ch01-ch20 · 015-ch14

Chapter 14

Sadoyama Koji took a pack of cigarettes from his suit's inner pocket and lit one.

The heavy smoke invaded his lungs, dulling his brain in exchange for his health. His sense of justice, common sense, ethics—the overwhelming frustration that he couldn't do anything about—all of it faded, masked by tar and nicotine.

He exhaled and looked up at the sky. It was a disgustingly clear day.

Ten years ago, would he have ever imagined a future where he'd be smoking in the morning, feeling resentful at a clear sky? He'd bet anything that Sadoyama Koji at age twenty-five had never once entertained the thought that such a future awaited him, not even in the corner of his mind.

He scratched his greasy hair with a wry smile and exhaled another plume of smoke.

"Ah, there you are. The rooftop is no smoking, you know, Sadoyama-senpai."

Pushing open the heavy iron door to the rooftop was one of the managers of the A-rank explorer clan "Anthem"—Hamamatsu Nanami.

It was quite moving, seeing the girl who'd been an explorer in the same clan as Sadoyama ten years ago, now a capable woman in a sharp pantsuit.

"No smoking or not, the rooftop is off-limits, Nanami-chan." "That's not exactly the kind of line you throw at someone you summoned to a place like this."

Nanami's expression as she lowered her eyebrows in exasperation didn't carry much of her old self. The girl who'd spent all her time killing monsters in labyrinths was now a proper member of society.

Of course, from Nanami's perspective, Sadoyama probably looked even less like his old self.

But that was fine.

He hadn't called her here to reminisce about the past.

"This hotel—does the Labyrinth Department use it often? It felt like they're used to hosting explorers. For a local city, anyway." "Well, yeah. It's rare that we invite an A-rank like Anthem, but we do call in outsiders from time to time to keep the balance of the city's labyrinths." "Using your old connections?" "That too. The mayor and city council hate it, but the Labyrinth Agency's budget is independent from the city. Considering labyrinth output, they should be overjoyed, but—well, old folks have rigid heads. By the way, bringing in Anthem wasn't my call. It was led by a prefectural assembly member. An A-rank explorer is way overkill for a town like this." "Ohh... Senpai, you've become quite the respectable civil servant." "Look who's talking, Nanami-chan. Anthem's activities are part of a national policy. As the manager of explorers selected from labyrinth-qualified candidates... you're a national civil servant, right?" "Pretty good career, isn't it. I probably make better money than you, local civil servant senpai." "Now that's something to be jealous of."

He let out a wry laugh, took another drag, and exhaled. He crushed the cigarette between his fingers just short of the filter, then reduced it to literal charcoal with fire magic.

He blew the ashes away with a puff, and found his former junior looking at him with serious eyes. The killing intent from the old days was gone, but there was something even more intense there now.

Ten years ago, it didn't matter if he died fighting with everything he had.

Now was different. If he didn't handle this with absolute seriousness, he wouldn't be killing himself—he'd be killing someone else. Someone much younger than him.

He'd become an adult. And, more than he'd ever expected, a somewhat decent one at that.

"Senpai. I won't let you say there were no signs of the Kamioka Dungeon mutation. Megumi and the others surviving was a genuine miracle of coincidence."

"Ahh... you're right."

"You look like you've been up all night. What's the plan?"

Nanami prioritized moving the conversation forward rather than hostility—which Sadoyama had braced himself for. He was genuinely surprised.

"What, Nanami-chan? Did you want me to pull a sword on you like the old days?" "The fact that I can even have this conversation means I've really grown up, senpai." "Well, thanks. And the plan?"

"I've booked a conference room at the prefectural office for one PM. It's... eight AM now. So in about fifteen minutes, Anthem should be getting word too. I've summoned the S City mayor and city council members, the prefectural assembly member who pushed for Anthem's invitation, and one Labyrinth Agency staff member besides myself."

"So you've been moving nonstop since pulling Anthem out of Kamioka Dungeon. Guess I'll hold off on the sword, then." "Well, that's a relief."

Sadoyama laughed loosely, pulled another cigarette from his suit pocket, lit it with magic, and inhaled.

His brain dulled.

The many things that would be unbearable if he stayed a decent human being retreated just a little bit further away.

