Tooru no longer remembered how long it had been since he had last shaken hands with a woman, but the grip with which Kujou Reiko squeezed back was far stronger than he had expected. For someone who looked like a beautiful young lady from a wealthy family, her hand felt surprisingly rough and calloused.

It was a hand that had clearly been handled roughly, again and again—used until it bore the marks of it.

Like the hands of a dwarf blacksmith. Like those of the carpenter who had lived next door to his family home back when his parents were still alive. A hand worn down in the service of what needed to be done, and shaped to suit that purpose.

The gap between her smile—bright and innocent, like a child inviting friends out to play on a Sunday morning—and those hands, which seemed like proof of relentless training, was so striking that Tooru found himself oddly convinced: this contradiction itself was Kujou Reiko.

When the handshake ended, Tooru glanced at the phone he had left streaming, taking in both their reflections on the screen and the torrent of comments racing by. He shrugged lightly.

“Ah… this is for the viewers watching the stream, but yeah. I kinda get why you guys like this “M’lady” of yours.”

The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

Beside him, Tia looked flabbergasted.

“Tooru-bro… just warmed up!?”
“The same Worksite Bro who was cold even to the Anthem members!?”
“You get it, Tooru-bro! You get how great our M’lady is!”
“M’lady is the only winner!”
“Tia-tan is cute too!”
“UOOOOH! M’lady strongest! M’lady strongest!”

“Oh my… oh my my my! Ohohoho! It seems I have gone and raised my affection rating with Toorubro-sama, haven’t I? Goodness gracious! How embarrassing! However, I am Kujou Reiko—the woman who turns every moment into a business opportunity! Jouichirou, bring the thing!”

She laughed shyly, her face visibly red, but still smiling. Then, cheeks still flushed, Kujou Reiko clapped her hands together and called out the name of her butler, who had been acting solely as the cameraman until now.

Tooru had to admit, this was the first time in his life he had ever seen someone say “bring the thing” completely unironically, and he was honestly impressed. That said, the butler swiftly cleared the table and then, as if performing sleight of hand, began pulling out all manner of items from his pockets and arranging them neatly. At that point, Tooru wasn’t even sure what he was supposed to be impressed by anymore.

“There it is—the butler’s lightning-fast work!”
“Such a technique!”
“Tooru-bro spacing out lol”
“Spacing-out Tia-chan is cute too!”

“Ta-daaa, indeed! These products before you are dungeon equipment manufactured by Nine Line, a company under the Kujou Zaibatsu!”

“…Dungeon equipment? Nine Line, like the cookie company?”

“Yes, precisely so! Nine Line develops and sells a wide variety of dungeon-related products. For example—what we have laid out here upon the table! Behold!”

Resting atop a deliberately spread white cloth was what appeared to be a pair of leather combat boots. They weren’t the flashy, glossy type; instead, they were a subdued matte black, giving them a restrained, rugged look.

“Judging from appearances, Toorubro-sama, you have not yet accumulated extensive real combat experience. Thus, allow this senior explorer to offer some advice. The first golden rule of dungeon exploration: start with proper footwear!”

“Ah, that’s really good advice. I totally agree.”

Tia nodded along with a warm smile. Kujou Reiko maintained her smug, triumphant expression, while Jouichirou—somehow—had already produced a spare camera and was filming close-ups of the boots.

Watching the stream feed, Tooru finally realized he was capturing footage for a picture-in-picture insert.

And somehow, that just made everything even more surreal.

“Uh… mind giving an explanation? I’m kind of a newbie.”

After thinking for a moment, Tooru directed the question to the butler instead.

“Explorers move at insane speeds and with ridiculous strength, so if you’re wearing normal shoes, they’ll fall apart in no time. Most people realize this around the point where they move from D-rank to C-rank, but if your shoes break while you’re in the middle of a dungeon run, it becomes a real pain.”

“Ah… yeah, that makes sense. Thanks.”

“Not at all. Glad to help.”

“Toorubro-sama! Why on earth did you not ask me for the explanation!?”

“Pulling the right answer on the first move lol”
“It’s not like M’lady is bad at explaining, but…”
“She’s actually pretty logical, you know.”
“She just likes dungeon-related stuff a bit too much.”
“That was close, Tooru-bro. You were about to get dragged into a fifteen-minute lecture about shoes.”

“…There’s a comment here saying you’d drag it out for fifteen minutes.”

“I could manage twenty, easily!”

“Ahaha! She’s a fun one, Tooru. I think I like this Kujou Reiko too.”

“Oh, you get it? Our M’lady is cute, y’know.”

“Enough! Enough already! Tia-sama and Jouichirou as well—please stop teasing me! Still, I shall graciously accept your affection! And now, onward to the next promotion!”

Riding the momentum, she even supplied her own don! sound effect as attention was drawn—once again—to an item Jouichirou had seemingly conjured onto the table by magic.

“This is… some kind of tight-fitting underwear.”

“Category-wise, it’s an inner shirt. It’s cut-resistant, abrasion-resistant, and heat-resistant. Direct magical hits are still a no-go, but even if you trip at high speed and go tumbling across the ground, you’ll come out without a scratch. Pair it with the leggings and you’re even better off.”

