After meeting up with Mika and Saori-chan as they emerged from the changing room, I told them I was leaving everything up to them from here on out. Their every move from this point forward would be part of the evaluation. Ideally, I should have started the assessment from the moment we met up, but… well, I decided not to sweat the small stuff.
Like the fact that they’d tried to take a taxi here on my dime.
"So, what’s the first move?"
"What’s the first move? Um…"
Mika and Saori-chan exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes darting back and forth as they silently conferred on how to proceed.
And then…
"I guess… first we should warm up?" Mika asked.
"Y-yeah. Let’s do that."
Nodding to each other as if to confirm they weren't making a mistake, the two girls peeked at my reaction. I felt a wave of exasperation and let out a sigh.
"If that’s what you think is best, then go ahead. You don't need to check my face every single time."
"Eh, but…"
"I’m not going to butt in and tell you what to do during this exploration. Well, I’ll step in if it looks like you’re about to do something dangerous, obviously. Like, say… charging into the 20th floor or deeper without doing any prior research."
As Mika looked at me with an anxious expression, I gave her a small smile and encouraged them in a slightly distant tone. They looked at a loss for a moment, then both lightly slapped their cheeks to psych themselves up, their expressions tightening.
"…Understood," Mika said. "Then first, let’s move somewhere we can warm up. Is that okay, Saori-chan?"
"Yeah. But we can just use the hall, right? A private room costs money…"
"True. We don’t have anything secret to discuss, so I don't think we need one."
The two of them didn't even look at me for approval this time, stating their next moves with clear, firm voices. We headed to the hall where other explorers were gathered, and they began a thorough set of warm-up exercises to prevent any injuries during the dive.
Yeah, yeah, this is a good start.
"By the way, Mika, Saori-chan. Have you decided how deep you're going today? This is just a day trip, so I don't think we can go too far."
Eh? Uh, well…
"…You hadn’t even thought about it, had you?"
At my question, their eyes swam as they openly showed their agitation. It wasn't that they were intentionally leaving it all to me, but since we usually decided the plan whenever we dived together, they must have assumed I would be the one setting the policy today too. They hadn't even discussed it between themselves.
Since this was supposed to be a test, I’d hoped they would have considered those kinds of details beforehand.
"T-That’s not true! Right, Saori-chan!?"
"Y-yeah. O-of course we thought about it."
With stiff, obviously fake smiles plastered on their faces, the two of them tried to laugh it off. If they were going to try to bluff, I wished they’d do a better job of it.
"Sigh, fine. So, what’s the plan?"
"Eh, um… for now, let's aim for the 7th floor. It’s summer break, so the dungeon is crowded. If we go too deep, it might be hard to make it back by the end of the day…"
"And!" Saori-chan added. "When we dived with you before, we went as far as the 7th floor. We’ve gained experience and leveled up since summer break started, so I think we’ll be fine up to there. Of course, we’ll see how things go, and if we feel like we can go further, we’d like to keep advancing…"
In modest voices that mixed anxiety with a lack of confidence, Mika and Saori-chan stated their goal. Honestly, for a plan made on the fly, it was a reasonable judgment. They’d been to the 7th floor once, so they were already familiar with the traps and monsters that appeared there.
Besides, even if they were stronger now, the sheer volume of people in the dungeon meant that travel would take time. If they pushed too hard, there was a real possibility they wouldn't make it out before the day was over.
"I see. Got it. Then we’ll head for the 7th floor. Just a reminder: I won’t be helping with anything other than self-defense. Don't act with the expectation that I'll step in."
"Got it."
"Understood."
They looked relieved that they’d successfully bluffed their way through and gave me their replies. Just so they know—I wasn't actually fooled.
Once they finished their warm-ups, we moved from the hall and joined the long queue of explorers waiting for entry.
After forty minutes of waiting, it was finally our turn. The place was every bit as bustling as the rumors suggested. This much trouble just to get into the dungeon… they really should have put entry restrictions in place sooner.
We held our Explorer Cards over the machine next to the gate, and once authenticated, we passed through and headed into the dungeon.
"I’ll be watching from behind. Do your best."
"Yeah! Watch us closely! We're going to show you how much we've grown!"
"Sure, sure. I'll be watching intently."
"I'll work hard to get a passing grade!" Saori-chan said.
"Just don't overdo it, okay?"
I took a step back to observe them, while Mika and Saori-chan were all fired up to show off their skills. I really hoped they wouldn't be reckless…
That said, it wasn't like a fight broke out immediately. we walked through the dungeon while staring at the backs of the parties ahead of us. There were so many people that there were actual queues even inside the dungeon. It seemed they were planning to go with the flow of traffic until about the 5th floor.
"…Aren't you going to do some warm-up fights against solo monsters around here?"
"We thought it would be better to do that, but… with the state of the dungeon lately, that’s a bit difficult, isn't it?"
"She's right," Saori-chan agreed. "If we tried to find a monster for a warm-up on these floors, we'd waste an hour or two just searching."
"True. With this many people, finding a monster just for a warm-up is a tall order."
It was a shame they couldn't find their rhythm with solo fights before the main event, but the fact that they could calmly weigh search time against travel time earned them a passing grade for judgment. Fixating on a minor objective until you fail the main goal is a classic mistake when you lose your cool. They weren't showing any unnecessary tension now that they were inside… they’d certainly become accustomed to the dungeon. I was impressed by this early sign of their growth and followed closely behind.
