When Hiiragi-san and I stepped out from behind the camp screen, Shiraishi-san and Mita-san were waiting for us with tense expressions. I suppose that made sense; our decision would determine whether they could continue their exploration or be forced to retreat immediately.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. The discussion got a bit... complicated,” Hiiragi-san said, bowing her head slightly in apology.
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it! We’re the ones asking for the impossible...” Shiraishi-san replied, looking a bit flustered as she tried to stop Hiiragi-san from bowing. Even though they were older, they were the ones in the position of asking for a desperate favor.
It was certainly better than them taking a needlessly overbearing attitude to try and make themselves look superior.
“I see. Well then, I’ll give you the result of our discussion.”
““...””
At those words, Shiraishi-san and Mita-san’s expressions tightened instantly, a look of profound nervousness washing over them.
“After talking it over, we’ve decided that we can provide you with water, provided you agree to certain conditions.”
“R-Really?!”
“Yes, really. Though as I said, there are conditions...”
“Thank you!”
Shiraishi-san’s face became a mixture of surprise and relief, while Mita-san simply widened his eyes in quiet shock.
“So, what are these conditions? I think we should be fine as long as it’s nothing too extreme...”
“To put it simply, we cannot provide the water for free.”
“Eh? Ah, you mean...”
Sensing the implication, the joy on Shiraishi-san’s face clouded over slightly.
“Yes. If you are willing to purchase it, we can provide you with a limited amount.”
“...Um, how much would that be?”
“After talking it over, we are willing to sell it for 10,000 yen per liter.”
“Ten thousand?!”
Shiraishi-san’s eyes went wide as she put a hand to her mouth and cried out in shock. Mita-san glared at us with a look of pure disgust, as if he wanted to scream that we were greedy money-grubbers.
I could understand Shiraishi-san’s reaction, but Mita-san’s glare felt a bit uncalled for.
“Ah, I’m sorry. But... really? Ten thousand yen?”
“Yes. Of course, I will explain why we’ve set that price.”
Hiiragi-san let their reactions roll off her with a composed look and began to calmly state the reasons we had just discussed. The two of them, who had initially looked at us with shock and loathing, gradually began to narrow their eyes as the explanation proceeded, eventually wearing expressions of deep apology.
It seemed they had realized just how much of a burden they were asking us to shoulder. I understood they were desperate due to the water shortage, but I wished they had considered the costs on our end before coming to ask.
“I’m sorry. I was so cornered that I didn’t even realize...”
“My bad. I’ve caused you trouble.”
“Oh, no. If you were being pushed to the brink by a lack of water, it’s only natural that you wouldn't be able to think about anything else once a chance for resupply appeared,” Hiiragi-san said, comforting the dejected pair before returning to the main point. “Anyway, that’s the situation. Do you understand why the price of the water is so high?”
“Yes. If those are your reasons, then I can certainly understand why you’ve set that price.”
“It’s still expensive, though...”
“True.”
It seemed they could understand it logically, even if they weren't entirely happy about it. Even if their reason told them it was appropriate—or even cheap, given the circumstances—the knowledge of what water cost in a supermarket probably triggered a nagging suspicion that they were being ripped off.
However, this was something they simply had to accept, one way or another.
“Would you mind letting us think about it for a bit?”
“Yes, of course. Given the amount of money involved, it’s understandable.”
If they bought ten liters, it would be 100,000 yen. It wasn't the kind of thing you could decide on the spot.
“That’s a big help. Oh, and may I ask one more thing?”
“What is it?”
“Supposing we do buy it, what is the maximum amount of water you can spare?”
“Ah, my apologies. I forgot to mention that. The limit for this transaction is fifty liters. Since we are in the middle of our own exploration, we cannot provide more than that.”
Each use of Create Water consumed 1 EP. Even if she used it fifty times, it would only cost 50 EP. However, no EP recovery potions had been discovered yet, so we had to rely entirely on natural recovery. If we were outside the dungeon, she could use her EP to the limit, create water, and then just wait to recover, but inside the dungeon, the situation was different.
