I picked up the dropped rabbit meat and called out to Mika, who was standing still with a vacant look in her eyes.
"Mika... are you alright?"
"......Yeah."
Mika replied in a small voice, but her eyes remained hollow and her expression stiff. The tip of her spear was scraping the ground, but she didn't even seem to notice.
Hmm, I might need to try some shock therapy. I caught the eyes of Yuji, Hiiragi-san, and Saori-chan, then took a short breath.
"Mika!"
"!?"
At my shout, Mika's body jolted. She hurriedly turned toward me, her face finally showing a look of surprise. Good, she was back to her senses.
I took her free hand and placed the rabbit meat I had picked up into it.
"......Here. This is the result of your work. Your reward for the battle."
"......This is it."
Mika stared at the lump of rabbit meat in her palm. It was smaller and lighter than a half-liter bottle of water, but that wasn't how it looked to her.
"......It’s heavy, isn't it?"
"......Is it?"
"......Yeah."
Still staring at the meat, Mika whispered and gently tightened her grip. By holding the rabbit meat, which still retained a faint warmth, it seemed she finally felt the reality of what she had done—that she had defeated... killed a horn rabbit.
Her eyes looked slightly moist. I wondered if it was guilt, or perhaps just the relief of being released from the terror of facing a monster.
"I see. In that case, make sure you don't forget that feeling. If you're going to continue as an explorer, Mika, you'll feel that weight many more times. If you hate that feeling... then you should stop being an explorer."
"......"
Mika listened to my words, bit her lip, and looked down.
After a few seconds of silence, she lifted her head.
"Onii-chan. I'm going to keep going. I’ll continue being an explorer."
"......Are you sure? It means you'll experience this feeling, or something even worse, over and over again."
"I know. I'm definitely hesitating, and I feel a sense of revulsion about killing monsters. But you and the others overcame it. I should be able to accept it and overcome it too."
I looked Mika straight in the eye as I listened to her declaration. A look of determination and resolve was plain on her face.
Well, she seemed alright for now. Still, I’d check in with her again later. People’s minds can change once the initial adrenaline wears off.
"......Alright. But don't try to be a hero if it gets too hard, okay? I'm always here if you need to talk."
"......Yeah."
I spoke gently, resting a hand on her head, and she gave a small nod.
If someone continues being an explorer against their will and bottles up their stress, they eventually snap. Just having someone to talk to can make a huge difference, so stress management is vital.
Now that Mika had calmed down, it was time to get back to business.
"Right. Let's finish up the cleanup and go find the next monster."
"Okay!"
Mika set her pack down and took out a small cooler bag and a sealed pouch. She put the rabbit meat into the pouch, placed it in the cooler, and tucked it back into her bag.
Finally, she began wiping the horn rabbit's blood and fat from her spearhead with kitchen paper and alcohol wipes.
"Saori-chan."
"Yes?"
"Remember that while one person is doing this, the other party members need to keep watch. You never know when a monster might attack in a dungeon. Even if everyone was in the fight, you have to take turns so that someone is always on guard duty. Got it?"
"Yes!"
I made sure to teach Saori-chan the basics of post-battle processing. There are occasionally foolish parties that all huddle together to work and end up getting ambushed, so it was a lesson worth repeating.
"Wipe it thoroughly, Mika. If you leave anything on the blade, it'll get dull, and it might fail you when it counts."
"I'm trying. But it's not coming off very easily..."
"Spears are metal, so they're actually easy. If that stuff gets on your clothes, you have to scrub them forever to get the stain out."
Before I got the Cleansing skill, I had a nightmare of a time cleaning my gear. I remembered running the locker room washing machines over and over until the stains finally vanished.
I shared some tips on emergency maintenance while reminiscing about my laundry struggles.
"Done!"
"Let's see... Yeah, that looks fine."
I took the spear and checked her work. There was a bit of residue near the shaft, but for a quick field cleaning, it was good enough.
