A short while after the morning assembly ended, Chief Wakita summoned me to a meeting room. I wasn't alone; two of my colleagues were with me. I tilted my head, wondering if I’d screwed something up without realizing it. Digging through my recent memories with a growing sense of trepidation, I pulled open the door.
Chief Wakita had apparently arrived ahead of us. He shot us a sharp look—no, that wasn't it. He was giving us a searching, inquisitive gaze. Wait, what was this about? For real?
"Sorry for the short notice, Fuyuki-kun, Tagawa-kun, Kondo-san."
"No, don't worry about it, Chief," I replied.
"So, Chief? Why the sudden summons?" Kondo-san asked.
"Given who's here, I have a feeling it’s related to that recent investigation..." Fuyuki-kun added.
Exactly. The three of us gathered here were the ones who had worked on that specific surveillance mission the other day. Since the same team was being called in, the odds were high that it involved the same subjects.
Chief Wakita gave a small nod to Fuyuki-kun’s suggestion. Looks like we were right.
"It’s just as you suspect. For now, everyone take a seat. There’s some footage I want you to see."
"Yes, sir."
As we sat down, Chief Wakita worked the projector and his laptop, preparing to cast the video onto the meeting room wall.
"The footage you’re about to see is from a sports festival held at a high school I visited for an inspection recently. It’s an edited digest, so please save your comments and questions until the end."
With that, the Chief dimmed the lights and started the playback. The video opened with a standard footrace. I felt a slight sense of dissonance at how fast the students were clearing the track, but otherwise, it looked like a typical school event. Partway through, one student took a fall so spectacular it looked like a traffic accident. I winced, but to my surprise, he hopped right back up and kept running. With that kind of durability, he had to be an explorer.
"The gap between explorers and non-explorers is getting pretty extreme..." I muttered.
"Yeah. Looking at this, putting them in the same competitions seems... impossible," Fuyuki-san whispered in agreement.
Watching this footage, you couldn't help but reach that conclusion.
"You two, discussion later..."
"Ah, right. Sorry."
Kondo-san chided us with a whisper and a frown, so Fuyuki-san and I bowed our heads slightly and turned back to the screen. I found it odd that the footage only showed track-and-field events, until I remembered a news report saying schools had been instructed to avoid high-contact activities to prevent injuries. That made sense.
And then...
"Everyone, pay close attention to this part," Chief Wakita said, speaking for the first time since the video started.
The screen showed the inter-club relay, which also served as a club activity introduction. Representatives from various clubs marched in, wearing their uniforms and carrying their gear. I wondered what about this part had the Chief so focused.
"Ah."
Kondo-san let out a small gasp. I started to turn toward her, but then a familiar face caught the corner of my eye.
That was the boy we had been tailing for our investigation...
"Yes. The reason I chose that particular school for my inspection was because it’s where they’re enrolled. Of course, there were other reasons too."
So they were the primary reason. Between our urgent investigation and this, the Dungeon Association was certainly keeping a close eye on them.
The video continued. The students spread out across the field, and then it began.
"..."
The three subjects of our investigation started a fierce exchange of blows. Even without audio of the impacts, the powerful thuds of their feet kicking up dust and the sharp whistle of their fists cutting the air echoed through the room.
It looked like something straight out of a fighting game or an action movie.
"Are you... kidding me?"
The stunned murmur escaped my lips before I could stop it. This time, however, no one scolded me. Fuyuki-san and Kondo-san were just as mesmerized by the footage as I was.
After a long bout of intense hand-to-hand combat, a girl’s voice rang out and objects were tossed into the fray.
"Was that... a sword?"
"Yeah. Though it can't be a real one."
"There's a spear too..."
Once they caught their weapons, their movements accelerated even further. Honestly, I could only follow what was happening because it was filmed from a distance; I was certain that if I were standing in front of them, I'd be cut down before I even realized they'd moved. It wasn't just raw explorer stats. Their individual technical skill with the sword and spear was superlative.
The sword dance grew more frantic by the second.
"..."
We were speechless. I had been called in to help at an event once where high-level explorers performed a demonstration, and this was every bit as good... no, it was better.
It was becoming hard to believe they were actually high schoolers.
"Ah!"
The girl’s spear collided with the boy’s sword, snapping the blade at the hilt. Another boy, seemingly not noticing the break, swung at the unarmed student. I instinctively thought it was dangerous, but my worry was misplaced. The boy with the broken sword used the remaining hilt to expertly snap the other boy’s blade. Then, he actually caught the flying fragment of the blade between his fingers...
I’d thought it a dozen times already, but were these kids really just high school students?
"..."
The video continued, showing more of the sports festival, but the previous scene had been so impactful that the rest was a blur.
The footage ended, and Chief Wakita flicked the lights back on.
"That's it. Any thoughts or opinions?"
"..."
Thoughts? Opinions? Where do you even start?
I looked at Fuyuki-san and Kondo-san, hoping they had something, but they were wearing the exact same bewildered expressions I was. I mean, what else is there to say besides "that was insane"?
"Well, I suppose it's hard to give an opinion on the spot," Chief Wakita said with a sigh. "Let me rephrase. What was your impression of them after seeing that?"
"Um... they were amazing, sir," Kondo-san offered bluntly.
"In what way?" the Chief prompted.
"Well, it’s hard to put into words, but I can tell they're on a completely different level than any other explorers I’ve seen."
