After I finished explaining the details of yesterday’s meeting with Tatebayashi-san’s and Hino-san’s parents, Hashimoto-sensei let out a small groan. She clutched her head with a hollow expression and slumped over her desk.
I felt a twinge of guilt.
"…Um, Hashimoto-sensei?"
"…"
Worried by her reaction, I called out to her, but there was no reply. Even the groans that had been leaking from her lips vanished. She became as still as a statue.
Silence stretched across the clubroom.
"!"
"Whoa!?"
Hashimoto-sensei’s upper body suddenly jerked upright, causing startled cries to escape our lips. She fixed us with a cold stare and spoke in a flat, monotone voice.
"Just what on earth are you all doing?"
I wasn't sure if "calmly furious" was the right way to describe it. Hashimoto-sensei’s face was an expressionless mask, yet her monotone voice was heavily laced with both anger and bewilderment.
Well, I suppose it’s only natural for someone to react that way after having this dropped on them.
"Err, I’m sorry. Originally, they just asked us to help persuade their parents to provide the initial investment costs for their explorer debut. But as the conversation went on, it turned into whether we could act as consultants for the two of them…"
"…Haa. I want to pretend I didn't hear that."
"Please don't say that. Of course, we haven't given them a final answer yet. It was a sudden proposal, so we need to look into several things first."
"Well, that’s a relief."
Hashimoto-sensei let out a long sigh. Her brow furrowed as she turned an unreadable gaze toward Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san. The two juniors stiffened under her stare, their shoulders trembling slightly.
"I don't even know what to say, but for now, I’ll tell you what I can from my position as a teacher, okay?"
Y-Yes!
At Hashimoto-sensei's words, the two girls replied with voices pitched high from tension.
"As for the school's current policy, we do not impose excessive regulations or interference regarding off-campus activities that students engage in after school—their private lives. This applies to explorer activities in dungeons as well."
Yes.
"However, people have been raising concerns based on incidents that have occurred so far, arguing that some kind of regulation is necessary. Procedural issues mean we haven't moved toward immediate restrictions, but you should keep in mind that those discussions are happening."
Yes.
Tatebayashi-san and Hino-san listened with tense expressions, giving small, obedient replies as Hashimoto-sensei delivered her explanation with forced composure.
"Therefore, as of right now, if you wish to become explorers, the school will not stop you from obtaining your Armed Exploration Permit for Special Underground Structures or pursuing those activities. Though, naturally, we don't recommend it."
…Yes!
Realizing that Hashimoto-sensei wasn't going to forbid them from becoming explorers, the two girls looked relieved, small smiles playing on their lips. Hashimoto-sensei offered a slight, bitter smile in return before continuing.
"However…"
Her gaze left the juniors and shifted back to us. It was a look of pure exasperation.
"The story changes entirely when we're talking about consulting."
"Well, that makes sense. It's not like it would pass without any issues."
"Exactly. Even within the school, after seeing this club's presentation at the school festival, the prevailing opinion in staff meetings was that we may have to accept students becoming sole proprietors due to income and tax issues."
"Wait, was our research presentation actually evaluated that highly by the faculty?"
At her words, we wavered, looking at each other in surprise. Hashimoto-sensei's gaze went distant for a moment, then she nodded seriously to confirm our suspicions.
"It’s true. When inquiries from parents flooded in after the school festival, the handouts your club distributed circulated among the staff. It was brought up as a topic during the staff meeting for the school festival review. No conclusion was reached on the spot, but given the circumstances, the consensus leaned toward it being unavoidable as long as it doesn't affect schoolwork."
"I see. Well, if it helped them understand the situation better..."
"Of course, there were opinions that a student starting a business while still in school was… problematic. But we didn't expect so many students to start businesses all at once, so the regulations aren't in place yet. At this rate, we'll have to establish clear rules regarding explorer-related matters."
Hashimoto-sensei sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead.
Right now, most students are likely starting businesses on impulse to handle tax issues, but whether that will continue to be permitted is another story. If student explorers become sole proprietors and their grades plummet, it defeats the purpose. If someone is going to leave their parents' dependency to become a sole proprietor and an explorer, people will naturally wonder why they’re even bothering with a full-time high school. After all, we don't have specialized support systems like a 'Dungeon Department' yet.
