ch21-ch40 · 023-ch22

Chapter 22

"Wha—Chizuru! What do you think you're doing!?"

With a clatter, the one who shot up from her seat was Ilseria Lumiestel—the elf Toru had described as "capable and noble."

Manager Hamamatsu Nanami, unable to keep up with the sudden turn of events, darted her panicked gaze between Toru, Ilseria, and the prostrating woman—Kagurazaka Chizuru—but no one paid her any mind.

After all, the dogeza was too perfect.

Even for a pure Japanese like Toru, the so-called Japanese Dogeza was something he'd only ever seen in fiction. Ages ago, back when his grandparents were still alive—right around when the Chain Dungeon Rampage was happening—had he seen it in a period drama? His grandparents had survived the Chain Dungeon Rampage era, only to die along with both his parents when they were caught up in a Dungeon Rampage that happened much later.

"It's obviously an apology! Ilseria! What kind of attitude is that toward our benefactor! And you too, Nanami! Why did you state your business first! Wasn't there something you should've done first?!"

Kagurazaka Chizuru's voice, yelling while maintaining her dogeza, was incredibly loud.

By this point, Toru was already pretty fed up. The anger he'd felt moments ago had dissipated like mist. The sight of a woman prostrating herself before him in real life was, well... not a pleasant one.

"Hayasaka-sama, I truly apologize! It may sound like an excuse, but I was under the impression that the meeting had been streamed with your consent. I never imagined it was after-the-fact... On top of having you go out of your way to come today, it was incredibly rude! If one could die of shame, I would have ceased breathing already! I would like to slit open my belly as an apology, but I have decided that this Kagurazaka Chizuru's life is to be used for the people. It is a cheap dogeza, but at least allow me to convey my intent to apologize! I cannot perform seppuku, but if there is anything within my power, please do not hesitate to command me!"

Because she spoke with impeccable articulation and projected from her gut, the samurai girl's apology resonated throughout the first-floor lobby of the first-class hotel.

"Uh... Kagurazaka, right? Sorry, but could you stand up?"

"I apologize, Hayasaka-sama. But I cannot help but apologize. For my colleague to have treated the one who saved our lives with such... such atrocity!"

"No, I mean, your voice is too damn loud. Everyone's staring. I look like some guy making a woman prostrate herself. Get up. Come on."

This time, exasperation came before anger, and Toru's tone grew careless. It felt stupid to keep tiptoeing around things.

"Ah! That is certainly—apologi...es..."

Startled by his words, Chizuru stood up, apparently also realizing her voice was too loud, and covered her mouth mid-apology.

"I... I apologize. It seems my sensibilities are somewhat different from others... Viewers often find it amusing, but..."

"It's fine, whatever. I accept your apology."

"I am deeply grateful. I have caused you immense trouble, Hayasaka-sama. I should have been expressing my gratitude, yet instead I've made you feel unpleasant... I truly apologize."

Kagurazaka Chizuru bowed crisply at the waist.

So that's it. She really was somewhat out of sync with modern people.

Toru had no idea why she kept calling him "Hayasaka-sama," which was a bit creepy, but compared to the elf and the manager, his favorability toward her had risen relatively.

"So I said it's fine."

...Whatever.

Whether that unspoken implication got through to her or not, Chizuru raised her head, cut her gaze from Toru once, then glared sharply at Nanami and opened her mouth.

"What are you doing, Nanami. Fulfill your promise. The discussion should come after that."

"Ah, r-right, yes! I apologize...! Um, about the streaming too... it ended up being after-the-fact consent, and I'm really sorry. This may sound like an excuse, but I hadn't forgotten my promise to Hayasaka-san. I've already calculated the exchange value of the magic cores and dragon scales, so if you could give me your transfer ID, I can make the payment immediately."

"Got it."

Letting out a breath and sitting back down, Toru pulled out his mobile device from his pocket and displayed a barcode with his personal ID number.

This was linked to his bank account and the National Tax Agency database, with a system that automatically handled tax payments associated with monetary transfers. Apparently, in the pre-fusion previous century, there had been mechanisms like year-end adjustments and tax returns, but after dungeon products became central to the economy, this was the system the government came up with to try and squeeze taxes out of people somehow.

