ch21-ch40 · 036-ch35

Chapter 35

It was closer to early morning than midnight—3:44 AM.

Sadoyama Koji stood at the wrecked entrance of Noumi Dungeon, gazing at the still-dark sky with a cigarette in his mouth. He looked at his phone signaling an incoming call and sighed.

He hesitated for a moment, first sent the smoke into his lungs, then exhaled. Frowning at the persistent incoming call that showed no signs of giving up, he reluctantly answered.

"Yeah? Even normal people are asleep at this hour, Nanami-chan."

"Hello. Good work. What's the situation over there?"

Hamamatsu Nanami didn't react at all to the joke mixed with sarcasm and bitterness, just said what she wanted to say. Or rather, what she needed to say.

"We just finished rescuing the explorers who were still inside Noumi Dungeon. They managed to make their way back to the upper floors on their own, so it was a relief things went easy."

"What about the damage to the labyrinth branch office?"

"Smashed to pieces and drenched in hydra blood, total mess. And the casualties? Zero, surprisingly. Apparently it was the day Anthem was supposed to re-explore Kamioka Dungeon, so everyone had left on time. That's what I heard from the explorers we rescued who had been diving in Noumi."

"That's good to hear."

She said it like it was someone else's problem—but it really was someone else's problem, so it couldn't be helped. Sadoyama sent another cloud of smoke into his lungs and exhaled it with a sigh.

"Well well, I guess that's what you'd expect from a government-backed A-rank explorer clan. They saved us last time, they saved us this time, and somehow they haven't actually accomplished much. If anything, they've only caused trouble, haven't they? Hahaha."

"That's some heavy sarcasm. We feel pretty dragged into this too, you know. I mean, what even was that troublesome element?"

Her voice carried irritation—no, more like fear.

That made Sadoyama feel slightly vindicated.

Because he understood, thanks to their long acquaintance, that she didn't genuinely resent being dragged into this. It was more like her way of putting up a brave front.

"Hey now, hey now. I told you, didn't I? Hayasaka-kun isn't a bad guy. He's a kid with principles. What, did you make him angry?"

"...At one point this morning, he almost just went home."

Nanami used the same tone she used to use when reporting a mistake she herself recognized, back when they explored together in the same clan.

He'd thought until recently that they'd both grown up, but that was exactly why he could say the same thing—even after growing up, people weren't that different from when they were kids. It was just that when you became an adult, the people around you stopped treating you like a kid, and you had to put on an adult face. He felt like he was wearing a reasonably decent mask, but unfortunately, you couldn't see your own mask. At least not while you were wearing it.

So Sadoyama could imagine all too easily what kind of expression Hamamatsu Nanami was making right now. What kept coming to mind was the girl she used to be, though.

...Well, maybe she was cuter as a girl, but honestly, he wished she wouldn't do this even as a grown adult.

"Nanami-chan, did you step on Hayasaka-kun's landmine?"

"...I admit I was rude to him, I'll own up to that. But is it really my fault for focusing on the dragon-slaying swordswoman instead?"

"I don't know what kind of attitude you took with Hayasaka-kun, but when it comes down to it, he went into Kamioka Dungeon with you, suppressed the Sugai Dungeon rampage, and then went straight to Noumi Dungeon and sliced up that damn hydra. So it all worked out, didn't it?"

"When you put it that way, yes."

"By the way, we've got this girl Kawai-chan from the labyrinth branch office. She falsely accused Hayasaka-kun, and even after he cleared his name, she kept a bad attitude. But he didn't take any revenge on her, you know."

"Wh-what?!"

The predictable reaction made Sadoyama laugh out loud.

If you knew Hayasaka Toru's current situation, falsely accusing him would be suicide—a joke in poor taste.

But until just a few days ago, Hayasaka Toru had been a cleaner below even D-rank explorers. Of course, that didn't mean he should be treated carelessly, but he definitely wasn't in a position to receive special treatment. And that kind of treatment was probably Hayasaka Toru's everyday reality.

Days without being respected by anyone.

But he never got bitter, and he lived without causing trouble for others.

Shouldn't that alone be worthy of praise?

"But... I'm not saying it's common, but we've seen it before—someone with no real ability gets lucky with a legendary item, rides that wave, and gets full of themselves, right?"

Back when she was an explorer, the kind of "lucky ones" Nanami mentioned did appear occasionally. Most of them got cocky, dove into dungeons beyond their means, and died, or couldn't recognize true strength and self-destructed.

But.

