About a week after the final certification inspection, Yuta-san contacted us to say that the documents with our results had arrived. We decided to head over to the office immediately after school. I briefly considered going in our uniforms, but figured that might be improper, so we quickly changed into casual clothes. A mix of anticipation and nervous tension hung over us as we made our way toward Kiritani Real Estate.
While I knew that passing this kind of inspection on the first try was usually difficult, I couldn't help but harbor a secret hope that we might have pulled off a miracle.
"I hope we passed... but I guess a one-shot success is a lot to ask for," Yuji muttered.
"Probably," I agreed. "We were told which points to check or renovate in advance, but I have this image of these inspections being a process of nitpicking every tiny detail just to find a reason to fail you."
"True," Hiiragi-san added. "This is my first time actually experiencing one, but I wonder if that negative image comes from movies and news reports?"
As we walked along, grumbling about how much easier life would be if we just passed smoothly, we arrived at the front of Kiritani Real Estate before we knew it.
We exchanged glances, took a collective breath to steady our nerves, and began climbing the stairs.
"I really hope it's good news..."
The words escaped Yuji's mouth almost unconsciously as his hand reached for the office door handle. If we passed on the first try, things would move quickly; if we failed, it would likely take another half-month or more to make improvements and wait for the results of a re-inspection.
If luck wasn't on our side, we might not even get certified before the end of the year. That anxiety flickered through the back of my mind.
"Excuse us, it’s Hirose. We're here because you said the results were in."
Yuji’s voice echoed through the office. A moment later, I heard the sound of someone pushing back a chair in the rear of the room.
The man who emerged was Yuta-san, the agent who had handled the inspection process with us.
"Welcome. I apologize for calling you in on a weekday while you have school," Yuta-san said, offering a polite, slightly apologetic bow.
"No, please don't worry about that," Yuji replied. "We’ve been waiting for these results with bated breath. Since they're finally here, we wanted to hear the details as soon as possible."
"Exactly, Yuta-san," I added. "If we knew the documents were sitting here, we wouldn't have been able to focus on our—well, our studies—all the way until the weekend."
"I feel the same," Hiiragi-san said. "Even if the results are disappointing, I’d rather know now. Once we have the answer, we can either take a moment to be sad or get fired up for the next step."
We all shared small smiles, assuring Yuta-san that the sudden summons was no problem. In truth, as Hiiragi-san pointed out, we couldn't make our next move until we knew the verdict.
Whether we were signing a rental agreement or heading back to the Cape for more manual labor... we were stuck in limbo until we knew if we'd passed.
"I’m glad to hear you say that. In that case, I'll get the documents from the Dungeon Association ready. Please, make yourselves comfortable on the sofa."
"Thank you."
Prompted by Yuta-san, the three of us sat down in the reception area.
"Oh, by the way, would you like the usual drinks?"
"Yes, thank you. We'll take the usual."
"Understood. Please wait just a moment."
With a polite nod, Yuta-san left the front area and headed into the back office.
Once he was out of sight, we all let out small sighs of relief, our expressions softening slightly.
"Judging by Yuta-san's demeanor, it doesn't seem like the news is devastating," Yuji noted.
"I agree," I said. "I don't know if we passed, but he doesn't look like he's about to deliver a crushing blow."
"Maybe there were just fewer points to fix than a real estate company would typically expect?" Hiiragi-san suggested.
Even if we had failed, it didn't seem like we were looking at the kind of failure that required massive, expensive structural changes.
"Well, either way, getting the full certification will probably take a little longer. If we get it before the year ends, we should count ourselves lucky..."
"It’ll be rough if it takes another few months," Yuji said. "If it drags on that long, then we have to sign the contract and then set up the actual facility... Honestly, even if people told us it was a success if we opened by next spring, I don't think I could be genuinely happy about it."
"True," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Once the new year starts, we have to seriously consider our future paths. Whether we choose higher education or employment, we won't be able to devote as much time to explorer activities as we do now."
Unless we secured the skill use certification quickly, balancing our student lives with our work as explorers was going to become incredibly difficult. Once we had the permit, at least we could practice our skills under the guise of facility maintenance.
While the three of us chatted to pass the time, Yuta-san returned with drinks for everyone and a folder containing the test results from the Dungeon Association.
He distributed the drinks and then sat on the sofa across from us.
"Thank you for waiting. This is the result of the certification inspection sent by the Dungeon Association."
"Thank you."
Yuta-san placed a long envelope on the table, bearing the name and logo of the Dungeon Association. The top had already been neatly sliced open, meaning Yuta-san already knew the verdict.
The fact that he hadn't blurted it out yet... was it a good sign or a bad one?
"Let's see here..."
Yuji pulled a tri-folded document from the envelope. He paused for a heartbeat, then unfolded it to check the contents.
After scanning the page, Yuji’s eyes widened. He looked up at Yuta-san with an expression of pure shock.
"Wait, is this for real? We passed on the first try...?"
"What?!" Hiiragi-san and I shouted in unison.
Yuta-san nodded, clearly sharing our sentiment.
"Yes. It was quite a surprise to us as well, but it appears you really did pass on the first try. Just to be absolutely certain, I called the Dungeon Association to verify, and they confirmed the result is a pass."
