CH 109

I received the letters from my classmate's families at the Investigation Headquarters, but I haven't received a reply from my father.

I had to deliver the letters to the teachers, and while I was at it, I would stop by the garrison's termporary dormitory to tell them that magic tools don't work well in Japan.

I thought that the teachers were preparing for classes starting tomorrow, but everyone was gathering and discussing something.

"Oda-sensei, I received letters from the Investigation Headquarters."

"Oh, Kokubu, good timing, come over here and have a seat."

"Yes, did something happen, everyone is gathered ..."

The expressions of the gathered teachers are not full of enthusiasm for the resumption of classes ... rather, they are all confused.

"Actually, I went to ask Klaus-san this afternoon to rent the auditorium for our classes."

"Could it be that he couldn't rent it to you?"

"No, I was told that I could use the auditorium freely when there were no events, but I was questioned about holding classes every day."

"Um ... not every day, but once every few days ... is it something like that?"

"Well, that's how it seems ..."

I'm sure Klaus-san has something in mind, but for some reason Oda-sensei's way of saying it is as if something is stuck in his back teeth.

"Um ... To be honest, I would be better off if I had less classes, but why can't you do it every day?"

"Yeah, that's it ... Klaus-san warned us that we were too dependent on Kokubu."

"Dependent on me ... Could it be the cost of living?"

"That's right. Some people are looking for work at the ramparts or in the guild, but most of us, including the teachers, are spending time idle in the dormitory. That's why he pointed it out."

Klaus-san warned him, if it's my earning, I should be able to feed all my classmates, and since I've been able to travel back and forth to our original world, they can expect support, but I don't know when they'll be able to return. It seems that he was asked if it was the right behavior to let them eat without working.

"More than ten days have already passed since we arrived in Volzard. And at present, we don't eve know how many months or years it will be before we return to Japan. I heard that Kokubu was also doing various jobs when he came to Volzard."

"Yes. Starting with the harvesting work at the Livre Plantation, I also worked at the warehouse carrying Garm potatoes, became an apprentice gardener, and also went to the ramparts construction."

Even when I came to Volzard, I had the money I collected from the carriage that was attacked by monsters, and I had enough money to live on, but I wanted to make a living in Volzard, and build up my physical strength, so I have worked very seriously.

"Certainly, if returning to Japan will be many years away, it might be better for you to be able to live independently here."

"I heard from Klaus-san that our living expenses, including food expenses, are 3,000 Helts a month. Even if it's as an apprentice, it should be possible to earn more than 300 Helts a day, so if we work for 10 days, we'll be able to make a living, and if we worked for 5 more days, we would be able to supplement the money to buy daily necessities. I was told that we would be able to balance work and study."

"Well then, what are you going to do about classes?"

"We were discussing it, but should we do it once every two days or once every three days ... what do you think, Kokubu?"

"Eh, me? I'm better off with less, so once every three days is good."

"Kokubu-kun, it may be fine for you who will stay here, but for those who will return to Japan, the classes that are already behind will end up being even more behind."

I was just giving my honest opinion, but Senzaki-sensei lashed out at me.

"However, in an unfamiliar city, it's hard to attend classes while doing a job you're not used to. Until you get used to it, isn't once every three days fine?"

"Furudate-sensei, do you think you can make up for the delay?"

"Well ... to be honest, it will probably be difficult to make up for the delay ... But, Senzaki-sensei, we also have to find a job."

"That may be so, but aren't we in a position where we have to think about the future of our students?"

"If we are talking about the future of the students, then we have to think of a way to return. Do we have time for classes?"

"Umm ... about returning ..."

Since the topic came up, I talked about the fact that magic tools can't be used well in Japan, that the amount of magic essence in the air seems to be related to that, that the performance of magic tools dropped, I also talked about the possibility that the summoning technique may not work well.

With no clues to decipher the ancient characters that make up the formula, and on top of that, hearing that the possibility of the magic circle not working well has increased, the teachers all showed a bitter expression.

"It should be considered quite difficult to reverse summon from Japan using summoning. It depends on the information about the dark attribute magic, but shouldn't you have to think about not being able to go home?"

"Furudate-kun, you are single so it's easy to say that, but you should also think about someone who has a family!"

"Nakagawa-sensei, isn't it precisely because you have a family that you have to think about what happens if you cannot return home? It would be possible to ask Kokubu to exchange letters and video letters, but if you can't go back to Japan, you'll have to think about your income."

"That may be so, but if we simply give up hope, the students will be upset."

