n

n

nChapter 187

nArc 22: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

n

n

nSince the news regarding the newly found dungeons have spread quickly, adventurers have started gathering in Brunhild .

nAt any rate, it’s the new dungeons which have not been previously discovered . They haven’t been devastated by thieves because they’re located on an isolated island on the sea . As such, there is a high possibility that treasures and other items will still be intact .

nIn other words, it’s now a “first come first serve” race . The adventurers striving to be the first ones there are diving into the three dungeons Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo that have been named by me .

nIn the past, I’ve hidden the existence of Gate as much as possible in order to avoid it being used by influential people and just to be cautious . However, quite a considerable number of people know about it now . Well, I did use it quite extensively during the battle with the Frazes in Yuuron .

nBesides, I’ve already become someone powerful . I think no one will try to do anything sketchy to me at this late hour . Even if it happens, they will just get the tables turned on them .

nTaking all this into consideration, the transition gates to the dungeon’s islands have also been generally accepted by everyone with the reasoning being that If it’s that Dukedom King, then I guess it’s possible .

nIn addition to the considerable size of the dungeon, there are many magic beasts and monsters due to the fact that no man has ever visited the island thus far . Though the explorations haven’t proceeded much, it seems there are parties that have advanced up to the third underground floor .

nAs for the guild, they don’t seem to be complaining because they can get their hands on valuable materials and treasures even if they haven’t advanced the exploration .

nI was a little troubled by the fact that the public order has worsened a little due to the number of adventurers increasing . I guess it’s expected since there are also ruffians and hoodlums among the adventurers .

nThe idiots who are bothering the citizens and who are making false accusations against shop assistants in the whole town have started to appear one after another .

nI don’t know how things are done in other countries, but I won’t go easy on them here . They will be dragged by the knights without any reservation all the way to the Devil’s whisper jail (a jail that forces the occupant to hear the sound of a blackboard being scratched forever) or to the Aromatic Smelling Prison (this one is filled with 1

/10th of the smell of a sludge slime) and they spend the night there reflecting on their behaviour .

nI’m not saying this for the sake of the dungeon explorers, but I have also built a hospital in the town . It’s a facility where recovery specialists who can use light attribute magic and doctors who can diagnose illnesses are stationed . The medicines in this hospital are also specially made by Flora .

nThe prices had been properly made, but we decided for the medicine to be free for kids who have guardians in this country . In this world, people who are 13 years old or younger are considered as kids . Due to the high cost of treatment, it doesn’t seem possible for children to have medical treatment .

nEven If I say “free”, it just means we aren’t taking money . The guardians will have to work for one or two days in this country . Of course, they don’t have to do the work if they can pay the money right off the bat .

nSome stall vendors lined up in front of the transition gates are selling ointments, ropes, lanterns, emergency rations, and many other things, while other vendors are selling stripping knives, compasses, canteens, and so on in a different place .

nI lean into one of the stalls among many various others that have opened near the transition gates and call out to the male merchant .

n「Hey . How are the sales going?」

n「It’s quite promising . It seems I’m likely to forget my main job without noticing it」

nThis guy is actually a Suppa The Ninja . In other words, he is a Takeda Shinobi, and he’s one of Tsubaki-san’s subordinates .

nHe pretends to be a street vendor here to keep an eye on the attitude of the adventurers and to monitor them . In order to not be looked at suspiciously, I whispered while picking up items lined up in his stall .

n「Is there any problem?」

n「Nothing as of the moment . Several parties have caused some minor quarrels though」

nConflicts caused by the treasures is a common story . It’s fine not to worry about those individual problems as long they don’t involve unrelated people .

n「During the time I’ve entered the dungeon, only kobolds came out on the first floor . But how does diving into the second floor and deeper feel?」

n「Those who appear on the first floor are goblins, kobolds, large rats, large bats, and one horned rabbits . On the second floor, monsters similar to hobgoblins, goblin archers, orcs, and skeletons can be seen . They also say that killer mantises and dullahans appear on the third floor」

nDullahans? We have also fought a low-level dullahan, and they are pretty tough, aren’t they? It may be hard fighting them without having anti-undead weapons or a magician who can use light-attribute magic .