Even during a break, there was no telling when a monster might attack. Therefore, consuming all of one’s EP was a foolish move. Furthermore, for safety, considering the balance between EP consumed in monster battles and the rate of natural recovery, the limit for water production should be about one-third of one’s maximum EP. Especially when it was for someone else and not a life-or-death emergency.
Of course, given Hiiragi-san’s actual EP capacity, producing fifty liters wouldn't be a burden at all, but we had to maintain the charade of our disguised levels.
“Fifty, huh...”
“Is it not enough?”
If a human consumes three liters of water a day, a five-person party would use roughly fifteen liters daily. Fifty liters would last them about three days.
An extra three days of exploration... would that be enough to pay off the cost of the water?
“No, it’s just... it’s probably just a coincidence, but that’s the exact size of the containers we brought.”
“I see...”
So Shiraishi-san and her group had brought fifty-liter containers. Since she said they had enough for the trip there and back, they must have planned for a schedule of a week to ten days. That was just a rough guess, since I didn't know how many people were in her party.
“Well then, I’m going to go consult with everyone, and then I’ll come back.”
“Understood.”
With that, Shiraishi-san and Mita-san returned to their own camp base.
Seeing their backs—shoulders slumped, yet footsteps strangely light—was a bizarre sight.
After they left, Hiiragi-san and I went back inside the camp screen. There, Yuji was sitting in front of a portable stove, heating up retort pouches.
Now that I thought about it, we were supposed to be getting dinner ready.
“Good work. For now, it looks like things will proceed peacefully.”
“I hope so...”
“We’ve told them what we had to say. The rest is up to them. They can choose to refrain from buying and head back, or buy and continue their exploration.”
Hiiragi-san was right. All we could do was present them with options. We weren't trying to start a business, so it didn't matter to us whether they bought it or not.
Anyway, more importantly, it was time for food.
“Yuji, is this warmed up yet?”
“Yeah, pretty much. This side should be... fine now too.”
“Thank you, Hirose-kun. Sorry for leaving all the preparation to you.”
“Don't worry about it. I just heated stuff up. If anything, I’m the one who should be sorry for pushing the troublesome stuff onto you guys.”
They exchanged brief apologies. Since no one was really at fault, that was the end of the matter.
The meal Yuji had prepared while Hiiragi-san and I were negotiating consisted of alpha rice and retort pouches of curry. The classic camp menu.
“Now, let’s try grilling this.”
Yuji pulled out everyone’s favorite: minotaur meat. We had encountered one on the way here and made sure to hunt it. Unfortunately, no marbled minotaur meat had dropped this time.
Yuji used a Kaiken to slice the minotaur meat, sprinkled it with salt, and placed it on the grill mesh. For a moment, I wondered if it was okay to use a sub-weapon for something like this, but since he cleaned it with his Cleansing skill afterward, I figured it was fine.
“Well then, let’s eat the curry while we wait for the meat to cook.”
“Right. Let's eat.”
“Let's eat.”
I opened the retort pouch and poured it into the bag of alpha rice. It would look better on a plate, but that would just mean more trash. If we could avoid using extra things, it made cleaning up much easier.
“Mm, this is actually pretty good.”
“Well, it’s curry. Unless it’s something incredibly weird, it’s hard to go wrong.”
“That’s true. You rarely hear about someone picking a 'bad' retort curry.”
There was a slight metallic scent from the packaging, but since it was the same retort curry we always ate, the flavor was perfectly fine. In fact, it was a comforting taste. Perhaps when eating in a place like this, familiar foods were actually better.
We silently shoveled the curry into our mouths, our faces softening at the delicious meal....Wait!
“Hey, Yuji! You’re overcooking it! You have to flip it or it’ll burn!”
“Hm? Oh, my bad.”
Yuji used his chopsticks to flip the meat, which had taken on a rather dark sear.
“Still, this meat always smells incredible.”
“Yeah, it’s a scent that really whets the appetite.”
The small popping sounds of the charcoal, the fragrant seared surface, the smoke rising from the fat dripping onto the coals... everything about it stimulated our hunger.
