I found myself welcomed into Mizuno-san’s home.
They offered me a glass of iced barley tea, which came in a container identical to the ones we use at home—those old pudding cups.
Honestly, I bet every single Osakan family reuses these pudding cups as drinking glasses.
As I glanced around, I noticed how neat and tidy the house was, despite the assortment of toys scattered around.
「You have a lot of plastic models. Are they your dad’s or your little brother’s hobby?」
「It’s not a hobby, it’s work. Our factory makes these kinds of things.」
「Eh? You mean your factory assembles plastic models?」
「No, no. We don’t assemble them. We make the parts before they’re assembled. We pour plastic into molds and create the pieces. Back in the day, lots of toy companies made plastic models, and our factory was one of their suppliers. But now, there aren’t as many toy companies left, so we’ve switched to making parts for electronics and furniture.」
They’re making those kinds of things too?
「Oh, is this a carved wooden gun?」
「Yeah, that’s one of my failed attempts. I wanted to carve a gun out of wood, then take it apart to draw blueprints, and finally, create a metal mold to cast it. I thought it would be a fun project for a primary school research assignment.」
Mizuno-san brought out a metal mold she had worked on to show me.
It’s so thin!?
Can a primary school student really make something like this?
「Did you make it all by hand?」
「Some parts are done by machine, but the finer details have to be done by hand.」
「Heh…
「But compared to what my dad makes, this is nothing. He’s really talented… I just wish he wouldn’t quit.」
It was clear how much she admired her father’s craftsmanship, but the reality of their financial struggles was weighing on them.
From what I’d gathered, her dad had taken money from her bank account not for selfish reasons but to safeguard it. If the company were to go bankrupt and he declared personal bankruptcy, the money in Mizuno-san’s name would be protected from creditors.
「Hey, Ichino-kun, you’re an explorer, right? Do you know how much a blacksmith can make?」
「It depends on their level. Top-tier blacksmiths can earn millions, sometimes even billions a year, but it’s all tied to their skills and talents. And to get those skills, they need to level up, which usually means battling monsters…」
「Yeah… so you have to fight monsters to get stronger.」
「But even if you made a ton of money, would your dad accept it?」
「…No, probably not. But if the company goes bankrupt, I’ll need to make sure my family has a place to stay. I wish we could just keep living here, even if it’s old and rundown… but that takes money too.」
Though Mizuno-san never directly said she wanted to become a blacksmith, it was clear she was seriously considering her options. She asked if she could talk to me again about it sometime, and I readily agreed.
As I left, her younger siblings waved at me, smiling as they said, ‘Goodbye! Come back and play again soon!’ and ‘Thanks for the hard senbei!’
I waved back, deciding that next time, I’d bring donuts.
-0-
Saturday.
I arrived an hour earlier than planned at the hotel where Hime was staying in Tennoji.
She had been expecting me, as I had mentioned I needed to discuss something with her, so she greeted me without surprise.
The only thing different about her appearance was that her hair was down.
「No twin tails today?」
「I just got out of the bath. So, what’s on your mind? Couldn’t it have been said over the phone?」
「Well… actually.」
I began, hesitating slightly. I vaguely mentioned ‘a friend’s house’ and then explained Mizuno-san’s situation to her.
I had thought, perhaps, Hime might have some solution.
But…
「Impossible. If this were a problem that could be solved with a layman’s suggestion, the bank lending them money would have already done something. When a factory is on the verge of bankruptcy, it’s not just the company that suffers—its business partners and the bank holding their debts do as well. Sure, if we gave them some of the money we’ve made, it might help. After all, we made more than 3 million yen each in that last mission. But that’s not what you’re asking, is it?」
「No. They’d never accept it anyway.」
「That’s what I thought. So… is that all you wanted to ask?」
「No, the main thing is something else. I’m curious about the situation with ‘that’.
「Ah, ‘that’. It’s pretty much going as expected. Most are caught up in decoy information. Out of all the investigators, only four organizations, one journalist, and one individual have managed to piece together enough to actually track us down.」
She was referring to our last mission at Kusaka Amusement Park.
