Chapter 5: Dungeon Diving Is the Mark of an Adventurer
“Isn’t the carriage moving kind of slowly?”
“Not at all. Besides, you’ve been busy lately, so isn’t it fine to take it easy for once? I’ll make some tea, so wait here. Kuro, could you prepare the new sweets you picked up in the royal capital?”
At Ryoji’s words, Melta smiled gently and made the suggestion. It had been about a year since he’d come to the other world, and although the memories of those turbulent days came to mind, he watched Melta move about efficiently and felt a little odd.
“Ah. Yeah. I’ve been busy recently. It might be nice to relax once in a while. Carena, why don’t you sit down? Let’s have the new sweets Kuro bought in the capital together. Melta, if you make the tea… hmm? Sometimes you could—together? Wait, Melta? Weren’t you supposed to be staying behind? Where were you?”
“I was hiding in the annex room.”
When Ryoji asked why Melta, who was supposed to be staying behind, was here, she stuck out her tongue a little and answered.
“What about the castle duties? I headed to the dungeon feeling reassured because Melta was at the castle.”
“Is it a problem if I come along? I left all the castle duties to the assistant head maid. She needs to start studying to become head maid too.”
Melta looked up at him with moist, doe-like eyes, and Ryoji was left unable to say anything. He did, however, confirm something that had been on his mind.
“You’re changing the head maid?”
“Yes. If I marry Ryoji-sama, I can’t be head maid anymore.”
“Uh—oh. Right. Then she’ll have to do her best.”
When Melta said that while blushing, Ryoji smiled bashfully as well.
“I still want to know Ryoji’s true strength. Is he really that strong?”
“Of course! I’m definitely strong!”
Maybe because the carriage ride was boring, Laila decided to mess with Ryoji. With a little time to kill, Ryoji had the carriage stopped at the roadside, checked that there were no people or monsters nearby, and announced a break. He produced a table and chairs with earth magic and prepared drinks and food from his Storage.
He told the retainers who had come along besides Carena, Melta, and Kuro to take a break, then moved a little away with Laila.
“Are you going to show me how strong you are, Ryoji?”
“Yeah. For example, how about this? I can make a small fireball.”
“If it’s something like that, I can do it too. In the depths of the forest where the magic wolves live, the scouts said ‘Ryoji is strong,’ so I had expectations, but—”
“Fufu. Then how about this?”
Cutting Laila off mid-disappointment, Ryoji formed a lightning orb on his index finger. On his other fingertips he made an ice orb and an earth orb, and then a water orb and a fire orb. He fired them all at once toward the sky as if showing off to Laila.
“What—what is that!”
When the five elemental spells collided in midair, a thunderous boom echoed around them. The sudden explosion made the two guards who had been enjoying their meal rush over to Ryoji in a panic.
“Sorry! I was just showing Laila some magic. You can go back to eating.”
“That won’t do! We are the Count’s guards. We apologize for leaving our posts earlier!”
Ryoji smiled wryly at the two guards’ dead-serious apologies as they snapped to rigid attention. He then used earth magic to create the table and chairs and told them to sit.
“I get that you can use magic, but are you going to fight as a mage from a distance? If that’s the case, I’d be the only frontliner, right? Carena can use magic and Melta uses a bow.”
“Huh? My main weapon is a mithril sword, you know?”
“Eh? Then what was that magic show for earlier?”
Ryoji laughed at Laila’s question, pulled a mithril sword from Storage, and then started the real demonstration. He infused the blade with fire magic and began a sword dance, changing the element with each swing.
“Beautiful.”
Ryoji’s sword dance was so captivating that Laila couldn’t help but murmur the word, and even the guards who had been ordered to rest let out admiring voices. After a sequence in which he triple-stacked lightning magic, he thrust the mithril sword toward the sky and finished with a pose as if returning the lightning to the heavens. A satisfied sigh escaped him and grand applause erupted from around them.
“Oh. Since when?”
“As expected. That was very beautiful. Laila, did you understand Ryoji-sama’s strength?”
“W-well, not really. A sword dance and actual combat are different things!”
At Carena’s words, Ryoji looked at Laila. She, as if coming to her senses, blushed a little and looked away as she replied. Ryoji then proposed a mock battle.
“But… if you get injured, then dungeons are out of the question, right?”
“I have great news for someone like you! If you equip the weapon I made, the opponent will absolutely not be able to get injured! Normally I would never use the word ‘absolutely’! But! With this equipment I can say it without hesitation!”
“Then wear that and we’ll fight. I actually want to fight to see Ryoji’s strength. I’ll go easy on you, so don’t worry.”
When Ryoji—worried about her getting hurt—smiled wryly and took a pendant from his pocket, he handed it to Laila. She tilted her head and stared at the pendant she’d been given; it was clearly a first-class piece of jewelry. Around the elaborately designed rim sat a large magic-stone in the center.
“Hang it round your neck and say, ‘Magical Equip Transformation!’”
“Ehh? Ma-gi-cal e-quip trans-for-ma-tion?”
When she spoke the keyword, Laila’s body glowed and weapons attached to her arms and legs. Ryoji watched her with a face full of admiration, and answered Laila’s baffled questions.
“What is this? This equipment?”
“How’s it feel? It shouldn’t feel weird, right? You can fling cat-punches to your heart’s content!”
“It doesn’t feel weird, true, but…”
At Ryoji’s words she glanced at her hands and feet. Her hands had become small beastly paws, and with the original tail plus beast ears she now looked exactly as she’d imagined—a proper beast-person. Ryoji pinched his nose, looked up at the sky, and, satisfied, braced himself.
“Perfect. Now, shall we fight?”
“Huh? With this? Seriously?”
“You can use losing as an excuse if you want.”
“What?! There’s no way I’ll lose! If I do, I’ll let you touch my tail, Ryoji! I’ll even be your mate!”
Provoked by Ryoji, Laila lashed out, furious and brimming with confidence. Her declaration set the people around them abuzz.
“No. You can still back out. Take it back!”
“We can’t have any more bride-candidates.”
“If you say ‘I changed my mind,’ then we can call it off, you know?”
Stopped by Carena, Kuro, and Melta, Laila went bright red as if she were saying she was basically certain she wouldn’t lose.
“I will win, so don’t interfere! Let’s start, Ryoji!”
Glaring at Ryoji while staring at Laila, Carena gave the signal to begin.
“Are you sure about this? …Very well. Then, begin!”
“Huh?”
When Carena—sounding resigned—gave the signal to start, Laila froze, immobilized by the sight of a mithril sword pressed to the hollow of her throat. Not understanding what had happened, she stared at the mithril blade with a confused head and muttered to herself as if talking under her breath.
“Huh? Wait? What the—? Why? When did—?”
“Fufufu. That means I win, right? I can pet you as much as I want! Whoopee!”
“Wait a minute! That doesn’t count! There’s no way it’s fair—! The sword appearing at my throat the moment I look is just weird!”
“What? It’s my win!”
Ryoji grumbled in dissatisfaction at Laila, who was denying her loss with a flushed face. Everyone could clearly see it was Ryoji’s crushing victory, and protesting was pointless, but Laila, desperate, raised a finger at him and bargained.
“Th-then! One more! If I win, that earlier talk is off! But if you win again, R-Ryoji, you can touch my e-ears!”
“Alright. Let’s do that. Thank you for such a proposal that I regard as godlike. I shall devote all my body and soul to being your opponent.”
Ryoji, struck with mock enlightenment by Laila’s proposal, clasped his hands together in a priestly manner. He re-adjusted the mithril sword and wrapped himself in fighting spirit.
“Uu… This shouldn’t happen—”
Laila, elbows and paw-pads on the ground and head bowed, whispered in despair. She had been completely trounced by Ryoji, despite everyone urging her to stop, she had kept begging for rematches until she finally gave up after ten straight losses and broke down.
“Um, Ryoji-sama. I think Laila’s looking pitiful at this point.”
“She asked for a rematch herself, and in the world of contests you can’t just go easy. Not that I want to pet her to death or anything.”
Melta spoke to Ryoji cautiously about Laila’s dejection. Ryoji, who had been answering in an unusually polite tone, suddenly felt awkward under everyone’s scolding stares. He cleared his throat lightly and approached the completely fallen-spirited Laila.
“Sorry. Maybe I overdid it a bit. Have you figured out how strong I am?”
“U-uhh… I understand Ryoji’s strength well now. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
At Ryoji’s words, Laila wiped her tears and, sobbing, apologized before trudging back into the carriage.
“You don’t have to look like that. We’ll call off that bet.”
“I thought you’d be all like, ‘Yahaha! Mofu-Mofu!’ I’m relieved. Laila was getting way too pitiful.”
Before anyone else could say anything, Ryoji declared the match void, and a relieved “thank goodness” came timidly from Melta. Laila’s depression had the effect of sobering even Ryoji, and looking sheepish he led Carena, Melta, and Kuro into the carriage.
“What? Did you come to touch my tail?”
“Have you learned how strong Ryoji-sama is? Laila will just do as Ryoji says.”
“Kuro. That’s enough. About the tail—forget it. I was childish too. Don’t worry about this incident.”
Sensing Ryoji and the others entering the carriage, Laila hurriedly wiped her tears and forced a smile as she spoke. Hearing words that did nothing to cover for Kuro, Ryoji gave a wry smile and declared the match void.
At that, Laila showed a momentary relief, but then remembered it had been her promise and spoke up to Ryoji.
“That won’t do. It was my promise. This is a little embarrassing, so… um. I’ll go back to my original form.”
In a timid voice she began a short chant. By the time the incantation finished, her body shrank and she ended up in the form of a wolf. Ryoji, who had been watching that transformation intently, murmured in awe.
“Oh—she’ll transform right in front of me.”
“Only for Ryoji, okay? I’ll only show my transformation to Ryoji. Melta-san, Carena, and Kuro-chan are girls, so that’s fine, but… could you groom me?”
Lying down in her wolf form, Laila made the request. Ryoji pulled grooming tools from his storage— a pin brush, an animal-hair brush, a rubber glove, a comb, and a scratcher— and used them in order.
