The Day the Incident Occurred
A few days later.
If you visited the mercenary guild early in the morning, you’d find a crowd gathered in front of the massive outdoor bulletin board.
What’s going on?
Amid the murmuring throng, a few high-ranking mercenaries with sharp features were slipping away with bored expressions. Among them, I spotted a familiar red ponytail.
I’d promised to meet Sera around this time whenever nothing urgent came up.
“Sera.”
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Why’s it so crowded? Did the guild make some announcement?”
“Yeah, they posted an emergency request this morning. Well, they call it emergency, but it’s not exactly urgent. Go check it out yourself.”
Following Sera’s suggestion, I carefully wove through the crowd and read the request details.
A rift has formed in the suburbs not far from the city… an ancient ruin has been revealed. A faint ether reaction is detectable inside… all mercenaries may investigate freely… submitting rare artifacts will earn compensation of equivalent value…
Just as I’d heard—Fletur really was famous for its dungeons. It looked like another rift had opened shortly after I arrived in the city. So the dungeon included an actual ruin site?
“Hey, now that I think about it, you’ve never been inside a dungeon before. Wouldn’t it be good to get some experience? If you’re lucky, you might earn more than ten regular requests combined.”
“…But is it safe for someone at my level? I don’t have any artifact gear either…”
“It’s fine, I’m telling you. Your current equipment is more than enough. Think about it. If it were a truly rare dungeon, why would they offer something ridiculous like ‘free investigation for all mercenaries’? Besides—”
Sera waved her hand lightly and continued.
“Whenever a rift like this appears, the Star Cluster Constellation Order uses astrology or whatever to assess the grade in advance. That’s why even a bottom-rung mercenary like you can go, Rowen.”
Sera gave me a rough rundown of what she knew.
The Star Cluster Constellation Order was one of Fletur’s core powers. They possessed almost no combat strength, but they specialized in supernatural techniques—astrology, prophecy, and dimensional detection. Thanks to those abilities, no major faction treated them as enemies, and everyone respected the Order’s independent position in exchange for high-quality information.
“The guild tipped me off that even the big organizations are only sending a handful of people. It’s obviously just for gathering intel.”
“I see. If you’re that confident… I suppose I should go. When would be best?”
“From what I’ve seen, rifts of this grade open the day after the guild notice. Let’s head out early tomorrow morning. Oh, right—you…”
Sera looked at me as if she’d just realized something.
“Why haven’t you tried extending those daily-only requests? If something unexpected happens, you could easily run over a day. Ask that priestess of yours for some stronger medicine.”
“Uh… I’ll ask her about it.”
After a few more words, we agreed to meet early the next morning and parted ways.
On the walk home, I suddenly remembered the embarrassing conversation I’d had with the priestess not long ago.
There were still no signs of my lower body recovering. She had told me that because she was tweaking the formula and ingredients, the symptoms might not appear right away.
As soon as I got back, I told Priestess Isabel about the ruin exploration plan. I explained that I’d be going with a trustworthy mercenary and that the Star Cluster Constellation Order had already assessed the danger level, so it should be safe.
She listened quietly, then nodded.
When I mentioned I might not make it back within a single day, she said she would strengthen the medicine since I wouldn’t be able to perform the nightly purification ritual. She also prepared various potions for me. I accepted them gratefully and expressed my sincere thanks.
I had planned to visit Roanne—the alchemist I’d recently met—afterward, but it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary now.
Early the next morning, Sera and I arrived at a suburb north of Fletur.
Hundreds of practitioners had already gathered on the barren grassland. Most were from the mercenary guild like us, while experts from other factions kept their distance.
Of course, even those “experts” were only 1st Realm practitioners. I had recently learned that in Fletur, reaching the 2nd Realm was enough to be considered top-tier combat strength—and even those were extremely rare.
Just how many 3rd Realm practitioners could there be? Was that why the local branch of the Asteros Order went out of its way to accommodate Priestess Isabel?
While I was lost in thought, the other practitioners and I kept staring in the same direction.
The spatial rift trembled with growing instability. The air warped violently as if the fabric of space itself was about to tear. After holding that state for a while, the rift gradually revealed its true form.
So this was a dungeon?
Yet the actual sight was rather shabby. All that appeared was a small marble building large enough for maybe two people to live in.
While the practitioners stood there tilting their heads, members of the famous factions approached the door first. They slowly opened the entrance—which was half the height of the building itself—revealing the interior.
