CFD – Chapter 6 – Reaction 《Azami》

[Azami’s POV]

While waiting for Hikari to wake up in the guild’s infirmary, I dwelled on the events that had just occurred.

Today was the day for our dungeon exploration live stream. Every weekend, we set aside at least one day to live stream our explorations.

Hikari and I entered the dungeon together as usual, and recently we were joined by a new member named Lilim, which made our battles easier. We decided to venture deeper into the middle floors, thinking that we could handle it with our improved combat skills. However, as a result, we ended up encountering a monster that was too much for us to handle.

The opponent was a Minotaur. We had heard about its existence, but it was supposed to be a monster found relatively deep on the lower floors. Although it was rare for monsters to move to a different floor than their natural habitats, we were unlucky enough to encounter it.

On the other hand, I think it was fortunate that there was someone nearby who was able to defeat the monster and rescue us. Moreover, I was surprised to find out that it was my childhood friend, Yotsuka.

“That was amazing…” (Azami)

I muttered to myself while thinking about Yotsuka.

The Minotaur was incredibly powerful, but it was easily taken down. One moment, its massive body was moving as if it was being dragged from behind, and the next moment, its head was gone. It must have been the power of some spirits, but I wasn’t sure what exactly happened.

Yotsuka joined the battle against the Minotaur without hesitation and took it down in an instant. Perhaps he is an explorer who operates on the lower floors or even beyond. I had never asked him in detail about his skills as an explorer, but it seemed to be the case judging from the situation.

Perhaps he heard the scream by chance on his way back from the lower floors.

Maybe it’s fate that my childhood friend saved me right when I was about to die. I shake my head, thinking about such things.

I suddenly noticed the camera at the edge of my field of view.

Come to think of it, did I end the live stream? I thought to myself and then realized something.

I quickly took out my smartphone and sure enough, the livestream was still ongoing.

『She finally realized!』

『You forgot to end the live stream』

『Thank goodness everyone is okay!』

『Who is Yotsuka? Do you know him?』

Comments were flowing one after another.

“I’m sorry, I just realized!” (Azami)

I hurriedly bowed my head toward the camera.

At the same time, I realized that I had called out Yotsuka’s name during the broadcast. This means that I matched his face and name without his permission in front of a large audience… I need to apologize to him later.

『Don’t worry, it was an emergency.』

『Don’t worry about it.』

『The Minotaur was scary…』

『To be honest, I thought it was all over. Glad you’re safe.』

『Isn’t that Summoner crazy? He kept summoning high-level spirits all the way from the lower part of the middle floor to the exit. What’s up with his magic power? Is he a solo lower-floor explorer?』

Among the comments encouraging and expressing concern for Azami, there were also many asking about Yotsuka.

“He’s a classmate from high school, and I knew that he was an explorer, but I don’t know much about his capabilities or anything like that.” (Azami)

『Classmate!』

『What a coincidence!』

『Is that really all you know about him?』

『If you two have met before, could you invite him as a guest for your upcoming stream? I would like to hear his story as a fellow Summoner. I also want to thank him for helping Azami as a fan.』

『I would also love to hear it. Maybe it’s because I’m not familiar with Summoners, but I only know about a few spirits.』

『That small, fluffy flying spirit was so cute.』

『That spirit which appeared for just a moment and decapitated the Minotaur was incredible.』

『I almost didn’t recognize the Naiad, but the number of summoners who can call forth spirits like that should be quite limited.』

As soon as the topic was brought up, the comments became entirely focused on Yotsuka.

Among them, the word “guest” caught my attention.

“‘Guest’… I also want to properly thank him, and I think Hikari-chan feels the same way, so I’ll try to talk to him about it sometime.” (Azami)

In reality, I could thank Yotsuka anytime outside of the stream, but I mentioned it as a pretext because I actually wanted to invite him as a guest on my stream. 

As I’ve grown older, I became estranged from Yotsuka, but I have a vague desire to become friends with him again. This is a good opportunity to make that happen.

“Well then, let’s end it here for today. Thank you for your hard work.” (Azami)

『Thanks.』

『Good job.』

『Let me know when Hikari-chan wakes up.』

“Sure. I’ll report it on SNS when she wakes up.” (Azami)

『Good job~』

I ended the stream, retrieved the camera, and then looked at my cousin lying on the bed.

“Hikari-chan?” (Azami)

I called out to her, but there was no response.

I was getting a bit worried, but the healer who is stationed at the guild assured me that everything was fine, so I had no choice but to trust and wait.

As I sat in a chair lost in thought, memories of what had just happened kept coming back to me.

The image of my cousin collapsing, my tamed monsters being taken down one by one, the Minotaur’s raised fist, the feeling of relief after being saved, and Yotsuka running toward me—all these memories kept coming back to me.

The image of my childhood friend and the feeling of relief was intertwined in my mind.

---

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Soo I’m not knowledgeable enough to know whether this chapter was in first or third person, but I think the author was switching between the two. So to keep things consistent and for my own sanity, I kept it as first person. Hopefully it doesn’t affect the context much.

Next chapter is gonna be one of those forum thread chapters, it should be easier to edit.

Btw this is unrelated but I am thinking about picking this up in the future: <I Married the Famous, Hideous “Young Lady Goblin” and She Was Absolutely Adorable.> It’s like reallyy close to being completed and I’m not sure if previous TL dropped it but I got not enough time rn, maybe in like 2 weeks time I can. If you guys nvr read it, I recommend go giving it a read if you like romance stuff (no Harem), it’s really good. And if any TL reading this, consider picking it up so that we don’t have to rely on my shitty MTL 🙂