We had caused quite a scene there—though admittedly, it had been part of the plan from the start.
Between the bizarre skills we used, like Sharp Abnormal luck, the unique drug magic, and the spell that blew a hole through the ogre’s chest, we had definitely drawn attention.
So naturally, people would start looking into us.
We knew from the outset that anyone serious enough would eventually figure out who we were.
But things had still turned out okay, thanks to none other than Danpon.
He had leveraged some government pressure to ensure that no one would interfere with our work during the investigation, effectively shielding us.
As a result, any media or corporate attempts to contact us were quietly shut down by the government.
「All of the organizations and journalists we’ve identified have backed off. The only one still pursuing us is that individual.」
「That person didn’t back down from government pressure?」
「More like, the government didn’t apply any pressure on that person.」
…….what does that mean?
That sounded like someone powerful.
Could this individual be a major player?
An underworld boss or someone equally influential?
「That person requested a remote call with us.」
「Can we refuse?」
「If you want to refuse, we can.」
She replied, almost as if she were hoping I would turn the other party down.
-0-
『It’s been a while, Sanno! 』
「My name is Ichino. Yes, it’s been a while.」
The person who had tracked us down—through individual research—turned out to be none other than Hime’s older sister.
「Hi-san」
Yes, it was Oshino Hi.
『I watched the investigation video. I’m relieved to see that you’re actually working. Even though my Oshino Hotels & Resorts and Hime’s Oshino Resort Group are separate companies, the public doesn’t see it that way. If Hime’s EPO organization failed a government job, it would bring trouble to our reputation as well. 』
『Hi-ojousama was so worried about Hime-ojousama. 』
『Akashi, shut up! I wasn’t worried in the slightest! 』
The voice belonged to Hi’s aide Akashi Kimiyo—oneesan of Akashi Toa—Hime’s personal aide.
It all made sense now. Hi’s concern for Hime had driven her to investigate us so thoroughly, explaining how she managed to reach us so quickly.
Still, it was impressive that she’d dug up that much information.
「So, what do you need from me, Hi?」
『Right, Yonno. 』
「You’re adding one after another. It’s Ichino.」
TN: Ichi means one, san means three and yon means four.
『You were searching for a blacksmith, weren’t you? I might be able to introduce you to a skilled one. He is a student at Tokyo University—』
「Wait, hold on a second! I’ll cut the audio for a moment.」
I interrupted, cutting the sound for a moment. Blacksmith?
That took me by surprise. But before that…
I turned to Hime.
「Uh, is Hi a toudai student or something?」
「I get what you’re implying. But no, Hi is indeed a student at Tokyo University. Even if her personality is eccentric, as long as she scores well on tests, she would be admitted.」
……I could hardly believe it.
But then again, there were stranger things in the world.
Ten years ago, Danpon had appeared out of nowhere from another world, and I had felt the same disbelief then. But that turned out to be true, didn’t it?
Alright. I accepted it.
Truth really is stranger than fiction.
「Sorry about that. Please continue.」
『There’s not much else to say. The student in question has awakened as a blacksmith and will be looking for work after graduation. I haven’t reached out to him yet, but if you’re interested, I can make the introduction. 』
「Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t you be talking to Hime?」
『That’s because—』
『It’s because of the bracelet. Hi-ojousama wanted to thank you personally for convincing Hime-ojousama, but she was too embarrassed, so she came up with this excuse instead. 』
『Akashi, I told you to shut up! 』
Hi furiously glared at her offscreen aide.
I wondered if Akashi-san actually held the upper hand despite technically being Hi’s subordinate.
『Well, what do you think? The student will be graduating in March two years from now, so he’d be available after that. There’s no harm in securing his services early, especially since you won’t need a blacksmith immediately. 』
It was a generous offer—one that would be incredibly helpful.
But Mizuno-san’s troubled face flashed in my mind.
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