"—Shall we use... Charm...?"
Hinata-san whispered the suggestion to me.
"H-H-H-Hinata-san?! W-What exactly do you mean by that...?"
Thinking she had finally lost her mind, I was utterly shocked and questioned her true intentions.
In response, Hinata-san leaned in and whispered into my ear once more.
"You see, if I... the..., and then... make it... do..., what do you think?"
"!!?"
"It wasn't practical when our levels were low, but now... don't you think?"
"!!?"
My eyes flew open in an instant.
I see...!! There was that option...!!
The idea hadn't even crossed my mind because I had this lingering preconception that Charm was too dangerous a skill to ever use. It seemed Hinata-san had been thinking long and hard about how to effectively utilize the skill she had gone through the trouble of acquiring.
Right...? You weren't planning to use it for that from the very beginning, were you...?!
I continued our discussion in a low voice.
"B-But what will we do about the consequences, Hinata-san? Everyone will find out you have the Charm skill..."
That was the biggest hurdle.
If the public learned she possessed a skill like Charm, she might be viewed as a threat. To my concern, Hinata-san replied with a nonchalant air.
"Hmm, I think it'll be fine."
"...Meaning?"
"The Japan Explorer Association already knows I have Charm through Urara-san... and when we signed our contracts as Special Crisis Case Explorers, they were only a little surprised, right? Basically, Charm only works on opponents with much lower levels than your own, or those who are already extremely favorable toward you. In reality, I don't think the Association views it as being as dangerous as everyone fears. It seems that even with high favorability, it won't work if the target is even slightly on guard."
"I... see..."
You're strangely well-informed about this, Hinata-san...
"Besides, other skills are just as dangerous, aren't they? Magic skills and Sword Aura can be incredibly lethal depending on how they're used... I don't think there's any reason to view Charm as uniquely dangerous."
Is that so...
Maybe it is...
"Also, even if I use Charm during a stream, I don't have to go out of my way to say it's Charm, right? Explorers don't have an obligation to disclose their owned skills on a live broadcast."
Well, yes, I suppose that's true...
"I think if I just laugh it off, people will just misunderstand on their own..."
Well, yes, that might be true, but...!!
There's also the possibility they'll misunderstand and conclude you're an even more dangerous existence...!!
"Besides, it's okay. Even if it's found out to be Charm, I don't think they'll make much of a fuss since I'm in a party with you, Takeo-kun."
"Eh...?"
Why exactly is that? What does that mean...?
I turned an inquiring gaze toward Hinata-san, but she only offered a mysterious smile.
I might need to question her about exactly what kind of image she has of me sometime in the near future.
Well, setting that aside.
"...Understood. We won't know if it's actually possible until we try... so let's give it a shot."
"Yeah."
And so, it was decided.
"But what do you plan to use as a target? If it's too weak, it might die immediately..."
"How about a Goblin Knight from Floor 7? I think I can just barely make Charm work at my current level."
"............"
Isn't that... something you'd only know if you've actually tried it?
I decided to turn a blind eye to several things.
"...Understood. Then, let's head to Floor 7."
"Yeah, let's do that."
The discussion finished—I let out a breath and turned back toward the drone.
"—Sorry, everyone! We're going to head to Floor 7 for a moment!!"
『Huh!?』 『Floor 7!?』 『Why all of a sudden!?』 『What happened!?』
"No, well, just for a bit..."
While dodging the questions from the viewers, we hurriedly returned to the teleportation circle and teleported to Floor 7!!
●◯●
After arriving on Floor 7, we wandered around looking for monsters—and luckily, in our very first encounter, we ran into a pack containing a Goblin Knight.
We quickly dispatched the four standard Goblins, leaving only the knight.
Facing the remaining Goblin Knight, I kept it at bay from the front while signaling to Hinata-san behind me.
"Please, Hinata-san!"
"Okay, here I go!!"
I felt the presence of Hinata-san moving behind me. When I checked the video archives later, I saw that she had activated Mind Concentration before pointing her short wand at the Goblin Knight.
The reason she used Mind Concentration was to increase the success probability of Charm. It seems the success rate is affected by things like favorability, level difference, and the Spirit stat.
The level of a Floor 7 Goblin Knight is 20 at most.
Moreover, its Spirit stat shouldn't be high, so there was more than a three-fold difference compared to Hinata-san with Mind Concentration active. On top of that, the level difference was more than double.
Sure enough, the result of the Charm activated by consuming 10 MP was—
"————"
『Wha!?』 『It stopped moving!?』 『Why!? What did you do, Hinata-chan!?』
The Goblin Knight ceased all movement. Immediately after, it lowered its sword and shield and stood at attention.