With the training for post-battle processing finished, it was time for the finishing touch.
"Alright, Mika. Put all your gear on and stand right there."
"Okay."
She followed my instructions, shouldered her pack, and stood in front of me.
I pointed my right hand at her—it wasn't strictly necessary, but it helped for the sake of presentation.
"Cleansing."
The moment I spoke the command, the bloodstains and filth vanished from Mika's body.
Within seconds, she looked exactly as she had before we entered the dungeon.
"There we go. Feel better?"
"U-Uh, yeah... Um, Onii-chan, what did you just do?"
"Hmm? I used the Cleansing skill. It’s a handy trick for getting rid of blood spray and dirt after a fight."
"There's a skill for that...?"
Mika and Saori-chan stared at the results of the Cleansing skill with wide-eyed admiration. Once the surprise wore off, their expressions turned to pure envy.
"Do you want it?"
"Yeah. That looks so convenient..."
"The standard way is to hope a monster drops it, but you can also get it from the Association's auction site.......It’s expensive, though."
At the mention of the price, Mika looked wary.
She knew that since I—the person who had fronted the money for their spears—was calling it expensive, it must be astronomical.
"Um... how much does it usually go for?"
"Let's see. Based on the recent market price... about 1.5 million yen for a single skill scroll."
"One—one and a half million!?"
"I-Is that true!?"
The girls screamed in shock, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads. Well, it was a fair reaction.
"Yeah. Since more explorers are reaching the deep floors, the demand has shot up. If you have the Cleansing skill, you can maintain your weapons mid-combat and keep exploring without being soaked in blood. Of course the price is rising."
"He's right," Yuji added. "Being able to clean your weapon in the middle of a fight is a huge advantage. For explorers who hunt on the lower floors where you fight swarms of monsters, it's basically an essential skill."
"And mentally, it's a lot easier when you don't have to walk around covered in blood," Hiiragi-san noted.
The three of us explained the reasons for the high price and the benefits of the skill to the shell-shocked novices.
The result was exactly as I expected.
"I see. So even after I pay you back for the spear, Onii-chan, if I haven't found the scroll myself, I should think about buying it at auction. What do you think, Saori-chan?"
"You're right. Hearing them talk about it, it sounds like we really need it... if we had the money, anyway."
"Yeah."
"Sigh..."
They were both clearly interested, but the reality of their finances brought them right back down to earth. For now, they were just debt-ridden rookie explorers. Without any capital, all they could do was hope for a lucky drop.
"Now, now, don't look so depressed. As long as you're diving with us, we can use our Cleansing skill on you. There's no rush."
"Exactly," Yuji said. "Cleansing skill scrolls actually have a decent drop rate compared to others. If you're lucky, you might even find one while we're out here."
"And if not, the money isn't impossible to save up if you work hard," Hiiragi-san added encouragingly.
We did our best to cheer them up. In fact, after Hiiragi-san had found her scroll, we had managed to find another one after a few fights with goblins, so we only ever had to buy one. We'd split the cost of that purchase between the three of us.
Eventually, their moods improved enough for us to resume the exploration.
"Alright, everyone. We've spent a lot of time here. Shall we get moving?"
"Yeah, let's go."
"Right, let's head out."
"Okay!"
"Yes!"
We fell back into formation and started searching for a monster for Saori-chan.
After about fifteen minutes of walking, our lights caught another shadow.
"Is that... a horn rabbit?"
"Looks like it. It's rare to see two of them in a row like this."
"Maybe it's for the best. Saori-chan already saw one, so it should be easier for her to handle."
"Yeah... Saori-chan."
I used my Intimidation to pin the horn rabbit down as it prepared to charge, then called out to her.
"......Yes."
"Can you do it?"
"......I-I'll be fine."
"Good. Then give it your best shot."
"Yes!"
With a sharp, determined reply, Saori-chan stepped forward and leveled her spear.
