Taboo-Class Dungeon (7)
"You're asking for a way to reach His Majesty directly?"
"Yeah."
"...May I ask why?"
"Mm, I just have something I want to ask him."
It was because of my suspicion that some hidden secret lay within and around the Forbidden Zone, but there was no need to explain that to Estelle.
Even if I told her, she probably wouldn't understand.
"I don't know myself... but someone who would know does."
"Who?"
"My male sibling...."
"Male sibling? You mean your older brother?"
"That's what people usually call him."
She could just say older brother, yet she was phrasing it strangely. Did they not get along?
"If you want, I can introduce you. I'll send a letter."
"What does he do?"
"He's an adventurer like me. A top-class adventurer."
"Is that so?"
Top-class adventurers belonged to the highest rank among their kind. Arnen's father had been exactly that—a top-class adventurer—so most of the stories she had inquired about were related to him. Thanks to that, I had naturally come to know a great deal as well.
Of course, even within the top class, skill levels varied wildly, but if he held the highest position among those who cleared dungeons like this, he might well have a connection that could reach the emperor.
I was glad I had established a connection with Estelle.
"Alright, introduce me. In exchange, I'll move your party members to where the golem remains are. You can gather the mana stones yourselves."
"...Really?"
"I don't know what to do with all those mana stones myself. You handle that. As for the split..."
"Of course, I'll do it however you want. Ah, come to think of it, I haven't checked the most important thing. We need to see if the boss's mana stone is there."
Estelle turned her gaze to the giant stone statue collapsed right in front of them.
I too had experience clearing an apprentice dungeon with Arnen, so I knew that cutting open a magical beast's chest would yield a mana stone. Not every magical beast possessed one, and the higher a dungeon's rank, the higher the probability that its beasts would have mana stones—I knew that much as well.
But I wondered if the mana stone was truly always located in the chest for every magical beast. Could something like a mana stone really be fixed in a set location on beasts of completely different species and sizes?
Hearing my doubt, Estelle muttered as if to herself.
"I don't think I've ever heard of a mana stone being found anywhere else...."
Coming from a seasoned high-rank adventurer, that was probably the case most of the time.
Then the beasts in the Forbidden Zone... aren't magical beasts?
While hunting countless beasts in the Forbidden Zone, I had never once discovered anything called a mana stone from their corpses.
Just in case, I asked.
"Is there a chance that no mana stones come from any of the magical beasts in a single dungeon?"
"Anomaly, Threat, Taboo. In all those dungeons, such a case has never happened even once. Unless it's an apprentice dungeon."
Estelle said that, then briefly raised a hand to her mouth as if pondering, before continuing.
"But for ranks higher than that, I can't say for certain. Especially Apocalypse-class dungeons... no one has cleared them yet. If something like that happened, it would probably be related to mana contamination."
"Mana contamination...?"
"Yeah. The reason mana stones are more likely to be found in high-rank dungeons is because the magical beasts there have a higher chance of being contaminated. No matter how strong a beast is, naturally born animals generally don't have mana stones."
Estelle said that the dungeons appearing all over this world and mana contamination were extremely closely related.
"Well, a lot of people say the term 'mana contamination' itself isn't accurate... but if you want to know more details, it'd be better to visit the Magic Tower. There must be thousands of papers related to it."
Having finished speaking, Estelle's gaze returned to the fallen giant statue.
"Can I cut open the body?"
"Go ahead."
At my short reply, Estelle raised her sword. A crimson aura slowly rose from her fingertips, soon wrapping the entire blade in wavering mana.
She reversed her grip on the sword and drove it precisely down into the center of the giant statue's back.
Clang.
But Estelle's sword, wreathed in sharp energy, bounced off powerlessly. Gritting her teeth, she tried several more times to drive the blade in, but failed every time.
She looked at me with an embarrassed face.
I approached the giant statue and thrust my hand into the spot where she had tried to plant her sword.
When I pulled my hand back out after it sank in with a heavy thud,
Craaack.
From the point where I withdrew my hand, cracks began to spread. Like a spiderweb—no, even finer and more intricately tangled fissures instantly raced across the entire torso of the giant statue.
The surface that had been smooth as metal split apart, fragments shattering piece by piece, and the massive body turned to powder in an instant.
Silent Limit. After taking that attack, only the exterior had remained intact; the interior had already suffered an unbearable shock and collapsed.
Among the powder piled thickly on the floor was residue of a completely different color from the body.
Black powder. This was probably what "had been" a mana stone.
"Looks like the boss's mana stone is broken."
