Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Warrior Welcomes a Visitor
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Pepira, catching the gazes of the dog-loving Balak and the skeleton Carian, trembled all over and hid behind Kayrel.
"Ka, Kayrel!!! What the heck is that!!!"
"Ahahaha…."
"Kayrel? Who's that kid?"
"Well, here's what happened…."
Kayrel explained everything that had occurred so far to Balak and Carian.
"Just like how Dampir came to investigate pretending to be you back then, investigators must have come from other connected dungeons too."
"Given how big of an incident it was, it makes sense they'd send investigators from elsewhere."
Carian eyed Pepira, whose fur was standing on end all over her body, wondering if all the creatures from the dungeon's entrance would end up gathered here at this rate.
But Balak, noticing something odd, spoke up.
"Hey, cat. Tell me where you're from."
"H-Hiiiiiek!!"
"Um… Captain, may I explain on her behalf?"
"…Go ahead."
Balak was getting seriously annoyed by how terrified Pepira was.
Of course, with his helmet on, no one could see his expression.
Kayrel, with her experience, picked up on Balak's mood right away and quickly provided backup.
"A vast forest with various cat tribes… Skeleton merchant, do you happen to know this cat's race?"
"This kid looks more animal than the beastkin, so Nyaotribe."
"No way the race name comes from a cat's meow?"
"It's super intuitive and great, right?"
"Can't argue with that. And you just said beastkin—guess there are races out there with human bodies and animal ears and tails."
Overhearing Balak and Carian talk about beastkin, Pepira mustered her courage and spoke up.
"Th-those guys are bad news-nya."
"Cat, you've seen beastkin like that before?"
"Before I got moved, we lived in the same place-nya…."
Pepira told them about where she had lived.
"Balak, sir, looks like this kid's from Beastria."
"Beastria? I heard there are all sorts of kingdoms besides the Empire out there—guess this cat's from one of those."
"It's not exactly a kingdom. Better to think of it as a group of various beastkin banding together to survive."
"So like a federation made by different races. Anyway, now I get the rough setup of the dungeon these cats were in."
"Captain, really?"
Balak used his gamer knowledge to figure out Pepira's dungeon layout.
"Each tribe has these mystical orbs, and they give them to you after you become friends… This is straight-up an affinity system."
"""What??"""
That's right! The way to clear the 6th floor was to raise affinity with the Nyaotribe!
*****************
Balak pushed aside memories of being tormented by cat moms and cat dads in his past life for the moment and asked Pepira all sorts of questions.
"Little cat, the stele said to share the mystical orbs with those who become friends, right?"
"Y-yes-nya."
"Were there any unusual or powerful beings in your dungeon by any chance?"
"Uh… um… uh…! Y-yes, there were-nya!"
"Simple enough then."
Her dungeon was probably themed around challengers befriending the inhabitants inside.
So you befriend the Nyaotribe, get the orb, then take down some special entity for rewards—had to be.
But discriminating like this against us….
Were the gods and AI of this world cat moms or cat dads?!
What a rip-off.
Still, it fit decently into a boss rush setup.
With the horror-themed Ophelia right ahead.
Then Dampir, the maknae, and so on—probably meant as a final rest stop before regrouping.
"I-I never knew our dungeon worked like that-nya…."
"No challengers ever showed up, so it makes sense you wouldn't know."
"Captain, does that mean Pepira's dungeon probably has a straight-shot entrance like this place?"
"Very likely. But… skeleton merchant, why've you been so quiet?"
"It's nothing!!"
Carian had been spacing out a lot lately.
Must be stress from work.
But it's not cool to meddle in someone else's job.
Hang in there, buddy!
"So, what do we do with this little cat now…."
"Hiiiiek!! Don't eat me-nya!"
"What would I do with cat stew?"
"Ca-cat stew?! Don't tell me… Captain! Do demons have a custom of eating cats?!"
"No, nothing like that."
He was just joking, but Dampir looked horrified!
That guy… he's a cat person.
But then the little cat overheard our conversation, and her mouth dropped wide open.
"D-de-demon race-nya?!"
"Hm? Dampir, you didn't tell her my race?"
"P-Pepira might get too scared, so I…."
"Tch, I get it."
To be precise, I'm a demon steeped in racial superiority fascism.
Even in my past life, countries suffered because of Nazi remnants, so whatever.
Anyway, with Carian right here, I asked if he could send her back to her original place.
But why do they look so shocked?
"Ba-Balak's just gonna let her go, no questions asked?!"
"Captain's a cat person too, like me!!"
"Nah, I'm a dog person."
Sure, the kid was terrified of me.
I considered brainwashing her for a sec.
But she's super young and moved faster than any other Nyaotribe—her courage deserves praise.
"So, little cat, you're a warrior like me. We've achieved our goals here, so head back to your kin and rest up."
Carian would get her home safe.
Alright~ now everything's settled, time to hit the upper floors—
"Wait a sec-nya!"
"Hm?"
The kid suddenly came right up to me, fidgeting for a bit.