Sadoyama let out an exaggerated sigh, thought for a moment, and then said:

"Look, that's exactly why you only made it to B-rank, Nanami-chan. Or has working as an idol manager rusted your instincts too? These guys are fundamentally different from the ones we've seen before."

"...What do you mean?"

"Hayasaka-kun looked annoyed, sure, but he wasn't getting cocky. I don't think he had that kind of arrogant attitude—'I'm strong, I've gained power, nobody can control me.' I'd bet that Hayasaka-kun would've had the same attitude in that meeting even without the holy sword and cursed blade."

"...That might be true."

"Nanami-chan, you told me 'I won't go easy on you,' but I can't keep looking out for my junior Hamamatsu Nanami forever. Being an idol explorer's manager doesn't mean being a monster parent, does it?"

"...Those girls are my hope."

"I get that, given your past. But what does your feelings have to do with Hayasaka-kun, who's been looked down on? Look, he seems to be pretty kind despite his attitude, so I don't think he'd deliberately act against you or Anthem. But that's not consideration for you—it's Hayasaka-kun's own pride."

"Pride, you say..."

"I told you. He's a kid with principles. He's had plenty of misfortune in his life, but he never played the victim card, saying 'I've suffered this much, so I should be allowed to do this much,' did he? If he did, I'd apologize and take it back. What do you think about that, Hamamatsu Nanami-chan, still dragging around your unhappy past?"

"............"

There was no reply, but if this much didn't get through to her, Sadoyama figured he'd wash his hands of it.

He'd seen cocky people self-destruct more times than he could count. He just hoped they wouldn't turn out to be former comrades.

"Personally, Hayasaka-kun doesn't scare me. That dragon-slaying girl, though—not knowing what kind of common sense she operates on—she's far more frightening. Anyway, Nanami-chan, did you call just to complain?"

"...Actually, I have a report, a contact, and a consultation..."

"And the complaints."

"That nitpicky side of you hasn't changed at all, senpai."

"And your spoiled side hasn't changed either, Nanami-chan."

"Our Ilseria is staying at Hayasaka Toru's place."

"Huh?"

Now it was Sadoyama's turn to have a big reaction.

But if he thought Nanami would be amused by that—well, she wasn't. After all, Anthem's trump card had barged into the home of what Nanami referred to as a "troublesome element." Of course she'd be on edge.

"Well, that's fine. It's not like I can control that elf anyway. She's cooperating with Anthem out of goodwill and curiosity. She's an S-rank explorer, after all. I've resigned myself to the fact that she does whatever she wants. Yes, it was my responsibility for not stopping Ilseria when she insisted on following him to his place, which made Hayasaka-san angry. I wish he hadn't snapped at me before we even talked about compensation, and I have no idea why someone that angry would still let her stay overnight, but there it is."

"You're talking really fast..."

"Because of Hayasaka Toru, my members are a complete mess. Chizuru's basically useless, Megumi's depressed, Airi is... well, she's fine."

"Have you considered that they're alive because of Hayasaka-kun?"

"Of course I have! That doesn't mean I'm going to worship him. It's just... well... I want to properly apologize at some point. That's an important matter, but let's get to the main topic already, Sadoyama-senpai."

He thought it was about time, but stirring things up would only slow them down, so Sadoyama held back. He felt like this was how it usually went back when they explored dungeons together in the same clan.

He couldn't look out for her like he used to, but that couldn't be helped. They were both adults now. The debts you accumulate through your own actions just eventually come due.

"According to the dragon-slaying swordswoman Tia, Prefectural Assembly Member Sasamori Takeshi erased Kamioka Dungeon. In fact, Assemblyman Sasamori was found near the entrance of the vanished Kamioka Dungeon by Tia and secured by her. He's currently in our custody. At 10 AM, Labyrinth Agency staff will arrive to conduct a formal interrogation."

"Erased? How?"

Prefectural assembly member or even a member of the National Diet—when it came down to it, he was a regular person below even D-rank. How could someone like that make an entire dungeon disappear?

"For now, we have his testimony... or rather, his ravings. According to him, a man from the Cabinet Intelligence Office came to Sasamori's office and gave him a stone that erases dungeons."

"Huh? Wait... but is that really just ravings? I mean, the dungeon really did disappear, right? Since there's no way Assemblyman Sasamori himself has a means to erase a dungeon, it's natural to assume a 'means' was provided by a third party, isn't it?"

"Exactly! His ravings actually make sense! That's what's wrong!"

"The Cabinet Intelligence Office... uh, the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, you mean. That's way too far above the head of a Labyrinth Department section chief in a provincial city."

