Chapter 21~The Dungeon Once Again~
〈Within a certain study〉
「It seems that you have successfully eliminated the hindrance.」
「Yes. Let’s reward the ‘Night Raven’.」
「Aah. …even so, that Saran was gotten rid of quite easily.」
「Your Majesty the King desired it, so we would not fail. The curses on those besides the hero were also completed, and what’s left is the pretext for a war with the eastern country?」
「For that, it should be fine to say that they are sheltering criminals or something. And that kid would probably die in a gutter somewhere anyways.」
「Yes. Everything is according to the will of Your Majesty the King.」
The plan was steadily moving forward.
In a place where the people concerned weren’t aware of.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Leaving the castle, I immediately went into the dungeon.
『If there is ever a time when you are framed for a crime and have to run away, there is no better hiding spot than the dungeon. It’s full of mazes, and there are many places where you can hide. We will also be careful so that it doesn’t happen, however, if it inevitably does happen, go to the Continent dungeon and aim for Lv. 100. If it’s you, perhaps….』
Commander Saran’s words came to mind.
When I thought about how we couldn’t meet anymore, the corner of my eyes welled up with tears, but I shook my head and cleared my mind.
Right now, I’m in the dungeon where danger lurked everywhere.
If I’m not vigilant at all times, the me right now who was not in any party will get killed immediately.
In addition to that, my occupation was one that was not good with going against multiple opponents.
If I were to be surrounded, no matter what rank the monsters were, it would be deadly.
「Tsk! …haa, I’m finally at the fifth floor, huh. I had thought that there would be a lot of people early in the morning, but unexpectedly, there’s no one here.」
I insta-killed a goblin that had flew out from the next passageway with a knife that I had stolen from the castle, and sighed a breath of relief.
The scope of my Lv. 4 Perception was up to fifty meter in radius.
If there was a monster that had Lv. 5 Stealth and had concealed its presence, I won’t be able to detect them, but there weren’t that many that had skill levels above Lv. 3 in the upper levels, and it was a relief if there weren’t any monsters within the fifty meter radius.
With the method that I had learned from the knights of the chivalric order earlier, I removed the magic stone from the goblin’s chest.
There were many cases where humanoid monsters had magic stones in their chests, and there were beast-type monster that had magic stones as well, but the drop rate for the humanoid ones were higher by far.
That was, the same for the dungeon expedition from before.
And, the larger magic stone, the higher the price.
However, it was mainly used by magicians to channel their magic.
There’s magic power within magic stones, and if it was someone who used magic, they would be able to take some of that magic and transform it into their own.
For the low level monster like the goblin, the size was usually around the size of the pinky’s fingernail.
With just that much, it wouldn’t even be displayed on the skills column, anyone can conjure fire with lifestyle magic.
When I think about the future, in order to avoid exhausting my MP as well, it was something that I wanted a large amount of by all means.
「Since there’s no harm in having some on hand.」
I muttered that, and put the purple magic stone in the place where I usually kept my hidden weapon within my black clothes.
The retrieval of the hidden weapons afterwards was annoying, so I only had a few of them.
And I’ll only use shadow magic when it’s necessary, so it should be fine.
Thanks to my stealth being at max level, even if the monster was walking right in front of me, I would be able to stay calm.
Of course, it wasn’t like a monster that had eyes like Commander Saran’s didn’t exist, so I’ll be vigilant, but since they don’t have it, it’s much easier.
If I concealed myself, it was also possible to break their necks as I walk by.
There was a large amount of monsters in front of me who died without knowing who killed them or how they died.
There were even magic stones in seven of them, and there was a surplus of them, so in order to raise my skill level, I continuously used perception at full power.
Upon leveling up, the range will widen, so to an extent, leveling up was easy to understand.
I had came just a few days ago, so I remembered most of the routes, and I found the stairs that descended to the lower level without getting lost.
Wanting to go down to the thirtieth floor by the end of the day, I, stepped forward onto those stairs without hesitation, and stopped.
The threat detection skill was sounding a warning.
When I took out a small magic stone and threw it, the moment it hit the ground, an arrow pierced into the place right next to that magic stone.
「How scary…. It might also be a good thing to be killed-on-sight in an upper level like this.」
It was coated with poison, the arrow aimed at the vitals, and there was no way that it was a set up, but even so, it was extremely dangerous.
There was nothing like this when I came here before, but when was it set up?
After that, I went down to the thirtieth floor without even taking a break.
During that time, there were seven monster house traps like the one from before, and there were twenty of the traps where arrows or elementary level magic came flying like the one just now.
TN: monster house traps are traps where, upon activation, a lot of monsters come rushing in, like the one where the rat-like monsters came out of the wall when one of the classmates activated the trap.
I avoided all of them, and although the threat detection skill leveled up, this may be a good way to temper it.
I met a few groups of people that seemed to be parties of adventurers on the way, but they passed by me without realizing that I was in stealth.
「Now then, from here on out is an unknown world.」
I successfully defeated the Minotaur and stood there, and when I turned around, I surveyed the surroundings.
It was dim within the dungeon in the first place, and the lamps that were evenly lined up alongside the wall were emitting a yellow glow.
The ceiling was approximately ten meters high, and the Minotaur was five meters, so perhaps a monster that was even bigger than the Minotaur will appear.
When I thought about that, my heartbeat quickened with a doki doki.
To be excited in the face of danger, did it mean that I too am a man?
—
Chapter 22~Boss~
The food that Commander Saran prepared for me would last me for about thirty days.
As a result of rationing what I had, I generally roasted monster meat and ate that, but whenever I wanted some carbohydrates like bread, I would take it out and eat it.
However, monster meat was, in a sense, much more delicious than beef, pork, or chicken.
I’m unable to eat the meat of humanoid monsters like goblins even now, but when my rations run out and there weren’t any beast-type monsters, I would most likely eat it.
That’s how humans are.
「…now then, let’s keep going.」
My break was over, I stood up, and moved forward.
I was falsely accused of the murder of Commander Saran, and it’s already been ten days since I went into the dungeon.
Although, there was, of course, no sun inside the dungeon, and I didn’t know when one day started and when it ended, but my internal clock said that it had been ten days.
During this time, I had gone past thirty floors.
Right now, I was on the sixtieth floor.
There was a boss battle every tenth floor, and I had already completed five boss battles, but all of them were troublesome fellows.
Also, the enormous door in front of me that towered over everything was the room of the sixtieth floor’s boss.
The bosses up until now was a goblin general, an orc, a red wolf, a goblin king, and a Fenrir.
I had already defeated the goblin general and the orc the last time, so I knew their weaknesses and the like, and it wasn’t hard to defeat them.
Maa, they were monsters that took a party to defeat, so it was a bit hard to handle, but I eventually won.
The red wolf was a wolf with a red coat, but when I thought that it couldn’t be what I thought it was and observed it, it, sure enough, used fire magic.
I was able to avoid it with threat detection, but if I didn’t have that skill, I would’ve turned into charcoal by now.
It was formidable, so I didn’t really want to use it, but I went into stealth, disappeared, and beheaded it from behind.
In regards to the assassin occupation, by nature, it was appropriate to attack from behind, but as expected, it was in the nature of men to have a fair and square match.
However, life was precious, I kept to the margin of safety.
The goblin king was an extremely fat goblin, and the large build also displayed rather agile movements, it was very interesting.
Nevertheless, it was the king, so it was accompanied by other goblins as well, it was tough by myself.
Since I quickly defeated the king, the other goblins were all swallowed up by the shadow magic.
I felt that Fenrir was on a whole other level.
Up until the goblin king, they were monsters that, even if it was a harsh battle, maa, you could defeat it by yourself,.
However, Fenrir was an extremely harsh battle.
With Fenrir and four red wolves, even though it was already disadvantageous when it’s five against one, under Fenrir’s command, they used their brains and set up a trap.
Up until the forty-ninth floor, even the monsters that I was able to defeat even if I was a little careless, could not be defeated unless I was vigilant.
Let alone the fact that, it wasn’t just once or twice that I had been on the verge of death.
I had also reluctantly went into stealth and lopped off Fenrir’s head from behind, but it seems that I needed to immediately come up with a countermeasure.
If, my magic and skills were sealed, and I’m not able to defeat the other party with just my sword skills, then I’ll have to make sure that I don’t die.
Until the fifty-ninth floor, I moved forward without using my shadow magic or skills the entire time.
Even the traps that got stronger with every floor, I was now able to figure them out just by looking and not even using my skill.
I wanted to raise the levels of my skills, so I was constantly using perception, but I no longer met any adventurers.
I wonder what the boss of this sixtieth floor was.
I was a little excited.
When I pushed against the door with my hand, the door opened my itself as if it didn’t weigh anything.
When I entered, it shut by itself.
Wham
The lamps on the wall were lit, and the red light illuminated the room.
The boss rooms were generally the same, it was an arena with a diameter of about two hundred meters.
There were only two doors, the door at the entrance that had been shut, and the other door that led to the next floor won’t open unless the boss was defeated.
In other words, there were only two outcomes, either I died here or the boss died.
This time’s boss was enshrined, in the middle of the room.
「…a…chimera?」
A lion’s head, a sheep’s body, and a poisonous snake for a tail.
The length of its body was roughly around five meters.
It seems that it was one against one, there were no other monsters around.
I drew ‘Yatonokami’, and the moment I stood at the ready, it came.
『Guooooooo!!!!!!!』
That was all it did, and I was trembling.
Roaring, it put pressure on the other party’s movements and weakened their fighting spirit.
If it were a normal person, it wouldn’t be strange for them to die from shock from this.
「…tsk!」
During the time where I had flinched a little, the chimera shortened that distance instantly.
It came right in front of me, and I avoided the fangs that could’ve been as long as my arms by a hair’s breadth.
「Now, what should I do?」
—
Chapter 23~Shadow Magic~
The chimera was truly troublesome.
Even if it was one v. one, the movements of the snake tail was unreadable and it’s poisonous, so it wasn’t wrong to say that it was two v. one.
「…tsk.」
When I jumped back in accordance to my perception skill, the place that I had just been in was melted by poison.
I continued moving backwards and dodged the claws of the lunging animal as well.
「…it’s roughly two, three meters.」
I measured the range of the poison by eye, and distanced myself from the chimera.
As I was observing the chimera, it came charging, as if to say that break time was over.
I held ‘Yatonokami’ at the ready, and I moved forward and not backwards.
『Guruaaa.』
「…this is not enough either, huh.」
The ‘Yatonokami’ that caught hold of its neck just as we passed one another was repelled.
Previously, I was going to cut off the tail, but it was also repelled.
The Minotaur’s hide was good, even though the fur was fluffy at a glance, it was hard.
It was disregarding the various laws of nature.
With that momentum, we were five meters apart and facing each other.
Both of us bent down, …and clashed.
When you’re dealing with an assassin whose agility was second-to-none and, a chimera who had excellent leg strength, even when they’re five meters apart, they can’t be contained .
「Guhhh.」
However, when it came down to physical strength, at that moment, I was inferior.
By nature, assassins didn’t do direct confrontations.
They cowardly slit the target’s throat, from behind.
Even though you’re slitting their throats, there’s no need to use too much strength.
The chimera appeared at the spot where I had been knocked down onto, chasing after me.
I twisted my body and dodged it, and crashed into the ground right after.
I fell over and decided to keep my distance, but before I could stand up, i received an impact in my abdomen.
I was hit and crashed into the wall, everything in front of me blanked out.
The difference in strength was too much.
If I was caught even once, I would be toyed with as if it were messing with a baby.
Perhaps it was on purpose, or perhaps it because of luck, it seems that the claws had not reached me, and I was not torn apart.
However, it was certain that a few ribs were broken, one of which seems to have pierced an internal organ.
Blood spilt from my mouth, it might get dangerous if I don’t get medical treatment soon.
Objectively looking at my injury, although it was too late, I realized that this was not the time to be stubborn about having a direct confrontation.
In the first place, the boss was not weak enough for me to be able to fight it with my magic and skills sealed.
「…my bad. I will fight seriously from now on.」
I said that to the chimera who saw me get up from far away and I held my hand out as if I was holding something.
The chimera suddenly stiffened.
「…『Shadow Magic』.」
The shadows within the dim boss’s room blew up.
It hadn’t come out in a while and it seemed happy.
A thin yet tough shadow wrapped itself around the chimera’s feet.
That was, not something that I instructed it to do.
『As I thought, it seems that your magic has its own consciousness.』
Commander Saran’s voice resounded within my head.
Was that, the night when the the forest was nearly annihilated?
────
「Consciousness? Magic?」
「Yes. After all, magic like shadow magic doesn’t exist in this world.」
Within Commander Saran’s office, my jaw dropped at the controversial statement that was smoothly uttered.
「Ha? No, shadow magic is actually properly displayed on my status though.」
「Yes, I don’t doubt its existence itself. Since I saw that power with my own eyes today.」
Commander-san, who put his elbows on the desk and was broadly smiling, seemed like he was having a lot of fun.
Of course, it wasn’t amusing for me though.
「The magic of this world seems to be divided variously, and it is actually divided into certain attributes.」
He turned over unwanted documents onto the other side, and easily drew a diagram.
「First off, the fundamental fire, water, earth and wind. These are normal skills, abilities, etc., however, it is relatively easy to acquire them.」
He drew four circles and filled them in with the letters of the four magics that he told me about.
And then, each circle had lines drawn out and several circles were drawn.
I was looking at it upside down, ‘it somehow looks like a drawing of the ecosystem,’ I muttered this irrelevant thought in my head.
「First is my light magic, but it comes from one element and is derived from water. Now then, what do you think comes from water and light?」
「…isn’t it healing?」
「Yes, that’s correct. As usual, you have a good understanding and it is worth it to teach you.」
Commander Saran was grinning broadly and wrote down healing in between water and light.