"I see. Tagawa-kun? Fuyuki-kun?"
The Chief gave Kondo-san a look that was half-deadpan, then turned to us.
"Let’s see... For me, it was their self-control. They have all that power, yet they don't seem arrogant at all. Usually, explorers—especially minors—get a big head when they reach that level. We didn't see a hint of that during our tailing—I mean, our investigation."
"Right," Fuyuki-san added. "Strength like that isn't something you pick up in a week or two. That means they’ve possessed that level of power for a while and have still managed to keep themselves in check."
Chief Wakita gave a small nod, his lips curling into a slight smirk. Apparently, we’d given the right answers.
"As you saw in your previous report, they are highly intelligent and well-behaved—at least for high schoolers."
We knew that. Even though we’d only watched them for a day, they seemed like "fine young men" by any standard. They didn't seem like the type to cause trouble... probably.
"Phew... So, Chief, why are we here? You didn't just bring us in to watch a sports festival highlights reel, did you?"
"Of course not. That was just the prelude. This is the main event. Take a look at this."
Chief Wakita handed out thin booklets to each of us.
Student Explorer Union Foundation Plan?
"What is this?"
"It’s a plan for a subsidiary organization currently being drafted within the Association. Right now, students make up a huge percentage of the explorer population. The goal is to create an organization that provides them with specialized guidance."
"Guidance?" I asked.
"Yes. An organization to handle student-focused seminars, safety drills, etiquette training, and so on."
As Chief Wakita explained the overview, I found myself agreeing that it sounded like a good idea. The Dungeon Association already held seminars, but they were for general audiences and often held on weekdays. Students stuck in school couldn't attend those.
"I see. A student-focused organization makes sense. But I still don't see how that video of them fits in..."
"That’s the thing. While it’s for students, the organization will be run by adults. Obviously."
"Of course. You can't leave the management to the kids."
"But that leads to issues with things like etiquette training."
Etiquette training?
"What do you mean? Can't we just send instructors to the schools?"
"Ordinary training would be fine, but this etiquette guidance has a secondary objective."
"A secondary objective?" We all tilted our heads.
"Rules and manners... even if an adult lectures a kid, they won't take it seriously unless it feels relevant to their lives, right? Even with high schoolers, that’s a major concern. One solution we’ve come up with is the External Associate System—scouting current students to act as teaching assistants."
"Ah, I get it. That’s where they come in."
We finally understood why Chief Wakita had called us.
"We want to recruit the most powerful and influential student explorers in each school as external associates. If the top dogs are cooperating, the other students will naturally fall in line. We’ll still get some rebels, sure, but far fewer than if we just lectured them from above."
"And they’re your prime candidates for this?"
"Yes. Or rather, we’re hoping this external associate scout will be the foot in the door to eventually bring them into the Dungeon Association. You can never have too many explorers who are both talented and well-behaved."
Currently, they were registered as independent, not belonging to any corporate group. Extremely talented freelance explorers are the kind of assets every company dreams of. I could see why the Association wanted to stake a claim on them now, using the subsidiary organization as an excuse.
There are plenty of high-ranking explorers out there, but "excellent" and "well-behaved" rarely go together in the freelance world. The ones who are both are usually already scouted by corporations; the ones who stay freelance are usually talented but have major personality flaws. Companies want talent, but not enough to overlook a toxic attitude.
"That makes sense."
"Which brings us to your job... I want you three to go and scout them."
"What!?"
The three of us cried out in perfect, dumbfounded unison.
Scouting? Us!?
"W-Wait a minute, Chief! You want us to do it!?"
"Exactly! Isn't recruiting HR's job? Why us!?"
"We don't have any experience with that!"
We all protested at once, but Chief Wakita just gave us a thin, knowing smile.
"Technically, yes, it’s an HR task. I don't expect a group of field agents to pull off a perfect recruitment drive. However, in this entire office, you three are the ones who know their personalities best."
"But still..."
"Look, HR is drowning in work preparing for the very first entrance exams since the Association’s founding. Besides, these kids are only in their second year of high school. HR told me that talk of candidates for the year after next can wait."
Well, he had a point. The Dungeon Association was cobbled together last year with personnel pulled from other ministries; this was their first actual recruitment cycle. Between document screening, written tests, and interviews, HR was probably in a state of total collapse.
If they were told to handle long-term scouting on top of that, the entire department might actually explode.
"So," the Chief continued, "because of our connection from the previous mission, the request came to us. We just want to let them know the Association is interested before someone else snaps them up."
"And we're the ones who have to break the news... is that it?"
"Please. Once the entrance exams are over, HR will take over the formal negotiations."
"..."
The three of us looked at each other, grimacing. It was phrased as a request, but it was an order we couldn't refuse. After a long silence, we all let out synchronized sighs of resignation.
"Fine, Chief. We’re not pros at this, so we can't promise anything, but we’ll take the job."
"Good to hear. I appreciate it."
Fuyuki-san gave our defensive answer on behalf of the group, and Chief Wakita thanked us with a satisfied grin.
And that was how we became temporary scouts... or so we thought.
"...Ah, yes. I see. Understood. Thank you for the call."
Kondo-san hung up the phone and shook her head, informing us that the attempt to scout them through the school's official channels had failed immediately.
Sigh... this was going to be a long project.