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We went down one level. We were a party of three, but Oken was a non-combatant. I couldn’t ask the old man to fight.
“Oken-san, you used a gun, but where were you born?”
“Ha… the sky is blue.”
I couldn’t see the sky. What else could I see but a dark brown bedrock?
“I thought you were born in a land ruled by dwarves.”
“I’m getting hungry. Do you have anything for me?”
I offered him a loaf of bread I found in the dungeon. I didn’t know how long he hadn’t eaten, but I didn’t want him to suffer from hunger. Because I don’t think I can carry him in battle.
Oken chewed the bread and swallowed it slowly. There were still a few pieces of bread in the item box. I wanted to pick up other items as well, so it was important to consume them in moderation.
“Speaking of guns…… are you ex-military? Or were you an engineer?”
“They called me the Great Engineer. I had a lot of apprentices. Oh, the good old days……. I want to go home.”
“That’s great. Shall we discuss our future plans when we leave here?”
I could have a conversation with Oken on very rare occasions. Basically, he was extremely vague, but if you kept asking him questions patiently, he would respond. The sanity he sometimes showed made him seem more genuine, but he didn’t say it out loud. It would be rude and I didn’t want him to get angry.
“Stay behind me, please. Oken-san doesn’t know what will happen to you if you die.”
“I need a hammer and a blast furnace.”
“Yes, I know. Those might be in the mine.”
I was wary of my surroundings as we spoke. I wouldn’t want to get stoned by Stone Throwing Orcs and have my brain plasma splattered all over the place. I also wouldn’t like to be melted by a slime. What could I say? This dungeon was filled with things I didn’t like.
I somehow sensed the smell of death, so I searched through the item box. I felt that my survival rate would increase if I checked the items I had, and kept thinking about my next move as I searched.
“Confusion Potion. I wonder if it’s useful for anything. “
“What’s the potion for?”
Sareha asked me. Confusion Potion was, as the name suggested, a potion of confusion. If one drank it, they would become confused and their thoughts would become vague.
“This is a potion that you get confused when you drink it. No…… it’s too hard to explain. It’s just like that. It’s a potion for monsters to drink. Don’t drink it by mistake.”
“It’s not that easy to use. Even if I threw it at a monster during a fight, I’d probably miss it.”
“Hmmm …… so it’s a trash item when I think about it. Maybe I should throw it away.”
I shook the potion bottle as I spoke, and the slightly sticky liquid swung from side to side inside the bottle. I brought it up to my eye level and stared at it. I asked in my heart if it were useless, but got no reply.
“No, how about we mix it with bread and let the monsters eat it?”
“Ahh…… nii-sama…….”
“Wh-what? I didn’t mean to say anything so foolish.”
“That’s my anii-sama……. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Sareha always praised me for everything. One day, he might even praise me for using a spoon to drink soup.
I am worried that if Sareha were to become a father in the future. Children need not only praise but also scolding. I’ve never seen Sareha get angry or scold anyone.
“…… Let’s mix it with the bread.”
I opened the jar and mixed it with the bread. The bread was now a little moist, and I placed it in an open space. After that, we hid in a blind spot and just waited for the monster.
After a while, the monster began to creep towards it. It didn’t seem to notice us, and it was smelling and poking at the bread with Confusion Potion – Confusion Bread with its nose.
“Another petite dragon…….”
The Fire Petit Dragon – Fire Petit Dragon was a powerful enemy that breathes fire breath. You could win by fighting it head on, but it was a nuisance if you got caught in the breath.
The Fire Petite Dragon looked troubled for a while, but then it ate the Confusion Bread and swallowed it in one gulp.
“Gugya! ? Gugyagyagigyaa!?”
“Okay! It’s confused!”
The Fire Petite Dragon staggered and slammed its body against the wall. Some of its scales were peeled off, but it didn’t seem concerned.
“Nii-sama, shall we go?”
“No, wait! There’s a spider!”