“Huh…”

“T-th-this product, you see! It is made by processing magic hide, a rare drop from the lizard-type monsters so common in dungeons, into glass-fiber-like strands and blending them into synthetic fibers! One might call it the foresight of the development team, who anticipated an oversupply of magic hide drops! Now it plays a significant role in protecting explorers at a relatively affordable price! Indeed it does!”

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!”

“Forcing that explanation in lol.”
“Tia-tan losing it is cute.”
“Tooru-bro looks totally done with this.”

◇◇◇

All in all, the dungeon goods introduced to him were knowledge from a world completely unfamiliar to Tooru, and he found it surprisingly fascinating.

Boots, innerwear, high-defense clothing that looked no different from everyday outfits—apparently even the members of Anthem used items like these. Of course, armor made directly from dungeon materials was undeniably sturdier, but being hard to move in or heavy was reason enough for many explorers to avoid it.

“At higher ranks, what truly matters in the end is not the equipment itself, but the quality of the mana defense you clad your body in. As such, unless such armor is of an exceptionally high grade, one might say it exists more for appearances than for practicality, I suppose,” Kujou Reiko declared loftily.

“Well, yeah. Getting your mana defense pierced is a real turning point. Gear that boosts the quality of mana defense, or has some special effect, is useful—but beyond that, it’s more like insurance. Still, having your clothes tear just from running would definitely be a problem,” Tia added.

“In fact, during dungeon livestreams, it is… how shall I put this… quite possible for sensitive situations to be captured on camera, in more ways than one. For that reason, I would very much like to be proactive in promoting items that help maintain a certain line of decency,” Reiko said primly.

“M’lady really likes dungeon streams too.”
“She just likes dungeon exploration in general.”
“As expected of one of the youngest A-rank explorers.”
“She’s kind of unhinged sometimes, but that’s exactly why we love her.”

Glancing at the scrolling comments, Tooru noted that—unsurprisingly, given that this was her stream—there were plenty of positive remarks directed at Kujou Reiko. She might be what you’d call a naturally beloved character.

“Incidentally, among boss rare drops or items found in treasure chests, there do exist pieces of equipment that are genuinely practical. Thus, if you ever see an explorer dressed in a truly bizarre fashion, you may safely assume they are wearing some sort of rare equipment,” she added.

“Says the M’lady who dives into dungeons in a dress and boots lol.”
“Tooru-bro, M’lady’s dress and boots are custom-made, you know.”
“Not rare drops, though.”

“……”

Then why the hell do you go dungeon-diving in a dress? The thought crossed Tooru’s mind, but judging it a futile question, he opted for silence instead.

Naturally, Kujou Reiko paid no heed to his inner thoughts and simply tilted her head gracefully.

“By the way, Toorubro-sama, do you have any interest in dungeon exploration streaming? I have already subscribed to your channel, you see. Ah—Jouichirou, would you kindly post a link to Toorubro-sama’s streaming channel?”

“Roger that. By the way, Bro-san, you not really feeling the streaming thing?”

At this point, being reduced to just “Bro” didn’t even make Tooru smile wryly anymore. Then again, thinking about it, “Toorubro-sama” had been strange from the very start.

Come to think of it, he had disliked being addressed with “-sama” by Kagurazaka Chizuru—but when it came from Kujou Reiko, it didn’t bother him nearly as much. The thought struck him unexpectedly.

Setting that aside, the “Tooru’s channel” Reiko referred to was probably the archive channel he had used for recording jobs back when he worked as a cleaner. If he were to start dungeon exploration streaming, it would honestly be easiest to just reuse that channel as-is.

“Personally, I’m pretty interested in it. I like watching the people in the comments. I’m reading them right now, you know?” Tia said, chuckling lightly.

Needless to say, that alone sent the comment section into an uproar. Tooru felt like he had grown oddly accustomed to it by now, but she really was a beautiful blonde with a hint of youthful innocence about her. Kujou Reiko, seated across from him, was also beautiful—but it was a different kind of beauty altogether.

“Well… if she says she wants to do it, I don’t really mind wandering around dungeons with a camera. It’s just that getting all the streaming equipment together sounds like a pain, you know…”

“Yes! I was prepared precisely for moments such as this!” Kujou Reiko declared triumphantly.

“Don!” she supplied aloud, right on cue, as Jouichirou placed a cutting-edge camera atop the table.

“I, Kujou Reiko, am both a great pioneer and a clever young lady of a Zaibatsu! Toorubro-sama, how would you feel about allowing me to invest in you—by providing all the products we have introduced thus far, along with a complete set of streaming equipment? How about it! How about it!”

“She said it twice, Tooru.”

“She did say it twice…”

“Sometimes you gotta say things twice,” Jouichirou added calmly.

Spreading both arms wide in a dramatic finishing pose, Kujou Reiko struck a decisive stance. For some reason, Tooru, Tia, and even the butler Jouichirou ended up simply watching the young lady hold that pose in silence for a while.

“This is hilarious”
“How many seconds can she keep that pose up?”
“Tooru-bro’s surprisingly game for this.”
“Jouichirou smiling his ass off lol”
“This is so M’lady.”
“UOOOOH! M’lady strongest! M’lady strongest!”

◇◇◇

And so, in the end, Tooru accepted an investment in dungeon items totaling eleven million yen in value (rounded down).