CH 236

“Okay, let us start then.”

I drew my wooden sword. It was a new version! Sword looked up new, hard wood and bought it for me. I had Sahad whittle it for me, and got the pretty Plana to even add a lacquer finish! 1

The ogre also set up its greatsword.

“…I see, you’re also strong. I’ll remember you.”

“My name is Indra. Please call me Indra the next time we meet.”

A single flash, and the wooden sword cut through everything without even clashing with the greatsword which the ogre had swung down.

＊

Once the ogre turned into particles and vanished, two treasure chests spawned.

“Even though I said one would do…,” I muttered.

『…It’s the rule』

“Oh, Sir Dungeon Core! …I am pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Indra and I have formed a party with the S-Rank adventurer Sword. I cannot express my gratitude for you to willingly answer our questions on this occasion.”

I performed a knight bow.

『You’re an interesting one. It was my first time to see someone stay here so long while seriously questioning the ogre. Most of those before were begging for their lives…』

Okay, that certainly doesn’t let one feel a necessity for conversation.

“Humans are creatures who act in various mysterious ways that are hard to understand.And becoming lost due to those actions also defines humans. Wanting to clear the regrets of my partner, who felt lost, is also an aspect of the creature called human.”

『You’re an extremely interesting creature, indeed』

Wait, humans are interesting creatures, and not just me alone, right?

『When it comes to you, I feel like it cannot be changed even you realized the mechanism behind this dungeon to some extent. Therefore I won’t blame the ogre for having answered your questions. Strongest, I shall await your next visit』, he told me generously.

Hmm. He might say so, but I feel like I’m receiving too much here.

“…Okay, I’ll interpret it as a reward for having captured this dungeon regularly. But, in that case, I feel like my gratitude for answering our questions is somewhat lacking. Take this as thanks for answering us.”

I released the firefly-like light which Sir Dungeon Core of the capital liked so much.

『!! …How beautiful…』

He sure wuvs this, doesn’t he?

“This has a proper theoretical basis and I’d like to explain it to you through chemical formulas, but since I’d need to talk for many, many years, beginning from defining science first, I’ll omit all that. Since I showed you the spell, imitate it if you can. …I’m sure magic bugs emitting this kind of light exist somewhere, though.”

“Gotta be the kind of bug that eats you whole after lurin’ you in,” Sword made such a dreamless retort.

＊

Being seen off by firefly light, which Sir Dungeon Core imitated at once, we used the shortcut path he opened up for us, ascending to the surface.

Did this clear up your regrets?”

It’s not like we understood anything, though. As expected, the boss didn’t remember anything. Sword had apparently asked the mid-boss too, but that one kept saying “No need” just like the boss had told me at first.

＊

――Going by guess, I think the folks who tricked Sword back then, knew about the bonus. But they probably didn’t know about the penalty.

I mean, otherwise it’d have been smarter to defeat the boss after killing the mid-boss together. After all, it’d lower the boss’s power to a tenth, right? Hence, I think it’d have been better for everyone to cooperate.

…just as I thought all that, I received an unexpected reply.

“Hmm, I think it got cleared up for the most part.”

I’d expected him to answer, 『There’s no way it’d clear up anything』

“…Really?”

“Mmh.”

When I looked at him, his face looked refreshed. I guess he really dispelled his worries.

“…Then it’s great that the boss has been so kind as to answer us.”

“It’s because you were incredible,” he laughed and caressed my head, “…Back then, when I was in the trap, you said 『See you later』 with a carefree attitude, didn’t you?”

Hmm?

“What about it?”

“You didn’t think for even a split-second that I wouldn’t be able to somehow handle that trap, right?”

……?

“Of course? What was there to worry about a guy who can cut walls up with the after-wave of his sword slash? You can smash down walls and traps even without actively fighting them. Besides, you had a Ryoku with you, too. No matter how you look at it, there wasn’t a single reason for why you wouldn’t be able to get out of that trap.”

Once I told him that it was only natural, he laughed once more.

“Yeah, I didn’t think that I’d lose either. Rather, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be able to break through that trap nowadays. …But, getting caught in that trap and hearing your 『See you later』 cleared my regrets. Once I thought that you were waitin’ for me at the boss room, I somehow felt like it was silly to fuss ’bout it.”

……

Whyyy!?

“But you see, I got scared, wonderin’ whether your really waitin’ for me, and so I used the communication device. Yet, since you were investigatin’ stuff seriously, I started to have fun, callin’ it solvin’ the mechanism behind this dungeon, rather than solvin’ my regrets.”

……

No, I mean, we had to figure out the dungeon mechanism anyway, and after learning about it, he had to think how that party acted back then, right?

“The finisher were your words to that ogre! You really rock. I’d have immediately given up, thinkin’ that you can’t talk with that guy, but you got on with the conversation at your own pace, thus making him answer you. The thing I asked him at the end was kinda like askin’ just in case, but it reality it didn’t matter ‘nyway.”

Listening to his words, I pursed my lips, “I was quite worried about it, you know? If you were able to clear your regret so easily, where does that put me?”

…I got hugged.

“You won’t betray me. Me gettin’ trapped in a dungeon was no more than us clearin’ the dungeon while takin’ different routes. You told me that we’d see each out later, and here you are. That’s why I stopped carin’ ’bout the past.”

……

Why is that guy saying such stuff? And how should I answer him?

No, I won’t answer, I guess. I didn’t hear anything! The end!