Now that the Obon holiday was over, I met with Yuji and Hiiragi-san in my room for the first time in a while. Well, even if I called it a while, it hadn't actually been that long, so it wasn't as if anything had changed.
In a relaxed atmosphere, we shared our reports on what we had been up to during the break. First on the agenda...
"So, I think it’s fine to give Mika and the others permission to dive to deeper floors than they are now. They have the strength, obviously, but it seems they’ve also properly developed the right mindset for dungeon diving."
"I see... Well, if Daiki has judged it so, then it should be fine," Yuji said.
"True," Hiiragi-san added. "But in that case, the question is how deep we should let them go."
That was the thing; as Hiiragi-san pointed out, that was the real problem. Once they reached floors deeper than their current ones, troublesome monsters would start to appear. Mika and her group had experience hunting goblins from the time we dived together, but whether they were truly accustomed to it was a different matter. It had taken us a fair amount of time to get used to it ourselves. I didn't think they would suddenly jump down many floors at once, but I was still a little worried they might get flustered and end up injured.
Now then, what floor should I authorize?
"Since the two of them have experience hunting goblins, I think around the 7th floor should be fine, but..."
"Well, calling it 'experience' is a bit of a stretch—they haven't done it much. I don't think they'll make a blunder, but it’s probably better to have them move cautiously until they’re used to it," Yuji advised.
"I agree. They seemed to be struggling a bit during the last goblin hunt, so I think it’s better to be cautious," Hiiragi-san said.
" " "..." " "
Considering Mika's raw abilities, I thought it would be fine to give them permission to dive to the 10th floor, where orcs appear. However, that was only if I considered their strength; when I thought about the mental burden, I suddenly became anxious.
Then again, I didn't think Mika and her partner were approaching the dungeon with half-hearted resolve, so I might just be over-worrying... but the anxiety wouldn't go away.
"How about we authorize them up to the 10th floor, but tell them to stay on the 7th floor until they’re fully comfortable hunting goblins?"
"...Hmm, that might be for the best. Rather than increasing their limit all at once and letting them get carried away, it’s better to set a midterm goal to keep them grounded," Yuji said.
"Once the previous restrictions are lifted and they realize they can move forward, they’ll inevitably get excited. I don't think those two would do anything reckless, but it’s good to have a deterrent in place," Hiiragi-san agreed.
After we each voiced our opinions, we looked at one another and gave light nods.
"Then I’ll tell Mika and her friend that I’ll permit them to dive to the 10th floor once they've spent some time fighting on the 7th floor and gotten used to the goblins. Does that sound okay?"
"Yeah, I think that works."
"I agree with that policy."
With their approval, the new plan for Mika's group was set. Even though they had experience from our joint exploration... I was still worried.
With that settled, we moved on to sharing how we had spent the rest of our Obon break.
"Heh, so companies like that actually exist," Yuji remarked.
"Yeah. When I heard the story from Taiga-niisan and looked into the details, even I couldn't believe my eyes."
"It's true that the demand for dungeon items is high thanks to the boom," Hiiragi-san noted. "I can understand the desire to secure high-level explorers to turn a profit, but..."
"The employment conditions are abysmal," Yuji said, frowning. "At that point, a disgruntled explorer would be justified in charging in to pick a fight."
"I feel the same way. In fact, it seems like a lot of incident reports have been filed with the Association, so they’re already viewing these kinds of predatory management companies as a problem."
When I told them about the vile company Taiga-niisan had encountered, Yuji and Hiiragi-san both looked disgusted. Though we had turned them all down, we had received similar scouting offers ourselves. It wasn't exactly someone else's problem.
"The Association, huh... Can't they regulate them?" Yuji asked.
"The contracts themselves are legally formal, so it’s difficult for the Association to intervene directly. Things might improve if the government sets up a proper legal framework, but..."
"That will take time, I'm sure," Hiiragi-san added.
"Yeah. But if these things aren't firmly established by law, the number of people choosing to be explorers as a profession will definitely drop. If that happens, supply will fall short of demand, and the economy—which is finally doing well because of the dungeons—might take a turn for the worse."
If that happened, the public would probably start complaining. They'd say things like, "Why is there a shortage of dungeon materials? Explorers should quit whining and get back in there!"
"...Well, if they have such a bad reputation, they'll probably collapse eventually."
"It would be nice if the malicious companies were weeded out and the decent ones remained."
"That's true..."
" " "..." " "
Even as we said that, we looked at each other with skeptical, half-lidded eyes, thinking that the more malicious a company was, the more stubbornly it would probably cling to life.
In an attempt to change the awkward atmosphere, I cleared my throat and brought up the event I had attended with Mika and the others.
"Oh, speaking of which, I took Mika and her friends to an event sponsored by a dungeon enterprise recently. There were plenty of regular people there alongside explorers, so it was quite lively."
"...Now that you mention it, you did say you were going. What was it like?" Yuji asked.
"Eh? Oh, there were corporate introduction booths, merchandise stalls, and food stalls using dungeon food. They also had a stage event where corporate explorers did various appeal demonstrations."
Recalling the event, I explained the details to Yuji and Hiiragi-san with a few gestures.
"Heh, from the sounds of it, it was a pretty interesting event."
"Appeal demonstrations by corporate explorers... I might have liked to see that," Hiiragi-san said.
