My Refrigerator Turned Into A Dungeon

Chapter 433

Outburst

On this day, too, I was accompanying Shark and Yuzuki-chan in their meditation training, spending time splitting firewood in the garden and smoking jerky. Lately, the old man has taken a liking to having his evening drink with the smoked meat as a side.

So, just as I was about to get up to go get the next batch of meat, my phone rang.

"Huh, from Sasayama-san? Maybe he's figured something out?"

The call was from Sasayama-san. We had exchanged numbers regarding the meat theft incident.

"Hello, yes?"

"Sorry, Egetsu-kun, it went off!"

"Ha, went off?!"

'It went off' as the very first words.

And hearing that from Sasayama-san, who even carries a hunting rifle, was anything but reassuring. At my startled reaction, Shark, who was meditating on the mat, opened one eye to check the situation. Hey hey, losing focus over something like this, really. Well, Shark probably was bothered by the word 'went off' too.Anyway, after stepping away for a moment, I continued the conversation with Sasayama-san.

"Uh, Sasayama-san. 'It went off'... what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, actually..."

But his urgent opening was now followed by a tone that sounded very reluctant to speak. Ah, he did this before too... This is the way he talks when things are really bad.

And what Sasayama-san began explaining was, as expected, about the meat theft incident. And it seemed things had gotten quite troublesome.

So, as could be expected. It turns out the ones who had pinched and sold the meat provided for free to a butcher were the volunteers. Well, that part was predictable.

But even so, they are among the few young people left around here.

So Sasayama-san and the others decided to hear them out before involving the police. They wanted to listen to their story, and then planned to give them a stern scolding or lecture and let it go at that.

However, it turned out there wasn't just one young person involved in the theft, but several. And what was thought to be theft for spending money turned out to be to pay membership fees and such.

Yeah, the moment words like 'membership fee' come up, the suspiciousness level goes up.

When they pressed further, it seemed this group was an organization that supported people in becoming dungeon ability users. In short, they were providing the same kind of thing I had been doing for free for Serai-san and the others, but in exchange for high membership and training fees.

But if that's the case, then this goes beyond a simple theft incident.

Upon hearing more details, it seemed they were aggressively recruiting people, even to an annoying degree, and for those who couldn't pay, they made them do volunteer work instead while waiting for payment. In other words, the dungeon ability user support organization and the volunteer group were one and the same, or in cahoots.

And some who grew tired of that situation tried to make quick money by stealing the meat. But then, this becomes a big deal. The shadow of an organized criminal group looms behind it.

So, Sasayama-san gathered the adults to demand answers about how this organization was really being run. Apparently, some of the volunteer members who were being questioned snapped, and things got out of hand, making conversation impossible.

Furthermore.

This is from our side, but he had just spoken with Serai-san about this matter, and she seemed quite shaken up, so he asked if I could check on her.

I see, I mostly understand now.

"Hmmm. But, even if you tell me that..."

Ending the call, I looked up at the sky, watching the faint smoke drift from the smoker. And just as I was muttering to myself like that, Serai-san, looking pale, came out from the house towards me.

...

Lately, Serai-san had been trying hard to handle something on her own, but she finally explained the whole story to me.

According to her―.

Going back to when dungeons first started appearing in the world. It seems Nemu-kun was the leader of a mountain pass racing team called Crimson. And, eyeing the appearance of dungeons, he quickly became an ability user.

Hmm, that part isn't half bad. He had foresight, and apparently some guts too.

And so, as dungeon ability users―superhumans―they apparently thought, 'We can use this to make money.' Basically, "Want power? Then we'll give it to you. Right, the fee is over here," kind of thing.

Hmm, not bad at seizing a business opportunity, right? My own personality got heavily in the way, so I couldn't have grasped such a business chance.

And then, it seems a bit of a dungeon bubble happened for them.

Indeed, back then magic stones sold for quite a bit, and they also took a good amount of money from people they took into dungeons under the name of training fees. Encouraged by this, Nemu-kun and the others. They added newly minted dungeon ability users to their group, and for a while, things were great.

But, such good times couldn't last forever.

The second dungeon stampede happened, and the dungeon they used as their base was crushed by the Self-Defense Forces. Then they found themselves struggling terribly to maintain the organization they had pointlessly grown too large.

Maybe they still thought they could manage, or maybe they couldn't forget the good old days. Unbelievably, they tried to satisfy their own desires by expanding the organization further.

Namely, they imposed high membership fees on new recruits, and gave money from that to those who brought in new members, using a pyramid scheme-like method to forcibly increase their numbers.

But, doing that openly would make them stand out too much.

So, they disguised themselves not as Crimson, but as the volunteer group 'Momiji-kai,' and that's how things have continued until now...

(Hmmm. So that's why, when I first saw them, Serai-san's friends looked at them with such dislike...)

But from Serai-san's perspective, the one behind such aggressive recruiting is her ex.

Feeling sorry towards her local friends, Serai-san wanted to create a counter-organization, saying, "I'm already part of this group, so don't try to recruit me anymore," hoping it would act as a deterrent.

However, that didn't go well.

Well, the other side is an organization of dungeon ability users. Creating an organization to oppose them is like picking a fight from their perspective. That's why everyone was scared, and no one stepped up to be the leader of such an organization.

But, well, that's understandable.

If the other side is a group of dungeon ability users and we're just ordinary people, that power gap can't be overcome. And with the nearby dungeon gone, we can't become dungeon ability users ourselves either.

Add to that the fact that Serai-san, the one leading the charge, wouldn't be staying in the area forever, it's no wonder her friends hesitated.

But the bad part is that news of these moves reached the other side, and combined with the discovery of the meat theft, the situation escalated dramatically. "We're not the bad ones! The bad ones are those hoarding the food!" they said, and now they're coming to attack us.

"Hmmm, so that's how it's become..."

"...Yeah"

He didn't mention that part, Sasayama-san... Well, he did say it 'went off.' But still, doesn't it seem like things have gotten really awful somehow??