Live Dungeon!

[…Something’s off.]

Garm had finished his usual morning training and was now seated at the table, eating breakfast with the rest of the Clan. Yet his thoughts were elsewhere.

“Tsutomu, pass the sauce, would you?”

“Sorry, hands full. Daryl?”

“Yes, sir!”

[I can’t imagine Tsutomu letting something like that get to him… and yet, there’s this tension in the air, as if a line’s been crossed somehow. What’s going on?]

If Tsutomu had reciprocated Amy’s affections, that might explain the shift. In that case, Garm supposed it would be necessary to sit him down and have a proper talk. But he could not picture Tsutomu making that kind of mistake, and this did not seem like a simple matter of romantic entanglement either. It was more subtle than that, but unmistakably present.

“…”

“…”

Across the table, Diniel, who had known Amy the longest, seemed to sense it too. She met Garm’s eyes for a moment, confirming to each other that they knew something was amiss.

The rest of the Clan, however, remained blissfully unaware. Daryl and Hannah were happily swapping bits of salad, Leleia was staring intently at a strand of Amira’s shed crimson hair, and Korinna was fully engrossed in her food.

When breakfast ended, and everyone began carrying their dishes to the sink, Garm and Diniel quietly broke away from the group. They ascended the stairs in silence, until Garm finally spoke.

“Any idea what it is?”

“No. But Amy’s definitely not acting like her usual self. What about Tsutomu?”

“Same thing. He’s off. Didn’t put any real effort into training this morning. Even his skill control was half-hearted.”

“…Amy’s mood seems fine, though, so I doubt it’s anything bad. If their relationship had progressed, Amy would’ve bragged about it to me by now. So it’s probably something else… but what?”

“…”

Diniel’s team had their hundredth-layer boss fight scheduled today, so they couldn’t spend much longer speculating. As she moved around her room, sorting and inspecting arrows in preparation, they spoke further… but in the end, neither of them was able to settle on a satisfying answer.

“That part about Tsutomu’s slacking on skill control sticks with me,” Diniel said, adjusting the fletching of a three-feathered shaft. “He might’ve burned out after making it past the hundredth layer. I’ve seen Elves hit that wall before.”

“…Not Tsutomu,” Garm replied. “He even said he’d go check the Pedestals again today.”

“Even if he’s retiring, the Pedestals are still worth watching. Maybe he’s planning to live out his days as a civilian.”

Garm fell silent, caught off guard by the suggestion. But he dismissed the thought with a flick of his indigo tail, unwilling to entertain it further.

“Keep a close eye on him today,” Diniel said. “We’ll get through the hundredth layer and catch up soon enough.”

“…That’d be reassuring.”

“I won’t let him burn out before he takes back what he said about me being second-rate.”

Diniel plucked another arrow from the rack, held it up to the light, and narrowed one eye, appraising it like a predator checking her next kill. Garm could not help but wonder if she was chasing the right quarry, but he said nothing and quietly took his leave.

[Tsutomu… quitting as an Explorer?] He thought as he descended the stairs. [If that happens… what will I do?]

By most measures, Tsutomu was still a recent acquaintance, and his history as an Explorer was far shorter than Garm’s own. And yet, he was the one who’d reopened the path that Garm himself had once given up on. He was a comrade who had fought beside him in the Dungeon, and more than that, a friend who had shared meals and a roof.

If Tsutomu were to leave it all behind, would Garm try to stop him? Or follow him out of the dungeoneering business? He could not answer that right now.

▽▽

The day after Tsutomu and his claimed the first ever hundredth-layer victory, Dungeon City was in a feverish excitement unlike any it had ever seen. The revelation that God’s Dungeon did not end at the hundredth layer had sparked a powerful surge of hope, particularly among mid-tier Explorers. For many, it was the excuse they needed to shake off the stagnation of routine and aim once more for the front lines.

Those whose livelihoods were tied to the Dungeon breathed a sigh of relief as well. The market would not be shrinking anytime soon. Even if the Dungeon had truly ended at the hundredth layer, the resources of the Snow Field layers had yet to be fully tapped. Jobs would have remained for the time being. But with a clear end in sight, demand would have eventually dwindled, leading to fierce competition for what remained. In such a case, the advantage would inevitably have gone to the large, well-funded enterprises, while smaller trading firms and workshops might have found themselves gasping for air.

But the scenes broadcast on the Monitors had swept away such concerns. Encouraged by what they had seen, those in the trade were working with renewed energy, and the Pedestal Market had taken on a festive atmosphere. The public, swept up in the wave of optimism, loosened their purse strings without hesitation, giving rise to a flurry of transactions from early morning onward.

“Good morning, Mister Kirk,” said a familiar voice through the crowd.

“Oh, Miss Ollie! Morning to you,” the butcher replied with a smile.

Ollie, who had been entrusted by Tsutomu with managing the Clan House, had waded through the bustling crowds of the market to restock the pantry. She greeted the owner of the meat shop she frequented and then peered toward the back of the store.

“Do you have any grass-fed beef in stock?”

“Just came in this morning.”

“That’s good to hear. Could I take some offal as well, if you have any fresh stock left?”

“…You can have half the liver. My family’s grown fond of it, you see.”

“I’ll be testing a new recipe soon. If it turns out well, I’ll be sure to share something easy to prepare.”

“They’ll love that,” the butcher said with a chuckle.

Ollie smiled and placed several more orders before paying the total after weighing.

It had been over a year since she began sourcing ingredients from the market to feed the Clan House’s ten-plus inhabitants, and in that time, she had carved out a place for herself even within the tightly-knit web of vendors and cooks who usually dominated the supply lines. Part of her success came from her consistency of coming every day and buying reliably. But more than that, it was because she had developed recipes that used ingredients others discarded, and shared them freely. Thanks to that, she had built solid relationships with numerous vendors, many of whom now reserved choice ingredients on her behalf.

After securing her usual orders and stowing the goods in her Magic Bag, Ollie paused for a moment to gaze toward a distant stall selling Magic Tools, used not just by Explorers but also by civilians as well.

The vendor was busy as always, but Ollie’s gaze settled on Tsutomu, who stood nearby. His presence, she noted, carried a quiet sense of authority, and she narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

[One after another, the stores he personally funded have flourished. There are people whose livelihoods were saved thanks to those investments. He knows how to identify which Magic Tools will catch on, and he invests the profits in all the right places. And yet, the way he’s managing his money… It’s like a dying noble settling their estate. He has no health issues I know of, and there have been no discussions of retirement… so why?]

Ollie had never been involved in anything beyond the day-to-day running of the Clan House, and Tsutomu had never spoken directly to her about these matters. But she had seen the return addresses on his letters, as well as the regular visitors who came with particular deference, and it did not take much to imagine the network of investments and holdings he had built behind the scenes.

Ollie alone had inferred and realized that Tsutomu was forming assets as if they would be inherited… which was the exact reason she could not understand why he was so extremely stability-oriented.

[Now that it’s clear God’s Dungeon continues beyond the hundredth layer… perhaps it’s time I asked him directly. I don’t want to overstep, but if he really is considering retirement, then we’ll need to talk about the future of the Clan as well…]

Once, she had seen Absolute Helix merely as a stepping stone, a place to gain work experience before returning to House Babenberg. But over time, through earnest conversations and shared responsibility, that perspective had changed. She no longer saw this position as temporary, which meant she wanted to prepare for any eventuality.

[Hopefully I’m just overthinking things…]

With that silent hope tucked in a corner of her thoughts, Ollie finished her errands and began the walk back to the Clan House.