After entering the room and giving a brief self-introduction, Hakamada-san took a seat directly across from us.
For a moment, I wondered if I should stand up and greet him formally, but since he had already sat down, I settled for a polite bow while introducing myself.
"Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with us on such short notice. I'm Hirose. I primarily explore this dungeon," Yuji said.
"I’m Kokonoe. Thank you for making time for us," I added.
"I’m Hiiragi. It’s a pleasure to meet you," Hiiragi-san said.
Our greetings were a bit stiff for student explorers, but I felt we’d managed the minimum level of decorum required for the party requesting an urgent meeting. From Hakamada-san’s perspective, this could have looked like a group of arrogant students using their records as leverage to force a top-level meeting with the Association branch office. It was definitely better to be seen as students who knew their manners rather than loathsome, entitled brats.
Our formal approach seemed to have an effect. Hakamada-san didn't show any displeasure regarding our unannounced request for a meeting; instead, he maintained a pleasant smile and showed he was ready to listen.
"The pleasure is mine. I have only glanced at the records kept here at the Association, but I have a general grasp of your activities. It seems you have accumulated considerable achievements and experience in your explorations thus far."
I wanted to ask exactly what kind of documents he’d looked at, but I kept my mouth shut. It wasn't relevant to the main topic. If the conversation strayed, this meeting would only drag on longer than necessary, and I didn't want to waste the time of a man who had clearly stepped away from other duties to see us. For Hakamada-san’s sake, I needed to stick to the point and finish the consultation quickly.
As I was thinking that, Hakamada-san’s expression turned serious, and he looked at us with a focused gaze.
"Precisely because you are who you are, we were quite surprised when you requested an emergency consultation—surprised enough to curtail your dungeon exploration.…Has something happened?"
Hakamada-san fixed us with a sharp look, pressing for the core of the issue.
As the head of this branch office, it was only natural that he would want to confirm the details of an emergency report regarding dungeon matters from top-tier civilian explorers as soon as possible.
"Yes," Yuji began. "The reason we requested an urgent consultation is that we encountered an irregular phenomenon during our exploration today. Perhaps other explorers have already reported it, but we have never heard of this phenomenon before. If we are the first to encounter it, we felt we had to report it, or other explorers might unknowingly fall victim to it. Of course, we don’t know at this stage if this irregularity is reproducible."
"I see. Thank you for your consideration. While reproducibility may be unknown, simply knowing that such an irregularity can occur significantly changes the level of safety during exploration. So, what was this irregular phenomenon you encountered?"
Hakamada-san nodded, looking convinced by Yuji’s preamble. He had looked slightly dubious for a second when Yuji mentioned the lack of confirmed reproducibility, but we couldn’t tell him what we didn't know ourselves.
Yuji took a breath, paused for a beat, and then got to the heart of the matter.
"During our exploration today, when we were about to engage the ogres on the 29th floor… we encountered a monster that appeared to be a new species of ogre. I believe it was a high-ranking species."
"A high-ranking ogre species? Is that true?!"
"I don’t know the specifics, but probably. It was about a head taller than a normal ogre, and its equipment was far more impressive. It fought with more skill than a regular ogre—it was a monster with combat capabilities far exceeding theirs."
"I see…"
As Yuji reported the Ogre Soldier incident, Hakamada-san’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then, an air of agitation settled over him as he looked down, lost in thought, and fell silent.
Which was it? Was his surprise because he didn't know high-ranking ogres existed, or was it because one had appeared here? Was his agitation because the Association already knew about them and he was thinking, "It finally appeared in a publicly released dungeon"?
"..."
Yuji silently nudged my side with his elbow, signaling me with his eyes to produce the mithril. I nodded back without a word, reached into the bag I’d placed under the table, and pulled out the metal, setting it on the desk.
It looked like a metallic mass with a luster similar to aluminum or stainless steel. Yuji likely wanted to use this to give the brooding Hakamada-san the push he needed to speak up.
"And this is the drop item from that monster we believe to be a high-ranking ogre. When we defeated the regular ogre that was with it, it dropped a high-grade recovery potion, just like last time. So there’s no mistake that this item came from the high-ranking species."
"?! This is… Hirose-kun, did this really drop?"
Hakamada-san’s eyes went wide when he saw the metallic mass we submitted. With a stunned expression, he pressed Yuji for confirmation that it had indeed come from the Ogre Soldier. For Hakamada-san, it seemed the unthinkable had happened.
It appeared he had enough prior knowledge to infer what this was. In other words, I could safely assume the Dungeon Association was aware of this development. Without at least some prior knowledge, he wouldn't have reacted like he’d recognized its identity at a glance—not unless he had an appraisal skill or a similar item himself.
"Yes. However, as for the true nature of this drop item, we haven't submitted it to the purchase counter for appraisal yet, so it’s officially unknown. I’m sorry; we thought it would serve as evidence for the report about the high-ranking ogre. I know we’re still within the grace period, but carrying an unappraised drop item around for a long time after leaving the dungeon is against the rules, isn't it…?"
