Our work for the Student Council was finally finished. During the closing homeroom, the handout we had helped draft regarding explorer tax obligations was distributed to the entire student body. The ripples it caused were massive; the school was thrown into a state of absolute pandemonium. From every corridor and classroom, I could hear sounds resembling wails of despair.
Because we had distributed similar materials to guardians during the school festival, a handful of students simply knit their brows and studied the paper with grim intensity. They were likely the ones whose families had already held a "summit" regarding their finances after the festival.
"That caused quite a stir," Shigemori remarked.
"Well, I doubt most of them ever gave a second thought to taxes," Yuji replied. "They probably felt like every cent they earned was just personal pocket money."
"And then they're told a tax like this exists—of course they'd panic," a girl in the club added. "Especially those who made a fortune but already spent it all."
There were likely plenty of people who had no money left to pay their taxes because they’d gone on a spending spree. Since dungeon diving allows you to earn big if you hit the jackpot, it’s only natural for spending habits to become just as extravagant.
On top of that, as explorers defeat monsters and level up, they receive benefits like physical enhancement. This makes it easier to earn money the longer they stay active, provided they're facing monsters of a similar level. This creates a psychological trap where people feel they can just go out and earn more whenever they want, causing their financial inhibitions to vanish.
"It’s the end of September now... If they really pushed themselves, could they earn enough to cover the bill before the end of the year?"
"It’s possible," Yuji said, "but for some, their only option will be to hunker down and save every penny. I wonder if someone who's been living in luxury can actually transition to a life of total austerity..."
"We might see more cases of friends drifting apart once the money runs out," she noted. "It's going to be incredibly stressful, so some people might start acting out."
I couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Student explorers who earn a high income tend to play hard—usually frequenting karaoke or hosting big dinner parties. While having fun isn't inherently a problem, some student explorers use their dungeon earnings to buy popularity, constantly treating others to stay at the center of attention. If they have to cut back to save for taxes... yeah, it’s pretty obvious how that will end.
"So, explorers with enough strength to be dangerous might snap from the stress of losing their social circles..."
"They might fly into a rage, thinking, 'After everything I bought for you!'" Yuji added. "It’ll be fine if there’s someone nearby who can restrain them, but if not, it could be a disaster."
"I hope it can be resolved peacefully..."
Not knowing about taxes was a disaster, but knowing about them seemed like it would trigger its own set of problems. I really think the Dungeon Association should hold tax seminars when people get their licenses, even if it's just for minors. Even if attendance is optional, they should at least publicize that these obligations exist.
Then again, they are a government-affiliated organization; they probably stick to the "we put the info on the official website, so come ask if you're confused" style of management.
"Anyway, are you guys okay?" Shigemori asked, looking at us with the handout in one hand. He sounded somewhat detached. "It would be a total joke if the people who helped make this handout were the ones in tax trouble."
To Shigemori, who didn't have an Armed Exploration Permit, the hellish scene unfolding among the student explorers was someone else's problem. Still, his concern was valid.
"Of course we're fine. We keep proper ledgers and manage all our dungeon-related income and expenses," I assured him.
"In the first place, we're economically independent from our families as sole proprietors," Yuji added. "That stuff in the handout about the limits for dependency deductions doesn't apply to us."
"We're the type who file our final tax return at the tax office for everything we earn in the dungeon."
"...I see. So you're not even under your parents' dependency anymore."
In our case, since our income was what it was, we couldn't treat it like a part-time job or a bit of pocket money. Since things like equipment costs and transportation to the dungeon can be processed as business expenses, it was more convenient in many ways to become sole proprietors.
Besides, given the market prices for items on the floors where we currently operate, a single skill scroll or magic item appraisal would blow past the dependency deduction limit in one trip. Either way, we had no choice but to leave our parents' dependency if we wanted to continue as explorers.
"Well, yeah. When we happened to hit the jackpot in the dungeon, we got a pretty high appraisal value. We talked it over with our parents, and they advised us that if we were going to keep being explorers, it would be better to register as sole proprietors for tax reasons," I explained.
"And after we all discussed it, we went ahead with the paperwork," Yuji said.
"Keeping the ledgers is a bit of a pain, but in terms of daily life, not much has changed."
Even though we were sole proprietors and economically independent, we still lived at home and went to school as usual. Even if we wanted to sign a contract, as minors, we still needed parental consent in the form of a guarantor. If we were college students and of age, things might be different, but for us high schoolers, our lives didn't change all that much.
Well, the monthly allowance I used to get is gone—or rather, I told my parents I didn't need it anymore.
"Is that how it works? Still, bookkeeping and a final tax return... sounds like a hassle."
"It's a hassle, sure, but it's beneficial if you do it right. You can even get a tax refund if you've overpaid."
"It gets you other considerations, too," Yuji added. "It's better to have everything in the proper format. Even if it is a pain."
"It pays way too well to just call it 'pocket money,' so following the legal procedures is important. Even if it is a pain," I chimed in.
I understood the benefits of keeping books according to the rules, but the truth was that saving every single receipt and recording every transaction was tedious. Nowadays, there's electronic bookkeeping software, so even an amateur can manage if they follow the steps. If there wasn't an easy way to do it, I would have just dumped a pile of receipts on a tax accountant's desk.
"Anyway, I've seen enough of this scene. Shall we head home?"
"Hey now, Kokonoe, that's cold. This chaos happened partly because of your club, you know? And you're already bored of it..."