For Toru and others of the Other World Generation, this was just the way things worked, but from those familiar with the previous century's conventions, the common sentiment seemed to be "convenient yet inconvenient and annoying." Something about having to file various deduction applications at the end of the fiscal year.

Anyway.

Nanami pressed her own device against Toru's phone, which he'd slid across the table, to complete the data transfer. When he took his device back and checked, about 16.7 million yen had been deposited into his bank account.

...

Sixteen-point-seven million.

The Nanami who'd made that payment wore a completely nonchalant expression. The elf woman still had a contemptuous look. Tia was watching Toru with slight concern, while Kagurazaka Chizuru nodded as if it were only natural.

Toru was the only one whose heart was shaken by this huge sum of money.

"Of course, that's after all taxes have been deducted. And, um... I apologize for the order of things. If you check the license section on your device, you'll see that we've issued a temporary explorer's license. It has the approval of the Labyrinth Agency, so if you accompany us on this exploration and bring back magic cores to submit to a labyrinth branch office, your official D-rank explorer license will be issued at that point. Revenue from the exploration will be calculated and paid at a fifty-fifty split between Anthem and Hayasaka-san, and compensation for this accompanying exploration will be paid separately. I'm embarrassed it won't be as much as the magic cores and dragon scales sold for, but..."

"Ah... thanks."

It was such an unexpected turn that Toru's reply was half-hearted.

But thinking about it, it was only natural.

Even if he had slain a dragon and a Black Knight, taking an unlicensed person into the middle layers and beyond would reflect badly on 'Anthem's' reputation... actually, it would just be plain illegal. Not something a state-supported explorer clan should do.

As far as Toru knew, it was supposed to be that non-explorers could enter dungeons and defeat monsters only when accompanied by an adult with a supervising explorer's license. He might have gaps or oversights in his knowledge.

The fact that they'd issued a temporary license same-day smelled of collusion with authority—or in this case, connections—but maybe it was just using connections they had.

They lived in different worlds.

Probably, it had never even occurred to them that their attitude would anger Toru. To people living in a worldview where ordinary folks would happily cooperate with them... no matter what you said from a bottom-feeder's perspective, it wouldn't get through to them.

Hahh, Toru sighed.

"Alright. For now, this means I won't have to worry about living expenses for a while, and you've issued me a license, so worst case I can make a living hunting monsters with it. If you're fine with a bottom-feeder cleaner below a worker ant like me tagging along, I'll accompany you."

"So I'll be hunting monsters to feed Toru? Of course I don't mind."

"Thank you! Then, regarding the streaming guidelines..."

"Hey. Cut out that groveling attitude, will you?"

"Hayasaka-sama! It is a great honor to explore the labyrinth alongside you!"

"...Can you people not talk over each other?"

Hahh, Toru sighed again.

There was plenty more he wanted to let out, too.

◇◇◇

After that, as they were going over various streaming guidelines, the other members of 'Anthem' who had been staying on the upper floors of the hotel came down, leading to introductions.

The leader, Saito Megumi, once again expressed her gratitude to Toru and Tia for being saved in the labyrinth, and bowed politely saying she looked forward to working with them. Megumi struck Toru as having a tennis club captain sort of vibe, though that might have been prejudice.

The healer, Mido Airi—the girl called 'Saintess' or something on streams—had apparently been unconscious when Toru and the others saved her, so it didn't seem to feel real to her, but she still expressed ordinary thanks.

She struck him as a quiet, gentle sort.

Then there was the cameraperson, Shingu Sanagi. Her voice was extremely quiet, and to Toru, she just seemed to be bowing apologetically over and over. Appearance-wise, she had black hair with blunt bangs, which reminded him of a kokeshi doll. Megumi explained "She's thanking you," but Toru didn't really care either way.

The exploration party consisted of these three plus the swordswoman Kagurazaka Chizuru, S-rank explorer and noble elf Ilseria Lumiestel, and then Worksite-bro—Hayasaka Toru—alongside the dragon-slaying swordswoman Tia, accompanying them. Manager Hamamatsu Nanami wouldn't enter the labyrinth but would handle stream coordination and give real-time instructions as needed.

Toru was the type to hold grudges to some extent, but he didn't like flaunting his bad mood and stressing others out. He'd shown his anger, but since he'd said "I'm over it" after Chizuru's dogeza, it wouldn't be right to keep displaying his displeasure.