"Even if they are temporarily upset, it is about their future, so they can't run away from it. We have to face each other and think."

For some reason, the discussion between Furudate-sensei and Nakagawa-sensei has become a regular occurrence.

On one hand, Furudate-sensei thinks it's okay to stay in Volzard, and on the other hand, Nakagawa-sensei wants to go home no matter what, they don't seem to get along, and it feels like they just want to get their point across.

"Oda-sensei, can I go home? I still have things to do ..."

"Yeah, well, it's getting a little off the rails, but we'll make the decision about classes."

"Then, please send me a message."

"Okay, I'm going to have class tomorrow, so try to attend if at all possible."

"Understood, I will do my best."

Even when I got up from my seat, Furudate-sensei and Nakagawa-sensei were so absorbed in their debate that they didn't even notice.

I was wondering if I should talk to the chairman, but I think Manon and Beatrice will get angry if I spend too much time with the chairman, so I decided to go back to the boarding house for today.

At Amanda-san's restaurant, dinner time is the busiest from now on, and some customers were already waiting in front of the restaurant.

"Amanda-san, I'm back."

"Oh, Kent, aren't you early today. You just got back early, but Donovan-san sent me a message asking you to contact the guild."

"From Donovan-san, is it ... what is it?"

"Yes. If it's too late, I'll lock it as usual."

"Yes, that's fine. Then, I'll go."

Since Donovan-san contacted me, I wonder if the guild master from headquarters already arrived.

Well, it's faster to go there than to think about it.

I dived into the shadows from the alley and moved to the bottom of the guild's stairs, and after confirming that there were no people around, I came out.

In the evenings, the guild is crowded with people who come to report on the completion of their work, and people who ask to sell the materials they have collected.

I thought about waiting until there were fewer people, but since he left me a message, I thought it would be better to hurry, so I started walking towards the counter, when I thought that the noise had increased, the surrounding gazes focused on me.

"Hey, that's the 'Monster User' ..."

"He was pushing Lizardmen around arrogantly ..."

"Despite his docile face, he'll take any girl he sets his eyes on ..."

"I heard he killed four Salamanders by himself ..."

"Are you serious, such a little boy ..."

"Stay away, I heard that the serious Gilik was easily defeated ..."

"He seems to be reaching out to little girls ..."

Recently, I didn't come at a crowded time, so I thought that the rumors were going down, but it seems that it

It might have been better if I came when Donovan-san was working overtime in corporate slave mode.

Well, I dont take any girl I set my eyes on, and I haven't put my hands on a little girl.

As I walked towards the counter, the crowd split and a passageway was completed.

I feel really uncomfortable.

"Excuse me ..."

"Please, go inside ..."

When I called out to the lady at the counter, I was sent to the staff space without even being given time to enjoy the conversation.

Donovan-san beckons from his seat.

"I heard you sent a message, has the guild master from headquarters arrived yet?"

"No, not yet. Well, sit down ..."

Donovan-san pointed his chin at the chair by his desk and began to prepare the tea.

Even so, there are piles of papers on the desk today.

"For Resenburg, it seems like they're in a lot of trouble."

"Yes, the idiot Princes are addicted to the game of musical chairs ... it seems there are some nobles who encourage it ... I feel like something is wrong."

"Besides, I heard that even Barshania wants to join in."

"Yes, it seems that they are gathering soldiers in the border town and doing exercises."

"Hmm ... that's quite a disturbing story. If this wasn't from you, I'd think it was a joke ..."

Donovan-san brewed the tea with a delicate hand that didn't suit his large body, and handed me a cup.

"Itadakimasu. Oh, it's a different tea ..."

"Oh, you know, this is a pretty good tea leaf."

"Hmm ... it's sweet. It's not bitter at all ..."

"That's right, that's right ..."

Donovan-san was also in a good mood and seemed to be enjoying the aroma and taste of the tea to his heart's content.

I hope he hasn't forgotten about his message.

Having said that, it would be rude to ask about it, so I enjoyed myself with a cup of tea.

Yeah, the staff are looking at me with wistful eyes.

"Kent, nomination request."

"Huh, nomination request? For me?"

"If it's not for you, I won't call you."

"That's true, too. The content of the request ... what is it?"

"I think I talked a little bit before, but it seems that the dungeon is suffering from the aftermath of the maximum outbreak."

"Is it a nomination request from Orlando Store?"

"No, this is a nomination request from the guild."

"Huh? Didn't you say that the inside of the dungeon is out of your jurisdiction?"