n「It somehow looks like the monsters that appear in each dungeon are quite different . I feel that Amaterasu has more magic beasts, Tsukuyomi has more undead, and Susanoo has more regular monsters」

nThe difference between monsters and magic beasts is whether they are beasts or not . Why is it like that? I wonder, are they being isolated from one another? If I’m not mistaken, it may also be related to how one eats while the other gets eaten even among fellow magic beasts . They don’t want to live where they have natural enemies .

nI thank Suppa-san and head towards the transition gates . There are three gates with each one connected to the entrance of their respective dungeons .

nWell, in the end, the destination of the transition will lead to the same place, so it isn’t impossible to cross the islands from dungeon to dungeon if someone feels like making a ship or swimming in the sea . Although most of them usually come back here and enter another transition gate shortly afterward .

nDespite the fact that a person needs to present his or her guild card and pay one copper coin every time that person enters the gates, island hopping is still a lot more troublesome .

nSomeone can get a meal even with a single copper coin . Then I guess, will that have an equivalent worth of a thousand yen? If that’s the case, I feel like 2000 yen per night might be too cheap since a day of lodging together with three meals in the Gintetsu of Leaflet costs two copper coins . However, the costs will reach 60,000 yen when calculating a month’s worth . If you think about it that way, does a 60,000 yen rent look affordable? Even if it includes the meals .

nIn the first place, comparing the value of currency between here and there is meaningless in itself, so I’ve stopped thinking too much about it .

n「Touya-dono」

n「Touya-sama!」

n「Huh? Yae and Hilda? What’s the matter?」

nWhen I turned around due to the surprise call, the swordswomen combo of Yae and Hilda are there . They are very close . Is it because those two often practice together?

n「We’ve agreed upon setting out for a short while to perform an inspection and to train simultaneously . As Hilda-dono expressed, she doesn’t possess enough experience of conducting combat against magic beasts and monsters」 Yae declared .

n「Look, I have also received a guild card! Although it’s still black and it can’t compare to Yae’s card」 Hilda followed up .

nHilda looks happy while showing her card . The card’s color is black because it’s the beginner’s level . The Princess Knight of Restia being called beginner is a bad joke though . Yae’s card is red since she’s already a first class adventurer .

nHowever, it can be said that it’s abnormal to climb up that high in a year… Though it’s not something I can say . Since the moment we met, Yae was already strong .

n「What is Touya-dono doing in this place?」 Yae asked .

n「Mn? Ah, inspecting and confirming the security, maybe?」I answered .

n「Ah, then why won’t you come with us?」Hilda inquired .

n「I guess I could . Shall we go then ?」I accepted .

nWe go through the transition gate of Amaterasu and exit into the island’s sandy beach . Oh mind you, I did pay the admission fee just in case . We might hear Why do those guys get special treatment? if we had entered without paying . We would also stand out . Normally I would have used my own Gate, but I didn’t use it in order to check if there is a defect with the transition gate .

nThis archipelago is made up of seven large and small islands . Though there is no dungeon on the biggest island . Instead, it’s being dominated by magic beasts and monsters .

nSince there are many plant-based monsters on that island, a person needs to be careful due to the tentative danger . Though there are still people who enter those places, them getting hurt is their own responsibility, and it doesn’t concern me . By the way, there seems to be unusual herbs, nuts, and berries on these islands, so collection type requests keep coming out every now and then .

nWe approach the dungeon’s entrance after invoking Light . This Amaterasu dungeon is the one I’ve entered first, but right now there seems to be about 40 adventurers inside already . Respectively, it then means that ten parties have dived into the dungeon assuming that each party is made up of four people .

n「For such a number to dive in, aren’t conflicts bound to happen while they are inside?」 Yae wondered .

n「It’s considerably wide after all . Even if they meet, they will just greet each other and go their own separate ways . Though they might do some negotiations with their medicinal herbs or water」I reassured her .