To anyone watching, it no longer looked like it was in a state of hostility toward us. And as proof of that, my Goblin Genocider title, which had been automatically active, was now inactive.
Hinata-san approached the Goblin Knight slightly and spoke.
"Can you understand my words...?"
"————"
The Goblin Knight gave a sharp, obedient nod.
It seemed... Charm was a success.
『Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!?』 『The Goblin Knight is listening to Hinata-chan!?』 『Wait, hold on!? What exactly is going on!?』 『What skill did she use!? I mean, this is a skill, right!?』 『I've never seen a skill like this before!?』
The viewers were in a total state of confusion.
Since the public didn't know Hinata-san had the Charm skill, it wasn't something they would figure out immediately. Though I suppose some people might realize it as time passed...
We had already decided not to explain the details on purpose.
With that in mind, I moved straight to the verification process. This was the critical part.
"Hinata-san, if you would."
"Yeah, I've got it. I'll try."
Hinata-san nodded and faced the Goblin Knight again.
She then issued an instruction.
"Goblin Knight, attack Takeo-kun just once."
『Eh!?』 『What's with that all of a sudden!?』 『Hinata-chan!?』
While the viewers panicked, the Goblin Knight raised its sword again, quickly approached, and swung.
I blocked the downward strike with the side of my blade.
A sharp metallic clang rang out.
No, seriously, was that meant to be a killing blow? I broke out in a slight cold sweat—but the Goblin Knight immediately backed off without following up.
『Infighting!?』 『What happened, Hinata-chan!?』 『I mean, I get wanting to punish Leveling Junkie Bro, but please calm down a bit!?』 『Let's talk this out calmly and make up!?』 『Just apologize, Junkie Bro!!』
Why me?
I did nothing wrong. This is a bit much, even for a false accusation.
"...Takeo-kun, how is it?"
Meanwhile, Hinata-san checked in after a short pause.
I waited a little longer before answering.
"...It's no good. Goblin Genocider activated for a few seconds after I was attacked, but perhaps because the state of hostility was resolved, the title deactivated again."
"Hmm, I see..."
『Wait, what!?』 『Goblin Genocider!?』 『Wait, wait, wait!! Could this be...!!』
At that moment, the viewers began to put the pieces together.
『Don't tell me, you're planning to use that Goblin Knight to keep using Goblin Genocider on Floor 11 and beyond!!?』
Precisely. What we were doing was an experiment to see if we could use a Goblin controlled by Hinata-san's Charm to enable the use of Goblin Genocider even on Floor 11 and deeper.
That said, it couldn't be called a total success. While Goblin Genocider activated for a few seconds after the hit, it deactivated almost immediately.
『Wait, wait, wait!! Is that even possible!?』 『The enemies you're fighting aren't Goblins, they're Orcs, right!? Does that even matter!?』 『Even if you get stronger against Goblins, you won't necessarily be stronger against Orcs, will you!?』
A flood of questions poured in.
In short: even if Goblin Genocider can be activated, is its effect valid against Orcs?
I answered with absolute certainty.
"Yes. While Goblin Genocider is active, some of its effects are valid even against non-Goblins."
Since it wasn't streamed, the viewers didn't know, but I had already confirmed that the effects of Goblin Genocider were valid against opponents other than Goblins when I fought the Dungeon Terrorism Old Man.
While there probably won't be an effect regarding the damage multiplier or the experience multiplier... as long as there is a hostile Goblin on the battlefield, the increased stats won't decrease or increase based on the opponent.
In other words, I can receive the benefit of doubling All Stats regardless of whether my target is a Goblin or an Orc.
—I explained this logic, while omitting the part about the Dungeon Terrorism Old Man.
『Seriously!?』 『Is that how it works!?』 『Hey!? Isn't that playing dirty!?』 『It's not just dirty, it's a cheat!!』 『If that's possible, the utility of Killer-type skills is going to be insane!!?』 『If you have a skill like Hinata-chan's Monster Taming, it's like Fighting Spirit and Mind Concentration become passive buffs without consuming MP regardless of what monster you're facing!!!』 『That's seriously too much of a cheat, Junkie Broooooooo!!!』 『Dungeon Master!! Apply a patch quicklyyyyyyy!!』 『No, no, wait!! You can't take monsters outside in the first place, so the dungeons where this cheat works are limited, and besides, it looks like it's not working well, so maybe it's not usable after all!?』
"That's the problem..."
Troublesomely, with a Goblin controlled by Hinata-san, the state of hostility is immediately resolved if nothing is done. This prevents me from maintaining Goblin Genocider during battles with Orcs and the like.
Just as I was feeling dejected, thinking it was impossible after all...
"Takeo-kun, since we're here, why don't we try a few more things?"
Hinata-san suggested.
She seemed strangely enthusiastic about this...