Since our rental time was running out, we vacated the conference room. The Tatebayashi and Hino families wanted some time to talk things over amongst themselves, so we parted ways in front of the building. We’d given them a little time earlier, but I suppose a quick chat in a lobby isn’t enough for a proper family discussion.
The five of us headed to a family restaurant near the station to take a breather.
"Good work today, everyone. Man, I’m beat. Doing things I’m not used to really takes it out of me."
Once I confirmed everyone had their drinks, I started with a word of appreciation.
"Yeah. We told them everything we could, but I wonder if we handled that okay?" Yuji asked.
"I think it went well," Hiiragi-san replied. "Getting to hear real-world experiences before they even start should make it a very meaningful lesson for them."
"Yeah," Mika added. "We’ve told them bits and pieces about being an explorer, but we never really went as deep as we did today. I think it’ll be helpful."
"I agree," Saori-chan said. "It looked like it was the first time Asami-chan’s parents had heard a lot of that. It was definitely good that they heard it now."
I’d been a little uneasy about how the discussion had gone, but everyone’s consensus that it was a success put me at ease. I’d left most of the talking to Yuji, but it wasn’t like I had any differing opinions on the content.
Most of what we discussed were things you only learn through actual experience—the kind of stuff that doesn't show up on TV or in magazines. I’d half-expected the parents to forbid Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san from becoming explorers after hearing the reality of it, but things had landed in a way that was both unexpected and, in a sense, inevitable.
"I hope so. But things might have just gotten a little complicated," I said.
"Well, it’s not exactly 'trouble,' but it’s definitely a question of how we handle it," Yuji noted.
"True," Hiiragi-san said. "Honestly, I never thought the conversation would head in that direction. We intended to teach them to some extent anyway, but doing it as a professional job is a different story, isn't it?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of teaching a friend or going into the dungeon together..." Mika muttered.
"I felt the same way," Saori-chan agreed.
I never imagined that their parents would ask us for actual consulting services regarding explorer guidance.
"In the first place, how do you even do 'consulting'? Is that something high school students are allowed to do?" Mika asked.
"Who knows?" Yuji replied. "I know the word, but I don't know the specific details of the job. Does anyone else?"
"I think it’s a job where you give advice to ensure a business or project goes well, but..."
" "Who knows?" "
Since none of us really grasped what the job of a consultant actually entailed, we all tilted our heads in unison, looking uncertain. We started by looking up what the job generally involved.
After a few minutes of scrolling through our phones, we managed to get a basic idea of the profession.
"From what I can find, it’s a job where you propose solutions to problems presented by a client," I summarized.
"Seems like it," Yuji said. "While it's better to be an expert in the field, it doesn't look like you need any specific legal qualifications."
"It says anyone can do it if they have the necessary skills and experience," Hiiragi-san observed. "From that perspective, we could certainly... well, do something that resembles consulting."
Regardless of whether the client is satisfied or not, it seemed that even high school students could act as consultants if they had the ability.
"Setting aside Saori and me, you and Yuji have a track record for training us, Daiki," Mika pointed out.
"That's right, Mika-chan," Saori-chan said. "If the goal is to raise a rank amateur to the point where they can stand on their own, we’re the proof of your results."
I realized they were right. In terms of "newcomer training," we actually had a track record. Regarding practical experience and skill in the subject matter, we could say we’d cleared the requirements.
However, deciding whether to actually take the offer was a much more difficult problem.
"It’s true that we trained Mika and Saori, but that was only because we had help from people like Juzo-san. We didn't do it entirely on our own. Besides, professional consulting requires more than just a track record; don't you need connections? I don't have any way to source gear without going through Juzo-san."
"Daiki’s right," Yuji agreed. "Almost all the leads we have are through the Old Man. We only have a handful of unique connections we can use by ourselves."
"On top of that, we’ve followed a very unique path," Hiiragi-san added. "We don't really know the road a typical explorer takes. We could give advice on equipment, but I have no idea which martial arts culture school would be best for a beginner. Yuji-kun, does your family dojo accept students like that?"
Just as Hiiragi-san pointed out, we lacked general knowledge because we’d been taught directly by a grandmaster. If we recommended a subpar "pretend" martial arts school based on unreliable online reviews, it would be disastrous. If a client failed to learn the basics of combat—the most critical skill for survival—their injury rate would skyrocket.
Yuji shook his head with a troubled expression.
"My place? We’re still in the preparation phase. My family's style is primarily anti-personnel; it isn't specifically designed for monsters. If we half-heartedly accept students now and someone gets seriously injured or killed in a dungeon, people will blame our teaching. I won't accept students until we have a solid curriculum for safely reaching at least the 5th floor. Once they’re fighting humanoid monsters, anti-personnel martial arts become more applicable."
"I see, that’s a shame," Hiiragi-san said. "But that means we don't have a reliable martial arts school to recommend."
