Chapter 65

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---

Shuji and I stopped moving at Shizuka's sudden proposal. For Shizuka, who delves into the dungeon to obtain orc materials, it shouldn't be necessary to go deep into the dungeon...

"Recently, the circulation of orc ingredients has increased, and the prices have dropped. I think it's more efficient to delve deep into the dungeon to obtain high-rarity drop items, sell them for money, and then buy orc meat with that money, rather than hunting orcs myself to get the meat as I used to."

"...Now that you mention it, that might be true."

This time, the appraisal value of the orc meat Shizuka plans to bring back is less than one-third of the total amount obtained from selling the drop items. A few months ago, the same amount of orc meat would have been worth more than half of the total amount obtained from selling the drop items...

Moreover, the drop items obtained this time, while numerous, are mainly low-rarity items from floors below the 10th. The amount obtained from selling them is not particularly high compared to usual.

"Besides, don't you think it's necessary to delve deep into the dungeon for Hasegawa's training?"

"That's..."

"To achieve the goal of landing a hit on Juzo, you can't keep wandering around the lower floors forever, can you? To be honest, the monsters in the lower floors are no longer a challenge for us. It's just a routine task."

When Shizuki suggested delving deeper into the dungeon, Shuji hesitated and couldn't answer immediately.

"For the past few months, you've accompanied me on my errands, so this time, let me help Hasegawa achieve his goal."

"Shizuki... Daiki?"

Shuji turned to me, seeking my opinion. He looked at me silently, but his eyes clearly showed his desire to delve deeper into the dungeon. Since I have no particular objections to delving deeper, I nodded.

"Alright... Shizuki. I'll accept your proposal."

"Understood."

"Is it okay with Daiki too?"

"Of course. However, even if we delve deeper, I don't want us to rush. I'd like to map each floor as much as possible."

In the real dungeon, there is no automatic mapping function like in games. Explorers generally map the minimum necessary area before delving into the next floor. If the mapping area is too small, it becomes difficult to escape or set an ambush when needed.

"I understand. I don't intend to neglect mapping. We'll advance floor by floor, ensuring each one is mapped."

"Then it's settled. From now on, we'll focus on delving deeper into the dungeon."

"Yes."

"Agreed."

With everyone in agreement, we decided to delve deeper into the dungeon starting from the next exploration. Our immediate goal is to break through the lower floors and reach the mid-level floors.

---

After returning home from the dungeon and having dinner, I was watching TV with my family in the living room.

"Hey, big brother?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"How was the dungeon?"

"? It was the same as usual... Why do you ask suddenly?"

In response to Mika's question, I tilted my head, not understanding her intention. Why would she ask such a thing now?

As I looked puzzled, Mika began to explain hesitantly.

"Because, big brother. This was your first time going to the dungeon since the news of a minor's death accident. I thought maybe something had changed."

"Oh, I see. ...There wasn't anything particularly different. I did see some minor explorers, though."

"Really...?"

"Yes."

I recalled the party I saw in the waiting room and answered Mika's question. They seemed like the type who wouldn't care about the news.

"Even though there have been deaths among minor explorers, it hasn't happened in the dungeon we go to. Maybe everyone thinks it's a fire on the other side of the river."

"...What about you, big brother? Even with the deaths, you still went to the dungeon..."

Mika's words made my father and mother, who were watching TV with us, turn to listen.

"I don't see it as a fire on the other side of the river. Rather, I think it was bound to happen."

"Bound to happen?"

"What do you mean, Daiki?"

"Ah, yes. Well..."

Father asked to confirm the meaning of my words, so I recounted to him and Mother what I had told Juzo at school. Father and Mother seemed to agree with my explanation.

"I see. You might be right, Daiki."

"That's why you couldn't eat dinner when you first went to the dungeon, right? I remember you were feeling unwell for a few days."

"Yes. I could eat lunch, but not dinner..."

Thinking back to that time, I felt a slight pain in my stomach.

"Anyway, I think the Association will come up with some measures eventually."

"Measures?"

