Peering down the stairs, I waited until they had fully descended into the safe zone before we followed. At the bottom, we found a large rest area packed with explorers taking a break. We paused at the entrance, scanning the room to track their movements.
It looked like they were searching for a table large enough for the five of them to have lunch together.
"It’s pretty crowded in here..."
"It’s Sunday, after all," I noted. "There are a lot of part-time explorers who only dive on their days off."
At a glance, every table in the rest area was occupied. While there were a few stray seats here and there, there wasn't a single spot where a group of five could sit together.
"Ah, Fuyuki-san, Tagawa-san! That bench over there just opened up!"
Kondo-san pointed to a backless aluminum bench against the wall. It didn't have a table, but it was currently vacant.
It was wide enough that the three of us could sit comfortably.
"You're right. Let's grab that for now."
"Understood!"
We moved to the bench, swung off our backpacks, and finally sat down.
"...Phew. We’ve managed to keep up so far."
"Yes. It looks like they’ve found a place to sit, too. We should be able to watch them from here without drawing any attention."
As I spoke, I stole a quick look at our targets. They had secured a table, put down their gear, and were pulling convenience store bags out of their packs. Judging by the looks of it, they wouldn't be moving again until they finished eating.
"Alright, we're in the clear for a bit. Let's eat."
Fuyuki-san pulled out some bread he’d bought near the station. Even though some time had passed since the purchase, the aroma drifting from the bag was still appetizing. Kondo-san and I did the same, pulling out our own bread and cleaning our hands with wet wipes.
Time to eat.
"This looks good."
"It really does. They're a bit cold now, but the bread is still nice and soft."
"Mine looks delicious too!"
Fuyuki-san had an anpan, Kondo-san had a club sandwich, and I had a bread roll stuffed with bean jam and margarine.
"Well then, let's eat."
Bon appétit.
I took a bite. Mm, good. The soft texture of the roll, the aroma of the wheat, and the sweet-and-salty harmony of the bean jam and margarine were a perfect match. The bean jam wasn't overly sweet—I wondered if it was the bakery's own recipe. It was a very satisfying meal, though if I had to be picky, I would have preferred chunky bean jam over the smooth kind.
We enjoyed our lunch while maintaining a constant, subtle watch on the group.
Once they finished eating and took a short rest, they finally stood up.
"...They’re moving. Alright, you two, let’s go."
Right.
We stood up in sync with them, shouldered our packs, and followed at a distance. After a short walk, they ran into a five-person explorer team and stopped to chat.
The interaction was remarkably friendly; I could even see them sharing a few laughs.
"They're quite social, aren't they?"
"They are," I replied. "Usually, when explorers run into each other in a dungeon, things stay tense and wary. People tend to be surly."
"And because of that, they miss out on valuable information or just wear themselves out mentally by being on guard for no reason," Fuyuki-san added.
A simple greeting when passing by—that little bit of effort can lead to useful exchanges. Yet most explorers, especially the younger ones, tend to pass each other in silence while maintaining a defensive posture.
This stems back to the early days when dungeons were first opened to the public. Back then, explorers often fought over monsters. Even if they cooperated to take one down, they’d frequently end up in disputes over the loot. As a result, socializing with anyone outside of one's own party plummeted, leading to an exclusionary culture. While that atmosphere has softened over time, old habits die hard. Now, it's an unspoken rule that explorers don't engage in excessive contact.
High school explorers in particular felt the brunt of this. Back then, they weren't allowed to buy official weapons from the Dungeon Association, so they used tools and farm equipment instead. This led to them being mocked or treated as nuisances by "pro" explorers with proper gear. Frequent conflicts meant many ended up in the custody of the Dungeon Police, so the unspoken rule of silence is most deeply ingrained in the younger generation.
"Ah, looks like they're parting ways."
"Right... Let's just give them a brief nod as we pass."
"Understood."
We started walking, trying our best to look like ordinary explorers to avoid blowing our cover. We stuck to the edge of the corridor, looking appropriately wary of anyone passing us.
When we crossed paths with the group of five, we didn't say a word. We just gave them a sharp, guarded look and a slight nod. They returned the gesture with equal caution. They had just been chatting happily with the kids, yet with us, there was nothing. A verbal greeting really does make a difference.
"...Phew. We made it past."
"We did."
"Do you think we looked suspicious?"
"It's fine... probably," I answered Fuyuki-san, feeling a bit unsure.
I let out a small sigh of relief once the five-person team was gone. If they had suspected we were tailing the kids, it could have gotten messy. They might have tried to play hero and start a fight, or worse, reported us to the DP.
"Wait, they're... talking about something."
"It looks like Kokonoe-kun is telling the sisters something."
We returned to our surveillance. The targets hadn't moved from the spot where they'd met the other team. Kokonoe-kun seemed to be lecturing the two girls. From what I could see, the girls looked dejected, their shoulders slumped. I wondered what he was saying to them.
I strained my ears, trying to catch the conversation...
