After Shiba-san and Yukiya’s stream ended, I decided to grab a meal with Yukiya at a family restaurant.
Of course, it was on me—or rather, I’d be expensing it under the guise of a business meeting.
“Ah, thanks, Eito-kun. I appreciate the treat.”
“Don’t worry, it’s all covered. Just remember, we’re still doing a proper meeting here.”
“Sure thing!”
While Yukiya placed his order on the touch panel, I took a moment to reflect on the day’s stream.
The thing that stuck out the most was when Yukiya hesitated to finish off the monster. I mean, if I were told to hunt down a monster that looked like a rabbit, I’d hesitate too. Sure, people say everyone has a violent side, but for those of us living in modern Japan, we’re pretty detached from that kind of brutality.
Taking the life of a creature that resembles a mammal out of the blue? Not something I’d want to imagine.
“Yukiya, you feeling okay? Think you can eat?”
“Huh? Why do you ask?”
“Well, if you’re not worried about it, that’s fine. Just… you did take down quite a few monsters.”
At that, Yukiya’s hand paused, his finger hovering over the touch panel. He looked down, his expression growing serious.
“Ah, right, that. Just thinking about it now makes me a little queasy…”
“Whoa, are you okay, Yukiya?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Just glad it’s before eating—if it were after, I might have lost my lunch.”
“Ah, my bad. I didn’t mean to bring it all back up.”
I’d meant to check in on his mental state, but it seemed to have backfired, bringing up things he was trying to forget.
“It’s fine. It’s not your fault, Eito-kun—just my own lack of mental toughness.”
“Still, I did bring it up unnecessarily…”
“No worries, really. Maybe it’s for the best. I can’t just pretend to forget it; I need to deal with it head-on. There could be times when I’ll have to eat in the middle of a dungeon run, so I need to get over it—I can’t just not eat after taking down a monster.”
“Yukiya… you’ve actually been thinking this through.”
I was genuinely impressed. I’d always thought of him as a bit shallow and carefree.
But Yukiya wasn’t a kid anymore. He was growing up, becoming his own man.
“Wow… Yukiya. Honestly, I was worried you might not make it on your own in the dungeon, but maybe you would have been fine from the start.”
“No way, Eito-kun. If it weren’t for Shiba-san, who you introduced me to, I might have messed up and had to bow out on the first stream.”
I couldn’t disagree. Shiba-san’s reliable presence was indeed reassuring.
“Thank you for waiting. Here’s your chicken stew.”
“Ah, thank you very much.”
Yukiya accepted the dish from the server: chicken stew with a side of baguette, looking delicious.
“Oh, I need to place my order too.”
I went with the hamburger steak to complement his stew.
“Eito-kun, what should I do with these materials I got?”
“Well, I’ll hold onto them for now. If they’re suitable for your gear, I’ll have a craftsman turn them into equipment. If not, we’ll sell them as-is. You don’t have connections for that, right?”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Yet you were ready to jump into being a dungeon streamer without knowing what to do with materials?”
Then again, I didn’t have my own direct contacts yet either; I was still relying on Shiba-san’s introductions. Eventually, I’d have to build my own connections and strengthen our office’s network.
“Then here you go, I’ll hand over the materials.”
Yukiya passed me the materials he’d obtained. Shiba-san had the materials from the treasure chest, so I’d need to check with him later on how to handle them. After all, as a member of our agency, he no longer had complete freedom with these things.
It made me feel a bit bad, honestly, like I’d robbed him of his independence.
Shiba-san was already a highly capable dungeon streamer, someone who didn’t need my support at all. If anything, he was the one supporting us.
“Sigh…”
“Something wrong, Eito-kun?”
“I just feel down. I haven’t been able to offer Shiba-san any real benefit yet. Right now, it feels like I’m just a burden holding him back.”
“It can’t be helped. You’re still young, with no experience in the workforce. You need someone to lean on to grow.”
“I know, but I started this agency, so it feels awkward to be relying so heavily on one of our own streamers.”
“Shiba-san doesn’t seem like he’d be bothered by it.”
“Maybe, but I don’t plan to depend on his kindness forever. I want to be able to support him someday.”
With renewed determination, I envisioned a future where our agency, Shadow Stars, would be a source of strength for Shiba-san.
In that way, I could give back to him. A partnership where we both support each other—without that, things would eventually fall apart.
“Thank you for waiting. Here’s your hamburger steak.”
“Thank you very much.”
The sizzling hotplate with the hamburger steak looked fantastic, accompanied by carrots and potatoes.
“By the way, Eito-kun.”
“Hmm?”
“For now, is it just me and Shiba-san as your streamers?”
“Yeah. I’m searching for new talent, but I haven’t found anyone willing to join.”
“I get it. Honestly, I only joined because it’s you, Eito-kun. Many dungeon streamers enjoy their freedom, and the idea of being tied down in an agency sounds constricting.”
“Wow, just saying it outright, huh?”
“Yep. I think a lot of dungeon streamers feel that way. They go into it for the freedom or the thrill of making it big; few are in it for stability.”
“True enough. Being in an agency does mean more stability, but at the cost of some freedom.”
“Right—it’s all about balance.”
Yukiya’s perspective as a dungeon streamer was surprisingly insightful.
“So, Yukiya, what kind of agency would you want to join?”
“One that would let me do my own thing freely, of course.”
“But an agency is an organization, so there will always be some limits on freedom.”
“Right, the whole freedom-with-responsibility thing. Still, it’d be reassuring to have that kind of support if something happened.”
“Yeah, as an independent streamer, the responsibility falls entirely on you. I hadn’t considered that perspective.”
Yukiya’s thoughts on balancing freedom and responsibility gave me a lot to think about. It might actually help to structure our agency’s messaging around that.