「Other magics like dispel magic are derived from healing magic, but they all come from water magic. In addition, darkness magic comes from earth magic, lightning magic from light magic, it comes out to be like this.」
Commander Saran continuously wrote down magics that even I knew.
Shadow magic was not included in this.
「Isn’t it derived from darkness magic?」
「That is a good question. However, I thought that you, the user, would understand it well, but shadow magic consists of physical attacks, and darkness magic attacks the mind. In that case, it would be strange for darkness magic to be derived from earth magic, but that’s how it is.」
「In short, that means that that area is vague? Got it.」
「Although I have lived for a long time, there are still a lot of things that I don’t know.」
Commander Saran said this, and wrote down shadow magic a little further away.
「I think that that the fact that your shadow magic is being classified as an extra skill is related to that area. …besides, today was the first time I’ve seen something like shadow magic.」
He was looking at me with his eyes shining.
Just like, a scientist who made a new discovery with their gaze that had turned towards an experimental guinea pig.
「Compared to Commander Saran’s light magic, a skill that can annihilate a forest is, dangerous though.」
「Maa, maa, for me, a part of me doesn’t want you to use it and other part wants you to keep on using it.」
「Really. Then, what do you mean by my magic having its own consciousness?」
I turned my head as if running from that gaze, and brought it back to the real issue at hand.
Commander hit his hand with a pon, and put down the pen.
「Today, when the forest was almost annihilated, if you looked at it right after it happened, the magic could only be seen as running wild.」
「It was actually running wild.」
「Maa, there is that, but something like magic running wild, would be when it would target the person who invoked it.」
When it involved the common sense of this world, there was nothing to retort.
The reason was simple, it was because I don’t know.
It was extremely humiliating though.
「As a matter of fact, your magic today, it could be seen that, far from causing you harm, it turned towards the forest by itself. Zeal-kun is of the same opinion on this.」
「…if that’s what Vice-Commander Zeal said, then that’s probably how it is.」
「Ah! My glass heart was hurt just now!」
「Glass? Aah, tempered glass, huh.」
「Tempered glass? T, this time, please tell me about it.」
There was nothing more unpleasant than a starving man thirsting for knowledge.
I pushed Commander Saran who had brought his face close to me back.
「Well? If my magic had its own consciousness, what about it?」
「Let’s see. When it runs wild again and if there were people around, they might get caught up in it. Shadow magic in itself is an extremely strong magic, but there’s the fatal problems of MP consumption and control.」
And, the joking around look on his face disappeared and he turned serious.
I had great admiration for the speed of this person’s change every time.
「Akira-kun, please use this magic after getting permission from me, or when you have confirmed that there isn’t anyone around. Even if it’s completely under control, you can not be careless. …alright?」
「…I got it.」
────
「The right side is ok, the left side is ok, above is ok, below is ok. ….target confirmed.」
The shadow were waiting for my orders, as if it was telling me to hurry up. .
I could see that the chimera was struggling to escape from the shadow, but it wasn’t able to escape from my shadow.
「Alright, that’s good. ‘Eat messily’.」
The shadow, made an inaudible sound full of delight.
The shadow was gradually eroding the chimera’s body.
For the first time, the chimera raised its voice that was full of fear.
However, I did not stop the shadows.
Aa if it was a bloodthirsty demon, it did as I told it to, and ate the chimera messily.
It was to the extent that the shadow penetrated the skin that didn’t have a single injury and tore the chimera’s body into pieces.
The boss’s room was filled with the smell of blood.
It was so stinky that I was nauseous, but strangely, I didn’t find it unpleasant. Rather, I even had a feeling that I had smelled it all the time, ever since I was little,
In the end, did my five senses become strange because of the pain?
The satisfied shadow, came out from where the chimera that had been torn into pieces to the point of being unrecognizable was, and came back to my feet.
「You’ve worked hard. Thanks.」
When I said this, the shadow snuggled up to my leg like a cat, and disappeared.
「As expected, let’s not use shadow magic and skills only while on the floors. …it may be, tough for, the boss.」
I lost consciousness while leaning on the wall.
As one would expect, it seems that the pain was more than I could tolerate.
《Master’s damage has exceeded the acceptable value. Forcible activation of 『Shadow Magic』. Mode, ‘Recovery’. It is confirmed that Master’s MP is insufficient. Collecting the necessary amount from the magic power that had been preserved by the shadow magic. …recovery complete. 『Shadow Magic』, activation suspended.》
Within the room where there wasn’t anyone who heard that, a mechanical voice came out of my mouth, but no one knew about that.
—
Chapter 24~Visit to A Grave~
〈Retice Castle〉
I gave a deep sigh.
Before me was the grave of Commander Saran, the person who had been saving us until just a few days ago.
This person was someone who had rescued us on countless occasions in the dungeon.
Even so, his grave was in disorder and there were weeds growing everywhere.
Perhaps grasses in this world grew quickly, the beautiful place from a few days ago, was now a meadow filled with overgrown weeds.
「Was there no one who came to visit his grave…?」
It was different from the graves in Japan, if I had to say, the current circumstance was that the flowers that all my classmates prepared when he was buried in a European-style grave had withered.
The flowers that I had put down had also withered.
Even though only ten days had passed, I was sad that no one came to visit his grave.
That day, after Akira disappeared, my classmates had become strange.
The atmosphere was strained, and they quarreled over trivial things.
Those who always got along gathered together, and were looking at the others as if they were the enemies of their parents.
It was as if they were following someone’s orders so that they would quarrel and fall out with each other.
I was the only one who was able to escape something like that which seemed like a curse.
Right now, I was like those around me, but I’m gradually getting cut off from them as well.
「My being sane right now is thanks to you and Akira.」
I didn’t really remember when the curse was dispelled.
It’s just that, after the curse was broken, I had heard from Vice-Commander Zeal that Commander Saran and Akira had done their best to dispel the curse.
I had also heard from Vice-Commander Zeal that, the king and the princess put the curse on us bit by bit so that we wouldn’t know.
I, before I can say things like saving everyone and saving the world, I should protect those close to me first.
I still don’t like Akira, but I now understood that, Akira had also helped, protected those around me.
I’m grateful as well.
I could only be mad at myself.
If I continue to be as I was at that time, I would only have regrets.
No matter what, I wanted to get rid of the weeds myself, and with the water that I had drawn, I cleaned the entire grave.
I swept the grave with the tools that I borrowed from the castle’s maids.
「…fuu.」
I poured the water, and I carefully removed the moss with a tool that looked like a scouring brush.
I thoroughly brushed the part where the name had been engraved.
I don’t want, anyone to forget this person.
I had been looking down the entire time, so my neck started hurting, I slowly loosened it.
「…nn?」
I suddenly felt someone’s presence coming from the forest.
There were many places to hide and I didn’t know where they were, but they were certainly peeking towards this direction.
「Who is it!」
I drew out my sword that I carried at all times ever since that day.
When I glared at them, a single woman came out from the shadows of a tree.
「S, sorry. I wasn’t tryin’ ta spy on ya.」
「You are…Ueno, -san?」
The exorcist Ueno Yuuki-san.
She was the person who, on Akira’s instructions, used dispel on me in the dungeon the entire time until her MP ran out.
She was an energetic person with a Kansai accent, but she was dejected, unlike her usual self.
「No, it’s fine. I was also in the wrong for drawing my sword. It’s not an exaggeration to say that you’re my benefactor as well.」
「It’s fine. When I look at everyone, it’s normal ta be cautious.」
「…you’re not cursed?」
It felt like, there was something different about everyone.
The most noticable difference was their eyes.
Compared to the classmates who were glaringly searching for people’s weaknesses, Ueno-san was looking directly at me.
「What are ya sayin’? Imma exorcist. It’s da class with resistance ta curses.」
I didn’t relax my guard, around the slender Ueno-san who puffed up her chest.
That was how, I was deceived by the princess.
It won’t happen again.
「…I understand that ya kyant trust me. I ain’t sure either if Tsukasa-kun’s curse was truly completely broken or not. So, ken I come hea tomorrow too?」
「Tomorrow too?」
「Yeah, it’s bettah ta have more comrades, right? I know dat I kyant putta curse on myself. I wanna confirm dat.」
I understood the loneliness of being by myself.
That’s how it was, for me right now.
The only one who was aloof even when they’re by themselves, was a certain assassin.
「I got it. Come here tomorrow as well. It’s just that, I will have my sword nearby, and you have to stay a fixed distance away. Even so, is that ok?」
「Of course. I dun wanna be close ta a guy who is holdin’ a sword either.」
Ueno-san was finally smiling like she usually did, I gave a small sigh in relief.
「You too, please watch me. Because I will change this world.」
I picked a flower that was growing nearby that looked like a mallow and offered it to her.
Looking at that, Ueno-san said this in admiration.
「Da flower language fer mallows is ‘a heart that believes’. Wow, ya found something so befitting in a place like this.」
「’A heart that believes’…huh. I didn’t know that. I’ll remember it.」
Just where was Akira, and what was he doing?
It’s been a while, I wanted to see that arrogant smile.
Under the clear blue sky, the inexperienced hero took one step forward.
In order to catch up to the assassin who already went ahead first.
—
Chapter 25~Chimera’s Meat~
「…nn?」
Within the boss’s room on the sixtieth floor, I jumped up to my feet.
My body felt extremely uncomfortable.
「…there are no injuries.」
The injuries from the fight with the chimera, the injuries from the beatings from the practice with Commander Saran, as well as my aching back and waist that were not accustomed to sleeping on the ground, they were all completely healed.
Because there were no human presences nearby, and I did not sense any magical power coming from my injuries, I understood that it was not a healer casting healing magic on me.
In the first place, there shouldn’t be any healing magic that was able to completely heal someone.
Having said that, I didn’t have a self-recovery skill.
According to my internal clock, the battle took place yesterday, and it was impossible to make a full recovery naturally.
It’s been a while since I thought about something so hard, so I stopped thinking.
I wouldn’t understand it even if I thought about it anyways.
If that’s the case, it’s useless just to think about it.
I will understand it when it’s time for me to know.
「…now then, should I keep going after eating the chimera’s meat.」
I jumped towards the place where the chimera was dismembered that was unlike that of a murder incident.
It seems that there were no insects within the dungeon, even though the raw meat was left as is for almost a whole night, not a single insect gathered.
Because it’s the boss room, I didn’t need to worry about other monsters eating it either, and it remained as clean as it was before it was killed.
It was hard to say if the meat was fresh, but maa, it’s not like you can’t eat it.
I wanted to start a fire with a magic stone, but I don’t have anything to burn, so I grilled the meat directly.
A fragrant smell immediately permeated throughout the entire boss room.
「Thank you for the mea–l.」
I clapped my hands together and bit into it.
The juices of the meat filled my entire mouth, and the flavor spread.
In conclusion, the chimera’s meat was super delicious.
I will find out later, but it seems that the stronger a monster was, the more delicious the meat, rather than saying that the chimera’s meat was gourmet food, it was more appropriate to say that it was a rare meat that no one has ever eaten before.
As one would expect, I wasn’t able to eat all the meat, I tearfully left it behind in the boss room because it would be a burden and left.
「Now then, I wonder how far I will go today.」
—
Chapter 26~Fortune~
「Come to think of it, I didn’t do any mapping….」
I muttered this as I defeated the monsters that got in my way.
I didn’t map out the dungeon until now, because I found my way to the boss’s room without getting lost.
Now that I think about it, it was pretty strange.
The dungeon was extremely complicated, it was usually near impossible to find your way to the boss’s room without mapping it.
In addition to that, I had passed through sixty levels so far.
It was impossible to chock it up to just luck.
「Is it some kind of skill?」
I mutter this to myself, and looked at my status.
I feel like I didn’t have such a skill.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
・Akira Oda
・Race / Human
・Occupation / Assassin Lv.46
・HP 16000／16200
・Attack 10800
・Defence 7200
・MP 6000／6300
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Skills
・Arithmetic Lv.5
・Negotiation Lv.5
・Hidden Weapon Lv.7
・Assassination Lv.6
・Curved Sword Lv.7
・Dagger Lv.5
・Stealth Lv.MAX
・Perception Lv.7
・Threat Detection Lv.7
・Intimidate Lv.4
・Roar Lv.1
・Twin-Sword Style Lv.1
・Magic Manipulation Lv.5
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Special Skills
・Language Comprehension
・Eye of the World Lv.1
・Shadow Magic Lv.5
・Fortune
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When I thought that, there was such a skill all the way at the bottom.
The special skill Fortune.
「Ah–, this huh.」
If possible, if I had obtained this skill a little earlier, far from being accused of Commander Saran’s murder, I could be loafing around in my house around this time.
By the way, at present, I was doing well in the acquisition of a new skill and the leveling up of my skills.
It was just putting it into practice.
After gaining the fortune special skill, how will things turn out.
…come to think of it, how did I gain something like a special skill?
Was it because I had almost died once?
I moved my arms, even when I’m thinking about something.
『Kueeee!!』
「Uwaah….」
An enormous thing that had a strange voice appeared in front of me.
I really wanted to run away.
There didn’t seem to be any parts that I could eat, and it was obviously disgusting.
With a look, it appeared to be muddy dirt that was moving, but the smell from the hole that seemed to be the mouth was terrible.
「Ok, let’s run awa…nn?」
When I chose to run away, the presence that I did not sense ever since from around the twentieth floor, was caught by my perception skill.
Right now, the range of my perception was up to a radius of fifty kilometers, and the monsters before me were also within the scope.
However, this presence seemed to be the one that I sensed when the monster opened its mouth….
「Is it worth attempting….」
I gripped the ‘Yatonokami’ that I was already familiar with using.
