After picking up our bags from the station lockers and riding the train for an hour and a half, we finally made it back to our local station. As we passed through the ticket gate and stepped outside, Mika let out a joyful cry at the sight of the familiar surroundings.
"Mmm, we’re finally back! It feels like it’s been forever, even though we only left this morning."
"I feel the same way," Saori-chan added. "Looking at the usual scenery makes me feel so relieved."
"You too, Saori-chan?"
"Yeah!"
Watching Mika and Saori-chan from a slight distance, I thought it was only natural for them to find peace in the familiar townscape. Since they had just finished a dungeon crawl, their adrenaline was still pumping, and they didn't seem to notice their own condition. To our eyes, however, the heavy exhaustion on their faces was plain to see.
At this rate, they’d probably both crash the moment they stepped through their front doors.
"Mika-chan, Saori-chan. Come back over here. It’s time to go."
"Okay!" they replied in unison.
Yukino-san called out to the two girls before their excitement caused a scene. They gave energetic responses and came trotting back over to us.
It was definitely for the best to get them home and let them rest as soon as possible.
"Shall we head back, everyone?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
"Mm-hm!"
"Yes!"
Since we were starting to attract a few looks from the crowd, we quickly made our way away from the station.
At an intersection a short walk away, Yukino-san stopped to say her goodbyes.
"Well, I’m going to drop by the shop before I head home."
"Oh, I see. Got it. Yukino-san... thanks for looking after Mika and Saori today."
"It was no big deal. If you ever need help again, just let me know."
"Yeah. Thanks, Yukino-san."
I gave a shallow bow as I thanked Yukino-san for accompanying us. Today, she really had just come along for their sake.
Normally, if the three of us explored a dungeon, we could earn hundreds of thousands of yen in a single trip. However, this outing had been focused entirely on instruction. Mika and Saori had only fought one battle each before we turned back, so we had earned zero income from dungeon drops. I’d originally offered to pay the two of them a coaching fee to compensate for their time, but they had politely declined.
"Yukino-san! Thank you so much for coming to the dungeon with us today!"
"Thank you very much!"
Mika and Saori-chan bowed deeply and thanked her with all the energy they had left.
"Hehe, there’s no need for such formal thanks. I only went because I wanted to." Yukino-san gave a wry smile at their exaggerated gratitude. "Well, I’ll be off then. See you tomorrow at school."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
Waving her hand, Yukino-san turned at the intersection and headed toward her family's shop. We watched her go for a moment before resuming our walk.
"She said she was stopping by the shop... Do you think it’s to tell them about that restaurant we went to for lunch?" Mika asked.
"Probably," I replied. "Even if the styles are different, they both use dungeon ingredients. I’m sure it’ll be useful for them to hear about."
"Italian techniques applied to ramen, huh... I wonder what they'll take from that," Yuji mused.
Ramen using olive oil and tomatoes? I couldn't even begin to imagine the taste.
"Who knows? Well, if they come up with anything, they'll probably ask us to do a taste test again."
"...True."
As I walked and chatted about idle things with Yuji, Mika spoke up again.
"Hey, Onii-chan."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I was talking with Saori-chan. Would it be okay if we stopped by her house before going home?"
"Hm? Oh, sure, that's fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
When I nodded, Mika’s face brightened with joy.
"I actually wanted to speak with Saori-chan's parents before we went home anyway, so the timing is perfect."
"Something you needed to talk to them about?"
"Yeah. I was the lead escort for this trip, after all. I figured I should give her parents a report on how everything went."
It would be poor form to just drop her off without a word. Besides, once she settles in at home, the sudden relief will likely cause her to process the mental shock of killing a monster. I need to make sure her parents are ready to support her.
"Hmm."
"So, with that in mind... Saori-chan."
"Yes?"
"Will your parents be home today?"
"Ah, yes. They both said they’d be home today, so they should be there."
It seemed they were in. If they’d been out, I would have had to figure out another way to reach them, so that was a relief.
"I see. That's good. Then do you mind if I stop by for a few minutes as well?"
"Yes! Of course!"
"Thanks, Saori-chan."