Even from a distance, I could see an unusually long staircase.
Following the unspoken rules, the large and mid-tier factions descended first. Once they disappeared from view, the lower-ranking mercenaries rushed in after them in a hurry.
“Rowen, let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
Inside, old black marble stairs stretched deep underground. The walls looked ancient, their surfaces rough and uneven. Faintly glowing red ether crystals embedded here and there cast a soft light throughout the dark interior.
A few practitioners pulled out pickaxe-shaped artifacts and tried to mine the crystals, but the walls were so hard that they couldn’t even make a scratch. Every attempt failed.
After descending the stairs, we entered a space resembling an underground temple—high ceilings, thick pillars, the works.
My first dungeon. My heart’s pounding.
Sera glanced at me and let out a small snort of laughter.
“Heh. Hate to break it to you, but I doubt you’ll get any heroic tales out of this place.”
“What do you… is it really that bad?”
Sera jerked her chin toward the ancient text carved high on the ceiling.
“Can you read what that says?”
“No idea. Wait—Sera, can you read ancient languages?”
“Only the really basic stuff. Like, extremely basic.”
“…………I thought we were in the same boat.”
“…………What’s that supposed to mean?”
When I put on a betrayed expression, the corner of her mouth twitched.
She explained that she had read some books on basic ancient script at the library. Apparently it was surprisingly important for survival inside dungeons.
That made sense. If the writing said Warning: Traps Ahead and you charged straight in anyway… it would be a nightmare.
“So what does it say, Sera?”
“I can’t read most of it, but I recognize the last character. That one means… ‘to rest.’”
“To rest…”
“What else could it be? It probably means something like ‘a resting place for so-and-so.’ Some ancient sect must have used it as a leisure spot. The grade is low, so there probably isn’t much to see. I doubt there are any monsters either.”
I see. So that’s why an exploration opportunity had come even to a low-level mercenary like me—there was a reason after all.
It seemed the 1st Realm veterans at the guild bulletin board had looked indifferent for good reason.
“So basically, we just have to watch out for other people.”
With a completely relaxed expression, Sera stretched her arms and strolled deeper inside.
It didn’t take long for that expression to change.
“………C-c-crazy! Why the hell would they make so many of these things?!”
Sera’s ears burned bright red as she let out a sharp cry.
I swallowed dryly, desperately searching for somewhere safe to look.
Th-this is so embarrassing.
The moment we stepped inside, incomprehensible ancient phrases and blatantly explicit murals greeted us.
Most of the murals depicted men and women entangled in all sorts of positions. Even the single-figure portraits—regardless of gender—showed them striking lewd poses.
Large statues stood throughout the chamber. Nearly all of them were female, their bodies sensual and voluptuous, completely devoid of any trace of holiness.
Bodies like Priestess Isabel’s… so many of them… No, what the hell am I thinking?!
I shook my head fiercely inside. Looking around, I saw some of the male mercenaries grinning like idiots, while the women wore expressions that mixed disgust and shame.
There were exceptions, of course.
“Sera, if this is too uncomfortable, we can just leave.”
“What…?”
She frowned for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
“It’s fine. I’m not some little kid. Let’s go further in. Just what kind of perverted bastards used this place anyway… ugh.”
We decided to head deeper into the ruins in search of rare artifacts.
Like the staircase, the interior was lit by faintly glowing red ether crystals, bathing everything in a soft crimson glow.
That red light—which should have felt eerie—now carried a thick atmosphere reminiscent of the red-light district I had accidentally glimpsed once before.
Twenty minutes… Thirty minutes…
We continued exploring.
At first we stayed alert for traps, but the place didn’t seem to have any, so we eventually stopped paying much attention.
There were only long corridors and numerous rooms.
Some rooms contained shelves piled high with rusted objects that looked like strange toys. Others held items that resembled bizarre torture devices.
Sera, investigating beside me, would occasionally blush bright red or tilt her head in confusion. Sometimes she’d tilt her head and then blush, showing a strange combination of reactions.
Just what on earth are these things used for?
I didn’t ask her. I had a feeling it was better not to.
“…We still haven’t found any rare artifacts. This place really doesn’t have anything, does it?”
“…………Yeah… looks that way……”
“What should we do now? Keep going deeper, or—”
“Rowen.”
“Yes?”
Sera suddenly cut me off in a strangely calm voice.
“…………Shall we rest for a bit first?”
She was looking up at me with oddly hazy, unfocused eyes.