arc2 · 033-ch33

Episode 33: Interlude - Yamamoto Shiro

　Hachioji Dungeon.

　One of the twenty dungeons in Japan, and categorized as a low-layer dungeon. There are thirteen low-layer dungeons in Japan, and dungeons with only up to three floors are called low-layer dungeons.

　Despite the name "low layer," there's a misunderstanding that it's for beginners. But that doesn't mean the difficulty of floors 1-3 is low. It simply means there are only three floors, and the difficulty of each floor is uniform across all dungeons.

　Dungeons are scattered throughout the country, but the Kanto region is particularly dense with dungeons.

　While there are some dungeons that don't follow the rules, it's generally said that dungeons appear in proportion to the population. In Kanto, there are a total of six dungeons: two in Tokyo, and one each in Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, and Tochigi.

　The busy Hachioji Dungeon was booming as usual today. Shiro Yamamoto, a staff member at the Hachioji Dungeon Explorer Association, was also working hard from the morning.

　Shiro's job was managing items obtained from the first floor of Hachioji Dungeon. His main tasks were managing the buy-sell status of purchased items, managing item inventory, and adjusting distribution ratios to companies.

　Explorers active on the first floor of the dungeon are either Explorer High School students or trainees at training facilities. Therefore, few people hunt with a daily sales quota like professional explorers, making first-floor item management quite difficult.

　With that work wrapped up, he headed to the cafeteria for his lunch break.

　Along with set meals and curry, ramen had become Shiro's favorite lately. There were several types of ramen, but Hachioji ramen was available as a local specialty, so he ordered that exclusively.

　Looking for a seat, he found a spot where his colleagues were gathered and decided to sit there.

"Good work."

"Oh, Yamamoto. Good work."

"Good work~"

　Sato, Tanaka, and Suzuki, his colleagues from the same year, called out to him. They worked in different departments, but as colleagues from the same intake year, they still kept in touch even years after joining.

"We were just talking about Explorer High. Yamamoto, got any parties you're interested in?"

　Explorer High was a frequent topic of conversation among staff members. Especially in low-layer dungeons like Hachioji Dungeon where first-rank guilds or special-rank guilds aren't based, Explorer High parties that make people think "they might become future first-rank explorers!?" were popular.

"It's gotta be zoo, obviously. They're the only first-years actually dungeon exploring, and they've even reached District 2 already, you know?"

　Most first-years at Explorer High don't enter dungeons during summer vacation. Most devote their time to training for basic physical fitness and martial arts practice.

　Twenty to thirty years ago, simply entering dungeons and leveling up like crazy was considered good. But that led to many fatal accidents, and there was public backlash that as an educational institution, high schools were neglecting the education part too much.

　Therefore, in recent years, the mainstream approach has been to attack dungeons after solidifying basic physical fitness and learning how to navigate.

　Of course, this is just Explorer High's policy. It's certainly possible for first-years to enter dungeons and explore starting from this period, and such parties do exist, though rarely.

　At Explorer High, you form parties with classmates, so if you enter dungeons early, your party members have to go with you.

　In other words, you're forcing your companions to take the high risk of early exploration. While other parties are solidifying their foundations to explore safely, exploring in a high-risk state takes courage.

　And, among Explorer High students, that act is ridiculed not as courage but as reckless bravado, which has become a hindrance to early exploration.

　It's that "fall in line" thing typical of groups. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, and everyone around thinks hammering it is the right thing to do.

　In reality, all parties above current first-rank explorers are people who did early exploration, but many students die trying to imitate them, so calling it reckless bravery isn't exactly wrong.

"Yeah, zoo. And at their current pace, they'll be fourth-rank by their second year. Seriously amazing!"

"His sister's Kagika Rurei was amazing too, but the younger sister feels like a genius who goes even beyond her."

　Kagika Rurei is the party name of Kirin Rikuzen's older sister, Karin Rikuzen, who is the party leader of zoo.

　Kirin is a first-year at Hachioji Explorer High, while her older sister Karin graduated from Hachioji Explorer High last year. Both parties at Explorer High that did early exploration, which is rare, and were rare examples of surviving early exploration.

　Starting from early exploration and continuing to explore smoothly after that, Kagika Rurei had an S-rank evaluation at graduation. As a result of those achievements, it became a huge topic when it was decided she would join a first-rank guild after graduation.

　Therefore, Kagika Rurei, which made such great strides, was of course an idol-like existence at the Hachioji Explorer Association, as was zoo, whose younger sister had even more momentum to surpass her. Particularly because they were developing their stats properly and all party members were good-looking, which was also a reason for their popularity.

"They're geniuses. They're taking down Boss Foxes, right? With just four people."

"That's amazing. And I hear they're even hunting One-Horned Rabbits in District 2 now. Monsters."

"They might even defeat the District 2 area boss."

"I heard they seem to be targeting that. If that happens, then maybe becoming special-rank in the future is a possibility too."

　Sato, Tanaka, and Suzuki were talking about zoo. No, if you listened closely, similar conversations could be heard from other seats too.

　A special-rank party might be born from Hachioji Explorer High. It's natural to talk about it, and something to be proud of.

　Shiro was just as interested in zoo as other staff members, and because his job managing first-floor items gave him more detailed knowledge about zoo's exploration status than others. But while slurping his ramen, Shiro was thinking about another party, no, another explorer.

　He first met them one or two months ago. When requests for Drunken Sheep mutton piled up, he went down to the first floor to adjust mutton purchases at the buying center.

　A child who was clearly a child, around middle school age, was walking toward the security gate leading to the dungeon. He had probably come to receive the dungeon's blessing, but since there were no adults nearby, he unintentionally called out to him.

