Rescue

Receptionist-san headed outside to set up the tent that would serve as a temporary branch office.

I released the command authority over Rokuko and prepared to dive into the dungeon. Though naturally, this was all just for show.

After all, I have the map. And more importantly, I'm the Dungeon Master.

"So, are you going to rescue them?"

"Yeah. Otherwise I won't be able to come and go from the dungeon freely. Besides, it's better to have small fry showing up first…"

We don't have enough combat strength yet. If strong adventurers suddenly showed up, we'd be wiped out. The boss golem? I'll build it little by little. A super armored haniwa.

Anyway, Uzoh and Muzoh still seem fine, so for now I'll keep pretending to explore while actually napping, or maybe work on the super armored haniwa.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

It's now been ten days since I trapped Uzoh and Muzoh. They've started moving less and less, so it's about time to let them out. They're weakened, and the DP we're getting from them has dropped a bit because of it.

I headed to the dungeon with Ichika.

They must be starving, so I brought some white bread as a gift.

It's my own dungeon, naturally, so we reached the test room without any trouble.

"… Hey, we're here to rescue you! Anyone there?"

"Ugh… what…? R-Rescue…?! W-We're here, we're in here! There's two of us, we're still alive, please help us!"

Muzoh's desperate voice came from beyond the needle trap.

Well, I already knew they were there from the map. And I knew they were still alive since I could monitor them.

"Hey, Ichika… how do you think we should open this?"

"… Couldn't we just break it?"

Yeah, the needles are packed in tight, but it'd be weird if they just swooshed open the moment I arrived.

"Alright, let's blast it open with magic… Okay, I'm opening it now! Get away from the entrance!"

"G-Got it, we're moving back, hold on… … We've moved, go ahead!"

I called out into the room and checked the map to confirm both of them had moved away. Then I recalled the [Fireball] I'd learned from a scroll before.

… The chant is "Flame, become a ball and pierce my enemy." … Aaand now, the language cheat!

"Flame, become five consecutive balls and pierce my enemy—[Fireball]."

I just casually said five, but five fireballs actually appeared and flew toward the needle trap.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The fireballs burst in rapid succession… Yeah, that's not enough to break iron needles. I mean, I'm the one who did it, but it actually worked. If my mana allows, maybe I could fire a hundred or even a thousand?

… Looks like I can still fire more. Let me try something a bit different.

"Flame, blaze up and… um… just explode for now, [Fireball]."

A ball of fire appeared with a soft fwoom and slowly drifted toward the trap.

Oh no. That really vague chant ate through my mana massively. It dropped so much I'm getting chills.

"Goshujin-sama, that looks dangerous. Maybe we should back up a bit?"

"Y-Yeah."

Ichika pulled me back a ways, and we waited for the fireball to hit the needle trap.

KABOOM! The moment it collided, a fairly loud explosion and white light erupted.

But the needle trap was still intact.

… A-Alright, it didn't break! As expected of the needle trap. What happened to it being dangerous… Actually, trying to do something about a lump of iron with fireballs was the real problem here. Damn, I really thought that last one would work.

"… Can't be helped. I'll just directly tamper with the trap to make it breakable."

Should've done this from the start. I cast [Create Golem] on the needle trap and created fractures to make it fragile… Perhaps because it's a trap in my own dungeon, my mana was already permeating it before I even consciously willed it. It reshaped easily.

… But I'm already tired from that [Fireball] earlier. I'll leave the flashy destruction to Ichika.

"Ichika, I've weakened it. Go wild."

"Nn, got it. Leave it to me～"

Ichika stood before the needle trap and readied her golem knife… By the way, this is a prototype Golem Blade with a three-layer structure: a core golem surrounded by a shock-absorbing water golem, then an iron exterior shaped into a sword. This should improve its impact and magic resistance (I think). If it works, I'll call it the second generation.

"… Slash! … ish."

Ichika attacked the needle wall with a wide but swift motion mimicking [Slash], blasting the needles away.

The broken needles were driven inward, clanging and crashing with a spectacular racket.

… Uzoh and Muzoh didn't get hit by any of those, did they? They're okay, right?