I felt better having secured her permission. Seeing that we had reached an agreement, Yuji chimed in.
"Hey, Daiki, are you okay handling the explanation on your own?"
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine. I'm just going to explain the circumstances of the trip."
"Got it. Then I'll leave the explaining to you."
"Leave it to me."
I accepted the task, grateful for Yuji’s consideration. After walking a bit further, we reached a T-junction.
"Well, I’ll be heading off here."
This was where Yuji’s path diverged from ours.
"Yeah. Thanks for your help today."
"Don't mention it. Like Yukino-san said, this was nothing."
"Even so, thank you."
Yuji and I lightly bumped fists.
"Yuji-san, thank you for today!"
"Thank you very much, Yuji-san. Thanks to all of you, we made it back without a single scratch."
"You're very welcome."
Mika and Saori-chan bowed deeply and offered their thanks, just as they had for Yukino-san.
"Well, I'm heading home then. See you tomorrow at school."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
With a quick wave, Yuji turned at the junction and walked off in the opposite direction.
"Now then, shall we go?"
"Yep."
"Yes."
After seeing Yuji off, the three of us headed for Saori-chan’s house.
Once we arrived, we split up. Mika and Saori-chan went up to Saori-chan’s room, while I sat in the living room with some tea, explaining the day's events to Akane-san and Saori-chan’s father, Shintaro-san.
Being in this situation is actually pretty nerve-wracking...
"...And that’s the gist of it. No major problems occurred during the trip."
"...I see. Thank you, Daiki-kun. It’s thanks to you leading the way that my daughter was able to come back without any injuries."
"Thank you, Daiki-kun," Akane-san added.
After I finished the summary, Shintaro-san and Akane-san both bowed slightly and expressed their gratitude.
"No, please don't let it worry you. My sister Mika was with us as well, so protecting one person versus two doesn't make much of a difference."
I gave them a polite smile. In reality, protecting two people is significantly more demanding than protecting one, but pointing that out would only make them feel guilty, so I kept it to myself. Still, I didn't want them to think just anyone could do this.
"However, while I said one or two doesn't matter, that’s only assuming they’ve received sufficient training. If I had to take two complete amateurs into a dungeon, I wouldn't be able to guarantee their safety."
"I see, is that how it works..."
"Yes, well..."
Shintaro-san looked contemplative, his expression a mix of admiration and confusion. Akane-san, on the other hand, clapped her hands together as if she’d suddenly remembered something.
"Come to think of it, Saori-chan has been coming home late recently, saying she was practicing for the dungeon."
"That was likely her training with our master," I explained.
"Daiki-kun’s master?"
"Yes. He’s the grandfather of a friend of mine—a highly skilled martial artist who has retired from the front lines. Mika and Saori-chan have been receiving preliminary training from him along with us."
"So that was it. Saori-chan would only say she was 'practicing,' so I didn't know the details."
Saori-chan, you really should have been more specific. At this rate, someone might have ended up filing a complaint with Juzo-san out of a misunderstanding. I figured I should smooth things over.
"I see... Well, please rest assured. The master is teaching them carefully from the ground up, and they’ve become quite capable. The fact that they walked away from the dungeon without a scratch today is largely due to that training."
If they can survive Juzo-san’s basic drills, they won't lose to the solitary monsters on the first few floors as long as they don't panic.
"Is someone that impressive really teaching Saori-chan?"
"Yes. Though he claims it’s just a hobby in his retirement. He’s spent years teaching disciples, so his instruction is top-tier."
"Is that so... then we really should go and pay our respects soon."
"Indeed..."
Akane-san began checking the calendar, wondering when she could go meet Juzo-san. I lightly clapped my hands to bring the conversation back to the main point.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot the most important thing. As I mentioned, both Mika and Saori-chan defeated monsters today. Because of that, they might experience some emotional instability or a loss of appetite over the next few days. Please keep an eye on them."
"Hmm? What do you mean?" Shintaro-san asked.
"By defeating monsters, it means Saori-chan has officially taken a life. Even if it was just a monster, they look very much like living creatures. Even if she seems fine on the surface, she’s likely dealing with a fair amount of mental shock. Please look after her and offer support for a while."