"I mean, yeah? We saw it on a smaller scale after the school festival, too..."
"...Now that you mention it, that's true."
A lot of wailing could be heard from all over the school, but fundamentally, it was their own fault. Besides, the Student Council had agreed to take full responsibility for the aftermath, so we wouldn't be stepping in to solve anything directly. While some students might come to us for advice because of our club's reputation, the club activities suspension period before midterm exams starts next week. If we could just make it through this week, the number of people seeking advice would likely drop significantly.
After deciding to help the Student Council, we had all agreed to stay away from the clubroom for the rest of the week. As promised, please handle the trouble on the Student Council side.
"On that note, let's get out of here before we're surrounded."
"Right."
Shigemori seemed convinced, so we slipped out of the classroom before our still-confused classmates could notice us.
By occasionally giving advice to fellow students who were explorers, I managed to make it through to the weekend safely. As expected, most of the student explorers troubled by tax issues ended up rushing to the Student Council Room. I'm really glad our names weren't front and center. Apparently, quite a few students had spent a significant amount of their earnings. They looked rather pale, clutching notebooks that likely contained records of the income they’d made from the dungeon this year.
Putting that aside, we made our way to Kiritani Real Estate. We were there to talk about what happened with the undiscovered dungeon and to discuss changing the terms for the training ground.
"Well, it's about time for our appointment. Shall we head into the shop?"
"Yeah, it would be bad to be late. But are you sure? Is it really okay to go in?"
"I made a reservation. Besides, Yuta-san came by during the school festival and said things had mostly settled down, so it should be fine."
"I didn't know Yuta-san came to our festival."
I had mentioned the festival to him, but I figured he’d be too busy cleaning up the mess from the undiscovered dungeon to attend. When I asked for more details about that day, apparently Yuta-san had looked a bit haggard.
Cleaning up that mess must have been a real ordeal.
"Yeah. So after the festival ended, I asked him if we could come in today. He said okay, so I booked it. I wanted to confirm a few things and talk some stuff over."
"We have to talk about increasing the purchase price, after all."
"We can't just leave it open-ended, though. We'll need to look at some good catalogs and consult with him," Yuji noted.
"Since we did get that extra income."
Thanks to the magic bags, it wouldn't seem strange for us to offer a decent amount of money. Even if we offered a high price, it would be easy for him to rationalize it as "hush money" for keeping the dungeon secret.
I hope there are some good properties.
"Well, we'll see once we're inside. By the way, you didn't forget the apology gift... I mean, the peace offering, did you?"
"Even if it was an accident, we did cause them a lot of trouble. I made sure to bring it. I didn't know exactly how many employees they had, so I bought plenty."
"It would be pretty bad to cause them that much grief and then show up empty-handed."
"I guess so..."
I held up a small paper bag containing the gift I’d bought in advance. It was an assortment of baked goods I’d picked up from a confectionery shop in the department store basement near the station. I’d heard that these gifts shouldn't be too expensive or too cheap, so I bought two boxes of their most popular item. Each box cost about five thousand yen, which felt cheap considering the weight of the "hush money" situation. Though, for a high schooler to bring such a gift, it was quite high-end.
After walking for a bit, the Kiritani Real Estate sign came into view.
"Alright, let's go."
We climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.
A voice responded from inside, and after a short wait, the door opened to reveal Yuta-san.
"Welcome. We've been expecting you."
"It's been a while, Yuta-san."
"Indeed. Well, let's not talk out here. Please, come in."
At Yuta-san's invitation, we stepped inside the office.
"Please, have a seat here. I'll get you something to drink. What would you like?"
"Thank you. Barley tea for me, please."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
"Yes. Oh, and here, please take this."
I stopped Yuta-san as he was about to head off for the drinks and handed him the gift we’d brought.
"Oh, my. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness."
"No, no, you're always helping us out, so it's only natural. Please share it with everyone in the office."
"I appreciate the gesture. I'm sure everyone will be delighted."
"I'm glad to hear that."
After handing over the gift, we watched Yuta-san give a slight bow and head toward the back.
Letting out a small sigh of relief, we sat down on the sofa in the reception area and waited for him to return.
"The office seems pretty calm."
"It's been nearly half a month since then. The busiest period must have passed. Yuta-san looks much better than he did at the school festival; he doesn't look as exhausted."
"...If the exhaustion was that visible on his face back then, he must have been incredibly busy."
"Probably. Even after the dealings with the Association and the government were over, he still had his regular work as a real estate agent to catch up on."
Hearing Yuji's thoughts, I couldn't help but look up at the ceiling and offer a silent apology. It wasn't strictly our fault, but I felt sorry for causing them so much trouble by finding an undiscovered dungeon.
At the very least, in the research I'd done, I hadn't seen any news about an undiscovered dungeon being found. The fact that they aren't ready to go public means the cleanup isn't officially over yet.
"Do you think Kiritani Real Estate sees us as troublemakers who just bring headaches?"
"We're high schoolers making them search for properties with incredibly specific and difficult conditions, and then we take forever to decide."
"On top of that, we go and find something problematic like that dungeon... It wouldn't be surprising if they felt that way."
Thinking back on everything that had happened, I started to feel like being treated as nuisance customers was justified.
As I was wallowing in that thought, Yuta-san came back down from the office area with our drinks. Man, I'm really sorry for everything.
I just hope we aren't being treated like harbingers of bad luck who only bring trouble...