It wasn’t a monster that would be food, but there was something that I was curious about.
『Kueeeeeeeeeeee!!』
「Shut it. Shut, that mouth!」
Moving right in front of the monster in an instant, I, using the so-called Hasso-No-Kamae, slashed the monster diagonally from the shoulder in one stroke.
TN: Hasso-no-kamae is one of the stances in kendo
There was a magic stone in the chest area, so I was careful to not cut too deeply.
『Ku, kueee….』
「…」
I quickly defeated the monster.
…weak!
Compared to the monsters wandering around on the sixtieth floor, it was definitely weak.
Shouldn’t it have been a monster that was actually from around the tenth floor.
The monster’s muddy parts hardened, and crumbled.
「…nn.」
「…haa, I thought that it would be something like this.」
I sighed, and approached the girl that came out of the monster.
She was, more or less, alive.
She was also breathing steadily, so it seems that she only lost consciousness.
「…this is the sixtieth floor. There’s no way I can capture the dungeon while bringing along a woman.」
I glared at the the burden that I just took up, and started to set up camp for today.
—
Chapter 27~Eye of the World~
The girl that came out of the monster was, in short, an elf.
She was an extremely beautiful girl, to the extent that the beautiful face of the princess that was arguably ranked first or second place within the human race could be thought of as trash, and her pointed ears elongated sideways.
She looked exactly like an elf.
However, the elves who were exceedingly loved by the sacred tree and nature rarely left their territory, ‘Forest’.
Even so, I heard from Commander Saran that elves, had long lives and were arrogant, and they hated humans who cut down trees, holding them in contempt.
That’s why, it was impossible for there to be half-elves.
In actuality, it seems there weren’t any children between the elves, humans, and beast men.
That’s why, until I saw her ears and her face, I couldn’t believe that this girl was an elf, but it wasn’t a dream or anything, it was real.
Judging from her clothes, I understood that they were made with higher quality cloth than those of the king’s and princess’s.
Surely, she was an elf who had a suitable status or something.
「Aah, I picked up something troublesome.」
I thought that I, who properly prepared two people’s portion of food even though I said that, was extremely softhearted.
「That’s right, I have the time, why don’t I try using the ‘Eye of the World’.」
I didn’t have time until now, and because I was considered dangerous due to the special skill Shadow Magic, I didn’t use it.
Judging from the name, it’s probably an appraisal-type special skill, but as one would expect, I didn’t have the courage to test it out in the castle.
Just like with the shadow magic, if it ran wild, it would be extremely troublesome.
However, this was the dungeon, and there was only a strange girl sleeping next to me.
It would only result in me and this girl being the victims.
Striking when the iron’s hot, relying on my body’s sensations, I invoked Eye of the World.
「…tskk!?」
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
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Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
A Little Less Harder Than The Others
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Dungeon Wall Lv. 60
Hard, Will Not Be Broken
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
・
・
・
At the excessive volume of information, I sat down and held my head.
The violent headache and dizziness, I felt nauseous.
「…haa haa!」
The pain finally subsided and when I opened my eyes, there were panels like the status boards appearing in mid-air everywhere.
It appears that, Eye of the World was the type of skill where, once activated, regardless of one’s purpose, a large amount of information will be transmitted.
I canceled『Eye of the World』and fell down, exhausted.
As expected, it seems that it was not a good idea to use special skills so unreservedly like that.
During the practice with Commander Saran, I gradually grew accustomed to pain, but if someone like Sano-san was on the receiving end of the pain I’m feeling right now, they would undoubtedly scream, faint, and be in hysterics.
It was only for an instant, but I felt like I saw something that I shouldn’t have, …even if I was shown something like the future of this world, I’m troubled.
The primary ability of this skill definitely, did not stop at just viewing the other party’s status.
If I desired it, it would show me, everything about this world, even the future.
Maa, I had no intentions of using it for that purpose though.
Even if I knew the future, I don’t particularly have any interest in this world, and I already have my stealth as a cheat.
I didn’t need anymore than that.
I’m fine with just being able to see the status.
「…nn.」
When I was deciding on how to deal with the Eye of the World, the girl that I had completely forgotten about woke up.
「I am….」
「Haa. how troublesomee. Oi, you have any place that hurts?」
I, gave a sigh at the beautiful girl that every man in the world would want to go out with, and tentatively called out to her.
These kinds of girls generally had terrible personalities.
I did not have any kind of expectation at all.
—
Chapter 28~Amelia Rose Quartz~
Getting up and dazedly looking at my face, the girl, in the nest instant, opened her mouth in an Ｏ shape and screamed.
There was no change in facial expression, there was only the scream that was coming from her mouth, it was getting more and more eerie.
Uwah, a girl’s scream can be so high-pitched?
It was annoying, so for the time being, in order to have her calm down, I presented to her the grilled monster meat in front of me, and what’s left of the bread.
The screaming suddenly stopped, afterwards, I couldn’t say whose it was, but it was the stomach’s turn.
It was simple yet honest, it saved me.
「…」
The girl, at the speed of light, took the food from my hand, and ran towards the corner while being cautious of me like a wild cat.
She’s pretty agile.
As I was admiring her, the girl, who finished eating extremely quickly, was demanding more with her eyes.
I reluctantly gave the girl the meat that I had set aside for myself.
「…th, thank you.」
I nodded at the thanks that she gave in a hoarse voice, and filled a cup with water.
Lifestyle magic, how useful.
If I had this, I wouldn’t be worried about making fire and finding water.
For example, it was possible to cook in the dungeon even though there was no gas or water.
The girl, in a magnificent style of eating, finished off by drinking the water in one gulp, and finally breathed out.
「…thank you for saving me.」
Thanks to the water, the girl’s voice recovered and she thanked me once again.
「Aah. Why were you inside the monster?」
「I don’t know.」
「Really.」
Perhaps it was because the both of us were the type of people who didn’t talk much, the conversation quickly came to an end.
There was a mountain of the things that I wanted to ask, but first of all, I wanted to tsukkomi the girl’s status board that was suspended right in front of me.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
・Amelia Rose Quartz
・ Race / High Elf
・Lv.51 Occupation / Miko Lv.51
・HP / 500/25000
・Attack / 400
・Defence / 350
・MP / Unmeasurable
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Skills
・Royalty’s Elegance Lv.4
・Magic Creation Lv.4
(Gravitational Magic・Resurrection Magic・Curse Reversal・Evasion Magic)
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Special Skills
・Archery Lv.8
・Dance of the Gods
・Strategist
・Eye of the World Lv.3
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
TN: the Dance of the Gods, or kanmai, is a traditional dance from ancient times which is performed as an offering at shrines
The elf was an elf, but she was a high elf, huh.
Moreover, what’s this, a cheat.
What do you mean by the MP being impossible to measure!?
Wasn’t the Magic Creation a cheat!!
Moreover, she also had the Eye of the World.
Will my status board be exposed as well?
「…why, is Akira here.」
My name was exposed already?
At least ask for my name.
If it were someone else, you would be looked at with extremely suspicion.
「I’m leveling up my skills.」
「I see.」
The conversation, came to an end once again.
Come to think of it, I heard that the hair of the elves was generally golden, but Amelia’s was pure white.
Her eyes weren’t blue either, they were red.
Was she someone with the so-called hereditary albinism?
Usually, it was something that would make one uncomfortable, but unfortunately, I don’t happen to be sensitive to it normally.
I thought that, it was extremely pretty in a mysterious way.
I won’t say that kind of thing to a fellow that I just met though.
「Amelia wants to go back to the elves’ territory?」
「…no, I can’t go back. I plan to stay with Akira.」
She had selfishly decided that.
Maa, from what I can see from her status board, it didn’t seem like she would be a hindrance, so it’s fine, but if I brought along such a beautiful girl, the people around us would be annoying.
「I’m planning on going back after I capture this dungeon though.」
When I said this, Amelia slightly tilted her head and emotionlessly stared at me.
「…there’s no place.」
「Ha?」
「There’s no place within the humans’ castle, where Akira belongs.」
「…how did you know?」
I knew that, everyone had been brainwashed.
If the crystals that the king and princess were hiding were broken, it should be possible for the curse to be broken like the time with the hero.
「…I know. Because I too, have the same eyes as Akira.」
「If you’re talking about the Eye of the World, the level of mine is still insufficient.」
「…no. Akira, is just rejecting it.」
「…tsk.」
Most likely, this was about my resolution from before to not see the future.
I, feeling like I had been completely seen through, averted my eyes from Amelia.
「…sleep.」
「Good night.」
「…night.」
I threw the cloth that was for my own use to Amelia, and sat down, leaning my back against the dungeon wall.
Because we were at the end of the dungeon’s maze, if something came close, I would know immediately.
From my experience, I knew that monsters coming out of the dungeon wall was only when some kind of trap was activated.
Just in case, I widened the range of perception, covering even Amelia.
Amelia was already steadily breathing like someone who was sleeping.
She adjusted too easily.
You are, more or less, elf royalty, right?
The words on the status board were not a mistake, right?
…haa, I felt nothing but uneasiness about the future.
I’m reluctant, but I gained a companion for my journey.
—
Chapter 29~The Hero’s Departure~
〈The conference room within the castle〉
We convened and after a few hours, up to half of the twenty-seven chairs were occupied.
Everyone, after coming to this world, their complexions were always bad, they’ve lost weight and bags could be seen under their eyes.
The ones who were fine was, Ueno-san and I, and within the class, the one whose strength came in second after me was the samurai Asahina Kyousuke-kun.
Though, in regards to Asahina-kun, he has always been a silent and expressionless person, so even if he had poor physical health, I wouldn’t know.
When we were in Japan, I had almost never seen him talk, he was a mysterious guy.
The only one that he got along with in our class was Akira, and even though Akira was talking normally, he could be seen inserting a word or two.
The club activities that he was involved in should’ve been the kendo club in which he was the captain.
It seems that he was idolized by the club members quite a lot.
Come to think of it, Asahina-kun was the same as Akira, we were always in the same class.
What an incredible coincidence.
He’s such a mysterious guy, but it felt like he’s become more mysterious after coming to this world.
「…I understand that not everyone will come. We’ll start with just us.」
When I stood up and said this, the room was still silent.
A sharp gaze landed on me.
「What do you want to say at this point in time? Oh hero-sama.」
Watabe Katsumi, the one who activated the trap in the dungeon, glared at me.
As we were part of the hero group, I wanted us to become much better friends than when we were in Japan, but it seems that in the end, it turned out like this.
I sharply gazed back at Watabe.
Many people flinched with just that.
There was no one stronger than me here.
After Akira disappeared, I trained with Zeal-san who became the new chivalric order commander.
I won’t lose that easily.
As the hero, I couldn’t lose.
No one besides Akira.
「It’s about what’s going to happen from now on.」
Excluding Akira, my twenty-seven classmates met regularly, and exchanged information in this conference room.
During the first meeting, we exchanged information about everyone’s occupations.
Of course, that included Akira’s as well, though he was not there.
That’s how I knew Akira’s occupation.
Maa, I think a large part of it was about that though.
「The things from now on?」
「Oi, oi, the current situation right now, aren’t you the one who knows about it the most? You’re not going to say something like going to defeat the demon king, right?」
The words said just now, were from the tall amazoness who was the ace of the volleyball club, Sakata Natsumi-san, and the number four of the baseball club, the necromancer Tanaka Kaichi-kun.
Both of them, their motor reflexes were above-average, so their fighting strength were valued, and were a member of the hero group with me.
Now, they were the first to be hostile towards me though.
The princess was quite nasty.
She, without hesitation, implemented the strategy of destroying me from the inside.
In order to unsettle me.
「That’s exactly it. According to my promise with the king, I will go subjugate the demon king. And, I’m looking for people to go together with me.」
Those within the conference room fell completely silent, in the next second, it suddenly became noisy.
「That’s a lie, right?」
「At this time?」
「Are ya an idiot?」
「No, you must be an idiot. In the first place, what’s happening right now was because of that guy, right?」
「I see, are you running away.」
「You’re not worthy of the title hero.」
「Ehh? Something like running away is so uncool!」
If other people don’t say anything, they would say whatever they wanted.
I struck the pure white desk that was carved from marble, while adjusting my strength.
Perhaps it was because I was careful to not chip it, not only did it make a loud sound that silenced the noisy people, but there wasn’t a single scratch on it.
As expected, i would be troubled if they sent me a bill asking for a large sum after I destroyed this kind of high-quality item as I went along with the flow of the situation.
「…haa, maa it’s fine. I didn’t expect you guys to do it.」
I gave a deep sigh.
I did not, expect it of them.
However, with this, it was definite.
「From now on, I will not have anything to do with you. Whether you are lazy or fight with others, you can do whatever you want.」
I left my seat, which was the topmost seat that I was assigned to.
This was, what I had decided.
It seems that the king and princess wanted to use any means possible to make me obey them.
That’s why, I will leave this castle.
I will not do something like following the orders of the king, and the princess.
「I will also go with you.」
Within the conference room that was bathed in silence, an unfamiliar voice resounded.
When I looked towards the direction of the voice, Asahina Kyousuke-kun stood up.
It seems that that voice was his voice.
This was the first time I heard his voice.
With Asahina-kun standing up, the several people who didn’t say anything until now also stood up.
Among those people also included Ueno-san and Hosoyama-san.
I, with a nod, brought them with me, and left the conference room.
「…exactly seven people, huh. It seems that the coordination that each team practiced can be used as is.」
「Moreover, the exorcist Ueno-san and the cleric Hosoyama-san are here, so even if we get hurt, it would be fine.」
Asahina-kun said a few words in response to my monologue.
This was also the first time that I’ve seen him talk like this.
I was a little moved.