A spider as big as a human head approached it. It seemed to be surprised to see the Fire Petite Dragon, but the monsters immediately started fighting each other. First, the Fire Petite Dragon tried to bite the spider, but the spider was quick enough to avoid it.
It was nice to know that the number of spiders would be reduced by fighting with the other monster. As I watched the battle, the fire petite dragon won, perhaps because of its race. With its magnificent jaws, it begins to chew the carcass of a spider. It was an eerie sight, but it was also full of opportunities.
“We’ll take it down soon… No, wait!”
When it finished chewing, the monster’s body began to swell. As if forced to shed its skin, a new monster emerges through the skin of the scales. It was huge, almost reaching the ceiling of the tunnel. Its body was covered with sturdy scales. Each of its fangs was bigger than my head.
“Fu… are you serious now. That is a real dragon …”
Not a young dragon, but an adult dragon. It was a symbol of power and fear, the pinnacle of the ecosystem, said to be able to destroy a city with just one dragon. And now it was right in front of us.
The dragon breathed out. The warm air almost pressured me. There was only one thing I could understand. I would never win.
“Oh, you’ve evolved. That’s impressive.”
“What are you talking about now!? It’s looking at us!”
It was said that dragons had keen senses. So it was no surprise that it noticed us and approached us. Every time it took a step on the ground, the tunnel would shake. My brain wobbled, and I couldn’t tell if I was in reality or in a dream.
“!!! Let’s run awaaaayy!!”
I ran as fast as I could with Sareha and Oken in my arms. In this dungeon, you could go to the next level, but you couldn’t go back to the previous level. The goal was to get to the next level. There was no other way but forward.
“Aaah! You’ve got to be kidding me!”
A dull sound like an explosion reverberated behind us. It must be the dragon chasing us, breaking down the wall. But I didn’t have time to look back, I just ran.
Both of my hands were full, so I didn’t have time to search the item box. In the first place, I didn’t have any items that could kill a dragon.
“Aer (Chant), Stone (Stone), Wall (Wall)!”
Sareha created a stone wall, but it was immediately smashed by the dragon’s charge. The stone blasts hit my back, but I didn’t even have time to feel pain.
The distance between us was getting closer.
I felt the dragon’s foul-smelling breath against my neck.
No, it might actually be hitting me.
“I can’t do it anymore! Both of you, run!”
I tossed them forward and then turned to the dragon. I took out the Scroll of Favor from the item box and read it. This was a scroll that would produce good effects at random. I had no choice but to leave it to luck.
“Please! Slay the dragon for me!”
The scroll burned with a strong light. The dragon flinched and came to an abrupt halt on the spot. I thanked the gods that my death has been extended by one second, but my heart did not stop beating.
“Please!”
—- But then the effect manifested itself with a divine light. In the narrow tunnel, the scroll burned up as if it had done its job.
“Aah! Are you kidding me!!!”
—- Three pieces of bread fell from the air. It was the bread to be eaten. No, there was no such thing as inedible bread.
It was true that there were only a few loaves of bread left. But what would happen if they were served at this time? It certainly did have a positive effect. As long as the dragon is not in front of me that is.
The dragon dexterously took the bread in its mouth and swallowed it. Its eyes fluttered with satisfaction, and it glared at me hatefully.
A roar erupted. Something swung at me faster than I could perceive, but I couldn’t follow it.
I prepared myself and tried to raise my flail, but for some reason my arm wouldn’t go up. No, it wasn’t that I couldn’t raise it, it was that my arm was gone.
“No… way…. was that…. an attack…?”
Blood spurted from one section. I looked at the dragon and saw that its claws were stained red. That was my blood. And that was my arm stuck to the wall.
The dragon approached me, drooling. I heard Sareha’s scream, but my body was too terrified to move.
The dragon’s fangs were closing in on me.
I felt a warm sensation and was immediately hit by a severe pain.
I was being chewed.
“Guuuuuuhh! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!”
Slowly, I was being eaten.
Its fangs scraped away my flesh.
Bones were being chewed up.
My consciousness became distant.
It’s been a long time since I died.
That was all I could think about in my foggy head.