“Mmm… what is this? No. It feels too good… Who is Ryoji, to have mastered grooming like this?”
“Heh heh heh. In my hands, anyone goes to mush!”
With a smug look and a brush in hand, Ryoji proclaimed that.
Three days after the mock battle with Laila, Ryoji and the others arrived at the town that housed the Deep Labyrinth. Since that day Laila’s attitude had completely changed—she clung to them at every opportunity and frequently demanded brushing from Ryoji. Enjoying the attention, Ryoji obligingly went along, and once Carena had finished arranging the inn and they entered the carriage, Ryoji was running a comb through Laila’s tail.
“She’s become quite attached to Ryoji-sama. Still, don’t you ever get tired of brushing her every day, Ryoji-sama?”
“The more you brush, the shinier her coat gets. Even when she’s back in human form her hair stays glossy! And look at this—Laila’s face looks so happy! Seeing a face like that makes me want to brush her morning, noon, and night.”
Watching Laila go utterly slack with bliss under the brush, Carena gave a wry smile.
“Since that day, Laila’s been in wolf form in front of Ryoji most of the time. Isn’t it only at meal times that she’s human?”
“Because Ryoji’s technique is amazing! It’s not just me—anyone would be captivated. If you ran a grooming shop in the forest where the demon wolves live, you’d have a line!”
At Carena’s words, Laila, still lying down, lifted only her face to answer. While the two of them exchanged words and Ryoji continued brushing, he leaned in and whispered a request to Laila.
“Even when you’re human, could I start brushing you then?”
“No, it’s still embarrassing, so no.”
Laila answered immediately, and though disappointed, Ryoji didn’t stop brushing. Carena watched them for a while.
“Did you come back to the carriage because you had something to do?”
“Yes! We’ve got the inn booked. Also, there’ve been reports of monsters in the Deep Labyrinth we’ve never seen before. There are already victims, so the guild is offering bounties to whoever slays them.”
“Oh? Monsters you’ve never seen before… like the royal-class you mentioned when we first met?”
“Royal-class? Like Mother?”
Laila, who’d been listening to Ryoji and Carena’s conversation, joined in.
“Huh? Feril is a royal-class?”
“Yes. A king wolf. Didn’t you know? Mother is the queen of the demon wolves.”
“Then won’t Laila become part of the royal-class too?”
At Carena’s question, Laila shook her head and denied it.
“Only those who sit at the top are called royal-class. If I become queen, then call me royal-class. It’s an honor that Ryoji is brushing the next royal-class!”
Saying confidently that she would be the next royal-class, Laila continued receiving the brushing. Ryoji watched her with a fond smile as he finished the final touches.
“Shall we move to the inn?”
Laila, watching regretfully as Ryoji put the grooming tools back into storage, began chanting and wrapped her body in a large towel. Once she’d returned to human form she picked up some clothes nearby and started changing inside the towel. Ryoji watched the faint show of the girl changing through the towel for a while, then suddenly got a thoughtful look and began tinkering with the transformation pendant he’d given her.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah. I added a function to the pendant. Try saying, ‘Magical Special Transform!'”
Ryoji, having poured magic into the pendant, handed it over with a satisfied look. When Laila spoke the keyword, she transformed into a pure white dress.
“Alright! Success!”
“Whoa! Wh-what? Why am I in a dress? Where did the clothes I was wearing go?”
“It suits you.”
As he spoke to Laila, who was flustered by the unfamiliar dress, Ryoji began to explain. He said he’d used spacetime magic to store the dress inside the pendant. The clothes she had been wearing were swapped and stored in the pendant. The pendant can hold up to three different outfits in total. Not just dresses, but everyday clothes and equipment can also be stored in it.
“This is incredible technology, Ryoji-sama.”
“Huh? Really? You think so, Carena? When I thought of it I thought it was awesome myself!”
“Can any equipment be registered? And how do you switch them?”
“If you hold the pendant and say the keyword, you can transform! After that, if it could self-clean and register items on its own it’d be perfect, right?”
“Did you prepare Laila’s equipment?”
“I didn’t prepare any equipment. Just the dress! I found a fabric that suits Laila and co-developed it with a clothing shop in the capital!”
Carena said that with a fond smile as she watched Laila fluster about in the unfamiliar dress.
“It really does suit Laila. It must have been expensive?”
“Nope. Not a single gold coin was spent, including the fabric!”
“Ryoji-sama, please learn some sense about money soon…”
When they arrived at the inn, Ryoji issued instructions. The knight guards were to merge with the Machikata Doushin and inspect the towns and villages while the party descended into the Deep Labyrinth. The coachman said he would return to his home village, so Ryoji handed him the baby castella he planned to sell and some spending money.
“Distribute them to the villagers and collect their impressions of the baby castella. This money is the fee for the investigation.”
“Such a large sum… This will help the village so much! Leave the baby castella survey to me!”
As the coachman was moved by Ryoji’s thoughtfulness, Ryoji handed pocket money to the knights, who watched enviously.
“This is for your drinking money, right? Use it after you join the Machikata Doushin. I gave you enough for a week’s worth of drinking, but do your duty properly.”
The knights, warned by Ryoji, accepted it with a wry smile and a salute.
“So, what are the characteristics of the monsters that appeared in the Deep Labyrinth? There’s a possibility they might be royal-class, but they’re totally unknown, right? Do you know which floors they appear on?”
“Yes. We know the floors they appear on. We gathered information at the Adventurers’ Guild and there have been sightings below the eighth floor. However, an adventurer who could reach the eighth floor was attacked by this monster and injured, so there was no way to confirm much.”
“That’s helpful. But I want to play out the usual template scene, so I’ll head to the guild myself.”
After Carena’s report, Ryoji announced he’d gather information at the Adventurers’ Guild personally, and he set off with Melta, Kuro, and Laila.
They arrived at the guild in the early afternoon. Normally many adventurers would be delving into the Deep Labyrinth at this time, but because of the monsters appearing below the eighth floor, attacks on the dungeon were forbidden until investigation teams could be formed. The guild was overflowing with people who had come to drink.
“Whoa. What a crowd. Where’s the reception? If I go to the very back—”
“Hey! This is the Adventurers’ Guild! This ain’t a place for kids like you! I don’t know which noble brat you are, but go back to your playground!”
A red-faced, hulking man stepped in front of Ryoji. He sneered down at the motionless-looking Ryoji, then, getting more aggressive, began to speak in a threatening tone.
“Hey, hey! You’re too scared to even make a sound at the sight of my size, huh? That’s why noble brats are no good! You got a pretty sister or some babe with you and call yourselves adventurers? You think you’re hot stuff? Hey! Say something!”
“Ah… Thank you so much.”
The hulking man, who had expected a rebuttal, stiffened when Ryoji simply looked up without arguing and expressed gratitude with an emotional look. The man, puzzled and searching Ryoji’s face with his eyes, watched as Ryoji began to explain with a beaming smile.
“Finally! After a year since I came here, to be accosted in such a textbook way at last! The lines are a bit uninventive, so that loses points, but it’s all part of the template—”
“Huh? I don’t get what you’re saying, but I can tell you were making fun of me! You’ve got some nerve! I’ll make you pay for insulting me, the one nicknamed the Rampaging Bull!”
As the hulking man finished speaking, he lunged to strike. Amid the jeers from the crowd and shouts from guild staff trying to stop it, everyone pictured Ryoji being hit and sent flying.
“Hey. Don’t mess with me.”
A low voice reached the ears of the huge man, whose face was painted with astonishment. He’d held back on the punch, but he never expected it to be caught by hand. And the right hand gripping his own wouldn’t budge no matter how he tried to move it.
“It—it hurts! L-Leave me go!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! What, you just start swinging at people all of a sudden?”
As the huge man and the surrounding adventurers fell silent at the furious outburst, Ryoji’s voice rang through the entire adventurers’ guild.
“You don’t start with a punch—you say ‘Step outside!’ first! Read the room! You’re big but are you empty-headed too? In the usual template you’d drag them outside the guild before you beat them up! Start over from back there!”
Ryoji said, tightening his grip on the huge man’s right fist until the man screamed, then ordered him to redo the scene. Confused and unable to make sense of it, the huge man took a step back and called out in a panic exactly as instructed.
“D-Don’t be stupid. S-Step outside!”
“See? You can do it when you try. Once it’s said like that, you have no choice but to go outside.”
“You were the one who told him to say it!”
There were small jeers from the crowd, but Ryoji, feeling pleased with himself, didn’t hear them and stepped out of the guild with the huge man. Those inside the guild were drawn out as if pulled, and a circle formed around the two to watch their exchange.
“This time I’m not going to hold back!”
“Yeah, yeah. That line’s acceptable. Are you the bull that just rampages around? Show me the power of that title.”
“The Rampaging Bull! I’m going all out!”
The huge man lowered his body and charged like a shoulder tackle. Ryoji took him in, created a little distance, then drove a blow into the man’s solar plexus that sent him writhing in pain.
“What are you doing, Ryoji-sama?”
Carena peered out as the huge man writhed. The crowd murmured at the appearance of Carena, famed B-rank adventurer and spirit’s beloved daughter, and when they realized Ryoji’s name they grew even more excited and began whispering together.
“Hey, that’s Carena, the spirit’s beloved daughter, right?”
“Carena just called him ‘Ryoji-sama’—could he be Ryoji, hero of Drugul?”
“Count Ryoji Uchino favored by King Marcel? I think his adventurer rank is B, right?”
At the surrounding commotion, the groaning giant realized who he’d been tangling with, and a chill far worse than the pain in his solar plexus broke out over his body in cold sweat.
“I’m truly sorry. I’ll never resist again. Please forgive me. I won’t go against Kuro-anego, Laila-neesan, Carena-san, or Melta-sama—please, I’m really sorry.”
The huge man, lectured by Ryoji and later joined by Melta and the others, pressed his head to the floor, shook all over, and kept bowing. Some of the staff nodded as if the apology was deserved, and not a few sympathized with Ryoji for having to put up with pretty women with strong tempers.