　As someone from the Explorer Association, obstructing dungeon exploration is taboo. But advising on exploration matters is naturally allowed, so telling him that if he's receiving the dungeon's blessing, he should pass through the security gate with a guardian is safe. The Explorer Association doesn't consider it a good thing for explorers to challenge dungeons and die, after all.

　But when he listened to the story, it turned out the boy had come to explore the dungeon, not just receive a blessing. When he listened further, he was a third-year middle school student who had just turned fifteen, his weapon was a metal bat used in baseball, and he was even exploring the dungeon alone.

　That's just suicide. He considered crossing the line of his official duties and stopping him, but strangely, he didn't end up doing it.

　Perhaps because his eyes weren't burning with ambition nor stained with pessimism. In his head, he thought he would definitely die or get seriously injured, but for some reason, in his heart, he thought he shouldn't stop him. Without any basis, there was something like a conviction that he would be able to explore without any problems.

　That conviction was correct, he learned later. A child who wasn't even an Explorer High student was exploring solo. Whether he came back safely that day could be found out immediately by asking the buying center staff.

　After that, since Shiro was in charge of the first floor, he kept track of his movements. It seemed he had found companions to explore with, but that just meant one person became two.

　Exploring with two people involves considerable danger, but they steadily leveled up and brought back more items than Explorer High parties.

　You could tell right away that their exploration was going well by looking at their appearance. They had become as beautiful as the zoo members. As beautiful as special-rank explorers.

　Maybe because summer vacation started, they seemed to be diving into the dungeon every day recently, but the one exploring was just him from the beginning - the other boy wasn't there.

　It's common for explorers to dissolve parties, but since it looked like things were going well, it was surprising. From the fact that the other boy wasn't seen around, maybe he had quit dungeon exploration.

　On the other hand, he, who continued exploring, was producing achievements you wouldn't think came from one person. Even though he was active solo, he brought back more items than Explorer High parties. He was even hunting One-Horned Rabbits, which Explorer High students said to avoid.

　Now he was even bringing back Gale Rabbit items. Gale Rabbits always have at least three One-Horned Rabbits around them. In other words, he was dealing with three One-Horned Rabbits accelerated by Gale Rabbit magic while also defeating the Gale Rabbit.

　Impossible. But it was actually happening. Dungeons are places where the word "impossible" is said to be possible. Shiro was experiencing the meaning of those words for the first time.

　That's why Shiro was interested in zoo among Explorer High students, but among new explorers, he was overwhelmingly interested in him. If things continue like this, he was certain that his name would definitely be listed among special-rank explorers. Such an outstanding talent.

"By the way, do you guys know about the Iron Pipe Princess?"

　Tanaka started with that. The Iron Pipe Princess. That was him, the one Shiro was paying the most attention to.

"Yeah, of course. The kid who uses Underling Fox drop items as weapons, right?"

"A child whose looks don't lose to zoo, yeah."

"Yeah, yeah. But there's a lot of mystery about him."

　Tanaka groaned, crossing his arms.

"Apparently he's not an Explorer High student."

"I heard I heard. I haven't seen him myself but they say he's a child, so maybe he goes to a high school other than Explorer High. And he's solo."

"Makes no sense. Seems like he's active in District 2 of Floor 1 right now, but his clothes are just a regular tracksuit. Not Explorer High's, you know?"

　The tracksuits issued to Explorer High students are durable, blade-resistant, and have defensive power. Many Explorer High students, who are struggling explorers without money, use the issued tracksuits until they graduate. Partly because equipment is expensive, but also because Explorer High tracksuits are just that good.

　Even training facility trainees who just shoot guns from a distance wear protectors and other armor when entering the dungeon, just in case something happens.

　Yet he was exploring in a school-designated tracksuit that didn't look special at all. And solo. And not with a long-range weapon like firearms with high lethality, but with a magic iron pipe, a close-range weapon.

　The three were talking at a pitch like they were discussing a horror movie. Shiro also nodded in agreement while scooping up the Hachioji ramen's signature onions, enjoying them.

"If he's solo, that means when he fights goblins, he's always at risk of being surrounded, right? How does he fight? Is he some kind of martial arts master?"

　Tanaka's question was reasonable, but even recalling when Shiro first met him, he didn't seem like a martial arts master at all.

"I hear he fights One-Horned Rabbits too."

"That's gotta be a lie. ...No, wait, One-Horned Rabbits are fewer in number and there's no risk of being surrounded, so maybe it's okay?"

"No no, he's solo, right? If a One-Horned Rabbit's attack grazes him even a little, it's fatal. They say those guys persistently aim for your legs, and once your mobility is taken away, it's over, right?"

"Yeah. And he doesn't have companions to back him up. Would a normal person take that kind of risk? I mean, with goblins too, normally you wouldn't fight solo."

　Their arguments made sense. If you have companions, they can cover each other when something happens, and the range of measures you can take widens.

　If there's a tank, the rear guard can feel safe. If there's an attacker, battles end quickly. If there's a magic user, you can move advantageously even in group battles. If there's a healer, you don't have to worry about minor injuries.

　It's common sense that exploration is done as a party.

"Yamamoto, do you know anything?"

"A little. But I can't talk about it in detail."

　To Suzuki, who had asked, Shiro drove in a nail. Information obtained as a staff member couldn't be taught even to other staff members.

　Including talk about zoo, what they were discussing was content that anyone involved with Hachioji Dungeon could know. For someone in Shiro's position who can check item buy-sell history and see details, there's little content that can be discussed in this kind of conversation.

"If he continues to be active, information will come out sooner or later, so I'll teach you one important thing."

　With those words, Shiro drank his soup thoroughly and told them.

"The Iron Pipe Princess. He's a boy."

　At Shiro's statement, not just the colleagues in front of him, but even those around who had been listening in raised voices of shock.