The Hero and [Flame Cavern]

I was holding my head in my hands.

"So? Pretty innovative, right?"

"So innovative I want to punch you. Can I?"

"Why?!"

The dungeon Rokuko made was essentially footholds placed on a magma sea. That alone wouldn't be a problem.

And having only one monster there, the phoenix Feni, was still fine.

The problem was the final door.

It connected to somewhere outside our dungeon — [Flame Cavern].

Probably around the fifteenth floor.

"… Why does it connect to [Flame Cavern]?!"

"It's convenient for Feni to go play, right? I properly got permission from Redra, you know?"

"At least you didn't do it without asking."

Then again, if she hadn't gotten permission, they probably would have said something by now.

"… And why is Feni the only monster?"

"Because this floor is for Feni. And once I save up more DP, I'll make another floor and summon a dragon!"

Apparently Rokuko's dungeon was going to be for her pets… Is that really okay?

Just then, Ittetsu contacted me saying he wanted to talk. I had a bad feeling about this, but it's not like I could refuse. Damn.

"Alright Rokuko. Are you ready to bow your head in apology?"

"I'll dogeza! But you better prepare a futon for it!"

This girl is hopeless. I need to do something about her, quick.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"Oi, Kehmaaaa?! What's the meaning of this?!"

The moment we met, the salamander Ittetsu practically roared "Gaaaa!" at me.

His reptilian face was glaring daggers at me.

"I think I know what you want to say, but let me ask anyway… What do you mean?"

"You sending God's Vanguard into my dungeon, does that mean it's a declaration of war?! That's what I'm askin'!"

"It was an accident. Sorry."

"What, just an accident? Then that's fine."

Is it really? Oi.

"I know I shouldn't be the one to say this, but… are you sure that's okay?"

"Hah? Yeah, it's fine. The God's Vanguard is heading toward the exit as we speak."

The hero himself thought he was pushing deeper, but he was actually heading toward [Flame Cavern]'s entrance, which served as the exit. Ittetsu planned to let him bypass the boss room and go straight outside.

"Kehma and Number 112 are so narrow-minded. Right, Redra?"

"No, Rokuko! Even for me, going all out against God's Vanguard would be dangerous, you know?!"

Meanwhile, Rokuko and the Red Dragon Redra (in human form) were sitting together amicably in seiza on the stone floor. Or rather, I made them sit that way.

"Kehma? Why'd you think to go and connect to my dungeon?"

"Ask Rokuko. More to the point, how could you give permission for this, Ittetsu?"

"That was Redra acting on her own… We're comrades in suffering, aren't we?"

… My case was because I left things to Rokuko, but Ittetsu couldn't defy Redra since she was his Master. Thinking about it that way, Ittetsu probably has it harder.

With a dungeon that has fifty-one floors, it seems his Dungeon Master secretly renovated part of it, and he only found out when the hero invaded.

"Rokuko came to me asking if we could connect the dungeons!"

"It's more convenient for Feni to go play that way, right? And I get to hang out with Redra too."

"… More importantly, when did you and Redra get so close, Rokuko?"

"While Kehma was sleeping, obviously."

"Rokuko and Feni come to play a lot! Adventurers rarely make it to the bottom floor, so I get bored!"

Well, it is a fifty-one floor dungeon after all… If I made ours that deep, maybe I could sleep in peace for the rest of my life. Though I already sleep plenty as it is.

"Also, Kehma! Pay more attention to Rokuko! Learn from my husband!"

"Yeah, yeah! … Wait, Redra?! That makes it sound like I'm Kehma's w-w-wife!"

No comment for now.

"So, what do we do?"

"Ah, how about we just seal the door?"

"Hm? It's fine to leave it as is, isn't it? It's camouflaged as rock face on our side, so only people from your side will come through."

Hm? So that means adventurers who come in from our side will just exit through there?

"In other words, we'll deal with whoever wanders in from your dungeon. Be grateful, yeah?"

"Hahaha, that just means we'd be sending our customers your way. We'll camouflage our side too, and only send through troublemakers like that God's Vanguard we can't handle. Thanks for that! More God's Vanguards might come your way though!"

After keeping each other in check, we decided to keep the door connected for now while camouflaging it on both sides.

And we agreed to handle Rokuko's and Redra's punishments on our own.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The hero Wataru looked around restlessly.

"… … Light…? Huh, the exit? Wait, what?"

He walked out of the dungeon and surveyed his surroundings.

Apparently, he was on the summit of Tsuia Mountain. He could see the town of Tsuia in the distance, and closer by, the inn in front of [Cave of Desires], [Dancing Doll's Pavilion]. There was a forest between them, but it was downhill, and with a hero's leg strength, he could run through and get back quickly.

"Doesn't seem like an illusion. This really is outside… What's going on here? Is there another entrance?"

He decided to head back and report to the guild first… and started down the mountain toward the inn. Once he knew the direction, sliding down the mountainside was quick work.

Passing through the forest, he returned to the area in front of [Cave of Desires] from above.

Right then, Gozoh was drinking at Kantra's smithy. "Drinking again, huh," Wataru thought with some exasperation, while also planning to join him later.

"Hm? Isn't that Wataru? Thought you went into the dungeon. Why're you coming from the mountain?"

"Ah, Gozoh-san. There was an entrance over there… on the summit."

"The summit? … I'm only telling you because you're S-Rank, but that's definitely a dungeon called [Flame Cavern]."

"[Flame Cavern]? Is it different from [Cave of Desires]?"

"Should be a different dungeon, but… well, there's a lot we don't know about dungeons. Guess these things happen. Pretty unusual though."

"So it's not without precedent?"

"Yeah, dungeons that are close together can sometimes connect. A famous example would be [White Labyrinth] in the Imperial Capital, which partially connects to the nearby [White Cave]."

Hearing this from Gozoh, Wataru accepted it with an "I see, so that kind of thing happens."

"How far did you get?"

"Ah, past the unexplored area. Not sure where [Flame Cavern] started though…"

"Ooh, that's impressive! As expected of S-Rank! … Find any sake?"

"Unfortunately not. Ah, but I did get magic swords."

"Oh, I'm jealous."

"Come to think of it, Kantra-san said he was researching magic swords. Want one? I got twenty."

"Twenty?! That's way too many! Oi, Kantra! Wataru says he'll give you a magic sword! We're drinking to thank him today!"

Oh, I get to drink again today! Wataru's throat gulped in anticipation.