I hate being in pain, so I think I'll make a full defense build

Itai no wa Iya nanode Bōgyo-Ryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu Chapter 44

Defense Specialization and Sea and Sandy Beach

「Woah… there are still things like that…」

Sally muttered as she checked the magic circle and the shrine.

And by “that”, of course, she meant the monster bird. She honestly didn’t want to fight an enemy of that level again.

「First of all, let’s go back and… ask Maple’s opinion.」

Sally went back up the stairs and came out to the surface.

Sally was so eager to dive to explore until now, she never looked back towards the sandy beach, and it was at this point that she noticed the situation on the beach for the first time.

「Maple… what are you doing…」

Even from the small island, she could see it.

A sandcastle had been built there that was well over Sally’s height.

「First of all… let’s go back…」

*Splash* Sally jumped into the sea and hurried back to the beach.

「Wow… it’s so big up close.」

About twice as tall as Sally.

From the inside of it, voices of people chattering loudly could be heard.

She peeked inside from what was the entrance and saw that there was another person there besides Maple.

The person had red curly hair, spade-shaped earrings, pale skin, and hair of the same red as his large and bright eyes. He was a little taller than Maple.

Except for the earrings as his head equipment, he was, at a glance, wearing the starting equipment.

The distinctive thing about him was that he didn’t seem to be equipped with any weapons.

Neither a great shield, nor a sword or staff.

No matter how you looked at it, he was empty-handed.

Such a person, whom Sally had never seen before, was playing Othello with Maple.

「A-ah! No, not that!」

「Here you go, pe-erfect.」

The board was all white.

The color Maple chose was the color of her signature equipment.

In other words, black. It was a complete defeat.

Maple, who looked frustrated, noticed Sally and stood up.

「Welcome back, Sally!」

「Eh, um, yeah. That’s fine, but… who’s this?」

「I’m Kanade. Earlier I was playing with Maple, building a sand castle.」

「That was fun, right?」

「Right.」

Somehow, Sally had the feeling that the two of them were similar.

They must have had similar thought patterns, and the two seemed to have instantly hit it off.

「Is it safe?」

「I think? Right, Kanade?」

「After all, I’m only level 5, you know? Not to brag, but I’m weak, see?」

Saying that, Kanade showed Sally his stats.

Indeed, he was level 5.

「I-is it okay with you? Showing it to me so easily?」

「It’s all good. You’re Sally-san, Maple’s party member, right? Then I don’t mind!」

Sally didn’t know what happened while she was out exploring, but Maple seemed to have gained quite a bit of trust from him.

And vice versa.

Sally also registered as a friend with Kanade after Maple pushed her to do so.

Maple and Kanade had already added each other.

「Hmm… just Sally is fine. If Maple says it’s okay, well, that’s fine. Also…」

TL note: they’re talking about dropping the honorific, which signifies a friendlier way of speaking

「Also?」

「If you come at us now, I can easily take you down.」

Having said that, Sally held up her daggers.

「I-I swear I wouldn’t do such a thing, hum.」

Although Kanade was also there, Sally told Maple about the dungeon she had seen earlier.

「Err… I really don’t want to go there…」

「I feel the same way about that. Though who knows what’s going on inside… it’s worth going in there.」

「Ummm… I see.」

The two were quietly pondering what to do, but it was Kanade, not either of them, who broke the silence.

「If so, I’ll go and check for you! And my starting point is only about a hundred meters from here.」

It was a suggestion with the assumption that he was going to die.

The two said it would be okay without that, too, but Kanade jumped off quickly.

*Splash-splash* the figure swimming in the water was getting smaller and smaller.

「He had 【Swimming I】, and… I think he can get there, although…」

「I-is he gonna be okay?」

「I don’t know…」

The two saw him reach the small island and both wondered what was in there.

「What do you think?」

「I think there’s a terrible monster in there…」

「Like that monster bird?」

「Exactly!」

However, this was just a guess. Perhaps the transfer destination was a room overflowing with money and treasures.

