part2 · 099-ep99

Episode 99: In Order to Live on the Surface

A few days later.

Ren's smartphone rang.

"...Hm?"

Ren looked at the smartphone. What was displayed was a call from the town office.

"...The town office?"

Ren answered the phone.

"...Hello."

After a short confirmation, Ren hung up.

"...Mizuki."

"Hm?"

"It looks like my ID's done."

"Ah, really?"

"...Yeah."

"Then let's go pick it up together today."

"...Got it."

Ren put the smartphone in his pocket.

　　　　　◇

The two of them headed to the town office.

They gave their names at the reception desk, and headed to the counter they were directed to.

"You're Kurose Ren-san, correct?"

"...Yes."

The clerk checked the procedures.

"Identity verification has also been completed, so I'll hand this over to you."

What was held out was—

Ren's ID.

"...This is it."

"Yeah."

Mizuki peered at it from beside him. On it were Ren's name and photograph.

Ren stared at it for a while.

Ten years. Himself, who had lived inside the dungeon. There had been no need for anything to prove his name.

But now it was different. To live on the surface, he needed to prove who he was.

"...It's mine."

"Yeah."

Mizuki smiled.

"With this, you can go back to an ordinary life, little by little."

"...Yeah."

　　　　　◇

After leaving the town office.

"Then, next is the bank."

"...The bank?"

"Yeah."

Mizuki nodded.

"Ren, you don't have a bank account, right?"

"...I don't."

"Let's make you one."

"...Got it."

The two of them headed to the bank.

　　　　　◇

At the bank, they verified his identity using the ID, and filled out the necessary documents.

"Please write your name here."

"...Yes."

Ren took the pen. And then, he slowly wrote his own name.

Kurose Ren.

How many times had he written his own name today alone? It was just a little strange to him.

"Thank you."

The procedures proceeded—

"The account has been opened."

He received the cash card. Ren stared at the card.

"...With this?"

"Yeah. It's your account, Ren."

"...Can I put money in?"

"You can."

"...How much is in it?"

Mizuki gave a slight wry smile.

"...Right now, zero."

"...Zero."

"Yeah."

Ren stared at the card. He didn't look particularly surprised.

Ten years. He had never once needed to use money.

Not food. Not water. Not equipment.

Everything he needed, he had obtained himself.

But—

On the surface, it was different.

"...So money's necessary, huh."

"That's right."

"...For food and stuff?"

"Yeah."

"...Clothes and stuff."

"Yeah."

"...A house and stuff."

"Yeah."

Mizuki laughed.

"If you're going to live normally, you need it."

"...I see."

Ren thought for a moment.

"...Magic stones."

"Huh?"

"...If I sell magic stones, they turn into money, right?"

"Ah..."

Mizuki remembered too. The magic stone she'd left with the guild was still under investigation.

That magic stone was clearly different from ordinary ones.

"The magic stone we brought in before is still under investigation, you know."

"...Yeah."

Mizuki thought for a moment, then continued.

"But ordinary magic stones can be sold without any problem."

"...Ordinary?"

"Yeah. Even magic stones taken from weak monsters, the guild will buy them properly."

"...Is that so."

"Of course. Magic stones hold magic, so even low-rank ones are in demand."

Ren listened in silence.

"Magic stones like the ones you get from F-rank or E-rank monsters, the guild will buy those as normal."

"...I see."

Ren thought for a moment.

"...If it's magic stones from weak monsters, I have some."

"...You do?"

"...Yeah."

"What kind of magic stones?"

"...The ones from around floor thirty and deeper."

"Floor thirty?"

Mizuki showed a slightly surprised expression.

"Is that weak?"

"...To me, yeah."

"...I suppose so."

Mizuki gave a wry smile.

"Then why did you keep them?"

"...In the beginning, I didn't keep them."

"Huh?"

"...Because the Item Box's capacity was small."

Ren thought for a moment.

"...I threw away anything I didn't need."

"I see."

"...But from around floor thirty, I started having some room to spare."

"Yeah."

"...I started putting in monsters that looked edible, or ones that seemed like they might be useful."

"Not just magic stones?"

"...Yeah. The whole monster."

Mizuki's eyes went wide.

"The whole monster...?"

"...Because I might use them later."

"But if you put a monster in just as it is, wouldn't it rot?"

"...At first, it did."

"At first?"

"...After the Item Box's level went up, time started to stop."

"...Time?"

"...Yeah."

Ren nodded.

"So after that, it stopped rotting."

"I see..."

Mizuki was convinced.

The Item Box was not merely an ability to store things. As its level rose, not just the amount it could hold, but even its nature changed.

Ren had used it as a matter of course through ten years of life.

"...So that's why you kept monsters that looked edible, too."

"...Yeah."

For Ren, that had been reason enough.

That magic stones had value. That monster materials could be sold. Back then, Ren hadn't known.

He had simply—

Things he could eat. Things that looked usable. Things that might become necessary someday.

Those, he had put into the time-stopped Item Box.

"...So you've been putting in monsters from around floor thirty and deeper, the ones that look edible or usable?"

"...Yeah."

"How much?"

"...I don't know."

"...You don't know."

"...Because there's a lot."

Mizuki had just a slight bad premonition.

"...Quite a lot?"

"...Probably."

"......"

"...Will they sell?"

"Yeah. Ordinary monster materials, the guild will buy."

"...Then."

Ren nodded.

"...Let's take them along with the magic stones."

"Let's do that."

Mizuki still didn't know.

Inside Ren's Item Box—

how many monster materials, chosen and chosen again over ten years to survive, were lying dormant.

　　　　　◇

They left the bank.

Ren held the card of the account he had just created. The balance was zero.

Even so—

It was a card with his own name on it.

From now on, money he earned himself would go into this account.

"...Mizuki."

"Hm?"

"...Living normally."

"Yeah."

"...takes money, huh."

"It does."

Ren looked at the card in his hand.

"...Then let's sell magic stones and materials."

"Yeah."

The two of them started walking side by side.

Ten years. He had never needed money.

But now—

To live an ordinary life on the surface.

For the first time, Ren was about to obtain money of his own.