Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Raising
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"Hmm..."
Using the [Ladder], I climbed up to the midpoint of the massive tree trunk. Having reached the spot where the woman Erzsebet had identified as a dryad was embedded, I closely examined the face of the woman fused into the tree.
Her hair shimmered with a vibrant green hue, as if it had captured the fresh colors of nature itself. She wore bizarre garments woven from leaves. And her limbs were seamlessly merged with the tree, as though she'd become one with it.
'She's still breathing, though.'
Up close, I could detect faint respiration, and her chest rose and fell subtly. That much told me she was definitely alive.
"Hmm. Is this the woman? The one who tried to suck your blood?"
Erzsebet, who had created wings of blood and flown up beside me, joined me in observing the dryad's form. Her face was that of a beauty rivaling Erzsebet's own. Erzsebet watched it intently for a moment before furrowing her brow.
"Somehow, looking at her just sours my mood."
"You said you don't remember her?"
"It feels strangely familiar, like we might have known each other before I lost my memories... but..."
After admiring the dryad briefly, Erzsebet extended her arm and suddenly flicked the forehead of the woman embedded in the tree.
-Thwack!
"What the hell? Why'd you do that?"
"It's punishment for coveting my blood. And I'm letting her off easy with just this..."
-Slap!
"...?"
"Huh?"
And in that instant, a slightly thinner branch shot out and smacked Erzsebet across the cheek.
"...This damn tree dares lay a hand on milady's body?"
"It's a branch, not a hand."
"I ought to chop its roots right now and use it for firewood...!"
Erzsebet exploded in rage, seemingly ready to draw blood from her own body—not even using the [High-Pressure Cleaner]—to attack the tree. With a sigh, I filled the [High-Pressure Cleaner] with [Detergent (Blood)] and sprayed her down.
"Gaaah!!"
Her blood-formed wings melted away in an instant, sending Erzsebet plummeting to the ground. Ignoring her, I checked the dryad's condition.
She was alive, but she looked strangely listless. A closer look revealed dry, flaky skin and lusterless hair.
"Can you hear me? Can we talk?"
I tried speaking to the woman in the tree, but got no response, as if I'd spoken to a real plant. However, just like when it had slapped Erzsebet's cheek earlier, a small branch extended toward me.
-Swish~ Swish~
"Uh... hello?"
The branch swayed as if greeting me, and I found myself responding in kind. Then, like a handshake, it grabbed my hand and shook it up and down.
"Do you know where we are? Why are you stuck here like this? Do you know Erzsebet?"
The branch's actions showed clear intelligence, so I hurriedly fired off questions. But it only wobbled vaguely, offering no proper answers.
Instead, the branch extended a bit further and grabbed the [High-Pressure Cleaner] I was holding.
"Uh... what? What are you trying to say?"
"...!!"
As if frustrated, I watched the branch's gestures—no, its tree-like gestures. On a hunch, I activated the [High-Pressure Cleaner] and sprayed it with water.
-...~~
Sure enough, the branch bent into an O-shape, as if confirming. Was it asking for more water?
Erzsebet, filthy with dirt but having reformed her wings and flown back up, watched the scene.
"Ugh... Isn't my treatment a bit too harsh, Master?"
"Never mind that. Take a look at her. I can't tell if she can communicate or not... Is this how dryads normally are?"
I'd hoped a demon race that wasn't a plant might converse normally, but all it did was rustle its branches. It felt intelligent, but...
"Hmm... She's like a child right now. She must have drained too much sustenance too quickly, so to conserve energy, she's minimized her ego's maintenance?"
"Like a child?"
"Exactly as it sounds. Dryads are trees at their core, so they have various ways to conserve power against droughts and such... One method is halting their humanoid avatar's activity and keeping only a minimal sense of self."
Erzsebet explained that the dryad couldn't function in humanoid form now and had only a child's level of awareness left.
"And since you gave her water and nutrients, she's clinging to you like a kid to its parent."
"...My head hurts."
I'd discovered someone else sleeping in this bizarre ruin and hoped, unlike Erzsebet, she might provide solid info. But she's in this state too?
