Rin's Parting Gift

Spring had arrived.

The snow had melted, and a faint warmth filled the air.

They say spring is a season of encounters and partings, and here at [Cave of Desires], there was one such parting.

"You're leaving, Rin?"

"Yeah. Thanks for, everything. Kehma."

The black wolf who had promised to leave once spring came — the mysterious black slime (wolf type), Rin — was departing the dungeon now that winter had ended.

I'd considered tricking it with something like "It's still winter, you know?" to make it stay, but that would be dangerous if it found out, and I wasn't keen on keeping a bomb in the dungeon anyway.

"Oh, right. I made this. Here."

"Hm? What's this?"

Rin tossed me an orb. I caught it with my messenger golem's hand.

It was a black orb about the size of a baseball, so dark it seemed to absorb light. What the heck is this?

"It's a Gravity Bomb. If you throw it, most enemies, will explode and die."

"Hey, don't just toss something like that at me. I could've been the one to die."

"Kukuku, surprised, are you? It's fine, I set, a keyword. Hold it in, your hand, say the keyword, then throw it. The keyword, is 'Black Plate'."

So it has a safety mechanism like that… In the end, I never did figure out what this guy really was.

"Black… wait, it'd be bad if I said it now, right?"

"Kukuku! You didn't fall, for it! As expected, Kehma is, smart."

"Hahaha. Can you give me another one? I want to test if they actually work. Against the boss."

"Sure, I'll give you, a few. They're handmade, so there's a limit on how many… Also, they don't work, on me, you know?"

Saying that, Rin dropped five black orbs from within its black fur and rolled them over with its foreleg. Are you some kind of powder keg? Well, your very existence is basically a bomb.

"That's all I have. Use them well. Later, then."

"Yeah… will you come again? Next year or something?"

"Don't know, but until then, don't die, yeah? … Oh, Kehma won't die, so that's fine? Whatever. Later."

Laughing "kukuku," Rin left the cave.

That day, Rin, who brazenly walked out of the cave in broad daylight, was clearly spotted by adventurers carrying white plates as charms. Apparently it crunched on some white plates as a snack on its way out.

"… It's gone."

"Ahh, it feels like I just put down a heavy load."

I let out a big sigh.

So having that walking disaster called Rin in the dungeon had been stressing me out after all. Right now, it feels like a piece of food that had been stuck between my teeth finally came loose — a subtle but satisfying relief.

With Rin gone, our dungeon's DP income would drop, but that's just how it is. It provided quite a lot of earnings over the winter, so it should be fine.

It gave me these Gravity Bombs, which seem useful but dangerous… I wonder how powerful they are. They wouldn't collapse the dungeon, would they? Figuring out where to store them is a real problem too.

… Also, while Rin was here, I was able to advance the development of the dungeon's depths.

After the warehouse area, I built the new puzzle area that had been in progress, and beyond that, an arena area.

The arena area is basically a mid-boss fight. A Haniwa Golem serves as the opponent there.

It's a bit lonely since there's no audience, though.

After the arena area is what you'd call a normal dungeon area. After a breather there, the next floor has the boss room, and beyond that is the innermost core room.

… By the way, the innermost core room has a double-layered structure, with a dummy core in the front and another dummy core in the hidden room behind it. Why did I bother making it like this? Because I couldn't decide where to put the real Dungeon Core.

Since skills like the Saintess's [Treaty] exist — ones that can seal a Dungeon Core in place — I want to put it somewhere as safe as possible.

On the other hand, just putting it in the deepest part isn't great either. Adventurers already have the image that Dungeon Core = deepest part.

So I thought about making a double-layered structure with a dummy core and the real core… but after building it, I realized someone might see through it, so I decided to put a dummy core there too.

The real Dungeon Core is now hidden in the arena area's ceiling lights. Hide a glowing orb among light magic tools, as they say.

Well, this should be fine for now. If someone comes along who can clear the puzzle area, I'll need to respond immediately.

"Ah, that's right, Kehma. I'll be away from the dungeon for a bit, is that okay?"

"Away for a bit? You're going out… where to?"

Where would she even go?

Does she have business in Tsuia or Pavera?

"There's a Dungeon Core assembly."

… Come to think of it, she mentioned something like that before.

"Can't I come with you?"

"I've never seen anyone bring their Master along, so I don't think you can. I should be back in two or three days, so please watch over things. I couldn't go last year because of the bandits."

In other words, my job is the same as always.

"Got it. So when are you leaving?"

"Ah, today."

Rokuko's body began to glow faintly.

"Wait, that's—"

"Yeah. I'm off then… Though I'm not really looking forward to it."

For an instant, a magic circle appeared as if wrapping around Rokuko, and with a flash, she vanished.

… Tell me these things sooner, oi.