“Um… why am I the only one getting called ‘sama’?”
Melta’s question was met with averted faces and no quick answers. Turning away, Melta looked to Carena for help, but Carena had also turned her face. Laila trembled like the huge man, and Kuro had hidden behind Ryoji’s back.
“Ryoji-sama?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s fine. I’ll make sure he doesn’t disobey Melta… I’ll, uh, discipline him.”
Ryoji, asked again by Melta with a puzzled look, answered earnestly that he’d educate the big man not to go against Melta, all the while feeling a little afraid at the idea of scolding a beautiful woman seriously and pointing out every little thing she got wrong.
“Did you pick up any other information?”
“Yes. We’ve confirmed the locations of the adventurers recuperating. Shall we head there now?”
Ryoji nodded at Carena’s words and stood. The huge man timidly asked him a question.
“Um. What should I do?”
“Come to think of it, I never asked your name. ‘Rampaging Bull’ isn’t a title—give me your real name.”
“Uh. It’s not ‘Rampaging Bull’—it’s ‘Rampaging Mighty Bull’… N-No, that’s nothing. My name’s Betti.”
Betti tried to correct the mistaken title but Ryoji’s look said he understood perfectly, and he gave up and introduced himself with a resigned expression.
“Betti, guide us through the Deep Labyrinth. If you have party members, you can bring them.”
“Huh? Can we really come along too?”
“Yeah. If you need time to prepare, I’ll give you some advance pay.”
Betti answered cheerfully when Ryoji asked him to guide them the next day. When Ryoji handed over five silver coins, Betti ran off to find his companions.
“Then let’s go talk to the injured adventurers.”
“Uh… are we taking Betti into the Deep Labyrinth with us?”
Melta asked, and Ryoji nodded happily. He spoke about training Betti and his party until they could manage the Deep Labyrinth on their own, and about building a research facility aimed at product development if the monsters there yielded plentiful materials.
“I don’t know how deep Betti went, but if he has an epithet, he’ll be fine. If things get dangerous, I’ll take care of it.”
The group arrived at a sanatorium about ten minutes away from the guild and heard the adventurers’ symptoms from the director. Since there were more fractures and bruises than slashes, he said it was likely they’d been struck with a blunt instrument.
Even when they talked with the adventurers who’d encountered the monster on the eighth floor, all they could get was that it had suddenly attacked, so they couldn’t counterattack or even identify it—everyone had panicked and fled.
“A monster that uses a blunt weapon? Carena, any idea?”
“There are too many possibilities to say for sure… We’ll have to investigate directly.”
While Carena answered Ryoji’s question, an injured adventurer suddenly spoke up as if remembering something.
“When I ran away I threw a lantern at it. It flinched for a moment. I don’t know how useful that is, though.”
“No, that helps even a little. I’ll prepare some fire-attribute weapons. That was useful. I’ll cover the treatment fee as a reward for the information.”
Ryoji handed the director three gold coins as treatment fees and returned to the inn.
“Just to be safe, let’s make some fire-attribute weapons.”
“What kind of weapons?”
“Embed magic stones charged with fire magic into swords so that when you press the pommel the blade bursts into flames! And those magic stones that explode when thrown would be hard to pass up!”
“That does seem effective if the monster fears fire. But don’t we need time to make them?”
“No problem! I can make five by tomorrow. I can do about ten of the explosive stones too!”
“….Yeah. I’m scared of myself for letting that slide with a ‘because it’s Ryoji-sama’.”
As Ryoji cheerfully announced this, Carena sighed with an expression of resigned enlightenment.
“Good morning! Count! Thank you for today! See! I told you! I know the hero of Drugul!”
Betti and four companions stood in full gear in front of the Adventurers’ Guild. When Betti spotted Ryoji and his group, he shouted greetings loudly and boasted, but when Ryoji glanced at him for a moment, he walked right past.
“Count! Don’t ignore me!”
“Huh? Who are you?”
Seeing Ryoji act as if he didn’t recognize the clinging, desperate Betti for the first time, the four companions all rolled their eyes and began poking him in unison.
“Told you! I thought something was off! You can’t be friends with the hero of Drugul!”
“When we left the village you were talking big—‘I’ll stand at the top!’—but don’t lie just because it didn’t come true!”
“I heard you caused a scene at the guild! I told you to focus on getting treated for your injuries! What are you drinking? I told you not to drink because your habits are bad!”
“Stop it! It’s true! Count! Please help me!”
The four who had been scolding Betti looked at Ryoji and understood he was only teasing, but they continued poking him to give him a lesson for getting carried away.
“Sorry, Betti. I meant it as a little joke. Huh? Wait, am I the bad guy? It’s your usual behavior that’s the problem, Betti.”
“Yes. It’s Betti’s fault. According to what this guy told us, it’s ‘The hero of Drugul personally relied on me!’ He just got punished for getting drunk and making a fuss!”
When Ryoji asked one of Betti’s male companions, he learned that the five had been farmers from a southern village of the Reim Count’s territory and had become adventurers to try to make their fortune. They got along well and had been improving as adventurers, but they were exhausted by Betti’s terrible drinking habits; this latest commotion was just another headache for them.
“I see. So Betti has a drinking problem.”
“There’s no problem when he’s sober, though.”
Hearing the man sigh, Ryoji looked at Betti and saw him scratching his head with a smile, showing no remorse. With that utterly unrepentant expression, he decided with a beaming smile that he would make him quit drinking.
“Something wrong, Carena?”
“I’d like to see the weapons that were made by now.”
“Yeah. I’m curious too. Weapons Ryoji-sama made. I’m as interested as I am in sweets.”
At Ryoji’s prompt, Carena and Kuro asked with excited faces. While Betti and the others were guiding people into the Deep Labyrinth, Ryoji pulled the weapons from his storage and began to explain.
“First, the Flame Sword. Normally it’s an ordinary sword, but if you strike the pommel—how’s that? Amazing, right?”
Ryoji struck the pommel and the blade was swallowed in flames. In that state he did a light swing, then struck the pommel again to extinguish the flames and passed it to Kuro. Kuro did the same while firing questions at Ryoji.
“Is there a dagger version of this? And how long does the flame last? How many times can it be used? Price? Repair time?”
“O-oh. That’s a barrage of questions. The flame lasts ten minutes per activation. It can be used up to fifty times. When it runs out you’ll need to recharge it with fire-attribute magic. Price is undecided. After we finish the attack on the Deep Dungeon, I’ll commission Rainart. If it goes well, the Royal Magic Academy’s laboratory can mass-produce them.”
Ryoji answered, surprised at Kuro’s more talkative-than-usual tone.
“Next is this! Fire orb! See this string here? Pull this and throw it, and the same flames as a Fireball will erupt. Carena, since you can put out fires, try throwing it.”
“Huh? Me? All right. I’ll throw it at that rock over there.”
They had come up to a small hill where the Deep Dungeon lay. Carena, after a casual explanation of how the fire orb worked, nonchalantly hurled it at a rock.
“Eh!””Whoa!””What’s going on!””Fire! Someone put it out, quick!””Is this an attack?!”
The instant Carena’s fire orb struck the rock, an explosion echoed through the area. Startled adventurers drew their swords and rushed over in combat stances. Seeing that, Ryoji apologized to the assembled adventurers and explained that it was a trump card to use against the unknown monster.
“Sorry—”
“Both of you, reflect on your actions. Making loud noises around a dungeon is forbidden because monsters might come out. If Ryoji-sama weren’t a noble, the local lord, and a B-rank adventurer, you’d have been arrested without a doubt. Carena, you’re equally guilty for throwing it without checking.”
Melta was scolding Ryoji and Carena, who were kneeling in seiza. The rock where the fire orb had struck had been melted away, a clear demonstration of its destructive force.
“I didn’t know! I had no idea that making loud noises near a dungeon was forbidden. Carena should’ve told me!”
“I didn’t know either. I had no idea Ryoji-sama’s fire orb was that powerful. Ryoji-sama, you should’ve told me! It melts stone!”
Ryoji and Carena started passing blame, growing heated, and eventually ended up grabbing each other.
“What the hell! She’s kind of cute! Her hair and eyes are beautiful! She’s got a great personality! She takes good care of people! Being with her makes me happy! But that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want!”
“What is that supposed to mean! He’s so cool! Dependable! Skilled with a sword! Can use magic! Can develop magical tools and sweets! Being with him makes me feel safe! And just because he made me his fiancée doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want!”
“What is this?”
At first the adventurers had been enjoying Ryoji and Carena’s bickering, but toward the end it turned into blatant lovey-dovey bragging and the mood soured into embarrassed boredom. All eyes fell on Melta, who was forcing a strained smile.
“Can you two save the flirting for later? I’m… not jealous—wait, no. Ryoji-sama, a question: the fire orb’s power is so huge you can’t use it inside the dungeon, right? Couldn’t it cause a collapse and bury you alive?”
Ryoji thought for a moment at Melta’s words, then suddenly looked around, slapped his hand, and shouted,
“You’re right!”
“Did you only just realize that now?!”
The adventurers, overhearing Ryoji and Melta, all shouted at once.
Ryoji and Carena’s seiza ended after about thirty minutes. They apologized to the gathered adventurers, and the whole commotion was finally over. The building by the Deep Dungeon’s entrance housed a tool shop, a blacksmith, a first-aid room, and also served as a branch office of the Adventurer’s Guild. There was a bulletin board for posting quests, but it only bore a notice: “Currently, attacks on the dungeon are restricted!”
“Who’s in charge here?”
“I’m the one responsible today. You’re Count Ryoji Uchino, right? I’m Ove, the vice guildmaster. That was an impressive seiza you showed earlier. What are your plans for today? Coming to deal with the unidentified monster?”
The man Ryoji addressed was the person in charge. Ryoji apologized again for the fire orb and explained that he had come both to inspect and to attempt to clear the dungeon, and to investigate the rumored unidentified monster.
