Investigation Quest: Hell

We reluctantly left the inn behind.

… Ahh, I wanted to stay at least one more night.

The bath, the food, the bedding. Everything was top quality.

And all of that including meals for just one silver and fifty copper? Way too cheap!

Ahh, forget it. Once we finish the quest, I'll stay another night before heading back, and then after we report in, I'll come back for yet another stay.

When we entered the dungeon, the very first room was riddled with pitfalls.

If not for Muzoh's skill, [Sense Danger], we would have fallen victim to the pitfalls immediately.

"Damn it all, I at least wanted to know her name… I'll get her to tell me when we come back for another night."

Muzoh seemed quite infatuated with the receptionist girl. Well, she was a beauty.

Something about her nagged at me, though… ah.

"Ah… Muzoh, it's a bit late for this, but… I know her name."

"What!? How!? When did you get on such good terms with her!?"

"That's Sorin…"

I recalled my bitter memories concerning Sorin.

… Ahh, that's right. She stripped me clean in a card game, didn't she…

She could hold her liquor frighteningly well, and her stomach was a bottomless pit. Just how many adventurers were fooled by her appearance and treated her until their wallets were empty?

On top of that, she had no skills to speak of, yet her combat ability ranked among the upper tier of C-Rank.

"Sorin…? Wait, you mean Sorin the [Demonic Gourmand]!? Th-that's her!?"

"I heard rumors that she'd fallen into slavery, but what's she doing in a place like this…"

"Eh, she's a slave? I didn't notice at all…"

She had a collar on, you know… It was pretty hard to spot with her outfit though, I'll admit.

Hmm, seeing how his attention wanders whenever women are involved, I have to wonder if he's really reliable as a scout.

… Well, today is specifically a dungeon investigation, and he's excellent when it doesn't involve women… probably.

"Still, nothing but goblins showing up, huh. What do you think, Uzoh?"

"It was a goblin-only dungeon to begin with, so that's probably just how it is… More importantly, there are a lot of traps, and they're seriously lethal."

"Those pitfalls with needle beds at the bottom, yeah. That was close."

"Seriously, stay sharp!"

While collecting the right ears of the goblins we killed, we pushed forward quickly.

Oh, there's a chest.

"Muzoh, there's a chest here. Let's open it."

"No traps… Good, good, treasure-cha～n… Oh, it's a mana potion!"

"Nice, that's worth at least a silver coin."

And so we continued making our way forward. Muzoh's [Little Heal] had to be used repeatedly, so this dungeon might be a bit too much for ordinary adventurers.

Then we found some stairs.

"If I recall, the story was that someone got a magic sword past this point, right Uzoh?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, Muzoh… Stay on your guard."

Golems were spawning on the second floor.

But they weren't much of a threat to us.

"—[Slash]!"

My iron sword cleaved a clay golem's body clean in two.

At this level, I could defeat them without even bothering to target the magic stone. There are three main ways to defeat golems.

The first is to destroy its magic stone.

The magic stone is the heart of a golem. It's somewhere on its body, though sometimes it's inside. Destroying it will stop the golem.

The second is to attack with offensive magic skills. Golems are essentially dolls that move through magical power, so they're very weak to offensive magic that disrupts that power. Well, we don't have any means of magical attack though.

And the third is to deal enough damage to significantly alter its original form.

Technically, it's about dispersing the magical power dwelling within the golem… but it amounts to the same thing, more or less. If you land attacks that exceed the golem's defenses several times, there comes a moment when it suddenly weakens. Strike at that opening, and—

"One down."

The golem I bisected crumbled and returned to dirt.

Muzoh collected the intact magic stone from the remains.

"Nice work, Uzoh. Thanks to you, we can get magic stones. Pretty profitable."

We could collect magic stones from golems that had them on the surface, but we ignored the ones with stones inside since it would take too much time.

We didn't have much leeway with just the two of us anyway.

Then, while exploring the labyrinth, we discovered a small room.

"Hm? What's this. The passage here looks different from the others… ah, a [Safety Zone]."

"Oh, nice. We can rest a bit. —Hey, there's a sword! A sword! Muzoh!"

"It's stuck in a pedestal. Let me check for traps before we approach."

Muzoh kept watch on our surroundings as we entered the room.

Even if it's called a [Safety Zone], that doesn't mean there can't be traps. It just means monsters won't come in.

… And so, we approached the pedestal.

"Hm? Did you hear something from the passage just now? Muzoh."

"Hmm, I don't know. Want me to go check?"

"Going back carelessly might be dangerous. Let's check out this sword first… Hey, there's a magic stone embedded in it! It's a magic sword!"

I shouted without thinking. The magic sword I'd always dreamed of, found on such a shallow floor!

"Heh, nice. Think I could use it too?"

"We found this one so quickly, there's bound to be another one. That one will be yours, Muzoh."

"I don't see any traps. Should be fine to pull it out… hm? Wait! Don't pull it out!"

"Eh?"

It seemed Muzoh's [Sense Danger] had detected a trap. But it was too late. I couldn't contain my excitement and had already pulled out the sword.

Clang! The sound of hard objects grinding against each other came from the passage we'd entered through.

… I looked, and the passage was completely blocked by needles thicker than a sword.

They looked like the fangs of a beast clamping its mouth shut.

"Hey, this is…"

"… Sorry, my reaction was delayed because the trap wasn't directly targeting our lives…"

We're trapped…!?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

How many hours have passed?

Muzoh said, "This trap itself doesn't feel dangerous… It'll probably retract on its own with time," and I agreed. Since this room was a [Safety Zone], we decided to rest here.

