“…I don’t know what you’re scheming, but fine. Do as you want. Also, about that video. When will our dungeon be ready?”
“The first floor is closed today so… The second floor will probably be done in a few days too.”
“I see… Good. So please get all the rare monsters except the powered up ones… Try getting all the normal rare monsters on the first two floors and the ones that come after them on camera. If you can, I think we can promote you to A+.”
Says the branch manager, and the girls cheer.
Apparently I’m the only one who isn’t following this.
“A+? Promotion?”
“Shouta, A+ is a rare rank only a few branch managers can grant. Only those who made a lot of contributions to the association and the world can receive it.”
“By the way, I can’t do it, and neither can Youko. And grandpa has the final approval.”
“Hohe…”
“No one has ever reached it before, but I’m sure my father will approve.”
They separate A and A+, so I’m assuming there are merits like some sort of favorable treatment. I’m sure there’s a lot here I won’t understand even if they explain, so I’ll just ask them as it comes along.
“Let’s go investigate the first floor then. Branch manager, just to be sure, only Hobgoblins have been confirmed to spawn on the first floor, right? Not Murder Rabbits or rare monsters class Ⅱ, the ones that come after?”
“Yes, no doubt about it. Adventurers with Luck or good enough stats all go in search of riches to floors with treasure chests, or other dungeons. That means information about the first floor is rarely updated.”
“I see, that makes sense.”
For a regular adventurer, the first floor is just a point of passage.
“Aki, Maki, we’re going.”
“Ah, wait Shouta, we’re coming along.”
Says Aki.
“Eh?”
“The floor is closed, but it’s a straight line to the second floor with passages to the left and right. We need association employees to keep an eye on them, so receptionists with a certain amount of strength are participating. Remember how it was with Youko?”
It’s true, when we were hunting Golden worms, they had contracted adventurers and five receptionists holding transceivers in different points. I get why they would want an employee as strong as Aki walking around, but…
“Maki too?”
“I try to refrain from doing this sort of thing, but since this is an operation led by you, I chose to take part.”
“…Are you sure?”
“Don’t worry, I will be stationed by the entrance with Hana.”
“Good then. Tell me if it gets rough.”
“Yes. I will go take a weapon.”
She says as she leaves the room with Aki.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
We enter the beginner dungeon, including my two exclusive sisters who I’m not used to seeing with weapons.
Aki has the Grappling skill, so just as I thought, she’s wearing glossy protection on her limbs. It really looks like it would hurt if she kicked someone with that.
Maki’s main weapon is a jet black spear, which goes along with her Spear Techniques skill.
Both weapons are above iron and below mithril, so it feels like overkill for the first floor of the beginner dungeon.
They also have Adamantine Armor II I gave them, so I can’t see anything bad happening. But I still can’t help but worry.
“Good luck out there Amachi.”
“Ah, thank you Hana. And thank you for today.”
Hana has two daggers, but welcomes me with the same friendly attitude as always. She looks pretty nonchalant, but I assume she has the Dual-Wielding skill. Looks like the receptionists of the beginner dungeon are more high level than I thought.
News that the first floor is closed has been posted on the association and the exclusive page on smartphones, so everyone should know. But I also feel like the rare sight of receptionists with weapons is drawing a lot of attention too.
“Amachi, here.”
Hana gives me a device I’ve seen before.
“A transceiver?”
“Yes. We don’t have a lot of them like the Heart Dungeon, we only have three, but you can have one, and Aki and Maki the other two. That should make you feel more reassured, right?”
“Hana… Thank you!”
“We asked if we could have them, because our boyfriend is such a worrier, but… I see they got here in time.”
“Uu…”
I can’t help but be worried, no matter how strong they are.
“Hnfufu. Well then, I’ll go to the passage on the back. Later Shouta.”
“Yes.”
Aki runs off with employees who were standing by, and we start the investigation at exactly nine o’clock.
“Shouta, make sure you’re back by noon, even if you’re not done.”
“Got it. See you later!”
I say goodbye to Maki and Hana, and jump into a passage to the left.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
The lockdown of the first floor was announced right after we got in contact yesterday, so information spread widely. I see white dots on the passage that leads to the second floor, but nothing anywhere else.
Conversely, the moment I step into a side path, I see that monsters have been spawning to their limit, because no one’s taking them down.
“First, let’s go after a powered up Hobgoblin. Ayane, take out killer rabbits if you see any, and you back her up, Aira.”
“Leave it to me!”
“Understood.”
With these stats, I don’t even need to use my sword, so I just punch and kick them, and throw magic around. That means it takes me less than eight minutes to reach a hundred.
I’ve gotten way too strong in this short amount of time.
I see the smoke, and it’s going to a corner of the map like I expected, so I take the transceiver from my pocket.
“Ah, testing testing.”
‘Yes. This is lovely honey.’
‘Aki!’
‘Just kidding. So, what is it? Feeling lonely??’
Aki says words like ‘like’ and ‘love’ no problem when it’s a joke, but mumbles when it’s serious.
“No, not when you’re nearby. I’m just reporting that the first one is spawning.”
‘Eh!?’
‘Already!?’
“That’s amazing Amachi~.”
I can hear their surprised voices, along with Hana’s. Well, I’ve grown, but there’s also the fact that this place is packed with goblins.
Let the investigation begin!
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Thanks for the treat.