“It would help if you could hand the investigation over to the heroes of Drugul. A strong party fell to that unidentified monster, and we’ve been at a loss.”
“Ah. I heard about them at the sanatorium. Once their injuries heal, I’d like to ask them to take over management here—would that be alright?”
“They’re a party that operates out of this town, so I think they’d be happy to accept.”
Ove nodded happily at Ryoji’s words.
“I’m planning to descend right away, but about party composition—hm? Is something the matter, Carena? Do you have a suggestion?”
“Ryoji-sama. There are a lot of people this time, so shall we split into two groups? Ryoji-sama, please join Betti’s party.”
They brought up party formation, and Carena made a suggestion. Since there were ten of them, she said it would be more efficient to split up rather than all move together.
“Huh? So I’m supposed to look after those five scruffy guys?”
“They’re a purely physical-attack party, and if Ryoji-sama is there they’ll be safe, right? Or are you planning to toss a frail woman among five men when I’m the only one who can use magic?”
“Anyone who lays a hand on Carena, I’ll reduce them to charcoal.”
Ryoji accepted the proposal with a wry smile and decided they should split into two groups.
“Alright! Let’s head into the dungeon. How do you usually fight?”
“The two in the rear attack with bows to weaken them, then the three in front finish them off. We try to conserve arrows, so we run away until we find monsters we can farm.”
“I see. Then try using these.”
When Ryoji heard how they normally fought and handed them weapons, Betti and the others froze. In Betti’s hands was the flaming sword Ryoji had been describing earlier. The other two frontliners had similar swords, and the two rear guards were given quivers containing around fifty arrows each.
“U-um, Ryoji-sama. What are these?”
“Those swords won’t cut it in the lower layers. I’m lending these to you so get used to them while you can. Betti, take the Flame Sword. The two of you take the Frostflame Sword and the Thunderflame Sword. And despite ‘flame’ being in the names, they don’t actually produce flames.”
While everyone was still stiff from being handed expensive weapons they’d never seen before, Ryoji handed over a leather pouch.
“It has ten potions and ten mana potions in it. If you get hurt fighting monsters, don’t hesitate to drink one. Stick your hand in the pouch and imagine the potion you want and you’ll pull it out. Once this exploration is over, the pouch is yours to use as you like.”
“Is this—an item box? And one for each of us? Something as valuable as an item box for us… Ryoji-sama! I’ll follow you for the rest of my life!”
“Return the swords. I have another use in mind for them.”
Ryoji put them on notice, but Betti and the others were so thrilled to have an item box that they didn’t realize how outrageous a reward it was.
“Let’s keep moving!”
“”””Oh!””””
Carena’s shout was met by answers from Melta, Kuro, and Laila. Laila took the vanguard, Carena the rear, Kuro acted as a skirmisher, and Melta—who had the least combat experience—was placed in the middle.
“Five enemies coming from ahead.”
“Battle formation! Melta, if you see them, use ranged attacks.”
At Kuro’s voice, Carena gave the orders. At the same time, five dog-men appeared ahead. Seeing Laila and the others, the dog-men snarled and lunged.
“Melta! Shoot!”
Carena’s plan was orthodox: have Melta’s bow attack and her wind magic take the initiative, then Laila and Kuro close in for melee.
“I desire to burn down his enemies! Fire Arrow!”
“Huh?”
Responding to Carena’s voice, Melta fired her bow in mid-chant. The burning arrow hit the lead dog-man and the flames spread, enveloping all five. The dog-men cried out and rolled on the ground, and after a while they stopped moving.
“Nice!”
Melta gave a small jump with a guts pose. Carena, who had been staring in disbelief, snapped back to herself and asked with a surprised look.
“W-wait, Melta?”
“Yeah? Was that attack bad?”
“No, not that—what was that attack?”
Melta answered Carena’s near-shout. It was an attack method Ryoji had taught her while they were leveling together. She’d been told it was a state-of-the-art offensive technique. Power adjustment was still a work in progress. The usable elements were fire, lightning, and water—those were among the details she explained.
“Wait—three elements? And lightning too?”
“I was surprised too. Lightning-element users are pretty rare. He taught me during a hunt with Ryoji-sama.”
Carena resolved then and there to learn it herself; she hadn’t expected that lightning could be so easily gained by being taught.
“Watch how we fight!”
“Three monsters are heading this way, so this is perfect.”
When Betti said that, Ryoji—who had locked onto the approaching monsters in search mode—answered casually.
“Hey! Let’s show the Count our best side! If you see the enemies, you two shoot with bows. When they’re staggered, we go in and finish them—same as always, do your best!”
Two rear guards began loosing arrows at the three green wolves approaching from ahead. The green wolves, irritated at being detected despite their stealth, sped up and attacked. The rear guards couldn’t handle the speed and backed away to create distance. When the backs stepped back, Betti and the others struck the pommels of the swords they’d borrowed from Ryoji to activate their attributes, then slashed at the green wolves.
「What the hell is this?!」
A near-bewildered shout from the three frontliners echoed around them. They’d attacked as usual, but when they found no resistance, columns of flame and water and a pillar of lightning rose up and enveloped the green wolf. After a short while the pillars disappeared.
Betti looked around in regret over the fatal mistake of being stunned during combat, but everyone except Ryoji wore the same expression. The green wolf Betti had slashed was reduced to cinders, and the other two wolves had their wounds frozen shut, their fur standing on end — dead.
“Not bad. Next, the rear archers use arrows imbued with elements. I want to see how they behave in a dungeon.”
“…The sword the Count made is amazing, huh.”
The rear guard muttered in stunned awe at the weapon’s power, and Ryoji looked pleased.
Ryoji and Betti’s group had been exploring smoothly and reached the fourth layer. Ryoji announced a break, created chairs and a table with earth magic, set a pot of soup in the center, ladled it into bowls, and began handing them to Betti and the others.
“Hey. What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to eat? If you want bread I’ll bring some out. Need meat too? Ah — I see. Sorry! No drinks, huh.”
As Betti and the others froze, bowl in hand, Ryoji nodded as if puzzled and pulled white bread, skewered grilled meat, and fruit water from his storage, placing them on the table.
“No, no, no! Why are we having a fancy lunch inside a dungeon! What if a monster attacks!”
“Hm? There are no monsters around. Eat quickly while I scout. It’ll taste worse if it gets cold. Soup tastes better hot! Seconds are free, too.”
At Ryoji’s voice, Betti and the others hurried to sit, and started devouring the soup, bread, and meat. Their faces lit up at the warmth of the soup and the deliciousness of the meat, and they nearly fought over portions.
“Man. The Count’s obsession with food is terrifying. I never expected to eat a good meal in a dungeon.”
“Yeah. And I didn’t expect him to kill a monster in an instant just because it interrupted his meal.”
While sipping their coffee, Betti and the others recalled Ryoji from a little while ago. He’d suddenly stood, thrown his temper into Lightning Needle and annihilated them in an instant.
“The Count? Again?”
“Yeah. It interrupted my after-meal coffee. Can you go pick it up?”
When Betti asked, Ryoji nodded, and a giant appeared at the far end of the corridor. A three-meter-tall figure, nearly scraping the ceiling, its body composed of vines and branches.
“What is that?! A tree giant?”
“Whether it’s a wood golem or not I’ll check later. Don’t interfere with my meal!”
While Betti and the others stared in shock that a wood golem had appeared on the fourth layer, Ryoji took out a mithril staff, took aim, and gave it a light swing forward.
“Eeeeeek!”
Betti and the others’ voices rang through the dungeon. When Ryoji lightly swung the staff, a rain of light poured down over the wood golem’s head. Ten seconds later the rain stopped, and where the golem once stood, scattered lumber lay about. Without even looking at the fallen golem, Ryoji switched to scouting mode, confirmed there were no enemies nearby, returned to his seat, and resumed eating while commenting on the food.
“Hot soup is definitely better. I’ve got it! What about a pot with a fire-element magic stone fixed to the bottom to keep it warm? That way you could use smaller magic stones. Nice idea! I’ll push that off on Linarte… have him research it.”
“Count. It’s abnormal for unidentified monsters to appear on the fourth layer. Shouldn’t we head back soon?”
Betti timidly suggested they return while Ryoji, enjoying his meal and inventing a new magical item, replied.
“I’m planning to have you manage up to the fifth layer. I need you to keep an eye on everything up to the next floor, so do your best. By the way, I wonder if Carena and the others who went ahead of us are okay.”
“Eh? You really think that highly of us?”
He told Betti and the others they were being hired as managers, which fired them up, and after finishing their meal they prepared to descend to the lower layers.
“Alright! Things are going well. That item box Ryoji gave us is seriously amazing.”
“Indeed. It even holds every monster we’ve beaten in the dungeon.”
Carena muttered that as they finished fighting and kept watch, and Melta nodded in agreement.
“Do we keep going until we meet another unknown monster?”
“Of course! Let’s show Ryoji how much we’ve grown!”
Carena and the others were on the seventh layer, and as the two discussed their next move, Laila and Kuro came over to complain.
“Melta’s too strong. We never get to shine.”
“Melta, you’re overdoing it. We want to fight too.”
Up until now the fighting had been practically finished by Melta’s arrow attacks, and whenever anything survived, Carena would finish it off with magic. Laila and Kuro, who hadn’t had a chance to fight, had apparently reached the end of their patience and it finally exploded here.
“Sorry. I relied on Melta’s attacks way too much. Normally when you keep imbuing an element you run out of mana and you have to stop, but she’s carrying a ton of mana potions, so she never hit zero.”
“But those mana potions are almost gone. So I’ll hold back. From here on, take care of things.”
At Carena and Melta’s words, Laila and Kuro cheered up and nodded. After a short, simple break, just as the group prepared to move on, they sensed enemies approaching from ahead.
“All right. Laila and Kuro, handle the attacks. Melta, stick to normal bow shots and watch the situation! I’ll switch to bow attacks too and conserve my mana.”
“““Understood!”””
“How’s it looking? Are the monsters’ numbers dying down?”
“It might be tough. Melta! Fire a string of Fire Arrows at the monsters on the right! I want to buy time to pull back.”
