Please to Kitsune-sama!

First, she needed to confirm what the current era was like. And then… there was the matter of money. Right now, Inari Kogami didn’t have a single coin to her name. If there was a way to earn an income nearby, she’d need to establish a foundation to live independently. After that…

“Dungeon… status… What hath happened to the world, and whose doing might it be…? Mayhap ‘twould be worth investigating.”

Seeing Aoyama off, she stepped out of the elevator—and was met with a space that, by her standards, was astoundingly vast.

The ceiling was high, the floor wide, and counters lined up as far as the eye could see. The number of people bustling about far exceeded the entire population of her village during its most prosperous days. People walked back and forth in armor or robes like Maruyama and Takai, swords at their waists and shields on their backs.

“Umu… What a ridiculous sight this is…”

Upon exiting the elevator hall, she found herself in a massive lobby filled with a warm and noisy crowd. It seemed the air conditioning had given up under the sheer number of bodies. And then, a wave of gazes turned in her direction.

“Fox ears…”

“Wait, a tail?”

“Who is that girl? She’s so cute…”

Hearing the murmurs directed at her, Inari’s ears twitched reflexively—only drawing more attention and excitement from the crowd.

“They moved!”

“Wait, is that… an artifact or something…?”

“I want one…”

“Aye, I hear every word… Still, again with this ‘arteefakt’ nonsense. ‘Tis spoken of as if anything is possible. This… is a form of faith.”

Yes—what she felt from the crowd was an unspoken belief: If it’s an artifact, anything is possible. They spoke as though the impossible was no longer strange, as though miracles could be manufactured. It was, in essence, a kind of modern-day worship.

“I suppose I’ll have to look into that as well, one day… But for now, I shall let it be.”

At the very least, whatever this “system” was, it was clearly capable of enforcing its rules even on someone like her—meaning its authority was above her own. And it appeared to be the one granting humans power to resist dungeons. Artifacts were likely part of that same phenomenon.

Still, regardless of what it was, Inari herself could do nothing about it. If this was how the world functioned now, then interfering recklessly could mean breaking the world itself.

“Now then… I believe I was asked to help with dungeon clearing, was I not?”

She had no idea where said dungeon might be, so she’d need to ask. But where? And who would she ask? People were clearly watching her, but could she just talk to them? Well—there was no choice but to try.

“Excuse me, might I borrow a moment of thy time?”

“Kyaa!!”

“She’s so cute!!”

“…What?”

“Can I touch them!?”

“She’s so tiny and adorable! Wait—how old are you!?”

“W-Well… I suppose ‘tis fine…”

“Yay!!”

“Whoa, these ears… they feel amazing...!”

After getting petted and fawned over for a while by two Awakeners who eventually left looking satisfied, Inari realized something unfortunate.

“This… this is no good at all! I got not a single answer from that!”

Looking around, she noticed the people in the lobby seemed to fall into two broad categories: those wearing matching outfits, and those who didn’t. She recalled that such attire was called a uniform—usually indicating affiliation with an organization. In this case, likely the staff of the Awakener Association.

“Excuse me, thou over there. Might ye be a staff member of this Awakener Association?”

“Eh? Ah—yes! How can I help you?”

“I see. I wish to ask about the location of a dungeon.”

Hearing this, the staffer looked genuinely surprised.

“Wait, are you… planning to go on a dungeon run?”

“Aye. Is there aught wrong with that?”

“No, not at all, but… for white card holders, we strongly recommend forming a party. Dungeons are dangerous, after all.”

“Party, hmm…”

Inari frowned a bit. Forming a party sounded fine on paper, but could strangers really coordinate that easily? As if sensing her doubt, the staffer hurriedly added.

“Ah! There’s no need to worry! We have beginner-level dungeons, and guilds can match you with others to ensure a balanced team. Please leave it to us!”

“Umu…”