"...I see. I understand. I’ll keep a close watch on her."
"Yes. I’ll look out for her too."
"Thank you."
The two of them nodded with solemn expressions. Of course, it was just a possibility; they might be perfectly fine, but it was better to be safe.
After some light small talk with Shintaro-san and Akane-san, Mika and Saori-chan reappeared in the living room.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Onii-chan. Is your talk finished?"
"Yeah, we’re all done. Are you ready, Mika?"
"Mm-hm."
"All right. It’s getting late, so we should head out."
"Okay!"
After saying our goodbyes, Mika and I left Saori-chan’s house. Saori-chan walked us all the way to the front door to see us off.
"Mika-chan, Daiki-san. Thank you so much for today. I’ll see you tomorrow at school."
"Yeah! See you tomorrow!"
"Make sure to get plenty of rest tonight, okay? See you tomorrow."
"I will."
I truly hoped she’d be in good spirits when she showed up at school tomorrow. With that final wish, Mika and I finally made our way home.
We arrived just as the sky was beginning to turn into a sunset. After a quick greeting to our mother, we both headed to our respective rooms to put away our gear.
"Whew. We actually pulled it off..."
I thought I was used to the idea of acting as a guard thanks to Genya-san’s training, but the real thing required a lot more focus. I’d used skills I normally didn't touch during practice just to be absolutely certain of their safety, and I hadn't had much room to relax.
"But well, Mika and Saori are officially explorers now."
I pulled up the results of the Appraisal Analysis I’d performed on them after we left the dungeon.
Name: Mika Kokonoe Age: 16 Gender: Female Job: Student Level: 1 HP: 15/15 EP: 10/10
Name: Saori Kishida Age: 16 Gender: Female Job: Student Level: 1 HP: 15/15 EP: 10/10
Their stats were pure beginner level with no skills to speak of, but their levels and stats were now properly registered. How much they grew from here would depend entirely on their own efforts.
For curiosity’s sake, I recalled the current statuses of the three of us as well.
Name: Daiki Kokonoe Age: 16 Gender: Male Job: Student Title: Natural Enemy of the Slimes Level: 98 <34> Skills: Appraisal Analysis 3 [A] 7/10, Psychokinesis 3 [A] 1/10, Spatial Storage 3 [P] 8/10, EP Recovery Speed Up II [P] 5/10, Physical Enhancement II [P] 7/10, Status Camouflage II [P] 4/10, Cleansing II [A] 1/10, Light Magic II [A] 1/10, Intimidation [A] 6/10 HP: 985/985 <355/355> EP: 200/495 <180/180> *Values in < > are camouflage values.
Name: Yuji Hirose Age: 16 Gender: Male Job: Student Level: 75 <32> Skills: Physical Enhancement II [P] 6/10, Sharpened Senses II [P] 3/10, High-speed Thought II [P] 3/10, Repulsion Armor II [A] 2/10, Status Camouflage II [P] 1/10, Cleansing II [A] 1/10, Light Magic II [A] 1/10, Intimidation [A] 8/10 HP: 765/765 <335/335> EP: 235/385 <170/170> *Values in < > are camouflage values.
Name: Yukino Hiiragi Age: 16 Gender: Female Job: Student Level: 74 <34> Skills: Physical Enhancement II [P] 6/10, Presence Detection II [A] 1/10, Presence Concealment II [A] 3/10, Wind Magic II [A] 3/10, Status Camouflage II [P] 3/10, Cleansing II [A] 9/10, Light Magic II [A] 3/10, Intimidation [A] 5/10 HP: 755/755 <355/355> EP: 260/385 <185/185> *Values in < > are camouflage values.
After hunting orcs for their meat and bones with such intensity that we almost wiped them out, our statuses had grown quite formidable. Man, those were some nostalgic times... we really did slaughter a lot of orcs back then.
As I was reminiscing about our stats while finishing up my chores, I heard my mother calling from downstairs.
"Daiki! Mika! Dinner’s ready!"
"Coming!"
"On my way!"
I stopped my cleaning at a good breaking point and headed down to the living room to eat.