"The corporate intros gave me a lot to think about, and the food stalls were great. The demonstrations were definitely geared toward the general public to be easy to understand. However... the merchandise booths were a bit of a letdown. The lineup was for beginners—or rather, for adults who want to look the part before they even start."
I made a slightly fed-up face as I remembered the selection. Even though it was billed as an event for beginners, the inventory and prices weren't something a student planning to become an explorer could actually afford.
"...Was it that bad?" Yuji asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, the items themselves were high quality, but they didn't really fit the spirit of the event."
"Hmm."
Yuji seemed curious about what kind of stock I was critiquing and looked like he wanted to ask for more details. However, Hiiragi-san interjected.
"Leaving that aside, Kokonoe-kun, Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san were at the event too, weren't they?"
"Oh, yeah. When I mentioned Mika was going, they asked if they could come along. I said it was fine. Apparently, they’re debating whether or not to become explorers themselves and wanted to learn more about it."
"So those two are thinking about becoming explorers as well..."
"I shared what experiences I could during the event, so I think they’re currently weighing their options."
I had told them both to make their decision based on what they saw at the event and what I had told them. I didn't know what they would choose, but I hoped they would think for themselves rather than just getting swept up in the moment.
As I talked about Tatebayashi-san and her friend with Hiiragi-san, Yuji spoke up with a contemplative look.
"Hey, Daiki? If Tatebayashi-san and her friend decide to go for it, are you planning to have them team up with Mika-chan?"
"Yeah. If they decide to become explorers, I'll have them join Mika's party. They're classmates and they get along well; plus, increasing the party from two to four members makes things much safer. Of course, that's only after they've finished their basic training."
"True. Four people are definitely safer than two."
"...But if that happens, we should probably provide some extra support," Hiiragi-san noted.
"Ah, yeah. You're right."
As Hiiragi-san said, some support would be necessary. There were pros and cons to increasing the party size at this stage. While safety improved, the rewards per person would drop because there were more people to split the loot with. If they were diving to the 20th floor, the split would still be decent, but at the shallow floors below the 10th, the reward per person would be a pittance.
Risking your life in a dungeon only to earn a pittance... that was a common reason for party members to turn on each other.
"Well, it might be better to give them a boost so they can recover their initial investment while they're doing their on-the-job training. If you're stressed about money in a dungeon, it’s easy to get impatient and do something dangerous."
"True, an empty wallet leads to anxiety. Especially since explorers have an image of being high earners—they’ll try something reckless if the money isn't coming in," Yuji said.
"Just the transportation and preparation for a single trip is expensive enough," Hiiragi-san added.
Explorers stood to gain a lot, but their overhead was significant. Especially for newcomer explorers on the shallow floors, many couldn't even cover their operating costs, let alone make back their initial investment.
Back when the dungeons first appeared, drop items sold for premium prices, so it was manageable. But with current prices—except for certain rare drops—it was a different story.
"Well, maybe we should save this talk until after Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san actually make up their minds?" I suggested. "There's not much point in planning it all out now."
"I guess so. Let's just keep it as a possibility for now," Yuji agreed.
"Indeed. If they really do decide to become explorers, they’ll surely come to us for advice sooner or later. We can worry about it then," Hiiragi-san said.
Since we were about to dive deep into a plan based on a decision they hadn't even made yet, I cut the conversation short. Judging by their reactions the other day, I had a feeling they might decide to do it just to satisfy their appetites, but it was still a fifty-fifty toss-up.
Once my stories were finished, it was Yuji's turn. During the Obon break, he had apparently attended a national gathering of martial arts figures with Juzo-san. They had rented out the Budokan, where disciples who were active as explorers held mock battles.
"Hey, Yuji. Was that one of those things where you call it a 'mock battle' but everyone knows it’s a 'serious fight'?"
"No, no, it wasn't like that. We had normal discussions about the future, and then the various schools just showed off the techniques they've been refining since the dungeons appeared."
"...Is that true? Nobody let their fists do the talking before their mouths did?"
"Really, it's true! It wasn't like we were settling disputes with mock battles. It was just simple sparring. Do I look that muscle-brained to you?" Yuji asked, giving me a look of feigned offense.
Well, no, he didn't.
"Anyway, the conclusion of the meeting was basically: since the dungeon boom has more people interested in martial arts, let's all work together to keep the martial arts world thriving."
"...In short, 'let's keep doing our best like always'?"
"Exactly. To decide just that, representatives from every school across the country gathered and spent the entire Obon break on it. Though the second half was mostly just drinking sessions labeled as 'social gatherings.'"
"Yikes..."
Seeing Yuji slump with an exhausted expression, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
It was true that building a network is never a waste since those connections can help in an emergency, but several days of non-stop drinking sessions... yeah, I’d pass on that.
"But it wasn't all for nothing. I only caught glimpses of the mock battles, but there were some high-level people there. Aside from those who’ve clearly been leveling up in dungeons non-stop, there were a few people around my age or a bit older who looked like they could really hold their own."
"Heh, 'hold their own' from your perspective, huh?"
"They're probably top-class in their local dungeons. I think they could even take on an ogre in a party battle, though it would be a struggle."
In the dungeon we frequented, there were only a handful of parties capable of defeating an ogre. And yet there were several of them there... As expected, martial arts experience was a massive advantage for an explorer.
By the way, Yuji had also been thrown into the mock battles by Juzo-san. Apparently, he had won every match effortlessly without taking a single clean hit. Typical Yuji.