83. Black Lotus (3) (Map)
83. Black Lotus (3) (Map)
- 1 -
As the queen drew nearer, a fragrance that seemed impossible in this world wafted from her.
It was a fantastical fragrance, like an iridescent flower with a surreal appearance.
「Shade of the Void」.
Before I could fully savor the fragrance, before it could affect Serha or Shue, I absorbed and blocked it with the shadow image.
I already knew how dangerous that fragrance was from the example of the Red Alraune, so how much worse would the queen's, who was far more powerful than her, be?
"U-eh...?"
Serha, who had nearly lost her mind from just a moment's exposure to the fragrance, regained her senses.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yes! I'm sorry. I feel like I'll only be a hindrance, so I'll keep my distance for a bit."
"That would be wise. Shue, you too."
My beautiful silver werewolf hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
Anyway, there were plenty of guards within my shadow image, so it was fine even if I held out until she could rush over from nearby, but...
"...No. I'm fine... If I help, I can endure it enough, so don't worry."
"Alright. Do as you wish."
Yes, she must have been uneasy.
Only after Serha had withdrawn far enough did I finally gaze upon the approaching Alraune Queen with displeasure.
Despite this situation, she still did not suppress her fragrance.
As if daring me to make a move.
"It's not as if I'm seeing you for the first time, but meeting you face to face like this is a first. Dungeon Queen."
The Alraune Queen's gaze never strayed to the retreating pair, fixed only on me.
That gaze, filled with a strange obsession and aesthetic fascination, resembled that of Yuran, my first maid lord I had met before.
Even if the direction of it was slightly different.
"So I've heard."
"I still remember. The sight of you riding in a carriage on the human commercial highway, outside the forest. The foolish humans only considered you beside them as a mere human, but I could recognize you right away."
"When was that?"
"It would have been when you first left this dungeon. I've been waiting to meet you like this ever since then."
Her words immediately suggested a certain possibility to me.
The reason she hadn't made contact despite knowing of my existence since then was probably because she had been showing me consideration, however clumsily. She was considering me, a being possessing such intense beauty as to catch her eye.
Fortunately, there was no longer any need to treat this as mere assumption.
"If you wanted to meet, you would have had plenty of chances sooner."
"But you were still weak back then. I had a thought that it would be burdensome if I approached you at that time."
Just as I thought.
If I hadn't been that pretty or handsome, this queen would probably have approached me in some way long ago.
And that approach would likely have been hostile.
I'd already heard from Kamaya about the influence previous dungeon lords had exerted on the vicinity, and I was well aware of it.
That was probably why the other two queens opposed contacting me now, too.
"And I also had confidence that this patience wouldn't last long."
"Confidence?"
"Yes. Confidence that you would grow strong so quickly and appear before my eyes like this. Much stronger than you were back then. And as expected."
Smiling softly, she approached, emitting an even stronger fragrance than before.
Honestly, it was an unpleasant act.
Even though she had seen me block that fragrance just a moment ago.
Even if controlling the fragrance was indeed difficult, there was no way a queen of her caliber couldn't do it.
Because she was still emitting her fragrance.
"You appeared before me like this. Possessing power on an equal level to us queens."
The fact that I currently possessed power on an equal level with her meant that she was currently a magical beast with elite-grade abilities.
By the game's standards from my experience, she would be considered a born 4-star.
This was the highest rank you could ordinarily obtain from the dungeon's mercenary gacha during normal times.
'Born 5-stars were only released through events or seasonal systems.'
Ordinary elite-grade beings all started at 4-star.
Although there were cases where those starting at elite grade could reach 5-star or higher depending on growth limits and other criteria—and similarly, even those born at advanced level or lower could be 4-star.
And that also meant that with a certain amount of investment, they could become 5-star grade, or even high-rank beings.
Given that the system I acquired after coming to this world didn't show this star rating, I suspected they made it so one had to judge for themselves, or perhaps it had disappeared in a game sense entirely...
"So that's how it was. That's fortunate."
Still, it was an ability that made me suppress a degree of displeasure.
Since elite grade was also the current highest level among inland humans.
At the very least, she would be suitable for use as a meat— no, a plant shield.
"Yes. It truly is fortunate. That you have grown this strong too..."
And then, just after I suppressed my displeasure like that, her fragrance vanished with a puff.
It hadn't completely disappeared.
Because the fragrance still lingered near me.
But the fragrance—which had been so overwhelming that it blanketed the surroundings and induced dizziness from scent alone—had now diminished to the point of providing only a subtle sensation.
The 'test' was over.
"And also, that you are calm enough not to react to the opponent's unpleasant actions like this."
"You were testing me."
"It's something only a fool does, judging an opponent solely by others' words or a brief impression. Don't you agree?"
When I answered as if I hadn't realized, the queen simply smiled brightly.
In her mind, I had probably been misjudging her up until a moment ago.
Bound by Serha's assessment of 'Alraunes are face-obsessed' and the actions of the previous Red Alraune, she must have thought I considered her act of emitting fragrance as nothing more than rude behavior, distracted by my face.
'She probably thinks I've humored her mood enough by now.'
Of course, that was simply an act of moderately playing along with her test.
Although she was better compared to the other two queens who were acting hostile, I still couldn't call her my complete ally yet.
Just like Kamaya.
Revealing everything just because you're capable only leads to being exploited, so hiding a moderate amount was a virtue.
It was the same on Earth, too.
Didn't they say to hide 30% of your skill wherever you went?
"It's unpleasant. Queen."
"I'm sorry. Dungeon Queen. For testing you so impertinently."
As if truly sorry, the queen brought her hands together and bowed, then soon slightly blushed and whispered.
Her desire.
"If it's truly unpleasant, you could spend the night with me."
"I refuse. Because that's even more detestable."
