Live Dungeon!

The following day, Tsutomu met up with Weiss at the Guild Dining Hall and discussed with him about Alma’s case.

“…And that’s what got us here.”

“That was… quite a story.”

During the explanation, Weiss had admitted that the whole Clan was partially at fault for how Alma turned out — and that she was currently locking herself in her room. Tsutomu had been worried about Alma’s current status — particularly whether or not her whereabouts were known — but now the story cleared that up.

“Well, you should keep an eye on her at all times.”

“We know. I’ve always considered the chances of Alma going all crazy when she loses the staff. Right now, all the Clan’s reserve members are staying in the Clan House, watching over her. The Black Staff is with me, so there’s no problem with it, either.”

Without the Black Staff in her possession, Alma was unlikely to be able to do anything to the people in the Clan House. Even if she felt like getting violent, she had not the means to do so substantially.

“I see. That shouldn’t be a problem, yes.”

“…I’d like to say one more thing.”

“Please go ahead.”

“…About the problem with your old nickname…”

Tsutomu raised an eyebrow, having not heard of that particular topic in quite a while. Weiss continued with a blank expression, as if his mimetic muscles were frozen,

“…It’s something Alma came up with, right?”

“It was, yes. Solit Company was the one actually harping it around, though.”

“I’d like to apologize. We didn’t know until very recently, but with a little research, it seems that the name has caused you quite a lot of trouble.”

Weiss had started that research not to apologize for the Lucky Boy fiasco, but rather to find clues about the Black Staff — about its absurd power when wielded by a White Mage, and its connection to Tsutomu, a White Mage who had become so famous so suspiciously quickly.

One important point of note was that the Black Staff was not something one could obtain from the other Dungeons. After all, only the chests in God’s Dungeon contained items with Treasure Tools that granted different effects depending on the wielder’s Job. Since Tsutomu had not been shown on any of the monitors at the time, one could only go by Tsutomu’s story that he had obtained the staff from a golden treasure chest in the Grasslands.

Following the auction, Scarlet Devil Squad had scored their victory over the Fire Dragon, then Alma’s statement started the whole Lucky Boy fiasco. At first, Tsutomu had been welcomed to join many Explorers’ parties. But when it turned out that his actual LUCK rating was D — far from what his nickname would suggest — things took a one-eighty turn so quickly.

The good-for-nothing Explorers, growing jealous of this perceived stroke of luck — particularly how he had obtained so much money from just one auction — had started spreading the bad word around, resulting in Tsutomu being branded as a faker and a leech. Solit Company had also manufactured a sensation out of it, publishing comical articles in their newspapers at Tsutomu’s expense. Unable to form a party, and thus possibly unable to progress down the Dungeon and find a way back to his original world, it had been quite a desperate time for him.

Adding to all that were the harassment from ill-mannered Explorers and the considerable amount of negative reaction from people in general. The more Weiss looked into this matter, the more rotten layers he found, until he eventually decided that he must apologize.

“Ah… Well, I DID get quite ticked off that one time Alma pretended to not see me in town. I’m over it by now, though,” Tsutomu said, ultimately avoiding to bring up his actual complaints.

“…All right,” Weiss said, spent a moment to think, and then stood up. “Alma is my responsibility, so I’ll be personally keeping watch on her — also to make sure that nothing goes completely south.”

“All right.”

“Now, I’ll excuse myself…” Weiss said and immediately stepped away.

Looking at him go, Tsutomu heaved a deep sigh upon seeing him exit the Guild building.

[Why am I even feeling invested in this weird drama…?]

During the time Tsutomu was still having issues with the Lucky Boy reputation, he had crossed paths with Alma once at the Guild. Being the one who had created that nickname, perhaps it was only natural that she avoided eye contact and walked the other way — but still, it wasn’t as if Tsutomu was demanding his Black Staff back. If she had only said something, anything, then Tsutomu might have not harboured such a negative opinion on her.

As such, when he heard about the Alma incident, he had genuinely felt that it was how things should be — for ignoring the issue that had almost ruined his reputation and life despite being the one who started it.

Still, he had seen Alma’s obsession with the Black Staff before, right after the Stampede — and it was most definitely not normal. He had seen Alma on the Monitors a few times by then, but never had she gone hysterical.

Tsutomu had gradually upgraded his Black Staff to its maximum power over all three of his high school years. As big of a bragging right it was within Live Dungeon, it was a mere mark of far too much dedication in the real world — but not this world. Here, the staff was real, and thus was obviously out of the ordinary. Perhaps one could truly go mad from obtaining its power here. That was something Tsutomu had never considered.

[Okay, I’m making too many conspiracy theories.]

Upon witnessing Alma’s recent madness, Tsutomu had certainly felt his grudge toward her lessen. Still, he could not bring himself to blame it all on the Black Staff — surely that item’s influence alone did not justify her actions.

Trying to sort out the emotions in his head, Tsutomu quietly got up from his seat.

