At the transfer point of the Saitama Dungeon No. 4.
The staff, going about their usual duties, glanced at the clock in surprise when Inari and Shion appeared. He had expected it would be quick, given that Japan’s fourth-ranked awakener was present, but he had not thought it would be this quick.
“W-welcome back. I didn’t think an urban-type could be cleared so soon…”
“Mhm.”
“Yeah.”
In Inari’s hand was the copper reward box—the second-lowest grade. Still, wrapped in shimmering copper-colored paper, it looked far more extravagant to her eyes than the cheap-looking printed reward boxes she had seen before.
“Shall we open it?”
“Can I?”
“Go ahead.”
While Shion carefully peeled away the wrapping, Inari casually pulled magic stones and other drop items from her Divine Concealment, placing them on the desk, and last of all, the hand mirror.
The staffer behind the desk gawked.
“Eh… an item box!?”
But Inari ignored it—she was used to such reactions.
“And then…”
“It’s out. Looks like a mid-tier potion.”
“Oh! As expected!”
Before Inari could even speak, the appraiser came running over, exclaiming. The red liquid, contained in a rather ornate-looking bottle, was identified without doubt as a mid-tier potion.
Potions were healing draughts—red for life, blue for mana. The grade could be judged by the bottle’s design: low-tier healed simple wounds, mid-tier could regenerate lost limbs, and high-tier could restore even one at death’s door.
“This will fetch a good price. Maybe twenty million yen?”
“Prices are rising lately, so perhaps more.”
“Nice.”
“Mhm. And these other things?”
“Yes, just a moment please.”
The appraiser worked down the items, nodding—until his hand froze over the mirror. His fingers trembled, his face puzzled.
“Th-this mirror… it’s called the Fourth-Dimension Mirror. It’s… an item box.”
“Ahh.”
“Hm.”
“W-what’s with that reaction!? It’s an item box, you know!?”
“I already have one of mine own.”
“Me too…”
Neither Inari nor Shion had any need of it. They glanced at each other, and Inari nodded.
“If thou givest me the magic stones, the rest may all go to Shion. What sayest thou?”
“That’d be too much profit for me… At least let’s put the mirror up for auction, and we’ll split the proceeds fifty-fifty.”
“Hmm. If Shion is content with that, I have no objection.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“O-of course…”
Normally, the mention of an “item box” would set off a festival among awakeners, but here they were treating it casually. The staffer thought, “Truly, these two are different.”
In reality, it was simply their personalities.
After all, item boxes were incredible artifacts, letting one carry all manner of gear without hindrance. Every awakener longed for one. Even the potion just obtained—stored in an item box, it would never risk breaking in battle. The possible uses were endless.
Yet both girls could dismiss it as unnecessary. That, the staffer could not comprehend.
At any rate, Shion filed the paperwork to put everything, potion included, into auction, then trotted back to Inari.
“Alright, let’s go. I want curry.”
“Mhm, I feel the same.”
That lingering aroma of curry from the dungeon town… it had left both of them craving it.
Curry. Curry rice. Chicken, pork, or beef curry. Potatoes and carrots simmered to softness. Home-style curry with onions, perhaps. Topped with fukujinzuke or pickled shallots—or both.
Any curry was wonderful. So, deciding to find a shop on their way home, the two started walking.
“Curry, eh. So Shion likes it too?”
“Love it. What about you, Inari?”
“Me? Hm…”
At that, Inari thought. Come to think of it, she had hardly ever eaten curry. Always rice. Not in Atami, not in Itou.
Of course, she had seen it before the abandoned village fell, knew the smell, had tasted it once or twice. But never enough to speak of it.
“I… know not. Only that it is a dish that makes people merry.”
“Did you hear something bad about it?”
“Nay. Nothing of the sort.”
“Good.”
“Mhm. Shion is a kind child.”
“I’m not.”
But Inari thought otherwise. Shion was considerate, no doubt. As they walked, Inari mulled over the day’s events. Then something snagged in her thoughts, and she stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Naught serious. But…”
She remembered the broadcast before they had faced the Fourth-Dimension Hag. She had dismissed it at the time—there had been similar tricks with Atsuage. But thinking carefully, this felt… different.
“That broadcast, before the hag appeared… was that truly her doing?”
“Eh? Hmm… I don’t know.”
“If not, then… was it part of the dungeon’s workings itself?”
“…Probably. I think so.”
Even Shion couldn’t be sure. Humanity barely understood dungeons at all. It wouldn’t be strange if, inside a dungeon shaped like an urban legend, there lurked something unknown.
And thinking back—
“But the hag… she was already there before the broadcast, wasn’t she?”
So that announcement wasn’t a herald of her arrival.
Which meant… there could have been something else, another “killer presence” apart from the hag.
The thought made Shion shiver.
“That’s a little scary.”
“Hohoho. Dungeons remain fathomless indeed.”
As for the curry they ate at the café afterward—it was perfectly delicious. But Shion decided she would stay away from the Saitama Dungeon No. 4 for a while.