After we finished eating, we spent about three hours singing our hearts out at karaoke before retrieving our things from the coin lockers and heading home. On the way back, Mika mentioned she wanted to see my dungeon gear, and Saori-chan added that she’d like to see it for reference as well. After thinking it over for a moment, I gave them the green light. We’d finished our shopping more smoothly than expected, and there was still plenty of time before sunset.
Once we got back, I asked the two of them to wait in the living room while I went to tidy up my disaster of a bedroom.
"In times like this, Spatial Storage is a lifesaver."
I started picking up the clothes and magazines scattered across the floor, stowing them inside Spatial Storage one after another. With the floor finally clear, the room felt significantly more refreshed.
Next, I cracked the window to let in some fresh air while spraying a bit of deodorizer to kill any lingering smells, then I straightened out the bed. I couldn't exactly change the sheets right now, but I figured I should at least make it look presentable.
"...Well, I guess that’ll do."
The clutter was gone, and a faint scent of mint drifted through the air, creating a reasonably pleasant atmosphere. For a panicked, last-minute cleaning job, it wasn't half bad. At the very least, I didn't think inviting girls in would cause them any immediate discomfort.
I would have liked to run the vacuum, but I didn't have the time, so I let it go.
"Oh, right. Almost forgot."
I pulled the case containing Shiranui and the bag I take into the dungeon out of Spatial Storage. I hadn't told Mika or Saori-chan about the skill yet, so it would look suspicious if I didn't have them out in the open beforehand.
I leaned Shiranui against the desk and set the bag down beside it.
"That should be everything. Now, time to call Mika and the other."
With the room ready, I opened the door to head back to the living room, only to find myself making direct eye contact with Mika and Saori-chan, who were standing right outside.
"...What are you two doing?"
"Ha, haha. Uh, well..."
"...I'm sorry."
Mika tried to laugh it off, but Saori-chan apologized honestly with a bow.
I remained silent, staring fixedly at Mika as she tried to play it cool. Eventually losing out to my gaze, she cracked and confessed why they were lurking in the hallway.
"...We heard noises coming from your room, like you were cleaning up in a rush, so we thought we’d peek in and see just how messy it actually was..."
"...Sigh. Is that your reason too, Saori-chan?"
I couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh at the sheer silliness of it. I shifted my gaze from Mika to Saori-chan, who looked thoroughly embarrassed.
"Um, yes. My apologies."
"Haaa..."
I knew it was just curiosity, but give me a break. It made me wonder why I’d even bothered to clean the room in such a frantic rush if they were just going to snoop anyway.
"There’s no point in standing here arguing. Just come in."
"Oh, okay."
"...Excuse me."
I invited the dejected pair into my room.
I took the chair at my desk while Mika sat on my bed with practiced ease. She gestured for Saori-chan—who was standing awkwardly at the entrance, unsure where to go—to join her.
"Sorry. The bed's the only place to sit."
"N-No, it’s fine."
"Here, Saori-chan. Sit right here."
"I-If you’ll excuse me."
After a moment of hesitation, Saori-chan sat down beside Mika. However, perhaps because she wasn't used to being in my room or because sitting on someone’s bed felt a bit forward, she looked incredibly stiff, her body swaying slightly with nerves.
"Anyway... things got a bit derailed, but do you want to see the dungeon gear now?"
"Yeah!"
"Yes, please."
"Alright, first up..."
I stood up and picked up the storage bag leaning against the desk. Opening it, I pulled out Shiranui and my Kaiken. I handed the Kaiken to Mika and Shiranui to Saori-chan.
"Mika’s probably seen this before, but these are the weapons I use in the dungeon."
Mika inspected the Kaiken with interest, while Saori-chan stared intensely at Shiranui, her expression turning somber. Their reactions were a study in contrasts. To be fair, Mika had held Shiranui a few times before.
"Are you okay?"
