Estelle giggled. “If you’re that scared, would you like to hold hands?”
She was probably just teasing me, but...
“Yeah, actually, let’s.”
Even if it wasn’t very likely, I absolutely wanted to avoid getting separated from Estelle at this point.
Estelle looked surprised at how quickly I’d answered, but she smiled and took my hand.
“Very well. Let’s hop into the circle together on the count of three.”
It kind of felt like Estelle was treating me like a kid, but I was willing to put up with it. I didn’t want to end up stranded by myself deep in the dungeon again, and I probably wouldn’t be fortunate enough to meet someone like her again. I nodded back at her, and we stepped into the return circle at the same time.
★★★★★★★★★
“Oh, hello again. I don’t suppose your party found another hidden room?”
We had reserved a conference room at the guild, and the guild, assuming we’d be most comfortable around someone we were familiar with, had assigned us the same staffer. The moment he joined us in the conference room, he was all smiles and jokes, but...
“Yes, that’s correct,” said Estelle.
The staffer’s face froze up. “Huh?”
“Rather than a treasure chest, we found a return device this time,” said Estelle.
“Huh? What?”
“After conducting some tests of our own, we determined how to open the passageway leading to the hidden room so that anyone can use the return device, and—”
The staffer interrupted Estelle with an incredulous half smile. “W-Wait just a moment! You t-truly found a return device?”
When we both nodded, his expression turned serious. He sat up straight and said, “I-I see. And where did you find this return device? Based on what I know of your circumstances, I assume it was somewhere before the twentieth floor, correct?”
“Yes, that’s right,” said Estelle. “We found the passageway that led to the return device in the middle of the stairs beyond the fifteenth floor boss room.”
“Really?! If what you say is true, it may entirely change how adventurers approach this dungeon! Relocating the teleportation device on the twenty-first floor may even be warranted, and—”
“Huh?! Uh, that would be kind of bad for us,” I put in. “Like, it would directly affect the match that we signed a contract for...”
The condition we’d agreed on was that the first party that made it to the teleportation device on the twenty-first floor would win. If there was no teleportation device, there would be no way for us to beat Broze.
But the guild staffer just smiled and shook his head as if to say we had nothing to worry about.
“Have no fear—this would not happen immediately. If the guild concludes that it is desirable to shift the teleportation device, we will install a new device deeper within the dungeon before removing the one on the twenty-first floor. Considering your party has already reached the sixteenth floor, you should have adequate time to reach the twentieth.”
“Oh, I get it,” I said. “I guess it’d be really inconvenient for other adventurers if they suddenly lost the ability to use the teleportation device on the twenty-first floor.”
“Indeed—it would directly impact their daily income. The guild would not benefit from adventurers dying as a result of taking unnecessary risks. We will be cautious about any changes we choose to implement.”
If the guild planned to remove the teleportation device on the twenty-first floor after another was installed on a deeper floor—say, the thirty-first—then adventurers who’d earned the right to use the device on the twenty-first floor would probably take all kinds of risks to get access to the one on the thirty-first floor during the short grace period. One potential solution to that problem would be to grant all of them the right to use the device on the thirty-first floor, but that would come with its own risks.
I guess the guild could just stop issuing the right to use the device on the twenty-first floor immediately after installing the new one on the thirty-first floor or wherever, then wait for a certain set interval before removing the old device.
I had no idea how the guild planned to approach this issue, but regardless, it didn’t seem like it was going to happen quickly, so there was probably enough time for us to clear five more floors.
“Essentially, we can’t afford to advance slowly, but if we maintain a normal pace, we should still make it in time, correct?” Estelle asked.
“Correct! Incidentally, if the guild is able to verify the existence of the return device, I believe it should be possible to arrange a promotion for Sai-san. This would constitute a very significant contribution to the guild, after all.”
“That’d be pretty nice. What about Estelle, though?”
I was curious about why the staffer hadn’t mentioned her, but he and Estelle both shook their heads.
“You can’t get to Rank 6 that easily, Sai,” said Estelle.
“She will be closer to a promotion, but I’m afraid it won’t happen immediately.”
“Oh, okay. I was just curious,” I said. “By the way, what happened to the hidden room on the tenth floor?”
It hadn’t even been two weeks, but I figured the guild had to have made some progress toward finding it.
The guild staffer knit his brow, though. “Unfortunately, the guild has thus far been unable to find a way to open the passageway leading to the hidden room, so the investigation is ongoing.”
“So does that mean we won’t be exempt from the taxes on the magic bag?” I asked.
“Oh, rest assured, there’s no need to worry about that. When the guild dispatched a team of scouts, the passageway was open, so we were able to verify the existence of the hidden room. However, when we sent another team to investigate, it had disappeared. Do you have any guesses as to how your party was able to open the passageway?”
I was really relieved after the guild staffer assured us we still qualified for the tax exemption. I sifted through my memories for any potential clues about the passageway, but...