Morito-san was prostrated before us, his forehead pressed so firmly against the tatami that only the back of his head was visible. It was a perfect, unmistakable dogeza.
...What am I supposed to do in this situation?
The sight of a dignified, middle-aged man bowing so low was utterly overwhelming, leaving us stunned and bewildered. My eyes darted around as I searched for a way to break the tension. Eventually, I looked toward Genya-san, who sat across from us, and sent him a silent plea for help.
"……Morito. You’re making them uncomfortable. Raise your head."
"But, Father. All I can do is bow and ask with all my heart."
"That may be so, but stop this sudden display. If someone of your standing does that, these young people won't be able to say no, will they? If you claim to be acting with 'sincerity,' then using such a tactic to strip them of their choices is unsightly."
"……Yes, I apologize."
"Why are you apologizing to me?"
Following Genya-san's sharp reprimand, Morito-san finally raised his head. The faint redness on his forehead was proof of just how desperately he had been bowing. He offered a shallow nod of apology.
"I am sorry. That was a sudden display of poor manners……"
"N-no. It’s just proof of how much you care for your daughter, Morito-san…… You have nothing to apologize to us for."
"……Your kindness is deeply appreciated."
"Besides, we intended to give the medicine to the Fujiki family from the very beginning," Yuji added, glancing at me.
I gave a small nod in return. Pretending to rummage through my school bag, I pulled a bottle from my Spatial Storage. It was a high-grade recovery potion, sealed with the official seal of the Dungeon Association.
I handed the bottle to Yuji, who was acting as our spokesperson.
"This is the high-grade recovery potion we promised."
Yuji placed the bottle in front of Genya-san.
It was about the size of a standard energy drink, but the two men—Morito-san in particular—stared at it with looks of intense longing.
"Oh, this is……"
"Please, feel free to examine it. The sealing label on the cap is exactly as it was when it was returned from the Association’s appraisal."
"Then, if you’ll excuse me……"
Genya-san picked up the bottle. Without an appraisal skill, they probably couldn't verify the contents themselves, but they could at least confirm that the sealing label hadn't been tampered with. After staring intently at the glass, Genya-san passed it to Morito-san and then looked us in the eye.
"I cannot verify the contents myself, but the sealing label certainly shows no signs of being opened."
"It's the real thing, without a doubt…… though I suppose it's hard to believe until you actually see the effects, right?"
"……Forgive me."
"No, please don't worry about it. I think that's a perfectly natural reaction."
In our case, my high-performance appraisal skill meant we never had to doubt the authenticity of items. However, for explorers or ordinary people without appraisal skills or specialized magic tools, determining if a medicine was genuine was nearly impossible.
It was only natural to be suspicious. In fact, it was probably more dangerous to trust someone blindly.
"……In that case, would it be alright if I tried this on my daughter right now?"
"We don't mind, but…… are you sure?"
Morito-san gripped the bottle, looking at us for permission.
"Yes. You do not seem like the type of people who would try to deceive us, and if it is real, I want to use it on her immediately."
"I see…… that makes sense."
"Then, please excuse me for a moment."
"Ah, yes."
"Father. Please, look after them while I am gone."
"I understand. Give my best to Ririka."
"I will."
With a final bow, Morito-san left the great hall, cradling the high-grade recovery potion in both hands as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
Left alone in the hall, we moistened our throats with tea that had grown a bit cold. Then, Yuji spoke to Genya-san in a reserved tone.
"Genya-san. May I ask you something?"
"Of course. Ask whatever you wish."
"Under what circumstances did your granddaughter suffer such heavy injuries? By March, the party system should have already been introduced. If she had been exploring recklessly on her own, I could understand her getting hurt, but if she was in a party, those injuries shouldn't happen unless they were doing something incredibly dangerous……"
"……"
Genya-san closed his eyes and took a deep breath before answering.
"……Very well. Since you were kind enough to provide the medicine, I shall tell you."
"Thank you."
"First, let me say that when Ririka was injured, she was in a party with students from this dojo."
"……How many people were in the party?"
"There were eight of them, including Ririka."
"Eight people……"
Since they were "students," that meant every member of the party had martial arts experience. I wondered if they had lacked real combat experience and hesitated to kill monsters, but if Ririka was injured in March, it meant they had been active for a while without encountering anything that forced them to quit.
Furthermore, with eight people who knew how to fight…… would they really suffer such a catastrophic injury as losing an arm so easily?
"……Did they push themselves too hard and challenge a floor that was too much for them?" I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop it.
"No. It is true that when they first became explorers, Ririka and the young students were overconfident, intoxicated by their new strength. However, after I personally broke their egos during practice, they learned to respect their own limits."
So this old man was the same type as Juzo-san. Even if his granddaughter and the others were low-level back then, to beat some sense back into explorers with superior physical specs…… I looked at the hanging scroll on the wall behind Genya-san with a distant gaze.
"Then why did she end up so heavily injured? Based on what you've said, Genya-san, it doesn't sound like a situation she would easily fall into……"
Hiiragi-san asked the question in my stead. Genya-san let out a short, heavy breath.
"……MPK."
"MPK? You mean…… a Monster Player Killer?"
"Yes, exactly. It is a gaming term, I believe, but it refers to the act of training a group of monsters and dumping them onto other explorers. Ririka lost an arm and an eye because she was targeted by an MPK."
"……"
The faces of a certain duo flashed through our minds—those two idiots who had attacked Shinohara-san and Miyano-san.
