ch21-ch40 · 022-ch21

Chapter 21

Morning. Toru woke up normally without dreaming, slammed sugar into his brain with a coffee beverage, got ready half-heartedly, and headed out. Same jeans as yesterday, with a quick-drying T-shirt and windbreaker bought from a home center.

"A stream, huh. It's a stream, Toru. I'm looking forward to it."

Tia, dressed in her fantasy village girl outfit, sat in the passenger seat of the compact car, cheerfully gazing out at the streetscape and asking "What's that?" and "What's this?" Toru half-ignored her questions and half-answered them roughly as he drove along the prefectural road.

The designated location was a hotel in the neighboring city from S City.

Come to think of it, Toru recalled that "Anthem" had been streaming before they entered the labyrinth. He'd only watched by chance—he never imagined he'd end up involved like this. If he had, he'd have been a seriously delusional cringelord.

A rock-bottom cleaner helping a member of an explorer clan boasting some of the highest idol-level popularity in Japan... it was like the delusion of a terrorist walking into a classroom.

Toru sighed, "Hahh," and firmly resolved inwardly to at least not get carried away. For some reason he was drawing attention, S City was in the middle of a blazing internet firestorm, and the beautiful spirit who'd possessed the holy sword had physically manifested and slain a dragon.

"Hmm? What is it, Toru. You're making a face like you want to say something, but if you have something to say, I'll listen properly?"

To Tia, who tilted her head curiously, there wasn't really anything he wanted to say.

So Toru let out an unattractive "heh" of a breath and pretended Tia's question hadn't happened. He knew himself it was a pretty rude response, but Tia didn't get angry—she just looked curious.

After driving the compact car for about forty minutes, they arrived at the destination hotel.

It was a fairly large hotel, equipped with parking for non-staying visitors. Toru parked the compact car toward the edge of the lot, sent Hamamatsu Nanami an arrival message on his phone, and left the holy sword and rebar club in the car before heading to the lobby.

Incidentally—or rather, it seemed that Tia's manifestation wouldn't dissolve even when she was separated from the holy sword. Rather, if she moved beyond a certain distance from Toru, her manifestation would apparently be forcibly undone.

That aside.

Toru stepped through the glass revolving door entrance of the high-class hotel that should have had zero place in his life, into the first-floor entrance hall.

Fortunately, or perhaps as planned, Anthem's manager was waiting right where she'd be immediately visible. An unfamiliar girl stood next to her—possibly a member of Anthem. Toru didn't know enough to tell.

"Good morning. I apologize for making you come all this way. Hayasaka-san, and... may I call you Tia-san?"

A woman in a capable-looking pantsuit taking a humble attitude toward Toru was deeply uncomfortable. On top of that, he could somehow tell she was only performing humility, which made it even worse.

Looking anywhere across the entrance hall, there wasn't a single person dressed like "jeans and a windbreaker." Of course there wasn't anyone dressed as a fantasy village girl either, but Tia probably wouldn't look shabby no matter where you made her stand.

"Of course I don't mind. As for me, what should I call you?"

"Whatever you like."

"You're Hamamatsu Nanami, right? Then I'll call you Nanami."

Tia's attitude as she said that with a bright smile was remarkably natural—no sense of inferiority, no arrogance. And, how to put it, she lacked that oblivious out-of-place quality. Friendly, but not overly familiar.

Though she'd been pretty overly familiar with Toru from the very start, he felt.

As he was thinking that, the girl who'd been standing beside Nanami stepped forward by exactly two paces and scrutinized Toru and Tia.

A somewhat cool gaze—observing.

He'd perceived her as a "girl" because she was quite short and slender. Her ash-gray-adjacent silver hair wasn't dyed—it appeared to be natural. She wore a knee-length skirt paired with boots, and on top, a blouse buttoned all the way up to the neck under a layered cardigan. An overall monochrome style, with posture as good as a fashion model's.

Her skin was frighteningly white, her features as perfectly arranged as a doll's—and the tips of her ears were clearly longer and more pointed than a human's.

Incidentally, the gaze she directed at Toru and Tia was also, for some reason, quite sharp.

"Oh, an elf. So they exist in this world too."

At Tia's innocent murmur, the elven girl—or rather, the elf who looked like a girl—narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Are you the woman who's supposedly possessing the holy sword?"

Her voice was neither high nor low, carrying a slightly unemotional quality.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm Tia. And you are?"

"Ilseria. Ilseria Lumiestel. By human standards, I'm what you'd call an S-rank explorer. Viewers of the stream sometimes call me 'I-chan,' but I'd prefer you didn't." "Then I'll call you Ilseria. Are you a member of 'Anthem' too?"

"You don't know? I should be famous enough that counting from the top would be faster among elves that exist on Earth."

"Sorry about that. I only manifested three days ago."

"Ahaha~" Tia laughed brightly. She showed no sign of being intimidated or pushing back against Ilseria's cold atmosphere.

