The delicious BBQ with the marbled minotaur meat did wonders for us. We had been mentally drained by everything that had happened, but a good meal really is the best medicine. Apparently, I had been looking pretty gloomy before we headed out, because Mom looked a bit taken aback when she saw the satisfied expression I wore upon my return. I guess that just goes to show how much stress the undiscovered dungeon incident had really put on me. With the school festival just around the corner, I was truly relieved that everything had been resolved quickly and without further complications.
The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed. I made quick work of my morning routine and left the house with Mika.
"We’re off!"
"Have a good day. Be careful, you two."
Seen off by Mom, Mika and I left the house behind. As I chatted with Mika and observed our surroundings, I noticed that most of the students on the walk to school had cheerful looks on their faces, no doubt because of the upcoming festival. They say the preparation for a festival is more fun than the main event itself, and that certainly seemed to be the case here.
After we had been walking for a while, someone called out to us from behind as they hurried to catch up.
"Good morning!"
"Hm? Oh, morning."
"Morning! Asami-chan, Suzune-chan!"
The ones who had called out were our juniors from the club, Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san. After the two of them finished greeting me, they immediately dove into a lively conversation about the school festival with Mika. Since our grades and classes were different, there wasn't much I could contribute; I started to feel a slight sense of alienation.
I continued walking toward the school alongside the three of them.
"And you see, that one mechanism just won't work right..."
"Oh, the part with the seesaw? If the marble doesn't roll perfectly straight, it won't trigger the next part."
"Exactly! But if we change that part too much..."
The three of them seemed to be having a great time exchanging opinions about their class project. From what I could gather, they were struggling with a mechanism that refused to function correctly. However, despite being "troubled," their expressions were bright, as if the difficulty itself was part of the fun. I could practically feel the enthusiasm radiating from their smiles as they brainstormed how to clear this hurdle. They really were enjoying the school festival to the fullest.
As we walked further, another voice called out, and one more person joined the group.
"Morning! Mika-chan, Asami-chan, Suzune-chan!"
"Morning, Saori-chan!"
"Morning."
It was Saori-chan. After giving me a polite little bow, she immediately jumped into the conversation. With four girls chatting away, the group became even more boisterous. I started to feel like a bit of a fifth wheel, and the sidewalk felt significantly narrower. I also couldn't help but notice the curious glances we were drawing from the people around us.
Still, it would have been awkward to suddenly bolt for the school alone at this point, and we were almost there anyway, so I decided to just bear with it. I made a conscious effort to keep pace with Mika and the others while staring straight ahead and walking in a bit of a daze. Since they were having such a fun conversation, I figured I'd only be a nuisance if I tried to force my way into it.
"Well, I'll head off here. Good luck today, everyone. See you after school."
"Okay!"
"Yes, see you then!"
In the end, I reached school without running into Yuji. Since our grades were different, I parted ways with Mika and the others at the entrance. On the way to my classroom, I observed the students in my year. It seemed to be split fifty-fifty between those who looked excited and those who looked like the whole thing was a massive hassle. There was a stark difference in "temperature" between the first-years like Mika, who were experiencing their first high school festival, and the older students who had already been through it and had other things on their minds.
I suppose that for the second and third-year student explorers, they’d rather spend their time in the dungeon than on a school festival. Depending on luck, even a short dive after school could net them tens of thousands of yen. Earning money in the dungeon after school and then spending it all on the weekends—that seemed to be the standard student explorer lifestyle. Lately, I'd heard that some third-years were desperate to build a track record because explorer experience was starting to affect job hunting. If you were scouted by a high-momentum dungeon-related company, you could secure a stable, high income with all your expenses covered by the firm.
By the time I reached the classroom, about half the seats were filled. When I tuned into the conversations around me, most of them were centered on the festival. People were discussing costume preparations, the paperwork for borrowing desks, the rules for bringing in food... things like that. There were also people consulting each other or bragging about their club exhibits. Some looked a bit tired, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Basically, the people in the classroom this early were the ones actively involved in the festival planning.
"Morning."
As I entered the room with a brief greeting, several people noticed and called back to me. I returned their greetings with a nod and headed to my seat. A quick look around told me that neither Yuji nor Hiiragi-san had arrived yet. Shigemori wasn't here either, so I sat down and started getting my things ready for class.
As the minutes ticked by, the room gradually filled up. About ten minutes after I'd arrived, Yuji walked in.
"Morning, Yuji. See you survived yesterday."
"Yeah, morning."
"We really lucked out yesterday. That was an incredible meal."
"It was. I'd love to eat that again if the chance ever comes up."
Recalling the taste of the marbled minotaur meat BBQ from the day before, both Yuji and I broke into involuntary, silly grins. That was a flavor you could never get tired of. However, relying on luck to find it was a tall order; we’d probably have to commit to some serious mino hunting to get another drop. If we hunted with the intent to drive the minotaurs on that floor to extinction, we’d probably find at least one, right?
