chapter02 · 065-interlude
Interlude: The Youngest Pro
【Clan】
Tokyo. Shibuya.
In a conference room on the thirtieth floor of a high-rise, a single video played on a large monitor.
A boy with a black katana bounding across the black paddies of Toda. An eel wrapped in lightning, cut down in one stroke.
『—OW!』
The instant of the cut, the boy's face — swinging his arm, laughing — was blurred out.
The video stopped.
Around the long table sat the executives of a Clan headquartered in Tokyo.
The largest Clan in the country. Most explorers on its roster, most S-ranks of any in Japan. An S-rank who appeared on TV variety shows; a streamer with millions of subscribers; an A-rank model with a photo book out. In fame and in buzz, it stood in a different league from every other Clan.
At the head seat, the Clan leader. A man in his fifties, flecked with gray. Still an active S-rank — even now, he dives an S-rank dungeon once a month.
Beside him, the sub-leader. A woman in her thirties who ran the Clan's operations single-handedly.
Then the head of scouting. The PR officer. The instructor in charge of developing the Clan's explorers.
"......Ichinose Saku. Fifteen years old. C-rank."
The head of scouting flipped through the file at hand.
"In under three months since registration, he has climbed all four rungs — F, E, D, C. The youngest C-rank on the domestic record. From C on, one is a professional. A fifteen-year-old, professional."
"The video's view count?"
The PR officer answered at once.
"His channel passed 300,000 subscribers the day after the stream where he met the C-rank conditions. Total views, clips included, are estimated in the tens of millions. Right now, his name is better known than any explorer on our roster."
"From a development standpoint?"
The leader looked to the instructor.
The instructor rewound the video a ways and replayed the instant of the katana stroke, over and over.
"......Honestly? I don't know that there's anything to teach. There is no hesitation in that blade line. At that age, he moves like a man who could walk those depths alone."
The air in the conference room pulled taut.
"And the other Clans' movements?"
The sub-leader turned her eyes to the head of scouting.
"All of them are moving. Osaka's biggest player sent three agents to Nagoya last week. The Yokohama Clan is partnering with a corporate sponsor, preparing an approach with a full equipment package as the offer. The Fukuoka Clan, I'm told, is making its approach by way of an invitation to their summer-training camp."
"And us?"
"We move too, naturally."
The head of scouting closed the file.
"One problem. His sister."
Another photo came up on the monitor.
A woman in a black jacket, expressionless.
"Ichinose Rinka. S-rank. One of the mainstays of the largest Clan in the Chubu region, headquartered in Nagoya."
The conference room stirred.
"Joining the Clan his sister belongs to — that would be the usual path."
"However, from that Clan's point of contact, the only answer we have received is: 'My brother does as he pleases. I won't let anyone touch him.' It is said to be the sister's own intent. By rumor, she has even refused her own Clan's attempt to scout him."
"......She won't even let him into her own Clan?"
"Until her brother decides for himself, she will let no one lay a hand on him. Which means, right now, every Clan has a chance."
The head of scouting's mouth curled up, just slightly.
"And no Clan has a chance. Because an S-rank sister has sealed every point of contact."
The Clan leader laughed, low, arms still crossed.
"......Interesting. Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka. Every major Clan fighting over one high schooler — and every one of them stopped by one sister."
"Precisely."
"Then don't rush. We wait for the door to open. In the meantime — watch, and learn properly what that boy likes, and what he hates."
The leader gazed at the blurred boy smiling on the monitor.
"......That is not a face you land with money or titles."
【His Sister's Clan】
The same night. The headquarters of the largest Clan in Chubu, based in Nagoya.
Beyond the conference room window, the lights of Nagoya Station's towers spread out below.
"—Rinka."
The Clan leader spoke, arms crossed. A man in his forties, thickly built.
Others sat around the table as well.
The sub-leader. A slim woman who had come up alongside the leader.
The head of recruitment. A man in his thirties, charged with scouting and developing new explorers.
And Hayase, the anchor of the administrative side.
"It's about her brother."
At the end of the table, Ichinose Rinka set down a bottle of barley tea.
"No."
"......I haven't said anything yet."
"I can tell."
The leader exhaled, long.
The head of recruitment leaned in, working the tablet in his hands.
