As I watched Shigemori browse the menu with such obvious delight, I swallowed hard and steadied my breath before speaking.
"Hey, Shigemori?"
"Hmm? What's up? Have you already decided?"
"Not even close. Look, why did you invite me here? Normally, people don't drag their friends to these kinds of places without warning. From what I overheard you saying to the shopkeeper, it sounds like the last time you brought a friend, it ended in a disaster..."
If he had told me where we were going in advance, I probably would have "remembered" an urgent prior engagement.
Shigemori tilted his head at my question, looking puzzled for a moment before a look of realization dawned on him.
"Oh, well, I've wanted to bring a friend here for ages. I've been trying to find more fellow exotic meat lovers to talk to. I wanted people to know that there’s more to the world than just the standard stuff we eat in Japan—that these things are actually delicious. I brought a friend once before with that in mind, but apparently, the revulsion was stronger than I expected. The whole thing fell apart before we even ordered."
"Well, I’m not surprised. If you just spring it on someone like that..."
"That’s why I invited you. You looked like you were just the right amount of bored, and I figured since you’re an explorer, you wouldn’t have that kind of aversion."
Talk about bad timing. If I hadn't been standing there, I wouldn't have run into Shigemori. If I hadn't looked bored, he wouldn't have bothered to invite me. And if I weren't an explorer, he wouldn't have brought me here without a word.
But...
"Wait, Shigemori. Why did you assume explorers are fine with exotic meat?"
"Well, you know... it’s all over the internet. People are always posting about how the monster meat they ate on their latest dive was amazing. Don't explorers usually eat the meat drops from monsters to save on weight and supplies?"
"...What?"
"Huh?"
Wait a minute. Where did he get that? I mean, sure, if you run out of food, you might resort to eating monster meat drops... but that’s only for explorers who spend days in a dungeon on long-term expeditions.
For people like us who mainly stick to day exploration, the food we bring from the surface is more than enough.
"I-Is that not how it is?"
Cold sweat began to bead on Shigemori’s forehead, his expression twitching with anxiety as he realized his online research might be flawed.
All I could do was give him a silent nod and set the record straight.
"Maybe for parties that dive deep and stay in the dungeon for long stretches, but parties that stick to day exploration have plenty of food. They almost never eat monster meat drops themselves. There are exceptions, of course, but still."
"Just out of curiosity... what about your group?"
"Mainly day trips. Sometimes one night and two days."
"..." "..."
As I flatly stated the facts, the sweat really started to pour down Shigemori’s face. He finally realized that his misunderstanding had led him to do something incredibly inconsiderate.
"I-I’m so sorry! I totally got it wrong!"
"Ah, no, don't worry about it. It’s not like you did it on purpose."
Shigemori bowed his head deeply in apology.
"But if I had at least told you where we were going..."
"Look, I don't go out of my way to eat it, but it’s not like I’ve never tried it before. Don't let it get to you."
"Are you... are you sure?"
"Yeah."
I gave him a small smile, trying to reassure him as he sat there, shriveled with guilt.
Honestly, I was glad Eiji-san had already introduced me to lizard meat dishes. It made this a lot easier to swallow.
"That said, I've only ever eaten it when it was properly prepared in a restaurant. So please, nothing too weird. No insects, and nothing roasted whole. I don't even want to see that stuff, let alone eat it."
"Right, fair point. Jumping straight into that would be pretty intense if you're not used to it."
I made sure to set my boundaries before he could order. If I didn't put up some defensive lines now, there was a chance he'd order something nightmarish just for himself, and I'd still have to look at it.
I'm still not exactly a fan, but as long as I can't see the original form of the creature, I think I can manage.
"Alright, let's leave it at that. Let's decide what we’re having. Since it's my first time here, tell me what's good, Shigemori."
"O-Oh! Right! Leave it to me!"
I opened the menu and handed it over. Eager to make up for his mistake, he began explaining each dish in great detail. He still looked a little rattled, but he managed to pull himself together.
I was just glad we weren't going to have to eat in a state of awkward silence... even if the meal was exotic meat.
As we ate the dishes that were brought out, I kept the conversation focused on the dungeon exploration I’d been doing over summer break, keeping the details vague. I couldn't exactly tell him the whole truth.
"Huh. So there really are more student explorers once summer hits?"
"Yeah. I saw a lot of students who looked like first-years with brand-new equipment."
"I guess it's that 'summer break explorer debut' everyone’s talking about. They just did a TV special on it the other day."
"A TV special, huh..."
The dungeon boom showed no signs of slowing down. Even though information about the risks of the explorer profession was starting to circulate alongside the benefits, the influx of newcomers was as strong as ever.
The media’s constant coverage and borderline encouragement probably played a significant role in that. It was undeniable that the appearance of dungeons and the birth of the explorer profession had breathed life back into a stagnant economy. In a way, the fear that the economy might crash again if the profession declined was driving the current push for more explorers.
"By the way, Kokonoe, have you heard? There’s talk about building specialized schools for training explorers."
"Hmm? Yeah, I've heard rumors. It's tied to that movement to ban high schoolers from starting as explorers, right? Because of the massive gap in physical ability between student explorers and non-explorers?"