"Even for me, a national civil servant, it's far above my pay grade. I'm with the Labyrinth Agency, remember. If Sasamori's testimony is even remotely true, it means the government caused a deliberate Dungeon Rampage. On top of that, Tia blurted out on the stream that Sasamori was the culprit! I checked—it's clearly on the stream! You might not get how serious this is since you're not active on social media, senpai, but it's already the top trending topic!"

"Uh... so, it's become a 'festival'?"

"It has! We have to provide a logical explanation to the public! In this situation, Anthem and the Labyrinth Agency will probably have to put out a statement, and then the Prime Minister will hold a press conference! The major media and social media—there's no telling which way things will swing! And it's already a circus as it is!"

"Oh. Well, that's quite something."

He'd reacted like it was someone else's problem, but the scale of the situation had jumped too far. Sadoyama couldn't even feel a sense of personal involvement anymore.

At this point, the decisions of "higher-ups" would determine the fate of Sadoyama and Kawai Sakiho. Frankly, there was nothing he could do.

He'd probably be summoned to some troublesome meeting though...

"So, has the national civil servant from the Labyrinth Agency checked with the Cabinet? Asked them if it's true that someone claiming to be from CIRO gave a dungeon-sealing item to a prefectural assembly member?"

"As if I could do that! What if it were true?! I mean, even if it were true, there's no way they'd say 'Oh yeah, that was our guy's doing'!"

"Well, I guess not, but still, you're going to deal with the 'festival,' right? How are you going to manage... ah, no, forget it. I don't want to hear about it."

"You're bailing, senpai."

"Retreat when you sense danger. Explorer basics."

"Make sure you tell Hayasaka Toru that."

A huge sigh echoed through the phone. He understood how she felt, but he didn't feel like acknowledging it and comforting her.

"Oh, by the way, Nanami-chan. That big thing from Sugai Dungeon's rampage—just in case, I recorded it on video. Don't underestimate a tiepin camera. I've got the data saved in the cloud, I'll share it with you later."

"Honestly, what made you think to record it?"

"I was desperate on my end too. I didn't think I'd make it out alive, so I figured I had to at least leave data on the enemy. I checked the footage of the hydra at Noumi too, but the great serpent at Sugai Dungeon was similarly a monster even A-rank explorers couldn't handle. Even if we'd formed a clan and challenged it in our prime, we wouldn't have stood a chance."

That was what "couldn't even lift a finger" meant.

The monster whose mere shockwave from its charge blew away the magical defenses that Sadoyama—a former A-rank—had constructed was, by rank, clearly upper S-rank.

It was a miracle the damage had been kept to this scale.

If Hayasaka Toru hadn't been there, both the great serpent and the hydra would have been rampaging through the city by now, and massive damage on the scale of the "Chain Dungeon Rampage" would have occurred. They would have scrambled to gather high-rank explorers in the time it took to devastate a single city, and been forced into a desperate raid battle.

And what would have helped in planning that operation would be information on the enemy.

He needed to leave—no, leave behind—information on the great serpent.

No matter what.

Even then, several precious high-rank explorers would probably have been sacrificed. Considering the labyrinth produce they would have brought back, the economic loss would be staggering, and he didn't want to think about the social impact of losing those individuals on public consciousness.

"Hayasaka-kun's gonna have a rough time from here on."

Pinching the cigarette that had burned down to the filter, incinerating it with magic, Sadoyama sighed.

"It's tough on our end too, you know. The Labyrinth Agency staff will probably arrive before the S-rank explorer clan we summoned. I also called 'the teacher.' Once the staff arrives, you'll probably get a call too, so don't go to sleep and wait for it."

Having said her piece, she hung up.

Had his former comrade changed, or hadn't she... Sadoyama put his phone back in his suit's inner pocket with a wry smile, pulled out a new cigarette, and lit it with fire magic.

Back in the day—they just kept challenging dungeons, getting stronger, bringing back produce, getting new gear, and diving into dungeons again.

Now, he had to worry about social contribution, the public's whatever, and higher-ups' reactions this and that.

If being an adult was boring, that was surely his own problem. He didn't want to think of himself as having become a boring adult, but it was hard to say he was in an enjoyable environment.

Even though he chose this himself.

It wasn't supposed to be like this—

"Heh... society's to blame. Yeah, society."

In the end, he muttered that boring excuse to himself and started walking.

The eastern sky was beginning to burn with hints of purple. Whether labyrinths rampaged or cursed blades bisected monsters, the sun was working just as it had yesterday.

The time was approaching 4 AM.

He could probably get at least a little sleep, Sadoyama thought.