Please to Kitsune-sama!

When Inari and Yasuno were transferred out of the dungeon, they found themselves standing right in front of the gate.

No one else was around them, which seemed to be the result of staff intervention. Judging by the way the area had been cordoned off with ropes and traffic cones to prevent people from entering, there must have been some advance warning that a transfer was about to occur.

Other adventurers were murmuring in the distance, and seeing the setup, Inari quickly grasped the situation.

“Oh-ho… So the transfer location be fixed, is it?”

That would explain why everyone handled it so smoothly. Inari made the connection.

In fact, she was correct. In the early days, transfer accidents after dungeon clears had occurred with considerable frequency. Once it became known that a teleportation magic circle appeared upon clearing, procedures such as immediately evacuating the surrounding area and controlling foot traffic around dungeon gates became standard practice.

That much Inari could deduce. However, what she hadn't considered was the reason behind the surrounding clamor.

“Wait…? Did they already clear it?”

“It hasn’t been that long, has it?”

“The plain one’s a staff member, right? Who’s the fox-eared girl?”

“She’s cute…”

“Clearly the staff member’s a tank. Then the fox-ears must be the dealer?”

“If they cleared it in this time frame, that’s some serious firepower.”

She hadn’t been paying attention… but the voices naturally reached Inari’s ears.

She understood that they were praising her, but… the atmosphere felt unpleasant. The gazes, in particular, seemed oddly intense.

“Agh… I’ve a bad feeling about this.”

For now, the ropes and staff kept people at bay, but glancing at Yasuno, who appeared to be reporting the dungeon clear to another staff member, Inari realized—this part depended on how well her supporter handled it.

“Ah, Miss Kogami! This way, if you please! We’ll go over the post-clear procedures!”

“Aye, aye. Be there some such process involved?”

When she trotted over, a table laid with magic stones and the wolf belt awaited her.

“And you should also have received a reward box.”

“Hm? Aye, I recall such a message appearing.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Now that ye mention it… oh?”

Achievement Unlocked: Swift Slayer of Wolves!

Reward box recalculating and being retrieved…

You have obtained a reward box!

“Oh—ooh!? What be this noise in my field of vision! 'Tis far too flashy!”

A flurry of messages popped up before Inari’s eyes. When they finally faded, a small palm-sized box wrapped in wolf-patterned paper materialized.

The moment it appeared, murmurs erupted once more—from not only bystanders, but staff and even Yasuno herself.

“Wh-what is that box!?”

“A wolf pattern? Then that must be… no doubt, this dungeon’s unique special reward box!”

“I see… so it’s something grand, is it?”

Indeed it was. Standard reward boxes appeared upon dungeon clears and came in white, bronze, silver, and gold, with progressively better loot inside.

Occasionally, completing achievements would yield a special box… but at this particular dungeon, no one had ever received such a thing.

Inari was the first.

“Well now… that be quite the honor, no?”

“P-please wait a moment! I must take a photo!”

As one staff member began snapping pictures with their smartphone—Inari glanced at it with a look as if she'd spotted a yokai.

“What be that tiny contraption…?”

Having just mastered the use of a modern landline phone, smartphones were still a foreign mystery to her. But that aside—

“All right! All done! Please, go ahead and open it!”

“Aye.”

As Inari casually tore away the wrapping and opened the box, something began to glow and slowly rise from within.

It appeared to be a sword—a longsword, its hilt bearing a motif reminiscent of a wolf.

“What be this? A blade of the West, mayhap?”

“The Wolf Longsword…!? That’s—no, this dungeon’s never yielded one before!”

“Be it well known?”

“Of course! It contains a unique skill—Wolf Fang, which unleashes shockwaves. It’s a rare weapon. Even the lowest listings start at three million yen.”

In terms of sheer sharpness, the Wolf Longsword wasn’t extraordinary. But weapons imbued with unique skills were valuable on that merit alone. Many such items, when part of a full set, offered additional effects, and the Wolf Longsword and Belt both had significant collector demand.

“Of course, you may choose to use them yourself. They're excellent items, really…”

Even a novice swordsman equipped with this sword and belt could fight at a decent level.

Obtaining both at once was no small feat—but—

“I’ve no need for them… I already possess a fine blade. Nor have I any use for such a sash…”

“E-eh…?”

“If they may be sold, I’d rather they be. Surely, someone else hath need of them?”

“W-well, I mean…”

“It’s fine. Miss Kogami truly has no need for these.”

Seeing the look in Yasuno’s eyes, the staff replied, “I-I see… then I shall begin the auction procedures,” though their expression remained unconvinced.

As for Yasuno, her internal monologue went something like: “Yeah, if you’ve got a sword like that, you really wouldn’t need this. But there’s no way we can talk about that out loud…”

And so, the matter was quietly settled.