Chapter 21, Anyway, Let’s Work Hard Together

Translator: Lizz

 

“Well then, now that we finished ordering and settled down, shall we talk about the main topic? First of all, the fact that you are here means you found no problem with forming a joint party, right?”

 

They had, in advance and through Rekka, confirmed that they were positive about forming a joint party.

 

Seiji’s behavior was nothing out of the ordinary, but Masato, while thinking it was childish, still felt somewhere in his heart that he ‘didn’t like it’.

 

“That depends on the conditions.”

 

Without meaning to, his voice took on a cold tone that was different from his normal image. Rika only looked puzzled, but Seiji was different.

 

He began to suspect that Masato had changed his mind at the last moment, and decided to stop fighting Masato or treating him as someone below himself. He reconsidered and chose to treat him as an equal until the discussion was settled.

 

“…The condition you were concerned about was the distribution of money, wasn’t it?”

 

Seiji probed, watching Masato intently to see where his true intentions lay.

 

“I had an idea about that. I wanted to say we should split the total amount by party, in other words evenly… but since our larger group would end up with less income, how about dividing it by five shares instead?”

 

“No problem. Let’s all share it together peacefully.”

 

Masato easily accepted. Seiji was so taken aback he became speechless.

 

But the discussion did not end there. In fact, what came next was the real matter.

 

“Well then, that ended the discussion about profits from regular monsters. Next, let’s talk about the boss rewards.”

 

“Oh! I forgot! You’re right, we had to decide separately about the boss’s drop items.”

 

When Masato brought up the topic, Seiji exaggerated his surprise while secretly clicking his tongue.

 

Bosses often dropped not only magic stones but also skill cards, weapons, and materials. Since they could be sold, it was necessary to include them in the conditions, but Seiji had avoided mentioning this for a reason.

 

He had aimed to monopolize them with vague words like contribution to the boss defeat. He planned to insist, ‘I landed the finishing blow’ and take everything, but such a shallow, high-school level idea did not work out.

 

“Magic stones should be sold and converted into cash, right?”

 

“No problem. They have no use other than being decorations if we keep them anyway.”

 

“So what we really had to decide was…”

 

“‘How to distribute skill cards or weapons if they dropped.'”

 

The ogre’s drop items were either a skill card for super strength or a double-edged greatsword.

 

Since it was the first boss in Tokyo Dungeon, where most explorers in Japan entered, these drop items themselves were not rare.

 

On the government-run auction site, one or two were always listed. But that did not mean they were trivial items. Skill cards and dungeon-made weapons were still precious and powerful.

 

“How about letting whoever wanted it buy it?”

 

“At market price?”

 

Seiji made the proposal, and Masato questioned it.

 

From there, the back-and-forth between the two began.

 

“At 20% below market price. Even if we split the auction fee, it would still be cheap, so that wouldn’t be a problem, right?”

 

“What if more than one person wanted to buy it?”

 

“Then we would sell it to whoever offered the higher amount.”

 

“It might look fair, but with that rule, only you would ever get it, wouldn’t you, Seiji-kun?”

 

“Having money was also a kind of talent. And if the price was too high, buying it at auction would be better. It would never go above market value. Isn’t that realistic?”

 

“In that case, wouldn’t it end with both offering the same amount, and no one being able to buy it?”

 

“If they offered the same amount, then we would decide based on contribution within the party. Or majority vote would be fine too.”

 

He leaned back against the chair, taking a slightly more relaxed attitude.

 

There were many points Masato wanted to press further, but since he had already obtained Skill Sublimation, as long as he received proper payment, there was no problem. If Rika wanted the super strength skill, she could afford to buy it.

 

Rika seemed satisfied.

 

Masato felt this was the compromise point.

 

Since it wasn’t entirely one-sided or disadvantageous, he decided to accept it.

 

“Let’s do that. The conditions were fine. Let us cooperate until we defeat the ogre.”

 

Masato and Seiji shook hands with each other. At last, the tense atmosphere eased.

 

As if perfectly timed, the dishes they had ordered were brought out one after another. Hamburg steak, pasta, juice, parfaits—soon the table was filled.

 

With the signal of ‘Thank you for the meal’, the meal began, and the center of conversation shifted completely to the girls. The topics jumped from food to places to hang out, to favorite idols, changing rapidly, and Reika, Hinata, and Rika looked delighted.

 

Watching them, Seiji suddenly spoke as if he had just remembered something.

 

“Masato-kun, have you been in a party with Rika for a long time?”

 

It was a slightly probing question, but natural enough if they were going to form a joint party. Masato, suspecting nothing, answered.

 

“Not that long. As Rika-san mentioned earlier, it’s been about a month.”

 

Nodding, Seiji asked another question.

 

“There seemed to be a level difference. What kind of arrangements did you make?”

 

By looking at the back of the hand, one could tell an explorer’s level. Masato had two lines, while the other four had one.

 

Reaching Level 2 without defeating the 5th floor boss was rare, and when Seiji first heard about it from Rekka, he had been greatly surprised.

 

“Right now, we had her focus entirely on supporting in battles. That way, it was more efficient…”

 

“That’s true. When levels differed by even one, it was hard to coordinate.”

 

He nodded again, but a faint trace of disdain leaked into his eyes. Since he had already obtained the information he needed, Seiji did not ask any further questions.

 

“Then how about you, Seiji-kun?”

 

“I had been trained together with my seniors. Our abilities were close, and I might be closer to them than to my classmates.”

 

It was a harmless answer. Masato sensed he had no intention of continuing the topic, so he decided to end the conversation.

 

“You were blessed with good companions.”

 

“Yes, truly.”

 

They smiled at each other and focused on their meal.

 

After finishing dessert and settling down, they finally shifted to the topic of exploration. Together, they discussed roles in battle and coordination.

 

It was decided that next time they would explore the 3rd floor of Tokyo Dungeon, and if all went smoothly, advance to the 4th.