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Tl: Sam

…

“Isumi!　Serve me some tea!　And bring out the best tea cakes!”

“Yes, sir. I will serve you some yokan that I’ve been saving”

　Dojima-san asked, and his secretary, Isumi-san, began to prepare the tea.

　She has been supporting Mr. Dojima since before he became a minister and has known me and Amatsuki for a long time.

　She is a little older than me, I think.　She is a very capable woman.

“Long time no see, Tanaka-kun. I’m glad to see you’ve grown up.”

“Thank you very much. I’m glad to see you are doing well, Isumi-san.”

I bowed to Isumi-san, who offered me a cup of tea and yokan with a smile on her face.

　The most important thing to remember is that you can’t just take a break from your work.

　After our conversation in the courtyard, I was brought to his office.

　It is not a very large office, but the desk and chair were first class. The chair I was sitting on had crispy leather and was comfortable to sit on. It is indeed a minister’s workroom.

　Dojima-san and I are sitting facing each other across the table. Incidentally, Rin is sitting behind me, and a young man who looks like an escort stood behind the minister. The population density was quite high, since Isumi-san was also there.

“It’s so good!　Yokan is delicious after all!　Here, Tanaka, don’t be shy, eat up!”

“Okay, I’ll have some.”

　I cut the yokan into bite-sized pieces and put them in my mouth.

　It was moist and smooth, and its elegant sweetness spread in my mouth. The sweetness was strong, but not too strong. I am not confident in my palate, but I could tell that this was a very expensive item.

　I guess a minister can eat such good food so often.

“Ou Isumi-san. I’m working hard and I want to eat one more. ……”

“No. The minister eats too much”

　I didn’t think so.

　Dojima-san was chided by Isumi-san, and he felt depressed. You are a child, aren’t you?

“Yes, Tanaka. I saw your stream too. You have become much stronger. I’m happy for you.”

“I’m flattered.”

“You were talented before, but not as good as you are now. I think you’ve been working out a lot.”

　I was able to return from the Imperial Palace dungeon, but it wasn’t only because of my ability, but also because of luck. In fact, among the explorers who died, there were many who were stronger than me, including my mentor.

　Among the seven surviving explorers, Amatsuki and I were the younger ones in terms of age and ability. Well, now that seven years have passed, I think I’m a pretty strong person too.

“You’ve become really strong,……, and now you may be able to completely conquer the Imperial Palace dungeon.”

　Dojima-san says as if remembering the old days.

　Yes, we were never able to completely destroy the dungeon directly below the Imperial Palace.

　We could only stop the monsters from springing up, even with the loss of nearly 300 victims.

　Even now, the Imperial Palace dungeon still exists beneath the palace, and its entrance is tightly sealed. The reason why the Ministry of Monster Control is located on the side of the Imperial Palace is so that we can deal with the situation as soon as the monsters start to spring up again from the dungeon directly under the Imperial Palace.

“Well, even if things have calmed down, it’s not safe to force your way through that dungeon, but I have a dungeon story I’d like you to hear.”

“You want to …… tell me about it?”

　I tilted my head and Dojima-san put a stack of documents in front of me.

　The first page of the document was titled “Yoyogi World Tree Dungeon” and contained information and pictures of the dungeon.

“I believe this is the dungeon that recently appeared, right?”

　When I asked this, Mr. Dojima nodded his head and said, “Yes.

　This dungeon, which appeared about a week ago, is a dungeon made of a giant tree that towers high into the sky. Usually, dungeons appear underground, but sometimes dungeons of unusual shapes like this one are formed.

“The Dungeon Investigation Department is currently investigating ……, but this is proving to be quite a challenge. At first, they thought it would be an unusual dungeon with an upward climb, but when they got to the top, there was nothing there. Instead, as soon as you reached the top, an entrance leading underground appeared at the base of the dungeon.”

“So it’s a two-stage system. It’s quite an elaborate structure, isn’t it?”

“Ah, they are just joking around. The budget here is not unlimited either.”

　Mr. Dojima said a little irritated.

　The dungeon control and the management of dungeon-related organizations inevitably cost money. Small talk and backbiting would be the order of the day.

“In a few days, the people from the research department who have been up there will be back on the ground. Then I would like to ask you to do a survey of the dungeon beneath the World Tree dungeon.”

“Me?”

　Mr. Dojima’s unexpected proposal took me by surprise.

　I never thought I would be asked to do a job.

“I was surprised by Mr. Dojima’s unexpected proposal.　I’m not sure you should be asking a freelancer like me to do the job.”

“I trust you. I trust you more than I trust any other guild. I will pay you well and I think it will be an achievement. …… How about it?　I’ll even get permission to stream it if you want.”

“I see what you mean ……. I’ll take the job.”

　It’s not easy to get a government job, and more importantly, I want to help Dojima-san, who has taken such good care of me. I decided to take the job.

　Besides, streaming a dungeon that no one had set foot in yet would be a hit with the viewers. Adachi would probably be happy to do it.

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll contact you later with more details. ……”

“Please wait, Minister Dojima.”

　Dojima-san’s words were abruptly interrupted.

　I looked toward the voice. and to my surprise, the voice belonged to the black-suited guard who had been standing behind him.

“What is it, Kimura?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot overlook what you just said, Minister. We were supposed to send out personnel from our SP team to the dungeon to reexamine the dungeon. It is unacceptable to leave it in the hands of someone like that.”

　The SP called Kimura stared at me sharply.

　Apparently, I’m not making a good impression. Well, there are a few people out there who don’t like D-tubers. It’s like being a freelancer, and it’s a job that is often looked down upon by people with a high school education.

“I see. Then you think Tanaka’s ability is insufficient, don’t you?”

“Yes, I have seen the video. I saw the video at ……, but to be honest, I don’t think it is a real video. In this day and age, we can manipulate images as much as we want.” (Tl: this is just too cliché, but I’m all here for it)

　The moment she heard that, Rin, who was standing behind him, went, “You ……!” and revealed her killing intent.

　She was about to pull out the two daggers at her waist, but I stopped her, saying, “Wait.”

“I’m sorry, …….”

　Rin quietly withdrew.

　Phew, that was a close call.

　Even so, the people thinking that it’s a doctored video is depressing.

　Many of my antagonists suspect that the video was doctored. I don’t see as many anti-comments on my stream anymore, but I still hear people ragging about me on the message boards.

　I didn’t do any processing at all, but it’s difficult to prove it.

　As I was wondering what to do, Mr. Dojima clapped his hands and made a suggestion.

“If you are so skeptical about his ability, you should actually try to fight him. The Ministry has a training ground, so you can start fighting right away. If Tanaka wins, I’ll offer him the job.”

“I don’t mind.”

　Kimura was not in the least bit interested in losing.

　He seemed very confident.

“What about you, Tanaka?”

“Well, ……, I understand. If that clears up the misunderstanding.”

　I had no intention of getting physical today, but I didn’t feel good about being misunderstood.

　I had no choice but to accept the proposal.

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