We'll go! Please lend us the tools!
The girls' voices suddenly boomed through the corridor. I hadn't expected the volume; my eyes widened and my shoulders jerked in surprise. Give me a break with the sudden shouting.
With that, the group started walking again.
As we followed them down the passage, one of the dungeon's most famous nuisances appeared. It was a squirming, amorphous viscous body, commonly known as...
"A slime, huh..."
A real pain in the neck. In games, they're just weak starter enemies, but in a real dungeon, they're formidable.
The main issue is that any weapon used to attack them gets melted. It's a total waste of money to fight an enemy that turns your gear into scrap.
"They're debating something..."
"Probably whether to bypass it," I said grimly. "Unless you have magic or cheap, disposable weapons, you really don't want to fight those things."
Fuyuki-san noticed the bitterness in my voice and looked at me curiously.
"Tagawa... did something happen to you?"
"...Yeah. The first time I saw a slime, I treated it like a video game enemy. I underestimated it and attacked with my weapon."
"Which means..."
"Yeah. I killed it, but my weapon was completely dissolved. I had to buy a brand-new one right after I’d started out as an explorer. It was a brutal expense."
I sighed at the memory. My savings had taken a massive hit, and I remember being terrified of my bank balance for a while after that.
And then...
"Wait, salt?!"
The sister's shout reached us. Salt? What did she mean, salt?
I narrowed my eyes to see better. Kokonoe-kun was holding up a small bag and showing it to the girls.
"Salt... for electrolytes?"
"No way. No one stops to take salt supplements right in front of a monster."
"I guess not. But then why would he pull out a bag of salt now?"
"Who knows...?"
We watched with intense curiosity as the girl took the bag and walked right up to the slime. Hey, wait—isn't she getting way too close?
My heart raced as I watched her. And then...
"...Huh?"
"...What?"
"...Eh?"
The girl swung her hand, scattering something. The light from our Light reflected off the particles, making them shimmer as they hit the slime. The monster's reaction was instantaneous and violent.
It began to rapidly contract and expand, its mass shrinking until it was about half its original size—and then it simply vanished.
The three of us were left utterly speechless. We stood there, stunned by the impossible sight. But we couldn't stay dazed forever.
"...What did she just do?"
"It looked like she threw something... but there's no way."
"It was probably that salt she just got. I couldn't see perfectly from this angle, but she was definitely doing something with her hands before she threw it..."
We racked our brains, trying to process the phenomenon.
She threw salt, and the slime died. Does that mean slimes are weak to salt? Like... a literal weakness?
"Fuyuki-san, Tagawa-san... You can kill slimes with salt."
"It... seems so."
"I don't want to believe it, but you really can kill them with salt..."
The sheer absurdity of it kept us dazed for several moments, and we nearly forgot we were supposed to be tailing them.
While we were standing there in shock, something happened among the targets, and they suddenly turned around. They were heading right back toward us.
"Crap... they're coming back! You two, move! Run to the corner!"
Right!
Following Fuyuki-san's lead, we bolted. Luckily, there was still some distance between us, so we managed to duck around the corner before they saw us.
Since we hadn't ventured very deep into the corridor, we were back in the rest area before we knew it.
"Why did they head back?"
"I have no idea..."
"They weren't hurt and they didn't lose any gear. Usually, you'd keep going."
We sat at a table far away from them, sipping barley tea from a vending machine while we tried to figure out why they’d retreated. After killing the slime, they had come straight back here. It didn't make any sense.
"Well, I'm sure they have their reasons... but what's next?"
"You mean whether they'll dive again or go back to the surface?"
Fuyuki-san nodded at my question.
"Given what we just saw, if they keep going, we might not be able to follow them. They clearly have more tricks up their sleeves."
"True..."
If they knew about the salt trick, they probably had researched weaknesses for other monsters too. If they really started moving, they'd be way out of our league in no time.
As we were discussing the possibilities, Kondo-san spoke up.
"Ah, they're moving again. Their direction is... good. They're heading for the stairs."
Looking over, I saw them walking toward the exit. It looked like they were calling it a day.
We waited until they were at the stairs before standing up ourselves.
"Alright, let's follow."
Right.
I finished my tea, tossed the bottle in the bin, and trailed after them.
On the way out, they ran into another monster. It was another slime. This time, the other girl—the sister's friend—stepped forward and threw salt just like the first girl had. The result was identical: the slime writhed in agony and vanished.
There was no longer any doubt. Salt was a slime's kryptonite.
"Fuyuki-san... how are we going to write the report?"
"...We have to write what we saw."
"I know, but... do you think they'll believe us?"
"...I don't know how the higher-ups will react, but we'll just report the facts."
We both let out a long, heavy sigh. If we wrote exactly what happened, it was going to sound like a joke. With the common knowledge of the industry, nobody was going to buy it. God, I really don't want to have to redo the paperwork.
After that second slime, they didn't run into any more monsters. Both the targets and the three of us made it out of the dungeon safely.