"Oh my..."

"...Lilia, you look happy."

"At the very least, my life here is just as fulfilling as my days as an adventurer. I’m truly grateful to Tetsuya."

"Lilia..."

Hearing her say that directly makes me incredibly happy as someone who has been running this shop with her all this time. Maybe it’s not exactly the same as her days as an adventurer, but it seems like she’s satisfied with her life at the shop.

"Hehe, thank you for the meal. I’m glad Lilia has found a wonderful man. To think that she’s married!"

"...Marriage is enviable."

"Married!?"

What on earth are these two saying out of nowhere!?

"W-w-w-what are you saying! I-I’m not married to Tetsuya or anything like that!"

"Oh, is that so? But Rizac, the Adventurer Guild Master, told us otherwise..."

Seriously, Rizac!? What on earth are you telling these people!?

"...He said the two of you live together in this shop."

"I-it’s true that I usually stay here, b-b-but that’s only to protect Tetsuya! It’s absolutely not because we’re married or anything like that!"

"Suspicious."

"...Very suspicious."

Lilia’s face turned bright red as she tried to argue, but the way she’s denying it might actually make them misunderstand even more.

"As Lilia said, we’re not married. I lack any combat ability, so she stays here for my protection. Besides, there’s another employee who also stays here."

Well, Lange only stays half the time over a two-week span, but still.

"Oh, is that so?"

"...I see."

Berna and Ferry looked visibly disappointed. At least they don’t seem to have a bad relationship with Lilia. That said, I’ll definitely have to say something to Rizac the next time I see him.

"...Ferry, what do you think?"

"...Lilia’s emotions are easy to read, but the store owner here is harder to figure out."

"...There are also beautiful and cute employees around. It seems like Lilia has her work cut out for her."

"...Agreed."

Berna and Ferry were whispering to each other about something. I’d like to believe they weren’t badmouthing me right in front of my face.

"S-so, why are you two here today? I’m very happy you came to see me, but that’s not the only reason, is it?"

Lilia clearly tried to change the subject, but honestly, I’m curious about their reason as well.

"That’s correct. It’s true that we came to this town to see Lilia, but we have another reason as well. This one is a request for Tetsuya, the manager of this shop."

"Yes, what is it?"

"We would like to purchase a large quantity of compasses sold at your shop."

"Compasses, you say? When you say a large quantity, how many exactly are we talking about?"

"We’d like to purchase at least 100, and if possible, as many as you have in stock."

100, huh? That probably means it’s not for personal use. But since they’re adventurers, it doesn’t seem like they’re planning to resell them either.

"At this shop, we have a purchasing limit on items. May I ask why you need such a large quantity?"

Our shop imposes purchase limits on most products. Even if they are A-Rank adventurers and acquaintances of Lilia, I can’t just agree without understanding the situation.

I’d like to be flexible, but with over 100, I need to know their reason.

"Of course. We intend to use the compasses for dungeon exploration."

"Dungeon exploration!?"

What’s with this heart-pounding phrase! So there are actual dungeons in this world!

"Tetsuya, are you familiar with dungeons?"

"No, I don’t know much about them. Could you explain, if you don’t mind?"

"Of course. Although dungeons are still shrouded in mystery, I’ll explain what I know. Dungeons are a general term for labyrinths that appear underground. They tend to emerge in areas rich in magic, though the exact conditions for their appearance remain unknown.

Their scale varies widely, from 10 floors to as many as 100 floors. Monsters appear within the dungeons.

If you defeat the dungeon boss at the lowest floor, a treasure chest containing rare weapons, armor, and other items appears, and the dungeon disappears. These treasures can fetch over 10,000 gold coins at auctions."

"I see."

It seems the basic setup is similar to the dungeons from games in my previous world. 10,000 gold coins... That’s about a hundred million yen. Dungeon exploration does sound like it holds a lot of promise.

"If the materials from the monsters within a dungeon are valuable, people sometimes choose not to conquer the dungeon and instead keep it intact."

I see, so they can also serve as tourist attractions if the monster materials are valuable.

"Recently, a new dungeon appeared near the royal capital. However, it doesn’t have such material value, so the kingdom has decided it should be conquered as soon as possible. If left unchecked, dungeons can overflow with monsters."

"I see."

Ah, so it’s the classic "Stampede" scenario. If that happened in the kingdom’s capital, it’d be catastrophic.

"This dungeon has particularly large floors. Some levels have numerous rooms, while others are vast, open areas like deserts or forests with no landmarks in sight. That’s why these compasses are so essential!"