"Yes. For example, a training tour led by Association-appointed explorers for new explorers."

"A dungeon exploration with instructors. That might be a reasonable measure..."

"Even if participation is voluntary, the Association probably wants to have such measures in place."

"TV and newspapers have been making a lot of noise, so they need to take some action."

Some weekly magazines have published editorials suggesting that minors should be banned from obtaining explorer qualifications, but the major publishers haven't followed suit, so the public reaction has been lukewarm. Maybe they're under pressure from sponsors?

"Anyway, I understand your thoughts. Be careful, okay?"

"Of course, I understand."

"Really be careful. I don't want to have to attend a funeral for a young son."

"Understood. I'll keep it in mind."

Father and Mother reiterated their concerns, but Mika remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

---

The next day, while having lunch with Shuji and Shizuki, we discussed the previous day's events.

"We've decided to delve deeper, but how about the exploration time? Should we extend it?"

"Yes. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach the 20th floor, so we need to extend the time to make it feasible."

"That's true. If we keep the same exploration time, we won't have much time to explore once we reach the deeper floors."

"We've been exploring for 3 hours one way, 6 hours round trip. If we want to delve deeper than the 20th floor, we need to extend the exploration time."

However, extending the exploration time isn't easy to decide. The round trip to the dungeon takes 3 hours, and with the 6-hour exploration time, it totals 9 hours. We currently leave home at 7 AM and return by 4 PM in the afternoon. Of course, we also need to consider physical and mental factors...

"Let's extend the exploration time by about 2 hours, one hour each way. We'll return home later, but we'll gain more exploration time."

"That sounds reasonable. We should gradually get our bodies used to it and extend the exploration time step by step."

"Since we have my storage, we don't need to worry too much about supplies."

For other explorer parties, extending the exploration time would mean securing more supplies, but fortunately, we don't have to worry about that thanks to our spatial storage.

"Then, shall we extend the next exploration by 2 hours?"

"Sure."

"I'm fine with that."

With everyone in agreement, we decided to extend the exploration time by 2 hours. I should tell my family that I'll be returning home later from the dungeon.

---

The following week, we were at the dungeon.

"Are we going to the 20th floor and beyond today?"

"Yes, no problem."

"We've brought more supplies, so we're good to go."

"Then let's go."

At Shuji's command, we began our dungeon exploration. The exploration went smoothly, and we reached the 20th floor, which we had previously reached, in about 2.5 hours as planned.

"We've made it this far smoothly."

"Yes. Last time, it took so long to get here that we couldn't explore much."

"That's right. We had to return after defeating two minotaurs. I'd like to collect some minotaur meat this time..."

The minotaur meat we served at Mika's high school acceptance celebration was from that time.

"Even though we only had a little, it was delicious, wasn't it?"

"Yes. It was as delicious as high-end beef."

"Shuji and I couldn't eat much, though..."

"..."

We looked at each other and fell silent for a moment before nodding in unison.

"Let's hunt minotaurs today!"

In unison, we decided to change our exploration goal for the day. We checked our watches and confirmed that we had about 3 hours to search for minotaurs. About 10 minutes after we started walking quickly while mapping the 20th floor, Shizuki's presence detection skill detected the first minotaur patrolling ahead.

"There it is."

"Got it."

"Found it."

The patrolling minotaur hadn't noticed us yet. We hid behind a nearby corner and held a short strategy meeting.

"The minotaur's special ability is a loud roar."

"Also, they are strong and have tough skin."

"Our previous weapons were effective, but..."

Shizuki looked a bit uneasy at her spear.

"Don't worry. You've used it effectively against monsters up to this point."

"Actually, I think it's even more effective now."

The blade was made thicker to increase its strength, which added weight. However, the increased weight also increased the power of each strike, making it more effective to use. For a regular swordsman, the increased weight would be a disadvantage, but for explorers with several times the strength of a regular person, the weight is not a significant issue.

"...That's true."

"Alright. Since this is a single target, we don't need a complex strategy. The attacker will be..."

"I'll do it."

