The More Rabbits You Catch, the Better (2)
Among the tales passed down on the stage of Planetarium, there is one about an ancient civilization that once ruled the continent in the distant past. In an era when the Star Gods were far more closely intertwined with human life than they are today, the nation that flourished by harnessing the power of the stars was called Asteros. The remnants of this civilization, which collapsed for unknown reasons, can still be found scattered across the continent. Among them, structures whose functions partially remain active to this day due to powerful magical influences are called dungeons.
True to their origins as legacies from a once-glorious age, these ancient facilities were filled with various guardians and traps designed to protect the structures, along with an equal abundance of treasures.
"So let's go raid a dungeon."
"……."
At this outrageous suggestion, Ligret stared at me in silence for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"No point telling you it's a bad idea, is there?"
"You need to gear up too. Might as well grab anything useful while we're at it."
"Anyone listening would think we're just hitting the neighborhood market."
"Better than the market. We can sweep up goods without spending a single coin."
Ligret folded her arms. "What about the Academy?"
"We got that professor reward this time. Using my share, we can skip classes for a few days."
Was it really okay to blow the reward like that? Of course it was. If I asked Professor Neville Brix, I could probably learn a few useful support spells, but honestly, adding one strong skill wouldn't make that much difference to my current style. In contrast, raiding a dungeon offered several times the combat power enhancement. When the same exchange ticket could either make you a 5 or turn you into something between 1 and 50, the latter was obviously the better choice.
Ligret eventually nodded, and I began searching for other candidates.
<Fiore Midas's Case>
"Ah— I'm sorry, Oraboni. It does sound fun, but the support department has an intensive training period for the next few weeks. If I skip now, it'll be hard to catch up."
"Special training?"
"Besides basic recovery spells, they're testing techniques like enhancement and mana sharing that can be applied to others, and helping students discover their specialties, according to the professor."
"That is…… I guess it can't be helped."
Just as martial arts students wielded a variety of weapons like swords, spears, and bows, and magic students specialized in particular elemental spells, support students also branched into multiple paths once they reached a certain level, depending on their specialties. Some pursued the extreme limits of healing wounds, while others leveraged the unique properties of White Light to enhance not only themselves but others' bodies as well—though not as efficiently as Red Light. It was essentially the stage of advancing from a basic class to an advanced one.
No matter how important the dungeon was, I couldn't ask her to skip classes in this situation.
<Pino's Case>
"Hey Pino, about this time—"
"I'm not going."
"Wait, you don't even know what I'm going to say."
"Fiore already told me. Do you think a dungeon is just some neighbor's dog? It's only been a week since we nearly died because of that insane group project, and now you want me to risk my life again? No way. Absolutely not."
"Even if we crossed the line between life and death, the bracelets took the damage, so it's not like we were actually about to die."
"Then why don't you try falling from the sky and breaking your neck instead of me!?"
"M-money! I'll make sure the reward is worth it!"
"Get lost, you money-obsessed corpse!"
<Rabaul's Case>
"Rabaul, I've got a really good opportunity this time."
"Sorry, Lord Chrome. The Sage drilled it into me until my ears bled not to fall for your schemes. Find someone else this time."
"Come on, whether you go or not should be your own decision. Just because Pino said no doesn't mean you have to refuse too, right?"
"……The Sage said this. It was nice that you helped him dodge the ambush, but did you really have to throw him that high? He asked if he was some kind of luggage. He wondered if you'd use him as a throwing weapon against enemies if it came down to it. Even if you help someone dodge a blade, if you finish them off with your own hands right after, what's the point?"
"……."
"Anyway, that's how it is. If I don't listen to him now, I'm scared he'll scold me even in my dreams, so please understand."
"Uh, r-right. Good luck."
<Crow Vein's Friend's Case>
"Oh, Chrome Midas. Congrats on the win. Here to find Crow?"
"Thanks. Do you know where he went?"
"That guy runs off to the mountains right after class every day and holes up there. Hard to even talk to him."
"Why the mountains?"
"Uh, something about special training to repay the humiliation he suffered this time. He said he won't come back until he awakens his ultimate technique."
"……While still obeying curfew and attending every class?"
"If Professor Istal beats him to death, there won't be any special training or anything else."
"Can't argue with that reason."
<Loto's Door — Academy Health Office Opinion>
It is recommended to refrain from experiences that are overly stimulating or likely to cause significant mental shock due to worsening condition and emotional instability.
"…………."
"I can't believe this! After all the times I've opened my wallet for those guys! And now they all stab me in the back when I need them!"
Ligret, who had been watching me wail, quietly muttered a single line.
"Wasn't the idea of buying friends with money flawed from the start?"
Stop it. That hurts. Damn it. At this rate, I'll have to lower the difficulty of the dungeon I'm challenging. The place I originally planned to go was a dungeon that served as the trigger for a rather important event even in the original work. It was a location particularly targeted by those with deep ties to the 'Star,' one of the three major organizations that could be considered the main antagonists of Planetarium. If I could secure this place before they did, it would give me a significant advantage in a certain scenario that would occur about half a year later. That was why I had wanted to clear it, but now I was short on manpower.
Even if they weren't on Ligret's level, having at least one more person with firepower comparable to Pino or Crow would be ideal……
"What's this? Looks like recruiting people isn't going so well?"