"Ah, no, that’s fine. If you’re reporting an irregular phenomenon, it’s certainly better to have evidence. It’s no problem if you submit the drop items from this excursion to the counter downstairs later. Even if you go a bit over the time limit, I will issue instructions for a special exemption."
"Understood. Thank you."
My slight worry about carrying the unappraised item was cleared up by Hakamada-san’s discretion. Due to the need to manage the distribution of materials produced by the dungeon, there was a rule that drop items must be submitted within three hours of exiting the dungeon, except in cases of medical emergencies. Even if you found nothing, you were technically required to report that.
Since records of entering and exiting the dungeon were kept, it was impossible to hide a failure to report drops. If it wasn't malicious, a first offense usually resulted in a verbal warning and a late submission. From the second time onward, there were fines or temporary bans from entering the dungeon. Furthermore, if the act was judged to be a malicious refusal to submit items or an attempt to sell them on the black market, the case would be transferred to the DP, potentially leading to a lawsuit.
As we felt relieved that our concern was resolved, Hakamada-san made a request in a somewhat reserved tone.
"In that case, may I take custody of this for a moment? I wish to have it appraised immediately to confirm its identity. If this is what we suspect it to be, there are… complicated circumstances that will change how we handle this."
"I understand. I’ll leave it in your care. But before that, may I ask how the Association will respond to the appearance of this high-ranking ogre? I’m worried that if that irregular phenomenon occurs again while we’re sitting here, any explorers who don't know about it might end up in a fatal situation…"
While Hakamada-san insisted on a quick confirmation of the drop item, Yuji asked how the Association would handle the Ogre Soldier. Since we already knew what the drop item was, we were more interested in the Association’s response.
Judging by Hakamada-san’s reactions so far, the Association definitely knew about Ogre Soldiers and mithril. Since he said the response would change, it meant they knew but hadn't made the information public. That implied a troublesome matter with its own set of "circumstances."
"Naturally, we will respond as soon as the facts are confirmed. To assist in that confirmation, I want to appraise this and establish its identity."
"Understood. Should we wait here until the appraisal is finished?"
Given Hakamada-san’s demeanor, it didn't seem like he’d let us go home until this was settled, so I figured I’d check.
"I apologize, but that would be very helpful. Also, have you spoken to anyone else about this?"
"No. We thought we should report and consult with the Association first."
"That is good to hear. If this information is spread without proper preparation, it could cause chaos. I would like to ask you to keep this matter confidential until the Association’s response has been decided."
"…Understood. Spreading rumors before the irregularity has even been confirmed as a fact would indeed only cause confusion."
Bad rumors tend to be embellished out of all proportion and spread rapidly. For information with high impact, public institutions need to release the correct facts as primary information, or else people won't have a standard for what is true, leading to further chaos. Considering that, requesting our silence at this stage was the correct move.
It was best to simply agree here.
"Thank you. I will go and have this appraised, so please wait a moment."
"How long will the appraisal take?"
"We will prioritize the appraisal without doing a full valuation, so it shouldn't take long. Let’s see… it should be finished within thirty minutes at the latest."
"Understood. We’ll be waiting."
After a slight bow, Hakamada-san took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wrapped the mithril to hide it, held it carefully, and left the room.
The three of us leaned back in our chairs to stretch before sharing our thoughts on the consultation.
"From Hakamada-san’s reaction just now, it looked like the Association already knew about that ogre, didn't it?"
"It seemed that way. At first, he reacted with doubt, like he couldn't believe it, but after we showed him the drop item, his reaction was more like 'No way...' or 'It finally happened,' right?"
"Yes," Hiiragi-san agreed. "He seemed to have an idea of what the drop item was, too... There's no doubt he knew. We probably weren't the first to encounter it; other explorers might have already reported that ogre. Given that the Association kept it quiet and considering where the ogre appeared... maybe the reporters were government explorer teams from the Self-Defense Forces or the police?"
"If that’s the case, we might have poked our noses into something quite annoying..."
It was a situation I’d expected to some extent from the start, but having it confirmed like this made me let out an involuntary sigh. A matter where the government intentionally restricted information—another headache.
We spent about fifteen minutes chatting and venting our frustrations until Hakamada-san returned with a troubled expression. Since he was back in less than half the estimated time, he must have rushed the appraisal through at top speed.
"Thank you for waiting, everyone. The appraisal is complete, and the identity of the item has been confirmed."
Hakamada-san took his seat, unwrapped the handkerchief to reveal the mithril, and spoke in a grave voice.
"This drop item is mithril. It is a rare drop categorized as a fantasy metal, and it is a semi-specified important material that the government aims to supply stably... what is known as a strategic material. I apologize, but until a response regarding this matter is decided, I must ask you to keep the existence of this item—along with the irregular phenomenon—confidential for the time being."
Hakamada-san looked at us with a serious gaze and stated clearly that we were to tell no one about this.
I guess we’re being asked to do the same thing as the magic bag incident again... Are we all going to have to go to the Association branch again to strike a deal for our silence and sign a confidentiality obligation?
The Association definitely knew and was keeping it a secret, just as I thought.