Well, I wouldn't actually do that since we’d get roasted by the other explorers active on the same floor, but the temptation was definitely there.
"Yeah. That aside, it's been two days since the incident. Has anything changed? Any word from Kiritani-san?"
"No, nothing in particular."
"I see. Does that mean our involvement with the Association side of things is officially over?"
"I think it's safe to assume so for now. I did mention that our school festival is at the end of the month, so they might be waiting until that’s over out of consideration. Eventually, though, we might be called to the office... or rather, asked to make an appointment for a meeting."
Since we’d been involved in an incident that affected so many different parties, it was only natural that Kiritani-san would have to deal with us in his capacity as a real estate agent. Since we were clients introduced by Juzo-san, I didn't think he’d cut ties with us, but... I decided we should bring some nice gifts next time we visited. He had likely gone through a lot of trouble because of us. I couldn't even imagine how much paperwork he’d had to file with the government offices.
I figured I should consult with Yuji and Hiiragi-san to see what would make a good gift.
"True. Our business with the Association might be done, but the situation with Kiritani-san is far from over. We’ll have to meet up and talk at least once."
"Yeah. It would be rude to handle everything over the phone, especially after all the trouble we caused him."
"It's not like we did anything wrong personally, but it happened while he was doing a job we requested. We're still in a position where we'll be asking him for work in the future, so going over with a box of sweets as a token of appreciation would probably be best for our long-term relationship."
"I agree. Even if it's not a matter of fault, it's a matter of communication. If you show someone consideration when they're struggling, they’re more likely to be helpful to you once they have some breathing room. At the very least, it keeps them from forming a negative opinion of you."
If the people responsible for plunging an entire company into a paperwork hell suddenly went silent without any follow-up, it would be incredibly irritating. Even if you understand it's not their fault logically, emotions don't always follow logic. It was better to act in a way that smoothed things over. Even if we couldn't help with the work directly, we should provide something—a care package, a gift, whatever you wanted to call it—something they could snack on during their breaks. We knew from experience that good food could provide a much-needed mental boost.
With that settled, I decided to ask Yuji, who seemed like he would have a good handle on that sort of thing.
"In that case, we should definitely bring something when we go to the office. Yuji, do you know any good gift items?"
"A gift? Yeah, we definitely can't go empty-handed. But what would be best? A standard assortment of gift sweets? Fruit like melons might be a hassle for them since they'd have to cut them up in the office. Instant coffee sticks... no, that's a bit too casual for a formal visit."
"What about something like a year-end gift set? Jellies or canned goods?"
"Those aren't bad, but we should avoid anything too bulky. Plus, we don't know exactly how many employees Kiritani-san has, so we should make sure we have enough for everyone. If we don't bring enough and someone gets left out, it’ll just cause unnecessary friction in an already busy office. We need something compact but with a high enough quantity to go around."
Choosing a gift was surprisingly difficult. There were so many factors to consider. If you didn't know the recipient well, it was impossible to know what or how much to get. I knew I’d be annoyed if someone gave me something weird that was just a pain to deal with. I could see why "standard" or "safe" gifts were so popular for so many years. For the person receiving it, a classic item was easier to accept without feeling burdened.
That meant we should probably stick to a classic gift in a respectable quantity. It would save us the headache of overthinking it, too.
"In that case, should we just hit a department store by the station and get an assortment of Western sweets? If we get a hundred pieces, we definitely won't run short."
"Sounds like a plan. Rather than trying to be trendy or unique, going with a classic is the safer choice. If we get five or six boxes of twenty, that should cover everyone."
"Alright. Yuji, do you have a recommended shop for that? Since it's meant to be a gesture of apology for the trouble, I want to make sure it's something decent."
"Hmm. Since we have the budget thanks to our recent windfall, we don't have to worry about the cost..."
At my question, Yuji started rubbing his chin, mentally filtering through shops that fit the bill. A small local favorite might be fine for a friend, but for a professional situation like this, it was better to go with a brand that had general recognition. If they recognized the name of the shop immediately, the gesture would be more effective. It was a way of signaling that we valued the relationship and had put effort into selecting a proper gift. It was a kind of "metagaming" for social etiquette. Of course, not everyone would immediately pick up on the intent just because the shop was famous, but if they looked it up later, the message would still get across.
It was a bit of a chore, but if a single gift could prevent a professional relationship from souring, it was a small price to pay. Besides, in this day and age, you didn't have to travel far; you could find high-quality items easily at any major department store.
"Yuji, just because we have the budget doesn't mean it has to be ridiculously expensive, okay? Keep it within reason."
"I know. Something too expensive would just make them uncomfortable, especially coming from students like us."
Kiritani-san likely knew we were making decent money as explorers, but that was beside the point. A gift that forced the recipient to feel obligated wasn't a proper apology. It was better to give something they could just enjoy and finish off easily as a brief moment of relaxation.
We spent a while debating the pros and cons of various options until Hiiragi-san arrived and joined the discussion. Together, we finally settled on what to bring for our visit to Kiritani-san’s office.