episode_0018

18. Mentoring Program (4)

“Is that true, Cain?”

“Yeah!!”

“Oh! It’s Cain after all. I’ll be training.”

“Okay.”

“Wow, Cain is your mentor?”

“Ahem.”

When I ran to the dorm to tell Claude and Sia that I had applied to be a mentor, they were all delighted.

Claude went back down to train, saying that he would continue training while I went to the labyrinth as a mentor, and Sia congratulated me by clapping her hands.

“Isn’t it too much to give away a minimum of 55 silver?”

After calming down, I sat down at my desk and opened my household account book. Suddenly, I was overcome with a sense of wonder.

The purpose of the mentoring program. Since the survival rate in the first exploration is low, we match you with a mentor to pass on know-how on maze exploration.

The intention is good, isn’t it?

But something is a bit…

“Are you being too suspicious..”

I don’t know. Maybe I’m thinking this way because of the creepy scene I saw when I used Hitomi Kaho in the last combination?

Chorrr-

“Ha… I fucking hate looking at the household account book.”

If the three of us go around the labyrinth, we can make about 15 silver by selling magic stones and byproducts of demons for 5 days.

The cost of renting two rooms for ten days, excluding breakfast and the cost of two meals per day for ten days, is 10 silver per month for accommodation in the city.

If you go to the labyrinth for a week, including the day of rest, you can easily save 3 silver a week, and about 4 silver is used for consumables and equipment repairs. If you deduct the installment for Claude’s equipment and the remaining amount, you will have about 6 silver left.

Half of it goes to the party treasury, and the rest is divided into thirds for each person to take.

Then, if you save 12 silver per month for 2 years, the party’s public fund will be just under 3 gold, but the reason you have 3 gold and 50 silver is because you started out at a pace of earning more than 20 silver and then adjusted your pace in the middle.

Claude’s early growth was extraordinary, and our synergy was not bad, so as we explored with Overface, the number of equipment Claude broke gradually increased.

And sometimes, when Sia’s period pain is really bad, after experiencing a few instances of slow recovery from the disease, I try to slow down and explore more leisurely now.

Anyway, I don’t even want to look at my household account book because I only have 1 gold left out of the 3 gold and 50 silver I saved over 2 years.

“I already paid a month’s worth of accommodation and food costs yesterday…”

The place we are staying at only charges for the nights we actually sleep.

If we stay in the labyrinth for about 20 days a month and stay in the accommodation for 10 days, it’s like they only charge us for the accommodation for 10 days and they take care of our luggage for the remaining 20 days?

Since there are many people who end up in the labyrinth anyway, most accommodations set low prices for accommodation and raise prices for food, so if the food business is good, it’s a jackpot.

And later, if the explorer does not return to the accommodation by the day of the tier reorganization, they are considered dead and the owner can confidently swallow the remaining luggage of the guests, so it is better to just accept it at a cheap price.

Anyway, while looking at the household account book, it seemed a bit cheap that if I were to mentor someone, they would give me the same amount of money our party would make in a month if I went into the labyrinth once and came back out, but if I could save even one person that way, should I consider it worth more than 50 silver from the labyrinth city’s perspective? I don’t know.

“No, then Mr. Hawk must have earned close to 70 silver since all three of us lived there, so why did he complain about not having money then?”

I don’t know what he’s thinking, but after reaching level 3 in 5 years, he’s been living as a level 1 vanguard for 10 years. What’s on his mind?

Since Sia and I have saved up more than 50 silver in personal funds, I think I should take this opportunity to get some rest and go to mentoring to act as a teacher.

*

*

*

*

For a week after applying for mentorship, Claude trained late into the night every day, while Sia and I spent the afternoon gathering herbs.

And today is the day to pay Claude’s equipment installment, so I stop by the union.

I hated taking money from Nana Sia’s personal funds, and I hated seeing the party’s treasury turn into 90 silver with just 1 gold left, so I worked really hard at gathering.

Of course, there was a set amount of gathering per party per day, so 1 silver and 10 bronze was the maximum amount you could receive per day, but anyway.

Sia has been acting more affectionate than usual, perhaps because she likes to go outside and look at flowers with me instead of going to the dark labyrinth for two weeks.

“Mr. Cain~.”

“Yes, Mr. Mi-on.”

“Did you go on a picnic today?”

“Huh? Oh, this is it?”

“Sister! I made it! Isn’t it pretty!!”

“Krrr…!”

Over the past week, Sia has been whining about not getting good massages, so I’ve stopped by her room in the middle of the night to help her drain the bad water a couple of times.

So, every time I went out to collect, he would make me a flower crown every day and give it to me as a thank you.

Today, I was so tired from collecting all week that I was just having breakfast in a daze. I didn’t pay any attention to Sia fidgeting around next to me and just came back, and it looks like she had a flower crown on her head.

Seeing my appearance, Mion tilted her head in confusion, but out of consideration for Mion, she said nothing and continued talking while trembling.

“Kuhook! Ha.. You came here to pay the installment?”

“Yes, here.”

Give 3 silver to Mion for the installment payment for Claude’s greatsword and armor.

“Yes~ Payment confirmation completed… That’s right! Mr. Cain’s mentoring party match!”

