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nLight

nDark

nAfter passing by the side of a number of monsters, we went up the stairs to the 1st Floor.

nThe 1st Floor is structured like a city, so there’s a lot of rooms that no one comes to.

n“It should be fine here. I would like to ask you a few questions as the price for that potion. Is that okay?” (Hikaru)

n“Nya… I don’t mind that… Onii-san, are you a Spirit User? I haven’t seen an ability like this before.”

n“Are Dark Spirit Abilities rare?” (Hikaru)

nIn the point exchange, fire, earth, water, light, and darkness had the same price.

nI don’t think darkness is especially rare or anything though.

n“I don’t think there’s any around-nya. I have seen a number of Light Users every nyow and then though… Maybe it is just me not knowing about it-nya. Can’t really say for sure…”

nFumu. In that case, would it be better not to show my abilities that much?

nAs someone who wants to avoid standing out, this is information I am glad to have stumbled upon.

nI asked the questions I wanted to know from the cat beastkin while maintaining the darkness, and the cat beastkin seemed to be unexpectedly knowledgeable, she told me about a variety of things.

nPutting it all together…

nFirst, the dungeon.

nA dungeon is a warp in space that is born at the center of a location where more than 3 Great Spirits are gathered at and positioned in a certain manner, and this city had a pretty big dungeon that was made by gathering 4 types of Great Spirits.

nOn top of that, because a dungeon city has Great Spirits, chances of an invasion are lower and it is safe.

nThat’s why people would gather from the surrounding settlements, and it would steadily get bigger.

n“Then, that means there’s Great Spirits in this city?” (Hikaru)

n“There’s the Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth Great Spirit-samas-nya. My objective is to save money and make a contract with the Wind Great Spirit-sama-nya.”

n“Hmm…” (Hikaru)

nI knew there was a method for someone to be able to use Spirit Abilities in this world, and it seems that method is to make a contract with a Great Spirit.

nWell, that’s already none of my business, and I’ve got no good memories of a Great Spirit, so let’s not get close to one.

n“What was that about the Hungry Beasts Underground Prison you were talking about before?” (Hikaru)

n“The nyame of the 2nd Floor-nyan. I don’t know who was the one who gave the name, but that’s what it is called.”

n“Then, what about the 1st Floor?” (Hikaru)

n“The Dusk Hades Street.”

nThey are probably taking the traits just like that and turning them into names.

nIs it easier to understand than calling them 1st Floor and 2nd Floor? I can’t really tell.

n“And so, why were you barefooted?” (Hikaru)

nI had that question on the tip of my tongue and ended up asking.

nDid she not have the money to buy shoes?

n“A scout myust erase the sound of their footsteps or there’s no point. But the 2nd Floor is dark, so there’s times when one can get cut by things on the ground…”

n“Aah, so it was to erase the sound of your footsteps, huh…” (Hikaru)

nOf course, it must also be in part because she is a cat beastkin.

nBut whichever the case it is, the fact that cutting your feet means the end for you just doesn’t sound like it is worth the trade.

n…Well, she must be going barefooted while still understanding this, so there’s no need for me to say it out loud myself.

n“You should properly choose the people you team up with from now on. You simply were lucky I was around that time.” (Hikaru)

n“We are hired scouts, so we are nyot in a position where we can choose our customers.”

n“What a harsh world…” (Hikaru)

nIt is to the point that you suddenly get dismissed in the middle of a dungeon, so I could tell she had a low position, but even if that’s the case, that’s just cruel.

nThis time around she was saved by me coincidentally passing by. Cat beastkin being sacrificed like that might actually be an everyday thing.

nAfter that, I heard information about dungeon exploration from her.

nIt was apparently basic knowledge that you must have before entering a dungeon, so she was surprised I didn’t know anything at all.

nIt might be lucky of me that I managed to get this information while not revealing myself.

nI managed to avoid standing out as being strangely ignorant.

nInfo like people only leave Spirit Stones and their bodies disappear when they die in a dungeon, how Spirit Energy tends to become a spiral and goes underground in a dungeon, and how monsters get stronger the lower the floor is.

nThe fact that ‘monsters’ show up in dungeons.

nMonsters are different from animals in that they are beings that have taken form from Spirit Energy.

nAbout the fact that monsters don’t leave a body and only leave a Spirit Stone.

nHowever, monsters that come out from dungeons gain flesh and can become Monstrosities.

nExplorers sell Spirit Stones to earn money.