"Eh? Ah, yes! I-I'm fine!"
It seemed Saori-chan was incredibly nervous just holding Shiranui. Most people never get the chance to touch a real blade in their entire lives, so I suppose it’s natural to tense up when one is suddenly thrust into your hands.
While I was checking on Saori-chan, Mika finished her inspection of the Kaiken’s exterior.
"Hey, Onii-chan. Can I pull this out?"
"Sure... but be careful not to cut yourself, okay?"
"Got it!"
With my permission, Mika released the blade and drew the Kaiken.
"Whoa..."
"..."
Mika let out a soft sound of admiration, while Saori-chan stared fixedly at the steel. The blade caught the light from the ceiling, emitting a faint, sharp glint.
"That’s something I received from the swordsmith when I had Shiranui reforged. I don't use it often, but it's a reliable sub-weapon for emergencies."
I explained the Kaiken to Saori-chan, who looked like she was being drawn into the blade's spell.
"...Shiranui?"
"Yeah. That’s the name of the sword you’re holding. It's called Shiranui."
"...Shiranui."
Saori-chan shifted her gaze to the katana in her lap. After staring at it for a few seconds, she looked up at me.
"Onii-san... may I try drawing Shiranui as well?"
"Go ahead... but it’s dangerous, so only draw it a little bit, okay?"
"Yes!"
The moment I gave the okay, Saori-chan’s eyes lit up.
...Wait, was she a sword enthusiast?
Before I could even explain about the locking lug, she gripped the hilt and tried to force the blade out of the scabbard. Naturally, the blade wouldn't budge with the lock engaged, and Saori-chan began to struggle with it.
"Um... Saori-chan?"
"Y-Yes!? What is it!?"
"...There's a locking mechanism on Shiranui so it doesn't accidentally slide out. You have to release it before you can draw the sword."
"...Eh!?"
She stopped and stared at me with a look of pure shock. Hey, don't look at me like that—you're the one who tried to yank it out before I could finish speaking.
"Here. You have to press this metal part on the guard while you slowly pull it out."
"...This part?"
Saori-chan pointed to the component I indicated.
"Exactly."
As I nodded, she pressed the locking lug and slowly eased Shiranui out. This time, the blade slid out smoothly, catching the light and reflecting Saori-chan’s face in the polished steel.
"...Incredible."
She whispered the word, standing perfectly still as she stared at the drawn blade. She looked like a visitor at a museum who had been stopped in their tracks by a masterpiece. However, I couldn't help but wonder if I was imagining the way the corners of her mouth curled up into a slight smile.
"I appreciate the compliment. It makes the constant maintenance feel worth it."
"...You do the maintenance yourself, Onii-san?"
"Yeah. Mostly just basic stuff like wiping down the blade, but if you slack off on that daily upkeep, it shows the moment you actually need to use it. You can't let your guard down."
If the maintenance is poor, the surface darkens or rust spots start appearing almost immediately. Even though Hiiragi-san’s Cleansing skill gets rid of all the monster blood before we even leave the dungeon, it still finds a way to rust. Is it just the moisture in the air?
"I see... that sounds like a lot of work."
"It is. But then again, this is the partner I trust with my life. I can't afford to cut corners."
Saori-chan gave a distracted reply, her eyes never leaving the blade.
Technically, I could fight monsters barehanded if I had to, but considering how drop items work, it's better to finish them off with a weapon. If you try to fight the monsters on the shallow floors with your bare hands, they usually just end up exploding into particles....Wait, would an ogre explode like that?
"If we go into the dungeon, we'll need weapons like this too, won't we?"
As she stared at Shiranui, she seemed to be imagining herself confronting monsters with a sword in hand. But, well...
"Personally, I wouldn't recommend this type of weapon for you or Mika."
"...Why not?"
Upon hearing my disapproval, Saori-chan finally looked away from the sword and gave me a puzzled look. Mika had sheathed the Kaiken and was wearing a similar expression, waiting for me to continue.