“Really?”

“Yes, yes~ You can come to matching table 20 tomorrow morning~”

“Okay. Then…”

Snap!

“Huh?”

“Excuse me.. Mr. Cain, do you have anything to say to me?”

“Um…”

Mion, who was holding my hand as I was leaving after finishing my work, asked me a question in a subtle way.

Since the day I used Hitomi Kaho to check on the receptionists, Mion’s clothes and makeup have strangely become darker.

The shirts became a little thinner and more see-through, the bras became more colorful, and the makeup became a little more sophisticated.

And when I stopped by yesterday to complete a collecting request, he even suggested to me that we have a meal together.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his slightly anxious expression, which wasn’t the cheerful look I’d seen for the past two years.

I understand why Ms. Mi-on is acting that way, but the combination itself is still suspicious, so let’s just say let’s get something to eat first instead of doing anything about it right away.

“Mr. Mi-on, when are you going to eat?”

“Heh! Huh!! Really?”

“Me, Sia, Claude, all together.”

“Ugh!”

The expression on his face is obviously distorted.

Sia was sitting next to me, fiddling with the bag of winning lollipops, so she wasn’t paying attention to my conversation with Ms. Mi-on.

“Just kidding. When are you two going to eat together? Oh, let’s eat after the mentoring session. Since Mion recommended it, I should return the favor.”

“Really? Is it real?”

“Okay, then I’ll go. Let’s go, Sia.”

“Ah! Unning, you’ve worked hard!!”

As I was leaving the group with Sia, leaving Ms. Mi-on behind, I pretended not to hear the sound of a pterosaur behind me and held back my laughter. Then Sia saw my expression and suddenly asked me why my face was so ugly, so I had a hard time holding back my laughter as I tried to make up an excuse.

*

*

*

*

Square square square-

“Hey, Claude Mentor, is there anything else I need to prepare?”

“What? Mentoring? Isn’t it just something like running around a labyrinth together for a few days and then leaving?”

“Don’t you remember when you first went with Mr. Hawk? He told you a lot about this and that.”

“Is that so? I remember well…”

“Yeah, what do I want from you?”

“So what have you been doing on the parchment since a while ago… Oh my god.”

Even though the combination was a bit questionable, I still think the mentoring program is a really great event.

At least in the hopes of being helpful to beginners, Claude was shocked when he saw that I had spent the entire afternoon densely writing down small tips that would help with various labyrinths on two sheets of A4 parchment paper.

“You crazy bastard… You remember all this?”

“You, just trust in Shia’s protection and run towards it. I’ll do the rest. If you don’t remember, we’re already behind and not here.”

“Wow… You’re amazing, as expected from Cain! I feel it every time, but seeing you like this makes it clear that you’re definitely needed at a party. There’s no one else but you!!”

“What are you talking about, ogling?”

“But did you get a full body massage? It seems like the smell of grass hasn’t gone away? Phew!”

“A bitch?”

Boom!

“Keuk!!! I…I can’t breathe!!”

I was stressed out because the smell of herbs seemed to have stuck in my nose for several days, so I got up from my desk after deeply pressing my elbow into the area where I assumed Claude’s liver was, who was snickering next to me.

Yeah-

“Ugh- Should I eat something expensive for dinner tonight?”

“Really?”

Claude, who had been eating only the cheapest menu items and basic breakfast for almost a week, clings to me with a light in his eyes.

“If I go to the labyrinth after a meeting tomorrow, I’ll earn a month’s worth of income in one go. There should be days like this sometimes.”

“Me!! Giant Steak!!”

“I feel like it. I’ll even buy you dessert!”

“As expected of the boss!! It’s the great Cain!!”

After I finish mentoring, I’ll feel a little less pressured financially, so I’ll take the kids out and feed them plenty today.

I need to make sure Sia drinks a lot of fluids because she got her period yesterday and she’ll probably ask me to help her massage her today.

*

*

*

*

*

*

The next day, after having a fancy dinner, making Sia four glasses of peach juice, and secretly going to her room before going to bed to help her with a massage, I saw Sia’s special lemonade for the first time in a long time.

I stopped by the union early in the morning in a refreshing mood, and Mi-on greeted me with a smile.

“Mr. Mi-on, I’m here.”

“Ah! Mr. Cain, you came at just the right time? All the mentees are gathered here.”

“Already?”

“You know, it’s the beginners’ first maze run, so they must be so excited that they can’t even sleep?”

“That’s right. Claude was like that too.”

As I went to the area where the matching tables were under lukewarm guidance, I saw three men and women sitting at a table with the number 20 on it.

Clap clap-

“Everyone- Explorer Cain, who will act as your mentor, has arrived~”

“Hello, my name is Cain.”

I thought that since my face was already sharp, they wouldn’t take me lightly, so I greeted them calmly and looked at the faces of the people sitting at the table…

“Oh my god!!!”

“…Ahem!!”

“Oh… Nice to meet you!”

At the table, there was Tanya, the girl I saw at the park last time, and her boyfriend, Ro… something, and a guy who looked similar to her boyfriend, Ro… something, sitting on either side of her, looking at me.