Carena decided to retreat in response to Melta’s question. The fight was taking place in a large chamber on the 10th layer of the Deep Labyrinth, near where an adventuring party—now hospitalized—had been attacked by unidentified monsters.
“Got it! ‘I shall strike down that foe! Fire Arrow!’ Carena! My mana’s almost out! The mana potion’s down to the last one!”
Concentrating attacks on where the monsters were clustered to buy time, Melta’s Fire Arrow struck one of the creatures overflowing the chamber and a sea of flames rose up, throwing them into chaos.
Riding that confusion, Laila and Kuro used speed and sheer numbers of strikes to harry the monsters while waiting for Carena’s next orders.
“Kuro! Laila! Use Melta’s bow shots to throw the monsters’ rear into confusion! Watch the monsters and withdraw from the main chamber!”
““Understood!””
Seeing how little mana Melta had left and that quick action was necessary, Carena herself also cast spells to cover the retreat from the chamber.
“Seriously, what’s with the number of those things? No matter how many we kill, more just keep coming. None of the intel I gathered mentioned anything like this!”
“What do we do? Wait here for Ryoji-sama to get here? Or retreat and hurry to join him?”
Slightly frustrated, Carena asked while Melta downed the last mana potion.
“But there should be those unidentified monsters beyond that room.”
“Let’s report to Ryoji and go together. We made it this far—he’ll praise us. For some reason the monsters aren’t coming out of the room, either.”
“I thought the same. They don’t leave the room for some reason. If we’re going to retreat, now’s our chance. I’m tired too.”
At Laila and Kuro’s words, Carena—who’d wanted any scrap of information about the unidentified monsters—looked a little disappointed but began searching. Indeed, the enemies in the large chamber were wary of them, but showed no signs of leaving the room.
“All right! Let’s rendezvous with Ryoji-sama. Before that, everyone check your weapons and injuries, and fill your hunger with eating potions. No more resting until we meet Ryoji-sama! Don’t forget to hydrate—”
“Carena! Melta! Kuro! Laila! Are you all right?!”
As they were about to take out their eating potions during the brief rest, a loud voice called back to them from behind asking if they were safe.
“Kya! R-Ryoji-sama. J-just a… moment…”
“Thank goodness! You’re really all right! I saw you surrounded by a horde, so I rushed over!”
Ryoji barreled in and hugged them with relief all over his face. Carena, red with embarrassment, hugged him back. As Ryoji felt the tension snap away at the warmth of his body, sharp stares from the others pierced both him and Carena.
“Carena? How long are you going to be clinging to Ryoji-sama? Next it’s my turn, right? Ryoji-sama. I did my best too. It was rough. I was scared…”
“I’m glad Melta’s safe too! Are you really uninjured? Do you have any potions or mana potions left? I’ve got a hundred in this item box, I’ll hand them over.”
Melta threw herself full-force around Ryoji from behind. Sandwiching him between the pretty girl and the beauty, Ryoji felt their softness even through his armor and let out a long, grateful sigh as he confirmed they were all right.
“Ryoji-sama. I did my best too. Praise me.”
“I did my best too, you know. If you’re going to praise Kuro, praise me alongside her.”
With Carena and Melta still sandwiching him, Kuro began her plea for praise. Ryoji smiled and nodded as he ruffled Kuro’s head, and Laila chimed in asking to be praised as well.
“You knew I hated having my hair touched when I’m in human form, right?”
Ryoji, having absentmindedly patted Laila’s head, panicked and jerked his hand away. Laila answered, a little wistful and with a faint blush as she turned her head to the side.
“It’s fine for now. If Ryoji doesn’t mind, you can touch me.”
“There’s no way I’d dislike it. I’ll touch and pet without holding back. By the way, is the tail off-limits?”
“That’s embarrassing.”
As Laila answered while wagging her tail exuberantly after having her head stroked again, the noisy clanking of metal armor rang out.
“Finally caught up! Count! It’s awful to leave us behind like that! We’ve only ever made it to the fourth layer… What is this?”
When Betti and the others, who had been desperately trying to catch up with Ryoji, came into view, they saw Ryoji between Carena and Melta, patting Kuro and Laila’s heads. At the impossible display of flirting in such a place, Betti and the others collapsed to the ground as if deflated and, veins popping, protested to Ryoji.
“You suddenly shouted ‘They’re in danger’ and took off running. We thought we were dying trying to catch up, and then you were surrounded by beauties! We thought we were going to die! That’s awful!’
“Ha ha ha. Sorry, sorry. I saw Carena and the others surrounded by a horde of monsters, so I lost myself and ran. And this wasn’t on my orders — they were the ones who hugged me first.”
“That makes me even more mad.”
Betti answered with a fed-up look at Ryoji’s words, and the other four nodded with the same expression.
Based on the information Carena and the others had gathered, Ryoji’s group was considering rushing into the main chamber. When Ryoji checked with his scouting mode, monsters were concentrated in the center of the chamber and in the passage on the opposite side — it seemed nearly two hundred of them had gathered.
“What happened to the monsters Carena and the others defeated?”
“Defeated monsters? At first we moved them out of the way because they were a nuisance, but after they started mass-spawning we left them alone. Is there a problem?”
Carena tilted her head at the abrupt question and replied. Ryoji fell into thought, then looked up as if he’d noticed something, and realized that everyone’s gaze had turned to him.
“Aah. I heard a lot of monsters were killed, but I don’t see any corpses in that main chamber. Where did they go?”
At Ryoji’s words, everyone’s eyes shifted to the main chamber. Indeed, Melta’s magic had scorched the ground, but there wasn’t a single monster corpse.
“Also, from my scouting, the massed monsters are clustered, but separately there are monsters slowly heading toward the eleventh layer. Are they moving toward whatever unidentified creature is there?”
“It’s not a necromancer, right?”
Betti murmured in response to Ryoji’s remark. At the word “necromancer,” several glared at Betti with accusing looks.
Necromancers were ancient creatures that commanded the dead — when they were children they’d been told, “If you do something bad, the necromancer will come and take you away!”
“Oi! Betti! What are you saying! There’s no way a necromancer would be in the Deep Labyrinth!”
“Y-yeah, right. Sorry. There’s absolutely no way one would be here. I can’t believe I started talking about monsters back in the day. Let’s drop this.”
“Y-yeah! If you’re going to talk like that, I’m going home!”
When the objections to Betti came tumbling out in unnaturally loud voices, he cut off his words in a trembling voice. The only one with no knowledge of necromancers at all, Ryoji wasn’t particularly frightened — if anything, he listened to the conversation with excitement.
“That’s not just a template — that’s a textbook flag-raising conversation.”
Ryoji’s mutter went unheard by anyone, and the group discussed their plan while staying on alert.
“For now, I’ll storm the main chamber and wipe them out with a wide-area spell!”
“Rejected.”
“Huh?”
Melta swiftly shot down Ryoji’s high-spirited proposal. Carena, who had been watching Ryoji’s stunned face with curiosity at the speed of the response, asked Melta for her reason.
“Melta, rejecting is fine, but can we hear why?”
“Yes. I know Ryoji-sama could annihilate them in an instant. But you want to understand the force needed in case the same thing happens again, right? Also, I want to verify the combat strength of Betti and the others, who we plan to entrust with management, as guild members. And if Ryoji-sama wipes them out in a second, it’ll smash the other adventurers’ confidence to pieces, so please don’t do that. Understood, Ryoji-sama?”
As she explained to Carena why she denied Ryoji a solo rampage, Melta finished with a mischievous smile aimed at him. Ryoji gave a wry smile at her teasing and, shrugging, offered an alternate plan.
“Alright, when we storm the main chamber I’ll take the right flank, Betti and the others handle the front, and leave the left flank to Carena and the others. Got it? Think of this as deciding where you’ll get a job — fight like that. Surviving will count toward your evaluation. Don’t overdo it!”
“It feels a bit odd for Ryoji-sama to take the right flank all by himself… Betti and the others are in charge of the front, so please. No enemies will come from the right or left flanks. So please use every ounce of power you have!”
“Y-Yes! We’ll show them what we can do!”
At Ryoji’s suggestion, Carena nodded and turned to Betti and the others with a beaming smile. The sight of the beautiful girl smiling at them made Betti’s group forget for a moment that they were on the 10th layer and steel themselves anew.
“Charge!”
At Ryoji’s shout Carena and Betti reacted, and the rest of the party surged into the main chamber. The monsters there immediately went into defensive stance. They’d been trying to form a half-encirclement, but the attack on their right wing ruined those plans.
“Take this!”
Ryoji infused his mithril sword with lightning and let out a spirited blow that cleaved the monster in front of him in two. The instant the monsters’ attention turned to him, he fired two Fireballs each into the front and the rear of the left flank.
“Ryoji-sama! Don’t ignore the plan!”
“Sorry! My hand slipped.”
Ryoji apologized at Carena’s rebuke, then swung his mithril blade with abandon, cutting down foe after foe. Where his sword couldn’t reach he rained Lightning Balls and Water Balls, steadily whittling down their numbers.
“We can’t let the Count beat us! We’ll hold them—finish them off with the bowfire!”
“Got it!”
At Betti’s command the two frontliners charged at the monsters before them, switching to a defense-focused stance to prevent the line from collapsing. While the vanguard pinned the monsters, the two in the back began firing the elemental-infused arrows Ryoji had given them straight into the monsters’ center.
“Good! Nice work! Push through now!”
The thunder-water arrows that exploded in the center dealt broad-area damage, throwing the monsters’ coordination into disarray. Seizing the opening, Betti pushed her sword’s pommel to activate its fire attribute and executed a helmet-cleaving overhead strike, bisecting the monster she’d been trading blows with.
“Follow Betti!”
“Leave it to me!”
Inspired by Betti, one of the frontliners pressed his pommel to activate the ice attribute on his ice-flame sword and turned his opponent into an ice pillar. The one wielding the thunder-flame blade evaded an overhead strike, tapped his pommel to awaken the lightning attribute, cut as they passed, and then spun his wrist to deliver a slashing diagonal to a monster behind.
