Side: Amahashi Kakeru
Debate over the dungeons had apparently gotten underway in the Diet.
The various committees inside the Diet were arguing it out, but the thing was already getting bogged down right from the start. The ruling party was anything but unified, and the opposition only kept sharpening its criticism — no constructive discussion was happening at all.
Meanwhile, the one dungeon open to the public in Japan was bustling. Half the people who gathered were tourists who only peered in from outside, but there were some doing actual exploration too.
The state was still asking the public to show self-restraint about entering dungeons, and over in the comment sections of the video streamers who'd already gone in, the pro-opening faction and pro-regulation faction were saying whatever they pleased and turning the place into a mess.
On top of that, animal-welfare groups, environmental groups, citizens' groups — famous or not, all of them had started kicking up a fuss over this, and social media was in an uproar too.
Oh, and the hoarding and reselling of daily necessities and preserved food was finally starting to settle down. With the state looking into regulations and the various manufacturers showing there was no problem with their production capacity, the stuff stopped selling at resale prices.
So it was on a day like this that Pricia and the others and I had come up to our family's mountain — the one with the dungeon in it.
"Tending a place like this is just going to be a lot of work. You're young — I'd think you'd be better off going somewhere fun on your days off."
My uncle, who'd driven us up to the mountain, was watching us with a worried look.
He was worried because I'd brought the women doing the homestay out to a mountain that didn't even turn a profit.
"It's all about experience. We came because this is the kind of thing we wanted to experience."
Pricia talked about it the way you'd talk about volunteer work, and while my uncle seemed to understand, I got the feeling that inwardly he thought we were an odd bunch.
Even out in the country, hardly anyone tended their mountains anymore. As long as it didn't cause trouble for the public roads and such, a lot of people just left them alone. The population was aging, and folks didn't have the wherewithal to maintain a mountain.
We unloaded the tools we'd need for the upkeep, and then my uncle headed back. He had farm work and all sorts of other things keeping him busy.
"So how do we want to do this? I'm going to clear the road the car comes in on. Do you all want to go into the dungeon?"
Up here you couldn't hear any sound of human life. Just the sounds of nature. I switched on the portable radio I'd brought to keep the bears away and called out to the women.
At the very least, the road the car came in on had to be cleared, or overgrown branches and the like would scratch up the car. For now I had to make that my priority.
Noctia and Sanctina were checking on the dungeon from outside, so I talked it over with Filia and Pricia.
"It'd be better if we all got this place in order together."
"Right, I think so too. And besides, we ought to test using magic and Skills in this environment first."
Oh, right, there was that too. We'd talked about wanting to test our Skills and magic in this world. Just how well magic and Skills actually worked in an environment thin on mana. And what the effects were when we did use them. There was a lot to try out and confirm.
"No change with the dungeon."
"Nothing particularly suspicious, either. I think it'll be fine left as it is for the time being."
Noctia and Sanctina came back. So that thing — which might be a god's dungeon — was all right too. Well then, for now it was getting this area in order.
"Kakeru, you said we're cutting off the branches that are in the way of the car coming in, right?"
"Yeah, that's right, but…"
I was thinking about how to divvy up the work when Pricia took her beloved sword from Noctia.
No way…
"It's fine, I won't overdo it. I just want to get my body used to this environment a little."
Pricia released the restriction on her magic item, took up the slim, enchanted blade, and started lopping off the branches that looked like they'd get in the way.
It looked simple, watching her, but that's actually incredibly hard. Thin branches flex, and that deflects the slash.
She looked like she was enjoying herself, so I figured I'd just leave it to her — but then Filia and Sanctina had found some wild vegetables growing nearby.
"Oh, this one looks tasty."
"I've never seen it before, though…"
"I am an elf, after all. I can tell which wild plants are edible."
They were fuki buds.¹Delicious as tempura. I figured I'd have the two of them gather wild vegetables. They'd make a good gift for my uncle and aunt — they'd be glad to get them.
That left Noctia, but… she had the brush cutter. She'd used it before. She still seemed to love handling any kind of machine.
I'd go take a look at the hut, then. It'd be good to air it out a little, too.
This hut was one Grandpa and the others had kept up and used for ages. It was a simple thing — a wooden building with a corrugated metal roof — and Grandpa had fitted it with some old glass windows he'd gotten from somewhere or other.
The inside was reasonably roomy. There was a part with a packed-earth floor and a room with a wood-plank floor. I'd heard that back in my great-grandfather's day, people had even stayed and slept here.
When I unlocked the padlock and opened the door, the air felt a little damp and dusty.
"…"
It was as though time had stopped. That was the scene before me. It was just as it had been last fall, when I'd come here with Grandma.
The bamboo broom and work gloves Grandma had used were set down near the entrance, and the axe and saw and other carpentry tools Grandpa had used were a little rusted.
This place has gotten pretty run-down too. I really ought to start thinking about what comes next… I'm getting on in years, and it'd only be a burden to leave this to you, wouldn't it, Kakeru?
"Grand… ma?"
I thought I heard a voice. I thought I heard the conversation from the last day I'd come here with Grandma.
When Grandma said maybe we should think about selling the mountain, I'd told her no — said let's come here together again next year — and she'd given me a happy smile.
In that case we'd have to fix up the hut, we'd said, and we'd laughed about getting my uncle to help too.
When I opened the window, the mountain's fresh air came flowing into the hut.
I wondered if the air from when Grandma was here would flow out, too. The thought brought a little loneliness welling up in me.
But I had no intention of living on memories of Grandma alone.
To face forward and walk my own life properly. That was what Grandpa and Grandma had taught me.
Grandpa and Grandma had calmly accepted that times change and the world changes. Not once did they ever tell me to carry on anything.
They did tell me, every now and then, to put my hands together for our ancestors. But that was about it.
I'd keep the memories in my heart and move forward.
For now, I'd better check over the parts that had gotten run-down.
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