Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita - Chapter 111

Chapter: Takasugi Reports Takuya’s “Cheating” to the Branch Manager

The weekend finally came, and I made my way to the Explorer’s Guild.

When I told the receptionist that I wanted to see the branch manager, she tilted her head and asked,
“Do you have an appointment?”

Of course I didn’t.

I wasn’t about to give them time to cover up the evidence of Shiraishi’s fraud.

After all, that guy has an A-rank card.

There’s no way he could’ve gotten that legitimately. This reeks of something big.

So naturally, I didn’t make an appointment.

The receptionist gave me a polite nod. “I’ll check with the branch manager. Please wait a moment,” she said before disappearing into the back office.

A few minutes later, she returned and said,
“The branch manager will see you. Please, this way.”

And so, for the first time, I stepped into the branch manager’s office.

So this is the guy in charge, huh?

While I was sizing him up, he looked me straight in the eye and asked what business I had with him.

Heh… this is it.

This is the end for you, Shiraishi!

I told the branch manager everything—that Shiraishi cheated to get his A-rank card.

He’s only killed eleven slimes. Eleven! There’s no way that guy deserves A-rank.

Come on, branch manager. Hurry up and punish him already.

I waited, practically giddy with anticipation.

Then the branch manager said,
“Takuya tends to be misunderstood.”

What? What is this guy talking about?

Before I could process that, he continued.

“Explorers with the Tamer job don’t fight themselves, right? Their contracted beasts do the fighting for them. It’s the same for Takuya. He’s got the Spirit User job, so he doesn’t kill monsters directly—his contracted spirits do it.”

Spirit… User? Shiraishi?

“I’ll be honest, this is the first I’ve heard of him killing eleven slimes by himself,” the manager added with a chuckle.

Spirit User? What the hell is that?!

That’s got to be a lie.

“Spirits are invisible to people! That makes it easy to cheat!” I shot back.

The branch manager sighed wistfully.
“You’re right. That’s why it took the guild so long to officially recognize Spirit Users. After all, most people can’t see spirits.”

What is he saying?

As I stared at him in disbelief, he added,
“Plenty of witnesses saw Takuya’s contracted spirit take down a Lich. That’s what finally convinced us to approve his job.”

Ha! I get it now—it was a trick. Some kind of stage magic to make it look like a spirit was doing the work.

What a dirty cheat!

I declared as much to the branch manager, convinced I’d finally exposed Shiraishi’s crime.

That’s it! I’ve done it! The truth will come out now! Don’t hate me, Shiraishi. You brought this on yourself when you decided to cheat!

But the manager just shook his head.
“That’s impossible. The place where it happened was so dangerous that we sealed the entrance and posted guards around the clock to keep anyone out. There’s no way to fake that.”

He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms.
“On top of that, Takuya and Misuzu’s party, Sunrise, made major contributions to the guild. That’s why they were promoted to A-rank.”

He looked me dead in the eye.
“So no, Takuya and Misuzu didn’t cheat.”

No way… that’s a lie… it has to be a lie!

Spirit User? What even is that?!

Why am I just an Axe User while Shiraishi gets to be some fancy Spirit User?!

Damn it all!

The manager gave me one last warning.
“By the way, Takuya always has his contracted spirits with him. They’ll protect him no matter what, so don’t do anything stupid. Just thought I’d mention that.”

I left the branch manager’s office, walked through the lobby, and pushed open the guild doors.

Outside, rain was falling.

I didn’t bother with an umbrella. I just walked—and ended up catching a fever.

---

A few days later, after I’d recovered, I finally returned to school and headed for Kudo’s classroom.

“Kudo… Sorry, but I’ve decided to quit being an explorer.”

“What? Why, Takasugi?” he asked, looking puzzled.

I couldn’t tell him the real reason—that Nakamori had turned me down.

“My parents want me to focus on studying for college entrance exams. Sorry, Kudo.”

I gave him a faint smile.
“The gear I bought for you? It’s yours now. If you want to keep exploring, great. If not, sell it. Do whatever you want.”

Kudo went quiet for a while, thinking.

Then he nodded.
“I think I’ll stick with it a little longer.”

---

I heard later that Kudo joined another party… and even ended up dating one of the women in it.

And just like that, my first love was over.

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