We swallowed our saliva as we ate the meat, which had been grilled to a perfect medium-rare.
“Mmm, delicious. It’s light yet has such a rich umami. No wonder it’s so popular.”
“Yeah, it really tastes like it’s worth the price. It’s just a shame all we have is salt.”
“Oh? I think salt is better than some cheap sauce. It brings out the natural umami of the meat more, don't you think?”
““...””
Wait, Yuji? Hiiragi-san?
For some reason, an ominous atmosphere had suddenly settled between them.
“No, no, Hiiragi-san, what are you saying? Meat only truly comes alive when you pair it with a sauce that was carefully crafted through trial and error to be delicious.”
“Oh, is that so? Don’t you think that by using salt, you can truly appreciate the original flavor the meat possesses?”
““...””
Both Yuji and Hiiragi-san maintained pleasant smiles as they laid out their theories on salt versus sauce. But after a while, neither would budge, and they began to emit a strange, silent pressure. Wait, I felt like the air was suddenly getting thin. Hey, don't start a weird fight in a place like this!
I clapped my hands together to mediate their debate.
“Okay, okay, that’s enough! You two... it’s a rare meal, so let’s all enjoy it together, okay?”
“...Ah, you’re right. Sorry, I got a bit too heated up.”
“Yes, my apologies.”
“It’s fine. Besides, whether someone likes salt or sauce is just a matter of personal preference. It’s not something to fight about.”
My words seemed to reach them, as both Yuji and Hiiragi-san gave wry smiles, seemingly remembering their conversation from moments ago.
“You’re right. Everyone should just choose what they like.”
“Yes. Food preferences are different for everyone. We should just choose what we enjoy.”
“Exactly. There's no need to go out of your way to argue over salt or sauce.”
Good. Now we wouldn't have to finish our meal in a tense atmosphere.
Really, arguing over salt or sauce... Yuji and Hiiragi-san were still such children. I mean, come on...
“Obviously, lemon sauce is the absolute best for yakiniku.”
“Hah?”
“Wha...?”
“?...Ah.”
Apparently, what I had been thinking in my head had leaked out. Hahaha... you two... don’t look at me with such scary eyes.
Needless to say, the rest of the meal was spent in a boisterous... or rather, highly contentious atmosphere. Yeah. Truly, a slip of the tongue is the root of all disaster.
A short while after we finished our meal, as if they had been waiting for the right timing, a voice called out to us from outside the camp screen. It was Shiraishi-san.
When Hiiragi-san and I stepped outside, Shiraishi-san and Mita-san were standing there, waving at us with smiles.
“Sorry to keep calling you out like this.”
“No, it’s fine. So, did you reach a decision?”
“Yes. Actually, there’s something I’d like to consult with you about... is that okay?”
“? What is it?”
A consultation? Ah, maybe they wanted to negotiate the price? But if we set a precedent by discounting it once...
Seeing the cloud of concern on our faces, Shiraishi-san hurriedly waved both hands in front of her chest.
“Oh, no, that’s not it! We’re not trying to negotiate the price down.”
“Oh, is that so? Then, the consultation is...”
Shiraishi-san hesitated as if it were difficult to say, then seemed to make up her mind.
“Well, you see... we’ve decided to buy the water, but we don’t have enough cash on hand.”
“Eh? Oh, I see...”
“Yes. I have a few five-hundred yen coins, but I kept my wallet with my bills and cards in a locker on the surface. You know, if you drop it while exploring the dungeon, it’s a huge pain to go back and get it... it’s life-threatening, right? So, naturally, we left them behind.”
“Well, that certainly makes sense.”
A wallet is precious, but life is more so. Thinking about it that way, there was no need to bring in anything other than the small change used at rest areas on the second or third floors, especially when there were no other places to spend it.
But if that was the case, the most cash they would have on them in the dungeon would be a few thousand yen.
“So, I was wondering... would it be alright if we purchased the water with drop items instead of cash?”
“With drop items, you say...”
Hiiragi-san and I looked at each other and began to discuss whether or not to accept Shiraishi-san’s proposal.