Spring sunlight glittered across the lake. Countless boats with their sails swollen with wind, skimmed over the water. Flocia Dungeon lay at the lake’s center. Naturally, if masses of adventurers wished to reach it, an equally large number of boats was required. And so, a fleet had formed.
There were messenger vessels from the Adventurers’ Guild, and escort ships apparently supplied by the Raven Warriors. Every prow pointed toward the same destination.
“Preparations are complete.”
A man stood at the pier, his ornate hat catching the sunlight. He was the director of the Water Transport Bureau.
After slipping away from the Warrior Corps in the crowd, he now watched the fleet depart from a quiet corner of the docks. The easternmost side of the harbor bordered the slums so there were few eyes around to notice him.
Frost crawled over the director’s body. When the chill burst into shimmering light, the fat man was gone. He was replaced by a slender merchant. Rata the Ratbone smoothed down his short-cropped chestnut hair.
“If I had stirred them up a bit more, I could’ve pulled twenty or thirty percent of those adventurers onto our side.”
Rata had used his shapeshifting ability to slip into the crowd at the Raven Warriors’ speech.
Since the global message, many adventurers had come to Flocia, inspired by the word “hero”. Surely, some of them harbored resentment toward the Raven Warriors for claiming control over the dungeons. And Rata had intended to stoke those feelings—maybe even push things toward division, if fortune went his way.
“But tsk, tsk…. children’s logic really is the worst to deal with.”
The boy’s words had changed the tide. “Adventurers protect people”, a line of pure idealism, yet it had been enough to hold many of the adventurers back from dissent.
Still, the day wasn’t without its harvest.
Being able to see the boy wielding the horn with his own eyes and managing to disturb the adventurers’ unity were his worthwhile gains.
While walking through the harbor in the guise of the director, many parties had secretly approached him. There were still adventurers eager to hear more about the “director’s” proposal.
To them, Rata had handed a certain item. It would throw the Warrior Corps into confusion and draw their attention toward the dungeon.
“Now then….”
Rata gave a shiver. He lifted his gaze to the towering structure overlooking Flocia. From the building of the Odis Temple, he could feel a harsh, biting cold emanating outward. Most likely, they had strengthened the seal in the area by some means. The difficulty of the dungeon should have dropped as a result.
Even Rata, a monster himself, would not be able to approach the temple easily.
“We’ll start preparing as well.”
(He had been quite useful today. I’m sure that somewhere beneath the water, the real director of the Water Transport Bureau was pleased.)
Rata thought. And with a satisfied chuckle, he started walking toward the temple.
◆◆◆
Before my eyes, the fleets of boats entered the dungeon island one after another. After dropping off the adventurers at the pier, they immediately departed, making room for the next vessel. Ships too large to dock sent small boats back and forth to ferry people ashore.
Adventurers disembarked in a steady stream, and those who arrived moved into the dungeon in that same order.
Our party—Felix-san, Mia-san, Nils-san, and me—had been among the first to arrive. Yet we would be the last to enter. We had the role of guiding the other parties into the unexplored areas.
“What an incredible number….”
Parties streamed into the dungeon, and somewhere along the way, I gave up trying to count them.
In total—Warrior Corps included—more than three hundred people would be entering the dungeon at once. Roughly twenty percent of them were what you’d call elites. They were the ones who would push into the uncharted area and free the captives taken by the slavers.
The parties that had already gone in were tasked with thinning out as many monsters as possible inside the dungeon, securing a safe route for the rescued people to escape later.
Eventually, the flow of boats came to a halt. Aside from us, seven other parties—around fifty people—were waiting near the entrance.
Felix-san, leaning on his staff, swept his gaze over the group.
“Has everyone brought the keys as arranged?”
Felix-san was referring to the items used to unlock the hidden area.
They were thumb-sized pieces of metal. The dull, gold-colored magic keys numbered only three in total. They had been confiscated from the slave trader overseer and distributed among the gathered parties.
“…This?”
A man carrying a greatsword held his key up with a dubious look.
“Looks like a piece of scrap metal to me.”
“It’s infused with magic. My apologies that we don’t have enough for all seven parties. Please coordinate your use of them carefully.”
The adventurers nodded to Felix-san.
“Understood.”
“We’ll be moving in loose formation anyway, and the hidden area doesn’t look that complicated.”
They accepted the explanation so easily because they were convinced by the map provided beforehand. That was thanks to Safi, the dwarf blacksmith. The structure of the hidden area had been predicted by an underground specialist.
I glanced toward our party’s transporter supporter.
Inside the big backpack, Safi was probably puffing out her chest with pride.
“Alright, let’s go!”
Mia-san raised her voice, and we plunged into the dungeon.
The first and second floors were what they called the exploration layers—areas where no monsters appeared. Even at a time like this, the sparkling water was breathtakingly beautiful. Basking in the abundant vitality of the water, we dashed forward.
Nearly fifty people in total—far exceeding normal party limits—but all were high-level adventurers, so our pace was swift. In the blink of an eye, we descended deeper into the layers.
“Now, we’ve reached the combat layer.”
I led the way.
Using Blessing of the God of Hunting, I scanned for monsters.
It didn’t take long to realize just how few there were. The parties ahead had been systematically thinning out the monsters from the third floor onward. And the Odis Temple had strengthened the seals, lowering the dungeon’s overall difficulty.
Normally, the more people that enter a dungeon, the more monsters they attract. That rule didn’t apply when there were so few enemies to begin with.
We reached the fourth floor, nearing the hidden area. The scent of blood suddenly grew stronger.
Proceeding cautiously, we came upon a wall with a hidden door yawning open.
Solana’s voice called out.
『Rion, the entrance to the hidden area—』
“Yeah, it’s open!”
What was going on?
We had made sure to close it properly before returning to the surface. I poured magic into Blessing of the God of Hunting. The red light expanded gradually, revealing the area within my sensing range.
『This presence…. there’s also the ashes of the titan.』
As we dashed into the hidden area, everything became clear. An adventurer party lay fallen in the shadow of the entrance.
“Hey, what happened here?”
Mia-san rushed forward.
I froze at the sight of something lying near the fallen party.
“This is….!”
On the ground lay a bag burned with a red-black flame. It’s the titan’s ashes. And there, scattered nearby, were charred metal pieces. The same type of magic key used for the hidden area.
“The Water Transport Bureau people…. they gave the keys to them, and in exchange, they scattered the ashes….”
Felix-san clicked his tongue at the groans of the injured adventurers.
“They must have struck a deal. The director hand over the magic keys, and in return, they spread the ashes. From the director’s words, he already had his eye on the parties likely to try going solo.”
The Titan’s Ashes loosened the dungeon’s seals, drawing monsters toward them.
Nils-san narrowed his eyes.
“In that case, the director really was….”
“At this point, there’s nothing we can do. He’s been missing since yesterday, but perhaps this was his way of showing outright hostility toward us.”
Felix-san regretted the situation, but there was no choice now but to press forward.
Clinking her chain axe into position, Mia-san spoke.
“Damn it. Did anyone else try going solo?”
A trembling hand from one of the adventurers pointed toward the far wall. An exit had already opened there.
But we couldn’t reach it yet.
Water channels ran along both sides of the room, and a waterfall poured down from the ceiling. From every direction, red light surged forward.
“Monsters incoming! Get ready!”
A tide of monsters crashed into the hidden area.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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