"If you supply enough water and nutrients, her original self should awaken."
"Like how your memories return when you drink blood?"
"Hm. Now that you mention it, it does sound similar."
Were they in the same place, so their conditions are alike? This might mean more similar folks inside.
"What'll you do, Master? You don't really need to raise this dryad yourself."
"...!!"
As Erzsebet spoke while eyeing the rustling branch, it stiffened in shock before drooping limply. She did look a bit pitiful like this...
"Water's no issue... but nutrients?"
"Like with the Trent remnants earlier. Hm. No idea what to give her."
"For a tree, nutrients would be... manure?"
-Slap!!
"...Guess not."
I smacked my own arm once, then sighed as the branch stroked it apologetically.
...Out of nowhere, I've ended up with a plant to raise.
In the small city of Delron, located in the southern reaches of the Holy Empire Yukram, a certain rumor was currently spreading across the continent.
'A new dungeon has appeared in the south!'
Thanks to the previous emperor's policies, it had been decades since a new dungeon last appeared, so continentals initially dismissed the rumors as mere gossip. The temples had even publicly declared the recent buzz baseless, fueling further skepticism.
But sightings of Rox's hunting party returning in tatters after raiding a Red Demon Tribe village, the disappearance of two 1-star heroes active around Delron, the gravely injured 1-star hero 'Mori' receiving treatment at the temple, and the unusually anxious demeanor of Delron's bishop...
These accumulating factors lent credence to the rumors, spreading them far and wide. And those whispers reached the ears of certain beings who had infiltrated human society in disguise.
"...A dungeon?"
In a filthy back alley rarely trodden by humans, a figure cloaked in black robes perked up at the chatter of passersby. To relay the news to their kin, they swiftly slipped into an abandoned building and headed to the basement.
"Boss! Boss!"
"What is it, Coru? Why the fuss? Some hero sniffing around?"
In the basement of what appeared to be an derelict structure, a man drinking liquor responded to the robed figure. As he turned, sharp fangs and elongated ears betrayed his inhuman nature.
Coru, whose human-like form was partially hidden by the robe, showed no surprise at the man's appearance and delivered the news.
"A new dungeon has appeared in the empire's south!"
"What? A dungeon?"
Only then did the man called Boss drop his bored attitude, set down his glass, and lean in for details.
"The temple folks are calling it nonsense... but unlike past rumors, this one seems credible. Take a look at these."
Coru handed over compiled reports of circulating rumors: missing heroes, the temple's desperate cover-up attempts, and more.
"Dungeon... dungeon, huh..."
Muttering the word softly, the man rose with a smile curling his lips.
"Listen up."
"Yes, Boss!"
Addressing the inner room, his call drew out the basement dwellers en masse. Each bore inhuman traits: long ears, sharp fangs, horns on foreheads, and such.
"Tired of skulking under humans, aren't you?"
He hadn't really asked for replies, but the demons nodded in unison. Satisfied, the Boss unleashed his demonic energy, enveloping his subordinates.
-Shhh...
The energy bloomed like heat haze, transforming the demons' forms bit by bit until they all mimicked humans perfectly.
With everyone now human in appearance, their transformed leader declared,
"We're heading to Delron."
"Yes, Boss!"
The demon race known as Phantom, possessing the power of 'illusion' to alter appearances, led his minions out of the basement. Onlookers glanced at the bustling group but soon looked away, unable to pierce their disguises.
'Finally!'
Phantom, at the forefront, grinned with ecstatic glee.
'The day I become a dungeon master has arrived.'
For decades, since those cowardly humans implemented their absurd policy of 'maintaining' dungeons, he'd bided his time amid them. No more.
Now... it was his turn to claim a dungeon.
'Heh. A newborn dungeon's master won't be much.'
Long years of stable dungeon counts had drawn strong demons into existing ones. The demons scattered across the continent now were weaklings banding together. A new dungeon's master had to be one such feeble sort.
In that case...
'I'll devour it.'
Destroy the dungeon core? No—kill only the master, and he could become the new one.