Dawn Stroll
The night air was cool and carried the faint scent of damp earth. Sion had kicked me out of our fishing plans with a firm nyang, claiming it was far too early. I’d tried to persuade her with some half-remembered documentary knowledge—that fish were most active right before and after sunrise, and that heading out now would let us catch something truly impressive—but she shot me down instantly by asking where exactly the sun was supposed to be inside a dungeon.
Dungeon… Yeah. That was the heart of it. Sure, this place had a massive library, a fortress-like structure, plenty of restaurants and inns, and street stalls packed so tight you could barely walk between them. But at its core, it was still a dungeon. An unknown realm where a colossal flower known as the Eye of the Sun hid within the mist called Mistra, flickering its light on and off to mark night and day. The sky stayed perpetually overcast, so the passage of time barely registered. A gray place. Unlike the sweltering jungle-like floors from the tenth to the nineteenth, this layer saw little rain and offered pleasant weather, which was why adventurers had settled here and built an entire village. A pioneer settlement.
It was also a strange town where the beautiful elf village chief with light-green hair spent more than half of every twenty-four hours shut away inside the grand library. A strategic stronghold for adventurers, anchored by a save point. A heavenly fortress surrounded on all sides by spirit guardians. This was the torso of the Green Zone’s twentieth floor.
The dungeon village Grindel.
After being chased off by Sion, I headed straight for the room right next door—Room 208 of the luxury inn Heat. It was the ridiculously expensive suite that my contractor, Hans, and the talking sword had been sharing with me for the past week. Five thousand dallant a night. I remembered that even the high-end inn Sion had stayed at alone back in Bastion only cost about thirty thousand dallant for a night’s stay plus meals. This place charged more than double that.
Of course, the soundproofing was excellent, the room was spacious, there were two beds, and they even provided welcome fruit. It reminded me of the hotel I’d visited with an old friend during a trip to Busan. When we first stepped inside, my contractor and Hans had actually asked if they needed to take off their leather shoes. For the record, removing them was optional. My contractor and Hans immediately loosened their laces, declaring they couldn’t possibly dirty the room. I, on the other hand, didn’t want to show my bare feet, so I simply… walked around boldly in my boots. The looks on their faces at the time had been priceless. Like they were staring at some kind of adult.
They were pretty cute back then.
Chuckling quietly to myself, I carefully opened the door.
Creeeeak.
I switched my black lenses to thermal vision and peered through the narrow gap. There they were. Hans, lying perfectly straight like an Egyptian mummy on the absurdly soft-looking bed, breathing softly in exhausted sleep. And my contractor, clinging to Kkachi in full dakimakura mode, sleeping as if dead.
“Kkyuu!”
Kkachi, nestled in my contractor’s arms, spotted me and tilted its head cutely in greeting.
“Shh. Quiet.”
I gently stroked the excited little shadow bird’s head, then approached the demonic sword leaning against the side of Hans’s bed.
“I’m going out for some fresh air,” I whispered.
“Understood,” the sword replied softly. I slipped back out of the room. The fact that neither of them woke up suggested they were truly worn out.
Ever since arriving in Grindel, my contractor and Hans had been doing mock duels and training without missing a single day. The trouble started when my contractor caught Hans practicing swordsmanship alone in the inn’s backyard under the guidance of the demonic sword. I’d wanted to explore Grindel with my contractor, but instead I’d spent the entire week watching kids swing blades around. It was gratifying to see their combat ability improving daily, but the boredom nearly drove me insane. It got so bad that even a demon like me—nicknamed the ADHD Devil—started setting foot inside the library.
I’ll just say that Devil in the Library turned out to be a surprisingly fruitful time where I learned all sorts of details about dungeon fishing. I also became acquainted with the village chief, who attended the library without fail every day and seemed suspiciously fond of books. We exchanged greetings when passing each other and even shared small talk in the lounge.
The past week had been boring, but it had also been… a little different.
Oh, and for the record, Sion had spent the entire week either eating or sleeping. I’d heard that regular house cats sleep fourteen to sixteen hours a day. Apparently the same applied to cat beastmen. What a sleepyhead.
Tap. Tap.
The moment I stepped outside the inn, a refreshing dawn breeze greeted me, carrying the smell of wet soil. Dew had formed on the tip of my beak from the temperature difference between inside and out. I shook it off with a quick twist of my head and headed toward my usual destination.
