“How about we all go out for some yakiniku?”
I casually suggested the idea to everyone at the office.
It seemed like a good way to strengthen our bonds or perhaps as a part of workplace perks.
“Oh, sounds great, Eito-kun! Of course, the office is footing the bill, right?”
“Obviously. I wouldn’t dream of being stingy enough to charge the office staff for this.”
Sakiya was immediately on board. I wondered what the others thought.
“Sounds good to me, Kageno-san. We’re all risking our lives together. Building trust through this kind of interaction is important,” Shiba added.
“I’m with Shiba-kun on this,” Daigo agreed as well.
“Yakiniku, huh? I’d love that. Back when I played soccer, my coach used to treat us all the time,” Ikezawa chimed in, reminiscing.
“Alright, sounds like a unanimous decision. Let’s make it happen,” I concluded.
And so, the members of the Shadow Stars decided to go out for yakiniku.
◇
When we arrived at the restaurant, we took seats around a table. The staff lit the grill in the center of the table.
While waiting for the grill to heat up, we started ordering through the touch panel.
“Shall I just order a bunch of stuff to start?” I asked for everyone’s input.
“That sounds fine for now,” Daigo gave his approval, so I placed a hefty order. With five grown men, we’d likely eat a lot.
I ordered a generous amount of staples like karubi (short ribs), rosu (loin), harami (skirt steak), and tan (beef tongue). You can’t go wrong with those.
“What about drinks?” I asked.
“I’ll take oolong tea.”
“Cola for me, please.”
“Lemon squash for me.”
“I’ll go with Calpico.”
I entered everyone’s drink orders into the touch panel. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the food and drinks to arrive.
“I’ve ordered the yakiniku and drinks, so if anyone wants side dishes, feel free to order them yourselves,” I informed the group.
“Got it!”
Before long, a cat-shaped delivery robot brought the yakiniku to our table.
“Look at that, it’s here! Let’s get grilling,” I said, taking charge of cooking the first batch of meat.
While the meat sizzled, Sakiya spoke up.
“There’s something I’ve been curious about for a while. Mind if I ask?”
“Go ahead,” I replied as I turned the meat.
“Shiba-san, your eyes are red, right? That’s because of the dungeon, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I got them red from lack of sleep or swimming in a pool,” Shiba joked lightly, before Sakiya continued.
“I was wondering if staying in the dungeon for so long might cause some changes in my body too.”
“The effects of the dungeon’s magic vary from person to person. My hair, for instance, turned from black to blond because of it,” Daigo explained.
“Wait, what? I thought you dyed it!” Sakiya looked stunned at this revelation about Daigo.
Daigo, known for his unique eyes, also had abilities as a dungeon streamer that allowed him to see specific talents in others.
“Some dungeon streamers experience physical changes over time, while others don’t,” Shiba added.
Shiba’s red eyes and Daigo’s blond hair were examples, while Ikezawa had undergone a change in his throat, allowing him to infuse magic into his voice.
“Hmm… Daigo-san has his special eyes, and Kaito-kun has his enchanted throat,” Sakiya mused, glancing over at Shiba.
“Shiba-san, do you have any unique traits like that?”
Now that he mentioned it, I’d never seen Shiba display any specific abilities. Sakiya, on the other hand, had his own skill of absorbing sword magic.
“Well, I don’t have anything like that at the moment,” Shiba replied casually.
“Really? Even after spending so much time in the dungeon?”
“Hey, Sakiya, that’s rude,” I stepped in, reprimanding him.
“It’s fine,” Shiba chuckled. “I don’t mind. Even without special abilities, I’m already strong enough as I am.”
The composure Shiba-san displayed was almost regal in its confidence. Truly, this must be what it means to be an adult.
“Besides, the fact that I haven’t awakened any special abilities yet might mean I will someday. That just means I’ve got room to grow.”
Not only confident but also incredibly optimistic. It made me want to emulate him, to aspire to become an adult like him.
Having someone like Shiba-san as a role model nearby might actually be a blessing.
“What kind of ability would you want if you were to awaken one someday, Shiba-san?”
Sakiya casually asked Shiba-san, who thought for a moment before replying.
“An ability to redo the past… I suppose.”
“Huh?”
Shiba-san’s tone suddenly shifted, sending a chill through the air.
The thought of a past Shiba-san wanted to redo created an unspoken tension that made us all hesitate to probe further.
“Just kidding. Everyone has one or two things in their past they’d like to redo, right? If I could, I’d go back and make a fortune betting on horses,” he said with a playful smile.
True, if you could redo the past, you could easily profit from things like horse racing.
“Hey, Daigo-san, can’t your ability see what kind of special ability Shiba-san might awaken?”
Ikezawa asked Daigo-san curiously.
“My ability doesn’t work like that. I can only see the general direction a person’s potential is likely to grow in, not specifics about special abilities,” Daigo explained.
“I see. Guess it’s not that convenient,” Ikezawa sighed.
In truth, Daigo-san had seen Ikezawa ’s potential as a buffer, but he couldn’t predict that his voice would develop magical properties.
“For instance, even if someone doesn’t have great natural potential, they can compensate with a powerful special ability. My ability might overlook people like that,” Daigo admitted.
That could indeed be a problem when trying to recruit good talent.
Still, someone like Shiba-san, who had exceptional baseline abilities and could fight effectively even without a special ability, was an incredibly reliable asset.
Meanwhile, people like Sakiya and Ikezawa , whose foundational skills were less developed, could compensate with their unique abilities.
In the end, I suppose the lesson is to evaluate potential business partners on your own judgment.
“By the way, I have something on my mind. Can I ask?”
“What is it now, Sakiya? You’ve got questions for everything, don’t you?”
“What’s wrong with that, Eito-kun? Asking questions is the first step to discovery,” Daigo-san chimed in.
“Fair point,” I agreed.
Sakiya, unexpectedly, struck at a universal truth.
“Daigo-san, your ability allows you to see someone’s aptitude for dungeons, right? So, if Eito-kun were to become a dungeon streamer, could you tell how well he’d do?”
“Ah, I hadn’t thought about that. I’ve never even considered how well I’d do,” I said, surprised.
I’d always been focused on working behind the scenes and had no intention of entering the dungeons myself. I never even entertained the idea of having hidden potential.
But what if I did have incredible, untapped talent?
That would complicate things. If I were capable in the field, I might have to consider switching from behind-the-scenes work to on-site operations…
“Eito-kun’s aptitude? It’s about on par with Lena-tan,” Daigo-san said flatly.
“Uh… what?”
Those words hit harder than anything else I’d heard this year. Turns out, I had no talent for being a dungeon streamer.
But, well, that’s fine. I didn’t plan on entering dungeons anyway. Whether I had talent or not didn’t change my plans.
Even as I told myself this, I couldn’t ignore the sting of reality—talent is always better to have than not. That’s just how the world works.