"That’s true. We only hurriedly registered as sole proprietors for tax purposes because our income was higher than we expected. Based on our experience, we recommended that Mika and the others do the same from the start. However, the appraisal prices for drop items are gradually decreasing. For students starting next year, they might not even exceed the exemption for dependents limit if they keep it as a part-time activity. Provided, of course, they don't land high-value rare drops."
"I see, that's good to know. Just out of curiosity, what's the difference in appraisal prices between when you started and now? It might serve as a benchmark for next year."
I glanced at the others before answering her.
"Let’s take the first floor. You know Core Crystals? They're the most common drop."
"Yes, the ones that drop every few monsters? Now that they're used as fuel for generators, hasn't the demand increased the price?"
"Actually, it’s the other way around. They used to go for about 500 yen each, but now the appraisal price is around 100 yen. Since the number of explorers has increased, the supply is massive, so the price is plummeting. Eventually, it might even be 100 yen for a handful of them."
"The prices have dropped that much?"
Hashimoto-sensei looked stunned by the margin of the decrease.
"Yes. Items from deep floors, like past the 20th floor, haven't seen such a drop yet. But around the 5th floor, where most explorers gather, the values have crashed. Since student explorers only have a few hours after school, I think it will be much harder to make enough money to worry about taxes going forward."
"True. If you can only explore for a limited time while values are dropping, you won't be making a fortune."
"Exactly. However, students have long breaks like summer vacation. If someone grinds through the dungeon during that time, they might still hit the limit and need to start a business. But to earn that much with current prices, they'd have to be in the dungeon constantly, and their grades would suffer."
"That would be a problem. If it affects schoolwork, the school won't recognize it as a valid activity. Students must prioritize their studies."
We all nodded in agreement. We were at school to study, after all. The faculty wouldn't look kindly on anything that ruined a student's education.
"We won't know for sure until next year, but prices will likely be even lower by then. We might see more students acting recklessly to earn money."
As I said that, the room filled with the sound of everyone's weary sighs.
Hashimoto-sensei cleared her throat to bring the conversation back to the main point.
"Anyway, back to the topic. Kokonoe-kun, you were asked by the parents to do consulting yesterday, right?"
"Yes. Honestly, we're in over our heads, so we're still debating whether to accept."
"I suppose so. But honestly, if you did accept, could you actually do the job?"
"That’s the thing. It’s tough. The conditions might not align, and it might be more than we can handle. If we take this on as a professional job, we'd have to focus on it entirely."
Naturally, we couldn't do a half-hearted job. That meant suspending our own dungeon exploration and the construction of our training facility. We would have to charge a fee that covered the work plus compensation for our lost income.
"True. The parents trust you with their daughters, so you couldn't do a mediocre job. If you accept, you’d need to see it through properly."
"Yes, but that creates problems. Mainly the fee. I can't give a specific number here, but even if we asked for just ten percent of our income from the last month, the amount would likely be more than the parents expect."
If we requested ten percent of our most recent monthly income as compensation for pausing our own activities, the total would exceed several million yen—thanks to certain high-value drops we can't talk about publicly.
And if we averaged our income from the last few months, that figure might even gain another digit.
"…I won't ask exactly how much you're planning to charge, but money is always the first thing people clash over. Everyone's idea of a 'reasonable' price is different. Still, if you're only asking for ten percent of your recent income, I'd say you're being extremely generous. Training beginners to a competent level would take at least a month of dedicated work. Ten percent sounds like a bargain."
Hashimoto-sensei looked at us with a worried gaze, thinking ten percent was too low. If a month's income was 220,000 yen—the average starting salary—then ten percent would be 22,000 yen. For a month of professional consulting, that would be a steal.
Of course, that was only because she didn't know the actual numbers we were dealing with.
"I suppose so… but I wonder if they'll agree to it."
"It'll be tough."
"I think it's impossible."
The three of us shared an inscrutable look, our gazes drifting toward the window. We were certain it was impossible.
It wasn't the kind of amount an average household could just cough up on a whim.