Secret Plan

Once we finished our lunch break, we entered [Flame Cavern].

Well, technically the area where we'd been resting was already part of [Flame Cavern]'s dungeon territory, same as it is with our village, so you could say we'd already been inside.

"Come to think of it, flame dragons are said to be the offspring of fire spirits and red dragons, did you know that? There was mention of it in some of the literature in the imperial capital's library."

"Heeeh, really? So that's why they're so specialized in the fire attribute. You could say a red dragon with a fire spirit's blessing is an unbeatable existence when it comes to fire, huh. Did you know that, Kehma?"

"… I've heard about it from an acquaintance before."

I walked behind Niku and Ichika, who were taking the lead. Gozoh and Roppu were following up the rear as though to protect me.

Although Wataru was in the center same as me, it was so that he could respond quickly to threats from either the front or rear. A completely different role from mine, which was basically to do nothing.

Gozoh and Niku would beat and cut down the Red Lizards, then Ichika and Roppu would do minimal butchering to keep the bulk down, and everything went into Wataru's [Storage].

Me? Well, I was just guiding everyone along the route Ittetsu told me about beforehand, leading them to Igni in the fifth floor's mid-boss room. In other words, I was the fox in the henhouse of this party. Hahaha, what perfect role distribution.

By the way, the correct path would have Red Lizards show up periodically, but if I took a wrong turn, Red Slimes would be sicced on us immediately. Physical attacks don't work on slimes, so Wataru would deal with them with some kind of whooshing attack. Heroes are amazing. Apparently it's a magic sword technique.

Eh, you'll teach me too? … Isn't that great, Niku? It's a great opportunity, so learn it.

"Phew, that was the third Red Slime."

"Sorry, let's head back a bit."

"Eh, again?"

"Red slimes aren't supposed to appear on the route I investigated. I specifically looked for paths that avoid them."

We headed back a bit. Was it a left turn a bit ago and not a right one?

Just then, Gozoh spoke up.

"By the way, we're relying on your secret plan this time, Kehma… don't you think it's about time you told us what it is?"

"Hmm, yeah…"

"We're betting our lives on a plan we can't even see the contents of. Put yourself in our shoes."

"With that being the case, I'm actually surprised you were willing to bet on it."

"Well, plan aside, I believe in you, Kehma."

Oh? This figurehead village chief seems to have some unexpected credibility.

"Alright, fine. My plan is — this."

"… Isn't that the red pepper paste you were going to make Ichika eat earlier? What's that got to do with anything?"

"I heard from a certain source that flame dragons love alcohol and spicy things."

As an aside, that certain source was the person herselfIgni, so it's definitely accurate.

I asked Ittetsu about it since she looked like a young girl when she humanized, but apparently there's no problem with it since she's a dragon.

"My [Storage] is stocked with alcohol I procured from the dungeon, plus plenty of this stuff, Kinue-san's special recipe. In short, I plan to bait it with its favorite things and settle things while it's distracted."

"I see… I like drinking alcohol too. Give me some."

"I've already arranged for the same stuff to be ready for a party when we head back. We're working right now, so hold out."

"Hyuu! We definitely can't mess up then. Right, Roppu, Wataru?"

"Defeating a dragon with alcohol is a battle fitting for Team Bacchus. That's cool, Village Chief Kehma."

"It's the Eight-Headed Serpent! I get it!"

Let's ignore Wataru's Japanese mythology reference.

With that, everyone was on board and we continued deeper inside. Soon, we arrived at the fifth floor's mid-boss room, our destination.

"Oh, there it is."

"It's eating a Red Minotaur… was that the original boss here?"

When we looked into the room, Igni was eating the Red Minotaur in her dragon form.

I'd wondered if it was alright for her to eat a mid-boss, but apparently the monsters on the upper floors are mostly Igni's snacks. What an expensive eater their daughter is. Talk about an Engel coefficient through the roof.

"Alright, I'll be off then. If I fail, Wataru, I'll entrust the rest to you."

"Leave it to me. I'll collect your bones. At worst, you can be resurrected if there's even a bone left!"

Eh, this world has resurrection magic?

"Oh, resurrection has a twenty-five percent success rate and costs ten thousand gold coins regardless of whether it works or not, but you're fine with me paying until it succeeds, right?"

