I waited for the two girls to regain some semblance of composure after their excitement over the skill scroll before speaking to them.
“Mika, Saori-chan. Setting the skill scroll aside for a moment, I was thinking about continuing our dungeon exploration... Do you think you’re up for it?”
“Y-Yeah! Of course! I’m totally fine!”
“I-I’m fine too!”
They said that, but both of them were clearly flying high because of the scroll. I shifted my gaze away from Mika and Saori-chan—who were staring at me with sparkling eyes as they insisted on continuing—and looked toward Yuji and Hiiragi-san.
“...What do you think?”
“We should probably head back to the safe zone and take a breather, or just call it a day,” Yuji suggested.
“I agree,” Hiiragi-san added. “Regardless of whether we head home, it would be best not to continue the exploration with those two in their current state.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.”
Sensing Mika and Saori’s flighty behavior, the three of us concluded that continuing the exploration at this stage was either impossible or dangerous.
As the proverb says, "In victory, tighten your helmet strings." It is precisely after achieving a major success that you have to be most careful. Continuing a dungeon exploration while distracted and lacking concentration is practically suicidal.
I turned back to Mika and the other girl to deliver our conclusion.
“And that’s that. Mika, Saori-chan. We’re heading back to the safe zone at the entrance of the second floor.”
“Ehh, we’re going back?! We finally got a skill scroll, so let’s keep going, Onii-chan! Right, Saori-chan thinks so too, doesn't she?!”
“Y-Yeah! Onii-san, can’t we explore just a little bit more?”
“No. I can’t possibly continue an exploration with you two like this; it’s far too dangerous.”
Getting their hands on a skill scroll—their very first rare drop—had made them overconfident. This was the exact state that served as a precursor to many explorers failing to know when to quit. You could say their situational awareness had plummeted. For now, I needed to splash some cold water on them to cool their heads.
“Hey, you two. Do you actually have a grasp of your current state? Here... look at your own faces in this.”
“Is this... a mirror?”
I pulled a hand mirror out of my backpack and handed it to Mika, telling her to look into it.
Mika peered into the mirror and froze. Similarly, Saori-chan, who looked into the mirror handed to her by Hiiragi-san, also stiffened.
After all, the faces reflected in the mirrors were clearly clouded by greed.
“Do you get it now? There’s no way I can take you further into the dungeon when you don't have a shred of your usual composure.”
“...Okay.”
“...Yes.”
Mika and Saori-chan handed the mirrors back to us, looking down and sighing in dejection. Apparently, the expressions they had been making were quite a shock to them.
Well, it looks like I successfully dampened their spirits.
“Now then, we’re heading back the way we came. Understood?”
“...Yeah.”
“...Yes.”
Mika and Saori-chan replied in weak, tiny voices, a complete turnaround from their energy just moments ago. Wait, did I perhaps overdo the cold water bit?
Watching the two of them walk ahead with slumped shoulders, I scratched my head, wondering if I’d gone too far. I sent a look toward Yuji and Hiiragi-san and spoke in a low voice.
“(Did I go too far?)”
“(No. I think this is still better than letting them continue in that state,)” Yuji whispered back.
“(It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other,)” Hiiragi-san noted. “(For now, let’s get back to the safe zone and let them rest. Once some time passes, they should calm down.)”
“(I guess so.) Okay, let’s move out.”
We placed Mika and Saori in the center of our formation and made our way back along the path toward the safe zone.
Incidentally, I felt the presence of people moving hurriedly further down the corridor at that moment... but I decided to just ignore them.
Back at the second-floor safe zone, we had Mika and Saori-chan sit in chairs and handed them bottles of barley tea purchased from a vending machine. Fortunately, since it was past lunch, there were quite a few empty seats, and we secured a spot easily.
The two of them gulped down the offered tea and let out the tension trapped in their chests.
“Feeling calmer?”
“...Yeah.”
“...Yes.”
Mika and Saori-chan set their barley tea on the table and looked at me.
Yeah. They seemed much calmer compared to before. Both of them had returned to much more reasonable expressions.
“I can understand why you’d be on cloud nine, but you have to consider the time, place, and occasion. Luckily, we didn't run into any monsters on the way back here, but if we had been attacked in that state, both of you might have been injured.”
I spoke in a gentle tone, offering my critique of their earlier behavior. Now that they had settled down, the two of them reflected on their actions.
“...Yeah, you're right. But thinking back on it now, why was I so excited that I couldn't even see what was around me?” Mika wondered.
“I wonder why I was so worked up too...” Saori added.
They both tilted their heads, finding it strange that they had been so agitated.
“That’s what you call the 'momentum of the moment.' When one thing goes well, you start believing without any evidence that the next thing will go well too. You lose the ability to make cool-headed judgments and start acting on shallow thoughts. On top of that, it’s hard to realize when you're just riding a wave, so unless a third party points it out or something triggers you to snap out of it, it’s easy to get swept away. In this case, the fact that the drop item was so good was the trigger.”
““......””
Mika and Saori-chan fell silent, seemingly reflecting on their behavior.
“It's true, like Onii-chan said, the ski—”
“Stop. Let’s not say that word out loud here. It might cause some weirdos to start bothering us.”
I cut Mika off as she was about to say the words "skill scroll," putting a hold on her. Although we had chosen a table where the surrounding seats were unoccupied, there was no guarantee that someone wasn't eavesdropping, so it was better not to use such obvious terminology.
“U-Uh, yeah. I understand. Um... it’s true that getting that was the reason. Just like Onii-chan said, I think I was at max tension and got carried away without thinking about the situation.”
“I haven't been able to suppress my excitement since the moment I saw that either...”
“It’s not like being happy is a bad thing. It’s just that failing to consider the circumstances this time was the problem. Well, you’ll get used to it and learn how to manage those emotions eventually.”