"I have a perfectly good reason, of course. The simplest one is that swords are incredibly difficult to handle. If a regular person without any training just swings one around, they'll likely just break it."
"Break it? You mean like snapping it in half?"
"No, they don't snap that easily, but the blade can bend or the edge can chip."
"...Are swords really that fragile?"
Saori-chan looked down at Shiranui in her hands as if she couldn't believe it.
"They are if you use them wrong. Unlike Western swords, Japanese swords aren't built to hack things apart with raw weight; they're meant for slicing, so the blades are thin. If you don't maintain proper edge alignment when you swing, it won't cut cleanly."
"...Cleanly?"
"Right. And if it doesn't cut cleanly, that means you're putting that much more stress on the blade itself. Once that stress exceeds the sword's capacity, it breaks. An amateur would probably only get a few swings out of it before it's ruined."
"..."
"Swordsmanship is the technique used to prevent that. Neither of you has ever studied it, right?"
"Nope."
"...No."
Mika answered immediately, while Saori-chan sounded a bit frustrated.
"One more thing... what martial arts did you two take for PE in middle school?"
I’d hoped that maybe Kendo had been the chosen martial art after I graduated, but Saori-chan’s grimace told me all I needed to know.
"It was Judo, wasn't it?"
"...Yeah. Judo was the only martial art we did in PE."
"Just as I thought."
When I was a first-year, the PE teacher was a Kendo expert, so we did Kendo. But he transferred during my second year, and the new teacher was a Judo expert, so the curriculum switched. I’d hoped things might have reverted after I left, but it seemed that was just wishful thinking. In other words, neither Mika nor Saori-chan had any experience even swinging a bamboo sword.
"In that case, I really can't recommend swords for you."
"I see..."
Saori-chan sighed with profound disappointment and returned Shiranui to its scabbard. Mika watched her friend's total dejection for a moment before turning back to me.
"Then, Onii-chan, what would you recommend for us?"
"Let me see... hold on."
I told her to wait a moment as I opened my desk drawer and pulled out the Official Product Catalog issued by the Association. I flipped to the page I wanted and handed it over to Mika.
"Here, take a look at this."
"What’s this?"
"The Dungeon Association’s Official Product Catalog. It lists everything from weapons to miscellaneous goods. It’s great for reference."
"Hmm. So this is your recommendation, Onii-chan?"
The page Mika was looking at featured a warhammer made of a superhard alloy.
"...It looks like a pickaxe."
"Well, it is a combat pickaxe, essentially. With one of these, an amateur can use it without breaking it, and they’re easy to handle."
You can deal solid damage to a monster even with a sloppy swing. The head of the one-meter-long warhammer was flat on one side with a textured surface like a meat tenderizer, while the other side was a sharp, triangular spike with deep blood grooves.
"See this? The grooves on the sides of the spike make it much easier to pull out even if it gets driven deep into a monster. You won't find a design like that on a regular tool."
"Hmm. But it still just looks like a pickaxe..."
"In the dungeon, practicality beats aesthetics every time. You’re better off with something rugged and sturdy than something that looks cool but breaks instantly. Even with the Shiranui Saori-chan is holding, I had to have it reforged after only six months, even though I was being careful..."
I let out a sigh at the memory of the reforging costs. No matter how much you care for it, a sword is a consumable. As long as I keep using it, those maintenance fees are going to keep coming. Looking back, I can't help but feel I might have made a mistake with my first weapon choice.
...I wonder if there’s an Alchemy skill that handles weapon repairs?
After that, I walked them through the rest of my gear—armor, lighting, and so on. They were a bit reluctant, but they eventually accepted my advice that they could get by with secondhand gear for everything except their weapons and armor.
The real clincher was probably when I showed them the estimate for what all that equipment would cost if bought brand-new. The moment they saw the numbers on the paper, their eyes went wide.