落とし穴１３８堀：あまいあまーい日の後始末 (Part1)
The Pitfall 138: The Aftermath of a Sweet, Sweet Day
Nightmares Come Late
The Aftermath of a Sweet, Sweet Day
Side: Yuki
It happened on February 16th.
…No, it was discovered then.
"Steve isn't coming to work?"
I heard that from John on the morning of the same day.
To be precise, it was when I finished breakfast with my wives and children as usual and came to work.
The only thing slightly different from usual was that since the day before was Valentine's Day, I had a stomachache from eating too much chocolate that my wives gave me, along with the children.
Even Sakura and the others, who love sweets…
They said, "I never want to see chocolate again," so you can imagine how much chocolate there was.
But that's neither here nor there.
Right now, it's about Steve not coming to work.
"Did he go out drinking yesterday and get too drunk?"
"No, that's not it. You see, the day before yesterday was Valentine's Day," John said, pointing to the calendar.
It was indeed Valentine's Day. What does that have to do with Steve… I remembered.
"Did Steve manage to get through the 14th safely? Or was he rushed to the hospital?"
Steve's wife, or rather, Alfin, the former Holy Sword User he lives with, loves sweets and enjoys making them.
From what I hear, she just sounds like a woman who enjoys baking, but she has a certain weakness, or rather, a particularity.
She continues to bake until she is satisfied. No, it's a kind wish for everyone to smile.
The victims are the taste-testers.
Steve and the others, including the other Holy Sword Users, are currently living in Weed, so she has a bad habit of making a mountain of sweets and asking those close to her to taste them.
It's not that the sweets she makes are bad, but the quantity is outrageous.
It's enough to make you worry about getting diabetes just from eating it on the spot.
And two days ago was February 14th.
Valentine's Day, an event promoted by confectionery companies, is also popular in Weed, so a lot of money and sweets are exchanged.
It's impossible for Alfin, who loves baking, to stay out of such an event.
She definitely gets involved.
And the first victim is Steve, who lives with her.
I'd been so busy lately that I'd completely forgotten, but Steve and the others happened to be back in Weed at the perfect time!?
And then, he ate too much chocolate, or rather, was forced to eat it, and suffered acute chocolate poisoning…
"No, he didn't go to the hospital. On the 14th, he just looked like he was going to throw up from the smell of chocolate, but otherwise, he was perfectly normal."
"No, no. So he was forced to eat chocolate in the end?"
"Of course. And the problem isn't that, it's that Steve isn't coming to work today for some reason. As much as he looks like it, he's a diligent worker, and he's never been late or absent before, so I came to report it."
Wait, wait. Wouldn't that just mean he collapsed today from eating too much chocolate?
That would make it a day late.
If he were to collapse, it would be on the 15th, right?
"Thinking about it that way, it's strange. If it was just eating too much chocolate, it would have been on the night of the 14th, right? Then he should be absent on the 15th."
"Exactly. Today is the 16th, isn't it? So I thought maybe the boss had given him some secret work."
"I wouldn't entrust that kind of work to Steve. He's in charge of the monster army, after all."
Even if I overwork him, Steve is in charge of the monster army, or rather, the monster units. If he were to disappear without a trace, it would lead to chaos in the monster units, so I wouldn't do that.
The person I would ask for something like that is…
"Kirika. Do you know anything?"
"No. Nothing in particular."
It's Kirika.
She's the head of the monster intelligence division and my right-hand woman.
"In that case, Steve is just taking a normal day off, but is he dead in his room? He does drink too much sometimes, doesn't he?"
"It wasn't like he had a drinking party yesterday, though."
"Master, John. I think it would be easy to check on Steve using the Call Map function."
"That's true."
"Indeed. Even if it might be a private matter, Steve holds an important position, and his whereabouts are unknown."
So, at Kirika's suggestion, the three of us immediately searched for Steve using the Call Map.
Important figures and my family are basically registered, so if they are within the dungeon's controlled area, I can find them immediately.
This is convenient as a Dungeon Master's ability.
"Ah, there he is. He's at home."
"Indeed."
"However, something is strange. He's not moving inside his room."
"By the way, what about Alfin, who lives with him?"
"Now that you mention it, she's not in the room."
"She's already at school."
Come to think of it, she's a teacher at school now.
But if something happened to Steve, would she just leave him behind?
"For now, his vital signs are normal, so I guess we'll go pick him up at his house."
"Sigh. Yes. I wonder what he's doing."
"He might be tired from his daily work."
"If he's really too tired to move, I'll have to consider giving him time off."
I'm aware that I've been overworking Steve.
Is this the consequence of that?
Well, regardless, we decided to head to Steve's house.
*Ding-dong…*
A sound came from beyond the door in front of me.
It's the doorbell.
Steve lives in an apartment and commutes from there.
Well, when he's busy, he often stays overnight.
But he's a soldier, so he'll have to endure it.
"...He's not responding."
"That's strange. The map shows he's definitely inside."
"Yes. Steve is definitely inside."
"Hmm. I don't want to make a copy of the key and go in, but should I call Alfin… Oh, the door is open."
As a test, I turned the doorknob, and it turned normally, opening the door.
"Shall we… go in?"
"Um, Yuki-san, is it okay to just enter someone's house?"
Ria, who had accompanied us as a guard, stopped me.
"Indeed, even if they live together, it's still Steve's private home."
Jessica agreed with her.
"Well, you're a soldier, you basically didn't have any private rooms, did you?" I thought, but I didn't say it, which shows my greatness.
After all, Jessica's superior was Marly.
She probably doesn't have any private time, does she?
Well, perhaps Jessica's way of thinking has changed since coming to Weed.
It means I have to be considerate when I go to Jessica's room too.
But that's not the point, it's about deciding whether to go in or not.
"It's fine. This is Steve's unauthorized absence. It's problematic if the top of the monster army is like this."
"Well, that's true…"
"Lady Marly also used to oversleep frequently. Hivia and I would have to wake her up each time."
So that's how it was with Marly.
I can't imagine her being so meticulous with work in normal times.
But anyway, for that reason, we entered Steve's house…
"Steve…"
"What on earth…"
"I thought he wasn't moving at all from the living room, but could it be…"
"Terrible…"
"This is…"