Seventy-one: Dungeon clearance’s no time for slacking

"Alright, let’s begin the dungeon run. Since it’s an uncharted dungeon, we need to be careful. If anyone thinks it’s too much, turn back immediately—everyone keep that in mind."

Raidock nods back at everyone.

Evra trembled slightly at the sound of "unexplored dungeon." Fear? Or just nerves? Hard to tell.

Then Raidock placed a hand on Evra’s shoulder.

"Fine. No matter what happens, I’ll protect all of you."

"Raidock-sama…"

Evra’s tense face just… collapsed.

"Wha—?! Raidock?!?"

"Alright, let’s go. Soral and Camille, you’re up front."

"Ah! ……You’ll remember that later! Come on, Camille!"

Before Soral could bite Raidock, Raidock moved quick, giving orders. With a face still twisted in disbelief, Soral stepped forward, Camille beside him.

Soral leading the way through the dungeon—well, that made sense. He’d been through enough dungeons to know the drill.

Still, Raidock… no, forget it. That natural-born idiot! Just go ahead and die already!

And so our dungeon exploration began!!

◆

The sunset was beautiful.

We’d cleared the dungeon, finally breathing real air again.

Leifan got straight to setting up camp. Me and Raidock laid out our loot on the ground.

“Not bad haul, huh?”

“Yeah. Not a huge dungeon, so it’s not surprising.”

“Getting a mithril ingot was a real bonus.”

“Would’ve been better if it was a mine, but… yeah, that’s pushing it.”

The dungeon clearance took three days. Most of the treasure inside should’ve been recovered by now.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a large-scale dungeon, so we didn’t have to turn back—we made it all the way to the deepest chamber.

There, Leifan paused his cooking, gave a dumbfounded look, and chimed in.

“Both of you—clearing a dungeon on first try? That’s insane, right!?”

“Yeah, we got lucky.”

“I thought I was dead when I entered the final room.”

“The hydra really surprised me.”

“Yeah. Didn’t expect it to get that big. Must be an upper-tier variant, I guess.”

The hydra guarding the deepest part of the dungeon was nothing like the swamp hydra we knew.

It wasn’t just monstrously huge. It had twenty-four heads sprouting from its body. When it started spewing fire and ice breaths all at once, I honestly froze up.

"Man, that one was a real pain."

"Hey, Leifan. Saying you struggled with that thing? Other adventurers’d cry their eyes out."

"Yeah... guess so. Took less than ten minutes with Raidock’s assault. Leifan blocked every attack clean."

"Without a Healing Potion, that’d’ve been impossible."

"That’s my job."

"Raidock-sama... so cool... so amazing..."

Evie’s cool image shattered completely in three days. Her eyes were full of heart-shaped stars, locked on Raidock. She didn’t even notice Solal glaring at her like she’d murdered his family.

Whatever. Let the lucky one be.

Before that, Evie had been melting like summer ice. Now she straightened her face and turned to us.

"Never thought I’d clear the dungeon on first try. Unbelievable."

Click!

Yeah. Now that I think about it, though.

"Ah, thanks to the three of you being here."

"I didn’t think I’d be able to help much, given how top-notch Raidock’s party is."

"That’s not true at all. Eva’s magic was versatile—she handled every situation. Camille’s scouting skills and precise combat support were outstanding. With Marilyn’s healing magic, Bepp could focus solely on support spells, and I didn’t have to cast any offensive magic at all—I could just focus on backing up the team."

"Craft’s potions were incredible. Not just stamina potions, but mana potions too. We were able to cast magic freely. This isn’t our skill."

"Everyone used potions. That’s skill too."

"Did I help Raidock-sama, then?"

"Guaranteed."

"Then… that’s good, shuūū."

Evah’s expression crumbles in an instant, heart flaring behind her.

Soral! Stop sending murderous intent this way, it’s scary!?

“Leifan, what do you think of this dagger?”

Raidock pulled out the dagger they’d found in the final room.