「If it’s treasures, then Kanade will take them with him, right?」

「Well, I guess so.」

There’s no way one wouldn’t take the treasure with them if it was in front of them.

And after that, because the transfer destination was unpredictable, they wouldn’t be able to give chase.

「Ah, I died, I died.」

At that time, Kanade came out of the forest.

The two didn’t need to hear the report to understand the abilities of the monster inside.

This was because the situation was very similar to that with the monster bird.

「I have a report for you, Maple-dono.」

「Ho-ho-o, what have you?」

This gave off a mysterious vibe, but since Sally would occasionally act like that herself, she couldn’t say anything when others did.

「The transfer destination is underwater. Furthermore, when I was in that water, my movements became slower and I was hopelessly crushed by a giant squid.」

「I see… not possible!」

Since it was underwater, Maple wouldn’t be able to participate, and if it was filled with water like Sally’s 【Ocean】, Sally’s evasion would be useless.

They had no point in forcing themselves to challenge it.

Recklessness and bravery were two different things.

「Let’s give it up this time.」

「Yeah, that would be better for you.」

「I think I’ll do some more ocean exploration and then we’ll be done.」

Sally stretched and looked at the ocean.

There were probably a few places left that hadn’t been explored yet.

「Want me to help you? I can give you medals if I find them, okay?」

It was a no-risk, high-return offer, but there are usually no such too-good-to-be-true offers.

「Kanade? Are you serious?」

「Well, I’m fine as long as I have this.」

Saying that, Kanade took out a Rubik’s Cube.

「What’s this?」

「This is my loot from the event. There was a magic circle in the forest behind us that led to a floating island that was flying around… and I cleared it so it’s gone now. Anyway, I got the staff there.」

「That Rubik’s Cube is a staff!?」

「Yeah. The transfer destination was an old library… and there was a jigsaw puzzle in one of the rooms. I finished it and it came out. It took me four days to put it together, though.」

The Rubik’s Cube floated in the palm of Kanade’s hand, emitting a thin white light.

「This one comes with a skill.」

「Heh… it sounds similar to our equipment.」

「The name of the skill is 【Akashic Records】, it’s an interesting one.」

「What does it do?」

Kanade was about to answer Maple’s question but then reconsidered and uttered this.

「If we ever become party members, I’ll tell you.」

A mischievous smile made Maple realize that any further pursuit was pointless.

「Mmm… I don’t think we can be in a party right now…」

「I seee, that’s too bad.」

Kanade smiled merrily.

That didn’t look like disappointment.

Kanade was different from any other player they had ever met, with a unique atmosphere about him that was somehow elusive.

「I hope to see you again after the event.」

「All ri-ight! Let’s play Othello again then!」

「Yep, let’s do that.」

「Now that the chat’s settled, I’m off to explore.」

「I’ll come with you. I figure that would be of some help, wouldn’t it?」

Sally and Kanade walked towards the sea.

Maple decided to explore the sandy beach in earnest this time.

The result was that there was nothing.

The sea and the sandy beach explorations were both mostly finished, but nothing of note was found.

And so, the two were done with all their business in this area.

They parted ways with Kanade and were once again looking for a new place to explore.

「Do your very best!」

「See you later!」

They said their goodbyes and left.

「He was an interesting but strange person!」

「Is that so? Maybe I got used to people like that because of Maple…」

「W-what do you mean by that, hey!?」

The two decided to follow the coastline for the time being…

Because they judged that it would be best, and also they wouldn’t get lost for no reason.

TL note: this one is about Kanade’s gender. In this chapter it is mentioned exactly nowhere, which is probably not intentional, as the subject is omitted very often in Japanese when it’s known from context, and the author clarified his gender in chapter 1 (which, unless you have Sally-level spoiler-evasion skills or just don’t care, you shouldn’t read before you’ve read all the WN chapters available). So if you want to correct someone who thinks that Kanade is a girl, don’t refer them to this translation of this chapter, refer them to the chapter 1 section about Kanade instead.