Strategy (3)
Strategy (3)
"How could a place like this have remained unknown to people?"
Claire spoke as she looked at the dungeon entrance.
She was right. The entrance was quite large. It was a ruin, in the most literal sense.
Something resembling an old temple stood there, but it had collapsed so badly that its original form was beyond recognition. Even ground that must once have been a simple floor was now thick with grass that made walking difficult, and ivy had completely overrun the temple, which looked like a scaled-down Parthenon.
That didn't mean the place was inconspicuous, though. It sat in the middle of a forest, so it would have looked like a clearing, and anyone approaching even a little closer would have plainly seen that it was an artificial structure.
Even in a beast-haunted forest, it didn't seem likely that Northwood's hunters would be unaware of this location.
"It was probably the power of the Divine Treasure."
Alice said seriously.
The light emanating from the Divine Treasure had grown brighter than before. No other special effects were visible. No magic circle around the Treasure, no hidden script revealing itself...
Honestly, with just a single Mana Stone, it wouldn't have been difficult to make an object glow with that kind of mysterious light.
The Divine Treasure looked like a broken stone slab. There was a pattern carved on it, but all one could tell was that it was part of a larger picture; what that picture originally depicted was hard to determine. It resembled one of those stone tablets split into several pieces that you had to collect to open a door in a horror game.
Because this slab was from the center section, all its edges were broken, making it impossible to tell whether the overall shape had been a rectangle, a triangle, or a circle.
I remembered seeing it.
It had also been an item obtainable in the original game after defeating Berati.
Berati would be taken prisoner by the imperial family and become a bargaining chip in negotiations between the Holy State and the Empire.
... She wasn't a heroine. The heroine from the Holy State side appeared separately, later on.
Well, that was beside the point.
"There's probably some kind of perception-inhibiting magic at work. This place has been forgotten even by the Empire's standards, but it would have been a very important site to the previous civilization."
"Perception-inhibiting magic? Is there such a thing?"
"There might have been, back in an era when they solved everything with magic."
At my words, Claire's expression flickered with surprise, and Alice nodded as if it sounded plausible.
"So that's why they personally brought this Divine Treasure here, isn't it? It means that at least the Holy State knew such places existed all over the world."
"Doesn't the Empire also have Divine Treasures?"
"Yes, but we didn't know how to make use of them, or whether there were maps recording the locations of other Divine Treasures. They were nothing more than 'treasures in storage.'"
As I listened to Claire and Alice continue their exchange, I slowly approached the ruins.
The closer I got, the stronger the blue light radiating from the Divine Treasure grew.
When I moved forward on my own, I heard them hurrying after me from behind.
"Do you know something about this place?"
Bella, who had come up beside me, asked.
"......."
I didn't bother to answer.
Well, I knew plenty.
For example, I remembered the layout of this dungeon. I couldn't claim it was perfectly exact, but once we went inside and I saw the layout, it would slowly come back to me, piece by piece, just as it had in the imperial capital sewers.
And this dungeon wasn't particularly difficult. It was the dungeon from Chapter 2, the first proper dungeon out of the six chapters that made up the game.
The graphics optimization hadn't been great, so the grass had been sparse, and the ivy hadn't moved this naturally, but after wandering around, shining the faint light from the Divine Treasure this way and that, I'd found that the ruins almost exactly matched the layout I remembered.
"From here on, I'll take the lead."
"But the danger..."
"The only danger should be the monsters inside."
At Alice's concern, I answered simply and handed the Divine Treasure back to Bella.
"You do not need the Divine Treasure inside?"
"We'll need it at the end."
I picked up the shotgun I'd brought along.
The fire-attribute shells would definitely be a big help. The interior was swarming with slimes, after all.
This was the first dungeon that really took the form of a "dungeon." Earlier areas had twisted forest paths that felt dungeon-like, but they hadn't been outright underground ruins like this.
The path branched and twisted, and certain mechanisms blocked the way, but at least there were no traps lethal enough to cost anyone their life.
There were just a few more enemies deeper inside, that was all.
As I worked the shotgun's pump action to chamber a shell, the party exchanged glances. Even Bella locked eyes with Alice.
Alice had seen me navigate the imperial capital sewers without any hesitation the other day, but well, sewers and a dungeon built in antiquity were completely different. At least the sewers would have had a map somewhere within the Empire, right?
After confirming their expressions, I turned back around, a faint smile touching my lips.
It was a smile of satisfaction.
Still, I did still have a clearly differentiated character trait left to me.
*
The gloomy dungeon interior consisted of one stone passageway after another, all looking much alike.
In the game, it had been depicted somewhat brightly for the player's convenience, but inside the actual dungeon, it was deeply dark. Even with a full moon outside, not a single ray of light seemed to reach the interior. Was that also due to magic?
Conversely, the light radiating from the Divine Treasure Bella now held had grown far stronger than before, brightly illuminating our surroundings. It looked very much like the depiction I'd seen in the game.
I considered telling them to stick close behind me, then thought better of it. Every member of the party had superior combat ability compared to me; there was no reason they couldn't keep up.
Following the Divine Treasure's light, I advanced through the dungeon before us.
Only a short while later,
"Enemy—"
BANG!
Before Claire could even fully react to the slime that appeared ahead, I pulled the trigger.
I'd barely aimed, but the intense flames that erupted from the shotgun were enough to vaporize the slime on the spot.
"......."
By the time I drew another shell from my waist and made the unhurried sound of reloading, everyone was still staring at me blankly, their mouths slightly open.
Well, I'd come prepared in my own way.
At the very least, I knew what elemental types the monsters that appeared here mostly had.
With a small sense of satisfaction welling up from deep inside, I advanced slowly.
*
"Sis, you're amazing..."
... Mm.
Had I maybe overdone it a little?
There were almost no traps ahead, and the monsters that appeared... I'd been able to dispatch them far too easily because of the weapons I'd prepared, which were somewhat over-spec for this place. I'd only brought a pistol and a shotgun, but slimes were weak to heat—and to magical power.
Mia Crowfield would have been a huge help, but I couldn't exactly drag her out against her will when she didn't want to go near the casino. Though, even if I had brought her, showing her this far in would have been a bit much. In that case, I probably would have assigned her to Charlotte's side instead.
"Hmm."
When we finally reached what appeared to be the deepest part of the dungeon, Bella, who was following me, made an intrigued sound. The mask she wore had its eye parts painted black, so I couldn't read her gaze, but I could at least tell that the way she looked at me had changed a little.
"... This device."
The deepest part of the dungeon. Before the room at the very end that housed the boss monster.
An automatic recovery device stood in front of it.
In truth, this was also a gameplay concession. Perhaps having decided that a merchant standing there perfectly calmly right before a boss fight made no sense, the developers had placed one mysterious device powered by ancient magic in front of every boss room. It was actually a device that appeared everywhere, not just here, but at least it was the first one I'd seen since coming to this world.
"It’s still operational."
Alice said as she stepped closer.
It was a strange spiral pillar wrapped in bright, multicolored light.
It was obvious, but apparently it didn't include a shop function.
"... What could this device be?"
It was only when Leo stepped closer, his brow furrowed as he studied the device intently, that I realized.
Ah, not a single person had been injured so far.
The principle that a world where people died when shot applied equally fairly to beasts and monsters. A bear would also die to a person if the bullet had enough penetrative power to pierce its hide.
... And slimes went without saying.
It meant that, thanks to my thorough preparations, almost no one had gotten hurt.
So there was no reason to recover separately here, and no one felt anything from it.
... Had I really gone too far?
For a moment, that thought crossed my mind.