Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 23

Chapter 23: Harassment

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I was called in by the Ministry of Dungeons to carry out immediate dungeon raids about once every one to two weeks. However, during particularly busy times, I had been summoned as many as three times in a single week. If I was being called in, that meant Samejima-san had already been summoned before me.

In other words, before I got involved, she had been handling twice as many raids on her own.

This was likely the reason why Minister Niitaka was so eager to bring me on board. She had been able to manage it because she was an awakened individual, but even then, she had essentially been working herself to death. While it was true that awakened individuals earned their income from the magic stones and dropped items obtained in dungeon battles, that didn’t mean they dive into dungeons every single day.

No matter how strong someone was, engaging in battles where death was always a possibility would wear down their mental state eventually. The only way to recover from that was by taking breaks.

Even Mio-chan, who mostly left the fighting to her golems and focused on mining magic stone veins, only went into dungeons about twice a week. With that in mind, although it was mandatory for me to fully clear a dungeon whenever I entered one, my overall dungeon activity wasn’t all that different from other awakened individuals. Or rather, maybe I should say that my involvement in the D-Ministry allowed Samejima-san’s dungeon workload to finally return to a reasonable level.

“That’s why, isn’t this kind of thing unnecessary now?”

“Shut up. What’s wrong with a little training?”

I had been summoned to the training facility next to the Ministry of Dungeons, a place specifically designed for awakened individuals. My opponent was Samejima-san. She had asked me to train with her, and I had agreed—on the condition that I could remain in my human form. However, being called in three days in a row was a bit much, so I had to say it.

“Take a break.”

We were each holding a wooden sword. If we infused them with magic, we could easily use these wooden swords to smash through a building’s walls, but without any enhancement, they would simply break before dealing any serious damage. The rule we had set was that using magic to enhance movement was allowed, but strengthening weapons was not. I was maintaining a defensive stance about eighty percent of the time, attacking with only twenty percent of my power. In a way, this training was useful for me, too—it helped me readjust to moving like a human. I had fought plenty of humanoid monsters before, but in terms of sheer time, I had spent far longer as a dragon. Moving in a human body still felt unnatural to me.

So, in that sense, this training was beneficial for me too.

“Can we take a break already?”

“Not yet!”

“We’ve been going nonstop for two hours, you know?”

“Shut up!”

“Look, even the others around us are feeling scared too.

There were other awakened individuals from the Ministry of Dungeons training at the facility, but they had all stopped what they were doing to watch us.

“……”

Samejima-san finally halted her movements though her face was still full of irritation. I thought that meant we were done, but instead, she turned and glared at everyone else.

“Mind your own business!”

Her intimidation was enough to make them all quickly resume their own training. I silently wished someone would stop this madness, but my prayers went unanswered.

“I want to get stronger.”

“You’ve already reached the pinnacle of strength—in an animalistic sense, at least.”

Becoming an awakened individual didn’t change a person’s bones or muscles. Rather, the presence of magic power enhanced them to such an extent that it felt like they had transformed. For an awakened individual, the most effective way to grow stronger was to enter dungeons, defeat monsters, and accumulate magic power. In other words, magic power functioned like experience points in an RPG.

“Training here will only improve your technique, nothing more.”

“I see. In that case, let’s go to a dungeon.”

“It’s a rest day, Samejima-kun.”

Minister Niitaka’s voice stopped Samejima-san in her tracks. I let out a sigh of relief, finally freed from the ordeal.

“Pushing yourself too hard will defeat the purpose of bringing Hasegawa-san on board.”

“Minister.”

“Do you understand?”

“Understood.”

“Hasegawa-san, good work.”

“Not at all. I should be thanking you for stopping her.”

“It doesn’t look like any new dungeons will be appearing today, so you’re free to head back.”

“I’ll do that, then.”

As I spoke with Minister Niitaka, Samejima-san left the facility. After changing out of my training gear in the locker room, I stepped outside—only to find her waiting for me.

“Come with me for a bit.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got nothing better to do, right? Let’s hang out a bit with me.”

Her expression was nearly blank as she said it, making me question whether I should take her seriously. But in the end, I went along with it. We took a taxi, and our destination turned out to be a high-class public bath in Ginza.

“Uh…?”

“Let’s wash off the sweat, then grab a drink.”

“…Alright.”

Washing off sweat was always a good idea. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t even been sweating…. That wasn’t good. I needed to find a way to work up a sweat somehow. While I was thinking on how to be more humane, we entered the facility and completed the check-in process.

“Alright, whoever gets out first should head to the restaurant first.”

“Got it.”

Even though it was a weekday, the place was packed with people. I washed up and soaked in the bath. Watching the people alternating between the sauna and cold water baths, I simply stayed in the same hot water the entire time.

I had been considering expanding Dungeon Convenience Stores worldwide, but I had yet to take action. For now, I had been setting up stores in any dungeon that had existed for over a year within Japan’s prefectures. People could navigate the road to the dungeon using landmarks and map apps in Japan, but it wouldn’t be that easy overseas. Sure, there were probably ways to work around it, but the thought of setting up a convenience store while receiving messages from the Ministry of Dungeons in the middle of it all made it feel like more trouble than it was worth.

“Hmm, I should probably get out soon.”

I wasn’t sure how long Samejima-san usually stayed in the bath, but I figured I had soaked for about as long as a normal person would. After changing into the comfortable lounge wear provided by the facility, I checked my phone. She had already gotten out and was waiting in the restaurant inside the facility.

“You’re late!”

“No, isn’t it that you’re the one who’s too fast, Samejima-san?”

She was already drunk. Was she drinking a lemon sour cocktail? There weren’t many side dishes on the table, but the number of empty glasses suggested she had been at it for a while. When I ordered a draft beer, she ordered another lemon sour along with it.

“You’re drinking quite a bit.”

“Huh? This is my first time drinking.”

“What?”

“I’ve been working nonstop since I was recruited by the Ministry of Dungeons at fifteen. I never had the time—or even the thought—to drink.”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

She swiftly downed the rest of her lemon sour and reached for the fresh one the server had just brought over. I stopped her.

“What’s the problem? I’m already an adult.”

“You’re drinking way too fast for your first time. Slow down a little.”

Finishing a drink just as the server arrived with the next one—she was drinking like a seasoned pro.

“Come on, it’s fine. If we wanted to, we could easily flush the alcohol out of our systems, right?”

Technically, I wasn’t an awakened individual, but I could use magic to expel minor toxins from my body. Awakened individuals likely had a similar ability. That said, such abilities only worked when one was in a clear state of mind. Could someone truly call their thoughts “rational” while under the influence of alcohol?

“Enough talking! You drink too!”

She snatched my lemon sour and shoved a glass of draft beer into my hands.

“You may be older, but in this place, I’m your senior!”

“Technically speaking, I’m just an external contractor or a contract worker.”

Or maybe a temporary worker?

“Shut up.”

She glared at me, eyes hazy from the alcohol. Yeah, there was no reasoning with her anymore. Giving up, I took a sip of my beer. Yep, ice-cold and delicious. Since the menu had a good variety of food, I went ahead and ordered a few dishes.

“I get that you’re drinking, but you need to eat properly too. It’s bad for your stomach to drink on an empty stomach.”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine, I’ll have ramen.”

“That’s supposed to be the final dish though.”

“So what? I can eat it now.”

“No, you have to save it for the end.”

“You’re being so picky about how I eat! What kind of food harassment is that?”

“Well, in that case, forcing me to drink with you is alcohol harassment then.”

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