arc1 · 007-ep7

Episode 7: The Meaning of Hiding His Gender

Back in the city from the dungeon, he dropped by the Explorer's Association branch just as the evening cash-in rush was settling down.

Magic lamps fitted into the high ceiling lit the white floor brightly, and at the back of the lobby, a row of appraisal counters stood in a line.

Out of the line of counters, Fukazumi Iori made for the familiar window at the very end.

The receptionist on the far side, who had been working a terminal, caught the sound of his footsteps and looked up at once.

"Welcome back, Iori-kun. Good work out there."

"Good to be back, Sagimori-san. I'd like to sell today's haul, please."

Greeting him with a soft smile and a sway of loosely waved brown hair was the staff member Sagimori Chikae.

She had been his assigned clerk ever since he came to this world a year and a half ago and registered as an explorer, and she was one of the few people in the Association who knew Iori was a "man". Unlike the world he'd left, women made up the overwhelming share here, and a male explorer alone was enough to be treated as a rarity—having a counter where he could talk without watching his step was something to be grateful for.

When Iori unclipped his hip pouch and turned it over onto the appraisal tray, the magic stones came rumbling out and piled up into a little mountain with a clatter.

At the deep-green magic stone, big as a clenched fist, that had tumbled out on top, Sagimori-san's eyes went round.

"Oh my, a Rock Ogre's stone. Not a scratch on it, either—it's a beauty."

"There was exactly one of them waiting just before the return spot. It was a perfect fit for filling the last gap in my pouch."

"Hehe. You're about the only solo explorer who'd call a Rock Ogre 'gap filler', Iori-kun."

Shoulders shaking with amusement, Sagimori-san sorted the stones by size with practiced hands and ran them through the appraisal device one after another.

Watching as it chimed brisk little electronic notes, Iori let a small breath out. Coming back here after finishing a dive—there really was a comfort to it.

Having finished measuring the stones, Sagimori-san glanced around to confirm no other explorers were at the neighboring counters, then leaned in just slightly and lowered her voice.

"...Say, Iori-kun. You got caught on Tsukishiro Saya-san's stream this afternoon, and it seems you've become a bit of a topic of conversation. Are you all right with that?"

"Huh?"

At the unexpected name, Iori blinked and asked back, nonplussed.

"Tsukishiro-san...? Ah—do you mean the black-haired girl at the collapse site in the middle layers?"

"That's her. The one who's hugely popular as an ojou-sama streamer. I happened to be watching the rescue-request alert at the duty post myself, and your going in to help her came through the stream nice and clear."

Only when he heard that did Iori give an inward wry smile—ah, yikes.

Now that it was mentioned, he did vaguely recall a small floating camera hovering right behind her. He hadn't even opened his own terminal's notifications, so he'd had no idea whatsoever that he was a topic.

"So I was seen, after all... Well, I don't plan on announcing I'm a man or anything, but if I dive, getting caught on camera now and then can't be helped. I'm not going to fret over it—I'll just keep going as usual, same as always."

"Honestly, you never change, do you, Iori-kun."

Sagimori-san shrugged as if in resignation, then, tapping at the appraisal screen, cocked her head playfully.

"Say—why not just come out and announce it, even now? 'That rescuer is actually a man.' With that rescue footage for credentials, once word got out, starting tomorrow the onee-samas of the big clans and the moneyed ojou-samas would be lining up around the block, stacks of bills in hand: 'He won't even have to fight—please, let us keep him as our clan's face of the house.' You could eat delicious food every day and live the rest of your life in play, you know."

At her teasing laughter, Iori scrunched his face up in genuine distaste.

"No thanks—quit it, even as a joke. If I got fenced in like that, I wouldn't be able to dive the dungeon as I pleased anymore, would I? You're the one who warned me about exactly that at the start, remember, Sagimori-san?"

"Hehe, so I did. The dungeon does come first for you, above all else."

Perhaps the answer coming back exactly as predicted was simply too funny; Sagimori-san laughed out loud, plainly enjoying herself.

Then she drew a tray of cash and the purchase slip out from below the counter and slid them across to Iori. Given that the haul was nothing but deep-middle-layer stones, the tray held neatly lined bundles of bills of respectable thickness.

"Here you are, today's purchase. And I've properly confirmed the streaming time on your loaner camera, too."

"Thank you. You're always a lifesaver."

Signing the slip, Iori tucked the bundles of bills away into his wallet.

"You came back at the middle layers' boundary today, it seems. Planning to go all the way down again next time?"

"Yes. Today I only brought the small pouch and it filled up partway through, so next time I'll carry the big rucksack and go all the way to the deepest part."

"Don't talk about the deepest part like it's a stroll around the neighborhood.... You take care going down there, all right?"

"I will. Oh—today I'm stopping at the set-meal diner by the station for ginger pork on the way home."

"Hehe, good work today. Eat plenty and rest up well."

Iori returned Sagimori-san's fluttering wave with a light bow and pocketed his wallet.

Far more than any fuss on the net, his head was already packed full of piping-hot ginger pork and white rice. Pressing a light hand over the pocket holding his freshly cashed wallet, Iori made briskly for the branch's automatic doors.