第４２掘：狐と答え (Part1)
### Dig 42: The Fox and the Answer
**Side: Kaya**
I couldn’t do anything.
I just watched the village burn.
Without the strength to lift my battered body, I simply lay there, pathetic and broken.
In the village, I had been hailed as the next leader of the vigilante corps.
I took pride in my martial arts, my magic, and my ability to command with a cool head.
And my lover was in that village, too.
He was my childhood friend—a man who was useless with a blade, but possessed a heart of gold.
We were happy. It was a modest life, but we rarely went hungry.
It should have been a village where peaceful days flowed on forever...
But then, one day.
...Saintess Elju visited our village, and everything burned to the ground.
No, to be precise, after Saintess Elju visited and left, soldiers from the Kingdom of Roschur arrived and began their pillaging.
They claimed they had come to "dispose" of us because they had discovered we were connected to the Kingdom of Gartz.
I didn’t understand. Why were we being attacked?
There was no way our village would ever do something like that!!
I fought desperately alongside the vigilante corps to help the villagers escape.
The Fox Beastmen are a rare race, even among beastkin, known for their aptitude for magic.
A skilled Fox Beastman is a versatile warrior, weaving magic and physical techniques together for both long and short-range combat.
Even so, we were overwhelmingly outnumbered. We were helpless.
As the captain and I fought to the bitter end, cutting down soldier after soldier, a man in luxurious clothing emerged from the back... holding a blade to my precious love’s throat.
Taking him hostage, that coward issued his demand.
"If you kill the man beside you, I will guarantee the safety of this man and yourself. I am Loire Essha, a minister of the Kingdom of Roschur. I will also guarantee the safety of the other villagers we have in custody if you kill him."
*Why now...* I thought. Then, from behind him, I saw them.
Almost all the villagers who had been in the village were there. It was a small place, not even a hundred people.
Even in my state, I could tell who was missing.
Aside from the bodies of my comrades lying here, only four or five were gone.
"If you continue to resist, we will officially recognize these villagers as spies for the Kingdom of Gartz. Which means, they will be executed on the spot."
We had no choice left.
Even knowing it was a trap, a lie, we had to accept his terms.
In the end, almost all the villagers were slaughtered.
...A few young girls survived, only to be used as playthings until they perished.
The rest were sold into slavery.
"…ya!! Kaya!! Pull yourself together!!"
"…I’m sorry. Leave me behind. If you stay, both of us will be captured."
And then, I have this dream again.
He was usually so frail, but in that moment, he was incredible.
My childhood sweetheart was carrying me, running through the forest.
But his stamina wasn't infinite.
His breathing grew ragged.
The moment we realized they were going to slaughter everyone, the village mages had cast a flash of light to blind them.
I had escaped with him then.
Perhaps they had anticipated it; arrows rained down like a storm, and only a few of us made it out.
Between the previous battle and the wounds from our flight, I had almost no strength left.
That’s why, at the very least, I wanted him to survive.
But…
"There they are!! It’s the one who was resisting until the end!! Surround them, surround them!!"
"Kaya, I’ll protect Kaya!! Just… keep… running…"
An axe was buried in his head.
Someone from the enemy must have thrown it.
I collapsed, falling alongside him as he stopped moving forever.
"This woman is beaten up, but she’s a high-quality piece. It’s a waste to just kill her. Treat her wounds and sell her!!"
The man called Loire grabbed my hair and pulled, forcing me to look at him.
Ah, I could hear the sound of the hair he once told me was beautiful being torn away.
"What about this man?"
"He took an axe to the head; there’s no way he’s alive. Leave him."
I was torn away from him.
I gripped his hand, offering one last bit of resistance.
But that strength was easily shaken off, and I was forced to leave him behind.
Tears overflowed from my eyes. They wouldn't stop.
"…!! "
I woke up in a dimly lit room.
Where was I?
I looked around, and only after seeing Tori and Riel did I realize.
"…The inn… right."
That’s right, this is the inn on the lowest floor of the dungeon.
A private room granted by the Dungeon Master.
Most of the members gather in someone’s room, sleeping three to five to a space.
I think it’s quite a luxury to have a private room.
It’s my room, but Tori and Riel just use it to sleep.
The room is divided into three sections. Ten mats, eight mats, and another eight—or was it that Yuki said?
According to him, the ten-mat room is the living room. The eight-mat room is the bedroom. And the last eight-mat room is the hobby room.
It even has a toilet and a kitchenette. And a closet?
He didn't include a bath, saying, "A private bath in an inn? Are you stupid? Do you want to die?"
"……Water."
I don’t have nerves of steel enough to go right back to sleep after a dream like that.
I slipped out of the futon so as not to wake Tori and Riel.
I went to the kitchen and poured water into a glass.
"…It’s luxurious. This place is going to be a very luxurious, happy place."
Yuki said that people get used to things, and it seems he’s right.
It’s only been six days. Yet, I’m no longer surprised by the kitchen or the convenience of this facility.
And I understand.
This luxury, this convenience—it will surely bring happiness to the people who live here.
That’s not all. If we operate this dungeon under Yuki’s policy, the people living here will be able to choose what they want with their own hands.
As long as Yuki and the rest of us don’t become blinded by greed, this dungeon will be an incredibly effective fortress against outside enemies.
"…That’s why I have to eliminate my personal feelings as much as possible. …I can’t bring conflict into this dungeon."
I told myself.
The day after I arrived here, I learned why my village was burned.
Saintess Elju had been manipulated by Loire, who was supported by the Ritea Holy Kingdom, and she had taken actions that incited war.
No, Loire had intentionally burned the towns and villages Elju visited, framing it as the work of the Kingdom of Gartz to push the nations into war.
That’s why, that day, I hated Elju, who appeared before me so nonchalantly.
By that time, Loire had already been dealt with.
The only person I could call my enemy was Elju, who stood right in front of me.
Milly had thrown a teacup and screamed, drawing everyone’s attention.
I, too, had been held back by Tori and Riel.
But Elju, perhaps having her own thoughts on the matter, had bowed her head and apologized to Milly.
That didn’t mean I could forgive her, though.
It was unexpected; I had thought she was just like Loire.
Since then, perhaps as her own form of atonement, Elju found what she needed to do and even bowed her head to us, asking to help.
"…It’s strange. It throws me off."
Saintess Elju is truly a mysterious person.