「Sorry, but let me be the leader. Are there any objections?」
In a place a distance away from the conference room, no one said anything when I asked that.
A few people nodded encouragingly.
「Pack the things that you need and meet in front of the castle gates in an hour. We will depart when everyone has gathered.」
As I gave the order, we ran off towards our own rooms.
…there was no guarantee that the king and princess wouldn’t obstruct us.
Just in case, Zeal-san had agreed to cooperate with me, but I had put it into action earlier than expected.
Come to think of it, why did Asahina-kun follow me?
—
Chapter 30~Family~
『…oniichan, where are you? Hurry and come back. Please! I won’t say anymore selfish things, and I will also help out around the house!!』
『…really, that person is good, all the men around me left…cough cough!』
My younger sister and mother were looking for me in worry.
It had also been a very long time since I saw their faces.
Had my mother’s face become more and more haggard again?
…aah, I want to go back.
I want to go back.
If it was for the sake of going on back, I will do whatever it takes.
「…a dream, huh. It was quite the realistic dream.」
「…ah! Akira, you woke up? Food, not ready?」
At the soft voice that came from right next to me, I reflexively lowered my eyes.
When she got up, Amelia held her stomach and was looking over here resentfully.
「Can you be serious?」
「Serial? Sounds delicious.」
I was an idiot for wanting her to be serious.
I took out the bread that Commander Saran had prepared for me, and the meat that was wrapped in cloth that I had set aside as rations.
「…Akira, you were restless. Did you see a bad dream?」
「No, rather, it was a happy dream.」
I recalled the figures of my mother and younger sister, and shook my head.
I hadn’t gone back in a month.
I’ve also become homesick.
「I see. Did you have a dream about your family that was left behind in the other world?」
「Aah.」
I toasted the bread a bit, and roasted the meat.
Amelia had drool coming out from the corner of her mouth.
…the meat was still raw though.
Did, I tell her that I came from another world?
「If I used the Eye of the World, I would know everything. Akira might’ve been doing that at night….」
「Oi! Don’t use the Eye for stupid things!」
「Stupid? It is necessary in order to shorten the distance with Akira.」
I slapped away the hand that was reaching out to the bread, and turned over the meat.
Attracted by the smell of the meat, monsters appeared.
It was a thing that walked on two legs with a face that looked like a pig’s.
The level was fifty-two, huh.
I saw Amelia standing up, and I simply threw my hidden weapon.
「…Akira, we got meat.」
「That guy doesn’t taste good.」
「I see. Any meat that can’t be eaten should disappear.」
Amelia crushed the monster’s body using gravitational magic.
It was a waste of magic.
If I had almost infinite magic power, would that be I would do whenever I wanted?
She properly avoided hitting my hidden weapon, she more or less thought about it before doing it.
However, why was there gore so early in the morning.
Maa, I was already used to it, but as one would expect, the smell was intense.
「…the person who can throw that fellow far away, will get a larger piece of meat.」
「I’m off.」
How simple.
「Thanks for the meal.」
「…what’s that?」
「Aah, so there is no cultural practice of giving thanks for one’s food in this world.」
The elves did not strive to gain knowledge.
This might also be the reason why this guy stayed with me.
I told her about Japan while I ate.
Unexpectedly, she was really into it.
Of course, she was eating the entire time though.
「There are countless gods as well?」
「More or less, we were taught that gods dwell in all things.」
Now that I think about it, I talked to Commander Saran about this as well.
Even though it was something from just a few weeks ago, it was strangely nostalgic.
Was the hero doing his job properly.
Were the curses on my classmates broken?
「…Akira, tell me about, Akira’s family.」
「Maa, I’m fine with it. In my family, I have a sickly kaasan and a younger sister. Kaasan’s name is Yukari. My younger sister’s name is Yui.」
「What about your father?」
…father.
When I, thought back to the wide back that I once saw when I was young, I gritted my teeth.
「He disappeared when I was six years old. He ran away without holding us who were children and my sickly kaasan.」
「…I see.」
Since then, kaasan worked from home, and I secretly working a part-time job while going to school, so we were somehow able to maintain the family finances.
Naturally, I wanted to join a club, but I put up with it and worked my part-time job.
I did all of the household chores, including the cooking.
Are they eating properly.
It wouldn’t be funny if my family died from, food poisoning or malnutrition before I got back.
「…I have a younger sister too.」
「Hee, how unexpected. So you were the older sister.」
「Un. She’s prettier than someone like me, and can do anything, the perfect younger sister.」
「Hee…」
The situation had become strange.
I stared at Amelia’s red eyes.
The bright red that was shining when in front of meat, had darkened now.
「Because, I can’t do anything. Housework, anything. After seeing it once, my younger sister can do anything.」
「That younger sister, does she like meat?」
「No. She can eat anything, her skills too, she has more than me and they’re stronger than mine…why meat?」
I feel like I can finally see her.
In short, the older sister couldn’t do anything and the younger sister excelled in everything, so did that mean that only the superior younger sister was pampered by the parents.
The older sister was always being compared to the younger sister, which meant that this fellow has come to have a servile personality.
There wasn’t anything like that with my younger sister and I.
Maa, my family was unique, in a different sense, so my mother would never allow that to happen.
「Try to calm down. In any case, I hate the word ‘perfect’.」
Amelia raised her head that had been hanging down.
「It’s because if something’s perfect, you won’t be able to go any further than that. Humans, they can improve because they have flaws, and it’s interesting as well. Even if you’re an elf, it should be the same, right? …that’s why, if that younger sister of yours is someone who’s perfect, then I hate her.」
I hated the hero as well, for the very same reason.
Even though they had many flaws, they were concealing it to be perfect.
So, the hero that I knew was resting his laurels on his perfectness.
From the point of view of an ordinary person, it wasn’t interesting at all.
「…that’s true. Then, Akira won’t be able to meet my younger sister.」
「I’m the one who’s refusing to. …aside from that, if you’re done eating, we’re going to start exploring the dungeon.」
Things like comforting others were outside my area of expertise and on top of that, I’m not very good at it.
I patted Amelia’s head a little and then stood up.
I needed to do some maintenance on ‘Yatonokami’.
「…thank you.」
TN: so the ‘thank you’ here is not just ありがと , but なんでありがと and I have absolutely no idea why that なんで is there, so if you know, please enlighten me.
Like I said, I really couldn’t hear the words of gratitude that she softly said.
It’s fine even if she didn’t say it.
—
Chapter 31~World’s Strongest~
Amelia, moved surprisingly well.
Because she was royalty, I had thought for sure that she would scream and run around trying to escape, but it seems that I had been underestimating Amelia quite a bit.
「Amelia, three of them went that way.」
「Nn. No problem. 『Gravity』.」
She crushed those three in one go with gravitational magic.
She happily crushed the monsters that looked like large rats with a splat.
Gross.
「Because they didn’t seem like they would taste good.」
「No, I’m not angry or anything.」
As I looked at her, Amelia, who averted her eyes and was pouting, had a beaming look on her face when I said those few words.
As usual, it’s easy to understand her, it was the best.
「Right now, which floor are we on?」
「It’s the sixty-second. I want to reach the seventieth by today, but as one would expect, it’s going to be hard, huh.」
「If it’s Akira and I, we can reach it. We the strongest duo.」
Just where did she get that self-confidence from.
I stayed silent and patted Amelia’s head.
When I did this, Amelia was immediately in a good mood.
Her cheeks also turned a little red, but I wasn’t someone who was excessively self-conscious, so I wouldn’t misunderstand.
It’s surely because, it’s hot inside the dungeon.
「Now then, did you rehydrate?」
「Un. …why do I have to frequently drink water?」
「Because I would be troubled if you’re dehydrated. Maa, the monsters are the ones that we have to be cautious of in this kind of dungeon rather than dehydration though. It’s better to be safe than sorry.」
「Dehy…dra?」
It seems that the concept of heatstrokes didn’t exist in this world.
It seems that the technology related to medical treatment was not advanced either.
「When it’s hot and you don’t drink water, don’t you feel unwell?」
「…I do.」
「That is called heatstroke. If you’re careless, you’ll die.」
「There have been cases where young elves suddenly felt unwell on hot days and died just like that, but it’s not an epidemic, but dehydra-tion-.」
It seems like she understood.
Because there was one time, when I was busy with my part-time job and I neglected to rehydrate, so I almost got a heatstroke as well.
That was a close one.
Clinging onto me, my younger sister was crying and screaming the entire time, and my mother had to do all of the housework.
After that, I had become much more concerned about keeping up with my health than other people.
「If you understand, take care to drink more water.」
「I got it.」
I threw my hidden weapon.
It hit the forehead of the monster that came out from a far away corner.
Both my skill levels and my own level had been rising quite favorably.
Perhaps it was because I had quickly achieved my goal, or because I had captured the dungeon quickly.
「The world that Akira was in…or rather, country? I know of a country that’s similar to it.」
「Hee? The hero that had been summoned before us even established a country?」
「Yes. If I remember correctly, it was a human country that is a part of the elven territory.」
I heard that from Amelia, and it seems that there were humans in that country that’s similar to Edo period Japan.
「The name of the country is ‘Yamato’. The staple food of the country is the rice that Akira said that Akira wanted to eat.」
「Alright, let’s go there after we leave the dungeon.」
「Nn. I thought Akira would say that.」
I want to eat rice.
I’m already tired of bread.
Japanese people were raised on rice and miso soup.
I can’t live without rice.
Rice love.
Gefun gefun, it was as if the thoughts that were hidden away exploded.
How dangerous, how dangerous.
「It seems they have the popular ‘hot springs’, so let’s go together? Actually, it seems that it’s gender-segregated, but they have ‘mixed baths’.」
「Amelia-san, are you saying that you know what mixed baths mean?」
「Soaking in the hot water naked together?」
「…」
No, wasn’t that impossible?
The hurdle of something like an average-looking guy like me and a girl as beautiful as Amelia going to the mixed baths was too high.
Besides, the looks from those around us would be too painful.
In addition, this girl, did she not forget about the fact that she’s an elf.
However, it seems that Amelia was truly looking forward to it.
「Fo, for now, we will put that on hold.」
「Tell me your answer before we leave the dungeon.」
「I, I will think about it.」
If only the dungeon was neverending.
Even when we were having such a conversation, we continued killing monsters.
「…the lowest dungeon floor, that humans have ever reached until now was the twentieth floor. Moreover, I had organized raids, and Akira’s fighting strength can not be compare to that of the humans’.」
What was she suddenly saying, I looked at Amelia’s face.
Amelia was looking this way with a serious look on her face.
I, pressed by that seriousness, told Amelia the things that I didn’t even tell my classmates.
「…I don’t know why, but my status was obviously much more powerful that of the hero’s.」
Perhaps Amelia was thinking, she just gave a small nod and didn’t have much of a reaction.
And then, she solemnly opened her mouth to speak as if she was hesitant to say it.
「Akira, even for the strongest of the four races, the demons, the maximum attack power is 900. The attack power of the previous generation’s demon king was around 10,000. Without a doubt, Akira is the strongest in this world.」
「…that may be so. Even if I don’t use『Eye of the World』, I know that I’m strange. Besides, I’m running the dungeon in order to raise my level to 100 because of my promise to a certain person. When I come out, I may, without a doubt, become a walking god of destruction.」
「What’s going to happen after you reach 100?」
「Who knows. I’m not exactly sure either. But, I’m certain that something good will happen.」
If it was the previous world, permission to shoot me to death would be granted immediately.
I may become an experimental guinea pig because I’m a dangerous person.
Then, Amelia tightly grasped my hand.
「Even if the world says that Akira is a monster, I’ll stay by your side.」
「Thank you.」
I feel like I was somewhat saved by Amelia.
Come to think of it, this kind of thing happened before.
I was in Amelia’s position though.
I wonder how he’s doing, Kyousuke.
—
Chapter 32~Asahina Kyousuke~
The hero, Satou Tsukasa, and I, as well as Akira, had always been in the same class since kindergarten.
I noticed this when I was in elementary sixth year, and at that time, I just thought that I always happened to see the same faces.
But, still, for us to be together for over ten years, it must’ve been some kind of curse.
For some reason, Satou was hostile towards Akira, and Akira was indifferent towards those around him, so I wasn’t sure if he noticed it or not.
What were the chances, it was the same even in high school, as expected, I couldn’t stop the chills, but I just thought of it as some sort of fate.
And, the first time Akira and I talked was after we entered high school as well.
Akira and I, who didn’t have an appearance that stood out in particular like Satou, did not talk to our classmates when we were in the classroom, we slept and read books, each of us passed the time by ourselves.
During that time, I found out about Akira’s secret, if I remember correctly, was it the summer vacation of our first year?
「…Oda Akira?」
「Nn? …geh, kendo club’s, uu-m….」
「Aah, it’s Asahina Kyousuke.」
Our high school did not prohibit part-time jobs.
It wasn’t recommended either, but if family circumstances were used as a reason for the permit, it seems that they would give it to you quite readily.
In addition to your grades.
However, Akira was definitely the only one who would really work a part-time job.
And, Akira did not want to anyone know that.
However, of all things, I came across the scene of Akira working and sweating.
On that day, we parted after that.
Akira was in the middle of his part-time job as well.
However, as expected, he didn’t remember my name, huh.
We were, more or less, together for more than ten years though.
The next day, when I went into the classroom, came right in front of me.
「During the lunch break, if you have the time, the library.」
「…」
Me feeling relieved that it wasn’t behind the gymnasium was a secret only I knew.
It certainly couldn’t be said that the look in Akira’s eyes was good by any standards, because a part of the student body was even circulating the rumor that he was a gentleman from that side.
Anyway, I nodded and sat in my seat.
My heart was thumping loudly.