And then…
"Man, there are still so many people. Though I guess it's a bit better now that the rookie parties who just debuted are thinning out."
"Even so, it's still crowded."
When we reached the 5th floor staircase plaza, I looked around and felt a small sense of relief that the population density had dropped. It would be tough for a brand-new rookie party to make it this deep, after all.
Still, it was summer break. The number of student explorers, rookies aside, was significantly higher than during the school year.
"Anyway, we’re going to start wandering the floor to look for monsters now…"
"Hm? Don't mind me. Act on your own judgment today."
"U-huh. Then let's explore this floor first. Is that okay, Saori-chan?"
"Yeah, definitely. I’m tired of just walking along with the crowd."
I waved my hand to signal they should ignore me, and Mika and Saori-chan let out small breaths, clenching their fists to psych themselves up once more.
Now, this is where the real exploration begins.
We left the 5th floor staircase plaza and began wandering, staying alert for traps. Since we were still near the plaza, the crowds were thick and we hadn't encountered a single monster. I suspected we wouldn't find anything unless we went further in where there were fewer people.
Well, whether to push deeper into the floor or move down was up to them.
"There really aren't any monsters."
"Well, too many people pass through here. Even if they spawn, they're killed instantly. Do the monsters around here even get to move before they're taken out?"
"Who knows?"
Since we were so bored, we walked further into the dungeon, chatting while staying alert. Well, I call it chatting, but it was mostly just venting our frustrations.
I usually hunted on much deeper floors, so I hadn't realized quite how bad the encounter rate had dropped on the shallow floors. It was egregious. It was honestly comparable to the time just before entry restrictions were officially imposed in the past. When it's this hard to find anything, I can almost understand why rookie parties feel forced to push into lower floors.
"They tell people to avoid reckless exploration, but with the dungeon in this state, people are going to do crazy things. You can't even see a monster unless you push deep inside."
"Yeah. Because of that, we've run into so many rookie parties who pushed too far and got into trouble lately. They all said they went deeper because they couldn't find any monsters."
"Some were rescued in time, but others weren't so lucky and ended up injured…"
Mika and Saori-chan let out small sighs, their expressions turning gloomy.
Thinking their feelings were justified, I lightly clapped my hands to get their attention.
"I’m the one who brought it up, but you two are getting a bit distracted."
"Eh, ah, yeah. Sorry, I'll be careful."
"I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry for bringing up a downer topic."
An awkward atmosphere settled between us, so I cleared my throat to change the subject.
"S-so, speaking of which, Saori-chan. What are your plans for the Obon holidays?"
"Um, Obon? I'm planning to go back to my father's hometown with my family."
"Heeh, is it nearby?"
"Yes. It's in the neighboring prefecture, so it's an easy drive. About two or three hours if we take the highway."
I managed to successfully change the subject, and the mood brightened. Come to think of it, Saori-chan is heading home for Obon… what is my family doing this year? I wondered about our own plans, which hadn't been decided yet, as I listened to her.
After wandering the 5th floor for over thirty minutes in search of prey, we finally encountered them.
We readied our weapons as we faced five red boars, all huffing and puffing aggressively. We’d finally found something; we definitely needed to make this count.
Still, five at once… I would have preferred to start them off with two or three.
"Mika, Saori-chan. I'm not helping, so handle this yourselves."
"Yeah, leave it to us! We won't let them get anywhere near you, Onii-chan!"
"We'll do our best!"
The two of them, spears at the ready, looked full of spirit. To avoid getting in their way, I slowly backed away while keeping my eyes on the monsters. If I turned my back and ran, the red boars might mark me as fleeing prey and charge. Even when creating distance, I had to move slowly and maintain eye contact.
Once I had opened up enough distance—though it was less than five meters—the battle began.
"Yaah!"
" " " " "Buhoo!?" " " " "
Mika and Saori-chan struck first. Since they were outnumbered, they clearly intended to seize the initiative with a preemptive strike. First, Mika tossed her spear into the air, then quickly pulled throwing darts from her waist holder and hurled them at the red boars. The darts hit all five monsters without fail. The red boars let out groans of agony as the sudden pain halted their movements for a split second.
That momentary pause was fatal.
"Ei!"
Saori-chan closed the distance instantly, thrusting her spear into the brow of the closest boar. Without stopping, she whipped the spear back and drove it into the brow of the second one.
By the time the remaining red boars recovered from the confusion of the initial strike, Saori-chan’s spear was already piercing the brow of the third.
" "Buho!?" "
Faced with a massacre that had happened in the blink of an eye, the surviving boars wavered between attacking and fleeing. It was only natural; they were still reeling from the darts, and three of their pack had been slaughtered in seconds.
However, they made another fatal mistake. If they had turned and run immediately, they might have escaped, but it was already too late. Mika, who had caught her falling spear, was already right in front of them.
"Ya!"
"Ei!"
With a single strike from each of them, the remaining red boars were pierced through the brow and collapsed. It seemed that for Mika and Saori-chan, opponents like red boars were no longer a threat.
With this kind of skill, it was no wonder they were demanding to go to lower floors.
As the saying goes: "Should three days pass without a meeting, look upon your friend with new eyes." They really had improved.