"Shuji? Okay. Shizuki, is it okay with you if Shuji is the attacker?"

"Sure."

"Then Shuji will be the attacker, and Shizuki and I will back him up. Got it?"

"Leave it to me."

"Leave it to me."

"Then, let's go."

After the strategy meeting, we emerged from the corridor with Shuji leading the way.

---

The minotaur, spotting our approaching figures, took a deep breath and let out a loud roar.

"BOOOOM!"

A roar as loud as a jet engine echoed through the narrow dungeon corridor. We stopped when we saw the minotaur take a deep breath and covered our ears, but our ears still rang slightly. After a few seconds, the short roar ended, and the minotaur readied its club.

"Ow, my ears hurt."

"Don't you have a skill to protect your senses?"

"Or earplugs or earmuffs."

We shook our heads slightly and grumbled.

"It's like a sonic weapon."

"Yeah. If the roar of a minotaur in the lower floors is this loud, what about the roars of monsters in the deeper levels?"

"Would a dragon's roar kill you just from the sound?"

"It's possible."

"Both of you, stop chatting. The minotaur is approaching."

The minotaur was running towards us with heavy footsteps.

"Both of you, step back a bit."

"Understood. Shuji, it's up to you. ...Shizuki."

"Sure."

Shuji faced the minotaur in the center of the corridor, while Shizuki and I moved to the sides. The minotaur ignored us and ran towards Shuji, swinging its club.

"Shh!"

Shuji saw the trajectory of the club and narrowly avoided it, thrusting his sword, Itsukashi, into the minotaur's neck from behind. He then jumped back to create distance before the minotaur could bleed out. The minotaur tried to stop the bleeding by pressing its hand to its neck, but the bleeding was too heavy, and it collapsed to the ground, its massive body falling forward.

"Phew."

"Great job, Shuji."

"A precise strike."

We approached Shuji cautiously, keeping an eye on the fallen minotaur. It's important to stay alert even after the enemy is down. Shuji relaxed his stance when we were close.

"Well, that was easy. But... Shizuki."

"Yes, I understand."

Shizuki took out a skinning knife and plunged it into the minotaur's body. The minotaur's body disintegrated, leaving behind a core crystal and a chunk of minotaur meat.

"Hmm, about 3 kg, I think."

Shizuki picked up the minotaur meat and estimated its weight by feel. 3 kg... Minotaur meat sells for thousands of yen per 100 grams, so this chunk is worth hundreds of thousands of yen.

"Here, Kusunoki."

Shizuki handed me the minotaur meat, and I wrapped it in a plastic wrap from my spatial storage and placed it in a cooling bag, then returned it to my spatial storage. It would be a hassle to carry it during the journey.

"Alright, we still have time, so let's look for the next minotaur."

"Right. We need more to secure both the selling and eating portions."

"Yes, that's true."

"Let's go."

After a short break, we resumed our search for minotaurs on the 20th floor. As a result, today's exploration yielded about 30 kg of minotaur meat, enough to fill one cooling bag. We decided to sell half of it, about 15 kg, and divide the rest into 5 kg portions to bring back.

Shizuki bought orc ingredients with part of the money obtained from selling the drop items.

"It seems we were able to buy the orc ingredients without any issues."

"Yes. It's more efficient to buy orc meat with money if we can delve deeper rather than hunting orcs ourselves."

"Minotaur meat has a higher buyback price than orc meat. If we can defeat the same number of minotaurs as orcs, buying orc meat is more efficient."

"Only if we can meet the condition of defeating the same number of minotaurs as orcs."

"That's a difficult condition for regular explorers."

We are probably an exception. To use a game analogy, it's like a party of heroes who can reach the demon king's castle hunting in the starting town. At the very least, we need to be high-level explorers.

"Right. But now that we know we can buy orc meat with the income from deeper exploration, there's no problem with Shizuki delving deeper."

"Yes. As long as we can obtain orc ingredients, whether by hunting or buying, it's not a problem."

With this, one of the concerns about delving deeper was resolved. Shuji looked relieved at Shizuki's response.

"Since