The footsteps came to a halt right before our camp screen. As I strained my ears, I caught the faint sound of someone steadying their breath. At the very least, it didn't seem like an immediate ambush.
"Um, excuse me. Do you have a moment?"
The voice that drifted through the screen was feminine and polite. Wait, the one who spoke was a woman?
I stayed half-crouched, remaining on high alert as I shifted my gaze toward Yuji and Hiiragi-san, questioning them with my eyes.
... (What do we do? Should we answer?)
... (Well, we already showed our faces earlier. It would be weirder if we ignored them now.)
... (True. Let's hear what they have to say, but keep your guard up.)
We completed the exchange in an instant through eye contact. To keep the person outside from getting too defensive, we decided to have Hiiragi-san—a fellow woman—be the one to respond.
"Yes? How can we help you?"
"Oh, um... I just wanted to introduce myself and ask for a small favor..."
A favor? I could understand the introduction, since we were sharing the same floor for the next few hours, but what kind of favor would they need?
We exchanged puzzled looks, none of us quite following the request.
"A favor? Like what?"
"Who knows? We won't find out until we talk to them..."
"Right. We're not getting anywhere just sitting here. Let's step outside and see what they want."
"Yeah, I'll go with you. It would be reckless to let you go alone. Yuji, back us up if things go sideways."
"Got it. Leave it to me."
After a quick whispered consultation to ensure we weren't overheard, Hiiragi-san and I stood up and stepped past the camp screen, moving cautiously. We made a point of leaving our primary weapons behind. If we were meeting in a narrow corridor during a crawl, it would be different, but approaching a stranger in a rest area while brandishing weapons was a sure way to kill any chance of a friendly interaction. Coming out armed would essentially be telling them, "We don't trust you."
Of course, they might take our lack of heavy arms as a sign of weakness, but if they failed to notice that we still had our sidearms on us, it would only prove that their own observation skills were lacking. Now then, let's see how they react...
"I'm so sorry. I know you were right in the middle of your break..."
"No, don't worry about it. We were just finishing up our camp setup," Hiiragi-san replied.
Standing before the camp screen were a man and a woman clad in Association-recommended armor. I had expected someone from one of the corporate explorer parties, but based on their gear, it looked like they were part of a university group.
After the initial greetings, they began a brief introduction.
"I appreciate you saying that. Anyway, let us introduce ourselves. I'm Kako Shiraishi, a third-year in university. And this is..."
"Jun Mita. Same university, third-year. Nice to meet you."
Shiraishi-san was about the same height as Hiiragi-san and wore a gentle smile, while Mita-san was a bit taller than Yuji, well-built, and wore a permanent scowl. I figured Shiraishi-san was the lead negotiator and Mita-san was there for protection—and perhaps a bit of intimidation.
"The pleasure is ours. I'm Yukino Hiiragi, a high school sophomore. And this is..."
"Daiki Kokonoe. I'm also a sophomore."
With a slight nod, Hiiragi-san and I began talking with Shiraishi-san and her companion.
I just hope this 'favor' isn't too much of a headache...
The discussion—or rather, the negotiation—proceeded with Shiraishi-san and Hiiragi-san in the lead. It wasn't some heavy-handed interrogation where they probed for secrets; it was more like a simple exchange of dungeon info mixed with small talk. It was basically "girls' talk," even if the conversation was peppered with a fair number of bloodthirsty terms.
Meanwhile, Mita-san and I listened in, both of us keeping a sharp eye out for any suspicious movements from the other.
"I see, so that's how it went."
"Exactly. It was a nightmare at the time..."
"Is that so?...By the way, Shiraishi-san, what was that favor you mentioned?"
Judging that the ice had been sufficiently broken, Hiiragi-san brought up the main topic, her voice taking on a slightly more businesslike tone. Shiraishi-san caught the shift and her expression tightened. She looked a bit awkward as she broached the subject.
"Right. The favor... This is embarrassing to admit, but could you possibly spare some water?"
"...Water?"
"...Yes."
Spare some water? What? Did these people seriously not bring enough water for their trip?
Hiiragi-san and I gave them a look that clearly asked what they were thinking, prompting Shiraishi-san to start a frantic explanation.
"N-no, it's not what you think! We brought plenty of water for the expedition. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"A few days ago, we were caught off guard during a monster battle. One of our three storage containers was punctured and ruined."
"Oh... I see. That's rough."
Shiraishi-san looked genuinely distressed, while Mita-san looked away, clearly loath to have their blunder exposed. It wasn't the kind of thing you'd normally admit to strangers.
Essentially, they had lost a critical resource required to continue their expedition due to a simple mistake.
"We have just barely enough to make it back to the surface. But... we won't be able to stay on this floor and continue our operations as planned."
"So you're saying that after coming all this way down, you'll have to turn right around without accomplishing anything?"
"...Exactly."
Shiraishi-san let out a heavy sigh as she confirmed Hiiragi-san's point. Mita-san remained silent, closing his eyes with a look of profound regret. It would be a bitter pill to swallow—coming this far only to return empty-handed.
At the very least, they had enough to get home, so they weren't in a life-or-death situation, which was a small mercy.
"We put a lot of funding into this trip. If we go back with nothing to show for it, it’s going to make our future activities very difficult. So..."
"So you want us to give you some of ours?"
"Yes."
After hearing them out, Hiiragi-san and I exchanged a look. This was a complicated request. We couldn't just say yes without thinking about the consequences.
