I stepped into the living room, trying to calm a hyper-excited Mika as we went.
My mother was sitting on the sofa, relaxing with a cup of coffee.
"I’m home."
"Welcome back, Daiki. You're a bit earlier than usual today, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Practice ended sooner than I expected."
"I see..."
While I was explaining to Mother why I was back early, Mika, who had followed me in, tugged on my arm.
"Hey, hey, Onii-chan! Since my passing notice finally came, we can order that now, right?"
"That...? Oh, that. Sure, why not?"
"Yes!"
Mika gave a small, triumphant fist pump at my answer. Watching her, I asked about something that had been on my mind.
"By the way, Mika, did Saori-chan pass too?"
"Saori-chan...? Yeah! She messaged me as soon as I got home to say she passed!"
"Good."
So Saori-chan had made it safely as well.
The two of them had taken the exam together; I wouldn't have known how to comfort them if one had failed while the other passed, so it was a relief that they both succeeded. Truly.
"Oh? Are you two planning to do something now?"
"Yeah! I'm going to do some online shopping with Onii-chan! He promised we'd do it once my passing notice arrived. Besides, if we order with express delivery now, the package will arrive tomorrow!"
"I see. I'll have dinner ready at the usual time, so make sure you're finished by then, okay?"
"Got it!"
Mika, still quite worked up, answered Mother happily. Mother shot me a momentary, exasperated look, though she didn't actually say anything.
"Let's go! Onii-chan!"
"Alright, alright. Let's go."
While Mother and I were communicating with just our eyes, Mika tugged on the arm she was holding. Perhaps it was the result of Juzo-san's training, but I noticed there was no wobble in Mika's center of gravity as she pulled me along. I wasn't sure how to feel about seeing the fruits of her training in a situation like this.
"Come back down as soon as I call you, alright?"
"Okay—"
Pulled along by Mika, I left the living room as Mother waved her hand slightly to see us off.
Once we reached my room, I had Mika wait in the hall for a moment while I went inside. I set my school bag and other things beside my desk, changed from my uniform into loungewear, and powered on my PC.
"Mika, you can come in now."
"Excuse me~"
When I called out, Mika entered the room carrying her own chair. She placed it where she could see the monitor and sat down.
"Well, the PC is up. Shall we get started?"
"Yeah!"
I opened the internet browser and accessed the Dungeon Association's website, which I had bookmarked.
After confirming the page had loaded, I looked at Mika.
"Mika. Did you fill out the items on that list I gave you?"
"Yep."
"Good... What about Saori-chan's?"
"I talked to her when we were checking our results, and she emailed me her sizes and everything."
With that, Mika pulled a piece of paper folded into eighths from her pocket. It was a list I had compiled previously—items I thought were minimally necessary for dungeon exploration and were worth buying in advance.
Since things like clothes and shoes required specific sizes, I had given the list to Mika and Saori-chan so they could write down their measurements.
"Alright, we're ready then."
After finishing the necessary checks with Mika, I began logging into the Association's site. I opened the login window and entered my Explorer Card's unique registration number and password. The screen switched to the explorer-only page.
"Whoa, so the Association's site changes like this when you log in..."
"Well, it's an internal interface for explorers that isn't open to the public. To access this page, you have to be officially registered as an explorer with the Association and have a unique registration number issued."
The monitor changed from the promotional, public-facing design to a practical layout filled with official notices and memos for explorers.
"Because of that, anyone below the rank of a rookie explorer doesn't even know this auction page exists. It's a common story: people find out about it only after they've already bought most of what they need brand new. They usually end up kicking themselves for rushing to buy gear."
I explained this common explorer experience to Mika as I opened the auction page. To tell the truth, the three of us had fallen for it too. Fortunately, we managed to handle our finances thanks to the Slime Dungeon, but I'm sure many rookies end up in financial distress because of those initial investments.
I wasn't sure if that was still the case lately, though.
"If the Association is going to hand out those promotional pamphlets anyway, they could at least mention the auction page during the exam..." Mika sighed as she grumbled.
She had a point. However...
"The Association probably figures it's better for them if people buy new items rather than used ones, so they keep quiet. They'd probably answer if someone asked, but they won't volunteer the information. If more new items sell, they can expect incentives... a kickback from the suppliers."
Considering the background circumstances, that was likely why the Association didn't loudly advertise the auction page. No one wants to let go of the vested interests they've secured, after all.
Hearing my cynical speculation, Mika looked even more exhausted.
"Well, let's not worry about the politics right now and start picking out items. We don't have much time until dinner."
"Yeah... you're right."
"Okay, first, clothes. Let's pick out your combat outfits."
I clicked on the "Women's Fashion" category. Several thousand items appeared in the search results.
"There's quite a lot..."
"Yeah... Whoa, there are so many unused items."
"They probably bought them as spares, then retired as explorers without ever using them and put them up for sale."
Even narrowing it down to just unused items, there were nearly two thousand hits.
"Mika, are you sure you want a jersey for your combat outfit?"
"Yeah. The list you made said jerseys were recommended, and Saori-chan said that if she's going to be moving around, a jersey is fine for her too."
"I see."
In reality, since you move quite violently inside a dungeon, I personally recommend jerseys. Poorly made clothes can hinder your movement and create unexpected openings.
"But Onii-chan, if it's just a jersey, couldn't we just buy one at a local sporting goods store? We don't have to go out of our way to buy it on the Association's site, do we?"
