“What is this supposed to be…!? What on earth is going on here!?”
Glaring at the terminal monitor, Kujou Reiko let her perfectly shaped lips tremble as she carefully forced out the confusion and excitement swirling in her chest.
Reiko was the daughter of the Kujou Zaibatsu—and, at just nineteen years old, an A-rank Explorer.
During the dungeon aptitude practicum held in middle school, she had not been found to possess particularly high mana affinity, nor had she studied at a state-run explorer training academy like the members of Anthem.
She simply liked dungeons and magic.
And she liked fighting monsters.
Like most children of the post–Otherworld Generation, she had admired the exploits of high-rank explorers—and Reiko had decided to turn that admiration into reality.
She had no real talent.
But she did have luck.
Because Kujou Reiko was rich.
During the chaos following the World Fusion, the Kujou Zaibatsu had been among the first to throw its weight behind supporting explorers, and as a result it owned numerous companies famous for dungeon-related businesses. She had easy access to items essential for dungeon exploration—and the money to acquire them. On top of that, her parents allowed her to spend that money as she pleased.
Kujou Reiko was, by her own admission and everyone else’s, a proper young lady.
She truly had no talent as an explorer—so little that it bore repeating. Her mana affinity was mediocre at best, and she was naturally unathletic. In her early days, people around her said her fights against monsters were dangerously sloppy, and in truth she was injured again and again.
She threw money at the problem, hoarding high-grade potions and healing injuries that would normally have left permanent aftereffects. Undeterred, she kept diving back into dungeons. She had been doing this since middle school, and by nineteen she had reached A-rank.
For Japan, which did not actively promote underage explorers, this was an exceptional case.
As a nation, Japan desperately wanted powerful explorers. That was why there were national projects like Anthem, which trained middle schoolers with outstanding mana affinity from an early age. But that did not mean the country could sacrifice the lives of boys and girls. Measuring mana affinity during compulsory education existed for exactly that reason.
You don’t have the talent. Give up on becoming an explorer.
Otherwise, you’ll die.
In this sense, Kujou Reiko was far too irregular.
There were explorers who had shown mediocre mana affinity early on but later blossomed—but she was far too young, and had become far too strong for that explanation to comfortably apply.
After all, she repeatedly hired adult explorers and dove into dungeons on her own initiative. As long as she had an “escort,” dungeon exploration was permitted during her minor years, and submitting dungeon materials was also allowed. This law had been established to enable the training of children with high mana affinity, like the Anthem members—but it proved useful to Reiko as well. She was likely the only child who exploited the law so forcefully.
Children, the nation’s treasure, were to be protected—but the many things produced by dungeons were also national treasures. If she was going to keep sneaking into dungeons and surviving anyway, then issuing her an explorer license as an exception and having her provide magic cores and dungeon materials was the practical compromise.
Post–World Fusion Japan had grown just a little more accustomed to irregularities.
In any case.
Through this process, Kujou Reiko accumulated experience, suffered more serious injuries than anyone her age, and likely consumed more high-grade potions than anyone alive. When sleep-deprived, she sometimes downed potions the way others drank energy drinks.
These days, she occasionally promoted dungeon equipment and convenience items from companies owned by the Kujou Zaibatsu as a streamer. In that sense, perhaps her parents’ investment in Reiko had paid off after all.
Such was Reiko—and now she was utterly stunned.
On the livestream of the A-rank Explorer clan Anthem, who were suppressing the Dungeon Stampede in S City, there appeared a mysterious man—called worksite bro or Tooru-bro in the comments. Watching him, an indescribable emotion welled up inside her, and she found herself unable to properly sort out her feelings.
“Jouichirou! Is Jouichirou standing by!?”
Without taking her eyes off the stream, she sprang to her feet with enough force to nearly send her chair flying, calling out the name of her subordinate—whether he was technically a butler or a personal secretary was debatable.
In less than half a second, the door to the room opened, and Kashizaki Jouichirou appeared. He wore a black suit and white shirt sloppily, his features handsome but his half-grown hair giving him the look of a delinquent—hardly the image of a young lady’s butler.
“Yo. What’s up, milady?”
“Jouichirou! You have been watching that Anthem stream, have you not!?”
“I was watching it right up until now. That was wild. Even the S-rank ‘Fairy Princess,’ Irselia Lumiester, looked like an afterthought. You were watching too, right, milady?”
Despite being the attendant of a Zaibatsu heiress, Jouichirou’s tone and attitude were far too casual.
But there was a reason for that. Kashizaki Jouichirou did come from a family that had served the Kujou household for generations—but after being dragged along into Reiko’s dungeon hobby from an early age, he had spent far more time training as an explorer to look after her than receiving any proper butler education.
Once he turned eighteen—four years older than Reiko—there was no longer any need to hire outside “escorts,” and the two of them spent their days repeatedly diving into dungeons together.