Slash-ish. Normally, [Slash] has skill-based assistance backing it, but she recreated it using the maid outfit golem's assist instead. Since it's not actually a skill, the power itself is considerably lower… Apparently you can learn skills even without scrolls, so this also doubles as an experiment to see if practicing a fake slash might lead to learning the real [Slash].

"W-We're saved… Hey, Uzoh, we made it!"

"Yeah…"

Good, they're wobbly but standing on their own feet.

Ichika and I entered the test room. Then I quietly started restoring the needle trap.

"H-Hey! Wait! Don't come in!"

"Hm? What's wrong… oh."

The needle trap revived behind Ichika and me, snapping shut like a beast's fangs.

Muzoh stared at it with a look of despair.

"Ah, aah… damn it, why…"

"Hey now, this is a 'Safety Zone,' right? Why are you panicking so much?"

"That trap wouldn't break even when we used a magic sword on it. The sword got ruined instead… I think it has some kind of insane resistance to attacks from the inside…"

I knew both the facts and the behind-the-scenes truth, but I pretended to be surprised and not know any of it.

"Whoa, hold on. What happened to the magic sword?"

"… Uzoh."

"Here. It cracked."

I took the magic sword and examined it… Yep, completely broken. This isn't a golem anymore, just a "broken iron sword." Honestly, it's impressive they managed to break even one needle trap with this.

"… This won't work. Can't be helped, I'll use my magic sword… Ichika, give them the bread we brought."

"Ye～s, Goshujin-sama… drool. Here you go?"

Ichika pulled out the bread, tore off a piece, and held out just one bite.

I'll let you eat plenty later, so give them all of it for now!

"… Th-Thank you. Oh, so you go by Ichika now, huh… H-Hey, Uzoh. This is white bread. It's that bread from the inn!"

"… An angel."

While Ichika handed out the bread, I approached the pedestal and first inserted the broken golem blade.

… Yeah, no reaction. At least with the current settings, the pedestal doesn't recognize this as a golem blade.

Secretly pleased at obtaining valuable data, I next inserted the Golem Blade I'd brought into the pedestal. The needle trap made a sharp metallic clank and retracted cleanly.

"… Huh? Wh-What did you do?"

"It seems like this room has a mechanism where you can't leave unless a magic sword is inserted in the pedestal… And since the broken magic sword didn't work, I had to use the one I brought."

"A magic sword?! I-I see, so that was the trick… damn it…"

Muzoh was seriously depressed. I had actually planned to let them out even with the broken magic sword if they'd just reinserted it, but things had come this far, so let's run with it. And now, a devilish parting line.

"You're going to reimburse me, right? One magic sword."

… Yes, everything up to this point has been building toward this one line. The reward is negotiated with the parties involved. That's how rescue requests work. So my strategy was "You made me use my magic sword, so pay up."

How's that for terrifying…! Tremble before your future life of debt!

"… Yeah, sorry about that. Making you use your precious magic sword…"

"Absolutely. We're grateful you helped us even at the cost of losing your magic sword."

H-Huh? They agreed way more easily than I expected.

"You do realize it's a magic sword? Those are pretty expensive, you know?"

"… It might take some time, but I'll definitely pay you back. Would repaying through the guild work?"

"I-I'd prefer a new magic sword if possible…"

"Understood. Two years… no, we'll manage it in one. This experience has shaken our confidence a lot, but we're still C-Rank adventurers. We'll figure it out."

These guys are way too straightforward.

"… Oh, how much should we pay for the rescue fee? If possible, we'd like to keep at least enough money to gear up for taking on new requests."

Eh, they're even going to pay on top of that? How delicious… But I've already demanded a magic sword, so asking for too much more would be cruel. Alright, I'll start high and lower it based on their reaction.

"Uh, well, let's see… t-two gold coins, maybe?"

"…! That's…!"

Ah, sorry. One gold coin per person really is too much, huh? Alright, I have room to come down! But I'll squeeze out as much as I can, so bring it on!

"That little?! What a relief!"

"Yeah, between Muzoh and me that's four gold coins. We'll pay you when we get back to Tsuia."

… Ehhhhh?