"Rinka-san, at least hear us out. Within our recruitment framework, we can arrange special terms. School comes first, streaming is his to do freely, and he may dive whichever dungeons he likes. If he will simply be affiliated with us, the Clan covers all equipment and information."
"No."
"......You didn't hear a single word of that, did you."
"I did. No."
The sub-leader laughed softly beside her.
"Same as ever, Rinka. When it comes to her brother."
"......"
Rinka drank her barley tea in silence.
Hayase smiled, troubled.
"Rinka-san, do have some sympathy for the leader's position. The youngest C-rank in the country — and your brother, of all people. It would be stranger if we did not at least ask."
"I know."
"Then—"
"No."
Rinka's expression didn't shift by a hair.
The leader leaned in.
"Rinka. Ours is the finest Clan in Chubu. Equipment, information, deep-floor routes — all of it, complete. It's no bad offer for your brother, either. You know that better than anyone."
"I do."
"Then—"
"Saku—"
For the first time, Rinka looked the leader dead in the eye.
"Diving alone is fun. Diving with friends is fun. Diving with upperclassmen he barely knows is fun."
"......"
"The moment he joins a Clan, that becomes work."
Rinka twisted the bottle cap shut, tight.
"Until Saku says, himself, that he wants in — my Clan included, no."
The conference room went quiet.
After a while, the leader leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.
"......You really do talk, when it's about your brother."
"I do not."
"That was the most you've said all day."
"......"
Rinka said nothing and took a sip of barley tea.
Hayase giggled beside her.
"......Understood. We will not reach out. If your brother comes to us on his own, we will welcome him then. Fair?"
"Mm."
Rinka gave a short nod.
Then, just before leaving the conference room — without turning around — she added one thing.
"......Saku probably won't come."
The door closed.
The four left behind exchanged looks — and smiled wryly, all at once.
【The Guild】
Nagoya. Guild HQ.
In a conference room on an upper floor, three adults sat around a table.
The Deputy Director. Shibasaki, the examiner. And the Director.
"......Shibasaki. The examination findings, once more."
The Director spoke, arms crossed.
"Yes."
Shibasaki lowered her eyes to her terminal.
"His status reads Lv 104. 104 in three months since registration is anomaly enough — but that is not the problem."
"Meaning?"
"His movement was not that of 104."
The room went quiet.
"He worked through the C-rank's upper floors holding back. While hiding that he was holding back. His weight distribution, the depth of his steps. Less waste than any C-rank I have ever observed. That is movement that could, at minimum, walk the depths of a B-rank."
"......His status and his movement don't match."
"Yes. There is a possibility he is displaying his status lower than actual, by some means. Or — that he possesses something that does not appear on it."
"A disguise-type skill?"
"I cannot say. The record reads only 'exceptional.'"
The Director exhaled, long.
"......Deputy Director. Your read?"
The Deputy Director was silent a while before he spoke.
"The wall-groove matter. Twenty-five floors to Toda's deepest reaches, in a single day. The composure, in a C-rank examination, to hide that he was holding back. ......Take any one of them, and none of it is the story of a fifteen-year-old newcomer."
"I want him for the Guild. As an asset."
The Director said it flatly.
"Before a Clan takes him. If we receive him as a special explorer attached to the Guild, the Nagoya branch's strength rises an entire tier. ......No — this stops being about Nagoya alone."
The Director laced his fingers on the table.
"Right now, nearly every top explorer has drifted into the Clans. S-ranks, A-ranks — anyone with a name belongs to a Clan. When a disaster-grade dungeon occurs, when an unexplored dungeon needs its first-ever survey, the Guild has no choice but to bow to the Clans and borrow personnel."
"......"
"Now — what happens if the Guild fields, directly under its own banner, a fifteen-year-old C-rank who, if he keeps growing like this, may have no ceiling at all? The Guild itself changes. Its footing against the Clans. Its voice with the government."
The Director lowered his voice a shade.
"This morning, an inquiry came down from Tokyo HQ. 'What is the status of the Nagoya matter?'"
"......Tokyo, already?"
"Yes. That boy is no longer a Nagoya-branch matter. He is becoming a matter for the Guild entire."
"......Director."
The Deputy Director said it quietly.
"I do not believe that is what he wants."
"How can you be sure?"
"When we spoke with him before, what troubled him most was neither his name getting out nor the scouting offers."