Although I knew that it was impossible, what should I do if he demanded money, and other such words that showed signs of cowardice were going through my mind.
If I thought about it properly, if he wanted to keep it a secret, I would be the one who would receive money, but the confused me didn’t even think of that.
During the lunch break, I ate my lunch like usual, after that, I would usually pass the time by sleeping, but I left my seat and headed towards the library.
As soon as fourth period ended, Akira rushed out and did not return.
Perhaps, he had departed for the front line in the war to buy the school store’s bread.
It was swarmed with male high school students who were not full with just a bento, he’s quite the courageous fellow, to go to that place that was literally a battlefield by himself.
Our school’s library was behind the entryway, the librarian obasan was always standing there.
It was open all day long, it was even possible to go there on all your free periods, but it was the first time I’ve come here, with the exception of Modern Japanese class.
It was pretty unexpected for Akira to choose the library, as he seemed indifferent towards the library.
「My bad, for calling you out.」
When I came to the library and the first thing that he did was apologize, I almost unintentionally apologized as well, but I endured it with my poker face.
I limited it to just a nod and I sat in the seat across from Akira.
「Well, I’ll get straight to the point, it’s about yesterday.」
「Aah, it should be fine if I don’t tell anyone, right?」
When I said this, Akira’s face was shining.
It was definitely because, I faced my own expressionless face in the mirror every day, that I saw the change.
「I want to ask you one thing though, why are you going so far to keep it a secret? It shouldn’t be prohibited though.」
「Aah, that, huh.」
Then, Akira unexpectedly turned away shyly and scratched his cheeks.
「…something like, it being similar to how it’s uncool to show off by yourself?」
「Ha?」
「Liike I said, doing something like emphasizing that I’m working hard for my family would, conversely, be uncool. That kind of thing contradicts my aesthetics.」
「I don’t understand why it is wrong for you to do your best for your family though.」
「That’s wrong. I, hate letting other people know that I’m putting in the effort.」
I see, if that’s the case, then I felt like I understood.
Even for me, I don’t tell anyone anything, and even when club activities were over, I practice swinging my sword and do long training runs, I also didn’t want that to be seen.
Come to think of it, I was also in the middle of running when I met Akira.
「That’s why, you definitely can not tell other people, ok? Especially, not my younger sister.」
「Younger sister? ..you also have a younger sister?」
「Aah, she’s a year younger though…’also’?」
I showed him the purikura that my younger sister took with a friend, on my cell phone.
TN: purikura is a photo sticker that you can get by taking pictures in a photo booth and it prints out the pictures in sticker form.
I used my right hand to point at the tall girl with a ponytail who, for some reason, was in an incomprehensible pose.
「This is my younger sister.」
「…hee, then I’ll introduce you. This is my younger sister.」
He said that and pointed at the cute girl with short hair posing next to my younger sister.
「…what a coincidence. How unexpected, for our younger sisters to be friends.」
「It’s the same for me as well, it’s unexpected for you to be Keika-chan’s older brother. Maa, now that you mention it, you look alike.」
「No, we lost to you and your younger sister.」
Akira and his younger sister, Yui-chan, looked so much alike that you could say that they were two peas in a pod.
It was at the present time that, the difference between men and women appeared and you could even distinguish between them, but when they were younger, perhaps it wasn’t possible to distinguish between them other than from the look in their eyes.
「Once again, if it’s ok with you, let’s talk more.」
I unhesitatingly nodded at Akira’s words.
「Of course. Also, call me by my name.」
「Got it, Kyousuke. Call me Akira too.」
「Got it. …by the way, Akira, it’s good that there’s school even during summer vacation, but if there was no school today, what would you have done?」
「Ahh, I might have distributed leaflets of portraits. My younger sister, is in the art club and she’s good at drawing, I have her draw them.」
There’s school even during summer vacation, I’ve never been grateful for it until now.
Akira and I continued our deep conversation, and even in our second year we were, once again, in the same class together with Satou, and we were summoned to ‘Morigan’.
My occupation was, perhaps only for those in the kendo club, a samurai.
Akira was an assassin.
But then, because Akira was erasing his presence after that time, I had first learned about him having also been summoned and his occupation during the first meeting though.
I did not read these types of novels unlike Akira, but somehow or another, I noticed how strange the king and the princess were.
It was perhaps of the samurai’s passive ‘Intuition’ skill.
「Status.」
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
・Kyousuke Asahina
・Race / Human
・Occupation / Samurai Lv.5
・HP / 400/400
・Attack 1400
・Defense 800
・MP 600
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Skills
・Arithmetic Lv.6
・Curved Sword Lv.4
・Two-Sword Style Lv.1
・Intuition Lv.8
・Blaze Magic Lv.1
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Special Skills
・Language Comprehension
・Strategist
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
This was my status after leaving the dungeon.
Even though I leveled up, not everything on my status did.
Perhaps there was some other kind of requirement.
The numbers were completely different, but compared to the hero Satou, it should be a slightly worse.
It’s just that, the intuition skill was the only one that was strangely high.
When I looked at the skills like『Arithmetic』and『Twin Sword Style』, it had also reflected the experiences that I had when I lived in Japan.
It seems that, the reason why I immediately find out people’s secrets and the like was also because of this skill.
Maa, I had been saved countless times because of my this, so I’m thankful for it, and wouldn’t be annoyed by it.
The king and the princess were suspicious, but the Commander of the chivalric order, Saran-san, and the Vice-Commander Zeal-san, the people of the chivalric order were very nice people.
The training was harsh, but I understood that them saying harsh things was also because they were thinking about us.
And, Akira was making secret maneuvers.
He hadn’t talked to me even once after coming here, but I knew that he was doing something.
If possible, I wanted to hear it from Akira himself.
And then, I planned to help out where I could.
And yet, I had not heard the circumstances from Akira, and Akira had been charged with the murder of Saran-san and left the castle.
I, wanted you to take me with you too.
Why , did I not escape from the castle with him at that time, even I did not know myself.
It’s just, I only remember that my classmates at that time, including me, were all acting strange.
I didn’t want to be away from this place, I couldn’t forgive Akira who killed Saran-san.
I didn’t know where those kinds of thoughts came from, but my mind was filled with them, and the movements of my body grew dull.
I would return to normal after a few days, but the uncomfortable feeling didn’t go away.
However, that uncomfortable feeling disappeared as well, when I broke the black crystal in the princess’s room.
At that time as well, I also didn’t know why I went into the princess’s room and why I broke the crystal, but I somehow had a feeling that I need to destroy it.
In the few minutes that it took for the people from the castle to come running at the sound of something breaking, I broke six of the twenty-six crystals, including mine, and I finally came back to my senses and I left through the window.
If I was a little slower, I would’ve been found out by the princess.
That was dangerous.
On that day, the hero called for a meeting, and escaped from the castle.
In order for me to meet Akira, in order for me to get stronger, I travelled together with the hero.
「Why did, Asahina-kun’s curse break?」
We left the castle, came out of the forest, took a detour around the town, and on our way towards the east, Satou said that.
This may have been the first time I’ve talked to this guy.
「…after breaking the crystal in the princess’s room, my body became lighter. I also do not know why I broke it.」
「It not bein’ yer intention to do that, wouldn’t that mean that, it wasn’t the princess, but someone else manipulating ya?」
‘After all, if it were the princess, she wouldn’t break her own curse, right?’ was what the Ueno-san, the girl with the Kansai accent next to me, worriedly said, but Satou was pondering on it for some reason and did not say anything.
I became uncomfortable and left that place.
Because I was pretty far away from the castle, I stopped running and took a break in the forest.
Although they were weaker than the ones in the dungeon, there were monsters in the forest as well, so I couldn’t let my guard down.
「…Akira, I absolutely do not believe that you died, but be well.」
In the grove of trees where there wasn’t anyone there, I murmured that, and took my weapon, the katana, out from my luggage.
It was placed on top of my bed when I returned to my room after the meeting ended.
I knew that it was a good katana with a glance.
I brought it with me, thinking that even if there was a curse on it, it could help me with traveling expenses, but fortunately, it seems that it didn’t have any kind of curse.
I heard it from Ueno-san, so it should be fine.
Everything from the blade to the hilt, to the scabbard, this katana that was completely pure white was Kogarasu Zukuri, and the inscription, ‘Hakuryuu’, was engraved in Japanese.
TN: for those who don’t remember, Kogarasu Zukuri is a type of sword where the tip of the back of the sword also has an edge. Kyousuke’s sword is like Akira’s, except it’s pure white instead of pure black and its name, Hakuryuu, literally means ‘white dragon’.
It was just my intuition, but this katana was definitely one that formed a pair with another sword.
Even so, I was almost certain I was correct.
That this katana, would not only let me meet up with Akira, it would also be useful.
Until then, I will get stronger until I can stand next to Akira.
That was my goal.
—
Chapter 33~Skill Seal~
We finally found the stairs that led to the eightieth floor from the seventy-ninth floor.
I think we had been looking for it for about a day.
The stairs that led to the lower floor was hidden with a cover this time, the Minotaur that we crushed was on top of it and even though we found it, it took a very long time.
「…it took so long.」
「Un. It’s the longest until now. I didn’t think that the stairs would be blocked by a piece of monster meat.」
「Yeah. By the way, the one who crushed that enormous Minotaur was you, right?」
「…I’m not saying anything.」
If we didn’t have my special skill ‘Fortune’, we would probably continue loitering around the seventy-ninth floor for a long time.
My glorious Fortune.
「I wonder who’s the boss this time.」
「Dragon?」
「…that would be strange, wouldn’t it. Normally, wouldn’t that sort of thing appear on the last floor?」
「That sort of thing?」
「A man’s romance.」
We moved ahead while avoiding the traps that became more and more sophisticated with every floor.
「Are we going towards the boss’s room just like this?」
「Aah. I want to raise my levels as soon as possible.」
「But, if you don’t polish your technique, your body won’t move well.」
…Amelia was, talking in a serious manner, which was unusual.
「I feel like, you just spoke ill of me.」
「It’s just your imagination. Well? What are we going to do?」
「It should be fine to, use just my sword and not my skills to map this floor.」
That, I did that before too.
If I remember correctly, didn’t I realize that it was impossible in the end.
「That, I tried to do that before as well, but in the end, I realized that I would die if I didn’t use my skills?」
「That was because you were by yourself. It would be fine if you do it with two people while keeping the margin of safety.」
Amelia carelessly said that, and extended a helping hand towards me.
「『Magic Creation』…『Skill Seal』.」
「…eh?」
I was enveloped in a light blue light, and I felt my body suddenly becoming heavier.
Come to think of it, Amelia had magic creation.
I knew that she had it, but who would’ve expected it to be used on a friend in this place.
「…Amelia-san, I can’t use threat detection, perception, or stealth though?」
TN: Akira actually says 気配遮断, which means ‘presence isolation’, which, I believe, is a typo as this is not one of his skills. I even went into the later chapters to check, but this is definitely not one of his skills, so this might’ve been a typo of 気配隠蔽, which means ‘presence concealment’, aka stealth, which I decided to go with.
「I know, it’ll be fine.」
On what basis was she saying that, I wanted to question her a little, but this was not the time for it.
「Akira, there are three Huge Goblins in front on the right. If you read the signs, you would know even if you didn’t use your skills.」
「…tsk.」
Enormous goblins equipped with swords and axes that were probably from the adventurers that died in the upper floors appeared about three seconds after Amelia announced that.
I drew out ‘Yatonokami’ that I equipped on my back because if it was on my hip, it would’ve been a hindrance, and slashed at one of them.
The result, I couldn’t defeat even one.
When I was just about to die, Amelia crushed the three enormous goblins all in one go.
—
Chapter 34~A New Power~
「Akira, cheer up.」
「…haa.」
I leaned against the dungeon wall and sighed.
Perhaps, mushrooms were growing on top of my head right now.
Not being able to defeat the Big Goblins, I did not want to immediately rush into the boss’s room when I didn’t have my own technique.
Amelia comforted me, but there was no way I would feel better with just that.
「The Adventurer Guild’s recommended level for the subjugation of the Big Goblin is seventy and above. From the start, it was an opponent that the Akira without his skills would not be able to defeat.」
It seems that she was, more or less, doing something like following up.
However, I was also in a bad mood.
There was no way it would get better.
「Why are you in such low spirits?」
「…for a man to be protected by a woman.」
That’s right.
What was frustrating was, the fact that I was being protected by Amelia.
I’m a troublesome man?
Then you try being protected by a woman….
It’s a complete disgrace.
Moreover, against the monsters that Amelia killed in one blow with gravitational magic, I struggled against them until I was on the verge of death.
I wanted to die.
「…or rather, there’s something like the Adventurer Guild?」
「Un. No matter the race, it’s a popular occupation. As long as you are strong, you would earn money with ease.」
But on the other hand, you would die though.
I unconsciously straightened my back at Amelia’s cold voice.
Commander Saran, had briefly talked about there being an occupation where the death rate was extremely high, but it seems like he was talking about the adventurers.
And, Amelia did not think well of them.
「Is Amelia part of the Adventurer Guild?」
「Un. Because I needed to earn money, more or less.」
Amelia said that, and took out dog tags from around her neck.
The two tags were linked together with a chain and had been hanging from her neck like a necklace.
How cool.
How nice.
「I won’t give it to you.」
「…I’m obviously going to get my own.」
「Akira was greedily looking at it.」
「Stop talking like that.」
I looked closely at the tags, the first one had Amelia’s name, race, and occupation written on it, and the second one didn’t have anything on it.
Seeing the curious look on my face, Amelia properly explained it to me.
Even though I was wondering if she was an idiot at first, perhaps it was because she had a younger sister, she too had a reliable side to her.
How strange, even though I have a younger sister as well.
