I had encountered something unexpected in the dungeon I visited for a change of pace, but I had also managed to snag some unforeseen rare items and ended up with more income than I’d hoped for. Whether that was appropriate compensation for the risk of getting caught up in trouble was unclear, but in my current situation, where I had made big purchases and expenses were piling up, there was no doubt I was grateful for it.
Having overcome that difficulty, Monday arrived. We went to school as usual, attended classes as usual, and then after-school hours arrived as usual.
"Another day finally over."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
As closing homeroom ended, I stretched to loosen my stiff muscles while let out a sigh. Shigemori, who was nearby, chimed in.
"Good work. You looked like you were having a tougher time than usual today. Is it really that hard for you guys to be at school right after a dungeon dive?"
"Mm, well, yeah. Though, I think it's more that I’m mentally exhausted rather than physically. I got caught up in a bit of trouble in the dungeon."
"A bit of trouble, huh? You don't seem to have any major injuries. Did you get into a scrap with other explorers?"
"It wasn't anything like that. But because I had to leave early due to the trouble, my income was lower than I'd planned. And when you consider the costs of dungeon exploration, well..."
Since I couldn't tell Shigemori about the mithril, I decided to dodge the subject by claiming I'd run into trouble and was stressed about the loss of income.
"I see. People say being an explorer is profitable, but as long as it's a job, you're going to have all sorts of overhead."
"Exactly. Unless you earn enough to exceed the costs incurred every time you dive—like transportation and consumables—the more you explore, the further you sink into the red. On top of that, if you try to cut costs too much to save money, your safety becomes a concern. In the worst-case scenario, you might end up paying more in medical bills than the costs you cut."
"I understand wanting to save money, but that would be putting the cart before the horse."
"Right. For now, we're in the black overall, so it's not a crisis, but it’s more about the principle of it, you know?"
As Shigemori made a sympathetic face, I gave a wry smile and told him that a loss was still a loss.
While I was talking with Shigemori, Yuji, who looked a bit exasperated, spoke up.
"Sorry to interrupt the heart-to-heart, but Daiki, we need to head to the clubroom. We're all supposed to discuss the weekend today, remember?"
"Eh? Oh, sorry. I'll get ready right away, just give me a second."
When Yuji pointed it out, I looked at the classroom clock and saw that a fair amount of time had passed since homeroom ended. I hurriedly stuffed my things into my school bag and stood up.
"Well then, Shigemori, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, sorry for holding you up. Hirose, good luck with your club activities."
"Yeah, see ya."
After exchanging farewells with Shigemori, Yuji and I left the classroom.
Once we stepped into the hallway, we met up with Hiiragi-san, who seemed to have been waiting for us.
"You're late."
"Sorry, I got caught up talking with Shigemori."
"I see. Well, that's fine. Let's go."
Led by Hiiragi-san, we began heading toward the clubroom.
When we arrived in front of the door, I felt the presence of people already inside. It seemed Mika and the others had arrived first. I must have really fallen behind because of my talk with Shigemori.
I put on an apologetic expression as I opened the door and entered.
"Good work, everyone. You're early."
"Ah, welcome, Onii-chan. Our homeroom ended a bit early today."
"Good work!"
Inside the room, Mika and the other three were sitting in chairs, chatting in a relaxed manner. It seemed we weren't actually that late.
After exchanging brief greetings, we sat down in the empty seats.
"Let's get right to it. I want to talk about this coming weekend, is that okay?"
After putting away my bag and taking a breath, I immediately brought up the main topic.
At that, Mika and the other three took on slightly tense expressions. They straightened their postures and turned their gazes toward me. Yuji and Hiiragi-san didn't seem particularly nervous; they both had expressions that said, "It's finally time."
"Looks like we're ready. Well then, the bookkeeping certification exam will be held this coming Sunday. As previously planned, we will all participate to build up our club’s track record of activities."
"We’ve aimed for this since the club was founded, so it feels like the time has finally come..."
"That's right. I think the club's purpose has shifted a bit since then, but it’s not a qualification that would ever hurt to have. Let’s do our best and aim to pass."
Yuji and Hiiragi-san showed their motivation with a sense of gravity. When the club was first founded, the goal of getting certified had been a nominal excuse to keep the club in existence, but now they had actually put in the work and felt a genuine desire to pass.
Mika and the other three also showed their motivation, though their faces remained tense.
"I don't know if I can pass, but I'll do my absolute best."
"It'll be fine, Mika-chan. We studied the textbooks so much. We're ready."
"Yeah, yeah, we all taught each other the parts we didn't understand while we studied."
"We've done what needs to be done. If you just focus on the questions, you'll be fine."
Reflecting on everything they had done so far, they encouraged each other, trying to dispel their anxieties.
Well, since we had aimed for this since the beginning, everyone had been studying steadily for nearly half a year. Though it was squeezed in between schoolwork and dungeon exploration, we had studied thoroughly, including using commercial textbooks. All that was left was the final push and perfect health management.
"Everyone, it looks like your preparations are in order. The goal is for everyone to pass together, but make sure you don't force yourselves to stay up late cramming. If you ruin your health before the exam, it'll all be for nothing."
"That's right. It's common to try and pull an all-nighter right before an exam to clear away your anxiety, but in reality, it just makes you more likely to get sick. You won't be able to organize your thoughts or concentrate, so nothing good comes of it. To get good results, getting proper rest is vital."