"… If you're going to pay, Wataru."

Good. At least it's not something the average person can use.

… Ah, maybe it's all just a performance to gain followers for Haku-san. Like, there's a possibility she used Doppelganger500,000 DP for it.

If that's the case, dying would still mean I can't actually come back. They could just chalk up any memory loss or personality changes to "resurrection aftereffects" and no one would question it.

"Guh… but I would cover it if it's for you, Kehma-san! I'll pay the travel expenses to the Holy Kingdom too!"

And it's from the Church of the Light God? Uwaaah, smells like a scam.

Maybe the only confirmed case of successful resurrection is that Saintess.

"Well, either way, I'm off. Conveniently, it's a boss room, so just Kuro and I will head in. I'll call you guys in once my plan succeeds."

"Will you really be alright?"

"Well, even among my secrets, some things are top secret. I'd rather not show those if I can help it. I'll close the door behind us… oh right, if I die, Ichika's collar will let you know. At that point, whether you charge in or run away is up to you."

"… I never thought slave collars could be used like that."

Apparently a slave's collar can tell when the master dies and the slave is freed.

Not that I'm going to die though.

"Kehma-san, is that why you've kept these two as slaves?"

No, it's just so they won't talk about dungeon secrets.

"Hey, Goshujin-sama, Goshujin-sama, if you die, does that mean my dinner ban is lifted?"

"I'm not going to die though?"

"Just in case!"

"Alright, if things go well, I'll lightly squeeze Ichika's neck twice through the collar."

"Eh!? Lightly, right? Lightly, okay?"

"Wireless communication via slave collar…!? You could call it [Slave Collar Transmission], Kehma-san!"

What's with that doujinshi series-like title?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

At any rate, Niku and I entered the boss room and closed the door behind us.

… I can finally relax.

"Oh, you're here! I've been waiting. Hey, want some mino?"

"Oi, quiet down. There's a chance the hero's listening in."

"Oh, right. Sorry, sorry, I forgot."

Igni scratched her head. By the way, our conversation had been in draconic, so Niku just tilted her head in confusion… Well, regular human language would work too. If Wataru was eavesdropping it wouldn't matter either way, so I switched over. Speaking quietly should be fine.

"So, what happens next?"

"First off, the hero's right outside the room. I have to pretend to use my secret plan."

With that, I took out a barrel of alcohol and a barrel containing the red pepper paste from my [Storage].

"Here, a present."

"Alcohol and something spicy? You really did bring a present."

"By the way, you probably already know, but we're in the meeting's second situation."

"Hey, hey, can I drink this? Can I?"

"… I want to make sure we're on the same page first. You do remember what the second one is, right?"

"Ummm, umm… Extra people tagged along, but we managed to ditch them, right?"

Oh, so she does remember?

By the way, the first situation was me coming alone. The third was the case where the extras ended up coming in with me.

Number three would make the whole thing become a more and more complex farce that I'd have to adapt to on the fly — in other words, I'd need the super advanced technique of reading the room and improvising. I'd wanted to avoid that too. Thank goodness.

"Well, with that being the case, we have a bit more breathing room compared to option three. You can have a little if you want. We need the smell of alcohol around here anyway, enough to look natural."

"Really!? Yaaay! Love you, Uncle!"

"Who's your uncle? Aren't you older than me?"

"You're Papa's friend, so you're Uncle."

"… At least call me your big brother or something."

"Thank you, Big Brother～!"

After that, I just need to restrain Igni while she pretends to be drunk, call the others in, then have her rip free of the restraints and escape. If someone spots her fleeing from the mountain, the plan would be a complete success.

I felt a bit bad about making her cut her long-awaited homecoming short, but I was glad it looked like we could pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Hahaha.

"Uwaaah, what's this!? This is the first time I've ever had such delicious alcohol! And this is… spicy! What what what!? It's so spicy and tasty! Uwaaah, Red Mino goes down so easy with this!"

"… Hey? Don't overdo it, okay?"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I can hold my drink! Phaaah, this spicy stuff goes so well with mino meat! Big Brother, you want some too?"

"No, I'll pass."

 

… Hmm? Wait, why am I getting a horrible feeling about this?