"Hmph. Well, whether you two are frauds or not, I'll determine that shortly. Nanami, explain it to them."

Saying that, Ilseria retreated by exactly two paces.

She apparently suspected Toru and the others, but he didn't particularly mind that. Thinking about it normally, it would be suspicious—Toru agreed.

Incidentally, Toru hadn't known about the elf S-rank explorer named Ilseria. It couldn't be helped—he barely even knew the members of "Anthem," probably the most famous idol explorer clan in Japan.

"I apologize. As you can see, Ilseria isn't very familiar with Japanese courtesy, so if there's been any rudeness, I'll apologize on her behalf. Now, to the main topic—well, standing here chatting isn't ideal, so shall we move over there?"

Where Nanami pointed was a table seating area set up in the entrance hall. It faced the glass walls, in a position visible from the street outside. If someone walking by happened to glance at the hotel, it had the atmosphere of elite-looking people having a business meeting.

Following their guidance and taking a seat, the chair cushions were so soft his butt couldn't settle. Not that he'd feel comfortable in the entrance hall of a high-class hotel to begin with, but Nanami and Ilseria were barely paying any attention to Toru at all.

"The reason we asked you to come is, as we communicated beforehand, because we'd like you to appear on Anthem's stream."

"Yeah. I'm interested in this 'stream' thing. You respond to comments and stuff, right?"

"That's right. We can't have completely free-form interaction, but we're envisioning exchanges like, for example, answering viewers' questions."

"I'm fine with it. I just chat somewhere?"

"No—to tell you the truth, we'd like to ask you to explore the Kamioka Dungeon together with 'Anthem.' So it would be a labyrinth exploration stream."

"Labyrinth exploration stream."

Tia tilted her head as if to say what-in-the-world-is-that.

The contrast between Ilseria's exasperated look and Nanami's already-expected-this expression was stark.

"It means streaming while exploring a labyrinth, with the highlight being showing viewers your battles against monsters. Interacting with viewers while progressing through the labyrinth is also part of the fun. It's one of the mainstream content formats in modern streaming culture."

"I see. So it's turning it into entertainment."

"Yes. Explorers' activities are inherently difficult for the general public to understand, but by streaming and showing the reality, the aim is to deepen public understanding. We want to eliminate even a little of the kind of misunderstanding that councilman had."

"'You lot should just bring magic cores back from the labyrinths,' right? I understand. When the mindset of looking down on work society needs takes hold, it creates friction in society. When the strain reaches its limit, destruction occurs."

Opening her lightly clenched hand to demonstrate, Tia let slip a bitter smile.

It sounded like a remark with genuine conviction behind it—or maybe she truly did have personal experience.

Nanami nodded, looking slightly overwhelmed, and continued.

"That was our perspective on labyrinth exploration streams, but... the thing is, this request is more practical and a specific 'favor.'"

"Hm?"

"One reason is that with only the current members of 'Anthem,' exploring the mutated Kamioka Dungeon is too dangerous. Assuming the same floors exist as before the mutation, the fourteenth underground floor is still middle-layer territory. A labyrinth where that kind of boss monster appears in the middle layers... would be S-rank by classification."

Meaning it was beyond what an A-rank explorer clan could handle.

If that was the case—

"If it's beyond what you can handle, wouldn't it be better to just not enter the labyrinth?"

Tia tilted her head curiously.

Right—thinking that way was the normal response.

Because "Anthem" weren't reckless exploration-madmen; they were also a streamer clan. If he recalled correctly, weren't they operating with national support?

"Of course, given this situation, we have no intention of fulfilling S City's request. However—at present, there are no explorers besides us at 'Anthem' who seem capable of exploring the Kamioka Dungeon. That's why we had Ilseria urgently flown in via private jet, and why we're asking for your cooperation."

"In other words, there's a reason you have to dive into the Kamioka Dungeon?"

"The possibility of a 'Dungeon Rampage' has emerged."

Those blunt words were enough to instill a sense of crisis in almost any modern person. It didn't seem to fully register with Tia, though.

"The abnormalities Hayasaka-san confirmed in the upper layers of Sugai Dungeon have been observed in other labyrinths throughout the city as well. If those abnormalities are a precursor to the Kamioka Dungeon's mutation, we could be looking at a mutation on an unprecedented scale. In fact, a boss monster that even A-rank explorer Megumi and the others couldn't handle spawned in the middle layers."

The middle-layer bosses—the dragon and Black Knight—had been defeated by Tia and Toru.

But they were middle-layer bosses.

The Kamioka Dungeon had lower layers, and depending on the scale of the mutation, there could be deep layers as well. Without conducting a certain level of clearing, the labyrinth's internal pressure could reach its limit—and a "Dungeon Rampage" could occur, where monsters explosively flood out of the labyrinth.

I see, Tia nodded.

