ch1-ch20 · 007-ch7

Chapter 7: What Do I Do When I Get Back?

I'd returned to the first floor.

Right now, I was inside the Adventurer's Association building where the [Dungeon Gate] connecting to the surface was located.

I looked around, but Hayashi-san wasn't there.

Come to think of it, Hayashi-san had been at the reception desk for the surface branch of the Association.

Since she'd been there in the morning, she'd probably be there in the afternoon too.

It was almost 1 PM.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't eaten lunch."

Maybe I should check out the restaurant in the dungeon.

I headed to the reception desk inside the dungeon to return the rented spear.

The receptionist here was a beautiful woman with long black hair and glasses.

I checked her nameplate.

Her name was Watanabe Kasumi-san.

I didn't see a smile from her, but she handled things efficiently and I was able to store the spear smoothly.

By the way, it seemed I'd been assigned a personal locker—or rather, a weapon storage spot—when I got my adventurer's license.

Since weapons couldn't be taken outside, I had to store them when leaving.

If I wanted to move weapons to another dungeon, I had to apply at the branch and pay money, plus it would take a whole day or more to transport them.

Because of these weapon restrictions, adventurers couldn't really move between branches or go on short business trips.

This was apparently one of the causes of the Chiba Dungeon's depopulation—or so Hayashi-san said.

There were no monsters on the dungeon's first floor, so going unarmed was fine.

Technically, monsters did appear, but they'd all been captured.

When monsters died, they respawned at random locations after some time passed.

The unarmed goblins that appeared on the Chiba Dungeon's first floor had all been captured and were being held in isolation at a Self-Defense Forces facility along the wall.

This meant that on the first floor of dungeons everywhere, even if you couldn't fight, as long as you had a license, you could use the facilities and do some shopping.

It was an isolation facility, but occasionally monsters would die, and apparently the Self-Defense Forces would have to go catch them again when that happened.

Speaking of facilities, it seemed that if even one person was inside a building, the contents and the building itself wouldn't be absorbed by the dungeon.

Moreover, all the buildings on this first floor were connected, so since someone should be there 24 hours a day, they wouldn't disappear.

I passed by a shop that used monsters transported from other dungeons as ingredients.

In front of the shop, there was a sample of what appeared to be today's set meal—a pork cutlet set—with a price tag of 500 yen.

"Seriously? It's cheaper than the school cafeteria."

I didn't know what kind of meat it was. Because the name wasn't "pork cutlet set," it was "today's set meal."

But I was an adventurer starting today. Time to brace myself.

Surprisingly, there were quite a few customers inside.

Since I was alone, I could sit at a counter-like seat, but the table seats were completely full.

Even if they called it a depopulated dungeon, it didn't mean there were zero adventurers.

"Seriously? It's tastier than the school cafeteria."

By the way, when I looked at the menu, the tonkatsu meat was from a Wild Boar, a type of boar.

It was a monster that didn't exist in the Chiba Dungeon.

Dungeons that had monsters like this that could be effectively utilized as materials probably weren't depopulated.

After finishing my meal, I headed toward the building with the [Dungeon Gate].

"......"

Maybe because I'd eaten lunch, I felt a bit calmer.

"What do I do when I get back?"

What had I planned to say to Hayashi-san?

"I defeated one goblin today, so I'm going home? It's not even 2 PM yet."

I didn't want to show her my uncool side.

I'd just come back thinking I'd get Hayashi-san to give me a little push.

...

"Maybe I'll try a bit harder on my own."

I headed to the reception desk where Watanabe-san was.

"I'd like to retrieve the weapon I stored, please."

When I handed over my license, Watanabe-san went to the back and returned quickly with the spear.

"The advantage of the spear lies in its reach. The goblins on the second floor wield clubs, but they're short, which means their reach is severely limited. Those who control reach control the battle. In other words, it's an overwhelming advantage. Also, the essence of the spear is not thrusting. Thrusting, striking, sweeping, cutting—the ability to do all of these is the spear's strength. Please try various things."

"Huh?"

Watanabe-san suddenly spoke to me at length.

"You'll be fine. You can do it."

Just like when I'd stored the spear, there was no smile there—she remained completely straight-faced.

"Ah."

What kind of face had I been making when I came to store the spear?

What kind of face was I making now?

"I'm heading back."

I'd gotten an unexpected push forward.