nThree one-horned wolves immediately attack us as we advance through the dungeon . Hilda goes to the front before we do anything and easily defeats all three of them . Oh, it’s an easy win for her .

n「What shall we do with it? Aren’t the horns supposed to turn into raw materials?」Hilda asked .

n「Their meat can’t be eaten because it’s hard . The skin also doesn’t have much use」I answered .

n「Is it fine to remove the horn and leave the rest?」Hilda inquired further .

n「It should be fine to leave them at the side of the passage so that they won’t get in the way . They will eventually become food for other magic beasts, I suppose? Even if they start to decay, slimes will come and melt them」 I explained .

nSlimes are well-known existences living in every kind of dungeon . Sometimes they also attack people, but they are mostly harmless existences . If I am to somehow describe them, they have an image of being scavengers . They look like they take in and completely dissolve whatever garbage is thrown in the dungeons .

nIt seems that even corpses and excrements are no exceptions . As a result, the dungeons stay clean to some degree . Our gracious slimes .

nSlimes are like that, but for some reason, it doesn’t look like they eat the contents of the treasure chests . It also seems that they don’t eat metals that much . Come to think of it, sludge slimes also make the water cleaner than before . Depending on the type of slime, I wonder if there are things that it can dissolve and can’t dissolve .

nApparently, there is a theory stating that slimes are monsters created by human hands from the era of ancient magic . That might be the case . Should I look it up in the Library the next time I’m there?

nHilda drags the corpse of the one-horned wolves to the side and cuts off the horns . Those horns can be sold as material for craftswork, so the guild can buy them from us .

nAfterwards, Hilda defeated one-horned rabbits, large bats, and large rats almost by herself . I definitely feel there is a lot of magic beasts, though goblins and kobolds do come out as well .

nBy the way, I’m not displaying the map . Our purpose is not to conquer the dungeon . I thought that it would be more fascinating this way, but both girls have found the stairs to the second underground floor way too quickly .

nAfter we’ve descended the stairs, we arrive at a pretty large hall once again . The passage is branching into the right and the left . For the time being, we proceed through the right . There is a crossroad again, and after we pass that, the path is branching once again .

n「That reminds me, both a map and a compass are necessary . You might not be able to get out of here if you get lost」Hilda remembered .

nOf course, most adventurers properly map the area as they proceed . We’re just somehow getting sloppy with regards to these matters since we have Gate .

nAs we casually advance, we stumble upon a dead end with double doors . Upon entering the doors, we end up in a small room about 12 tatami mats big . There is a treasure chest in a corner . Don’t tell me this room is similar to a monster’s private room… In my mind, I imagine the figure of a hero from a game who invades someone’s house and selfishly opens the dressers .

nHilda’s eyes are sparkling towards her first treasure chest and she tries to open it . I then watch her with awkward eyes .

nThe contents of the chest include daggers either full of rust or lacking blades . There are a lot of daggers . I suppose it’s expected that there wouldn’t be any expensive items here . However, why are there so many daggers…… . Is the owner a dagger maniac? Come to think of it, creatures like crows and dogs do collect some incomprehensible things…

n「I’m disappointed……」 Hilda’s spirit slumped .

n「Well, real treasures can’t be found that easily」I responded .

n「I beg you to withhold that thought for a moment . Isn’t this item a silver dagger?」 Yae points out .

nIt’s covered with dust and is blackish on the bottom of the treasure chest, but it certainly is a silver dagger . Although it’s a simple dagger without any fine decorations, it’s possible that it can be purchased from us . Oh well, a treasure is a treasure as they say .

n「I don’t think it will fetch a huge price, but will you still sell it?」 I asked .

n「No, I will keep this as a memory of today . A memory of the day I became an adventurer . 」Hilda answered .

nHilda puts the dagger inside her waist pouch . I suppose it’s fine to not sell it if that’s what she wants .

nI’m thinking that way while looking at the happily smiling Hilda .

n

n