So he responded normally—but his impression of Anthem's members was that they seemed oddly childish.

They were probably around his age or a year younger, but they were, how to put it... naive.

Not that Toru wasn't naive himself in some ways.

It was more like... it wasn't malice. It was a lack of ill will.

Saito Megumi seemed a bit wary of Toru, but at the same time, there was an apologetic atmosphere about it. Toru figured it was only natural to be wary of a punk-looking guy you'd just met, and frankly, even if they looked down on him or despised him, he wouldn't find it strange. It was entirely possible.

But despite that, there was no contempt toward Toru.

Hamamatsu Nanami had it.

The elf woman had it too, but it felt less like specifically looking down on Toru and more like looking down on people in general. Calmly considering it, Tia was probably right—maybe that was just how elves were.

...Well, just because he was calm didn't mean Toru was any different. If someone came at him head-on, he'd come right back at them head-on.

He couldn't say he liked them at this point, but still—somewhere in his heart, he could understand. They probably didn't look down on their stream viewers either. That was why they were idol explorers.

"Kind of late to ask, but 'Anthem' is an all-female clan, right? Is it okay for someone like me to be mixed into your stream?"

When he checked with Nanami just to be sure, she answered immediately that it was fine.

"Of course, suddenly collaborating with another male streamer would cause a stir, but Hayasaka-san and Tia-san are 'Anthem's' saviors... and, well, I don't know if they're aware of it, but they are currently people receiving a great deal of attention online. Viewers will likely ask those two all sorts of questions on the stream."

"Hahh..."

"You don't need to answer everything, but I'd appreciate it if you could respond to viewers' questions within a reasonable scope. This time, the fact that you're answering the general public's questions will be more important than the fact that you're collaborating with 'Anthem.'"

Her tone was straight out of a national civil servant's playbook, and as a member of the general public, Toru felt like he wasn't going to be able to like Nanami very much.

"Um... basically, everyone's just curious, you know?"

The one who chimed in with a wry smile was Saito Megumi. She had a popular-kid vibe but somehow seemed like the worrying type. That was purely Toru's prejudice.

"Also, it's important to confirm the situation regarding the mutation of what was a B-rank dungeon, Kamioka Dungeon. I'm not expecting any skill from you, unlike the swordswoman there, so during combat, just stay quietly behind Sanagi or something."

Ilseria made no attempt to hide her barbed tone, but since Toru had already said he was over it and, more importantly, been paid, he felt no anger at all. She was just yapping, like watching a dog bark. Though if she barked right in his ear, it'd be annoying.

Stepping back half a pace, this elf was just telling him to stay back—not telling him to die as a shield. A haughty authority figure would say the latter—just like that councilman who was currently getting roasted online.

In reality, until yesterday, Toru had been a cleaner below D-rank. Right up until he obtained the holy sword and cursed blade, he'd had no choice but to run from Black Ogres.

Now—he'd probably be fine.

He had the strange conviction that a Black Ogre like that wouldn't even require him to use 'Kagetsu.'

"Hayasaka-sama, it is not that difficult a matter. Megumi will handle the flow for the most part, and I also intend to assist you as much as possible."

The one who said that as if it were obvious was Kagurazaka Chizuru, and Toru felt the need to say something about her attitude. There was an idol explorer member, for some reason, deferring to a rock-bottom cleaner with '-sama.'

"Uh... about that 'Hayasaka-sama' thing, could you stop?"

"Wh—why, might I ask?"

Chizuru looked shocked, as if he'd said something absurd. Megumi and Nanami had complicated expressions, and for some reason Ilseria was directing a contemptuous look at Toru, but anyway.

"I mean, someone like you with fans calling a guy like me '-sama' wouldn't sit well with your fans, right? And it'd make me uncomfortable too."

"Th-then... how should I address you...?"

"Uh... well, normally when you're not that close with someone, don't you call them by their last name with '-san'?"

"Can't you just call him Toru? Is that not okay?"

Tia tilted her head curiously.

Chizuru looked uncertain for a moment, then,

"Then Toru-dono..."

she compromised.

Toru was already pretty ready to go home.

He'd said he'd accompany them, so he would—but still.