"When she was injured, Ririka's party was exploring the 9th floor. At first, their progress through the dungeon was going smoothly."
The 9th floor was where groups of small-to-medium-sized humanoid monsters appeared. While they were weaker than large monsters like orcs, they appeared in such numbers that they were difficult to manage.
"However, as they explored, the number of monsters they encountered began to increase. It started becoming difficult for Ririka's party to handle them, so they began considering a retreat while they still had some strength left."
"I see……"
At least they were calm enough to know when to pull back.
"But…… just as they were about to retreat, an explorer came running toward them from the direction of their exit, leading a massive horde of monsters."
A monster train.
"The explorer turned a corner just before reaching Ririka's party, but the monsters he had been leading changed their target to the larger group. Ririka's party was pinned between monsters from both the front and the back. They were caught in a pincer attack by a vast number of creatures."
That sounded like a nightmare. They were already struggling with numbers and trying to retreat, and then a fresh horde cut off their only exit. Their ability to respond would have collapsed instantly.
"Caught in the pincer, Ririka's party fought desperately to break through, but they were simply outnumbered. Gradually, they were overwhelmed and driven into a corner."
It was inevitable. If anything, it was impressive they even maintained a defensive line for as long as they did.
"They tried to retreat while fending off the monsters, but fatigue from the long battle caused their concentration to slip. More and more members were injured. The defensive line grew weaker and weaker until finally……"
"……Your granddaughter was the one who took the hit?"
"Yes."
Genya-san went silent, crossing his arms and looking down with a look of profound regret. We exchanged looks, unsure of what to say. After a long moment, Genya-san composed himself and looked up.
"Ririka and the others managed to avoid fatal wounds by using the recovery potions they had on hand, and with the help of other explorers they encountered, they finally escaped the dungeon."
"In such a desperate retreat, weren't there others who lost limbs? We only had that one high-grade recovery potion."
"That is not a problem. Ririka was the only one who suffered a permanent injury like the loss of a limb."
"Eh?"
Wait. Weren't the party members his students? Why was the granddaughter the only one with such a heavy injury? Normally, if they were students, wouldn't they put their lives on the line to protect the daughter of their dojo master? Especially a girl our age from such a storied family.
As we tilted our heads in confusion, Genya-san explained the reason with a faint, sad smile.
"It may seem strange, but our style is derived from a school of martial arts dedicated to guarding noble individuals. Members of this family are taught from a young age that protecting others, even at the cost of one’s own life, is the highest virtue. Thus, it is not surprising that Ririka sacrificed herself to protect her companions."
"I see……"
Sacrificing oneself to protect others. It made sense if they were trained to be professional bodyguards, but even so……
"Ririka herself does not seem to regret losing her arm and eye for her friends. She was raised with that mindset, after all……"
"……"
"When she returned from the dungeon, she was brave. She didn't let anyone see her cry; instead, she encouraged the other party members. Because of her, the students who were with her were able to recover from the trauma."
If you're being encouraged by the person who suffered the most, you have no choice but to pull yourself together.
"……However, when she was alone, Ririka wept for her missing hand and eye. Even seeing her like that, we could not offer her comfort. Since we were the ones who taught her to be that way, to comfort her for her sacrifice would be to deny the very devotion she showed in following our teachings."
Genya-san was explaining it to us, but it felt like he was repeating a mantra to convince himself.
"The only thing we could do was seek a high-grade recovery potion. We exhausted every means at our disposal, but we simply couldn't find one."
"……And that’s when my grandfather contacted you?" Yuji asked, and Genya-san nodded.
"Yes. When I heard from Juzo, I felt as though I had found a godsend. I knew then that I could finally heal Ririka’s injuries and bring back her smile……"
The expression on Genya-san’s face was one of profound relief, as if a great weight had finally been lifted.
"By the way, Genya-san, did you or your family not try to dive into the dungeon yourselves to find the potion? For masters like you, I feel like you could have gotten one eventually."
Genya-san’s expression soured for a moment.
"It is true that if Morito, the assistant instructors, or I put in the time, we might have found one."
"……Then why?"
"The problem is the time it would take."
"Time?"
"Yes. As you know, our business is the protection of clients. Those schedules are planned meticulously months in advance. Even for my granddaughter’s sake, we could not abandon those duties to spend weeks or months in a dungeon. To do so would destroy the trust that has been built over generations."
Genya-san closed his eyes regretfully.
"Our guards are not assigned by the government; they are chosen by clients who trust the Fujiki name. If we suddenly declined a request for a personal reason, it would breed distrust. And for a bodyguard, being mistrusted by the person you are guarding is the most dangerous thing that can happen. If a crisis occurs and the client stops following your instructions, the risk of everyone dying increases exponentially."
"……"
"Morito and I have a duty to the Fujiki household. If we prioritized ourselves, we would be placing a massive burden on every guard who works under our name. We had to avoid that, even if it meant my granddaughter spent her days in grief……"
Silence fell over the room. Just as Yuji opened his mouth to speak, Morito-san’s voice came from the hallway.
"Excuse me. Father, I have brought Ririka."
"Oh! Is that so! Come, enter quickly!"
The sliding doors opened. Behind Morito-san stood a girl in traditional Japanese clothing. With her semi-long hair and delicate features, she looked just like a Japanese doll.
Outnumbered.
Unless you are a transcendent master like Juzo-san, even a party of trained martial artists can be crushed by sheer weight of numbers.