After everyone had left, we finished packing the gear we’d been in the middle of tidying and quickly prepared to depart. To be honest, I felt that staying here any longer would only invite more trouble. Once we finished the bare minimum of greetings, we were going to leave this place posthaste.
"Now then. You two, did we leave anything behind?"
"No, we’re good."
"I’ve collected all the trash, too."
I scanned the remains of our camp, performing a final check before we set off.
Leaving trash behind is a breach of etiquette, whether you're in a dungeon or in town. As the saying goes, 'a bird does not foul the nest it is about to leave,' so it should be basic practice to take your waste home with you.
"Alright, let's head out."
I turned toward the three parties who were watching our every move, casting frequent glances our way. As soon as I did, the lookouts for each party took on the same tense expression.
...I mean, you really don't have to be that on guard, do you? Feeling a bit dejected, we lowered our heads slightly and offered our parting words.
"Pardon the intrusion. We'll be heading out now."
I wondered if saying "pardon the intrusion" was appropriate for a group that had merely slept in the same plaza, but we had certainly disturbed their peace of mind. For now, if saying a few words had the potential to improve their impression of us, it wasn't a waste of effort.
I didn't know how effective it would be, though.
"..."
The gazes and expressions directed at us as we bowed were quite varied. From the two corporate-type parties, I saw looks of envy and awkwardness born of guilt; from the university student party, I saw looks of jealousy and an irrepressible sense of rivalry. The corporate explorers would likely be fine, but I was starting to worry that the resentment from the university student party might cause problems later on.
"...Let's go."
"Yeah."
"Right."
With those gazes full of conflicting emotions at our backs, we stepped into the passage leading deeper into the dungeon.
Leaving the staircase plaza where the three parties remained, we proceeded through the dungeon at a near-run for a while. We descended three floors and finally came to a halt when we reached the staircase plaza on the 26th floor, which was completely deserted.
"..."
Using our skills to search the surroundings, we confirmed that there were no monsters or explorers nearby. We looked at each other, nodded, took a deep breath, and—
"Give me a damn break! Who the hell do they think they are?! Just because we were being polite, they start acting like they're better than us!"
"Ugh, what a massive pain! They're the ones who broke etiquette and caused a scene, so why are they preaching to us from their high horses?!"
"It's seriously so irritating! What was with them!?"
We shouted our pent-up frustrations at the top of our lungs. A landslide of complaints, which had piled up higher and higher, came pouring out of our mouths. To be honest, I never expected to accumulate this much frustration from just a single night's stay.
For a good while, we continued to scream our grievances.
Once we had finished venting and felt refreshed, we took out folding chairs and plastic bottles of barley tea from my Spatial Storage to catch our breath. It felt great mentally, but shouting like that is exhausting in its own right.
After drinking some barley tea and finally feeling like myself again, I leaned back against the chair and spoke in a slightly tired tone.
"...I never would have guessed that so many troublesome things would happen in just one night."
"Seriously. At most, I thought our combat strength would be exposed during a fight with monsters attacking the camp, and that'd be it."
"You're right. The water incident was our own fault for being careless, so that couldn't be helped, but I never thought grown adults would be so willing to pry, even knowing it's a breach of etiquette."
"Thanks to that, it turned into a mess that didn't even need to happen."
We remembered the sight of Ekizawa-san? being restrained by a panicked Hamatani-san and let out a sigh from the bottom of our hearts, knowing that a seed of discord had been sown. Look, I knew there was a possibility of this kind of trouble happening, okay? But for it to actually manifest so suddenly...
I spent a moment mulling over countermeasures, but no matter how much I thought, no highly effective solution came to mind, so I decided to change the subject. A change of pace might lead to a better idea.
"Still, we were trying to be as humble as possible to avoid conflict... but being too humble is also a bad move, huh."
"...Yeah. They didn't exactly look down on us, but they definitely didn't take us seriously."
"Indeed. We were so humble because we hate conflict, and that's probably why Baba-san felt he could pry even if it meant breaking etiquette. If we had acted like we usually do—not necessarily arrogant, but just normal—Baba-san might have stopped after the first question and not pushed any further."
I had thought that staying humble would avoid trouble, but that wasn't necessarily the case. While I don't think we should go around flaunting our power, it was probably necessary to act and behave in a way that matched at least our minimum level of ability. If we had acted more appropriately from the start, Ekizawa-san? probably wouldn't have lost his cool like that.
They often say you should behave according to the time, place, and occasion, and apparently, that applies to dungeons too.
"Even so... what should we do..."
"By 'what to do,' you mean about Ekizawa-san?, right?"
"Yeah. If possible, I'd like to clear up the misunderstanding with him. It feels like the gap between us will only widen the more time passes."
"Well, you're probably right. But... there's nothing we can really do, is there? Realistically."
I nodded, seeing the point in what Yuji said. Given how he'd behaved, there was a high chance Ekizawa-san? had become stubborn. Just because we wanted to talk didn't mean he would be willing to listen.
"Hey, Hirose-kun? I have something I want to check, is that okay?"
"? What is it, Hiiragi-san?"
"Does your family dojo offer anything like culture school classes?"
"? We do provide instruction outside of the main dojo, but... why?"
"I was thinking, what if we recommended it to Ekizawa-san?."
Ah, I see. If he learns what kind of training we actually do, his resentment might fade. Well, honestly, it would have been better if we could have explained it before he blew up.