A voice that was delicate yet carried a bold, hearty tone. Akasha, the long-haired girl carrying a greatsword as large as her own body on her back, waved at us.
"Fiore said if you had time, I should check in with you and Ligret. If you need more people for the dungeon, want some help?"
While feeling grateful for the unexpected reinforcement, I also felt puzzled.
"Thanks, but aren't you in the support department too? Skipping class now would be tough for you."
That was also why I hadn't tried recruiting her, one of the participants in the money-flinging party at the shopping district and a guaranteed talent as the youngest paladin of the temple.
"Doesn't really matter. Fiore and the others are still figuring out their directions, but I've already settled on my style."
Tap, tap. Akasha answered while drumming her fingers on the handle of the ridiculously oversized greatsword slung across her back.
Her appearance—wearing armor and carrying a weapon so crude it would make most martial arts students look tame, when support students typically wore light clothing to focus on healing or carried at most a mana-assisting staff or a self-defense dagger—was distinctly out of place. She was certainly more than satisfactory as combat power. In fact, considering where we were heading, having one of the best possible candidates show up on her own was a stroke of luck I couldn't stop smiling about.
Nice work, Fiore. I'll definitely repay you later.
"So we're going with just the three of us?"
At Ligret's question, I shook my head. We certainly had enough firepower now, but if possible, I wanted to be a little greedier. Strictly speaking, 'he' and I had no relationship—not even as classmates. He was someone I only knew unilaterally through my knowledge. But since we'd already secured the minimum baseline, there was no harm in testing the waters. If it worked out, all the better.
Someone who had never exchanged a single conversation, let alone built any friendly rapport, and who had even crossed weapons in battle—when such a person suddenly showed up and suggested working together, most people would naturally wonder: 'What the hell is he plotting?'
And that was exactly how Chase, a student in the Academy's martial arts department and a young hunter from the remote region of the continent known as the 'Black Mountain,' felt.
"……So in short, you want to hire me as a member of your dungeon-clearing party?"
"That's right. That's exactly it. The pay won't disappoint. What do you say?"
'No, what do you mean, what do I say?' Chase found the situation utterly absurd. What kind of thought process led to suddenly hiring and dragging him along? What did this boy in front of him even know about him?
"Why me specifically? There are plenty of skilled students, and even if you can't find a suitable one, since you're paying anyway, you could just hire someone from outside."
To Chase's perfectly reasonable question, the boy named Chrome Midas answered nonchalantly.
"Finding someone better than a 'Black Mountain' hunter who has extensive knowledge of traps, knows how to deal with magical beasts, and possesses sufficient combat ability would be difficult, wouldn't it?"
'……I see. So he did his homework, as expected. He didn't just pick me at random.'
Only then did Chase feel inclined to listen seriously.
"Even if it's a dungeon, which one are you targeting? As you probably know, dungeons of a certain size or recognized value are managed at the national level, and raiding small, insignificant ones won't yield much profit."
Chrome uttered only a single short word.
"New."
"……!"
Chase's eyes gleamed sharply. Chrome's words essentially meant he knew the location of a new dungeon that no one had yet discovered or explored.
"Did you get your hands on some treasure map? I'd rather not go only to end up empty-handed."
"Don't underestimate a wealthy family. We're more sensitive to profitable information than the high-and-mighty nobles."
In reality, it was Chrome's personal knowledge rather than something obtained from the Midas family, but of course Chase had no way of knowing that. Hesitation flickered in his eyes. An unexplored dungeon was like an unopened treasure chest—if handled well, it could bring great wealth. Of course, it also came with equally great risks, so one couldn't step in with half-hearted resolve, but—
'—With this party, it might work.'
It was a party that included Ligret, who had fought against two members of Princess Lyla's team while simultaneously handling the arrows he himself had fired without issue. Moreover, the fact that they were moving with official Academy permission to leave campus served as significant insurance. Though this hellish school probably wouldn't send a rescue team, at the very least, if someone failed to return from an outing Chrome himself had arranged, Chrome Midas would bear full responsibility. In other words, it prevented the common occurrence in outside employment relationships where someone might snatch the treasure and disappear.
Feeling the scales in his heart tipping, Chase asked.
"What's the pay?"
"One-sixth of the treasures obtained from the dungeon."
"There are four people, so isn't one-sixth too little? We don't even know how much treasure there'll be."
"Since I'm the only one who knows the location, that has to be taken into account."
"Hmm," Chase pondered. Even a mid-tier dungeon among the commonly known grades would yield sufficient profit, but……
"Or how about this?" Chrome proposed to the contemplating Chase. "I'll give you one-fifth of the treasure and pay one gold coin as an advance. However, cubes are excluded from the distribution ratio, and all cubes that appear will go to me."
"Cubes? You're really okay with that?"
"I'm the lucky type."
Chase had to work hard to hide his expression from loosening. Something like cubes—flashy but utterly worthless junk—was something Chase would refuse even if offered. Moreover, even if the dungeon turned out to be a bust, one gold coin was enough for a single-person household to live on for ten months. No matter how it played out, it was nothing but profit for Chase.
"Alright, I'll go with you."
"Let's do our best, Hunter."
As the two shook hands with satisfied expressions, Ligret thought to herself.
'Another victim of fraud has been added to the list.'
Chrome was always badmouthing his father, calling him a failing family head, but the more she watched, the more she realized blood truly couldn't be denied—he was every bit the wealthy scion.