――▽▽――

Now that the Absolute Helix team was past the Fire Dragon, they finally had access to the Volcano layers. Since going down there now was sure to put them on the single-digit Monitors, this was a good opportunity to promote Dorren Workshop. Moreover, the Volcano layers still had never-before-seen materials to find, not to mention the purchasing price of Inferno Magic Stones was quite high. All in all, the team could expect to make some good money.

They needed to be ready to protect themselves from the heat, however. Staying hydrated was a must, and magic tools that ran on Water and Ice Magic Stones would help greatly — and such tools were expensive to buy. Thankfully, Ealdred Crow selling off some of their Ice Magic Stone stock had caused anti-heat tools to drop in price somewhat, so Tsutomu had already purchased all his team needed.

Everyone except Daryl was in light armor and had no need to change their loadout, and Daryl’s heavy armor had been customized from the start with anti-head functions, so he had no issues, either. Although the armor still needs Water and Ice Magic Stones to help with heat circulation, the cost was not too much.

“Daryl…” Tsutomu spoke up.

“W-what is it?”

“I’ve been thinking… The Volcano layers might have made your body odor even worse than before.”

“……”

Daryl had always been prone to profuse sweating — that, combined with the Volcano layers’ heat, could very easily result in a disaster. Furthermore, his tail was long and furry, and his ears were usually folded down. Sweat collected especially in those spots were bound to stink terribly. Daryl averted his sight, feeling awkward.

“If you don’t mind me asking… you DO wash your fur, right?”

“…W-whenever I take baths, yes.”

“Well, that’s not going to be enough anymore. Go get your fur groomed properly — I’ll give you the money for it.”

There were several stores in Dungeon City that specialized in the washing and trimming of Beastkin hair and fur. They even carried deodorizing spray, shampoo, and various hygiene tools.

“U-uh… Going to that kind of specialist is… kind of embarrassing, though.”

Daryl tried to keep his lips sealed, embarrassed by Tsutomu’s suggestion. A Beastkin’s tail was one of their delicate spots that they would rather not let other people touch. Daryl had been trimming his tail fur by himself all this time, so he still felt unsure about going to a specialist and letting them touch his tail.

Tsutomu would not take no for an answer, however, as he folded his arms and declared,

“I CAN tolerate the usual sweaty smell, but sometimes you stink so badly that I start to feel sick, you see. By my authority as the leader — GO.”

“……”

Since Daryl’s ears were folded-down, heat and steam were bound to build up under them — and it would stink badly whenever he moved.

Daryl made an iffy face at Tsutomu’s blunt statement, but that did not work this time. In the end, he was dragged to the Guild, where Tsutomu asked Garm for details about the specialist shops.

Apparently already having been told to go see a specialist before, Daryl had to suffer through another one of Garm’s stern lectures.

“So, you… you still haven’t gone there, after all this time?”

“W-well, it’s embarrassing!”

“But you must. Tsutomu, make sure that he does. Pass this message to the employee there, and they’ll let him through.”

“All right.”

Accepting the hand-written message from Garm, Tsutomu immediately exited the Guild and headed to the store in question.

“Welcome!”

“Hello. Um, well, Garm told me to pass this message here…”

“…Please give me a moment…”

The store clerk, a Tanukichi, accepted the paper slip and went into the store’s back room. A few moments later, she jogged back out and bowed.

“Grooming session for Mister Daryl, booked! Thank you for choosing our services!”

“Are you sure? I thought he had to make a reservation?”

“Absolutely sure! Mister Daryl here is free to drop by anytime!”

“Good to know.”

Although startled by how the clerk suddenly turned so upbeat, Tsutomu nodded, and then a Cynokin lady came out to welcome Daryl inside. This establishment seemed to have employees for all Beastkin races, since Tsutomu could see Vulpeer and Aelurkin clerks as well.

“By the way, apologies beforehand if he ends up being difficult — it’s his first time here.”

“Oh my… is that so? Understood. That will be no problem at all.”

“Thank you.”

In the waiting room, Daryl seemed quite restless while sitting in his chair. Tsutomu went to the counter to make the payment so that he could leave first — which naturally got a reaction from Daryl.

“Huh!? You’re not staying!?”

“No, of course not. Looks like it’ll take a while, you see. Anyway, please take good care of him, all right?”

“Yes, certainly. Now, this way, please…”

“Sir Tsutomu!!”

Leaving the almost-crying Daryl to be taken care of by the Cynokin lady, Tsutomu exited the stop, headed back to the Clan House, and began compiling the available information on the Volcano layers.

Three hours later, Daryl came back with his fur neatly groomed… carrying a large bag of hygiene supplies.

“They… gave all this to me.”

The bag contained three kinds of brushes, a bottle of shampoo, deodorant spray, and many other things. Daryl himself now smelled quite nice, almost like a flower. He was sure to sweat and get stinky again, but since Garm had never even smelled so bad before, Daryl was sure to be tolerable if only he took good care of himself.

“It was pretty amazing, actually! Now my fur is so smooth!”

Despite all the dread and screaming going in, now he was happily stroking his own black-furred tail. Behind him, Diniel was staring at him as if she was hunting for meat. Tsutomu cracked a dry chuckle at the scene, then proceeded to help Ollie double-check the team’s supplies.