arc2 · 082-ch82

Chapter 82: Patrol Survey

"Oh wow, I took down a monster solo for the first time..."

It's not efficient, it's not stable, and I only managed it thanks to the Sticky Bomb, so I really don't think I can level up easily or anything... but even so, I was able to defeat a monster with my own power. My chest swelled with that fact, and for some reason, tears started welling up.

Maybe, if I can keep leveling up little by little, even if it takes time, there's a possibility I can become an explorer. I clenched my fist tight.

Besides, maybe thanks to my low level, I actually leveled up. Being able to hog all the experience points helped a lot too. I consumed 840 MP just to take it down, but wasn't that an achievement worth the cost for me?

I stored the magic stone left behind after the Crowcat fell. Even if I become an explorer, I won't be exempt from taxes unless I turn in a certain number of these magic stones. In that sense, it's not like becoming an explorer is all good, but for now, I think it's fine to just savor this sense of accomplishment.

For a little while, I grinned to myself and did fist pumps, fully savoring the achievement, then dispelled Hayate and left the Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon.

▽▽▽

(Well, the sun has come back up, so let me try doing a full dungeon patrol route circuit.)

After bringing Asahi out of the dungeon, I summoned Hayate again and decided to trace the dungeon patrol route while operating two units simultaneously.

First, I sent Asahi to the Ghost Forest Dungeon on the north side of Nishi-Hachioji, and sent Hayate toward the Yatsugatake Dungeon to the northwest. With Hayate, it takes forty minutes to reach the Yatsugatake Dungeon. During that time, Asahi finishes patrolling the Ghost Forest Dungeon.

Then, Asahi goes from Ghost Forest to Tokyo Skyscraper Dungeon. Once exploration there is finished, I dispel Hayate and resummon it. Asahi continues on to Mouse Park Dungeon as-is, while Hayate heads toward Inubosaki Tower Dungeon.

By the time Hayate arrives at Inubosaki, Asahi will have finished patrolling Mouse Park Dungeon, and I send it toward the final destination: Yokohama Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon. Simultaneously patrol Inubosaki Tower Dungeon and Blue Brick Warehouse Dungeon to finish.

This is probably the most efficient route, I think. Well, I won't know until I actually try it.

I recalled Asahi once and tried tracing the patrol route.

▽▽▽

(Phew, it's more tiring than I thought.)

Since this was a trial run, I gave about ten minutes for patrol time in each dungeon. But if I actually do proper patrol, it won't go like that. I think I should stay in the dungeon for at least thirty minutes. With that, it calculates to over three hours to finish everything. For example, if I do this once in the morning and once in the afternoon, that's six hours just for that. That's quite a time commitment.

Well, it seems like I don't need to do it during filming, but... if possible, I'd like to have one of them do patrol even while filming. Arihara-san has done so much for me, after all.

Anyway, since I didn't find any abnormalities during this patrol, let's call it a day for today. I recalled only Hayate here, and sent Asahi toward Yamamoto Electronics Industry. I asked President Yamamoto to charge Asahi there. Apparently, the charging station will be completed tomorrow, so from then on I just need to land it there. It's like a Roomba.

After asking about Asahi, today's exploration is finished.

I got out of my chair, stretched, and headed to the living room. Just then, Mom was making dinner in the kitchen, and Umi was doing school homework at the table.

While leisurely watching the two of them like that, I waited for dinner to finish. Recently I've been constantly busy running around, so this kind of time feels incredibly precious.

Precious time seems to pass in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, it was dinner time. Today's dinner is sukiyaki. And there's beef in it! Umi is overjoyed too. The three of us eating from one pot together was delicious.

After dinner, each of us spent our time as we pleased. Mom apparently safely finished her interview exam, and now she's just waiting for the phone call with the results.

As for me, while checking what's stored inside Hayate, I put in and took out potions, snacks, and drinks. I recorded this on video, and tomorrow I'll have Arihara-san check the storage function. If I get approval there, then officially selling inside dungeons will become possible.

Also, since Umi finished homework and looked bored, I had her create a menu board with potion prices written on it. I had her draw it with illustrations on poster paper, and it was surprisingly better than I imagined, which shocked me.

I gave her 500 yen as allowance in thanks, and she was overjoyed. Seeing that, I was also super satisfied.

Still, with this storage function, even if things don't sell, they won't go bad, so various things won't go to waste. I plan to check periodically, but for now, time stop seems to be the case.

Now for payment methods—cash transactions are no problem, but electronic money will probably be difficult due to radio waves. The other options I can think of are paying with magic stones, or selling exchange tickets in advance. For now, let's put aside cash, later research the market price of magic stones, and make a conversion table with potions.

For the parties I film, I'll include these sales and the transportation of drop items, spare weapons, and food as optional services. I should add those options and what's for sale to the homepage too.

I'll steadily proceed with patrol and sales preparation like this. If it goes well, it looks like I can do trial operation starting tomorrow. Ah, that's right. As thanks to Arihara-san and everyone at Kokushi Musou, maybe I can provide sandwiches made by Mom. If it's not sales, there shouldn't be any problem.

I had Mom make five servings of sandwiches and stored them in Hayate.

(If they eat these sandwiches, Arihara-san and the Kokushi Musou members might be surprised too. Mom's sandwiches are insanely delicious.)

While thinking such things, I continued my work, and the night deepened.