Let's Conquer the Dungeon (1)
“The documents were tampered with.”
On the day Eres and her party planned to head into the dungeon, Arte turned deathly pale after checking the dungeon paperwork and spoke those words.
“Did you check the security devices every day?”
“Yes… There hasn’t been a single problem until now.”
“Did you adjust the timing like I told you?”
“Yes. I set it back by about two minutes each time, and there were never any issues.”
“What about the spray you scattered outside the windows?”
“That was fine too.”
Every trap they had prepared for security had been seen through. That meant their opponent was no ordinary opponent.
“You changed Rotato Mountain to Binico Mountain?”
“Yes….”
“Fria, did you really prepare a method that could be breached by someone that stupid?”
“Shut…! Haa……”
It existed within the territory of Academy Principal Els Akatio. But who would possibly confuse this obscure mountain with the famous landmark known as Rotato?
“What kind of idiot would swap the names and expect someone to go to the wrong place?”
“If they had even the slightest bit of general knowledge… Rotato is a famous scenic spot. How could they not know?”
At the very least, there was no chance Arte—who would be reading this—would get confused. This was the kind of choice that could only appear if someone who knew absolutely nothing simply picked any random mountain near it on a map!
“Maybe they deliberately let us know they saw it…?”
“That would be even more stupid. There’s nothing to gain from it.”
“Hmm….”
It was a stupid thing to do, but Eres immediately realized just how bizarre this incident truly was.
“Maybe they were trying to mess with us?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
Rotato was scenic. Eres’s party had even planned to climb the mountain and enjoy the view while they were there, but—
“We’ll have to cancel the sightseeing plans.”
The mysterious stranger who had tampered with the documents had essentially just openly t-bagged them. Once the group reached that consensus—
“If they’re going to show up, let them come.”
“I need to test out the revised dual-sword tactics anyway.”
They were pissed. Whoever it was, if they showed themselves, the group had no intention of letting them live.
“Please calm down…”
“Hmm…”
“L-look! It seems like Eres has an idea!”
Eres was always like this. The siblings had those words rising all the way up their throats, but—
“Is something strange?”
“Hmm. It’s not exactly strange, but.”
The two of them simply couldn’t bring themselves to scold Eres.
“I was surprised because it’s much quieter than I expected.”
“That’s true. It wasn’t like this the last time we came.”
Before entering the dungeon, they stopped by a local restaurant to satisfy their hunger, but even though it was a tourist spot, not a single person looked cheerful. The atmosphere was bleak.
“Maybe it’s because of the dungeon and people stopped coming?”
“The dungeon information was supposed to be controlled. And it’s far from the hiking trails, so that shouldn’t be the reason.”
Even with the two Ripelreus siblings here, the reaction was the same. They had changed clothes to hide their identities, but they couldn’t hide their noble appearances. A group of people who clearly weren’t ordinary had gathered, yet no one was even sparing them a glance. It was extremely strange.
‘But if I say that, it’ll sound like I have a massive ego.’
“How can no one recognize me when I’m right here?”
‘Right. This woman was here.’
Fria’s self-love, which had been relatively quiet lately, could not tolerate this. Why were three beautiful girls sitting here and no one was paying them any attention? Was it because of Alto? There should have been at least one person sneaking glances. But when they looked around, everyone just looked exhausted and worn out.
Except for one person.
The man who had just walked into the shop.
“Whoa! There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
A man wearing a crossbody bag and a loose hat. They had seen him coming this way and looked around to see if he was someone they knew, but everyone else seemed clueless.
“Nice to meet you. You’re the group from the Academy, right?”
“You seem to know us well.”
When he naturally tried to join their table, Alto and Fria immediately activated their defenses. Could this be the intruder who had broken into Arte’s room? Even if not, there was a chance he was working with them.
“Of course I know. You’re Alto Ripelreus, Fria Ripelreus, Arte Consl, and Eres, correct? I’ve heard the stories.”
“You know all that and you’re still this bold? Then I’d like to know who you are too.”
“Of course. My name is Teo. I’m a journalist.”
The man who introduced himself as Teo pulled several newspapers from his bag and showed them the articles he had written. If he had forged them, they could simply look up the newspaper later. In a way, it was the most reliable form of identification.
“You’re the group that came from the Academy to conquer the dungeon, right? I’ve been waiting here to have a chat with you.”
“We didn’t tell anyone. Do journalists even know things like that?”
“A competent journalist always has information sources they can’t speak about openly.”
The fact that he was revealing it like this didn’t exactly make him look competent. More like the boastful type. Still, he might be useful.
“A chat, huh. We have plenty of things we want to hear about too. First, I’d like to know why the atmosphere here is so depressed.”
“Oh? You’re saying you want to interview me, a journalist, instead?”
“Is there a reason I can’t?”
Alto didn’t like using overbearing speech, but regardless, he possessed the power to press down on others. Perhaps realizing that, Teo simply shrugged and sat down.
“It’s because a strange incident recently occurred in the dungeon.”
“A strange incident?”
“Yes. For some reason, the monsters inside the dungeon burst out. Because of that, the entire tourist hiking trail was closed off.”
A frenzied monster rampage. It was a disaster that had engulfed not just the trails but the entirety of Rotato Mountain.
“What about the damage?”
“It wasn’t that bad. People were startled at first, but monsters that lose the advantage of the dungeon rarely win against humans. They weren’t particularly strong either.”
It had been a low-risk dungeon. And Rotato Mountain was terrain that humans knew far better than the monsters living inside the dungeon. There had been casualties, but not on a massive scale.
“But because of that, everyone here learned about the dungeon’s existence.”
“So that’s what it was…”
“Since the dungeon’s existence is known, the mood will stay gloomy for a while. We’ll have to wait until Akatio resolves it.”
