I waited for a while, staring up at the clear, cloudless blue sky, until the heavy thumping of helicopter rotors began to echo from somewhere in the distance. The sound reflected off the mountains, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact direction, but with the enhanced vision of an explorer, I was able to catch sight of the helicopter once I had a general idea of where to look.
Given the time, that had to be the helicopter dispatched by the Dungeon Association.
"Yuta-san, the helicopter is here. I think that's it over there."
"Eh? It's here already? Where?"
"Right there. Just about halfway along an imaginary line connecting those two peaks."
"Hmm? Where?"
Yuji pointed toward the sky to show him, but it seemed Yuta-san couldn't see it yet. For an ordinary person who wasn't an explorer, it was apparently still too far away to be caught by the naked eye. Honestly, once you become a high-level explorer, you have no need for binoculars.
After staring at the spot Yuji indicated for about a minute, Yuta-san suddenly gave a happy shout.
"Ah, I see it, I see it! So that's it... I can't believe you all found something that looks like a tiny grain of rice."
"This is just one of the benefits of a level up. If you focus, you can see distant things unnecessarily well."
"Heh, so for explorers, leveling up doesn't just improve your physical abilities."
"Yeah, we receive various other benefits as well. Though, the price for that is fighting monsters."
That was a bit of a dubious benefit, though. If you simply wanted to see distant objects, it would be much cheaper and safer to buy a pair of binoculars than to fight monsters. It would be quite a blow if the telescope-like vision you risked your life for turned out to be exactly the same as a pair of binoculars you could buy for a few thousand yen at a local store.
It was probably best to think of it strictly as a bonus ability.
"More importantly, Yuta-san, they'll be here in a few minutes at that speed. Have you received any word? I'd expect a call to confirm our location and the landing site..."
"Hmm, nothing yet. I gave them the coordinates for the standby location in advance, so they might already have everything they need."
"I see. Then I guess we're fine waiting here until they say something."
"Yeah, that should be fine."
In truth, I didn't know how we were supposed to act around a landing helicopter anyway. Unless they gave us specific instructions, it seemed best to just wait behind the cover of the car. From what I'd seen of helicopter landings on TV, the downdraft could be violent enough to toss people and objects around, so staying clear of the landing zone was common sense. We would just relax and watch.
A few minutes after we confirmed its silhouette, the helicopter began hovering directly over the parking clearing, violently kicking up a storm of wind and dust.
"Whoa, that wind is intense..."
"Good thing we hid behind the car."
"Pah! Pah! Sand got in my mouth."
"Ugh, I can hear small stones clinking against the car. I hope it doesn't leave any big scratches..."
Grimacing at the fierce wind and dust, we watched the helicopter touch down in the center of the clearing through the car windows. It was a medium-sized helicopter, large enough to hold four or five people in the back—the sort typically used by fire departments or news crews. It wasn't one of those massive transport helicopters the Self-Defense Forces used for moving vehicles and dozens of troops.
The Dungeon Association logo was painted across the entire side door. It was definitely their bird.
"Quite a flashy entrance, even if they're in a hurry," I noted.
"Seriously. Now the car is covered in dust... I'll have to wash it as soon as I get back."
Once the helicopter landed, the engine output throttled down. The rotation of the rotors gradually slowed, and the dust clouds began to settle. We checked our surroundings, stepped out from behind the car, and walked toward the helicopter to greet the investigators.
On the way, Yuta-san looked at his dust-covered car with a pained expression. A filthy company car was bad for business; a clean car always gave a better impression when guiding customers.
"Ah, they're coming out."
"Two... no, three of them?"
As soon as the rotors stopped, the side door displaying the Association logo slid open. Three people stepped out, all wearing Association-recommended dungeon equipment: a man in his late thirties and a man and woman in their late twenties.
After a brief exchange with the pilot, the man in his thirties gave us a slight bow and approached.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Thank you for the report. I am Uwajima, an investigator from the Dungeon Association's New Dungeon Management Division. These are my subordinates, Ogawa and Sugawara."
"I'm Ogawa. Good to meet you."
"I'm Sugawara. Looking forward to working with you."
The lead investigator was Uwajima-san, and his subordinates were Ogawa and Sugawara. Even though they were about to head into an unmapped dungeon, none of the three seemed particularly nervous. They all felt like high-level explorers who were thoroughly accustomed to the dungeon environment.
This meant we'd have to be careful. If we weren't smart about how we handled things, they might start poking holes in our story.
After the introductions, we gave our own brief self-introductions and moved straight to discussing the survey. They seemed to have received the basic details beforehand, so they mostly just listened to our account of what we saw inside.
"I see. So, would it be safe to assume there aren't many differences compared to the dungeons you usually frequent?" Uwajima-san asked.
"Yes. That said, we only looked around for a short distance from the entrance, so I can't say anything for certain. However, the monster we encountered was alone, and we didn't see anything that looked like a trap, so I believe the basic structure is the same as most other dungeons."
The debriefing proceeded smoothly, with Uwajima-san nodding along without any sign of suspicion.
Just as I was thinking he was being surprisingly easy to deal with, he spoke with a note of genuine admiration.
"I see. If explorers with a track record like yours say so, then it must be true."
"Our... track record?" Yuji asked, blinking.