"Big shots get used to being big shots. Take it from me—whether it's the countryside like this or Tokyo, the mentality of a big fish in a small pond isn't all that different. You know that too, Nanami-chan." "Coming from someone who once tried to beat a Labyrinth Agency official to death, that carries some weight." "Youthful indiscretion. Now I'm just a washed-up local civil servant old man." "Senpai. We're not going to hold back this time. Whatever happens to XX Prefecture's labyrinth officials, that's not our concern."

The look in his former junior's eyes was too direct.

Sadoyama exhaled smoke, shrugged theatrically, and laughed.

"Like I care. Those people act all high and mighty because they think they're in a position where nobody can touch them. Let them get hammered by public backlash. The actual work will get done without them."

"Hearing that, I feel like senpai is using us." "Now that's 'no way.' I'd never consider sacrificing young lives to purify politics. Nanami-chan—I just want to do a little to help the people within my reach live their best lives every day." "Senpai... you've really gotten old."

His former junior's eyes went wide with surprise. Sadoyama could only give a wry smile.

"I'm thirty-five. 'Course I'm old. More importantly—you understand there are wildcards, right? Since they have rights too, I plan to call them in."

"The 'Dragon-slaying Swordswoman' and 'Worksite-bro,' you mean." "...Wait, what?"

"You should check social media once in a while. ...Well, I guess it can't be helped if you're not like me, supporting streaming activities for a living."

Sadoyama didn't have a habit of checking social media often. He knew some explorers did streaming, and that labyrinth exploration streams had become a modern form of entertainment, but he didn't want to think about labyrinths in his private time.

"'Worksite-bro'... that's Hayasaka-kun, right. I mean, he was in work clothes, but still..."

"You know him?"

"There's a D-rank labyrinth near Kamioka Dungeon called Sugai Dungeon. It's so unpopular they needed a 'cleaner.' Hayasaka-kun's been doing that job for three years. He's a bit of a pitiable kid—I've always kept an eye on him."

"A 'cleaner'—that's the kind of work people do when they can't get an explorer's license, right? When their magical aptitude doesn't meet the threshold... So how did someone like that appear from the lower depths of Kamioka Dungeon and take down the boss?"

"Beats me. Didn't ask, don't know." "Why didn't you ask?" "Because I was scared."

At Sadoyama's blunt answer, Nanami caught her breath. She must have understood what he meant—she was a former B-rank explorer after all.

That "Dragon-slaying Swordswoman" Toru had with him—she was in another league entirely.

Even Sadoyama, a former A-rank, couldn't sense the bottom of her strength. All he could tell was that she was overwhelmingly powerful.

He absolutely did not want to accidentally step on any landmines by carelessly talking to her. He did not want to bear the consequences of making her angry.

"...Is she really that formidable, senpai?"

"Haven't Anthem's members given similar testimony? I only showed up afterward—I didn't actually witness it. But they were there. They should have seen the swordswoman's fight."

"...Those girls were in complete chaos at the time. And they're so talented that they're weak in situations like that. Megumi and Chizuru both said their own accounts from that situation aren't reliable."

"Still, the fact that they're aware of that is impressive."

"We're calling in someone even you, senpai, are afraid of. But that doesn't mean we plan to hold back. So—who takes responsibility for the consequences?"

"Responsibility falls on the people responsible, that's how it works. I've never actually seen those responsible people taking responsibility, but... this time, they'll have no choice. Probably."

He let out a short laugh. Nanami's eyes narrowed. Wariness, contempt, and... sympathy, maybe. They'd both grown up, but they'd taken different paths to get there.

Sadoyama didn't think that was a bad thing.

"I'll probably cause you trouble, but... I'm not apologizing."

Without saying goodbye, Hamamatsu Nanami turned on her heel. Her back didn't really overlap with the image of her younger self. Sadoyama inhaled smoke, exhaled, and called out.

"Nanami-chan. Hayasaka Toru isn't a bad kid. At least, compared to us ten years ago, he's a much more decent, principled kid."

So don't use him for your own convenience.

It was a small wish, almost like a prayer. But a prayer from a faithless man like Sadoyama wouldn't be received by any god or Buddha.

And, predictably, Nanami didn't answer.