“’Identify’… yeah. Definitely, this dagger’s made of orichalcum!”

“Thought so.”

“Huh, really?”

I peer at the blade. Sure enough, strange magic pulses through it. No doubt it’s a magical metal.

Picking it up, I identify it—way stronger than any dagger should be.

“Likely does regular damage to undead too, this thing.”

“Damn. Right, we’ll sort distribution later. How about letting Camille use it till we get back to town?”

Raidock spins the dagger in his hand, then flips it so the hilt faces Camille.

Camille glanced between Raidock and me for a second, then took it without a word and swung it a few times.

"Looks like an ordinary short sword, but the weight balance is perfect. Feels like it cuts through air. Blade’s sharp as hell. Don’t know about magic, but I’m sure as hell it’ll hurt something that doesn’t rely on physical form. This is an insane weapon. Borrowing it."

"Uh… yeah."

Me and Raidock froze, stunned by Camille’s voice—first time we’d ever heard her talk.

Thought she was quiet. Guess she’s like this when she speaks. Freaked me out.

"Whoa! Camille’s voice is totally cool! Awesome!"

"Shut up, you."

"Yessir."

"Hey, Craft, couldn’t you figure out how to make orichalcum with that short sword?"

"Sorry, no luck. Maybe it’s some kind of ore like that."

"Find an orichalcum mine, and the whole economy’d flip on its head."

"Look, I'm not saying it's a mine, but if we figure out how it's made... heh heh."

"Either way, it's a big deal."

Leifan chimed in, tiredly, to me and Raidock. These days, she's basically the straight man.

For her sake, I'll say she was a beast in the dungeon.

Held the wall with Moda, found the metal, even cooked. Honestly, she might be a pretty good wife, come to think of it.

Sure, she's not much to look at, but she's older than me, I think. Hope she finds someone decent.

"Craft, you not thinking something rude, are you?"

"Nothing at all."

I wasn't being rude. I answered with full confidence.

"Then it's fine... Hey, how about dinner?"

"Sure! Finally back on the surface—time to treat ourselves!"

"Didn't you cook just fine in the dungeon?"

This time it was Eva who poked fun. I don't get it.

◆

The next day, following Leifan’s dowsing to get a rough direction, we were pushing forward when it happened.

Jitarou in front of us stopped dead in his tracks.

We halted too, scanning the surroundings.

“What’s wrong?”

“Somethin’ weird’s feelin’ off. Somethin’ comin’ from ahead… right on us. Almost here.”

“Everyone, get ready for combat!”

We’d already been in battle stance long before he said it. We kept our eyes forward, forming up in formation.

After a moment, we heard the sound of rustling grass and leaves—then someone tumbled right into view in front of us.

“…Huh?”

“Beastman…? No. Not human. But not quite human either.”

The figure that burst from the bushes was a humanoid creature.

Kneeling, the being stared at us in shock, as if it had just stumbled upon us deep in the woods. Its face was slack, stunned.

An alien race, never seen before. Wore wild, tribal garb, gripping spears that looked hand-carved.

What stood out most was the tail. A reptilian tail, scales covering it from the base of the spine all the way out.

But what really caught the eye was...

"Alright there?! Beautiful lady! Come on, grab my hand!"

"Wha—? Wha—?"

Yeah, that alien was stunning.

Nice chest! Perfect hips! Strong legs!

"...Craft. What're you staring at?"

"Just checking if you're hurt!"

No lie! I swear it's true!

I'm not thinking about you being the next breast asset after Marilyn, okay?!

"Jitarou..."

"Stop looking at me like that! Anyway— you seemed in a rush. Something happen?"

Seeing that girl’s face, I remembered something. The race called the Lizardmen—gone now, wiped out long ago.

Her knuckles, her shoulders—covered in scales.

“Nin… gen? Why are you here?”

Looks like we’ve stumbled into something a little bigger than we thought.

Dungeon Clearance ( )