At this point, even if the family hired a proper butler, there was no way they could keep up with an A-rank Explorer like Reiko. Jouichirou understood full well that, no matter how bad his attitude was, he wouldn’t be fired.
And Reiko herself had no particular issue with his rough manner.
He had always been like this, and if he suddenly cleaned up his act, it would just feel unsettling.
“Of course I was watching. That is precisely why I summoned you.”
“Oho?”
“This man—Toorubro-sama, was it? What a strange name. He intrigues me. I have seen clipped videos of him on social media, but until this Dungeon Stampede, I had not really watched their livestreams.”
“Yeah, you don’t like Anthem, milady.”
Jouichirou laughed lightly as he said it.
Because of the height difference, Reiko had to look up at him, so when she glared, she inevitably puffed out her chest and jutted her chin forward.
“I do not dislike them. I am merely not particularly interested.”
“Still, you’ve got a pretty serious rivalry thing going with the Kagurazaka lady, don’t you?”
“She is the same age as I am—and a young lady of the Kagurazaka family. Of course I am conscious of her.”
“And she got into that explorer training academy you couldn’t, right?”
“Hmph! If anyone thinks mere talent could stop me, they are gravely mistaken. At this point, I could even hold my own against that samurai woman.”
“Yeah… you really did work hard.”
Perhaps recalling how Reiko used to trip just from running a little, Jouichirou smiled with exaggerated warmth.
That irritated her, so she promptly delivered a low kick straight into his thigh.
“Enough already! More importantly, Jouichirou—I’m interested in this Toorubro-sama. Who is he, exactly? And what is that katana of his? I’m also rather curious about that Holy Sword–wielding swordswoman. Can you look into it?”
“I figured you’d say that, so I already did.”
Pulling a mobile terminal from the inside pocket of his suit, Jouichirou glanced down at the screen—not smugly, but as if this were only natural.
“Let’s see. His real name’s Hayasaka Tooru. Twenty years old. He was working as a cleaner at a D-rank dungeon in S City when he ran into an irregular situation and picked up that cursed sword and the holy sword. While that was happening, he ended up helping Anthem members who were exploring a dungeon undergoing a Dungeon Mutation, and that’s what made him blow up online. After that, Anthem publicly aired a meeting that involved a prefectural assemblyman and the mayor, and Tooru-bro was involved in that too… Don’t tell me you didn’t know about that either, milady?”
Reiko nodded, feeling slightly put off by how far ahead of her he’d been. Even if he was her childhood-friend-turned-butler, wasn’t he a bit too perceptive?
“I did not. I am not good with the internet.”
“You say that after throwing money around to build a streaming setup this insane?”
Jouichirou cast an exasperated glance around Reiko’s desk.
Because of product promotions—and because she genuinely enjoyed dungeon exploration streams—Reiko streamed her own dungeon runs as well. Still, she wasn’t very comfortable with online communication. She had a mild aversion to it.
“You should do more free-talk streams, milady. Normally a rich young lady like you would just draw hate, but you’re actually popular.”
“You are insufferable. I have no desire to be popular. More importantly, I intend to make contact with this Toorubro-sama.”
“Huh? Uh—he’s blowing up hard right now, you know? And he’s tied up with Anthem, plus Irselia was seriously pissed… Isn’t that kind of a hassle?”
Jouichirou glanced at the monitor on the desk.
The elf’s body cam was showing Tooru-bro, who wore an unmistakably weary expression. Compared to Jouichirou, who at least pretended to stand like a proper butler, Tooru-bro’s obvious annoyance was far more blatant.
It looked like Irselia was picking a fight over something, but Tooru-bro didn’t seem particularly interested in engaging.
To look that openly fed up while facing an inhuman—well, technically really not human—S-rank explorer head-on…
At that moment, Anthem’s leader, Saitou Megumi, cut in.
〈That’s enough, Irselia! This is not the time for that! The emergency responders aren’t even here yet! We need to find the survivors and help them!〉
Faced with such a blunt, straightforward rebuke, even the elf seemed unable to push her own way. The camera shifted from Tooru-bro to Saitou Megumi. She was in terrible shape, drenched in hydra blood, but she didn’t appear to care in the slightest.
Then Megumi reached out—and simply took the streaming camera away from Irselia.
〈From here on, this is going to be a rescue operation. We can’t broadcast graphic footage involving civilians, so we’re ending the stream here. There’s still a lot we don’t fully understand ourselves, but we’ll share as much information as we can through Anthem’s official channels. To everyone who helped, everyone who watched, and everyone who supported us—thank you so much. See you!〉
With a click, the stream cut off.
The streaming site, blissfully oblivious to the mood, helpfully populated the monitor with several “Recommended Streams,” but having no interest in them, Reiko closed the browser.
“Man… she was one year above you, right, milady? She really has her head screwed on straight.”
“Showing respect toward Saitou Megumi is not something I object to. That arrogant elf and that samurai woman, however, are another matter.”