Still, if we told him the actual contents of the training we undergo... I want to believe it's just my imagination that he'd be completely horrified.
"I see, that might be an option. If he actually experiences what kind of training we do, he might understand why we said what we did."
"I doubt he could handle the training we receive from Juzo-san, but he should be able to get a taste of it."
"True. In that case..."
With that, Yuji took a notepad out of his backpack and began scribbling something down.
It was likely the contact information for the culture school his family taught at.
"Alright, done. Then, if we run into Hamatani-san's party later, we'll suggest it to them."
Since Hamatani-san's party had been able to resupply their water, they seemed likely to stay active in the dungeon for a few more days, so we would probably run into them. If we didn't, then so be it... but let's assume we will.
After finishing our break, we put the folding chairs back into Spatial Storage and discussed whether to move forward or head back to the surface.
"Now then, what's the plan? Should we go on or head back...?"
"According to the plan, we were supposed to withdraw toward the surface."
"That's right. The original purpose of this dungeon excursion was to stay overnight and accumulate that know-how. From that perspective, the logical decision would be to head for the surface."
Unless an irregular event occurs that makes immediate return difficult, engaging in exploration outside of the original objective is a risky decision. Whether looking at remaining supplies, physical stamina, or mental capacity... the more meticulously you've planned, the more you should avoid unplanned actions.
However...
"Not much time has passed since we left the 23rd floor, so it's a bit awkward to go back now."
"That's true. Even including this break, it's been less than an hour since we left."
"I agree, it really would be awkward to run back less than an hour after departing..."
Checking my watch, only a little over thirty minutes had passed since we left. If we only looked at travel time, it hadn't even been ten minutes. If we headed back now, we would run into the three parties again in less than an hour. Hamatani-san's party might have already left, but the two corporate parties had established solid base camps, so... the chances of running into them were high.
"So, here's a proposal: why don't we dive down to the 29th floor and take out the ogre? We gave the high-grade recovery potion we got from the ogre last time to Genya-san, so 'officially,' we don't have one on hand. Why don't we restock some high-grade recovery potions we can use in an emergency?"
"...True, it's better to have high-grade recovery potions that we can use in a public setting if something happens."
"I suppose. But... Kokonoe-kun? Why are you bringing this up now? You could have said it when we were planning this trip, or even yesterday when we reached the 29th floor. Besides, we already discussed that proposal and rejected it to prioritize making the dungeon stay a success. Why bring it up again now?"
"Well, uh, that's..."
I stammered, my eyes darting around under Hiiragi-san's scrutiny.
Hiiragi-san let out a soft sigh and then urged me to continue with a sharp, piercing gaze.
"Spare me the plausible excuses. Tell me your true feelings."
"I thought... I'd like to cut loose a bit to blow off some steam."
I averted my eyes—and my whole face—from Hiiragi-san's sharp gaze while whispering the real reason for hunting the ogre.
Hiiragi-san glanced at Yuji, and then the two of them let out a sigh in unison.
"Sigh... Daiki. Don't use weird phrasing; if that's what you wanted, just say so."
"Exactly, Kokonoe-kun. You don't have to be so roundabout about a reason like that."
"...Eh?"
I got a different reaction than I expected. I thought they would scold me for wanting to fight an ogre for a reason like that, but... was it my imagination that their eyes seemed to be glowing with a dark light?
The answer to that question was revealed immediately by the words that came out of their mouths.
I want to blow off some steam too.
"O-Oh, I see..."
I replied with a strained voice, conscious of my cheek twitching. We had shouted our complaints earlier, but it seemed their anger hadn't quite subsided yet.
Well, in any case, it looked like we were going to hunt the ogre. Even if the reason for the hunt was basically just taking our anger out on it.
Once our objective was decided, we moved fast. We raced toward the 29th floor in one go while staying alert for other explorers, traps, and monsters. When we encountered other explorers, we passed them by with a friendly greeting; we bypassed monsters and traps by running along the walls or ceilings.
As a result, the journey to the 29th floor took less than thirty minutes.
"We got here faster than I expected."
"Yeah, we did."
In front of the great doors carved with relief-like patterns, I looked on with a deeply moved expression. Since I had seen them yesterday, I didn't feel a sense of wonder, but a dark joy at finally being able to vent my frustration began to bubble up within me.
Since the area behind the gate guarded by the ogre was a closed space, there was no risk of being seen by other explorer parties. In other words, for us—who had many secrets—it was a place where we could cut loose without worrying about the eyes of others. Well, within limits, of course.
"Hey, you two, don't just stare at the door forever. Let's go in already."
"Eh, ah, sorry. You're right, there's no point in just standing around here."
I apologized to Hiiragi-san, who had been left waiting in front of the gate, and took something out of my Spatial Storage. The key to open the door looming before us: a Core Crystal.
"I'm glad we went bear hunting before. Thanks to that, we don't have to worry about Core Crystals to open the door."
"Bear hunting, huh... In the end, that whole thing was a waste. Though it turned out fine for me."
Yuji looked at the Core Crystal in my hand with a nostalgic gaze, a somewhat relieved expression on his face. Well, Yuji had almost made his bear debut at the sports festival, after all... While having that exchange, I warned the two of them to be careful and then slotted the Core Crystal into the depression on the surface of the gate.
Now then, it's time for a long-awaited reunion with the ogre.