As Yuji laid out his predictions for the upward trend of student explorers, the four parents, including Kengo-san, looked visibly troubled. The emotion in their expressions wasn't so much confusion as it was a deep-seated anxiety.
Kengo-san cast a brief glance at his daughter, then looked at Mika and the others before turning his attention back to Yuji.
"We have a specific concern regarding the current state of the world," Kengo-san began. "It’s the disparity in ability between those who are explorers and those who are not—and the fact that it’s such an obvious gap. People of a certain age, with a few exceptions, generally have enough discretion that I’m not terribly worried about them. But students... at that age, self-restraint can be fragile. They’re in that transitional period between childhood and adulthood, with expanding social circles and ranges of action, all while dealing with the stress and anxiety of a future that’s finally starting to take shape. We’ve all been there ourselves. And even if they run into trouble, they often won't talk to their parents or other adults. They try to handle it themselves, struggling blindly until they’ve sunk into a quagmire."
"I see..."
"Sorry, I suppose that was a bit of a lecture. In any case, from an adult’s perspective, the student years are a sensitive and unstable time. Especially within the narrow, closed, and unique environment of a school. Regardless of their own will, students can be swept up by their surroundings, prioritizing emotion over reason until their judgment of right and wrong becomes blurred. I’m sure you’ve seen the kinds of problems that can cause, haven't you?"
Kengo-san’s worries were well-founded; a school was indeed a very peculiar environment. I knew exactly the kind of problems he was referring to.
"You’re worried that the forced recruitment issue that happened among the first-years might repeat itself, aren't you?" I asked.
"Yes. That’s certainly part of it, but we’re also worried about more direct harm. If student explorers continue to increase, then whenever there's a dispute between students—even just a minor scuffle—the potential damage to a non-explorer is frightening to consider."
"That’s true," Yuji agreed. "As explorers raise their level, they can expect a significant increase in physical ability. You often hear motives in assault cases on the news like 'I only pushed them a little during the argument.' Even for a novice explorer who has only dabbled in it, that 'little push' is far more likely to result in an unexpected injury for an ordinary person. In the heat of the moment, people often put out force that exceeds their conscious control. It’s a very real possibility."
Kengo-san and the others looked down, their faces darkening with a bitter, resigned smile.
"I thought so. If the number of explorers continues to grow, we have to assume these kinds of accidents and incidents will follow. That’s why we’ve considered that it might be better for our daughters to have at least a basic level of experience as explorers."
"It’s true that raising their level even slightly might help them avoid that kind of misfortune," Yuji said.
"Right? But to raise their level, they have to fight monsters. That creates a dilemma: do we allow them to face danger now in order to avoid a potential danger in the future? If they were to suffer a major injury now, it would be putting the cart before the horse."
It seemed they were struggling to find a balance between future risks and present ones, which made it hard for them to fully support their daughters' desire to become explorers.
"However," Kengo-san continued, "listening to you, I’m starting to understand that if they prepare properly and don't take reckless risks, it’s possible to raise their levels relatively safely. And that while the effective recovery means are expensive, they do exist."
"Yes. Provided they have an aptitude for fighting monsters, they should be able to raise their levels decently without major injuries, though it takes time. Although, given the current state of the dungeons, it will take quite a bit of time and money."
In the current dungeon landscape, the upper floors are chronically overcrowded, which has lowered the encounter rate with monsters. To make matters worse, the purchase price for drop items has also plummeted. To maximize safety, a newcomer needs to invest in proper weapons and gear, attend a culture school or similar facility to improve combat skills, frequent the dungeon often while avoiding any monster they can't handle, and always carry multiple recovery potions.
When you list it all out, the barrier for entry for a safety-conscious newcomer is actually quite high. The more you prioritize safety, the less likely you are to get high-value drops, and the more your out-of-pocket expenses for activity maintenance grow. Unless you get lucky with a rare drop, you’ll be bleeding money in no time.
"Well, I suppose we have to consider that better than a major injury," Kengo-san muttered.
"It will be a significant expense," Yuji warned. "Even for a nearby dungeon, you have to account for transportation, food, and replenishing consumables. You should probably expect to spend about five thousand yen per person for a single day of activity. Most student explorers set a goal to at least earn enough in drop items to cover that daily cost before they head home. But with the recent drop in purchase prices, even that has become difficult to achieve."
"I see. To stay out of the red, you’d want to at least break even on activity costs. But five thousand per person means ten thousand for the two of them... is that something a beginner can actually earn?"
"Mika-chan and the others would know more about that than us," Yuji said, nodding toward the girls. "They were active on the upper floors more recently, whereas we started back when drop prices were higher. Mika-chan, Saori-chan, could you tell us how it was for you?"
