Intruders

"Heh, so this is the dungeon [Ordinary Cave], huh…"

The male adventurer stepped foot into the empty cave.

His party members followed a few steps behind.

The party had three members in total. They were F-Rank adventurers who had come after accepting an investigation request from the guild.

"Oi, oi, be careful. It's still a dungeon, y'know. No telling what kind of traps there could be."

"Don't worry about it. Didn't the guild tell us? There's nothing special here. Just the Dungeon Core, that's all."

"Yeah, but still…"

Even though his timid companion tried to stop him, the man went right on in without a care.

The passage extended left and right. But looking either way, there was nothing… just the charred remains of a wooden door.

"Doesn't look like any of those bandit remnants are around either."

"As if the knights would've let any escape. Still, sounds like there were about twenty of them."

"Whoa… well, the previous guys sure had rotten luck."

"Oops, dead end this way. What about the other side?"

"Looks like there's another room a bit further. Let's check it out."

The adventurers proceeded deeper without incident. That was to be expected. This cave had neither traps nor monsters.

… Well, there was just the one spot where around five to ten goblins would emerge from the Dungeon Core.

As for the request itself, it was easy money: just report how many goblins appeared and earn a silver coin.

It would technically count as goblin subjugation. But goblins? A single F-Rank adventurer could easily handle five of them. With three people, even ten would be no problem.

And so, they reached the innermost room where the Dungeon Core sat.

Five goblins emerged from the Dungeon Core.

Knowing they were coming made it trivial. A couple of careless sword swings and it was over.

"One, two, three… five. Alright."

"Request complete. Hm? What's up?"

One of the adventurers was staring intently at the Dungeon Core.

"Hey, this thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't we break this Dungeon Core?"

"Huh?! What are you talking about? The guild told us not to do that!"

"But y'know, they say if you destroy a Dungeon Core, you get enough power for a knight to become a Holy Knight. If we destroy it, couldn't we instantly become strong enough to reach A-Rank?"

"A-Rank…"

He gulped.

A-Rank. That was unmistakably the title of a successful adventurer.

Even if you became an adventurer dreaming of striking it rich, most ended up stuck between F-Rank and E-Rank. Maybe becoming part-time adventurers at best.

You were finally recognized as a full-fledged adventurer living the adventurer life at D-Rank, and C-Rank made you a veteran. B-Ranks commanded respect even among those veterans, earning gold coins per request as standard. And A-Ranks? They were the success stories whose names echoed across the world.

Above that, there was supposedly the inhuman realm of S-Rank. They say a single S-Rank could change the world, but that was surely beyond their concern.

"But look, say we just report that nothing happened, right? Then the next guys come along and say the core's gone. Wouldn't we get caught and have our Guild Cards confiscated?"

"Then we just say the core wasn't here when we arrived. That way, the suspicious ones would be whoever came before us. And who was that? The bandits or the knights. The guild can't really say anything to them, can they? The bandits are already gone, and the knights aren't adventurers."

"… You're a genius."

In reality, a magic tool that detects lies would expose them immediately, but unfortunately, these three had no idea such things existed.

With that decided, things moved quickly. Drawing his sword, he thrust it at the Dungeon Core.

The sword was deflected once, twice, but damage was steadily accumulating.

The Dungeon Core did nothing at all, as if it had been commanded to "do nothing."

And then, finally, the sword plunged deep into it… and with a crystalline crack, it shattered.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

"—?!"

I bolted upright.

… I was drenched in a cold, unpleasant sweat.

… What a terrible dream. A dream where the Dungeon Core was destroyed.

Falling into the hands of some dim-witted adventurers, the Dungeon Core had been shattered.

… Ugh, having nightmares like this is what I get for sleeping outdoors.

Since we hadn't made proper preparations, I'd eaten what little food and water remained in our supplies, ordered the Cloth Golem to intercept any enemies, and slept on the cold ground. That was a mistake.

Niku and I had been sprinting at full speed to return to the [Ordinary Cave], but the sun had completely set along the way, so we'd decided to camp out.

With the map and the Cloth Golem, we wouldn't get lost, but trying to move through the forest without being able to see meant branches and whatnot kept smacking me in the face. It was awful, so I'd given up on traveling further.

The Cloth Golem… come to think of it, how does it even see things? Can it even see in the first place?

Still, the dream had given me a lot to think about.

Someone who became an adventurer for their own desires, destroying a Dungeon Core for those same desires… that kind of story could happen anywhere.

Now that I thought about it, even without destroying the [Ordinary Cave]'s Dungeon Core on a request, someone could just show up on a different day, destroy the core for personal reasons with no connection to any quest, then skip town and continue being an adventurer elsewhere.

… Right. In other words, I'd just been lucky until now.

There was no guarantee that someone wouldn't just wander into the [Ordinary Cave] and destroy the Dungeon Core on a whim.

That nightmare was a future that could happen anytime as long as the dungeon remained in its current state.

No, without even that request as an excuse, it wouldn't be strange if it happened right now.

"… Nn… Papa… nyum… more…"

When I looked to the side, Niku had clung to me in her sleep.

… I felt bad waking her from what seemed like such a happy dream, but it couldn't be helped.

Though it was still quite early, there was enough light to see reasonably well.

I cast [Purify] on my sticky, sweat-covered body, woke Niku up, and resumed our journey toward the [Ordinary Cave].

… Guh… the muscle pain backlash is brutal!

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

By the time we arrived at the [Ordinary Cave], it was nearly noon.

It had taken longer than expected, but we'd finally reached our base.

… As I emerged from the forest and looked toward the cave, an impossible scene spread before me.

A white table and chairs, and gracefully enjoying tea there were Rokuko and… an unfamiliar ojou-sama with long white hair. Standing beside the ojou-sama holding a parasol was someone in a black butler's uniform with blonde hair… a man? No, a beautiful woman in men's clothing?

"Ah, Kehma! Welcome back, that was quick!"

"… What are you doing?"

"Eh, can't you tell just by looking? It's a lady's refined tea time."

Rokuko answered proudly, puffing out her nice and flat chest.

That's not what I meant. I was asking why you were doing something like this.

"Number 89 Ane-sama came to visit!"

"Heh, eighty-nine… Number 89? Wait, a Dungeon Core?!"

I took another look at the white-clad ojou-sama sitting in her chair.

"Hellooo, nice to meet you… Kehma-san, was it?"

The white ojou-sama waved her hand elegantly.

Honestly, she was incredibly my type, but for some reason, I felt a chill run down my spine.