CH 92

After safely wrapping up the wyvern hunt, the dungeon was next on the agenda. Sword said he cleared it all the way to the 50th floor by himself.

“In this case, I suspect it’s got around 100 floors. Going by cliche, an ancient dragon would be the final boss,” I said, resulting in Sword becoming dumbstruck.

“For real?”

“Of course. An ancient dragon, huh…? Doesn’t it get you all excited? I’m 100% sure it can talk, so I must speak with it at all costs.”

If it’s been locked after the dungeon was completed, it probably wouldn’t know about the situation outside ever since then. Oh well, I’ll get it to tell me about the genesis then.

“You still desire more despite already possessin’ so much knowledge?” Sword asked while rolling his eyes.

“I do possess knowledge of the other world, but my knowledge about this world is lacking. Besides, there’s lot of things I want to know. Let me tell you just in case, but that’s what adventuring is about, at least supposedly. Scholars debate the information provided by adventurers in their chambers. Adventurers go out into the world on a quest to find out what they want to know while encountering the unknown. Occasionally they’ll hunt, collect, explore, or talk. Do you understand?”

I energetically thrust a finger at him!

“Don’t worry, I got it. So, that means you also enjoy the times when hunting, collecting, and talking?”

“Yaaaaaaa!”

Sword laughed at me while stroking my head.

Ah, now he finally looks a bit like you’d expect of his age. As expected, the effect of the beauty products is also showing on him.

＊

On the way towards the dungeon, we were being treated super friendly for some reason…

“……?”

When I tilted my head, Sword caressed me with a fed-up expression.

“Sure, I told them we’d explore the dungeon, but this wasn’t part of it. Are they tryin’ to pressure us or somethin’?”

“Hmm? It just means everyone is excited about the dungeon exploration, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better to greet them then? We should share the joy of being thrilled with everyone!”

I nimbly climbed atop my Ryoku, and shouted with the assistance of an amplification spell, “Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you for being so excited about the dungeon exploration together with us! Sword and I are going to go to the lowest floor of the dungeon, talk with the boss there, and take it down! If there’s any story worthy of being told about our adventure down there…I’ll tell you later, so look forward to it!”

They all cheered, and for some reason, some even laughed.

“Sword, you get up here as well! You have to make the same oath!”

Sword slapped his forehead, but after sighing, he apparently made up his resolve and climbed on Ryoku.

“I’m the adventurer Sword! I’ve formed the party 【Allrounders】 with Indra who’s standin’ next to me! From now on, this girl here, the golems, and I are goin’ to dive into the dungeon! We’ll definitely make it all the way to the lowest floor!”

This time we got engulfed by a cacophony of loud cheering without anyone laughing.

“Why did people laugh at me?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Sword laughed, “It’s cause your feelin’ of thrill is kinda silly,” and told me something awful.

＊

Things were quite heated even in front of the dungeon. Kinda like when players enter a stadium under the loud applause of their fans.

“Is it a custom that you can’t enter without giving everyone a high-five?”

“As if! What kind of festival would that supposed to be!?”

“Okay, figures. If anything, I’d like them to do this when we’ve safely cleared the dungeon.”

Sword considered it for a moment, and then muttered, “Ah, that might be somewhat excitin’,” apparently having just imagined it.

＊

Sword asked me in a way of making sure, “I know the answer, but I’ll ask just in case. I explored all the way to the 50th floor and I possess a magic tool allowin’ to use a shortcut to the 50th floor. Wanna use it?”

I furiously shook my head.

“That’s what I thought. A map…is unnecessary, right? The maps created by the Ryokus and you are much more accurate ‘nyway.”

“Are you going to be bored about passing through a route you already passed once before?” I asked him in reverse. “If you’re not interested, you just need to go ahead to the 50th floor and wait there for me, okay? It’s my first run, so I want to go through things in order.”

“I’ll go with you! We’ve decided that we’d have fun, haven’t we!?”

Oohh! He finally feels up to it!

“Very well. Since the upper levels are going to be easy anyway, I’d like to add the rule of passing through them non-stop. You can use the rule of doubtlessly following my footsteps.”

Sword’s smile froze, “…Ain’t the difficulty a tad too high like that?”

“It’s going to be alright! Someone like you will be able to easily pull it off!”

“Hold back a bit, okay? I’m an ordinary human, you know? Don’t lump me together with a superwoman like you.”

“What are you talking about, oh Hero!? Pffthaha.

The instant I thought that, my mouth was seized again, “Mmpf!”

“That face of yours pisses me off.”

How irrational!

＊

I handed him an SF-like wristband, looking like a smartwatch.

“This is a magic tool for long-distance communication. It’ll allow us to stay in contact, but it’s easier to talk and listen when you bring your arm close to your head. Also, if you tap the display or give it a voice command, it’ll show you the map created by the Ryokus.”

Mine is blue-green while Sword’s has a white coloring.

“Every once in a while you really produce some awesome stuff. Does it have any other functions besides showin’ the map?”

“Hmm, I guess you can count the display of your body’s state as one. It’ll tell you your own health status. It also works as a clock. That pocket watch I got from you is nice as a retro item, but this one here is much better for adventurers. It moves through magic elements, but please press a magic stone against it for a while, depending on the remaining amount of magic elements. I can also ［install］ other ［app…err, sorry, functions, you know? Don’t be shy and tell me if you have any requests.”

“Roger!” He answered happily.

It’s pretty obvious that Sword loves gadgets. I think he’s the type who would get totally hooked on SF anime, if he were to live in the other world.

＊

“Now then.”

We began with calisthenics. I smiled at the meaninglessness of the Ryokus doing it as well. It’s sooo cute!!

When it was our turn to enter the dungeon, Sword yelled out to boost his spirit, “Alright! Let’s go!”

And then we rushed inside.