We emerged from the dungeon a few moments after them and hurried toward the changing rooms. After parting ways with Kondo-san at the entrance, Fuyuki-san and I confirmed that Kokonoe-kun and Hirose-kun were already nearly finished changing, prompting us to scramble through our own preparations.
"They're fast," Fuyuki-san remarked.
"They really are. I can’t believe they’re done already..."
"Let’s get through this quickly."
"Right."
Fuyuki-san and I set our bags on a nearby bench, opened our lockers, and pulled out our towels. Fortunately, since we hadn't actually fought any monsters today, equipment maintenance was minimal—just a quick wipe-down of our weapons and armor with a dry cloth. I lightly cleaned my armor while still wearing it, then pulled my backpack from the locker and carefully packed everything away. If you didn't pack it precisely, the zipper would never close.
Once the gear was stowed, it was time to swap our clothes.
"Tagawa, make sure you wear a different jacket than you did this morning. I don’t know if they’ve memorized our faces, but it’s better to be safe than sorry."
"Good point. In that case, I'll go with this one."
I pulled out a gray blouson. It was the last spare jacket I had brought.
"By the way, Fuyuki-san."
"Hm? What is it?"
"What’s the plan for after this? They’re probably going to the buyback counter to cash in their drop items, right? But we didn't pick up a single thing today."
If we walked into the buyback corner empty-handed, we would inevitably draw suspicious looks. Depending on the timing, if their appraisal took half an hour and we just loitered there watching them, we ran the risk of someone calling the Dungeon Police (DP).
"That's the problem..."
Fuyuki-san stopped dressing and scratched the back of his head with a troubled expression.
"I’d like to observe how they handle the reception, but in a building that small, the chances of being spotted are too high..."
"But Fuyuki-san, Chief Wakita did say it wouldn't be the end of the world if they noticed us."
"That's true. In a sense, today’s surveillance mission is effectively over once they leave the dungeon... but if they're planning something else after this, it would be bad to get caught now, wouldn't it?"
He had a point.
The odds were low, but there was a chance they might send the sisters home first and then head back into the dungeon for a serious dive. If that happened, revealing our identities now would be a disaster.
Everything we had witnessed so far was just them coaching the sisters. we hadn't seen even a glimpse of their actual strength as explorers. If possible, I wanted to catch at least a fragment of their true capabilities.
"So, what do we do?"
"Hmm."
Fuyuki-san was clearly weighing the benefits of observing the buyback process against the low-probability chance of a second dive.
After a moment of deliberation, he reached a conclusion.
"Alright. We’ll skip the buyback counter and watch from outside. A second dive is unlikely, but we can't ignore the possibility."
It seemed the "what if" of a second dive had won out.
It felt like a losing bet, but the interaction at the buyback counter was just administrative work, after all. He likely figured that unless a major scene broke out, we didn't need to watch them directly. In the worst-case scenario, we could always request the surveillance camera footage from inside the building later.
"Understood."
With that settled, we resumed our interrupted task of changing.
Once we stepped out of the changing room, we spotted the two boys sitting on a sofa and drinking juice. It appeared the girls were still inside.
"What's the move, Fuyuki-san? Should we wait for Kondo-san while having a drink ourselves?"
"Yeah. Holding a juice will be better camouflage than just sitting there doing nothing..."
Keeping the boys in our peripheral vision, we moved to the vending machines and bought some drinks. We took seats on a sofa several rows behind them. After about ten minutes, the female target and the sisters finally emerged.
Shortly after them, Kondo-san appeared. I gave her a small wave to catch her eye and let her know where we were.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said.
"Good work, Kondo-san," I replied. She had been monitoring them inside a cramped changing room while staying hidden from three people at once. The mental strain must have been exhausting.
Just as I was about to invite her to sit, Fuyuki-san spoke up.
"Looks like they're moving."
"Eh?...Ah, you're right."
I looked toward them and saw the group was indeed heading out.
"Fuyuki-san, I'll go throw these empty cans away. Please go ahead and follow them."
"Right, I'll leave that to you."
"Yes, sir."
I took the empty can from Fuyuki-san and walked toward the trash bin in the vending machine area.
While the targets handled their cash-in procedures, we decided to wait in the outdoor rest area, positioned where we could keep an eye on the building’s entrance. While Kondo-san and I engaged in small talk, Fuyuki-san made a call to Chief Wakita.
"...Yes. That's correct. They just left the dungeon....Yes....Understood. We will continue surveillance until 17:00 once they return home, and if there's no further movement, we'll conclude the mission....Yes, understood. Goodbye."
Fuyuki-san gave a slight bow with the phone still to his ear before hanging up. After a weary sigh, he relayed the update.
"It’s settled. Today's surveillance mission ends at 17:00. However, after we finish, the Chief wants us to stop by the Association to give a verbal report."
A verbal report? Today?
"Fuyuki-san, does it have to be today? Can't it wait until tomorrow...?"
If we ended at 17:00 and then headed to the Association, it would be nearly 18:00 by the time we arrived.
"Unfortunately, there’s no going straight home. The Chief is taking tomorrow off, so if we don't report today, it'll have to wait until the day after. On the bright side, he said we can log the overtime."
The resigned look on Fuyuki-san's face told me there was no room for negotiation.