"Usually it's like that, but this time it seems the situation is different."

A dungeon is, by nature, outside the rule of a Lord, and is treated as self-responsibility for all events that occur inside.

For that reason, even after the maximum outbreak, in regards to the route from the city of Volzard to the dungeon, the Feudal Lord lent a hand in subjugating monsters, but once you step inside the dungeon, they were told that it was their personal responsibility.

"Actually ... after the outbreak subsided, no one has set foot in the dungeon and returned."

"Eh, nobody came back?"

"While the outbreak was occuring, the entrance to the dungeon was also blocked. The number of goblins in the surrounding area has calmed down, and the entrance to the dungeon has been opened, but no one has returned since."

"A lot of adventurers dive into dungeons, right?"

"That's right. Most of them are not alone, but form a party ..."

"And still, no one has returned?"

Donovan-san nodded once before continuing.

"The Flamehounds entered five days ago and were supposed to return by the evening of the day before yesterday, but they haven't returned even yesterday."

"Eh, is it those three Flamehounds?"

"Those three were hired by the Orlando Store."

"But Bartolo was A-rank, and Orest and Jarma were B-rank."

"That's right. Even if they try to take credit for others, if they don't have the appropriate ability, their guild rank won't go up. In other words, all three of them had a certain amount of skill."

"If they still haven't come back ..."

"You should assume that they were eaten by some kind of monster."

Donovan-san declared that the facts were the facts, without hesitation.

"There are three high-ranked adventurers, and none of them have returned ... Isn't it too dangerous?"

"That's right. If you're a chick who has just finished the guild's combat training, you won't be able to handle it."

"No, I haven't even finished the course yet ..."

"What's wrong with someone who single-handedly kills four Salamanders?"

"Uh ... But what kind of monster do you think it is?"

"Well ... if you get hit without even having time to escape ... Cockatrice, which spews poison that petrifies people, is a strong candidate, but there are no records of them appearing in Volzard's dungeons."

"Petrification poison, are there such dangerous monsters?"

"It's in the records, but I've never seen it, and it shouldn't be around here."

"Then what kind of monster is it?"

"I want you to check it out."

"Eeehhh ... I'm the one going to do it?"

"You don't have to do it yourself. I don't mind letting your genus investigate, so I want them to find out the cause."

It's true that if I don't do it, I won't be in danger, but I don't feel comfortable sending my genus to a place where I don't know what kind of monsters are lurking.

"In short, we should identify the monsters nesting in the dungeon, right?"

"If possible, please eliminate them. It can't be helped if it's impossible, but ..."

"Is it fine if we decide how to do it ourselves?"

"It doesn't matter, the result is everything."

"How long is the deadline ... is there such a thing?"

"We don't have a time limit, but the dungeon is in a state of being blocked, and no ores have been collected since the outbreak. Please hurry up."

"Umm ... What about rewards?"

"Hmm, you're actually checking properly ... if you accepted the job without even talking about money, I was just thinking about making you work for free."

Donovan-san floated a meaningfully intimidating grin on his face.

"No, I thought it would be awkward for other people if I accept it for free ..."

"Well, if such a request is free, all the work posted on the bulletin board would be free work. The reward is 500,000 Helts for investigating the cause. 500,000 Helts if safety can be secured up to the 10th floor, and another 300,000 Helts will be added if you can secure safety up to the 15th floor."

"A total of 1.3 million Helts ... Isn't that an amazing amount of money?"

"It's a request with a high possiblity that all Parties, including A-rank adventurers, have been wiped out, so this degree is natural."

"Understood. I'll do what I can."

"Good, this is the map up to the 15th floor. It doesn't cover all the detailed passages, but the part that will be the route is written fairly accurately, so take it with you. Even though you have a lot of other things to do, I'm sorry."

"No ... compared to Donovan-san ..."

Whenever I see the desk piled with documents, I feel like I'm ten years too young to complain.(TN:I get the feeling he leaves meaningless documents just so Kent can see them.)

"What is it, do you want to do paperwork so badly?"

"No, no, no, that's ridiculous, I will respectfully decline."

"Hmph ... if I let you help me, it looks like I'd have more work to do."

"Ah, that's right. Donovan-san, I'd like to ask you to purchase the Minotaur's horns, but I heard that the price is skyrocketing due to a shortage, is this true?"

"Well, the current price is over 40,000 Helts for a standard-sized horn. There are more and more people who are thinking of making a big profit."