Grindel at around one-twenty in the morning was brighter than one might expect. Magic lamps—streetlights, essentially—were placed at regular intervals, and mysterious blue-glowing trees were planted here and there. That wasn’t all.
“Grilled frogman hind legs for sale~! Tender and not at all tough! One bite and you’re in heaven!”
“Hey, you folks over there! Looks like you’re heading out for some night fishing. How about taking some dried sweet potatoes with you?”
Unlike Bastion, which grew quiet at night except for the entertainment district where a few famous taverns clustered, Grindel was bustling. Even in the early morning hours, quite a few stalls had their dim lights on, calling out to adventurers and fishermen heading out for night fishing.
I shoved my hands into the pockets of my long coat and wandered lazily through the fantasy marketplace.
Smells good.
The aroma of unusual spices mixed with familiar scents, laced with a faint undercurrent of fear that lingered on the tongue. Ah, I could really go for a bowl of rice right now.
Still, they’re not as scared of me as they used to be.
The first time I walked around alone, people had looked at me like I was a tiger that had escaped from the zoo; they couldn’t even meet my eyes. But humans were creatures of adaptation. Even if it was a terrifying demon, after running into it every day for a week, they grew used to it.
“Hey, if it isn’t the demon gentleman out for another solo stroll?”
“Yeah. Selling well today?”
“If I were, I’d have closed up shop and gone to bed already.”
“Too bad.”
“Demon sir! If it’s not too much trouble, would you like to try one of these?”
“Sorry, but I’ll have to decline.”
“Ah, not a fan of fish?”
“It’s not that. I just can’t eat.”
“I see.”
“Whoa! Y-you crazy demon!”
“I’m not crazy.”
Conversations like these. Talking with ordinary humans who weren’t my party members or other demons like me(?) felt special every single time. It gave me the strange feeling that I had somehow naturally blended into this world.
By some twist of fate I wore the skin of something close to a demon, but my soul itself was that of an ordinary, everyday citizen. That was why these small, peaceful moments of daily life soaked into my lukewarm heart and gently smoothed over the blackened soul that had once burned so darkly.
“Oh? Sir Raven, is that you? You’re here again today.”
“You’ve been working hard.”
“Haha, not at all. Ahem. Same purpose as yesterday, I assume?”
“Correct.”
“Understood. You may go in.”
I gave the guard a light wave and continued on.
My destination was the heart of Grindel. The village’s core. The residence of the village chief and the fortress built to protect the save point from aberrations. Grindel’s main citadel.
After passing through the massive gates and climbing a wide set of stairs, I arrived at a beautiful garden filled with glowing plants that sparkled like stars. Following the path lined with blue luminous stones embedded beneath the flagstones, I entered a vast plaza paved entirely in marble. I lifted my head and took in the center of the square.
There stood a stone statue of a benevolent woman with a warm smile, her hand gently extended. Yes. This was one of the only two save points in the entire dungeon. Touching the goddess’s hand would set your current location as your spawn point. For the record, every member of our party had already completed their spawn settings.
So why had I come here? And why every single day for the past week?
It was simply to express my gratitude.
[Greetings, last survivor of the ruined world.]
[May you reclaim the happiness you have lost.]
To the goddess who had sent my contractor—Yuri—to me.
To the one who had taught a man who had only ever wished for death what happiness truly meant.
I offered a gratitude so deep it could not be expressed in words.
I bowed my head quietly before the goddess statue, the ominous demon with the head of an ill omen lowering itself in reverence before the outstretched hand. The sight was so sacred it could have been a scene from myth.
“...I had a feeling. You’ve come again today, Demon Lord. Aaaah… how can such a devout demon exist in this world?”
“Truly… what a beautiful sight.”
“My heart… my heart is overflowing…!”
Once again, the Saint Johannes and his followers, who had come for their dawn prayers, watched the faithful demon believer(?) who visited the goddess every day. They quietly shed tears of emotion.
“...?”
Then, hearing the soft “Ugh!” from behind me, Raven flinched.
…Ah. Those people are here again.
Seeing the androgynous white-haired boy who had introduced himself as Saint Johannes and the crowd of his devotees, Raven hurriedly prepared to flee. He had no intention of getting caught like last time and forced to listen to three hours of religious talk he had zero interest in.