"...Understood."
"...Yes."
Kondo-san and I slumped our shoulders. We were already exhausted from a long day of unfamiliar work... but there was no use complaining.
"For now, let's just push through until the clock strikes five."
Yes!
I lightly slapped my cheeks to snap myself back into focus. Even though we were out of the dungeon, if we slipped up now, we’d blow the cover we had managed to maintain all day. Since we had made it this far, I wanted to finish the job without being discovered.
Five minutes later, they emerged from the building. The chase was back on.
A short while later, we stood at the bus terminal, wearing expressions of sheer disbelief. Just like this morning, we had missed the same bus as our targets. We had tried so hard to learn from our previous failure—closing the gap to the absolute limit despite the risk of being spotted—yet the doors had closed mercilessly right in front of our eyes.
...Why does this keep happening?
...Fuyuki-san.
"...Yeah. I know what you want to say, so please, just don't say it."
As he watched the bus pull away, Fuyuki-san stared into the distance with hollow eyes. A second bus pulled into the terminal almost immediately.
"Let's just get on this one and try to catch up."
"Understood."
"We need to make sure we sit near the front this time."
"Right..."
When the doors of the second bus opened, we boarded while praying it would depart quickly.
When we finally reached the station, we hopped off and sprinted toward the platforms. I had checked the train schedule on my phone, and we were cutting it dangerously close. If we missed the train here, the entire day's effort would be wasted.
"Tagawa, Kondo, do you see them?!"
"They aren't in the terminal! Maybe they've already headed to the platform?!"
"Ah, over there!"
Following Kondo-san's finger, I saw them waiting on the platform. At the same time, I heard the screeching brakes of the train as it pulled into the station.
Wait... this is bad!
"Hurry! We're going to miss it!"
Y-Yes!
We burst into a full-out sprint, ignoring the bewildered stares of the commuters. Thanks to our level-up bonuses, we were moving at speeds comparable to a professional sprinter, even with our heavy gear. We slammed our IC cards against the gates, raced up the stairs, and lunged onto the platform. The doors were already open. We scrambled into a car several sections away from the one they had boarded.
"Phew... we made it."
"We... actually... made it..."
The doors hissed shut and the train departed seconds after we climbed aboard. We had made it by the skin of our teeth. When I finally caught my breath and looked around, several passengers were staring at us. We were definitely standing out.
"L-Let's just find some seats for now."
Y-Yes.
Once we sat down, the eyes on us finally shifted elsewhere.
After transferring trains, we arrived at their local station a little after 15:00. They didn't seem to be stopping anywhere, so if they just headed home, it looked like we could wrap things up by 17:00 as planned.
"Ah, they're moving again."
I couldn't hear their conversation, but they seemed to have reached a decision and started walking.
"Alright, stay on them."
Yes.
We followed at a distance. After a short walk, they stopped in front of a taiyaki shop. It looked like they were stopping for a snack.
"That smells incredible..."
"It really does..."
"I want one too..."
Because we had missed the bus and barely caught the train, I hadn't been able to stop by the bakery I’d planned to visit, and I was starving. Since we had to keep this up for a while longer, maybe we should grab some?
Watching them buy their snacks made my stomach growl audibly.
"Even if they aren't fresh off the grill, I’m fine with the ones they have ready..."
"Me too..."
"They look so good..."
The scent of grilled dough and sweet beans wafting on the breeze was almost torturous. Once we confirmed they had received their hot taiyaki and were leaving, Fuyuki-san and I resumed the tail while Kondo-san stayed behind to buy our portions.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
A few minutes later, Kondo-san caught up to us, clutching a paper bag. Fuyuki-san and I handed over the money and took our snacks.
"Time to eat."
Time to eat.
I took a bite. Since it had been sitting for a bit, the crust was a little soft, but it was still delicious. The red bean paste was packed all the way into the tail. This shop had great service.
"These are actually really good."
"Yeah. Though I still wish we could have had them fresh."
"Oh, even like this, they're plenty delicious."
We shared our thoughts as we ate on the move. I finished my first one in less than three minutes and immediately reached for the second. I couldn't stop myself.
The group continued walking until they reached a house and stopped. We watched as the sister's friend went inside, meaning this was her home. After talking with her parents at the door for a moment, they gave a polite bow and headed off.
"Looks like they were seeing her home."
"Makes sense. She looked completely drained, so they were probably worried. After seeing how they were coaching them in the dungeon, it’s not surprising."
They really were overprotective during that session... I understand being worried about injuries, but they were definitely overdoing it. He’s a total "siscon" if you ask me. He really needs to learn some moderation.
Then they started walking again. This direction led to...
"Ah, looks like they're heading to Kokonoe-kun's house now... likely because the sister is there."
"Probably. She looked exhausted too. I imagine they want to get her home so she can rest."
"That sounds right..."
We followed them until they reached the house of Kokonoe-kun, the one I was specifically tasked with monitoring. I thought this might be where we’d part ways with Hirose-kun and the other girl, but for some reason, the entire group went inside. We decided to wait nearby.
Then, past 16:30, three of them—excluding the sister—emerged from the house together. Based on their direction, they were now heading toward Hirose-kun's house.
Wait... don't tell me we're going to have to extend this?!