But her eyes soon filled with resolve.
"I-I want to tour the place for a little while-nya!"
"Hm, that's a good look in your eyes. But why tour here specifically?"
"To explain to everyone waiting back in the village what happened, I need to know this place better-nya. A-and also why you're so strong…."
Had her curiosity overcome her fear?
The first part sounded like an excuse, but the second was genuine.
She called herself a tribal warrior earlier, so seeing me sparked her drive to improve!
You always gotta respect ambition.
Plus, she came with Dampir anyway, so I left her in his care.
"Can Pepira and I go together?!"
"You handle any issues that come up."
"No problem!"
Why was Dampir so fired up?
Anyway, a little cat was now wandering my dungeon for a bit.
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Originally, Pepira had wanted to bolt the moment she saw the powerful Balak and Carian.
But seeing Kayrel and Balak chat casually helped.
And Balak praising her at the end gave her the courage to learn more—
"Wo-wolf human-nyaaaa!!"
"Hm?"
"St-store manager, that's…."
Spotting the ferocious wolf human rumored to be cursed, Pepira instantly regretted it.
But Ferguson’s gentlemanly demeanor—totally unlike the rumors—and Kayrel helped her calm down.
"So that's how the kid ended up here?"
"Yup, store manager!"
"She's quite impressive. All the other adults stayed put, but she ventured out alone… No wonder Brother Balak allowed the tour."
"Th-thanks-nya… But this place…."
"It's the rest area, one of our dungeon's landmarks. We've got shops and a bank too."
"Why would a dungeon have stuff like that?"
""Ahem.""
Pepira voiced a perfectly reasonable question.
But no one here could answer it.
Anyway, while showing Pepira around the rest area, Kayrel ran into some challengers.
"H-human?! Kayrel!!! This place is dangerous—!"
"Huh?! Ka-Kayrel! What's with that cat kid…."
"Wow… so cute."
"O~ Challengers, you made it here again, nice work. This is Pepira from the Nyaotribe; she'll be staying a bit."
"""Huh?"""
"Wh-why isn't anyone hostile-nya?"
Pepira voiced another perfectly reasonable question, and the challengers just slumped.
"So much… has happened lately."
"Yeah, could use a break."
"Hahaha… hahahaha…."
"Ka-Kayrel! These humans are kinda weird-nya!"
"Pepira doesn't know the dungeon well yet, so can't be helped."
That's how Pepira got swarmed by healing-hungry hands, ending up exhausted as she faced Ophelia.
Sluuuuurp~
"Th-the th-theater-nya?!"
"A very young Nyaotribe. Adorable."
"Hm? Ophelia, you can feel cute now too?"
"Sister Kayrel, the upgraded main body now surpasses all intelligent life except Father."
"Uh… right…."
Toyed with like a plaything by Ophelia, Pepira clutched her cheeks and collapsed.
Afterward, to resolve Pepira's confusion so far, Ophelia showed her the current state of the dungeon entrance.
Ding!
Paaang!
'Aaaaagh!!'
'N-not more knockback traps?!'
'Pip?'
'Kya aaaagh!!'
Ding!
'One minute left!! Just one minute!'
'Damn!! Not enough time!! Charge!!'
'Damn… losing the mage screwed us….'
Ding!
'Challengers, are you prepared?'
'Spread out!!!'
Drip!
Seeing the hell on earth unfold, Pepira's eyes went super wide.
"Wh-what is this place?!"
"The dungeon."
"It's a dungeon."
No matter how much more of the dungeon's interior she saw after that, Pepira couldn't make sense of it.
But there was something even crazier!!
Boom!!!
Ruuuuumble!!
"Hiiiiek!!!"
"Captain~ I'm here!"
"Dampir! Kid! You here for training too!"
Balak was locked in sparring with the Sword Saint's clone, dodging thousands of magic bullets.
"How the hell did demons lose the Great War?! Weren't we actually conquered by demons and brainwashed or something?!"
"Captain's just exceptionally strong."
"You think 'exceptional' covers something that ridiculous?!!!"
Thus, the Nyaotribe warrior Pepira saw all her common sense shattered.
But warriors admire the strong.
Watching Balak train—insanely powerful—lit a fire in her—
"One more!!! One more, Dampir!!"
"Grraaaaaah!!"
"Push to your absolute limits! You can do it!!!"
Li-lit a fi…
Whoosh!!
Thwack!
"Guh?!"
"Get up, Dampir!! You can't yield to that pain!!!"
Uh….
Um….
"Hehehe… It's Pepiraaaa."
"Ka-Kayrel, is this okay…?"
Horrified by Balak's ultra-hardcore training regimen, Pepira freaked.
And unfortunately, a massive shadow loomed behind the little one.
Who else could it be?
"Little cat."
Thud!
"Hiiiik?!"
"Oh yeah… you wanted to tour to learn why I'm so strong, right?"
"Huh?"
"Hahahahaha!!! Then get over here!!"
"Kyaaaaangaaaah!!"
And so Pepira got utterly wrecked by Balak.