第４５８堀：奇妙なダンジョン (Part2)
It wasn't particularly deep; after descending about three floors, we reached a wide corridor that stretched out into the depths. Lining both sides were what looked like statues of armored knights—or rather, golems.
"It seems these are the defense systems," she noted.
"Yeah, with these around, no one's getting in," I replied.
My appraisal revealed them to be Knight Golems in the level 50 range—a type where a knight's armor had been converted into a golem. Given their levels, they were among the stronger threats on this continent. If a whole row of them were to attack at once in a corridor like this, there would be almost no chance of winning. Well, with the caveat that this applies to the standard military forces of this continent, of course.
"If it's only to this extent, I can handle them on my own," she said.
"True enough. For my unit, they’d just be good target practice for our ranged attacks."
These armored golems were sturdy and reasonably strong, but they had a weakness: they lacked any semblance of stealth, and the armor made a racket whenever they moved. Furthermore, since their fingers were fully encased in metal, they couldn't perform the fine motor tasks a human could. That’s why the Boss wouldn't adopt them. I heard Narjia-san made armor specifically for golem conversion, but I’m sure he’s just keeping those in the Boss’s dungeon somewhere...
Thinking it’s "virtually impossible to clear" is just my usual state of mind. They function well enough as decoys, so that’s fine. If I say anything unnecessary, I’ll just end up dying in one of the Boss’s dungeon trials.
"Still, this is a long corridor," I remarked.
"Indeed. We’ve already traveled a distance that should have taken us out of the Royal Capital... Wait. There’s a room over there."
"Hm? Ah, you're right."
The corridor continued, but there was a door set into the wall, right between the rows of armored knights.
"For now... there’s nothing abnormal about this door, either."
"Well, these guys are the security system, so I guess there aren't any locks?"
"None. If you would, please."
"Understood."
I teamed up with Kirika again to open the door. There were no traps, and when we stepped inside...
"A Gate," she said.
"A Gate, indeed."
The Gate was definitely there. We had successfully found our target, but...
"Why does the corridor continue further?"
"Who knows? Maybe there’s a core hidden deep inside?"
I said that offhandedly about hiding the core for security, but that’s actually pretty unlikely. Even if you routed reinforcements through the Gate in an emergency, the core would be taken long before they arrived. I have no idea what they’re thinking.
"...We can't just carelessly pass through the Gate. Shall we proceed deeper?"
"Yeah. Come to think of it, there was a triangle mark on the door, wasn't there? Maybe that’s the sign for a Gate room?"
"It’s too early to judge based on what we know."
Discussing this, we left the Gate room and headed deeper. Since the scenery was so monotonous, we started running halfway through. Naturally, I kept an eye out for traps while we ran.
After about twenty minutes, we hit a dead end where a door stood alone in the wall. Just like before, there was a triangle mark on it. We quickly opened it to check inside, and sure enough, there was another Gate.
"Why would they place Gates in such unnatural positions within the same dungeon? It should be more efficient to group them together..."
"Who knows? It’s not like 'security' is a logical reason, either... Maybe Bicks had some other plan? Anyway, this is a dead end, so let's search the surrounding—no need, actually."
It was quite straightforward; there was another door on the opposite side. It seems this Gate room had two entrances. Working with Kirika, we opened the door without issue—nothing there but more armored golem security. And beyond that door...
"A castle," she said.
"A castle, indeed."
For some reason, they had excavated a massive space underground and built a compact, five-story castle.
"What could this castle be for?"
"Who knows... wait. Ah, so that’s it!!"
That was when it finally clicked for me.
"Did you figure something out?"
"Er, it’s still just a guess, but remember how Bicks didn't build a dungeon at Nonoa's place?"
"Yes. She didn't."
"And one of the reasons was that she might not be able to build dungeons freely, right?"
"Ah, I see. So you mean she’s expanding her dungeon from this base and using the Gates to shorten the distance?"
Since she can't place dungeons freely like we can, she’s using this method instead.
"Does that mean this is her main base?"
"Most likely..."
Well, we’ve managed to find what might be a main base rather than just a branch office... I wonder how the Boss and the others will judge this?
Volume 5 releases tomorrow.
Ria's chest size is scheduled to be corrected starting from the next volume.
I forgot to pass on the measurements, after all.
Can't be helped.