"Well, that might be true for a normal jersey, but the explorer-use jerseys the Association sells are a bit special. You can't find them in normal stores, and they're quite expensive if you buy them new."
"...Special?"
"Special fibers called aramid fibers—the kind used in bulletproof vests—are woven into the fabric. Because of that, the durability is incredibly high compared to a normal jersey. I think it could withstand a light scratching attack from a monster."
"Whoa, really?"
While Mika was looking impressed, I entered the keywords "jersey," "women's," and "unused" into the search bar.
"Let's see... four hundred hits. That's still a fair amount. Mika, what are your and Saori-chan's sizes?"
"We're both size M."
I added "Size M" to the search and ran it again. The results narrowed down to about 150 items.
Now that we had it this far, we could just decide while looking through them.
"Next is design and color. Any preferences?"
"Solid colors look kind of plain, like a school gym suit, so something using multiple colors would be nice."
"Got it."
I scrolled slowly through the page, showing the product images to Mika.
As we gazed at the monitor in silence for a while, my eyes stopped on one particular item. It was a two-tone jersey in white and green.
"Mika, how about this one? It's got stripes as an accent, and I think the design isn't half bad..."
"Yeah. You're right..."
Mika gazed at the image I was pointing to with a slightly dissatisfied look.
"Is there something wrong with it?"
"Well, the color... Saori-chan likes green, so I think this is perfect for her, but... I wish it came in blue."
"I see."
If she didn't like it, there was no helping it; Mika was the one who had to wear it. For now, I set that item aside for Saori-chan, and we resumed the search.
Then...
"Ah, there it is!"
"Oh, you're right."
A white and blue jersey with the same design as the one we picked for Saori-chan was up for sale.
"Onii-chan, I'll take this one."
"Alright. Let's bid on this along with the other one."
"Yeah."
I immediately began the bidding process for the two jerseys.
Fortunately, neither had any other bidders, and since the auction was ending soon, the Buy It Now prices were set quite low. With Mika's approval, I secured them at the buyout prices.
"Okay, that's those two finished. Now we just wait for the transaction completion notice."
"I'm a little worried about whether we'll actually get them."
"Well, there are no other bidders, so it should be fine. In the meantime, let's pick out the other gear."
"Okay."
Mika and I were in good spirits after our first success and began evaluating the next items.
The rest of the selection proceeded smoothly. By the time Mother called us for dinner, we had finished choosing everything and placed all our bids. We headed down to the living room, waiting for the results.
After finishing dinner and taking a break, Mika and I were once again stationed in front of the PC to check the results.
"Now then, let's see how things turned out... Whoa!"
"Yes! We got them all!"
"Yeah. There were quite a few items, so I thought we might hit a snag with one or two, but we won everything."
Looking at the results, Mika and I both sighed in relief.
On my auction page, every item we had bid on was listed, and every single one was marked as "Won."
"Let's get the payment done right away so they can ship everything."
"Payment... can't we use Cash on Delivery?"
"High-rank explorers register their bank accounts to receive payments for sold items. You can use those accounts to pay for things on this page via online banking. If you want the items shipped quickly, a bank transfer is the fastest way."
"Huh. Then Saori-chan and I will have to set up bank accounts too."
"Probably. But for rookie explorers who've just started, your earnings will be small, so there's no need to rush. Once your rank goes up, the amount of money involved in a single item sale is massive, so bank transfers are much safer."
Even I don't want to carry around millions in cash, so I have my earnings transferred to my account. On average, I'm earning several hundred thousand per trip.
I quickly processed the online payment while talking to Mika.
"Alright. The transfer is complete. I'll give you the invoice after the items arrive, so make sure you pay me back, okay?"
"Yeah, of course! I have money saved up from my part-time job, so it's fine!"
"Good. Make sure to tell Saori-chan the amount too."
"I will."
Since I was paying upfront from my account for the sake of the transaction, I had to give them an invoice later. In terms of my own finances, I could have just bought them as a gift, but since the total was quite different from just treating them to a meal, I decided to be professional about it.
Spoiling them too much wouldn't be good for them either. If they got too used to having things paid for, I felt like they might eventually ruin their sense of financial responsibility.
Thinking about those things, I moved on to the shipping procedures.
"For the shipping method, let's go with same-day express delivery..."
"Same-day? Isn't it a bit late for today?"
"Probably. Well, as long as it arrives tomorrow... Let's see, the earliest arrival is tomorrow afternoon."
As expected, it wasn't possible to get it today at this hour. Not that it mattered.
"Mika? Mother will be home tomorrow, right?"
"Hmm, I wonder. I'll go ask!"
Mika ran out of the room to check Mother's schedule. A few minutes later, she returned.
"Mom said she'll be home from noon onward. She said she'd be happy to receive the packages for us."
"Good. Then I'll request delivery for the afternoon."
I set the preferred delivery window between 14:00 and 16:00 and finalized the shipment.
"Okay. That's everything done."
"Thank you, Onii-chan."
"It was nothing."
Mika thanked me with a bright smile.
"Even so, thank you! I'm going to go tell Saori-chan right now!"
"Yeah. Give her my regards."
"I will!"
With that, Mika grabbed her chair and swept out of the room.
She was like a whirlwind.
"Well then... I should get in touch, too."
I took out my phone and dialed.
"...Hello? Yuji? Yeah, it's me. Actually, I have something to talk to you about regarding Mika and Saori-chan..."