After defeating the demon king in another world and returning to Japan, a dungeon appeared on the ground. - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

“Hey, did you hear that, Leader? About those recent rumors.”

“Recent rumors? About what?”

“That guy who’s all over the explorer world right now.”

“Are they perhaps, talking about me, by any chance?”

“No, it’s not about you, leader. Certainly, there’s no shortage of talk about you being the strongest explorer in Japan, of course your talks are there every day. No, that is not what I meant… you are too smug, leader.”

“Oh, are you talking about that new guy, by any chance?”

“Yes, that’s the one. The one from high school who became a mid-level explorer right after his first day of training.”

“It’s really hard to believe. It even took me a week to move up from the lower to the intermediate level. And to think that a person can be given the title of intermediate level before he has even become an active explorer…is that even possible?”

“At first I thought he might have paid them off, but… apparently that’s not the case. Although it has not been made public, there is a hidden option that allows trainees who show exceptional strength in supervised training to be awarded the title of intermediate or above. That’s what was applied to the high school student. Well, it was also apparently the first time this has ever taken effect.”

“Show an extraordinary amount of ability strength… just what in the world did this high school student demonstrate?”

“This is just a rumor, but apparently he single-handedly destroyed an entire stampede that occurred during a training exercise.

“A Stampede…? You’re kidding me right now, right?”

“No, I have legitimate sources that say that it might be quite plausible. In fact, as per that information, two low-level adventurers were even close to losing their lives due to the Stampede. If he hadn’t destroyed them, they probably wouldn’t have made it to the surface.”

“I see.”

“Apart from this, the video recording of a fellow trainee who was present at that time, taking footage of the incident and recounting it on the Internet, has become quite widespread. At first, people thought it was just a fishing video, but as more and more things came to light, it was clear that the guy wasn’t lying. Apparently, that high school student had used his fire skills to burn down over hundreds of monsters during stampede in an instant. Can you believe that?”

“…It would be a hell of a thing if this were true, but still, we can’t take everything we hear for truth as well.”

Of course, out of all the rumors circulating right now, there are some that have been embellished and tacked on. Some even claim that he is the same person as the mysterious man who recently played a major role in the monster hazard that occurred through the seventh dungeon. Certainly… the dungeon where the high school student dived for his practical training is said to be the sixth dungeon, which is close by the seventh one as well, but… this must be just a hoax.”

“Hm…fumu. So what’s the main agenda of the meeting after all? Surely you didn’t come to me to discuss such rumors now, did you?”

“Of course not. The reason I’m here today is, of course, because of nothing but one thing. The permission to invite him to join our clan.”

“… I kind of knew you would say that.”

“Say, leader. Think about this for a moment. Sure, I can’t say I believe all the rumors and the claims it puts out, but at least it’s true that he’s a mid-level explorer on his first day of training. And according to my research, his family is not a famous family, he lives in a small apartment. So there is no way he bought his license with money. Isn’t it highly likely that he is very good at what he does? I think we should call on him before he is pulled in by any other clan.”

“fumu… However… If he is useless, it will tarnish the name of our clan. The risk is too great.”

“I’ve thought of a way around that as well. Instead of inviting him to join our clan readily, we will start with first monitoring his actions. We’ll put people to watch him and see if he really is as good an explorer as the rumors say about his skills. Then, if we find out that he is really as skilled as the rumors speak of him as, we will make an official offer to him to join our clan. How does that sound? Perfect, right?”

“Fumu… that would certainly eliminate the need for us to take any risks.”

“So… leader, will you allow me to put a man to monitor?”

“Yeah. I will allow that. Anybody can do. Just use any random person around the corner and have them investigate his every actions. You are allowed to allocate clan funds for that as well.”

“Now that’s what I’m looking forward at. I will start working on it asap. Look forward to the good news, Leader.”

“Fumu. By no chance make any mistakes. It’s also very likely that other clans will try to get in touch with him as well, so if they do, block them to the best of your ability. If he’s as good as they say he is, we need to make sure we bring him into our clan.”

“Leave it to me, leader.”