"I wouldlike to be able to lower the price as much as possible without causing too much antagonism from speculative buyers, but how much and how many should I sell?"

"There are quite a lot of orders again, but ... that's right. If you bring in 10 of them at 30,000 Helts each month under these conditions, you should be able to create the situation you want."

"Okay, so for today ..."

"Good, put them in the corner over there, can I transfer the money to your account?"

"Yes, that's fine."

When I took out the Minotaur horns from the shadow storage and lined them up in the corner, the staff members all looked startled.

Perhaps they think they headed for Volzard?

"This is what I killed when they went to Lastock, and it didn't affect Volzard, so it's okay."

I tried to reassure them, but there are some people who were even more surprised.

"Idiot. Ordinary people can't just regularly cross the Devil's Forest to get to the other side, and they don't have any way of knowing that monsters are approaching beyond the forest."

"Uuh ... That's right. But, I always have my genus patrol the area around Volzard, so there won't be a sudden attack by a horde of monsters."

When I told them that the Kobold Corps were patrolling, the staff members looked relieved this time.

"Then, Donovan-san, I'll go home. Right now, I can still have dinner at the boarding house ..."

"I see, I'm counting on you about the dungeon."

"Yes, I will try to clean it up as soon as possible."

If I go back to the other side of the counter, I'm likely to get a lot of attention, so I hide in the shadows and move to the back of the boarding house.

Amanda-san's shop seemed to be closing down, and there were only a few customers.

"Amanda-san, I just got back."

"Welcome back, I'll have dinner ready in a little while, so please wait upstairs."

"Yes, I understand."

Before dinner, I had a brief meeting with Reinhardt about the nomination request.

"Have Reinhardt-tachi been to Volzard's dungeon before?"

[ I went there, but since it was an inspection, I only dived up to about the third floor. ]

"But, if you've been there before, it's easy to move there, isn't it?"

[ There will be no problem if we become a landmark. ]

"But it's quite dangerous if an A-rank adventurer doesn't come back."

[ That's right ... but even an A-rank adventurer can't come back from in front of four Salamanders, let alone subjugate them. ]

"That was ... an emergency, and we were attacking from the shadows ... Well, is it okay if we don't go straight through the dungeon route?"

[ No way. We should carry out the request in a way that makes use of our strengths. ]

"I see, I see ... if that's the case ..."

I decided to start the nomination request for the dungeon tomorrow morning, so I decided to have Art and the others make some preparations during the night.

The idiot Princes of Resenburg have started to move, but it will take some time to move, so let's finish the nomination request in the meantime.

While I was having a meeting with Reinhardt, I heard hastily moving footsteps run up the stairs.

"Kent, it's time for dinner! Muu, it's dark again ..."

"Oh, I forgot to turn on the light. Come on, food, food, I'm hungry."

"Mmm ... Kent, aren't you hiding something?"

"Unfortunately, I don't hide cookies from Mesudori Pavilion."

I thought I'd keep the nomination request a secret until it was over, but Amanda-san asked me about it at the dinner table.

"Kent, what was Donovan-san's summons? Is it a request for something?"

"Yes, I was asked to do some work ..."

"Hmm ... it's the dungeon, right?"

"Eeeehhhh ... how did you know?"

"What's that, it's really a dungeon request!"

"Ah ... I got tricked ..."

I thought that it had appeared on my face again, but it seems that Amanda-san was asking a leading question.

"No! Absolutely no! Don't go to dungeons!"

"Meisa-chan ..."

As soon as she heard that my request was for a dungeon, Meisa-chan stood up and loudly objected.

"It's no good. Kent can't go to the dungeon!"

"No ... but it's a nomination request from the guild."

"It's not allowed, it's not allowed, not allowed! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, not allowed!"

Meisa-chan's eyes are dripping with tears.

"Meisa-chan, it's okay ..."

"Lies! It's not okay, everyone said it's okay, even though they said it's okay ... everyone won't come back. It's no good, Kent ... Kent ... I don't want you to go ... Uwaaaaaaaaaa ..."

Meisa-chan clung to me as hard as she could, and she cried a lot.

Amanda-san told me this after seeing Meisa-chan.

"I've accepted many boarders so far, but they all started diving into the dungeon, and when she got used to them, they stopped coming back ..."

From Meisa-chan's point of view, it might have been traumatic for them to suddenly disappear around the time she became friends with the Onii-san's and Onee-sans of the boarding house.

"Meisa-chan ..."

"No ..."

In the end, until she fell asleep surrounded by Mart and the others, Meisa-chan never left my side.