"Yes. We did a brief background check on you as the discoverers of an unmapped dungeon. In the past, there have been many people who faked discoveries as a prank. We perform these checks to avoid wasting time on wild-goose chases. In the process, I had a look at your past achievements. To put it simply, my impression was that we had received a report from some truly remarkable explorers."
"Haha, thank you. But our achievements aren't really that much..."
Averting his eyes from Uwajima-san, Yuji turned a strained expression toward Hiiragi-san and me, as if seeking backup. We both understood exactly why he was making that face.
The information we provided to the Dungeon Association was carefully curated and quite different from the truth. Since we had spent so much effort layering deception upon deception, hearing Uwajima-san and the others praise us so earnestly made us feel a bit guilty.
"No, no, there's no need for modesty. The achievements you've racked up are such that, for student explorers, it's fair to say there's almost no one who can stand beside you. Furthermore, you've shown the courage and ethics to capture dangerous explorers who have strayed from the path. Explorers like you are highly valued by the Association. We would love for you to join us as exclusive staff, but..."
"Haha, thank you. But we're still students, so we're not really looking for that kind of talk yet..."
"Ah, my apologies. I got a little ahead of myself. But please know that the Association is always waiting for promising young people like yourselves to knock on our door."
The praise was fine, but the recruitment was a bit much. Hearing Uwajima-san's high evaluation of us, Yuta-san briefly looked like he was about to jump in and try to recruit us for himself.
I wanted to enjoy student life for a while longer, so I really didn't want that kind of topic to become the center of attention.
"Anyway, how are we proceeding with the survey?" Yuji asked, steering the conversation back. "Should we accompany you into the interior as well?"
"No, we can't let you accompany us for the internal survey itself. Especially since you don't have any gear for tackling a dungeon right now. Even if we were to lend you equipment, it would be pointless if you got injured using unfamiliar tools. For this survey, as long as we encounter and fight a monster inside, we can officially certify it as a new dungeon. Therefore, you only need to guide us to the entrance."
"I see, understood. We can handle the guidance."
"I'm counting on you. And on another note..."
I was relieved that we only had to go as far as the entrance, but Uwajima-san leaned in slightly toward Yuji, lowering his voice as if broaching a difficult subject.
"What about the drop item you mentioned? Do you have it with you?"
"Eh? Oh, right. It's in the car. Should I go get it?"
"Yes, please. Collecting that is also part of our duties."
"Sure, just wait a second."
Yuji excused himself and went to the car to retrieve the magic bag we had left there. Meanwhile, Uwajima-san gave a nod to Sugawara, who pulled something out of a sturdy-looking attaché case and handed it to him.
Was that... a pair of glasses?
"Here it is," Yuji said, returning with the bag.
"Ah, thank you. Let me check it for a moment."
Uwajima-san put on the glasses Sugawara had handed him and stared intently at the magic bag. Judging by his behavior, those were likely appraisal glasses—a magic item imbued with the appraisal skill. I'd heard they were rare items deployed only to a few Association branches, but they had actually brought a pair all the way out here.
After about a minute, Uwajima-san's expression shifted to one of genuine surprise.
"Hoh... well now. This is certainly a drop item from an unmapped dungeon."
"Yeah, we got it just a little while ago," Yuji said. "Are those appraisal glasses? The ones that can identify drop items?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. I brought them as a professional tool since I figured they'd be necessary for this survey. Regarding this item, would it be alright if the Association took custody of it as planned? I'd like to use it as evidence for the certification process."
"Ah, yes. That's fine. We were planning on that anyway."
As Yuji nodded, Uwajima-san took a receipt from Sugawara—who clearly had it ready—and handed it over. For a split second, Yuji looked a bit annoyed that Uwajima-san didn't mention the item's true identity, but he quickly smoothed his expression and accepted the receipt.
A brief silence followed, until Uwajima-san spoke up with an impressed look.
"...Are you not curious about what the drop item actually is?"
"Well... the appraisal request for the drop item has been completed according to procedure," Yuji replied. "Since becoming an explorer, I've seen plenty of people get burned by acting on greed. We'd rather not poke the hornet's nest. Besides, if you aren't telling us, that probably means it's better if we don't know, right?"
"I see... If you can accept that, it certainly makes things easier for us."
"Don't mention it."
As the conversation between Yuji and Uwajima-san ended peacefully, I heard small sighs of relief from Hiiragi-san, Ogawa, and Sugawara. As expected, first-time drop items were high-rarity goods that the Association desperately wanted to secure. Given the performance of these items, it would cause chaos if they hit the open market carelessly. They likely wanted to collect them and only release them once society was better prepared to handle them.
Even the magic bag we handed over would cause a massive disruption in the logistics industry if its existence were revealed right now. Storage that ignored its external volume was something anyone would want, not just those in the explorer business. But a product that couldn't even come close to meeting demand was just a recipe for disaster.
"Wait, um, is it really okay to leave it like that?" Yuta-san asked in a low voice.
"It's fine. That was the right response; we don't want to go stepping on a tiger's tail," I whispered back.
"Like Hirose-kun said, we simply handed an unappraised drop item over to the Association," Hiiragi-san added with a straight face.
"I-I see... If you say so, then I won't say anything more."
Yuta-san looked like he didn't quite agree but had decided to accept it anyway, pressing a hand to his eyes and looking up at the sky. Yeah, that was for the best. It's better not to overthink it.
With the complicated discussion out of the way, we set off to lead Uwajima-san and his team to the dungeon we had found.
It meant that, officially, nothing special had happened at all.