At my words, Mika and Saori-chan looked at each other. Truly, there was no issue with being happy about getting something good.
After our break in the safe zone was over, we decided to end today’s dungeon exploration there. While we certainly had enough supplies and stamina to continue, considering the mental burden on Mika and Saori, it was better to call it a day.
In their second ever exploration, they had faced nearly ten monsters and then obtained a rare drop like a skill scroll. They seemed okay, but mentally, they were probably at their limit.
“Well then. Shall we head back?”
“Yeah. Daiki, take the shortest course back.”
“Of course.”
I had a quick discussion with Yuji to decide on a route, while Hiiragi-san spoke with Mika and Saori.
“So, we’re packing it in for today... that’s fine with you, right?”
“...Yeah.”
“...Yes.”
Mika and Saori-chan looked slightly unsatisfied, but they didn't object to withdrawing. It seemed they now had a proper grasp of their own condition and the current situation.
Once everyone was finished talking, I moved to the front of the stairs leading to the first floor.
“Well, shall we go home? Ready?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“I’m ready.”
“Ready!”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
“Then, let’s move out.”
We formed our ranks and began ascending the stairs. If we took the shortest route through the first floor, we could be out in less than thirty minutes even with Mika and the others in tow.
Right at the end, just before the exit, we encountered a slime. Its viscous form, stretching and contracting as always, was eerie, and Mika and Saori-chan knitted their brows.
“...Saori-chan.”
“...Yes.”
“Mika did it last time, so do you want to try defeating a slime this time?”
“...Yes. I’ll try.”
Brows still knitted, Saori-chan took the airtight bag containing salt from me. She took some salt out of the bag, placed it in her palm, and cautiously closed the distance to the monster.
Once she was close enough, she stopped. Aiming for the moment the slime began to spread its body, she threw the salt.
“!?!?”
Just like the slime Mika had defeated earlier, the one hit by the salt began to stretch and contract painfully, writhing around. Its volume gradually decreased, and just as it shrank to less than half its original size, the black sphere at its center shattered. The slime vanished into particles of light.
Saori-chan stood there for a while, staring at the spot where the monster had disappeared, but nothing happened.
“...Sorry, Saori-chan. It looks like there’s no drop item this time.”
“I see. That’s a shame.”
When I told her there was no drop, Saori-chan directed a look filled with regret and lingering hope at the spot where the slime had vanished. It seemed she had been hoping for lightning to strike twice, but it didn't work out.
“Well, drop items don't always appear. You just didn't have the luck this time. If you keep coming to the dungeon, a skill scroll will find its way into your hands eventually. So don't be so down.”
“...Okay.”
I offered some consoling words to the dejected Saori-chan.
“Alright. The exit is just a bit further. Let's do our best.”
“Yes!”
Passing through the corridor where the obstacle had vanished, we made our way toward the exit.
After passing through the exit gate and the sanitation area, we parted ways in front of the changing rooms.
Yuji and I quickly changed, then sat on a sofa in the waiting room, drinking canned coffee while starting a brief review meeting. After confirming that the trio of Watchers wasn't nearby, that is.
“Hey, Yuji.”
“...What is it?”
“Do you think we managed to deceive them?”
“...I wonder. Well, I think we managed to deceive them to some extent, but...”
Recalling the details of today's exploration, I confessed my inner anxiety to Yuji. At first, I had thought about hiding it, but I had gone out of my way to demonstrate the Seasoning Series in front of the Watchers during this dive. I figured it could be used as a justification for our rapid progress.
However, Yuji didn't have a clear answer to my question either; he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head.
“For now, since we showed them the Seasoning Series during this dive, I think it serves as a justification for our progress to some degree. But that alone can't explain every single aspect of the situation...”
“Well, you're right.”
It was exactly as Yuji said.
In terms of combat power, we could probably get away with saying we used the Seasoning Series... that we did well by using our own unique ideas. However, dungeon exploration isn't something you can get through with high combat ability alone. It involves a complex interplay of various factors: drop items, transporting consumables, securing safe zones during long dives, trap-disarming techniques, and so on. Other civilian explorer groups that have defeated an ogre clear these points by forming alliances between multiple teams, and the Self-Defense Forces or police explorer teams clear them using their inherent organizational strength. We, however, have cleared them with just the three of us.
Doubts like those probably couldn't be explained just by what they saw during this exploration.
“Besides, we didn't engage in any combat ourselves during this dive. It’s highly likely the surveillance will continue for a while.”
“I figured as much... Sigh.”
A sigh escaped my lips involuntarily. I guess things weren't going to be convenient enough to be settled with just this one period of observation... It probably meant that we’d eventually have to show the Watchers our own combat against monsters from around the 20th floor.
“That said, I don't think you need to worry that much. The main objective of the Watchers this time is likely to observe our characters. They probably want to see what kind of people the youths who cleared the Advanced Trap Facility in one go are. If that’s the case, based on this exploration, I think their evaluation of us will settle on 'high school explorers who aren't very aggressive about conquest but are diligent in mentoring their juniors.'”
“High school explorers diligent in mentoring juniors, huh...”
I wanted to shout that they were overestimating us. It’s not that I’m diligent about mentoring; I’m just soft on my own people. Even our activities at school are only because I’m moving proactively since Mika and Saori-chan were in trouble. If it didn't involve those two, I likely would have just left it alone.
“Well, Daiki. I don't think there’s any point in overthinking it right now. If the surveillance continues tomorrow, we’ll come up with a new plan then.”
“...I guess. That’s all we can do.”
“Yeah.”
As if to brush away my anxiety, I drained the rest of my canned coffee in one gulp.
Man, the worries never end.