“Betti’s party coordinates well. We can’t afford to lose either! Melta, take the frontline monsters with a Lightning Arrow. I’ll follow up and throw them into confusion. Laila, Kuro, thin out whoever you can!”
At Carena’s instructions Melta notched an arrow, charged it with magic, and shot a monster square between the eyes as it tried to step forward.
“Perfect! Melta! ‘Spirit of the wind! Become a gale and sweep through! Wind Cutter!'”
Carena’s summoned spirit magic sliced off the left leg of a nearby monster. It couldn’t resist; its leg was cut away and it toppled sideways, off-balance. A green wolf that had been about to leap at Laila and Kuro got tangled in the fallen creature and was immobilized.
“Good. Focus only on the enemies right in front of us. Let’s cut their numbers fast! Kuro!”
“I know. Besides, I’ve killed more than you have. Laila can do it—go for it.”
With their instructions clear, Kuro and Laila used nimble footwork to toy with their enemies and dedicated themselves to thinning out the monsters.
“There’s something that’s been bothering me.”
“What’s the matter? We’re in the middle of a fight, Ryoji-sama!”
Ryoji had stored all the monsters from the right wing in his storage and, watching the situation, came over to Carena, who was handling the left. Carena, who under normal circumstances would have pretended to come support Betti’s front only to swoop in and steal their prey, tilted her head in curiosity as Ryoji approached and asked.
“Well… after smashing the right wing I was going to steal Betti’s prey—no, I mean, pretend to support them—but something’s been bugging me.”
“So you really were going to steal their kills. So what is it that’s bothering you?”
“Can you look at the monster by that door in the back?”
Carena glanced in the direction he pointed, a wry smile on her face. She saw a Wood Golem trying to run off. Some monsters do lose the will to fight and flee, but a Wood Golem, which only follows simple commands, shouldn’t be breaking off mid-battle.
“That Wood Golem’s carrying a bucket. Is it full of water?”
“It looks like it’s trying to carry off the Water from the Water Arrows and Water Balls we shot into it. I marked that Wood Golem so we can track it. How about we finish off the remaining monsters and keep an eye on it? Smash them quickly and take a short break.”
As Carena hesitated over Ryoji’s suggestion, Melta, who’d been watching their exchange, joined the conversation.
“Have Count Ryoji wipe them out at once so we can take a break.”
“What about checking Betti and the others’ abilities, or their pride as adventurers?”
“I already know Betti and the others’ skill. They’re fighting like they’ve forgotten this is the 10th layer. Up until now they were adventurers used to the fourth layer. If they can fight like this on the 10th, they’ll be fine. And as for their pride as adventurers — I think they kept it, given how they fought. So Ryoji-sama, feel free to annihilate them as you like. Also, could you store the monsters you defeat?”
Told by Melta that he could go wild as much as he wanted, Ryoji gleefully readjusted his mithril sword — and at the same time a scream-like plea for help came from Betti and the others.
“Count! We’re about at our limit! Support us!”
“It’s fine! You’re the kind of kid who can do it if you try! I’ll take care of the left flank first.”
Ryoji barely acknowledged Betti’s plea, stood beside Kuro and Laila, cut down the enemies in front of him, and stored them in his Storage. In less than three minutes he had annihilated them all.
Betti and the others were dumbfounded at Ryoji’s actions, while Carena and the others wore looks of calm acceptance. The room’s door closed the instant the last monster in the large chamber was slain. While everyone but Ryoji panicked, Ryoji stored the defeated monsters in his Storage and began washing the blood-stained floor clean with water-element magic.
“Alright! Now it’s clean. Let’s take a break.”
“Ryoji-sama? You can’t just ignore the fact you annihilated the monsters in an instant, washed the floor’s blood away with water magic, and completely removed the smell of blood. It’s fine! Because it’s Ryoji-sama! But seriously, creating a huge table and laying out dishes just because we’re taking a break — that’s a bit much!”
Carena blurted out as Ryoji started creating a table and enough chairs for everyone in the center of the room with earth-element magic, and began arranging light meals and sweets.
“Huh? But we said we were going to take a break…”
“Yes, but! There seems to be an unbridgeable gap between what adventurers and Ryoji-sama mean by ‘taking a break’! And put away that Anywhere-Shower magic item you’re trying to set up! If you use something like that, you’ll never be able to enter a dungeon again without a shower!”
Ryoji stood there with a bewildered look while holding the Anywhere-Shower, and Carena implored him in exasperation. Melta and Betti’s group watching the scene both nodded vigorously.
“Ryoji-sama, this is delicious. Bring out more.”
“Ryoji’s sweets really are amazing. Now I get why Mother was promised to get sweets once a month. I want to eat them once a month too.”
Kuro and Laila happily ate the sweets Ryoji had prepared. Ryoji beamed at their reactions and began pulling pancakes, mitarashi dango, ice cream, and potato chips out of his Storage and laying them on the table.
“….Since we have a break, let’s enjoy the food and sweets.”
Melta muttered with a tired look as she watched the heartwarming sight of Kuro and Laila, and everyone else chuckled and resumed eating. Betti’s group, caught up in the different kinds of snacks and sweets than before, forgot they were in a dungeon and were completely absorbed.
“Hm? The Wood Golem’s movement looks like it’s about to stop.”
“Was it marked earlier?”
“Yeah. Its movement seems to have frozen.”
At Ryoji’s words everyone tensed, but when Ryoji announced they would continue resting for a while, they relaxed and went back to their meals.
“It’s easy for us, but won’t the Count be the only one getting all the burden?”
After finishing their meal, Ryoji began explaining their plan from then on. He would annihilate enemies as he went and dash straight through to the Wood Golem. Everyone else was to stay alert to their surroundings and report anything they noticed.
“No problem! I’ll take all the good parts for myself!”
Ryoji answered Betti’s question calmly, handed over an item box from his Storage full of potions and mana potions, and told them to use them without hesitation.
“Alright! Let’s meet the lovely Wood Golem, shall we?”
Pulling out his mithril sword and speaking lightly, Ryoji started moving forward.
“Surprisingly easy to get here.”
The group arrived in the 12th layer, where the Wood Golem stood, after moving up from the 10th layer at once, and Ryoji looked a little disappointed at how few enemies there were.
“Weren’t there monsters from the 11th and 12th layers among those we defeated earlier? Betti and the others can be proud. You were active up to the fifth layer before, right? With your current ability, I think you could register as B-rank adventurers, the same as Ryoji-sama.”
At Melta’s words, Betti’s group cheered delightedly and began asking Ryoji to recommend them.
“Count! Please recommend us!”
“Hey, Melta. My rank is B, but can I recommend Betti and the others? More than that — the same rank as me? These guys?”
“Ryoji-sama is just a B-rank adventurer who hasn’t filed the paperwork. If you contact the guild, won’t you become S-rank? So please raise your rank first and then recommend him. By the way, how many slaying points does he have?”
Melta’s calling him S-rank put Ryoji in a good mood, and he checked his guild certificate for the first time in a while.
Certificate
Name: Ryoji Uchino
Occupation: Warrior
Rank: B
Slayings: 1,313,051 points
“Whoa, my slaying points have gone up a lot—1.31 million points. Huh? Under honors and penalties there are entries like ‘Duke of Sweets’ and ‘Princess Elena — secret fiancée’! What are those two!?”
Ryoji fussed to himself after checking the certificate, while Betti and the others stared in shock and whispered among themselves.
“Hey. About the count for the count’s slaying points. Didn’t he just read some numbers we’ve never even heard of?”
“Yeah. Our personal slaying points are like forty or fifty thousand, right? Even the whole party together is only around two hundred thousand.”
“Don’t even say it. It’s depressing.”
Ryoji composed himself and reached for the door, but he looked puzzled at the group formed in a circle. When he moved closer and pricked up his ears, the conversation about slaying points continued, and Carena was explaining to Betti and the others.
“The reason Ryoji-sama’s slaying points are so high isn’t just the total number; it also includes bonus points for defeating monsters like a two-headed dragon, Ox-Men, and a rampaging giant horned ox. We’ll report the point total to the guild. But is it really okay to make Ryoji-sama S-rank?”
“That’s way above our pay grade; I can’t follow it.”
“What are you talking about?”
When Ryoji asked Carena to explain, she started.
“From C-rank up, rank is decided by slaying points. The highest-ever slaying points in the SandStrom Kingdom for an S-rank adventurer is five hundred thousand points. In Drugul, their guildmaster—Ksenia, the Wyvern-Crusher—has three hundred thousand as an A-rank.”
“Then Ryoji is—?”
“At the very least S-rank, I think. Really, it’s strange that Ryoji-sama is still B-rank.”
Laila’s question was answered with a nod from Melta. Ryoji, who’d been listening, came up with a panicked expression and demanded confirmation.
“So B-rank jumps to S-rank? What about A-rank?”
“It’s a skip. They’ll skip A-rank. There’s no doubt about that. Is something wrong?”
Hearing Melta’s reply, Ryoji’s shoulders slumped in disappointment. Carena, worried, looked up sharply and their gazes met.
“If A-rank is skipped, that’ll cut down the rank-up festival by one!”
“That—! That’s what you’re upset about!?”
Carena shot back at Ryoji’s reason for being down, and he protested with a serious face.
“Of course! I don’t cling to ranks, but festivals are fun! Now that I have a fief, when there’s a celebration the whole populace can party together, right? And if it’s fun, there’ll be more smiles. It’ll bring energy. If Count Reim squeezed smiles out of the people, I’ll give them back! Huh? Why so quiet?”
Everyone stared as Ryoji rattled off his speech. When he tilted his head in confusion at the sudden silence and asked a question, Carena answered for the group.
“We were moved by Ryoji-sama’s words, and then we were waiting to see if you’d say something that would flip everything on its head.”
“Why would I do that!? I sometimes say really good things! Marco isn’t even here!”
Ryoji complained indignantly, and Carena smirked while asking a question.
