Man, Whoops, My Bad

At the deepest part of the dungeon, past the barrier-protected corridor, was a black sphere. That was the dungeon core.

Since I'm here, maybe I should try copying the dungeon core and taking a duplicate home with me.

… Hm? Can't copy it? Oh, right, it's supposed to be a divine artifact. Too bad.

"This is tied to people's livelihoods, so I can't just take it… hm?"

However, I was able to copy the object attached to the back of the core.

What's this? A magic tool? Some kind of device to control the core?

"Hey, what's this thing behind the core?"

"Behind the core? What are you talking about?"

Oops, she can't see it from the corridor. I showed Mashiro-san the object I'd copied.

"This exact thing was stuck right on the back of the core."

"That's… a bomb!?"

"A bomb, huh. So those are a thing. Maybe it's placed there to destroy the dungeon in an emergency?"

"Idiot! As if that would be it! If the dungeon gets destroyed, this town is done for!"

Oh. That's true… right?

Then Mashiro-san pushed me up against the wall with a thud, a kabedon.

A serious gaze. Her face so close. I could even hear her breath.

… Whoa, that made my heart skip a beat. So cool… Turns out kabedons are actually pretty nice…

"Hey, Karina! Is this thing really attached to the back of the core!?"

"Uh, ah, yeah. Want me to remove it?"

"If you can remove it, do it!"

With a flick of my finger, I activated my space magic. The bomb teleported into my hand.

"Here you go, that good?"

"… I said to do it, but you actually could!?"

I said I could because I could, obviously.

"Alright, let's bring this back to the guild. They might be able to figure something out."

"Is that okay? It won't explode on the way?"

"Ahh, that's possible. What should we do…"

Mashiro-san sank into thought… Alright, let me roll up my sleeves and help out.

Let's see, scanning it… this part connects here like this, and because of that… ah, this must be the explosive part? It feels like a mana bomb? There's mana packed inside.

So if I just remove this part, it should be fine. Partial teleport and…

"Here, I separated the explosive part from the rest."

"Oh, thanks… wait, seriously? That's amazing, mage."

"You can praise me more if you want?"

"I mean, it's seriously amazing, but I don't know what else to say besides amazing."

I see, so amazing you're at a loss for words. Mm-hm.

"But was it really okay to just remove this on our own? There won't be more monsters showing up or anything?"

"Should be fine. Probably."

Yeah, Mashiro-san doesn't really get it either.

"Whoever did this was sneaking around and hiding it on the back because they were up to no good. Besides, if the guild says we shouldn't have removed it, we can just put it back, right?"

"That's true."

Spoken like an A-rank adventurer who can take responsibility. What a cool lady. Love it.

If Mashiro-san asks, I'll help her out too.

"Well, I'm heading home, so I'll leave the rest to you, Mashiro-san."

"Wait wait wait. I'm heading home too, so obviously we're going together. And while you're at it, show me that new route you found. If I'm gonna explain things to the guild, I need to be able to guide them there."

Oops, I was planning to teleport home, but she has a point.

Since I'm leaving the guild explanation entirely to Mashiro-san, I need to properly hand over all the information.

So we headed back the way we came to exit the dungeon, but I decided to ask Mashiro-san about something that was bugging me.

"By the way, are there return portals?"

"This dungeon doesn't have one, but some dungeons do. The kind that lets you instantly warp to the entrance after clearing the boss room."

"Oh, they actually exist."

Huh, I didn't expect that. Too bad this dungeon doesn't have one.

… This strengthens my theory that dungeons are space magic users. Yeah.

After that, when we returned to the dungeon entrance with Mashiro-san, there was a whole thing about "You have no entry record! Where did you come in from!?", so my five-yen coin universal ID got its time to shine. But that's just between us. Man, whoops, my bad.