Ilseria kept her eyes narrowed, continuing to direct her scrutinizing gaze at the "holy sword user." Nanami returned a nod to Tia, then shifted her gaze to Toru.

"So—please. We've submitted requests to S-rank explorer clans nationwide, so even if it's only until they arrive, that would be fine. Hayasaka-san, Tia-san. Would you accompany us in exploring the Kamioka Dungeon?"

"I'm fine with it."

Tia answered immediately and casually, turning an innocent gaze toward Toru.

Before he realized it, the elven girl was also fixing her sharp gaze on him.

Toru thought for a moment, then spoke.

"Uh... well, that's fine and all, but first can we talk about the magic cores and dragon scales? I think the deal was double the market rate."

"...Philistine."

He received a contemptuous gaze and word from the elf, but it didn't faze him at all.

Toru snorted and deliberately shrugged.

"Not gonna deny that. But then is the noble 'Anthem' gonna smooth-talk a rock-bottom cleaner philistine out of his actual magic cores and dragon scales, ask him to tag along on their dangerous labyrinth exploration, expect him to cooperate with their streaming activities too—and then claim they can pay the promised money five or ten years down the line?"

"No one said any such thing. I called you a philistine because having heard about the possibility of a 'Dungeon Rampage,' you're worried about money."

"You're telling me to worry about everyone else instead of myself? That if they're worrying about everyone, cooperating with them is a given? Ha, right, of course. A philistine below a worker ant shouldn't think about himself—just shut up and hand everything over to their noble public servants."

"...Correction. A groveling fool."

"Groveling fool, philistine, whatever—I'm alive. A lot of shit happened, and I'm probably gonna be unemployed anyway, so what's wrong with worrying about money? Oh right—I bet the capable and noble Elf-sama has no interest in vulgar concepts like money. Wearing clothes that cost a damn fortune, eating and sleeping at hotels ordinary people have no connection to, rushing over in a private jet. Meanwhile I drove forty minutes in a compact car to get here. Wow, amazing, amazing. Seriously, I respect that. Keep up the great work from now on. I'll pray for your good health—on a utility pole somewhere or whatever."

Saying that, he stood up.

He tried to walk away without a moment's hesitation, but his arm was grabbed firmly. Tia. She was far slenderer than Toru—though not as much as the elven girl—but just being grabbed was enough to pin him in place as if he'd been locked down.

"Wait, Toru. That's not a good way to talk."

"Are you stupid? Obviously I know that. You think I'm talking like this because I think it's fine? Don't mess with me. They're the same as that old guy, the city councilor or prefectural assemblyman or whatever. They're right. They're important. So whatever they do is forgiven. Looking down on others is forgiven. Everything goes their way. People will cooperate. Because they're right and important."

The grabbed arm wouldn't move. It didn't even feel like she was holding him that tightly. Like a dog on a chain. He couldn't go any further.

What was grabbed was his left arm.

His right hand could still move. If so, he could draw the cursed blade "Kagetsu" from within his left arm.

"Wait, Toru! That's not it—elves are just like this. There's no point getting worked up over everything they say!"

"It is what it is. I don't care. Then I'm like this. If you're telling me to deal with it because 'that's how noble elves are,' then deal with it because this is the kind of guy I am. Besides, even their manager was ignoring me and only talking to you, right? Yesterday's stream was after-the-fact consent too. You could've consulted me beforehand. But you didn't. They look down on me. They're treating me like a joke. Well, getting looked down on as a rock-bottom cleaner is to be expected."

"Toru! That kind of thinking isn't good!"

"Shut up, I know that. So you're saying their attitude and way of thinking is 'acceptable'? That because they're important, and wealthy, and have status, I should just accept them looking down on people and treating them with contempt? But my attitude is what needs correcting?"

"N-no... that's not it, Toru..."

"Why am I the only one who has to suck it up? They're noble justice, and I'm a bottom-tier nobody below a worker ant, so I should sell my soul? Half of it's already given to you, and the other half is stained by Kagetsu. It's sold out. Let go."

"Ah—"

The moment he said "let go," Tia's hand gripping his arm released easily. It seemed to have been unrelated to Tia's own will—she wore a face like she didn't understand why she'd let go herself.

But whatever. However Tia felt about it.

Clicking his tongue once, Toru finally turned on his heel to leave.

Exactly two meters ahead, a ponytailed woman was prostrated on the floor in a full dogeza.

"—Huh?"

At the incomprehensible sight, a question mark slipped from his mouth involuntarily.

Perhaps sensing Toru's bewilderment, she spoke with her face still bowed to the floor.

"I sincerely apologize, Hayasaka-sama. I apologize for the rudeness of our companion. I humbly beg your forgiveness—no, there is no need for you to forgive. But would you permit me to demonstrate my intent to apologize? I, Kagurazaka Chizuru, cannot let such discourtesy pass without making amends!"