“If Marco were here, what would he say?”
“Hmm? If it were Marco, he’d probably say, ‘You’re saying something sensible for once.’ Then I’d go, ‘See? When Marco’s not around, I’m serious!’ Something like that?”
“And immediately after that, Marco would whack you with a mithril paper fan.”
“Haha. Yeah, something like that. Now, back to business—let’s go see Wood Golem-kun.”
Ryoji had been enjoying the back-and-forth with Carena, but when he wrapped it up he put his hand on the door to the room where the Wood Golem was kept.
“You’re late! How long are you gonna do stand-up in front of the room? Seriously, give me a break!”
The moment the door opened and they stepped in, an irritated voice reached the group. They eyed the Wood Golem standing in the center warily, and another voice called out from elsewhere.
“Nope! Over here! Don’t ignore that big log—look at me!”
Turning their gaze toward the voice, they found a tiny Wood Golem, thirty centimeters tall, sitting primly.
“Huh? Should we just burn it for now? It’s been cold lately—”
“Yeah yeah. It’ll burn up quick! It’s dried wood right now, y’know. Bonfires are the best when it’s cold. Whaddya mean! Ask before you burn me! And don’t you dare burn me!”
“Oh… nori-tsukkomi. Not bad.”
“What the hell! What do you mean, ‘nori-tsukkomi’?!”
Everyone except Ryoji stood dumbfounded at the little wood golem rampaging in front of them.
“What the hell! Think about it — it makes no sense! Why are you guys doing manzai in front of the final boss’s room?! We were supposed to put the great Udo tree in the center, and shout, ‘Fuhahahaha! That’s a fake! Where are you looking?!’ — what are you gonna do about our plan?!”
The little wood golem stamped its feet and protested at Ryoji and the others. Everyone else froze from the sheer absurdity of it, but the golem’s complaint snapped them back to their senses and they assumed attack stances, weapons readied.
“Don’t. There’s no point attacking it. I can only feel a little mana — it’s just a speaker.”
“Oh? Looks like that young man noticed. When did you figure it out?”
Raising a hand to stop the group about to attack, the little wood golem explained it was being remotely controlled. Carena poked the golem with a puzzled look and asked a question.
“But, Ryoji-sama — it moves incredibly precisely, you know?”
“Not really. You’re being fooled by its looks; it doesn’t move as much as it seems. All the talking is coming from the real body.”
Ryoji offered his theory while jabbing the little wood golem. The small golem, being poked by the two of them, stayed meek at first but, when the force grew, swung its arms around to try to stop them.
“Cut it out! I’m getting dizzy! So when are you gonna answer my question?”
“Ah. When we entered the room there was something off — the wood golem that was supposed to be the Udo tree didn’t have a bucket.”
Ryoji answered with a light laugh, and the little wood golem sighed, raised its hands in surrender and admitted defeat.
“I don’t even know who you think you are, but if you show that kind of insight there’s nothing I can do. This body is being controlled from somewhere else, and because it’s small it can do fine motions with little mana. So what’ll you do? Go downstairs and slay me?”
“You’re the Dungeon Master, right? If we defeat you, what happens?”
At Ryoji’s question about the little golem’s words, an answer came back: it was the Dungeon Master of the deep labyrinth. Stunned by the truth about the small wood golem before them, Melta began to explain.
“From what I know, a core magic stone is embedded at the deepest part of the labyrinth, and the Dungeon Master guards it. If you defeat it and take out the magic stone, the dungeon’s functions will stop and eventually it will become ruins and collapse.”
“Ohh. That big sister over there really knows her stuff! Yep. Down below is the deepest part of the labyrinth. I’m guarding the magic stone in that room.”
The little wood golem nodded, arms folded, confirming the real body was in the deepest chamber.
“You wanna know why I’m here? That’s because I—”
“You aren’t going to say, ‘Because I’m a wood golem! I become wood!’ or something, are you? After all the funny tsukkomi work you’ve done already?”
Ryoji stole the line out from under it, and the little wood golem, mouth opening and closing, started to get angry.
“Hey! That’s something you absolutely mustn’t do! Snatching a boke away when someone else is doing it — as a comedian, that’s unforgivable!”
“What the hell! Don’t tell me that’s gonna stop a joke! You can’t become a world-conquering comedian by shutting down every little boke like that!”
Ryoji fired back in full-on Kansai dialect at the golem’s protest. The golem staggered back as if struck, then finally dropped to its knees and put its hands down.
“…Yeah. You’re right. That was my fault. Getting flustered and stopped by an amateur’s boke — that’s the worst.”
“That’s the spirit! I’ll support you, even financially — let’s conquer the world as comedians!”
“Really?! From now on I’ll call you ‘danna-han’— Lord— Wait. Ow. Wh-what?”
“Ow! Huh? Me too?”
As Ryoji and the little wood golem clasped hands and got carried away together, Carena and Melta gave them a light retort. A silver harisen smacked against Ryoji, and a short sword had sunk about ten centimeters into the little wood golem.[TN: Harisen sounds good but sometimes I like to use paper fan, just for a change]
“Ohhh… Hey! This is not okay! If this wasn’t me you’d be dead, y’know?”
“Mithril harisen really hurts, so let’s not go all out.”
“Alright, then — continue the story.”
Ryoji and the little wood golem’s feeble protests were cut down in an instant.
“The bucket’s in the deepest room?”
“Yeah. When I woke up after a long time, I was nearly withered. I sent the Udo great tree to fetch water, but somehow it kept bringing back monster blood, which caused all sorts of trouble. We’re weakened here too, so we couldn’t give clear orders. It was just a little while ago that I finally managed to clear my head enough to speak like this.”
While leading them to a room deep in the dungeon, the little wood golem was answering Ryoji’s questions while rubbing the half of its head that had been cleaved—when suddenly the ground shook.
“Huh? Why the hell are you here!?”
The small wood golem suddenly stopped, pointed at empty air, and shouted. Watching that, the little golem that had been so lively suddenly crumpled as if it had run out of energy.
“Hey. What’s wrong? No good. Mana supply’s been cut off. They probably don’t have enough to keep operating that wood golem anymore.”
“What should we do? They were fine up until now— for it to go like this… it must be a serious opponent. We should get our formation in order first— from the looks of it, they’re going to go all-out for the deepest room.”
After stowing the little wood golem in storage and watching Ryoji equip a mithril sword, an invisible shield-shaped gauntlet, and even a mithril bracelet, Carena let out a light sigh and gave the group their orders.
“We’re going to force our way to the room at the very heart of the labyrinth. Laila and Kuro, cover the rear! Betti and the others protect Melta and me. Leave the front to Ryoji-sama. But don’t leave us behind, okay?”
“Of course not! There’s no way I’m abandoning my cute fiancées. Betti and the others are whatever, though.”
“Please, spare us! We’ll absolutely protect Carena-san and Melta-san!”
Ryoji nodded happily at being told to lead the charge, and Betti and the others, pale at the thought of an unknown strong enemy, promised to protect Carena and the others.
“We’re breaking through to the deepest part now! We’ll go all-out, so follow close and don’t worry!”
After hearing the replies from the group, Ryoji activated scouting mode and started moving along the shortest route without looking away from the path.
“Ryoji-sama! Ten enemies ahead! Watch out—”
Carena, scanning ahead about ten meters to where Ryoji was running, tried to warn him. But Ryoji, running straight ahead, without chanting, fired twenty Lightning Needles and obliterated them.
Carena’s scouting borrowed the power of a spirit and was high-performance enough to even tell monster names. The creatures they’d just “fought” weren’t supposed to be the kind you one-shot, and watching Ryoji up front she muttered,
“He really is off the charts. My fiancé.”
They passed the spot where the fight had taken place and saw no sign of the monsters—Ryoji had tucked them into storage as he ran. Carena let out an exasperated sigh at the pristine corridor and watched Ryoji’s back.
“All right! We’re here! We’re going in—brace and defend!”
“Just defend? Is defense alone enough?”
“No problem! Be ready to retreat and then rush in! Hey—long time no see. You alright? And, is that your real body?”
Ryoji burst into the room and, seeing the girl fighting in front of the dungeon core and recognizing her as the little wood golem from earlier, chuckled and called out to the girl who was on the defensive.
“There’s no way I’m okay! I’m still on the mend! Hurry up and get over here! And what are you asking so calmly about my appearance!? More importantly, this is a cute-girl-in-terrible-danger situation!”
Ryoji laughed and tried to add lightning element to his blade, but the usual element wouldn’t attach and he blinked in surprise. He tried again, but there was no response.
Looking around, Betti and the others seemed unable to use elemental swords either—they kept tapping the pommels in frustration—and Carena and Melta looked dumbfounded that their magic wouldn’t work.
“No good! Right now my magic gear’s been forced to ban the use of magic! If you’re going to help, do it with swords!”
“Why would someone do that? A single spell would finish it.”
“Can’t help it! That thing’s magic is corrosive breath and sleep breath. Sleep is one thing, but if I got hit with corrosive breath while I’m weakened, I’d be done for.”
Ryoji tilted his head at the girl’s answer.
“If you had water, would that cure the weakness?”
“Yeah. What do you think I’ve been collecting water for? If I weren’t weakened, that thing would be tossed away in an instant!”
“Got it. After this fight I’ll give you so much water you’ll get sick of it!”
Unable to use magic for now, Ryoji told them to wait and look forward to the end of the fight.
“It’s been a while. Fighting with only a sword.”
Ryoji, smiling as he lightly gripped the mythril sword, cut off a vine that had attacked from his right rear. The flower monster, whose attack had come from a complete blind spot, judged Ryoji the greatest threat. It stopped attacking the girl and, on guard, spoke to Ryoji.
“Why? Get out of the way. This doesn’t concern you. I’ve waited five hundred years. Finally I can become one with Drua.”
“Become one with Drua?”
Ryoji cocked his head at the halting words of the flower monster and glanced at the girl. She gave a disgusted look and shook her head vigorously in refusal.