"Saori-chan, aim for the neck. You can kill it in one hit that way."
"Right!"
"Do you want me to use the hot sauce attack for support?"
"Ah... um... yes, please."
She seemed to remember the miserable fate of the last rabbit I'd blasted, and for a second she looked like she wanted to refuse, but she shook her head and decided to take the help.
"Got it. I'll fire at the same time I did for Mika."
"Yes, thank you."
With the plan set, I released the Intimidation.
The horn rabbit immediately bolted toward Saori-chan. Just like the previous one, it accelerated, lowered its horn, and leaped.
"......"
Saori-chan didn't panic. She calmly shifted her weight, sliding out of the rabbit's flight path. The moment it landed beside her and its movement paused, I pulled the trigger.
"Gyuuuuu!?!?"
"Hah!"
As the rabbit writhed and rolled from the hot sauce, Saori-chan thrust her spear without a moment's hesitation. The tip was true, gouging deep into the rabbit's neck.
"Gyu!"
The creature let out a final, short cry and went still.
"Wow, Saori-chan went for it without any hesitation at all."
"She did... and that strike was perfect. She finished it in one blow."
Mika spoke in an impressed voice from beside me. Saori-chan really did have a lot of nerve. There hadn't been a hint of doubt in that thrust.
However, Saori-chan herself remained frozen in her follow-through, maintaining her zanshin without moving an inch.
"Hey, Saori-chan. I think it's safe to pull your spear out now."
"......Yes."
"? What's wrong? Are you okay?"
Something felt off about her response, so I walked over to her. When I looked into her face, she was pale and biting her lip, as if she were fighting something back.
It seemed she had pushed herself to act decisively, but the reality was catching up to her.
"Saori-chan..."
"I'm alright. I thought I was prepared... but it really does hit you, doesn't it?"
"......Don't force yourself. Anyone would be shocked after killing their first monster... their first living thing. Especially since horn rabbits look the way they do."
"......Yes."
A horn rabbit essentially looks like a giant bunny with a horn. Stabbing one to death with a spear is bound to be a shock. I gently patted her head over her helmet, trying to calm her down. The fact that she just stood there and let me do it showed how shaken she really was.
"......Oh, Saori-chan. Look, it dropped something."
"......It did?"
"Is that... a Core Crystal?"
In the spot where the rabbit's body had been, a small crystal was lying on the ground. I stopped patting her head, picked up the crystal, and ran an Appraisal Analysis on it.
"Yeah, definitely. Saori-chan, this is a Core Crystal."
"So this is a Core Crystal..."
She murmured, rolling the crystal around in her palm. While the public knows about them because of Core Crystal power generation, the government buys up almost everything produced in dungeons, so ordinary people rarely get to see one up close.
"Feeling better?"
"Yes. Sorry for worrying you."
"Don't be. We knew this would happen the first time you killed a monster."
We had all gone through the exact same thing as Mika and Saori-chan. Killing something—even a monster—is a heavy experience.
Once I was sure Saori-chan had finished her post-battle processing, I turned to both of them.
"So, what's the verdict? You've both defeated one monster now. Do you want to keep going?"
I asked the question even though I already knew the answer, just to confirm the promise we'd made at the entrance. Predictably, they both looked quite weary.
"Onii-chan, you're mean. You already know the answer.......Let's go home for today."
"......And you, Saori-chan?"
"I think... I've had enough for now."
"I see. Yuji, Hiiragi-san, is it alright if we head back?"
Both girls shook their heads, refusing to continue.
"Of course," Yuji said. "We shouldn't push them any harder today."
"I agree," Hiiragi-san said. "That was the plan from the start, so I don't mind at all."
Since we had intended to keep the dive short anyway, they both readily agreed.
"Thanks, you two. Alright, Mika, Saori-chan. Let's head back up."
"Okay."
"Yes."
And so, Mika and Saori-chan's first dungeon exploration came to an end.
Though, we still had the walk back.