“K-Kaede, what are you doing here? In a place like this.”
“I just stopped by after work. I come here often.”
I was surprised to be called out so suddenly. But since we live nearby, it’s not strange to run into each other by chance.
Kaede, standing before me, was wearing a gray suit and black pumps.
She must have come straight from work. Unlike her casual clothes, she looks quite mature.
–Compared to that, I’m in casual clothes even after work… I haven’t changed at all.
D-Minor has a free-spirited corporate culture, so it doesn’t feel like a proper company at all. I guess other dungeon-related companies are different.
“Did Yuma come to buy something?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. Well, you know. I got my salary, so I was thinking of getting my parents a present.”
“Really? But shouldn’t you have gotten your first salary a long time ago?”
Kaede looked puzzled, so Yuma scratched his cheek.
“Well… last month’s salary wasn’t much, so I didn’t buy anything. This month I got a lot, so I thought I’d buy something…”
“Ehh, that’s great! I think your aunt and uncle will be happy.”
“Well, I hope so.”
“So, have you decided what to buy?”
“I’m struggling with that right now.”
“Then, I’ll help you choose!”
Kaede said cheerfully, and my cheeks naturally relaxed. But I couldn’t honestly say I was happy, and replied brusquely, “Well, I don’t mind…”
After that, we went around the stores together, and decided to buy a tie and tie clip for my father, and flowers and high-end sweets for my mother.
After finishing shopping, Kaede said, “Shall we take a little break?” so we entered the food court. We paid for the drink bar, took cola and oolong tea, and sat down.
“You said you got a lot of salary this month, but does it vary that much from month to month?”
Kaede asked with interest. If you didn’t know the inside story, you’d think it was a strange salary system.
“I get danger pay and performance bonuses. I went into a slightly dangerous Dungeon, and defeated a lot of Monsters.”
I said with a bit of pride. I glanced at Kaede, thinking she might be more interested, but unexpectedly, she had a gloomy look on her face.
“I see… you’re doing such dangerous work. I’m a little worried.”
Hearing those words, Yuma thought, “This is bad!”
“W-Well, when you say dangerous, it’s like! I’m still a newbie, so I’m totally in the back. Well… the seniors do the dangerous fighting, or something. Anyway, it’s not as dangerous as you think!”
I ended up flustered. It shouldn’t matter if she thinks it’s dangerous, but for some reason, I don’t want to worry Kaede.
“Hmm, I see.”
Kaede twirled the straw in her drink. The ice made a rattling sound.
“B-By the way, I met Rui in Ibaraki! He seemed to be doing well too.”
“…Yeah, Rui told me in an email. ‘I met Yuma, but he looked more sturdy than before,’ he said.”
“Heeh… he said that?”
I gulped down the cola and crunched the ice that came into my mouth. Making a crunching sound, I thought again that they were still emailing each other.
“By the way, if you got so much salary, treat me too! Ordinary office workers don’t get a sudden increase in money.”
“Oh! Sure, no problem at all. I really have plenty to spare. Tell me anything you want, I’ll buy you anything.”
“Yay! You’re so generous, darling!”
Kaede smiled innocently. Seeing that smile, I felt a sense of relief.
“But, if Yuma is earning so much, Rui must be earning a lot too, right?”
“He earns more than me. I bet it’s a different order of magnitude.”
“Then, let’s have Rui treat us next time.”
“That’s a good idea! Let’s go somewhere with the three of us and have Rui pay for everything!”
Rui would probably treat us with a wry smile. Talking about such things, Kaede and I laughed together.
Surely the relationship between the three of us will not change in the future.
Yuma optimistically thought about such a future. At that moment, an urgent news sound came from the large television placed in the food court.
“We will now broadcast an emergency news bulletin.”
Yuma and Kaede raised their eyes.
“The Japanese government held a press conference and announced detailed information about the large-scale disaster that occurred the other day in the Seeker’s Town in Ibaraki.”
Kaede tilted her head.
“Ibaraki is where Yuma and Rui went, right? I heard there was some trouble.”
“Ah, yeah.”
Yuma answered vaguely. The Dungeon Association had told him not to divulge what happened in the Red Dungeon without permission.
He had heard that there would be an official announcement eventually, but he didn’t know it would be today.
“According to the Cabinet Office, Monsters escaped from the Red Dungeon and rampaged on the ground. Most of the Monsters were exterminated by Seekers and the Self-Defense Forces, but it was announced that one of them broke through the encirclement and left the town.”
The surroundings buzzed. It was the first time in Japan that it had been publicly announced that Monsters had come out on the ground.
Even if they were actually there, it seems they had been dealt with internally. Yuma had also been fighting in the Seeker’s Town, but he didn’t know that a Monster had escaped.
–Did that burning puppy escape again? What are the Self-Defense Forces and the higher-ranking Seekers doing…?
“An image of the escaped Monster has been released. Here it is–“
What was shown was a muscular body, black armor and horns, and a mouth with ominous fangs. It looked exactly like the Metallization Yuma.
“Pfft!?”
I spat out the cola I was drinking.
“Ew! Gross!!”
“Ah, sorry…”
I wiped the cola that had flown near Kaede with a napkin. I was so surprised that my head went blank. –What does this mean!?
Yuma looked at the television again.
“This Monster is extremely dangerous, and the International Dungeon Research Organization has designated it as a Disaster-Class Monster. The Ministry of Defense has been tracking it with all its might, but it has not been found even now, and as a painful decision, it has been decided to make it public. If you see it, please contact the nearest police agency or government office…”
Seeing that news, I felt faint.
I had defeated the Red Oni, so I thought, “A good Monster defeated a bad Monster!” and they would overlook it with that kind of feeling, but–
It was completely different. I’m being hunted as a monster.
“Hey, was there such a scary Monster?”
Kaede asked worriedly.
“Ah, no… I didn’t see it. I was in the back…”
“Then, did Rui meet it?”
“Well… I wonder. I don’t know much about it.”
My heart was pounding. Rui had slashed at me with all his might.
It’s not just that he met it.
Yuma stood up in a fluster, said, “S-Sorry, something urgent came up!” and left the store, leaving the bewildered Kaede behind.