“Seriously, give me a break! And you dumped me five hundred years ago! Don’t you remember what you said? ‘There’s no way I’d ever be with someone like you!'”
“Huh? Wait—are you two having a lovers’ quarrel? And what’s Drua?”
“Who are you calling a lovers’ quarrel! Drua’s my name!”
Having put some distance between them to check, Drua—who’d been called that—smacked Ryoji on the head. The flower monster, perhaps thinking they were being lovey-dovey, trembled with rage and sent vines out from its whole body, directing murderous intent at Ryoji.
“You’re in the way. If I defeat you, we can become one.”
“Yeah! If you beat my lover, then maybe I’ll consider it.”
At Drua’s words the flower monster launched a full-force attack. Ryoji dodged the vines coming from all directions with backsteps, shouting as he slashed them down one after another with the mythril sword.
“Who are you calling my lover! I don’t have a thing for wood golems!”
“Hmm. You’re strong. I’ll get serious too.”
“Oh? Then come at me properly! I’ll finish you in an instant!”
“Ryoji! You care about me that much… You really love me, don’t you!”
“Shut up! Just sit back and watch!”
Drua put on an over-the-top tragic-heroine act, biting a handkerchief and mugging for effect. Ryoji, fed up, kept chopping down the vines, but when the flower monster’s attacks showed no sign of letting up he groaned and shouted.
“Ugh! This is endless! If that’s the case, my secret technique: dual-wielding!”
He pulled Kojimo’s sword out of storage and began attacking, using the two blades like whips.
“Oh. So Ryoji really is that strong.”
“Of course. Didn’t you say, ‘if someone can defeat my lover…’? You must have said that because you knew of Ryoji-sama’s strength, right? It’s good it’s Drua-san.”
Drua murmured in astonishment at Ryoji holding his own against the flower monster. Hearing that, Melta spoke up.
“If you talk like that he’ll try even harder to beat Ryoji, right? While he’s busy, I planned to get some water to recover and then we finish it at once.”
“That’s fine. Leave it to Ryoji-sama. It’s taking longer this time because he can’t use magic.”
Drua, feeling as if Melta didn’t doubt Ryoji for an instant, asked with a puzzled expression.
“You really trust him that much? He just looks like a little brat to me.”
“He may look that way to you, Drua-san. But those of us who are with him know Ryoji-sama’s true ability. It’s the first time we’ve seen him fighting at full power, though.”
What Melta didn’t say was that the Dungeon Master contract had somehow weakened, and she had intended to flee while Ryoji was fighting. But Ryoji’s extraordinary strength piqued her curiosity, and she found herself continuing to watch the battle.
“Ah! No good! The magic item’s effect time is almost up!”
“If that’s the case, Ryoji-sama will have the advantage once magic is usable again.”
At Drua’s panicked cry, Carena replied brightly.
“Ryoji-sama! Drua-san says the magic item’s effect is about to wear off!”
Ryoji, who had been gaining the upper hand, kicked the flower monster away to force some space and asked Carena,
“Who is Drua again?”
“Hey! I’m talking about me! No need to act dumb here!”
“Isn’t she the tree monster? Like a ‘mushroom’?”
“Who are you calling a mushroom! Don’t lump me in with those random fungi! I’m a nobleborn tree monster of royal stock!”
Ryoji’s ridiculous remark drew a full-on retort from Drua, and Ryoji gave her a thumbs-up in praise.
“Not bad! You’re in—the Four Kings of Tsukkomi!”
“Who are you calling that! I’m the tsukkomi, I’m the funny person!”
Watching Drua stomp and shout, Ryoji went serious and checked the timing for when the magic item’s effect would end.
“Got it. We’ll deliver the finishing blow the instant the item’s effect ends.”
“Hey! Hear me out! When that item’s effect wears off, it’ll definitely unleash a Corrosive Breath! A human like Ryoji won’t stand a chance!”
When Ryoji said it so simply, Drua shot him a panicked look and pleaded.
“Just watch. Start the countdown!”
While Drua was desperately stressing how terrifying the corrosive breath was, Ryoji gave a light laugh, squinted one eye, and charged the flower monster.
“I seriously don’t know, you know!”
Hearing Drua shout a countdown as she screamed, Ryoji checked the flow of his mana.
“It’s worn off! Finish it off quickly!”
Drua yelled in a fluster at Ryoji, who was admiringly watching the fact that he’d managed to double-infuse his mithril sword with lightning. As if on cue with her shout, the flower monster expelled its corrosive breath.
The vapor, like a purple cloud, wrapped around Ryoji. The flower monster let out a triumphant roar at having felled the foe it recognized as its nemesis, and Drua screamed. Even Carena and the others, pale as expected, readied their weapons to rush to his rescue.
“It’s an afterimage!”
Ryoji’s voice came from near the ceiling. When everyone looked up, there he was—standing upside-down on the ceiling. He gave the ceiling a light kick, closed the distance to the flower monster in an instant, brought his mithril sword down and cleaved it in two, then sliced across with the follow-through to deliver the finishing blow.
Even after the fight ended, the purple, cloud-like corrosive breath lingered, and Ryoji could be faintly seen within it. After a while the cloud faded, and with it his figure disappeared.
“That went better than I thought.”
“What in the world was that just now?”
Drua asked, puzzled, after hearing Ryoji—who had stored the flower monster in his storage—murmur while looking at the purple mist. Ryoji started explaining the afterimage with a pleased look on his face.
“I saw it in the country I used to live in, so I figured I’d give it a shot. The afterimage is basically leaving a visual behind using spacetime magic. As for sticking to the ceiling, I adapted wind magic—wrapped mana around the soles of my feet to make them adhere. Yeah. For a first try it went pretty well. There’s room for improvement, but hey—if the result’s good, that’s all that matters!”
“Did you just try that on a whim?”
Carena asked, half-collapsed with shock, and Ryoji nodded happily. Hearing that, Carena went completely limp, and the rest of the group—listening in—stared at Ryoji with expressions that had long since passed from astonishment to sheer stupefaction.
“Huh? Wait! Carena? Are you, like, exasperated? Hey! Melta, Kuro, and Laila look like they’re about to cry too! Aren’t you going to be mad like usual? Should I—sit properly or something?”
In Ryoji’s eyes, Carena and the others were brimming with tears.
“Seeing Ryoji-sama swallowed by that breath made my head go blank… Seeing you safe again—these are tears of relief…”
Carena peered at him fretfully, then hugged Ryoji and began to cry.
“We really were worried!”
“Sorry! From now on I’ll seriously consider trying to be more careful!”
“You’re obviously not reflecting at all! That’s not okay! Don’t make Carena and the others sad!”
“Why did you have to blurt that out! I might’ve been able to cover it up, y’know!”
“I’m shocked you even thought that would fool us, Ryoji!”
As Ryoji apologized while being hugged by Carena, Drua chimed in with a jab. Carena—wearing a look of exasperation at the suddenly-started back-and-forth between Ryoji and Drua—let out a small laugh, and Ryoji breathed a relieved sigh.
“Now that the tsukkomi’s over, Ryoji—show us what you did…”
Just as Drua was about to ask for the afterimage, a fanfare blared out of nowhere. An unemotional female voice followed.
“Congratulations on conquering the Deep Labyrinth. Completion time: 18 hours, 21 minutes—this is the shortest record. The adventurer who updated the record has been granted, as a special reward, subordinate administrator privileges for the Deep Labyrinth. Would you like to register a name? If not, please skip. After registration is complete, an explanation of the reward will follow.”
“Oh. That phrase brings back memories. Register the player name as Ryoji Uchino. By the way, can I ask a question?”
“Help function activated. Please state your question.”
Ryoji looked up at the ceiling and asked, and the emotionless voice answered.
“Is it the same person who made the Board Forest and the Beginner Explorer Dungeon?”
“No. It is not the same. The Deep Labyrinth shares the same creator as the other labyrinths; please consider them sister dungeons.”
“Who held the previous fastest clear?”
“Player name: Amadeo Sandstrom. Completion time: 30 hours, 13 minutes. Last login time: 188,368 hours ago.”
Hearing the name Amadeo—the founding king of the Sandstrom Kingdom—mentioned here too, Ryoji sighed and spoke as if feeling the pull of fate.
“Reliable founding king as always. They’ll probably send word that the name on the stone slab installed in the royal palace is mine now, huh. By the way, what’s the reward this time?”
「Beginning explanation of the clear rewards. Magic items: five. Also, one hundred kilograms of mithril ore and a magic-stone treasure chest.」
“Huh? That’s it? Too little?”
As Ryoji muttered disappointedly about the clear rewards he could hear, Betti and the others burst out in surprise.
“There’s no such thing as ‘too little’! The count’s sense of money is weird! Even if he sold the mithril ore at rock-bottom prices, or the four of us partied until we dropped dead, it would still be way more than enough money!”
“Really? Is that so?”
Betti shouted out, pointing at Ryoji’s sense of money, then looked genuinely astonished as she glanced at Melta and Carena.
“You didn’t know, Ryoji-sama?”
“I know mithril’s precious, but I’ve never bought any, so I don’t know the price. I’ve given it as a present to quite a few people though, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Melta answered in an exasperated tone, and as Ryoji worriedly double-checked, a mechanical voice spoke up.
“Are there any more questions?”
“One more! Is it possible to change the Dungeon Master?”
“It is possible at this time.”
The mechanical voice answered Ryoji’s question. While Drua looked at Ryoji with a stunned face, he finished the procedure to change the Dungeon Master.
“Alright! I’ve decided to ask this one to be the next Dungeon Master.”
When Ryoji opened his palm, a seed the size of a golf ball sat in it. Everyone peered in, tilting their heads in curiosity as Ryoji began to explain happily.
“This seed is from a flower monster. But its personality’s been erased — think of it like a newborn baby. It’ll take a few years to become a Dungeon Master. In the meantime I’ll support it with lower-level administrator privileges.”
“Eh? Eh? We don’t have to be the Dungeon Master?”
“Yeah! From now on you’re free. For now, let’s go outside! I’ll give it plenty of water as a present!”
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