「This tag, shows your rank. Your rank is different depending on the color, so there’s no need for letters to indicate your rank.」
「Hmm. What rank is Amelia?」
When I asked that, Amelia’s face stiffened a little.
It seems that it was a subject that I shouldn’t have asked about.
However, Amelia gave me an answer.
「The second from the top. The level of difficulty differs depending on the race, so the standard for humans and elves are not the same.」
「Hee. Then is it amazing for an elf, to be ranked second from top?」
「Maa, it’s amazing. But, my younger sister is ranked first.」
The younger sister again, huh.
Talking with Amelia, this younger sister came up many times.
And, every time we talk about the younger sister, Amelia would look like she was about to cry, just like she was now.
I wanted to try asking, but I wasn’t able to,
In the first place, it had only been a few days since Amelia and I met.
Right now, we had gotten to the point where we’re joked with each other, but actually, my fear of strangers should’ve acted up and the silent atmosphere would’ve continued.
「You are silver-ranked, but was the first rank gold or something?」
「That’s right. There are only four people who are gold-ranked in ‘Morigan’. They were the world’s strongest.」
「They were?」
「Akira is now the world’s strongest. … besides, truthfully, there is a rank that is above gold.」
「What color is that?」
…I believe it’s black. It seems that it was the color that the first hero-sama liked. These last several hundred years, there hadn’t been anyone who was black-ranked, so the humans don’t remember it. Even the elves, there aren’t many who know about it.
Now that you mention it, elves lived for a long time.
Compared to the elves, humans had short lives, but they had high reproductivity.
「By the way, how old is Amelia?」
「…you can’t ask women their age.」
Her fist came flying.
However, even if her fist with an attack power of 4000 hit my solar plexus, I would be completely fine.
Even though it was four times the humans’ maximum attack power, it didn’t hurt at all.
Rather, it felt like it would be extremely effective on the itch where I had been bitten by a mosquito.
If you thought about it like that, you would understand just how weak humans were.
They often won against the beast men.
Did they beat them with numbers.
…huh? Was I just out of the norm?
「My bad. …now then, why don’t we do it again?」
「You’re still going to do it?」
「Unfortunately, there’s a reason why I must become stronger. In order to do that, I would even be willing to fight until I’m on the verge of death, I would endure the training as well, no matter how harsh it is.」
When I said this and smiled, Amelia’s face also turned red and she put her dog tags back and stood up.
「Then, I will also help. …s, since I said that I would stay by Akira’s side.」
「…I see. Thank you.」
If you looked at it from the side, it may have been a cold response.
However, even though it may appear that way, I was extremely embarrassed.
As proof, the heat on my face was rising.
I turned around, and with my back facing Amelia, I began the exploration once again.
「There’s a White Bat coming from above.」
「I know.」
After walking several meters, Amelia sharply raised her voice.
However, before Amelia said this, I knew that something was coming from the sound of flapping wings.
What appeared in front of us was, a white bat.
Of course, it was not a normal bat.
It was as big as a human, it was not a colony, but a single bat.
With sharp, pointed nails and strong teeth, if I were to be bitten, my upper body and my lower body would surely be eternally separated.
In terms of its level, it seemed pretty strong.
「It’s not your sense of hearing, sight, nor smell. It’s much different, intuition, so to speak, use it to read the opponent’s movements.」
「Don’t be so unreasonable!!!」
I drew Yatonokami from my back, and slashed diagonally down.
I thought that I had defeated it, but the blade didn’t even cut into its neck, it just made a small scratch on its white skin.
「White Bats confuse their opponents’ perception. It is the perfect opponent for Akira right now.」
「Say that earlier, earlier.」
My companion, as well as my combat teacher, was often concerned about her student.
Until now, I used my sense of sight and my sense of hearing to perceive and fight my opponent.
Of course, I have fought with monsters that disappear before, but they were extremely close battles.
In the end, I killed them with shadow magic.
「I only sealed your skills . Your magic was not sealed.」
「Is it, ok to, use new, magic?
TN: so the ‘magic’ in these two lines have different kanji 魔力 (maryoku aka MP) )and 魔法 (mahou) respectively. Mahou is usually used when talking about magic in general, like fire magic, water magic, shadow magic, etc.. On the other hand, maryoku is used when talking about the magic that’s inside one’s body or the amount of magic one can usesu. Usually I translate this as either ‘magic power’ or ‘MP’ when appropriate, but most times, it just sounds better to just leave it as ‘magic’.
Even when I was talking, the battle continued, naturally.
I’m avoiding being hit in my vitals, but many scratches had already appeared on my body.
「Magic, huh….」
I feel like I can understand, the sensation of the movement of magic.
Ever since the time when I first willingly entered stealth in this world, I had an inkling that there was something inside of me.
And, to give an image of the stealth skill, it was a skill where one needed to align one’s magic power with the magic power around the surroundings, and the combined magic power had to be cloaked around the entire body.
…wouldn’t it be fine to release that combined magic power into the surroundings instead of around the body.
If you visualize it, it would kind of be like mist.
「…」
「Akira!? If you shut your eyes in front of the enemy!」
Amelia’s voice, did not enter my ears as I was concentrating.
I aligned the magic, and released it.
「!?」
「Oh! I got it, I got it.」
For some reason, the white bat was restlessly looking around, as if it could not see me.
Perhaps it was the result of not fighting like an assassin recently, it’s been a while since I looked at the target from behind.
These thoughts were the worst for an assassin.
I brandished Yatonokami.
A few seconds later, the bat’s head fell down.
「Amelia, is it fine with this?」
「…」
「Amelia?」
Amelia, made a face on that beautiful face of hers, she seemed to be pondering something.
When I tapped her shoulder, she finally looked over at me.
「Are you ok? If you’re not feeling well, it’ll be fine even if you don’t force yourself to stay with me?」
「I, I’m fine. Akira, what was that just now?」
I tilted my head in confusion.
Did I do something that strange.
「What, you say, I just aligned my magic with that of the surrounding’s and then released it from my body though? 」
「Akira, normal humans are not able to do such a thing as aligning their magic with that of the surrounding’s, it’s also impossible to control it after it’s separated from the body. …except for one person.」
I tilted my head even more.
Impossible…wasn’t it possible just now?
「Can you still control the magic around you?」
「Nn? Aah, come back.」
When I called for the magic, it obediently went back into my body.
Amelia had a complicated look on her face.
「…is something wrong?」
Even I had become uneasy.
Did I do such a dangerous thing.
Setting aside my uneasiness, Amelia solemnly started talking.
What she said, was enough to make me speechless.
「There was a person who could do the same thing as Akira. …that was, the first hero-sama.」
「Ha?」
It seems that, I was able to do the same thing as the ‘first hero-sama’ that the people of this world had always respected.
—
Chapter 35~A Wonderful Man~
I had never thought of myself, as pitiable.
However, the adults around me said that I was a pitiable child.
I wonder what pitiable means.
Was being pitiable, something the adults around me decide on.
Or, was it a something that I can decide on.
Was it pitiable that my hair was white.
Was it pitiable that my eyes were red.
Was it pitiable that my younger sister was the one who’s exceptional..
I, don’t understand anymore.
Certainly, my younger sister had beautiful hair and eyes, and was extremely strong.
Everything, had always been taken by my younger sister.
My parents, friends, and my fiance who whispered words of love to me should’ve been my allies.
Before I knew it, the entire tribe was on my younger sister’s side, and for some reason, it was said that I tormented my younger sister.
My younger sister cried in front of everyone, and she fervently talked about how cruel I was.
The tribe, everyone, was on my younger sister’s side.
And, I had been exiled from elven territory, and was forced to separate from the sacred tree.
Nobody, believed in my words.
I too, did not believe in anyone.
After that, I left ‘Forest’, and I think I drifted to the humans’ continent ‘Continent’.
While I was in confusion in a forest that I didn’t know, I was eaten by a muddy monster that looked like a black slime.
I was resigned to my death.
Or rather, I thought that I was dead.
The next time I woke up, I was inside of a human dungeon.
If I remember correctly, was the name Continent Dungeon,
A somewhat plain, black haired man gave me food.
I was wondering if that monster that looked like a slime was a reconfigured slime subspecies that the kidnappers that had been making trouble in elven territory recently had released in order to capture elves.
There were two reasons.
The first was that, just before I was eaten, although weak, I had sensed the presence of a human.
In addition to that, it did not seem to be one or two of them.
The village was probably nearby.
If that monster was a man-eating carnivore, it should’ve been better to attack the village, and not me who was by myself.
Even if it would be, more or less, a hard fight, that slime should’ve been able to at least prey upon the villagers that had non-combative occupations.
Even if, an adventurer happened to be there, if it wasn’t a considerably powerful person, if it’s that slime, it would be able to turn the tables on them.
The second reason was the fact that it was, for some reason, in the Continent Dungeon.
In addition to that, it was in a lower floor that was inappropriate for its own strength.
The dungeon monsters fundamentally did not leave their own floor.
There was an exception once every few years.
It was when the monsters overflowed from the dungeon.
At that time, the scrambling monsters move toward the upper floors and come out onto the surface.
The hypothesis that I could come up with from this was that, after capturing me, it would return after taking another person.
Based on how big its body was, it had the capacity to hold at least one more person, and that pseudo-slime that was following someone’s orders was, as a matter of fact, not part of the elven race, and if it were looking to capture a target who had high levels of magic power on par with the demons, the man in front of me who had pretty high levels of magic power, fit that requirement.
Even if I was right, I didn’t know why the kidnapper who did not go after the elves released the monster in the human continent though….
I thought that perhaps this man knew the reason, I used the Eye of the World that all the elves hated because it saw through anything and everything, and looked at the man’s status.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
・Akira Oda
・Race / Human
・Occupation / Assassin Lv.68
・HP 23000／23400
・Attack 15600
・Defence 10400
・MP 8400／9100
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Skills
・Arithmetic Lv.5
・Negotiation Lv.5
・Hidden Weapon Lv.8
・Assassination Lv.8
・Curved Sword Lv.9
・Dagger Lv.5
・Stealth Lv.MAX
・Perception Lv.9
・Threat Detection Lv.8
・Intimidate Lv.7
・Roar Lv.3
・Twin-Sword Style Lv.3
・Magic Manipulation Lv.8
・Glamour Magic Lv.1
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Special Skills
・Language Comprehension
・Eye of the World Lv.2
・Shadow Magic Lv.7
・Fortune
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
For a short while, I was at a loss for words.
It was obviously, strange.
It was far stronger than the status of my sister who had the highest rank within the Adventurer Guild, the gold rank.
Just speaking of his offensive ability, it surpassed the previous demon lord.
Despite this, his presence, in some respects, was thin.
Strong people had something like a unique presence, but I couldn’t feel it from this man.
When I stared at him, the mysterious man stared back at me, so for the time being, I screamed so that it wouldn’t raise suspicions.
Perhaps it had been hard on my throat that had not taken in food nor water in quite a long time, when I screamed for a bit, it started getting hoarse.
Knowingly or unknowingly, he presented roasted monster meat and bread to me.
Immediately after that, my stomach growled.
It was improper, but I snatched them away and ate in the corner.
That was when, I met Akira..
Giving an unfamiliar girl, one who came out of a monster on top of that, food and water, Akira didn’t avert his eyes even when he saw my face, and he didn’t make a face.
On the contrary, he said that he hated the word ‘perfect’.
For me whom those of my own race did not believe in, those words, even if it was just that much, made me happy.
「Akira, are my hair and eyes, weird?」
Even when I asked him like that, Akira will definitely not avert his eyes.
And, he strangely answered as if it were really obvious.
「What are you saying? I still do not know of anyone who has hair and eyes that are prettier than yours.」
Akira had yet to see my younger sister, but nevertheless, I thought, if it’s Akira….
If it’s Akira, even if he saw my younger sister, it seems that he would be on my side.
Besides, my heart beat fast when I’m near him, and my heart jumped from nothing more than a brush of skin.
This was definitely, love.
There was no reaction even when faced with the beautiful faces of the elves from my tribe, but as soon as Akira patted my head, my cheeks turned red.
I want to, always be by Akira’s side.
No matter what happens, I will be Akira’s ally.
Even if, Akira made an enemy of the world, at the very least, I will be by Akira’s side.
Really, just when did I solemnly swear this in my heart.
That vow will not fade, it was in my heart.
「Akira, let’s stay together forever.」
「Ah-. you’ll be by my side, right?」
「Un.」
For this moment alone, I could even thank my younger sister.
If I hadn’t been betrayed by those from my tribe, I would not have met Akira.
That’s why, Kirika Rose Quartz and all those other people of my tribe, thank you for betraying me.
—
Chapter 36~Dragon 1~
Amelia and I, finally set foot in the eightieth floor’s boss room.
It had been twenty-four hours since we found the boss room, in other words, a day had passed.
Taking a break for a day, of course there was a reason for this.
First, the demerit of Amelia’s『Magic Creation』, use it once and it couldn’t be used for two days.
For normal people, there was one more, it was a given that the magic consumption would be high, but Amelia had near infinite MP, so that wasn’t a problem.
Of course, it would be nice if we defeated the boss without using『Magic Creation』, but I wanted to challenge it with complete preparedness.
Another reason was my training.
I sealed my skills for as long as I could, and tempered my sword.
「Amelia, are we all set?」
「Un. we can open it anytime.」
When I asked that while warming up, Amelia, who was meditating and doing image training, opened her eyes and nodded.
I opened my hand and closed it, checking the movement.
「Ok, let’s go.」
「If it’s Akira and I, the two of us, it would be an instant kill.」
「It would be great if it were an opponent where we could do that.」
I drew ‘Yatonokami’ and put my hand against the door.
I opened the enormous,seemingly weightless door, just as I had done up until now.
