ch61-ch80 · 068-ch67

Chapter 67

"I'm Mayor Endo. I was terribly rude the other day. And first of all — thank you. Hayasaka-san, thanks to you, the damage from the 'Dungeon Rampage' was kept to a minimum! I know that bowing my head now won't earn your trust... but still, I want to convey my gratitude. Thank you very much."

A man in his late thirties to mid-forties with an elite air about him bowed deeply without hesitation. Toru watched him with somewhat awkward feelings.

Why? Because his memory of Mayor Endo went about as far as "he was at that meeting." Toru himself didn't remember much of what happened there. He did have the impression it was a largely meaningless meeting, though...

"Ah... uh, yeah. Thanks. Anyway, can I get those forms?"

"Y-yes! My apologies. Yamada-san — I'm sorry, but please go home for today. Matsushima-san! A moment, please!"

The mayor raised his head, spoke one brief sentence to the woman at the counter, then called over to a young man who'd been inputting something into a terminal in the back. Young as in older than Toru — probably not yet thirty, by the look of him.

"Wh-wh-wh—"

The Yamada woman's face flushed red and pale by turns, but the mayor no longer acknowledged her. He guided Toru and Kawai to a different counter from where she was lingering, confirmed that the clerk named Matsushima was coming over, and then let out a deep sigh.

"Matsushima-san. This is Hayasaka Toru-san. As for Kawai-san... you know about her, correct?"

"Uh, yeah... Kawai-san, I heard you quit?"

Since she'd been at the Sugai Dungeon front desk, that essentially meant she was an S City civil servant. It wouldn't be strange at all for her to be acquainted with someone working at the city hall Labyrinth Department.

Which meant — maybe the broad-shouldered Yamada woman had bad feelings about Kawai even before watching yesterday's stream... well, not that Toru cared either way.

"Yes. I'm currently employed by Hayasaka-san. Though it's a trial period."

"You need the clan establishment forms, right? By the way, we can also buy the magic cores you collected when you explored Sugai Dungeon with the Kujo heiress. What do you think?"

The first half of his words were for Kawai, the second half directed at Toru. The clerk seemed neutral — no ill will, no goodwill — and Toru found that pleasant. He wasn't the type to demand friendliness from service staff. As long as the late-night convenience store clerk handled the register, he didn't care how unmotivated they looked.

In that sense, the old Kawai Sakiho had also done her job properly — aside from the occasional snide remark.

Incidentally, the broad-shouldered woman was making a face like she'd been gravely insulted, but nobody paid her any mind.

"If it takes time, I can do it another time."

"No, either way, high-grade magic cores require time for appraisal. We'd take them now and transfer payment with the purchase details later, so it's better to submit the cores together. Since you're establishing a clan, would you like the payment deposited into the clan account?"

"Ah... yeah, sure. Then I'll hand over the cores for now."

"Thank you. The magic core reception is over here, so I'll guide you. Kawai-san, please fill out these forms."

Ushered along by the efficiently working Matsushima, Toru pulled out all the magic cores from his magic bag at the collection counter. Matsushima seemed surprised by the quality and quantity, but didn't say anything unnecessary.

"Hayasaka-san, our staff was incredibly rude. I apologize once again."

The mayor, who'd inexplicably followed along, bowed his head again. Toru didn't care — except for one thing.

"If that broad-shouldered woman's at the counter next time, it's gonna be a problem."

"We'd have a problem with that too, so neither you nor Kawai-san will have any further contact with her. I support your explorer activities. Above all, stay safe."

The mayor flashed a smile with his lips precisely adjusted and extended his right hand.

Toru shrugged ambiguously and ignored the handshake.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me a failure as a member of society, he thought, self-deprecating. But if he'd intended to be a proper member of society, he'd never have ended up in this situation in the first place.

"Ah... well, mayor, I'm sure you've got your hands full from here on, but uh, do your best. I'll do what I do."

"...Yes. Thank you."

This time, an unadjusted wry smile slipped out. Toru found himself preferring that one. Guess he really wasn't cut out for society.

◇◇◇

After that, Kawai explained the forms she'd filled out, he confirmed them against his ID, and with remarkable simplicity, the clan 'Cleaning Sword' was born.

Cleaning, Holy Sword, Twin Swords, Stratosphere, a joke mixing Italian and English to pile on 'sword user' references — he'd come up with it in about five minutes before bed yesterday, so he wasn't confident in his sense of taste. But honestly, he didn't care what the clan name was.

Currently the only clan member was Toru. According to Kawai, expenses as an explorer could be deducted more easily from this clan account, and there were other conveniences too.

"Come to think of it, Hayasaka-san never received any explorer training either."

Kawai said, as if she'd only just noticed how ignorant he was. Toru figured even if he had gone through training, he'd still be hopeless at administrative stuff, so he just nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

At any rate, with the clan application and magic core submission done, he had no more business at city hall.

"Speaking of which — Sadoyama-san wasn't around, huh."

"Ah, Section Chief Sadoyama is generally not at city hall. He's either visiting labyrinth branch offices, or normally socializing with explorers in the city. Sometimes he goes into labyrinths too. Right now... well, I can't really say what he's doing."