“What about the saintess?”
“I have no particular feelings toward Midou Airi.”
Reiko snorted softly through her nose. Jouichirou responded with an exaggerated wry smile. It felt as though he had seen straight through her, which made her a little embarrassed—but at the same time, she found herself wishing he would dig just a bit deeper, and more accurately, into feelings she herself didn’t fully understand.
“Jouichirou. I find myself curious about Toorubro-sama. And yet… I don’t even know why I’m so curious.”
Why do you think that is?
That was the unspoken question. Jouichirou didn’t hesitate; he nodded normally and answered.
“Because the guy on the scene had no talent. Same as you, milady. Someone like that instantly kills a hydra that’s estimated to be high S-rank. There’s no way you wouldn’t be curious. I don’t think you’re focused on his strength, that creepy sword, or even the holy sword–wielding woman. I think you’re wondering what kind of person the guy on the scene really is—and how he’s going to act from here on out.”
It clicked.
Reiko had experience. She had brute-forced her way forward with money, chugging potions and launching dungeon assaults at a pace that would look insane to anyone else. That repetition—that reckless persistence—was the backbone of Kujou Reiko. Now she had both the skill and the fame of an A-rank explorer, but she still remembered clearly what it was like to be a clumsy girl who once only admired explorers.
So what about him…?
Tooru-bro had saved Anthem twice, yet he looked utterly fed up doing it. He didn’t look happy at all. After casually killing a monster that even Irselia hadn’t been able to defeat instantly, he showed not the slightest hint of pride.
That couldn’t be normal.
Strength like that—she had never seen anything like it.
What would he do next?
Who would show him the way?
Surely, from here on out, all sorts of people would try to use him. No one would just leave him alone. A mere cleaner who could instantly kill an S-rank monster was not someone the world would simply ignore.
“I see… I think I understand, more or less. Thank you, Jouichirou.”
“No problem. Heading to S City?”
“Yes. I want to know more about him—what kind of person he is, what he likes, what he dislikes, what he would or would not trade for, and so on. I had no talent but plenty of money, whereas he had neither. I am curious about what he will do from here. And if it is still unclear… well, then I, Kujou Reiko, will involve myself in his choices.”
Dungeons are fun.
So do not make such a bored face.
“Got it. I’ve got a helicopter ready, so let’s move fast. We’ll use the helipad on a building owned by a local company, rent a car, and reserve a hotel while we’re en route. You’ve got your magic bag, right?”
“Huh? Ah… yes. You are… remarkably well-prepared…”
Honestly, it was a little creepy.
Jouichirou, taking the opportunity, flashed a self-satisfied grin and said,
“That’s because I’m your butler, milady.”
◇◇◇
Kujou Reiko wasn’t the only one captivated.
The footage of a supposed S-rank hydra being instantly killed had spread across the world, and the “Dungeon Stampede” incident in S City and its aftermath were attracting intense attention from dungeon professionals everywhere.
The entire world was watching a lonely, bottom-tier man who had spent three years cleaning D-rank dungeons in a provincial city—and Tooru Hayasaka had just shown results no one could have imagined.
On this day, the world took notice of Tooru.
—Twin-Blades Vagabond. 1
Eventually, the stubborn individual who possessed two mythic swords would come to be known by that name… but that story lay a little further ahead.
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Author’s Note:
Mo (greeting phrase). I’m the author, Momonga.
Thank you for reading this far. This marks the end of the first volume.
It may feel like it’s just “to be continued,” and indeed, the story is far from over. However, this will be the last post of the year. 2
This work was born from my idea to enter something into the Kakuyomu contest. I wanted to take the dungeon-streaming stories I had read on Kakuyomu, digest them in my own way, and create my own story. It’s been read far more than I initially expected, which makes me genuinely happy. The story will get even more interesting, so I hope you’ll continue along for the ride.
If you liked it, want to read more, or feel like supporting it, I’d be happy if you gave it a ★. Honestly, I’ve already received more stars than I could ever hope for, and I’m truly grateful for all of them. Thank you.
The next update will be on January 2nd at 0:00.
With that, I wish you a Happy New Year.
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Translator’s Note:
So we’ve finally reached the end of the first arc with this chapter! \o/
As I mentioned in the sidebar announcement, it’s about time I focused on other matters. I’ve been getting busier over the past few days, but I decided to push for the V1 conclusion anyway since we were so close. Incidentally, those 2chan-style chapters are such a chore to format they take twice as long T_T
Anyway, now that we’re at a good breakpoint, I’ll be slowing down considerably. I’ll be switching to a two-chapters-per-week release schedule, on Saturdays and Sundays.
This will also give the author time to get a bit ahead. At the moment, the raws are only seven chapters ahead, and the release rate has slowed from daily releases to once every few days.
I may sometimes release extra chapters if time allows but we’ll see.
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