“Is having a dungeon that bad?”
“Bad people tend to gather. Adventurers, explorers looking for a quick fortune, that sort of thing.”
“Then were all the monsters inside the dungeon exterminated?”
If the dungeon had been cleared, there would be no reason for them to be here. In fact, there would have been no reason to come at all. This was a dungeon managed by the principal. If that were the case, the Academy wouldn’t have sent them today. Teo shaking his head was the natural response.
“Not at all. The people captured the monsters, pushed them back inside the dungeon, and blocked the entrance.”
“What? If they do something like that…”
“They’ll go berserk. If whatever caused the monsters to flee is still inside, that is.”
Monsters rampaging inside the dungeon. But unable to come outside. Alto and Fria recalled the knowledge they already possessed. Eres recalled what she had heard from Layla not long ago.
“This might be off-topic, but can I ask one question?”
“Even Lady Eres? Now I’m really looking forward to the information I’ll get in return.”
Zap!
The three people excluding Eres narrowed their eyes and glared at the journalist. Their gazes seemed to say: If you ask her anything weird, we won’t forgive you.
Scary.
It was scarier than someone who could tear him apart right now. Even if he himself had no such intention, the type of person whose surroundings would strike first was far more terrifying.
“Hmm. I heard there’s some idiot who controls dungeons to create more elite monsters.”
“Pfft! I-idiot… You’re more direct than I expected.”
“Hmm. There is such a person. Why doesn’t anyone scold them? Are they scared?”
Arte tilted her head. She genuinely didn’t know. Alto and Fria kept giving her warning looks. They knew. And Teo—
“There’s no reason to. Controlling the dungeon and increasing the number of elite monsters brings benefits.”
He answered with a bright smile.
“Why is it beneficial?”
“There are two reasons. First, by blocking dungeon access, it prevents the growth of armed groups like adventurers—who can become a threat to those in power.”
In reality, this had proven extremely effective. The means to gain power were limited, and the most useful path was joining the military.
“Then wouldn’t people who want to become adventurers hate it?”
“That’s why they leave it alone. If someone is willing to take the blame for something that needs to be done, why would they interfere?”
Someone had to step up and take the fall. He himself had never intended that, but from the outside, what he had done was useful. Of course, Alto and Fria knew this too, so they looked away.
“Hmm. I understand. Then what’s the second reason?”
“It’s to provide quality experience points for their magnificent army. Once you reach a high level, you can’t raise it with just the quantity of experience anymore.”
“Hmm… So they mass-produce elite monsters and then hunt them to level up?”
“Exactly. Everyone is probably waiting until a satisfying monster appears.”
Something they had never experienced before. Something that couldn’t be overcome with the experience they had accumulated so far. Without facing such a thing, they would stagnate. That was why they wanted it.
“A survival competition among monsters. An elite monster that has overcome that wall once. Then what would happen if those elite monsters competed against each other?”
“Hmm… A boss monster?”
“Haha. A lot of people think that. But bosses and elites are different. If there’s an orc in a goblin den, that would be the boss, but that orc wouldn’t be an elite orc, right?”
Teo pointed to a column in one of the newspapers he had taken out. The word at the tip of his finger read:
“As Lady Eres said, this has nothing to do with what’s happening here. What exactly happened inside the rampaging dungeon. What became of the monsters that were driven inside. And why exactly you were sent here.”
“……So the Academy is using us as test subjects?”
“Why would you say something like that? I told you it has nothing to do with you. Of course, the Academy couldn’t have been unaware of the situation here when they sent you, but let’s just call it an oversight.”
Teo smiled slyly and took out four bottles containing red liquid from his bag.
“What is that.”
“A bribe.”
“A bribe?”
“Yes. Not a gift from an adult to students, but a bribe from a journalist to his sources. Now I’ll tell you what I want. If you return from that dungeon, please tell me what happened inside.”
“……That’s it?”
“Did you think I was going to ask about some scandal that’s hard to talk about? I wouldn’t have waited for you just to ask something like that.”
Teo slid the potions across the table to the party. They couldn’t check the effects before drinking, but the pure, brilliant glow without a single impurity made it clear these were high-grade recovery potions.
“……Who sent you?”
“Come now. Even a journalist can prepare something like this, can’t he? Besides, I doubt you’d believe me no matter whose name I gave.”
Teo put the newspapers back in his bag, pulled his hat down, and stood up.
“I’ll be enjoying the malachite at Rotato. If you feel like sharing information, come find me there. If I’m not around, just assume I’m running away for the crime of misleading you.”
“You say scary things so casually. Are you really going to be okay?”
It wasn’t exactly a relationship worth worrying about, but it was true that he had given them useful information. They weren’t naïve enough to believe his claim that it had nothing to do with them. When Teo heard the genuinely concerned words, he smiled slyly once again.
“Of course. I’m quite confident in my stamina.”
Elite monsters. Monsters that had accumulated more special experience, or individuals born superior from the start who had built up far greater power.
“Kieek! Boss! Why!”
“S-save—”
No matter how much stronger they became, an elite was still an elite. Even if something stronger appeared, it would merely be a stronger elite.
But.
“You abandoned me. And ran away.”
What if it surpassed that limit? What if it reached a realm that could not be attained by that alone?
“Actually. I don’t really know.”
“Kieek! Boss has gone crazy!”
“Boss! I’ll kill you!”
Only the forms of its enemies were reflected in its unfocused eyes. Expressing this resentment, this rage, through thought was far too difficult. It was like trying to verbalize something as natural as breathing. So it gave up on thinking.
It didn’t need to know how to breathe. It simply hated everything that had entered this cave.
“Kiaaaak!!!!”
Everything reflected in its unfocused eyes was an enemy.