When we entered, the door immediately closed.
「……!? Akiraaaa!!!」
There wasn’t anything there and when I tilted my head in confusion, Amelia, who was searching for its presence, raised her voice in extreme panic, which had never happened before.
Immediately after that, I felt a certain presence and I lept backwards from that place.
That place where I had been standing up until just now was instantly scorched.
「…what was that just now….」
The feeling that gave me goosebumps all over my body, still remained.
Amelia searched for the presence once again.
「…the next one’s coming!!」
When I heard Amelia’s voice, I dodged it by leaping to the side.
I was not able to completely dodge the next one, I had a small burn on my right thigh.
「…kuuuu!!」
「Akira, did you see that just now?」
「…aah, just a little. It’s a monster that I haven’t fought before.」
When I said that, Amelia’s face turned pale and looked up.
「I, have seen it and fought it before. …a long time ago, it tried to burn down the sacred tree and was defeated by Kirika, by my younger sister, a dragon.」
「…dragonn!?」
While thinking that it was impossible, I looked up as well.
『Gurururuaaaaaaaa!!!!』
It could be seen that an enormous shadow that confused one’s sense of distance was reflected on the high ceiling that seemed almost endless.
It could be said that even in this world, they were practically extinct, it was a monster that boasted the most strength among monsters.
「…did I raise the flag that time….」
The black dragon with bright golden eyes, looked down at us.
I thought that a monster like a dragon that gave off the feeling of a last boss would appear around the hundredth floor, which was a good place to top it off, but this was beyond my expectations.
「Amelia, are you able to use gravitational magic and knock that dragon down onto the ground?」
「…maybe I can. However, I don’t know how big it is, so it might fall this way. It’s dangerous.」
Amelia looked at my right leg that the dragon’s attack grazed and said this.
Even when we were talking, the dragon’s attacks didn’t stop and rained down incessantly.
「Don’t worry about me. I won’t die from an injury like this. But, we will be easy targets like this. We’ll be hit sooner or later.」
「……I got it.」
Amelia pouted, and reluctantly nodded.
She held her hand up and muttered the words that activated it.
「『Gravitational Magic』. …fall down, dragon.」
『Guaaaaa!!!?』
The black-scaled dragon was subjected to tremendous gravity, making that large body creak.
The nails that were hooked into the ceiling so that it could hang on, broke one at a time, even the ceiling cracked.
Focused entirely on resisting the gravitational magic, the dragon stopped attacking me, and spread the wings on its back.
Without a moment’s delay, Amelia manipulated her magic and prevented it from doing that.
After a few seconds, the dragon fell towards the ground.
I got ready to attack the dragon with ‘Yatonokami’.
Falling down with tremendous force, the dragon glared at me while twisting its body in midair.
「…my bad.」
I thrusted the katana directly at its neck.
‘Yatonokami’ broke the hard, black scales of the dragon, and cut open the throat.
—
Chapter 37~Dragon 2~
Stabbing at the dragon’s throat with ‘Yatonokami’, I had a bit of an uncomfortable feeling.
「!!! Akira! Get away from there!!!」
『Guruaaaaaaa!!!』
「…tsk!」
Amelia’s warning was too late, I received a direct hit from the dragon at point-blank range.
And with terrifying power, I was blown away, as if I was dust.
「Akiraaa!」
Screaming, Amelia’s voice could be heard from far away.
And, my back hurt so much.
Most likely, I crashed into the wall of the boss room due to the impact of the dragon’s fall and the attack.
The good thing was, ‘Yatonokami’, which was grasped in my right hand, was without a single scratch, shining darkly as if I had just drawn it out.
There was something on the sword blade that looked like it was dragon blood.
Just as I got up, Amelia rushed over.
「Akira, are you ok?」
「Aah, somehow. …even though I slit its throats, isn’t it just fine.」
「Even among monsters, dragons are superior. To the point where the Minotaur and Chimera that Akira fought could not be compared to it.」
As Amelia said that, she touched me all over, checking to see if there were any places that were severely injured.
I looked at the dragon who had come down and was glaring at us.
The golden pair of eyes were glittering within the darkness.
「I used all my strength in the attack though.」
「It not flying even when I unleashed the gravitational magic, doesn’t mean that Akira’s attack was ineffective as well. …or rather, I’m surprised at the sharpness of that katana.」
Amelia looked at my right hand.
I lifted ‘Yatonokami’ up a little.
Because I have never fought another dragon before, I can’t make a comparison, but unexpectedly, the blade seemed to easily penetrate the scales.
「Maa, that’s because this guy’s custom-made.」
Commander Saran’s smile when he gave me this came to mind.
I don’t know since I’ve never fought a dragon before, but if it’s the katana that the first hero forged, it would not be strange.
「Amelia is not injured?」
「I’m fine. Akira protected me.」
「Ah–…. I don’t remember.」
The fact that I didn’t remember, was I unconscious.
In any case, it was good that Amelia wasn’t injured.
The me just now, nice one.
「For now, what should we do about that guy.」
「…that dragon, is a bit strange.」
「How?」
「For a dragon, it’s too weak. No matter how much Akira trained, a few days of training wouldn’t make a difference. Even so, the attacks easily went through.」
Certainly, it felt a bit disappointing for a dragon.
I was struck with admiration at its toughness when it didn’t die even when I slit its throat, but for a monster of high order, it was unsatisfying.
Even on the status that was being displayed in my line of vision, it could clearly be seen that it was a dragon, but I was not able to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.
「…should I try to go and do something.」
「What are you going to do?」
「No, I’m going to try and trick it into revealing something.」
「…trick?」
I nodded at Amelia who tilted her head in confusion, and broke into a run.
『Gurururuaaaaaaaaaaa!!』
As if trying to prevent me from getting closer, the long distance attacks that had stopped just now, had resumed.
Not minding the injuries on my right leg and back, I continued dodging those attacks, and finally arrived at the enormous dragon’s feet.
Even a dragon, wouldn’t use attacks that may injure itself.
The dragon raised its foot, and brought it down as if to crush me.
Just barely dodging that, I ran up its body, going up from the leg that it swung down.
『Guruaaaaaaa!!!?』
Because I stabbed the katana into the slippery black scales in order to climb up, the dragon acted violently due to the pain.
「Guu!!」
「『Gravitational Magic』!!!」
When I was about to be thrown off, Amelia uses gravitational magic to stop the dragon’s movements.
The enormous dragon sunk into the ground a little.
The dragon had fallen, but was it out of stubbornness, it endured it and immediately tried to throw me off.
Even though it should’ve been put under unimaginable G, the fact that it could move despite that, as expected, was it a dragon?
TN: the ‘G’ here could stand for gravity or the gravitational constant in Newton’s law. It’s most likely the latter
However, I could not believe that this dragon was a dragon.
「Well then, it’s checkmate.」
Climbing up into its head, I used the katana that I gripped in my right hand to deeply pierce its golden eye.
『Gugaaaaaaa!!!』
The dragon raised its voice as if to scream, and shook its body with such force that it couldn’t be compared to just now.
I put my entire body weight onto my katana, and pushed it in deeper and deeper.
「…!!! …shadow magic.」
The shadow, spilled out from the sword blade.
It enveloped the boss room that was bigger than usual, and swallowed up the dragon.
—
Chapter 38~Dragon 3~
The shadow magic completely destroyed the dragon’s insides.
It ravaged the brain, and returned to the sword blade once again.
It extracted power from the dragon, and when its life was completely extinguished, the enormous body suddenly started disintegrating into light fragments.
Normal monsters would, of course, not emit light when it died.
In the dim boss room, the dragon’s light was quite bright.
I drew ‘Yatonokami’ out and jumped down from the dragon.
Amelia, who stood at a distance, saw that and rushed over.
Amelia, when she saw that her attacks were not going through, it seems that Amelia stood outside the range of the long-distance attacks.
「Akira, your injuries?」
「It’s fine. It’s just scratches from the dragon’s scales.」
「But, the injury on your right leg, it’s getting worse.」
I glanced at my right thigh,
「Right now, I’m running on adrenaline, so I’m fine.」
「Adorenarin?」
「…I’ll tell you later.」
Leaving that aside, I looked at where the dragon was.
The lights were getting dimmer and dimmer, and the dragon’s enormous body faded, it couldn’t be compared to a dragon, but there was a huge black cat monster lying down there.
「…this was the monster that was the dragon?」
「Probably. There’s a metamorphosis extra skill in its status, so isn’t that it?」
「It’s a skill that allows it to transform into something that it’s seen once. If it’s an extra skill, one look, and even the status, most of it can be imitated. However, its strength was its own and if it didn’t didn’t look closely, then it wouldn’t be able to imitate it.」
「Which means that it’s not such an idiot that it would attack a dragon. Thanks to that, we were saved though.」
I, approached the monster, which seemed to be named Black Cat.
The name was as it was.
If it were God that gave it the name, give it a better name.
Amelia also followed.
The golden eyes within the black fur weakly opened and looked at us.
It seems that it was still breathing.
『…it’s the first time a human has come down to this level.』
A sound leaked out from the mouth that was faintly opened.
We didn’t think that the bitter voice that was deeply resounding in our heads came from the dying monster in front of us, Amelia and I were restlessly looking around.
『Over here, you idiots. …haa, for the one who defeated me to be such an idiot, it’s extremely vexing.』
「Who’s an idiot, idiot cat.」
「The one who says idiot is the idiot.」
When we retorted, immediately rejecting the insult, the Black Cat squinted its eyes a little.
It appeared to have laughed.
It’s quite energetic.
『…by that logic, then that man is an idiot. Maa, fine. You have received a message from the demon king-sama. Will you listen to it?』
Black Cat, looked straight into my eyes and said this.
I tilted my head in confusion.
Demon king or something, it was an acquaintance whom I’ve only heard the name of.
Rather, I’m surprised that that person knew about me though.
「…demon king? What business does he have with me.」
『Don’t know. I don’t understand what that person is thinking either.』
「…Akira, are you going to listen?」
Amelia looked up at me with uneasiness.
I patted Amelia’s head.
「It’s fine. If Amelia is here, it’’ll be fine, right?」
「…un.」
『…cough.』
Perhaps it was feeling uncomfortable, Black Cat’s bitter voice gave a cough.
Its eyes flashed with hatred.
As expected, it seems that no matter which world it is, when one sees a man and a woman flirting, one would be filled with anger.
『…’I’ll be waiting in the demon king’s castle within the ’Continent of Demons’, Volcano.’』
「…that’s it?」
『Aah, the message that I received was just that.』
「It’s quite mysterious, but how did you receive that message?」
Black Cat shook its head.
『We are demonic monsters created by the demon king-sama. All of us are the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the demon king-sama. Even if we didn’t receive it, we know.』
「…from what I heard, monsters are created by God though.」
『Then, what you heard was wrong. I remember it like it was yesterday when I was created by the hands of the demon king-sama.』
「….」
I didn’t say anything towards Black Cat who proudly said that.
It didn’t look like Black Cat was lying.
However, I don’t think that Commander Saran was lying either.
Then, who was correct.
『Saa, human. Kill me.』
「Ha? Why.」
『The metamorphosis skill that I received from the demon king-sama had been seen through, I have no worth. I thought that that dragon turned out pretty well though.』
Black Cat was regretting something.
I tilted my head in confusion.
「It’s kind of late, but why are you not able to move?」
『It’s obviously because of the gravity that had stopped my movements at the very end. Because I resisted it too forcibly, my bones were jarred and I can’t get up.』
「…hee. So you knew what gravity is.」
『Our demon king-sama is extremely knowledgeable.』
I nodded at Black Cat who once again puffed up his chest with pride.
I see, perhaps the demon king was summoned from our world, or he’s someone who had reincarnated.
There was no science in this world.
I had heard of this from Commander Saran too, and I heard about this matter from my conversations with Amelia as well.
In the first place, I was surprised that Amelia knew about gravity, but whether it be by summoning or reincarnation, they were taught by a person who had come to this world, or, there’s also the possibility that there were records left behind.
It may not be something unknown.
Besides, I saw electric lights and cameras in Retice as well.
It seems that it’s still not popular among the citizens, but there’s no mistake in its utilization.
The way that they used the camera that I found in the castle was ingenious.
There was definitely someone who taught them this.
『If you understand, then kill me.』
「I refuse.」
『Why!!』
Black Cat bared its fangs.
It was a good thing that Black Cat was not able to move, I bent down and stroked its fur.
That fur was warm and extremely thick, I had only placed my palm on it and it sunk several centimeters into it.
「There’s no way that I would kill a cat with such beautiful fur.」
「Now that you mention it, Akira, even if the cat was a monster, kept stroking it.」
『What!?』
That’s right. I love cats.
It was said that black cats brought misfortune, but it’s absurd to mistreat cats!
Your own misfortune was completely because of yourself.
This was the pet theory that I had.
『…what’s going on. If I went back like this, I’ll be the greatest laughingstock.』
「Then, it’ll be fine if you come with us. The demon king who would be able to monitor me would be ecstatic as well, and I’ll be ecstatic to be able to regularly cuddle this fluffiness.」
‘Wha?,’ when it looked towards Amelia, Amelia glided her hand along Black Cat’s fur and was spellbound.
Even if she didn’t give a reply, I understood.
『I don’t particularly care, but the same race, in other words, monsters, I won’t kill them, ok?』
「That’s to be expected. For the time being, let me cuddle you thirty times a day.」
「Me too.」
『…you guys, are crazy. …maa, fine. I’ll go with you.』
「Maa, we were the ones who won, so the ones who had the final say is Amelia and I though.」
Due to a rather impure motive, my traveling companions increased by one animal.
—
Chapter 39~Yoru~
「There are no stairs leading to the next floor.」
「…ha?」
After cuddling Black Cat for a while, when I decided to go on to the next level, Amelia said that.
