ch21-ch40 · 027-ch26

Chapter 26

Kawai Sakiho, who had been staring at her device at her desk in the Sugai Dungeon branch office, noticed the sound of the automatic door opening, and a moment later, realized that it was well past closing time.

It was already well past nine in the evening.

That meant she'd been camped out at the office for over four hours past closing.

"Well, well, if the lights were still on. Kawai-chan, you hadn't closed up shop yet?"

It was Section Chief Sadoyama.

He'd been seen on the stream being sent flying by the dragon-slaying swordswoman during yesterday's prefectural office meeting, and the camera had caught him emerging from the wall he'd been embedded in with a completely unbothered expression after Hayasaka Toru and Tia left the room. But after that, Sadoyama hadn't appeared on camera again, so Sakiho had been a bit worried that he might have taken more damage than he let on... but from the look of things, he seemed normal.

"Chief..."

"Were you watching 'Anthem's' stream?"

"Yeah, well..."

When she nodded with slight tension, Sadoyama flashed his usual relaxed smile and waved a hand dismissively. So incredibly normal it was almost anticlimactic.

"About the disciplinary measures—don't worry about it for now. This has gone beyond something that can be solved by cutting your pay or firing you, Kawai-chan. Besides, Hayasaka-kun probably isn't angry at you, I think. For better or worse."

"He's not angry...?"

It was true that Hayasaka Toru, as seen on the meeting stream, didn't appear angry at Kawai Sakiho or Sadoyama Koji. More than that, even toward the prefectural assembly members, city councilors, and mayor—who by all rights should have provoked righteous indignation—Hayasaka Toru didn't show much anger.

Well, he did look extremely annoyed that the meeting wasn't going anywhere.

In today's stream, there was a scene where he argued with Anthem's S-rank explorer, the elf Ilseria, but that was probably because Ilseria had picked the fight.

He was always in a bored-sounding tone, so it was hard to tell, but when Sakiho had made a fuss about the quantity of magic cores he brought in, he'd chosen to 'stream' it and leave evidence. He wasn't the type to take things lying down. The fact that he didn't snap at Sakiho the way he did at Ilseria was probably because he wanted to keep his job.

Which meant Hayasaka Toru had no intention of getting along with Anthem going forward. He could snap at Ilseria like that because he didn't care if they parted ways. ...Well, probably.

"For better or worse... no, clearly for worse. Our XX Prefecture, S City, is now the center of national attention. And Sasamori councilman certainly gave us quite a line to remember."

"You were pissed off too, Chief."

"Quite embarrassing. But well, as a former explorer... yeah, I couldn't stomach it. I'm an old man now, but I lost my cool. Hahaha..."

"Are you okay, though? You got embedded in a wall."

"Hahaha! I used to be A-rank, so that much was nothing. Plus, the 'dragon-slayer' seemed to be holding back quite a bit. Man, having to stay silent in that state until Hayasaka-kun and the others left the room, and then coming out of the wall afterwards—that was seriously awkward."

"Well, at least it looks like you're not getting flamed online, Chief."

"Calling that a blessing in misfortune. So, how's 'Anthem's' stream going? They're diving into Kamioka Dungeon, right?"

It was true that she'd been so absorbed in watching that she'd forgotten the time. Sakiho let out a small sigh and decided to explain.

"They're on the fourteenth floor boss room right now, taking a break. The boss wasn't there. Apparently, sometimes after an abnormally powerful boss appears, the boss room becomes a room where the boss doesn't respawn, so that's probably it."

"As expected, you're knowledgeable."

She looked back at her device. The stream hadn't ended, but the screen showed a "Taking a Break" caption, and audio was cut. Occasionally, one of the members would post in the comment section to address the viewers—just the kind of thoughtfulness you'd expect from idol explorers. Leader Megumi posted most often, followed by healer Airi, and the elf Ilseria also posted haughty things that the viewers teased her about. Chizuru apparently wasn't good at typing, so she rarely posted, but sometimes Megumi would relay Chizuru's remarks in the comments.

That was the kind of thing Sakiho liked about them.

They unabashedly told nameless viewers like herself that they "got energy" from them. That they "gave them strength"—said it with genuine conviction.

"Considering the viewers, they'll probably rest until around ten at night. There are also late-night viewers, so I think they'll clear the middle layers from there and head to the lower layers. They'll rest a bit more, but I think the stream will resume soon."

"Hmm... I see. Then Kawai-chan, let's close up shop and head home. I could give you a ride... but no, you drive to work."

"Yeah, yes. Chief Sadoyama, what are you going to do from here?"

The part where he'd grabbed the prefectural assembly member and slammed him into the floor had clearly made it onto the stream. Depending on how things went, he could be sued by the assemblyman, and as the head of the city's labyrinth section, he might face disciplinary action from the mayor.