Toru shrugged carelessly at Kawai, who lowered her brows apologetically.

He didn't dislike Sadoyama personally, but whether he wanted to see him specifically was another matter. He felt like he kept causing him trouble, and as the mayor said, considering his contribution to preventing the 'Dungeon Rampage,' maybe he ought to be strutting around. Not that he intended to.

"Also, I've made inquiries about the disposal of your totaled car and my own car. Apparently they'll put it up for discussion, so we might get some compensation. The scrapping procedure will happen after the city office responds."

"...Yeah."

He'd completely forgotten, so Toru could only nod. There'd been that trouble at the counter, but so far her work was beyond reproach.

He wasn't about to decide on full employment based on one day's performance, but he had a feeling she probably wouldn't make any major mistakes.

It was like — her attitude was different.

The woman who'd sat at the Sugai Dungeon reception desk and the woman walking beside him now were, as far as Toru was concerned, practically different people.

So what about himself?

The old Hayasaka Toru, and the Toru of now...

"—Hey. You're Hayasaka?"

Just as they left the Labyrinth Department and exited city hall, someone suddenly called out to him.

The speaker seemed to have business at city hall too — he'd noticed Toru while trying to enter the building. A guy around his age, clearly putting effort into his hairstyle. Parts of his black hair were dyed sky-blue, brightening toward the tips. He had the vibe of a stereotypical extrovert, but he wasn't with any friends. Alone.

"...And who might you be?"

Toru tilted his head, genuinely puzzled. He had no memory of this guy. From the way the sky-blue highlights guy's expression soured, Toru didn't have a particularly good feeling about this.

"Wh-who... you don't remember me?"

The extrovert furrowed his brows as if annoyed.

Kawai whispered to Toru: "An acquaintance?" But he had absolutely no recollection.

"Ah... uh... sorry. Can't say I remember..."

"Yo— The fuck you— GAKH!"

The next moment, the extrovert suddenly spat out inhuman sounds, and before Toru could process it, the guy's knees gave out. He plopped down into a perfect seiza right there, then toppled forward, hitting his head on the ground.

"..."

"..."

And behind the extrovert stood a fantasy village girl. She wasn't holding Lightbringer. Empty-handed.

"Ah, sorry. Was he an acquaintance? He had that vibe of a pain in the ass who'd come bother you at the guild, so I knocked him out..."

Tia smiled apologetically. Toru sighed in response.

"Well, I didn't have a great feeling about him either. Sorry, Kawai-san, could you let someone at city hall know there's a weirdo collapsed here? You — use recovery magic on him. No visible injuries, so they probably won't figure it out."

Just in case, Toru checked their surroundings, but no one was paying attention to them for now. Inside city hall was one thing, but it was a weekday morning, so there weren't many passersby.

"...So, is that guy an acquaintance of yours?"

Kawai nodded and headed back into city hall. Tia tilted her head. Toru ran a search through his own brain, but either the search terms were bad or there was simply no hit.

"He talked like he knew me, but I don't remember him."

"Hmm... well, he's Toru. Could go either way."

Muttering as she spoke, Tia cast recovery magic on the guy. There hadn't been any visible injuries to begin with, but with this, even a thorough examination probably wouldn't reveal anything.

Toru dragged the guy's body to the side of the entrance, let out a breath, and said:

"For now, let's get outta here. We'll wait for Kawai-san in the car."

◇◇◇

Their next stop was a used car dealership.

The clan account didn't have money in it yet, so it came from Toru's personal account, but according to Kawai, it could be sorted out later.

He bought a one-generation-old light van and a two-generation-old kei car in a lump sum, with delivery scheduled for three days later.

"We've gotta sign a parking contract too, so why not rent the room next door as well?"

Shenna suggested. Toru nodded — yeah, that made sense.

He had money for now, and if he kept working as an explorer, it'd probably only increase. Renting one more room in a rundown apartment wouldn't hurt at all. Thinking like that, he felt oddly detached from himself.

How should he put it... it didn't quite feel like his own money.

Not that it felt like someone else's money either.

"Seriously, this is the first time I've seen someone buy two cars in thirty minutes."

"Lol, seriously," Shenna laughed.

It wasn't Toru but Kawai who reacted to that.

"I was pretty shocked too. I thought you had a friend or a regular dealer... just finding a random used shop and buying on the spot like that..."

"...Well, I was nervous too, y'know. Buying two cars in cash."

"If it's Toru-bro-sama, I'm sure you could buy five or ten cars, not just two!"

Kujo Reiko said it like it was perfectly normal.

As an A-rank explorer who probably dove into labyrinths more frequently than most, she was likely loaded even as an individual, beyond being a zaibatsu heiress. But she didn't seem particularly concerned about money either.

"...Don't need that many."

"Ah, that's right! How about buying a helicopter? It's convenient for longer trips!"

"No heliport or pilot's license."

"How unfortunate..."

Toru wasn't exactly disappointed, but Kujo Reiko honestly seemed a bit let down.