"So, we really did it..."
Hearing Yuta-san's confirmation, all the tension drained out of my body, and I felt a bit lightheaded.
It was a total bolt from the blue. At best, I had hoped for a 'fail' with only minor points to fix, but a total pass on the first attempt was beyond my expectations. Since none of us had truly believed it was possible, we were left in a state of stunned disbelief.
"Of course, it wasn't a perfect score," Yuta-san clarified. "The evaluation for each individual test item is included, so please take a look at those as well."
Following his suggestion, a still-dazed Yuji slowly leafed through the accompanying pages. Hiiragi-san and I craned our necks to get a look at the documents in his hands; we were far too curious to wait.
"There are a lot of inspection items here. Let's see... the ratings are Superior, Good, Passing, and Failing."
The evaluation sheet was a long list of items, each marked with one of those four ratings. According to the legend, a single "Failing" mark would have resulted in an overall failure for the entire inspection.
That seemed incredibly strict, but given the safety of the users and the people living near the facility, I suppose such rigency was only natural.
"It says 'Failing' requires immediate fix, 'Passing' requires improvement, 'Good' means improvement is desirable, and 'Superior' means no issues found," Yuji read out.
"Looks like it," I said. "And for our property... most of them are 'Good'."
"True, but there are quite a few 'Passing' marks too," Hiiragi-san noted. "Especially the spots where we did emergency repairs—those are all marked as 'Passing'. I suppose temporary fixes aren't enough to be considered a perfect system."
Just as she said, the areas marked "Passing" were almost exclusively the spots we had patched up following Kawakita-san’s preliminary advice.
I wondered... was that just a coincidence?
"You should probably treat the 'Passing' areas as part of a long-term improvement plan," Yuta-san advised. "Fixing them all at once would be quite an investment of both time and money."
"That’s a good point," Yuji said. "Even the perimeter fence is only a 'Passing' grade, but given how long it is, replacing the whole thing immediately is impossible."
"Exactly," Yuta-san agreed. "Between the cost of new materials and the labor to remove the old fence, a rough estimate would put the project at several million—possibly nearly ten million—yen."
"The place is just so huge," I sighed.
The materials for our temporary patches alone had cost around 200,000 yen. I couldn't even fathom the bill for a total overhaul. Taking it slow with a long-term plan, as Yuta-san suggested, was definitely the way to go.
"In any case, while there are plenty of parts that need work, you have officially passed the inspection. With your permission, I’d like to move forward with the formal application for skill use at the facility. Once we submit the paperwork, it should only take a week or two to receive the official certification."
"Ohhh!" we cheered as one.
This was the best news we could have hoped for. We had been bracing ourselves for a long, drawn-out process that might take until the end of the year, but now we were looking at getting our skill use certification in as little as a week.
We exchanged delighted looks, each of us giving a small, triumphant fist pump.
"I’ve prepared the application forms here. I wanted to wait for your final approval before submitting them. If you’re ready, please fill in these sections."
"We're ready," Yuji said, taking the form. We quickly scanned the document together.
"We just need to fill in our names and our unique numbers from our Armed Exploration Permits for Special Underground Structures, right?"
"That's correct," Yuta-san said. "I've already filled in the sections regarding the land data and property details."
"Thank you. Let's see... everything looks correct."
It wasn't that we didn't trust the staff at Kiritani Real Estate, but checking for errors or unintended clauses was just common sense. In fact, Yuta-san would probably have been more worried if we'd just signed it without reading.
Once we were satisfied, we filled in the necessary information.
"There we go. Here you are, Yuta-san."
"Thank you... Everything is in order. I will submit the application for the skill use certification immediately."
Yuta-san checked the form one last time and tucked it into a clear file.
It was funny; we had struggled so much to get to this point, yet the final step of the application felt surprisingly simple.
Just as we were finishing the paperwork, the front door opened and Kiritani-san appeared. I’d heard he was buried in administrative tasks, so he must have rushed to finish a section of his work just to come see us.
"Apologies for being late," Kiritani-san said. "Things got a bit hectic in the back."
"Not at all, don't worry about it," Yuji replied. "We're the ones who dropped by so suddenly."
After a brief greeting, Kiritani-san took the seat next to Yuta-san.
"First of all, congratulations. You've cleared the inspection, and the skill use certification is practically within your grasp."
"Thank you. It’s really thanks to all the support from Kiritani Real Estate. We never could have navigated the process this smoothly on our own."
"Please, think nothing of it," Kiritani-san said with a smile. "This was a great learning experience for us as well, one that we can apply to our future business."
"I'm glad to hear that," Yuji said.
After the pleasantries, Kiritani-san cleared his throat, his expression turning professional.
"Now that the certification issue is essentially resolved, I’d like to move forward with the discussions regarding the formal rental agreement."
"Right," Yuji agreed. "Now that the biggest hurdle is out of the way, we're ready to finalize the contract as well."
Given that our whole plan for the Cape was to use it as a training ground, resolving the skill use certification—the biggest obstacle—meant there was no reason to delay the lease.
The actual signing would likely wait until the certificate was physically in our hands, but the path forward was finally clear.