"Uh... well... can't be helped. Even just the other magical beasts we've already taken down are too many to carry all of them."
She raised her sword. The crimson mana that had bloomed along the blade was drawn back into her fingertips as if being reabsorbed.
Watching that, I opened my mouth.
"That mana... I'm curious how you use it. I heard there's something called mana refinement methods."
"Just curious? Or do you actually want to learn properly?"
"Both."
"Mm, then I'll teach you the best one I know within what I'm familiar with. Ah, if what you want is magic, you might have to find that separately."
"It doesn't have to be magic."
Having concluded a deal that satisfied both of us, I took Estelle and left the boss room, descending to the first floor.
There, some were still sitting and recovering their stamina, while others who had recovered were digging through the collapsed areas looking for a way back up to the upper floors.
They stared at me with puzzled faces when I leaped down from the ceiling and landed in the middle of the passage.
Estelle took a step back from my side and spoke to Rohan, who was nearby.
"The dungeon clear is finished. This man took down the boss."
At those words, Rohan looked back and forth between me and Estelle with blank eyes.
"...This quickly? Isn't there some kind of mistake?"
As if questioning whether she had guided us properly, Estelle shook her head with a sigh under Rohan's suspicious gaze.
"Think whatever you want. The fact that the dungeon has been cleared is true. Even if I explained, you wouldn't believe it, and I don't have the confidence to convince you."
After exchanging a glance with Estelle, who seemed to have given up on explaining, I took her party members one by one and sent them up to various spots on the upper floors. It was to keep my end of the bargain with her.
The adventurers from other parties watched with hollow expressions, but I paid them no mind. There was no reason to consider their feelings in the first place when moving.
Beneath a refined chandelier, a man sat in a luxurious chair upholstered with red velvet. With his deep navy-blue hair neatly swept back, he possessed a neat appearance that nonetheless carried a somewhat cynical impression. The man, who had been lost in thought while tapping the floor with the tip of his black leather boots, turned his head at the sound of a knock on the door.
Even before the man's permission was given, the door opened boldly.
And a tall woman with long golden hair strode in.
In her hand was a single letter.
"A personal letter came for the captain. Seems like it's from the captain's one and only little sister?"
"Did you read it?"
"Why would I bother when there's nothing interesting? Who else but your sister would send a letter so carelessly like this."
She casually handed him the letter she was holding, then plopped down into the facing chair and crossed her legs.
"Anyway, there's an interesting rumor going around these days."
"Have any of the rumors you've called interesting ever actually been interesting?"
A weary tone mixed into the man's voice.
"The captain will find this one interesting too."
The woman's eyes sparkled.
"There's an adventurer who cleared a Taboo-class dungeon alone?"
"Nonsense."
"And he's an apprentice adventurer, no less."
"...Got nothing better to do?"
Even under his cold stare, the woman paid no mind and continued with what she had to say.
"The Ruins of the Cliff. You remember, right? The dungeon that was recently classified as Taboo-class. They say golems appear if you go up to the upper floors. Plus, a Break was imminent. But all those countless golems were wiped out by a single adventurer."
She raised both hands and waved them exaggeratedly. Her golden hair swaying fully revealed her excited mood.
"One swing of a fist and the golems go bang! Completely shattered to pieces, they say? Isn't that fun?"
"Source of the rumor?"
"Probably the parties that were there at the time."
The man let out a short sigh.
"Idiots... or maybe they have some other purpose."
For instance, spreading such a rumor to gain some kind of benefit.
The man did not believe the rumor was true.
The Five Stars, said to be the strongest among top-class adventurers.
They might be able to do it. But the possibility of such people deliberately causing that kind of incident in a Taboo-class dungeon was nonexistent.
So it was a baseless rumor. A simple deduction.
"Couldn't it just be that a new powerhouse has appeared?"
"Not a new powerhouse, but a faction hoping for a new powerhouse to appear, maybe."
"The captain is too pessimistic. ...Ah, right."
The blonde woman, as if suddenly remembering something, leaned forward and pulled a scroll sealed with wax from inside her collar.
She dropped it onto the side table in front of the man with a soft thud.
"It's a request form."
"...Bringing out the most important thing only now."
"It's not important. It's those bastards again."
The man's eyebrows twitched.
"You mean the Black Moon Cult? The ones who go around claiming mana contamination is a blessing from the gods?"
"Yeah, those cultist bastards."
"No need to read it, then."
"Right."
The man's fingertips brushed over the pattern on the scroll. Even without breaking the seal, he could guess the contents.