Incidentally, Mika got a little excited at her suggestion, while Maisaka looked thoroughly put off. Tia was blank-faced, and Shenna went "Nyaha!" Kawai also let out a small laugh.

It didn't feel bad, he thought.

Not that he wanted it to last forever.

◇◇◇

Including minor travel time, it was around lunchtime. He asked Mika if there was anything she wanted to eat. "Ramen," she replied.

"We can't exactly take this whole group to a ramen shop. We've got shopping planned next, so... how about the food court at the department store?"

Shenna offered the suggestion, and Toru nodded. They headed to the largest department store in the city.

It was a five-story building that seemed a bit too big for the city's population. Apparently the fourth and fifth floors sold explorer items. It was a place Toru had never had occasion to visit, but finding himself here now felt strangely surreal.

How should he put it... was this how Cinderella felt going to a ball without a carriage or a dress? Even though he had an explorer's license and money too, he couldn't shake the feeling of being completely out of place.

Anyway, first, lunch.

It was a fairly large department store even aside from the explorer goods section, and there were a fair number of people despite it being a weekday in a regional city. The parking lot was reasonably full too — he wondered where all these people were in this city, but they were probably from outside it.

The first-floor food court was reasonably spacious, with several food stalls lined up. It was a little early for lunch, but customers were trickling in.

First they secured a table. Got some self-serve water. Then came the staring contest with the menu.

"So the system is: you input your order at the table terminal and pay with your mobile. Looks like cash is supported too, but probably as an exception. Orders go to each shop, and when the food's ready, a meal ticket prints from the table terminal — you take it to the shop to pick up your order. Huh... it's pretty efficient."

Nobody understood the food court system, so Kawai read the terminal instructions and explained to the group.

"Shop staff don't come to take orders or bring food? That saves on labor, I guess."

"I've never been to a place like this before. There are so many options, my eyes are wandering. Mika-sama, what will you eat?"

"Ramen! Roasted pork noodles."

"Mika. Can you finish that? They've got kids' lunches and half-ramen too, y'know? Hmm, I think I'll go with a Caesar salad and a Margherita pizza."

"It's fine. I'll give half the pork to Toru."

"...Then I'll just get regular ramen."

"I want this. I saw it on TV. Crispy and juicy katsudon! It probably won't be like what I saw on TV, but it's the same kind of food, right?"

"Then I suppose I'll have the large tempura bowl. No, curry is also tempting..."

"...I'll take takoyaki and a tortilla."

"What a combination, Maisaka-san... ah, I'll go with carbonara."

"You're not surprising at all, Kawai."

"I don't need surprises in my lunch."

And so on.

It was a scene so peaceful you'd never guess that just yesterday he'd chopped a Labyrinth Inspector General's arm to pieces.

Incidentally, the ramen was really ordinary — the kind you'd eat at a department store as a kid, almost rare to find these days.

◇◇◇

After that.

Since they were using two days of her time, Toru ended up buying Mika some clothes. He also told Tia to pick out some clothes for herself, handed her his mobile, and sat down on a bench along the corridor.

Since he didn't know what happened when someone dropped manifestation while wearing bought clothes, or when they remanifested, he told them to get several types — some for experimenting, some for daily wear. Mika's clothes he left to her own preference, but Shenna gave a wry smile at that and said:

"You're way too soft on Mika, y'know. If it's thanks, how about buying me something too?"

"...Sonoyama-san, I think Mika'd be happier if you bought her something. You don't seem like the type who likes getting stuff from guys."

He remembered Shenna once mentioning she wasn't good at receiving presents from customers — not that he'd asked. At the same time, he felt like she wouldn't accept monetary compensation either. He did intend to give her money if she asked for it, though.

"Well, I don't think the universe'd punish me for tagging along for free for two days. I'm always having you look after Mika anyway, and I'm getting free meals."

"I'm not lookin' after her."

"No? Then let's just say you are. In your head, at least."

Shenna laughed — "Nyaha!" — and walked into the store.

I'm making her feel obliged, Toru sighed. But having her tag along from morning wasn't just to repay her for everyday kindnesses.

He did have a plan.

Even if it didn't work out, he could still repay her for daily kindness, so there was no loss. Having more than enough money — though he didn't know if it'd stay that way — and treating people he knew to things felt like a small luxury for his heart.

"So, tomorrow's Sugai Dungeon, huh. Soma-san got permission for us, which helps, but... feels like who knows what's gonna happen."

Without his mobile to kill time, Toru muttered to himself. But he held back from continuing to grumble, looking up at the department store's white ceiling and letting out a vague sigh.

Then —

Someone who happened to be passing in front of him stopped, staring at Toru with a surprised expression.

A slender, delicate woman. Glossy layered bob of black hair. A long skirt paired with casual boots, and a baggy denim jacket on top. The small shoulder bag she wore made him wonder what could possibly fit in something that tiny — but it was probably just fashion.

A college student, maybe?

The woman's eyes went wide as she looked at him, and Toru recognized her face.

"...Hayasaka-kun?"

"Ah... Shirazawa...?"

Shirazawa Kana.

The person who had been Hayasaka Toru's girlfriend before he dropped out of high school.