on the same pedestal as bikinis boasted a fair amount of defense.
Well, it seemed like some mysteries were outside the understanding of even wiseman Mert as he appeared astounded.. It takes one to know another after all.
"However if we insist on our original plan---to create a wardrobe of multiple types of swimsuits for girls, we would need five times the amount of material."
"Uh-huh, how I wish it could have been limited to only one or two types, but that\'s asking too much with that number, eh? The only way to solve the problem is...give up on our original idea,,, and maybe make it a day-trip instead of a stayover."
I, too, was equally bummed by Celestine\'s report. I crossed my arms and rummaged through my brain for ideas.
I mean, if we\'re going to have a stayover, at least another pair of swimsuits for change was a must no? There\'s no girl who wouldn\'t be delighted with more options in their wardrobe.
Alas, our quest in search of amassing materials for equipment was now facing the stormy sea.
Just as I was lost in my thoughts, Mert said in a bitter tone.
"Hey, Zephyr. Can\'t we just ask girls to bring their own swimsuits?"
"I can assure you that might prove to be even more of a headache...in more ways than one. First of all, the monster mainly spawn at the seashore area of this ‹Fishes of Seashore Dungeon›. It\'s too painful to watch the sea from the front but unable to swim, and even possibly retreat instead of gathering materials."
Right, the three boys of us from ‹Eden› were currently standing in the summer event dungeon, or to make it easy, just ‹Sea-Dun›.
The objective was both scouting the location firsthand and also to gather material. Unfortunately, we\'re currently stumped with a manpower problem, as Mert pointed out.
Don\'t ask me why my previous self thought three people would be enough instead of the standard five member party to gather materials!
We wanted to at least secure materials for ten odd girls but my prediction fell out. However bringing in girls for a helping hand for this event was nothing more than inviting chaos.
It\'s at this moment boys should work selflessly to pave the road, for there shalt cometh the moment when that road would be graced by the vibrant visage of swimsuit clad girls!
In my perspective, the swimsuit appearance of girls was a reward in itself that mustn\'t be taken for granted, much less even having the audacity to make them help out.
At the end of the day, though, this was just my motto. And as a guildmaster, I must command thee, Mert. Give up as we\'re going to collect materials no matter what.
Even I had started to feel jittery in my stomach.
"It seemed like the shackles that bind us in our hunt are too tight this time huh. Very well, let\'s set the swimsuit equipment to be one variety per person. Also this will be a day trip instead of a stayover. We will stay till the curfew allows us and then return back. ‹Sea-Dun› would have to wait for us to second-year for camping event."
"It sounds fine as well."
I underestimated the amount of materials we would need. Celestine seemed fine with my decision and Mert also expressed his affirmation with his node.
"Let\'s scout some boys for our guild. It\'s such a pitiful sight to look at only a few of us."
"Well, they need to pass the character trial first, they must be someone girls don\'t dislike, and it would be great if they can strive for new heights if they\'re going to join us!"
"But we must not give up yet."
I guess you could say so. It would be great to have more boys---no wait, what the heck I was speaking about! Thinking about boys right in front of the sea nearly freaked me out.
Anyway, we readjusted the number of material that was needed and readjusted our hunting route for more efficiency.
"‹Anomalocaris› is spotted! It\'s adept at escaping so be careful! Time for you to shine, Mert. Its weakness is the lightning attribute!"
"Roger! ‹Magic Boost›! ‹Mega Lightning›! ‹Lightning Stun›!"
"‹Lightning Burst›! ‹Shine Lightning›! ‹Element Shift - Lightning›! Take thaaaaat!!"
"Screeeee!?"
One of our targets was the huge land-type Anomalocaris-like monster.
"Darn it! It\'s a shark, Zephyr! Shark is coming! Wait, what!? It\'s serious Zephyr, they\'re walking on the beach!?"
"Calm down, Mert. They must be the ‹Great Bipedal White Shark›, or basically the shark with legs. The lore is that they ate so many humans that it gained the legs to walk through the land, earning the title of man-eating shark."
"Ah, crap. I can\'t handle it anymore!! Meet your maker! Unique skill ‹Apocalypse›!"
"Shaaaaaa!?"
Mert\'s attack wore off the incoming wave of shark type monsters, while we received our drop of shark hide. Still, I didn\'t expect Mert to be that spooked by sharks. Though I doubt even that person about this weakness but that was probably the first time I saw him losing his composure.
Uh-huh, our journey would be something that would particularly test your mettle, Mert. We were going to hunt down sharks for hide, material for swimsuits.
Celestine performed just as I had expected. He didn\'t feel perturbred even a bit as he delivered one ‹High Kick› after another to ‹Great Bipedal White Shark› with an nonchalant air. Whistle~, ain\'tcha quite badass, Celestine?
A majority of our day basically spent hunting monsters just like that, and around evening, we hit our quota.
"Phew, I\'m glad it was all done in just one day. It couldn\'t have worked without you, Mert, Celestine."
"Haa, I\'m dead tired. Now I just want to get back to my fluffy bed."
"Thank you for your hard work, Zephyr-sama. Has all the materials come out? If you have anything else to attend, I can bring them to ‹Emblem Seal Sticker›."
"Thank you, Celestine. But I\'m fine. I just happened to have a request to Marie-senpai."
"Understood."
"Alright, let\'s take a glimpse of summer beach from the safety area before leaving. Look forward to Misato\'s swimsuit~, Mert."
"......Why are you bringing up Misato? Whatever, I just hope it feels worthwhile for the effort I have spent. It better not end as mere philanthropist activity."
"Aw, someone\'s not being honest here huh, Mert?"
This was how we completed our hunt for the swimsuit material which I later delivered to Marie-senpai.
Everything else was on girls from there. I notified them so they could freely choose their design. Half the fun about swimsuits is in imagining which design they\'re going to wear!
Anyway, it was another fun time. One week passed by in a flash and on the eve of our summer event at ‹Sea-Dun›, Lana and her entourage were finally here.