"Oh my... How cold."
Her figure, with both eyebrows drooping downwards, looked truly pitiful, exuding an atmosphere that would make an ordinary man forgive anything.
I had heard the Alraunes here frequently interacted with humans, and it seemed she had naturally mastered the art of charming humans.
Since her face was beautiful and she resembled a human, it would have been easy for her to seduce thoughtless fools.
Inviting me, who had no choice but to be hostile to humans in such a situation, was strange, but...
"But that makes you look even more delicious. Your..."
"Let's just exchange names."
"Oh my, come to think of it, we still haven't exchanged names. That's truly impolite. I'm sorry."
Perhaps this was the point where the 'face-obsessed' personality applied.
Even looking at her current words and actions, that was clear.
"My name is Nirvana. I am the queen who rules this swamp."
So went my meeting with one of the four queens, Alraune Queen Nirvana.
- 2 -
'So it's, "Nirvana", huh...'
It was a name that somehow felt like it had the namer's malice embedded in it.
Nirvana referred to the Buddhist concept of 'Yeolban'.
Because it referred to the practitioner gaining enlightenment and crossing over from this world, the 'this shore', to the other world, the 'far shore'.
'Whether the meaning of that name was 'an intense allure so strong that the one who overcomes enters nirvana', or 'a temptation that makes even a practitioner entering nirvana fall back.'
It could be described as malicious yet appropriate.
Sarak.
Just looking at the form of that otherworldly flower made it evident.
A flower with a black base shimmering with iridescent light.
At a glance, it was a light that seemed reminiscent of the halo of one entering nirvana, but unlike in the West where rainbows were seen as good omens, in the East they were viewed as bad omens.
Considering that in our kingdom too, there were records of a rainbow appearing with both white and iridescent colors before the Gimyosahwa and the Imjin War, one might say it had considerable superstitious significance.
'This too is contradictory when linked with her name.'
Of all things, a bad omen for nirvana.
Wasn't it a combination suggesting that all those entangled would be cast into the abyss, or that the place they ascended to was hell?
It should be described as demonic rather than befitting a magical beast.
"The main body of an Alraune is both you and the flower, correct?"
Given that, I couldn't help but become curious.
What this flower was, and what kind of relationship it had with her.
"Are you curious about me? Yes, that's right. We are two and also one at the same time."
"Two...? You mean the flower has a separate intelligence?"
According to her words, that smoothly drifting lotus flower also moved with an intelligence separate from the Alraune before my eyes.
She affirmed it.
"That's right. While there are cases where other children aren't like that, we both possess intelligence. This child is my alter ego."
"Then, what should I call your alter ego?"
"Originally, it was a flower called the Iris Black Lotus. It's a flower that blooms by receiving the mana of Dark Elves."
Ah. A lotus.
The representative flower of the swamp was indeed the lotus.
The flower symbolizing Buddhism was also the lotus.
The petals were just too large, fluttering and moving like wings, and the stems below shimmered with iridescent light, so I simply couldn't think of it as an ordinary flower.
...Wait.
Then, was that thing sparkling like a bead there the lotus root?
"Then, let's get to the main point."
I was also curious about how a flower raised by Dark Elves was reborn as a magical beast, but it would probably take too long to go into that story.
I was still busy.
I had two more queens to meet besides her, and to meet them all and even converse would take at least over a week.
This was possible only for me.
'It would be nice to see the dungeon too.'
The most urgent matter besides that would naturally be regarding the dungeon.
Soon, I had to properly start up the dungeon and then readjust based on the results.
However, this wasn't necessarily a job I had to be present for.
'It's fortunate that there are two who can act as adjutants. Though the number of external collaborators has also increased.'
Because Eve was handling matters within the dungeon, and Ran was gradually taking on the tasks concerning those dispatched outside.
In addition to that, those with human bodies, such as the Cerebrum Skull and the humans dispatched outside, had increased in number, so the things that could be done even without me in the dungeon had also grown.
Even so, if possible, I wanted to see it myself.
Because it was my possession, and my dungeon.
"Oh my, what's the rush? Shall we at least share a meal and talk?"
However, since she had no way of guessing my circumstances and no intention of asking, she just proceeded at her own pace.
It was a "my pace" attitude befitting a leader of magical beasts.
"Let's do that."
"Surely, you're not still sulking because of what happened earlier, are you? I said I was sorry about that? Or perhaps... do you need a gift?"
"It's fine. I already have a gift you've given me."
I shook my head at her question.
This wasn't a lie.
Because my current demeanor was merely one of hurt pride and slight dejection toward her—for arbitrarily proceeding with the test and scattering a fragrance that could harm my subordinates.
Of course, in the latter case, it had been unpleasant enough to truly affect my mood, but it wasn't to the extent of breaking this meeting, which was important to the overall situation.
However, if I could obtain a gift, there was no need to actively refuse it.
"Fufu. We'll consider that one done since it was given to look good. Right. How about this?"
In that respect, the offer she proposed was quite decent.
"I'll send a few of the children I've had my eye on to the dungeon. Of course, in the form of forming a contract with you. How about it?"
Of course, this was a mutually beneficial trade.
Because dispatching forces to the dungeon was originally the most essential part of the deal between us.
She would be able to grasp the dungeon's situation more accurately, and I would gain immediately usable forces.
On top of that, raising the rank of those forces was a given, and the fact that she would be transferring them entirely into my service was truly something that could be considered a gift.
How well she kept that word, though, was a matter to be seen.
"I like it. I look forward to working with you. Nirvana."
"I as well. Let's continue a deep cooperative relationship going forward. Libertas."
From finishing the conversation to shaking hands with her, it was over in no time.
The only thing I had overlooked, however, was that she had been quite looking forward to meeting me.
