CH 163

Episode 163 – Dungeon Spectating

Behind Ahmed, who was spinning her greatsword around, I could vaguely see the figures of two others. I had no conclusive proof since the image being projected was so small, but these two were probably Smash and Dion. Judging by the fact that these two figures were a tall blonde-haired man and a bald man with scraggly facial hair, there was no doubt about it.

Though it was true that it had been such a crazy, long day for me so far, the tears welling up in my eyes were only from the nostalgia I felt from seeing them after so long. What if the three of them have changed, and what if they don’t accept me anymore…?

Since they hadn’t shown their faces in Grezesta for the entire year, I couldn’t help feeling a bit pessimistic. But when I saw the three of them like this, those feelings were completely blown away. Right now, I just wanted to speak to the three of them face-to-face. I continued to watch the [Azure Alliance] through the projection on the monitor with those feelings in my heart.

When I had first caught sight of them, they were on the 31st layer, and, after reaching the 32nd layer, they turned back and were now back on the 30th layer. Apparently, every ten levels of the Dungeon was a Safe Area, and various adventurer parties had set up simple tents on the 30th layer. Since the [Azure Alliance] also had a tent set up there, they probably weren’t returning to the surface of the Dungeon today.

After looking at the other monitors, I found out that each layer of the Dungeon seemed to be pretty wide, so no matter how fast you proceeded, it would take at least 30 minutes to go through one layer. The strength of the monsters also seemed to increase with each level, and it took the [Azure Alliance] about 3 hours to advance from the 31st layer to the 32nd. Even if you could descend one layer every 30 minutes, it would take around 15 hours to get back from the 30th layer to the 1st layer.

When I finally saw the three of them, I expected to see them rather soon, but by the looks of it there would still be a while before I could actually meet them. Watching the three of them doing something by their tent, I eventually looked away from the projection and saw that the sun had started to go down before I knew it.

I’ve already been watching the projection for six hours…

Even though there was no real danger to myself, their battles with the monsters were so captivating to watch, and the fear of not knowing where the monsters would appear from was so vividly conveyed by the projection that it felt like only a fraction of an hour had passed.

For now, I decided to step away from the big screens, having experienced firsthand why Landaust was so successful as the Dungeon City. The projections would be here streaming 24 hours a day in real time, so I could stay here if I wanted to, but it seemed that the [Azure Alliance] wouldn’t be attempting the Dungeon anymore for today. I decided to head back to Ponpokotei and rest.

I was tired from the long journey, and I also wanted to go through some information. I was super interested in the Dungeon after watching the video, so I thought I’d buy a copy of the ‘Laudungeon Newspaper’ that the reporter had mentioned. I wasn’t that interested at the time when the reporter told me about it in the dining hall, but now I was beginning to feel curious about the trade secrets part that he mentioned. From the looks of it, the [Azure Alliance] wasn’t going to be returning to the surface for a while, and so I wanted to try doing some light Dungeon clearing on my own tomorrow.

With this in mind, I purchased various Dungeon-related newspapers and a book on the Dungeon published by the Laudungeon Newspaper at the street stalls near the Guild, then returned to Ponpokotei.

AD

“Jade-san, welcome home!”

As soon as I opened the door of Ponpokotei, the little beast race girl greeted me from behind the reception desk with a smile. I had given her my full name when I paid the money for my stay, so it seemed that she decided to call me by that name.

“I’m home… is that correct for me to say? Thank you for welcoming me.” (Lewin)

“Of course! Please make yourself at home!” (Beast Race Girl)

I couldn’t help but grin at the little girl who said that to me smilingly. The rundown inn in Grezesta was indeed cozy, but I was genuinely happy to be greeted so warmly like this.

“Yeah. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying here, but I’ll make myself comfortable.” (Lewin)

When I told her that, the little girl nodded repeatedly. Her fluffy ears were waving back and forth as she nodded, and her tail was wagging excitedly, which made me feel a strong urge to pat the fluffiness.

“Ah, that’s right! It looks like dinner will be ready soon, so I’ll have it delivered to your room!” (Beast Race Girl)

After having such a conversation with the little girl at the reception, I picked up my room key and headed to my room. As I was sorting out my things in my room, her mother came to my room shortly after with some food.

The meal that was brought to me was a colorful set meal with fish as the main course. Surprisingly, the fish wasn’t cooked, but it matched perfectly with the rice and was very tasty.

After hungrily devouring the set meal in no time at all, I also had some of the Dumbbell Weed curry that I made during the journey. I was extremely grateful for the two included meals, but if there was one problem, it would be the Dumbbell Weed curry. Perhaps I could ask the owner to help with making the Dumbbell Weed curry for me… or maybe it was time to find some other way to eat it other than as a curry.