Well, Sakiho was in the same boat. She'd arbitrarily suppressed reports of abnormalities from the field—her name hadn't been mentioned on the stream, but it wouldn't take much digging to find out.

"Well, who knows. The higher-ups will read the wind too, I imagine. Depends on public opinion, really. Frankly, I've never been under this much scrutiny before, so I'm not sure I can navigate it well—but I'll have to try, won't I."

"Yeah... I suppose so."

This wasn't a situation where you could just delete your SNS accounts and pretend it never happened. What would happen to them, to this town from now on...

There was no way Sakiho could know.

Sighing, she closed 'Anthem's' stream for now. Then she operated her work device—not that there was any work—shut it down, and went through the motions of closing up the office. It was her daily routine, so her body moved automatically without much thought.

After handling everything, she activated the security system and left through the back entrance.

Sadoyama had ended up keeping her company until the very end, but there was an odd awkwardness between them that made them both laugh a little.

"Chief Sadoyama. In the end, we'll just have to show up for work as usual tomorrow, won't we...?"

"Well, looks that way. Until the mayor or deputy mayor says something to me, it's business as usual. But while 'Anthem' is diving into the Kamioka Dungeon, the Noumi Dungeon is dead quiet too—...Huh?"

Sadoyama cut himself off mid-sentence and turned his gaze toward the entrance of Sugai Dungeon.

Night had already fallen, and the labyrinth entrance—not even lit up—was barely visible despite being close to the branch office.

Sakiho had no idea what had caught his attention. She vaguely looked toward Sugai Dungeon where Sadoyama had narrowed his eyes and was staring, but there was only darkness.

She was about to ask what was wrong.

She was about to ask what had caught his attention—when a chill ran down her spine.

A cold that seemed to freeze her from the inside out.

Like even breathing in and out felt hesitant.

"This is... bad, maybe...?"

Sadoyama's expression clearly twisted, and the next moment, Sakiho's body was lifted. In a single instant too fast to register, she was carried like luggage—and then, a g-force hit her.

Like riding a scream machine at an amusement park—a sudden acceleration.

The ground fell away. Sadoyama had leaped while carrying Sakiho. She had absolutely no idea why he would do such a thing, but something huge passed beneath her feet at high speed, and she realized—ah, he'd jumped carrying her to avoid that.

But she still didn't understand.

Why was something huge in a place like this? How had Sadoyama noticed it? Well, that was because he was a former A-rank explorer. He'd sensed the 'something huge' several seconds before Sakiho felt the chill.

A tremendous crash resounded, and the building that had been the Sugai Dungeon branch office just a moment ago collapsed like a sandcastle kicked by a child.

"Shit! No way. A Great Worm... or rather, a giant serpent?!"

Sadoyama's voice as he cursed was strained.

Not angry—distinctly panicked.

And Sakiho was so confused that she was thinking about such irrelevant things. Unable to organize the situation before her, she was simply grasping what she could understand.

THUD!

Sadoyama landed. Well, if you jump, you have to land. They seemed to have jumped quite high, and the impact of the landing was severe. From Sakiho's mouth, being carried on his shoulder, an unavoidable "Guhh!" escaped.

"You okay, Kawai-chan?!"

"I am not okay! What the hell is that—KYAAAH!"

Mid-sentence, he leaped again. A floating sensation. The giant serpent passed directly beneath, grinding everything in its path to pulp.

It was enormous.

First of all, the serpent's head was about the size of a small prefab hut. Or maybe bigger. The length of its body was hard to tell since it was moving at high speed—both it and them—and writhing, but... maybe ten meters? More? Probably more. She didn't know. Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Don't bite your tongue!"

Landing, and then another leap. Carried by Sadoyama, the scenery changed dizzyingly. She quickly lost her sense of direction, and nausea set in. But she couldn't bring herself to ask to be put down. She'd just be eaten or crushed by that monster.

"I'm Sadoyama! Ahh! Sadoyama, chief of the Labyrinth Department! Confirming emergence of a giant monster from Sugai Dungeon! Likely a 'Dungeon Rampage'! Not a horde—it's one big one! Requesting immediate backup—what?! What the hell?!"

Amazingly, while carrying Sakiho and dodging the giant serpent's charges, Sadoyama seemed to be communicating on the Labyrinth Department's emergency line.

Sakiho was already half-comatose, but she could somehow tell that no reassurance awaited at the end of that conversation.

Because Sadoyama shouted like this.

"Kamioka Dungeon has disappeared and a 'rampage' at Noumi Dungeon has also been confirmed?! Backup was already sent there first?! You've got to be kidding me!"