I squinted and looked around the room.
In the dreary and enormous room, there was one door.
That was the door that we used to enter the room.
Moreover, it can’t be opened from this side.
Certainly, there were no stairs leading downwards that should’ve already appeared.
『No need to guess, it’s probably because of me.』
Black Cat shook its body and after it gave a big yawn, it muttered that.
Two people’s cold gaze locked onto it.
Those gazes asked it, to properly explain what was going on.
『It’s the boss room, so the dungeon wouldn’t allow me, who is the boss, to continue living.』
Smiling with a hint of self-deprecation, Black Cat casted those golden eyes downward.
『That’s why I told you to kill me. Do you want to starve to death here? As expected, races other than the demons and monsters are incompatible.』
As Black Cat sadly muttered that, I looked down at the ground and thought about a solution.
Withdrawing like this would be annoying.
「Certainly, killing you would be the easiest way.」
「But, it’s too early to give up.」
At Amelia’s voice, Black Cat and I looked up.
Amelia stared at Black Cat.
The gold and the red intersected.
『You’re saying that you have a plan?』
「…Akira can just name you.」
「Name?」
What did it mean to name someone.
Unlike me who tilted my head in confusion, Amelia and Black Cat nodded at each other.
『I see, if that’s the case, I wouldn’t be the boss anymore, and then we would be able to leave this room!』
「It’ll definitely turn out well. Also, if you shapeshifted and become smaller, your appearance would only be that of a black cat. Even if you’re in front of other people, no one would find it strange.」
『I see, I see, then without delay, this man! Name me!』
「Wait, wait, properly explain it.」
I panicked as Black Cat seemed like it would pounce on me at any time.
Black Cat was, more or less, smaller than a dragon, but it’s bigger than us.
I’m confident that I would be able to stop him, but the impact would be frightening.
『It’ll be fine if you become my master.』
「You abbreviated too much.」
Certainly, I never told them where I came from, but the explanation just now, even normal people wouldn’t understand.
Leaving Black Cat who was excited and couldn’t talk aside, and I turned towards Amelia.
Perhaps Amelia was also a bit excited, her cheeks were turning red.
However, it was more preferable than Black Cat.
「Demons are the only ones who can control monsters. But, once in several hundred years, there would be a person who has a link with monsters. It was something that was from much earlier than when I was born.」
Amelia paused at that time.
「The one who thought of giving names to monsters was the first hero-sama. By giving a name, it would allow the human and monster to have a genuinely meaningful link between them.」
The first hero’s name came out, once again.
Just this first hero, although he should’ve been someone from a very long time ago, he left a frightening amount of things behind.
「What is a genuinely meaningful link.」
「Firstly, the one who gave the name would be able to pinpoint the monster’s position, not matter where it went.」
Hou, that’s certainly useful.
I wouldn’t lose sight of him.
However, conversely, didn’t that mean that the monster’s freedom would be lost….
「Afterwards, the two people would acquire the magic『Telepathy』.」
「That, is that the one where you can communicate even if we don’t talk?」
「I have never used it, but it’s probably that.」
That’s quite fancy.
It was fine as Black Cat can talk, but normal monsters were not able to.
This was the measure put in place for that.
Or rather, why was this guy able to talk?
「The link is impossible if there’s no mutual consent. Threatening them and forcing them against their will is also impossible.」
『However, once connected, if the original link that both parties consented to is not broken, we will be together until death.』
「…until death?」
‘That’s right,’ Black Cat nodded.
Somehow, it felt like it was grinning.
「In the situation where there is a link, if one dies, the other will die as well. It’s that kind of contract.」
「That’s great.」
It was definitely better than being left with a lifelong scar, or being in pain forever.
Rather than death, I hated pain.
I felt Amelia’s worried gaze, but I’m fine with it.
Death was certainly frightening, but as long as Amelia’s by my side, it’s impossible for me to die.
『…normal people, would hesitate when they hear this explanation and withdraw, but…. are you actually human?』
「No, I’ve already entered the realm of a complete monster and a freak.」
『If that wasn’t the case, I would challenge you to another match.』
I laughed at Black Cat whose laughter was stuck in its throat.
And, its facial expression stiffened at the same time.
「Then, put your hands on top of each other.」
At Amelia’s words, I went in front of Black Cat who was still unable to move, and put my own hand on top of its huge paw.
「Akira, a name.」
I, with a nod, looked straight into those golden eyes.
I somehow or another felt like I knew, the words that I needed to say.
「My name is Oda Akira. The person who will become your master. I shall grant you a name.」
『My new master, Oda Akira. I, will go together with you, no matter the place. Until one of us dies, until that time, we will always be together.』
「Your name is…Yoru. Named after that beautiful fur that looks like the night sky.」
『Yoru…it’s a good name. From now on, my name shall be Yoru, I pledge to serve you.』
「Please treat me well, Yoru.」
We were enveloped in a white light, enveloped in warmth.
I felt some kind of intangible link between Yoru and I.
So this was the so called link, huh.
Amelia took a step forward and put her hand on top of mine.
The white light had disappeared before I knew it.
「Please treat me well too, Yoru.」
「I should be the one saying that, I’ll be relying on you, Miss Amelia.」
「Un. That crest on your forehead too, looks good on you. Akira too, that crest on your arm, looks great.」
At Amelia’s words, my gaze moved towards my own arm, I was startled.
There was a black crest on both my arms.
And, a white crest with the same design was also on Yoru’s forehead.
「That seems to be the only visible evidence of the link.」
『With this, I can openly go with you, Master-dono.』
「Your master is the demon king though.」
『It’s known as the second master. Don’t bother with the small details.』
How sketchy.
When I looked over at the corner of the room, a magic circle that was not there until now was shining blue.
That magic circle, somehow seemed similar to the one that resulted in me coming to this world.
「It’s as we’ve guessed, the path to continue onward has opened.」
「But, Yoru still can’t move.」
『I won’t die from using a large amount of magic power to shapeshift, but if I sustained a heavy injury, I won’t be able to move for two, three days.』
I was the one who caused the heavy injury though.
I, for the time being, unwrapped the food that I kept for emergencies.
「This is a safety zone. Let’s go slowly. In the meanwhile, listen to my story.」
「Un, mine too.」
If we talked more, we should be able to get along that much more.
Definitely.
—
Chapter 40~Truth~Yoru’s POV
I, got a new master.
No, it would be strange to say “new”.
My master was the demon king-sama.
That won’t change.
Master-dono was the second master.
TN: when Yoru’s talking about the demon king, he uses ‘主’ as master and ‘主殿’ when referring to Akira, so I used ‘Master-dono’ to differentiate between the two in English and ‘殿’ does mean ‘-dono’.
My eyes belonged to the demon king-sama.
My ears belonged to the demon king-sama.
My nose belonged to the demon king-sama.
However, my emotions belonged to Master-dono.
Even like this, demon king-sama observed Master-dono through my eyes.
According to what I heard, it seems that Master-dono was summoned to this world from another world through the hero summoning.
Hero summoning was, basically, a grand magic that summoned otherworlders in order to defeat the demon king-sama.
Master-dono had said that he didn’t have the intention of defeating the demon king-sama for the time being, but when push comes to shove, he will be on the demon king-sama’s side.
Master-dono wasn’t like others.
He’s truly, a strange person.
Speaking of the hero summoning, I was also surprised that the magic still existed, but what surprised me the most was that twenty-eight people were also summoned.
In regards to past hero summonings, there were no more than four heroes that were summoned.
…that’s what was written, in the records.
I myself, was born from the hands of the demon king-sama and it had only been a hundred years since then.
Among the monsters, I was still a newcomer.
Perhaps, I was younger than the high elf Miss Amelia.
…if I said something like this, a tightly clenched fist that wouldn’t hurt would come flying.
Due to the environment that she grew up in, Miss Amelia’s knowledge was biased, and it could be said that Master-dono was also practically ignorant in regards to this world.
In this group, I was the most knowledgeable.
Because of this, I answered Master-dono and Miss Amelia’s questions until I was able to move again.
Of course, on the condition that I didn’t answer any questions that were disadvantageous for the demon king-sama.
「Why are you different from the other monsters and are able to talk?」
『That’s simple. It’s because as a messenger for Master-dono, it’s extremely important to be able to understand human language.』
「Then, why did you shapeshift into a dragon? It was dangerous and I could’ve died.」
『If you died with just that much, then that’s as far as you can go. Meeting with the demon king-sama or something would be a dream within a dream.』
I laughed at, Miss Amelia who was pouting in vexation.
Master-dono was also laughing a little.
At first, I thought that Miss Amelia was also a woman whose facial expressions were lacking, but I realized that her facial expressions often changed when she heard stories about Master-dono.
「The last thing is, about the ‘Evil Eye’.」
『Hou…. the Evil Eye, yet another strange thing that you want to know about.』
「No, my benefactor had it. …he was killed though.」
When he said, “he was killed”, a strong thirst for blood overflowed from Master-dono.
I unconsciously held my breath at the strength of it.
Miss Amelia was bathed in cold sweat as well.
This was, if we don’t teach him how to use discretion or how to control his strength, Master-dono may not be able to live among humans for his entire lifetime.
「…Akira, I understand that it’s hard, but it hurts.」
「Nn? …ah, my bad.」
I was grateful for Miss Amelia who was able to speak while he was emitting that thirst for blood that gripped at one’s heart
When the feeling of something gripping my heart was gone, I answered his question.
『The evil eye is, when the magic from the demon king-sama or someone who was close in strength to the demon king-sama is embedded in the eye, by means of an injury, it’s a rarely seen phenomenon.』
「Aah, Commander Saran was stronger than the hero.」
Master-dono answered as such as if puffing up his chest in pride.
I don’t know how strong the hero was, but if that’s what Master-dono said, he was probably a formidable master.
…Saran?
『Was it Saran Misray?』
「Aah, it does seem like that was his name.」
「Akira, if I’m not mistaken, Saran Misray was….」
Miss Amelia started to say something and then shut her mouth.
I also shut my mouth for the same reason.
We looked at each other, and changed the subject.
It was good that Master-dono had yet to notice.
The cruelty of the world.
「Akira, you’re not going to ask about the attack power?」
「Aah, that’s right. Yoru, I have a question, but….」
『What is it, Master-dono.』
Saran Misray, huh….
It was an extremely nostalgic name.
You only needed to see Master-dono’s reaction to know that, they were extremely close.
…truly, the world was cruel and harsh.
「Isn’t the attack power on your status quite strange?」
『Strange? Where.』
「I understand that the status will rise starting from level five. But, even though there’s such a wide margin in the attack power, there are monsters I can’t defeat?」
I knew about Master-dono’s attack power.
It easily surpassed that of the first hero and the others’.
However, even so, even though he defeated the monsters, it seems that he didn’t understand why it was a such close fight.
According to what I heard, when his level was still low, his blade was completely unable to penetrate into the Minotaur.
『Master-dono, did you attack the Minotaur with a sword?』
「Aah, rather than calling it a sword, it was a dagger.」
『….』
Teaching common sense to someone who had no common sense, the common sense here did not apply to him, so to say that it’s tiring, that was exactly how it was.
Looking at the situation, it seems that it was a question that even Miss Amelia wasn’t able to answer.
Without thinking, I gave a sigh.
『Master-dono, no matter how high one’s attack power is, most swords can’t be used on the Minotaur.』
「Commander Saran and Vice-Commander Zeal’s swords pierced through though?」
『If monster-killing magic was cast on a specialized weapon, it would pierce through a little. However, other than that, there was an exception. If the difference between your attack power and your opponent’s defense was not like that of heaven and earth, then your sword will be broken.』
The katana that Master-dono was currently using did, of course, have monster-killing magic cast on it.
Even so, it was strange to do something like train your sword in this dungeon.
I nervously asked Master-dono.
『In this dungeon up until now, was there a monster that, even if the sword did not injure it, if you used magic, you could easily defeat it?』
Master-dono thought about it for a bit, and nodded.
「That was the case for the Chimera.」
『Master-dono, there are a lot of strong monsters in this dungeon whose attacks went against the laws of nature. Even if you were able to defeat the ones in the upper floors with your sword, it could be said that it would be almost impossible to defeat those on the lower floors if you don’t use magic or magic power.』
Master-dono stiffened a little, closely examined my words, and was shocked.
As expected, he was surprised.
That’s because the place that he had been training in until now, was actually not a suitable place for training.
「Yoru, are you trying to say that this dungeon is perfect for training magic?」
『That’s, right. That’s what it’s also known for.』
When I answered while I was thinking about it, Master-dono had turned dejected.
Miss Amelia gentle patted his back, with a look that was full of love on her face.
…I’m, kind of irritated.
However, maa, it can’t be helped, huh.
「This is the first time I’ve heard that dungeons had different characteristics.」
『Maa, I’m sure. There are also dungeons somewhere in the world where there are monsters that magic is ineffective against. How about you resume your training there?』
「…Yoru, is that information accurate?」
『The demon king-sama said it. For me, that’s all I need.。』
「…is that so.」
Sighing, Master-dono raised his head in the next instant.
「Then, the White Bat that I defeated?」
「Akira, you used magic at that time.」
「Is that so….」
His bubble burst again.
The corners of Miss Amelia’s mouth rose a little.
It seems that Miss Amelia was what the demon king-sama called an “S”.
『Maa, with just Master-dono’s stealth, it is already foul play, so if you used the fighting method for your occupation, you wouldn’t lose, right?』
「The fighting method appropriate for an assassin, huh….」
It’s quite enjoyable, being with Master-dono.
I was able to move by now, but wouldn’t it be fine to enjoy this time a bit longer.
Wandering Muse Translation 
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