"Yeah... apparently there’s a concern that young people won't even go to high school if it means they can't be explorers. So, the idea is to have specialized schools to give them professional training from a young age and increase the number of elite explorers. At least, that’s what people are saying."
It sounded like a compromise from the government—they didn't want the education rates to drop, but they still wanted to churn out more explorers. Honestly, it was probably safer for kids to learn the basics at a specialized school than to jump into a dungeon with zero experience. If more people survived and fewer dropped out, the number of top-tier explorers would naturally grow over time.
Plus, if they could ensure a steady supply of new explorers every year, they could stabilize the long-term collection of drops from the dungeons.
"Still, skipping college to go pro as an explorer... that’s high-risk, high-reward."
"Definitely. If you get a career-ending injury, you won't have any other skills to fall back on."
"Recovery potions can fix most physical wounds, but if you're mentally traumatized, there's no coming back from that..."
As I spoke, I thought back to the companions of Miyano-san I had met during Golden Week—the ones who had been attacked by a PK explorer and were so traumatized they could barely function in daily life. That kind of risk always follows you in this line of work.
Seeing the conversation take a dark turn, Shigemori cleared his throat.
"Anyway, let’s change the subject. Are you planning on going to that event you mentioned?"
"The event... Oh, the briefing for the dungeon-related companies. I was thinking of checking it out if I have the time."
I figured it would be a good chance to see how far my group had drifted from the industry standard. At a massive briefing like that, the companies would be trying to put their best foot forward, which would give me a good look at what a "top-tier" pro explorer's average looks like to them.
I knew we were outliers, but my only real points of comparison were the parties we ran into inside the dungeon—and since we were diving deep, we only ever met the top-tier explorers. They weren't exactly a representative sample of the "average" party.
"I see. Where is the briefing taking place?"
"The one nearby is at the exhibition hall in the next city over. Since so many companies are participating, they had to rent out a massive venue."
It was the usual spot for large-scale events in this region. If they were using that building, it meant the scale was pretty significant.
"Wow, the big exhibition hall? They’re really going all out."
"It's partly for public relations, I’m sure, but for these companies, the dungeon industry is a growth market. They want to expand, but there aren't enough freelance explorers to go around. If they want to snag student explorers, they have to be aggressive with their recruitment."
"It's a life-threatening job, so it's only natural that people want the best conditions possible. If a company doesn't sell itself well, the talent will just go somewhere else."
Since the quality of an explorer directly impacts a company's bottom line, everyone was desperate to lock down the best talent. This was the dawn of the dungeon industry; those who secured the right people and grew their business now would be the ones leading the field tomorrow.
It made sense that they were all being so proactive.
"Maybe I'll go too..." Shigemori mused.
"Well, it's open to the general public, so I think there’ll be plenty to see."
"You think so?"
"I heard some food companies are attending, so there might be stalls serving dungeon ingredients. They'll probably be pricey, but..."
Given Shigemori’s love for exotic meat, he’d probably find something he liked if he looked hard enough. Assuming his wallet could take the hit.
"Dungeon ingredients, huh... they're so expensive across the board."
"Supply is still low. It’ll be a while before the prices start to drop."
"True. By the way, do you guys eat dungeon ingredients at home? Like, a producer's privilege sort of thing?"
"Yeah, sometimes we bring stuff back instead of cashing it all in."
When I told him—within reasonable limits—about the kinds of things we’d brought back, Shigemori’s curious expression shifted instantly to one of intense envy.
"Marbled meat from a minotaur? That's like, a super high-end delicacy! You guys were just... eating that?"
"Well, producer's privilege. We risk our lives to get it, so we deserve a little reward..."
And so, we sat there bonding over a meal of exotic meat. At one point, Shigemori started talking about becoming an explorer just so he could eat dungeon ingredients on the spot, but I’m pretty sure he was joking... hopefully.
Anyway, the food was actually quite good, as expected of the shopkeeper's recommendations.
After the unexpected exotic meat lunch ended, I parted ways with Shigemori and headed home. I didn't have any other errands, and there was no reason to keep wandering around the shopping district.
I stopped by a convenience store on the way to pick up a few snacks for later.
"I'm home."
"Welcome back. You're early."
"Yeah, I guess."
I answered my mother as she greeted me from the living room, then grabbed some barley tea from the fridge and took a long drink.
"Oh, Daiki, did you eat lunch?"
"Yeah. I ran into a friend in town, so we grabbed a bite and caught up."
"A friend? You mean Yuji-kun?"
The fact that Yuji’s name was the first one she thought of whenever I mentioned a friend was a testament to my usual habits. Does Mom think I don't have any friends besides Yuji and his group...? Actually, let's not think about that.
"No, a different friend....By the way, is Mika not back yet?"
"No. She said she'd be back before dinner. Did you need her for something?"
"No, nothing special."
I told my mother it was nothing when she gave me a curious look, then left the living room and went up to my own room. I just wanted to apologize to Mika again for what happened recently. It wasn't urgent, but after experiencing a bit of my own medicine today, I realized again just how mean that prank had been.
Once in my room, I spread out my snacks and started looking up the upcoming dungeon industry event online. I wondered if there would be any food stalls selling something particularly tasty.