"Yeah," Mika said. "I know they exist, but I've never actually been to a culture school... what should we do?"
As a last resort, we could teach them directly, but from a "consulting" standpoint, that probably wasn't the right move. Maybe I should look into trial lessons at some of these schools?
"In that case, how about Saori and I ask the explorers in our class which culture schools they attend?" Mika suggested. "There are probably more kids in our year going to those places than in your class, Daiki."
"I've heard a few people talking about them," Saori-chan added. "I don't know if they're still going, but I’ll try asking them what they thought of the training."
"Really? That would be a huge help," I said. "The people in my class—or rather, the second and third years who are explorers—mostly started before those culture schools even existed. It’s actually hard to find anyone in our grade who uses them."
Most veterans had learned to fight through trial and error, repeating the main event of actual combat with monsters until they figured it out. Once they could kill monsters that way, very few felt the need to pay a school to learn martial arts unless they were extremely ambitious about reaching the deep floors.
Besides, for the first several floors, you can usually get by just by leveling up and overpowering things with brute force. For student explorers who only dive for a few hours after school, most probably don't see the point in formal training.
"Got it. I'll ask around tomorrow," Mika promised.
"Thanks. Let us know what you find during club activities after school."
If we were going to branch out into an entirely new field, this was a good start. Of course, we’d also need to do our own research online as well.
Come to think of it, I felt like I’d seen a flyer for something like that in the mail recently.
With a potential lead on the martial arts issue, we turned our attention to the pancakes we’d ordered. We picked at them while we continued our discussion. Using your brain this much always made me crave sweets.
"So, it looks like we can put together something that resembles a consulting plan... but the real question is, do we actually take this offer?"
"For now, we have to put it on hold," Yuji decided. "We don't have enough information to say yes or no yet. We were going to help them anyway, but once compensation is involved, the situation gets complicated. Even if we do take it, we need to find out if it's legally okay to accept that kind of work as a sole proprietor and how to handle the taxes on the income."
"Agreed," Hiiragi-san said. "It would be a nightmare if we took the job and then realized we were breaking some rule we didn't know about."
Did the business category of "explorer" even cover "consulting"? It technically falls under newcomer training, but we had to verify the specifics. Given our position, we couldn't afford any scandals, so we had to be cautious.
"Then we’ll hold off on a final answer for Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san until we’ve looked into all of this. We can't really move forward as we are now."
"That's for the best," Yuji said. "I'll likely see them tomorrow, so I'll explain that we need some time and ask them to wait. They'd probably be anxious if we stayed silent."
"Right. Mika, Saori-chan, if you see Asami-chan and Hino-san tomorrow, could you let them know the answer will be a little delayed? Tell them there are things we need to verify first."
"Understood," Mika said. "I'll tell her in class."
"Um, if they ask how long they should wait, what should I say?" Saori-chan asked.
We all looked at each other, then tilted our heads in unison with complicated expressions.
Exactly how long would this take?
"How long... can we get it done in a week?" I ventured.
"The legal stuff shouldn't take long with the internet, but verifying the schools... I honestly couldn't say," Yuji admitted.
"True," Hiiragi-san agreed. "Since we’re starting from zero, I wonder if a week is enough?"
We sat there looking thoughtful, already feeling the headache of the unknown. Still, we had to give them something.
"For now, tell them we’ll give them a progress report in a week," I said.
"Understood," Saori-chan replied with a slightly worried nod.
"We’ll consider it with the intention of accepting, but we can't commit yet. Oh, and Yuji—could you talk to Juzo-san about this? I hate to keep relying on him, but to reach a conclusion ourselves... well, you know. He might have had a similar experience."
"Yeah, I'll bring it up casually. He might have a simple solution for us."
"Thanks."
I felt guilty for always leaning on Juzo-san’s wisdom, but there was no one else we could talk to about this. It would be a miracle if he happened to know someone running a reliable culture school, but life rarely goes that smoothly.
"Anyway, does that cover everything for today?"
"I think so," Yuji said. "The conversation took a weird turn, but it looks like their wish to become explorers is actually going to happen."
"Their parents were very reasonable," Hiiragi-san noted. "They really listened to their daughters and considered the matter seriously."
"They did," Mika and Saori-chan agreed.
When I’d heard the parents were coming, I’d assumed they would be against the idea and we’d have to help persuade them. Instead, it turned out they were tentatively in favor of it and just wanted to verify the current state of the industry and the necessary precautions.
An unexpected consulting request had popped up, but the discussion itself had ended on a good note.
"Well, the sun is starting to set. Let's finish these and head home. We have school tomorrow, and I'm sure everyone wants some time to process everything."
It had gotten late while we were talking. We quickly finished the last of our pancakes, left the restaurant, and went our separate ways.
Once I got home, I had a lot of researching to do. If this was going to be a professional job, I had to make sure every procedure was handled correctly.