Worried about how fired up Mika and the others were, Yuji and I cautioned them not to overdo it. It was common for people who crammed the night before to lose concentration due to sleepiness, fail to recall knowledge they should have known, or make simple calculation errors.
It was safer to trust in what we had steadily built up, get plenty of rest, and tackle the exam in top form.
"I agree. If you're absent on the day because you're unwell from lack of sleep, that's more frustrating than failing normally. After all that work, not being able to take it because you overdid it at the finish line..."
"Yeah, you're right. We have to be careful not to push too hard just because we're anxious..."
"Yes!"
The warning seemed to work, and the excessive tension drained out of Mika and the others.
That said, since there was less than a week left, a final push was still necessary.
"With that in mind, I was thinking we could have a final study session together within reasonable limits. Basically, we'd gather in the clubroom after school and study as a group. How does that sound? Of course, if you have other things to do, you can prioritize those instead..."
I looked around the room to see if they agreed. Everyone looked at each other and then nodded.
"Yeah, of course that's fine. We've been studying, but teaching each other is a great way to confirm what we've actually learned."
"That's true. You can't give a correct answer to a question unless you've mastered the material. I think holding a study session is a great idea."
"I'm for it too. Studying alone all the way until the exam day feels like it would be suffocating..."
"I want to have a study session too. When I'm studying alone, I start worrying if I'm really making progress..."
"I want to do it too."
"Me too..."
The decision was unanimous. As I thought, studying alone bred uncertainty. While we had the hang of regular school tests, we had no idea how to handle a professional qualification exam. For regular tests, we knew how much study equaled a certain score, but for this bookkeeping exam, we had no frame of reference. No matter how much we studied the textbooks, that feeling of being unprepared never quite went away.
Even though I felt I’d studied enough, a part of me kept worrying that maybe I’d still fail. I wanted to do this study session to confirm where we all stood.
"Great. So, everyone is in favor of the study sessions, then?"
"Yeah."
"Yes."
Yes!
With everyone's agreement, we started our final push. Since we hadn't brought our textbooks today, we took turns asking each other questions in a quiz format. We were able to answer surprisingly well, though we found several small errors in our logic, so it was definitely worth the effort.
A week after we started the after-school sessions, the day of the bookkeeping certification exam finally arrived. We met at the local station to head to the Chamber of Commerce together.
I had been a bit slow to fall asleep last night due to nerves, but I woke up refreshed and my physical condition was good.
"Mika, it's about time to go."
"Yeah, wait a second. Um, I didn't forget anything, right..."
When I called out to her, Mika checked her bag one last time, making sure she had her pencils and pens. It would be a disaster to forget her examination voucher now.
Once she finished her check, I led Mika toward the entrance, where Mother saw us off with some encouragement.
"Both of you studied so hard. I know you'll pass. Do your best!"
"Yeah, thanks."
"I'm off! I'll make sure to pass!"
With Mother seeing us off, Mika and I left the house. Since we had a meeting time, I suggested we pick up the pace, and we started running at a light jog. Of course, even a "light jog" by explorer standards was roughly the speed of an ordinary person on a bicycle.
Thanks to that, we arrived at the station about ten minutes early.
"Ah, Hiiragi-san, good morning. You're early. Are you the first one here?"
"Good morning."
I thought we were the first, but Hiiragi-san was already waiting near the ticket gate.
"Good morning, Kokonoe-kun, Mika-chan. It seems so, though I only just got here myself."
"I see."
While we were greeting Hiiragi-san, the others gathered one after another, and in less than five minutes, the whole group was there.
"Good morning, everyone. First off, I'm relieved that we could all gather without anyone oversleeping."
"Haha, no one would do that."
Everyone gave a small, wry smile at my little joke. Surely no one would oversleep on the day of the exam.
"Well, jokes aside, good morning. We're heading to the venue now, but does everyone have their things? We still have time to go back if you forgot something."
"I checked a dozen times before I left. I'm fine."
Everyone confirmed they were ready.
"I see. Then let's head to the venue. It’s better to have time to get used to the atmosphere."
"That's true."
There was still time before the start, but since it was an unfamiliar setting, we needed time to switch into exam mode. It was easy to get nervous in a new environment and fail to demonstrate your true ability.
We all boarded the train and traveled to the town a few stations away where the exam venue was located.
"We've arrived. There's still some time, but it looks like the venue is already open. Shall we go in?"
"Yes. I want to do a final review of the textbook, so let's head inside."
It was still a bit early, but when we entered, other students preparing for exams were already there, desks covered in textbooks as they did their final checks.
The exam venue definitely had a unique, tense atmosphere. Getting there early was the right call.
"It looks like the seats are assigned by examination number, so we'll be in separate spots. Let's all do our best."
"Yeah. We've done the work, so let's just stay calm and give it everything we've got."
"Yes, everyone was doing well in the study sessions. Just take it slow and answer the questions."
"Yes!"
Although we had applied as a group, our examination numbers were slightly different, so our seats were scattered. It was a bit lonely, but since we couldn't talk inside the hall anyway, from here on, it was an individual battle. All that was left was to manage our nerves and demonstrate the results of our study.
Eventually, the start time arrived. With the proctor's signal, the bookkeeping certification exam began. Time to see if all that work would pay off!