nThe ‘excavation’ of Spirit Stones is managed by the country.

nThe explorers are mostly in charge of the excavation of Spirit Stones.

nIt was mostly information I could assume was the case, but being able to check answers here is important.

n“…But nyot knowing things like this…are you not an explorer, Onii-san?”

n“Secret.” (Hikaru)

n“I see. Then, you might nyot know this either, so I will be telling you this as well. Even if someone finds a treasure, you definitely must not take it away from them-nya.”

nShe said with a slightly strong tone.

nTaking away treasure. Is it that much of a taboo? Is it an issue of ethics?

n“Treasures are something that are given to a specific explorer. It is said that Lilimuph won’t forgive the ones who have stolen those-nya.”

n“Who is Lilimuph?” (Hikaru)

n“A Divine Beast-nyan.”

nIn other words, the treasures one gets in a dungeon are something that a Divine Beast gives to the explorer themselves. It is apparently okay to give them to others after getting out of the dungeon, but doing so inside the dungeon is dangerous…

nThis taboo has spread quite a lot, and there’s apparently almost no one who has seen the Divine Beast show up though.

n“Got it. Well, I haven’t seen a treasure, but I will be careful.” (Hikaru)

n“A treasure is round in the dungeon, and when you get out, it turns into its true form-nya. You will be able to tell as soon as you see it.”

n“Is that so.” (Hikaru)

nThere’s the chance I might have found a treasure while scavenging corpses, but if she says it is shaped like a ball, then I just gotta avoid that.

nI heard quite the important information, so I escorted her to the entrance of the dungeon.

n“See ya. Don’t get injured again, okay?” (Hikaru)

n“U-Uhm…!”

n“What’s the matter? Is there still something else?” (Hikaru)

n“I am Grapefull. The Lynx Grapefull. Can you please tell me your nyame?!” (Grapefull)

n“…No, we probably won’t see each other anymore. Ah! Don’t tell anyone you met me, okay?” (Hikaru)

nI don’t know what might happen, so I am at least going to keep her from saying anything.

nI didn’t get out of the darkness even once since meeting Grapefull, so she hasn’t seen how I look. She won’t be finding me with just my voice alone.

nMy earnings today are still zero.

nI turn back and head to the 2nd Floor…no, to the Hungry Beasts Underground Prison.

n(Now that I look closely…there certainly is a lot of trash here.) (Hikaru)

nStaying in place while inside the darkness is fine and all, but now that I think about it, the viewers can’t see inside the darkness. In that case, that means they won’t know what I am doing inside of it.

nRemembering the pitiful sigh of Grapefull having her leg injured, I somehow ended up beginning to clean the things that were on the ground.

nStuff like the fragments of equipment, pointy stones, and splinters were lying around here and there.

nThere’s also Spirit Stones laying around every now and then, but those were things that explorers forgot to pick up after defeating monsters, or were left behind because they couldn’t find it in the darkness. For someone like me who has Night Vision and Dark Vision, this is important income.

nEven though the air is filled with death, there’s no bones lying around.

nIn a place where people and monsters turn into stones when they die, it might be hard for bones to exist.

nIn the 1st Floor -the Dusk Hades Street- the skeletons turn into stones when they die, so it is not like bones are left behind.

n(The Shadow Bag is handy at moments like this.) (Hikaru)

nThere’s no need to gather them with my hands.

nIf I open the Shadow Bag below the junk, it gets stored by itself.

nI have been finding Spirit Stones at a decent pace, so it might not be bad as a part-time job.

nWhile I was walking for a while, I found the shadow of what were once explorers.

n(Aah, karma.) (Hikaru)

nThe explorers that left Grapefull and went ahead have all turned into Spirit Stones.

nThey were most likely avoiding the dangerous monsters when they had a scout. When they move ahead without one, this is what happens.

nThere must be quite the mastery in order to come to this floor with only 3 people. The biggest group I have seen until now was a group of 20 monsters.

nI silently store their belongings and their Spirit Stones.

nMy condolences for dying, but 3 people’s worth of belongings is big.

nAlso, if I think about them being the bunch that abandoned their comrade, I can escape the guilt.

nOn that day, I didn’t find any other explorers that died aside from them.

nI spent almost all my time walking around cleaning the dungeon, and I think it has gotten pretty clean, if I say so myself.

nIt was weird of me to find this fun.

nI left the dungeon before the sun rose.

nI headed to the morning market, and after filling up my stomach a bit, I returned to the inn and slept.

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