"Oh, right." "Yes."
Mika and Saori-chan shared a look and then spoke thoughtfully.
"Um, when we started out, the dungeons were already pretty much like they are now," Mika said. "There were so many newcomers that we could hardly find any monsters. Gathering drop items was really hard."
"The prices were a little better than they are now, but as for when we started covering our daily costs..." Saori-chan paused to think. "I think it was around our fifth or sixth trip?"
"I see. And was that while prioritizing safety?"
"Yes," Mika replied. "We’d heard so much from Onii-chan and the others that we made sure never to push ourselves. we only fought when we knew we could win. Compared to people who just rush into a dungeon with no research, I think we were very safe."
"I think it also helped that we trained in martial arts before we ever went in," Saori-chan added.
Kengo-san and the other parents frowned.
If Mika and the others—who started when prices were higher—needed five or six trips to break even, a newcomer today would likely need closer to ten trips to reach the same point, even if they improved at the same rate.
"Even with perfect preparation, it takes that much time... By the way, regarding the martial arts training, did you go to a culture school?"
"No," Mika said. "We didn't go to a school. We learned the basics from Onii-chan and his friends. Yuji-san’s family runs a martial arts dojo, and they were kind enough to teach us. Thanks to that, we’ve made it this far without any big injuries, even when fighting monsters."
"I actually asked a classmate who’s an explorer about that," Asami interjected. "She said she went into a dungeon once and had a really scary experience, so she started going to a culture school to learn martial arts. She said once she learned the basic movements, she hardly ever got hurt as long as she stayed careful."
"I see. So it’s essential to master at least the basics of martial arts before ever setting foot in a dungeon. If that training is the difference between getting injured or not, then we shouldn't cut corners."
It seemed the parents were finally grasping the importance of combat training. While it was debatable whether traditional martial arts intended for humans were perfectly effective against monsters, they certainly taught efficient weapon handling and mental discipline.
Nobody can strike a target accurately and without hesitation the moment an enemy jumps out in front of them. An amateur with no experience would likely freeze up, or swing their weapon wildly and miss everything.
"Practicing how to swing a weapon and hit a target accurately is vital," Yuji supplemented. "As is learning how to dodge, block, and counter instead of just standing there when an enemy attacks. Most newcomers get hurt because they can't do that. They end up learning through the pain of their own injuries, eventually casting aside their hesitation to strike back. For most explorers, their first kill isn't a calculated move—it’s a desperate counterattack born of survival instinct."
"That really drives home the need for preparation," Kengo-san said, his face twitching as he looked at his daughter. Asami and the other girl also looked a bit pale after hearing the raw reality of explorer life.
It seemed the versions of the story they’d heard from Mika and Saori-chan at school had been heavily sugarcoated. It made sense—the girls weren't going to share the grisly details in a classroom—but here, the raw truth was exactly what was needed.
"Exactly," Yuji said. "I’d recommend mastering at least the basics even if they don't do full-scale martial arts. Once the foundation is there, they can sharpen their skills through actual combat. After six months of practice and experience, Mika-chan and the others have become quite formidable."
"I heard it’s only been about six months since they started..." one of the parents noted.
"It’s six months of fighting monsters that are genuinely trying to kill you," Yuji replied flatly. "The density of experience is on a different level compared to practicing in a safe dojo. If these girls entered a student martial arts tournament today—the kind they had before the dungeons appeared—they would be virtually peerless."
"..."
Yuji stated this as if it were a simple matter of fact. The parents looked at us explorers with expressions of pure disbelief.
Since everything Yuji said was the absolute truth, we simply gave slight, wry nods of confirmation.
The atmosphere in the room became heavy, so we decided to take a break. We five explorers left the room and headed to the entrance lobby to give the families some space to process everything they’d heard.
"Well, I wonder how it'll go," I muttered.
"The parents seemed like they were leaning toward passive approval before," Yuji said. "I wonder if what we just said will change their minds."
"I hope so," Saori-chan said. "But it’s better for them to know all this now than to experience it firsthand after they've already become explorers. If we didn't tell them, it would be too late once they got hurt."
"Hearing it all laid out like that makes me realize how lucky we were, Saori-chan," Mika said quietly. "If we hadn't had full backup from Onii-chan and the others..."
"Yeah. We’d probably still be struggling... or we might have just given up on being explorers entirely."
The three of us seniors were worried about the outcome, while Mika and Saori-chan were realizing just how privileged their start had been. It’s hard to objectively evaluate your own situation without a point of comparison. Though, looking back, we did put a massive amount of effort into supporting them; comparing them to a typical newcomer probably wasn't entirely fair.
After killing some time in the lobby, we headed back into the conference room.
I wondered if the parents' passive approval had shifted into something else.