Actually, I'm in quite high spirits having obtained this magic sword.

Despite supposedly resting, time slipped away as I practiced swings with the magic sword.

… Hehehe, this marks the beginning of Uzoh the Magic Swordsman's rise to greatness!

"Honestly, you let your guard down way too much just because we were in a [Safety Zone] and I didn't find any traps, Uzoh."

"But it's a magic sword, a magic sword! The iron sword I've been using wasn't bad by any means, but look, I tried it on that wooden dummy over there and the sharpness is incredible!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever… Hey, let me borrow it for a bit. I want to see for myself how good it is."

"Sure, there's still another dummy left."

I handed the magic sword to Muzoh.

"Heh, this is amazing. It cuts so smoothly when you channel magical power into it. As expected of a magic sword."

"Right!? Finding a magic sword this good on such a shallow floor, we really are lucky."

"Even though we're trapped right now."

"… Don't bring that up…"

We laughed together, trading quips.

We were able to pass the time in good spirits like this… until the second day.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Day three of being trapped. I can produce water with [Water], but our food supply is running low.

"… What's going on? It still hasn't opened?"

"Yeah, well. I've been thinking we should try breaking out ourselves, but these needles… no good. They won't budge."

"What if pulling out the magic sword triggered it? Maybe there's a switch there?"

"I thought so too and tried putting my sword back in earlier, but it didn't work…"

"… Then should we try destroying them?"

"That's risky too. Can you cut these needles? They're iron."

"… What if I use [Slash] with the magic sword?"

"Don't blame me if it breaks."

I don't want that, but if it comes down to it, we'll have to try.

Muzoh and I continued investigating the room.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Day five of being trapped.

"It's hopeless… I can't find any way out, and we're almost out of food."

"Hey Muzoh, do you think anyone will come rescue us…?"

"… They probably think we're dead. Why else do you think they sent us? Huh…"

"Yeah, I guess…"

For example, if they sent C-Rank adventurers into a dungeon and they didn't return, they would assume it was too difficult for anyone below that rank.

In other words, this investigation included the possibility of us dying. Of course, we understood that when we accepted the quest.

"… Damn it, if I'd known it would turn out like this, I would've gotten the C-Rank meal for five silver coins too…"

"Hey, knock it off, idiot Uzoh! You're making me hungrier! Ahh, damn it, now I'm remembering that food… Damn it all! If I survive this, I'm getting the A-Rank meal even if I have to spend everything I have!"

"… Well, guess it's time to try. Let's see if I can destroy these needles with [Slash] using the magic sword… The sword is valuable, but not more than my life."

"You sure? The magic sword might break, you know?"

"You want me to just sit here and die? This isn't a joke…"

I readied the magic sword and channeled magical power into it.

Then, after building up plenty of power, I unleashed everything I had.

"… Haaaah, [Slash]!"

Grrrrind! Some of the needle was shaved away… I can do this. This can work!

"Uzoh! One more time!"

"Yeah! … [Slash]!!"

Grrrrrrrind! A high-pitched ringing of metal clashing against metal, and the needle was scraped down further. One more hit!

"Here I go… [Slash]!!!"

Grrrrrriiiiiing! After letting out what sounded like a death cry, there was a crack—the needle broke… I did it! I broke through!

"Uzoh! You did it!"

"Yeah—! …!"

However, I couldn't move any further.

… Beyond the destroyed needle wall, there was another. Another wall of needles, just like the first…

"I-it's okay, you broke through one. Just one more…"

"… Hey, wait. It's no good."

"What do you mean, Muzoh? Don't you want to get out?"

"Of course I do… But… The magic sword is at its limit. It can't be used anymore…"

Eh? I looked at the magic sword.

As the price of forcibly cutting through those iron needles, cracks had formed in the blade.

What the hell… It's a magic sword, isn't it? It shouldn't break from something like this…

"And look, the needle trap is regenerating… If you stay there any longer, you'll get skewered."

"Damn it…"

I reluctantly retreated.

Immediately after, the regenerated needle trap clanged back into place, sealing the passage once more.

Dungeon walls and traps regenerate over time.

This really was like being trapped inside a beast's maw. Even after sacrificing the magic sword, this is all we got…

In the end, today's only result was a cracked magic sword.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Day eight… I think. In this enclosed space without sunlight, my sense of time has become unreliable.

And our food had run out.

We'd originally planned for two or three days at most. If anything, it's impressive our food lasted this long.

… Meanwhile, the needle wall blockade continued.

There was nothing we could do.

We were both getting increasingly frustrated with each other.

"This is all because Uzoh went and pulled out the magic sword on his own… even though I told you not to."

"Muzoh said it was fine to pull it out, so I did. Suddenly changing your mind like that, you're the one in the wrong."

It wasn't just about this incident, either. All our accumulated grievances came pouring out. Your breath stinks, your snoring makes me want to strangle you… on and on, hurling insults at each other.

Even so, we didn't actually try to kill each other. That's probably because we're brothers bound by strong ties. If we'd been partied with someone else, it probably would have devolved into killing each other and fighting over food.

"… I'm getting tired of this. Let's stop here. Sorry for the insults, Muzoh."

"Huh? … Well, whatever, but what's gotten into you, Uzoh?"

"Doesn't it seem like the dungeon wants us to turn on each other? Just trapping us here and doing nothing?"

"… If that's the case, fighting any more is pointless. I was in the wrong too. Well, same as always."

"Yeah, this time the dungeon is entirely to blame. Agreed? Uzoh."

… I wonder if goblin ears are edible. No, they've probably rotted by now…

I slowly closed my eyes to conserve my energy.