The Deputy Director's gaze went a little distant.
"'What would really be a problem is not being able to dive.' ......That boy simply loves dungeons. That is all."
The Director was silent for a while.
Then he folded his arms again.
"......Even so, we extend the offer. If he declines, that is that."
"Understood."
"Shibasaki. The status matter — leave the record as it stands."
"Yes. 'Exceptional' it remains."
Shibasaki closed her terminal.
The corner of her mouth was curled up, just barely.
【The Explorers】
Nagoya, Nakagawa Ward. Outside the Toda dungeon field office.
Sunday evening, a man sat alone on a bench.
Forties. Well-worn armor. A shield covered in scars.
On his phone screen, a stream archive was playing.
『Thank you very much. There's still the examination, so it isn't official C-rank yet. But — I'm really, truly happy.』
On screen, the blurred boy was bowing.
The man stared at that screen for a while.
Then he laughed, softly.
"......You did good, kid."
Seven years, he had been coming here.
His personal record: Floor 112. Past that, no matter what, he could not break through.
That boy had come here for the first time during Golden Week — and reached Floor 150 in ten days.
To say he felt no bitterness would be a lie.
But.
"......Fired me up, if anything."
The man pocketed his phone and shrugged his shield back into place.
Behind the field-office counter, a staffer was watching him through the glass.
"......Diving again today?"
"Yup. Floor 113 — today's the day I crack it."
"......Good luck in there."
"Can't go losing to that kid, can I?"
Laughing gah-hah-hah, the man passed through the door.
Around the same time. Sakae, Nagoya.
An explorer's izakaya, out front of an A-rank dungeon.
"—C-rank at fifteen? Don't make me laugh."
At the end of the counter, a man in his mid-twenties slammed his mug down.
A B-rank explorer. He'd been taking his swings at Sakae's A-rank, coming here with his party of four. Eight years — that was what reaching C-rank had cost him.
"It's his sister's coattails, obviously. That S-rank sister of his has everything staged for him behind the scenes."
"Yeah, but — they say he did Toda's deepest floor solo."
The companion beside him held up his phone screen.
"Took down that lightning eel with one katana stroke on stream, too."
"Streams can be dressed up plenty, you know."
The man pushed the screen away.
"Some fifteen-year-old kid gets fussed over on streams, trends and news and all — and he's getting a big head over it. Dungeons aren't a playground."
"......Well, 'cheeky' is one word for it."
"It IS cheeky. It'd do him good to get burned once, somewhere."
The man drained his mug in one go.
"Someday, we cross paths in some dungeon — I'll show him what 'pro' actually means."
At the back of the counter, the owner went on wiping glasses, silent.
Voices like his weren't only in this bar.
Beneath the Tritter trends, alongside the congratulations, voices like 'Coattails, obviously.' 'What a big head.' 'Streamers should stay out of exploring.' were swelling, little by little, to match them.
Around the same time, in a Tokyo studio.
An explorer streamer with over two million subscribers was talking to the camera.
"—And so, Dungeon Strolls-kun — congrats on C-rank! No, seriously, it's amazing. A pro at fifteen — in my day, that was unthinkable."
Comments scrolled past.
『Collab!』
『Collab with Dungeon Strolls!』
"Man, I want to. So bad. Like I've said before — I want to talk to the guy himself."
The streamer's face turned a shade serious.
"But that kid — I don't think he cares about any of that, honestly. You can tell from watching. Numbers, ranks — I think what's fun to him is the diving itself, more than any of it."
Then he laughed again.
"So I'm just watching as a fan. ......Someday, in some dungeon, I'd love to run into him by chance."
That night.
Saku's room, at the Ichinose house.
Saku sat on his bed, staring at his phone.
The chat app's notifications had multiplied again. Message requests from accounts he didn't know. Clan scouts. Corporate reps. From the Guild: 'There is a matter we would like to consult with you about.'
Big sis's Clan was supposed to be the single point of contact for all of it — and still, it leaked through from somewhere.
"This is way too many, come on."
He retorted to no one and closed them, every one, all at once.
Then he opened a different app.
The Guild's dungeon encyclopedia.
Shidami dungeon, Floor 11 and beyond.
"Next up — Wilhelm, then. Wonder if he'd pour me some tea."
He grinned.
He couldn't wait for Saturday.