I pointed toward the corporate explorer parties camping near the stairs.
"Um, did you try asking those parties over there?"
"Those groups? Of course we did. But they turned us down flat. They said that even if they have extra in their tanks, they can't risk it. If their own resupply team gets delayed, they’d be putting themselves in danger. They can't afford to share when they don't know what might happen."
"Ah... well, that’s a fair point."
In fact, since Shiraishi-san's group had lost their water in a monster battle, it proved that the corporate supply teams weren't guaranteed to make it through either. Shiraishi-san's group was living proof of the risks. It was only natural for the corporations to refuse; giving away supplies could lead to their own demise.
Furthermore, for corporate explorers, those supplies were company assets. If an employee gave away company property without authorization, it could be seen as embezzlement or a breach of duty. Nobody wanted to risk their job—or a criminal record—for strangers.
"In that case, why come to us? Did you think we'd be any more likely to say yes?"
"Well, naturally I was worried about being rejected again. But..."
"But what?"
In response to Hiiragi-san's question, Shiraishi-san lowered her voice, looking even more troubled.
"I heard it. I heard someone say 'Create Water.'"
"What?...Ah!"
Hiiragi-san and I shared a look of pure "we messed up." Hiiragi-san had chanted the spell as softly as possible, but apparently, it had carried further than we thought. Explorers have their hearing enhanced by leveling up; if they're focused, they can have ears like a hawk.
Besides, given their desperate need for water, it was likely their ears were tuned specifically for that word.
"Based on that reaction, I guess I heard right."
"......"
"Please. Could you spare us some water?"
"......"
As Shiraishi-san bowed with her hands pressed together in a plea, Hiiragi-san and I fell silent. Since we'd already reacted, there was no point in denying that one of us was a Water Magic user.
...What should we do?
I felt for them, but we needed to talk this over. We asked them to wait and held an emergency meeting inside the camp screen with Yuji. This time, learning from our mistake, I had Hiiragi-san cast the wind magic Silent Wall. This spell creates a barrier of wind that dampens sound vibrations, though it isn't perfect—it can't block loud noises, so we still had to keep our voices down. It was a spell Hiiragi-san had barely used since learning it, but it was perfect for this situation.
"So? Are we giving them water?"
"...The act of giving it is easy enough, but if we do it too casually, it'll be a nightmare later."
"Right. If word gets out that we’re handing out water, we’ll have every explorer on the floor lining up for a handout."
"Exactly. Everyone will be looking for a free ride. That’s a headache we don't need... but..."
"The cat’s out of the bag. If we had brought physical bottles, we could just say we don't have enough to spare. But since they know we can create it with magic, refusing without a good reason is going to look bad."
However, if we gave it away for free, Hiiragi-san might end up being treated like a glorified vending machine. People would start demanding to know why those students got water but they didn't. We’d be forced to keep giving just to avoid a fight.
And once that precedent was set, there would be no stopping it. That was a future I definitely wanted to avoid.
"If we do it, we have to set some strict conditions."
"Agreed. Doing it for free is the worst possible move."
"Harsh conditions will act as a barrier for anyone else who thinks they can just walk up and ask."
"Then what should we charge? If we make it too extreme, people will call us scammers."
"Hmm..."
The simplest condition was selling it for cash. But that meant we had to set a price. What was the fair market value for magical water on the 23rd floor? I remembered a TV show once mentioning that vending machines at the summit of Mount Fuji sold soda for five hundred yen a bottle. Hiiragi-san’s magic produced one liter per cast. Was a thousand yen fair?
Then again, the summit of Mount Fuji is a place an ordinary person can reach with some effort. This was a dungeon floor that took high-level explorers days to reach. Could we really use the same price range?
"...Is a thousand yen per liter too cheap?"
"For normal water, it's expensive. But given where we are? It feels way too low."
"True. But a hundred thousand yen a liter is obviously pushing it, right?"
"Yeah, that’s definitely too much."
Pricing something without a benchmark was nearly impossible. We needed a comparison—something to justify the cost.
As I was agonizing over the numbers, Yuji suddenly clapped his hands.
"Ah!"
"What? What is it, Yuji?"
"I just remembered. I saw this special on TV once about 'luxury' mineral water."
"Oh?"
"I’m pretty sure there was one brand that cost ten thousand yen a bottle."
I had no idea what that water was actually worth now, but if it existed, it was all the justification we needed. We would lean into the rarity of the resource and the extreme location. If they didn't like it, they didn't have to buy it.
"Alright. Let's use that. That's our price."
"Ten thousand yen a liter, then?"
"Yeah. It's a high enough price to make anyone stop and think, right?"
"It is. If they want ten liters, that's a hundred thousand yen. Down here on the deep floors, people might consider it, but on the upper floors, that's a price that would give anyone pause."
It was the kind of price you'd expect for high-end champagne. Unless things were truly desperate, no one was going to reach for their wallet on a whim.
But since we weren't refusing to share, the choice was entirely theirs. If they didn't like the price, they could blame their own lack of preparation for getting them into this mess.
"Okay. Tell them we'll do it, but only if they agree to those terms."
"Got it."
"Sounds good to me."
"Right. Hiiragi-san, drop the spell."
As soon as Hiiragi-san dispelled the Silent Wall, the wind barrier vanished, and we could hear Shiraishi-san and Mita-san's anxious, whispered conversation.
Now then... let's see if they're willing to pay.