/
「Welcome. Good work, with the business, I suppose.」
The ones opening the creaking door and showing up were Touma, with a face that looked as if his life was drained, and Shizuka, with a glossy and satisfied face.
The third floor of the fortress tower was used as a vault for supplies.
The second floor was used as the living area for the club members, and the first floor was used as a public area such as the living room and kitchen.
The concept of the interception base was based on the assumption of long-range bombardment magic as well as assault from large monsters.
The structure, put together from the constituent materials of an extreme class raid domain, boasted sturdiness enough to repel even 88mm anti-tank armor-piercing bullets.
Inside the vault, which was divided into several blocks, chairs and desks were arranged in an empty space.
「You guys sure never waver even in the dungeon, huh
.」
With his arms and legs crossed, Seiichi, sitting across from Rinko, was exasperated.
「My bad. I’m a bit late, huh.」
「No, you’re just on time, but
 Shizuka is
.」
「Don’t mind me. I’m Touma-san’s optional equipment.」
The clandestine three-way meeting, which avoided public eyes, wound up going awry from the get go.
「Well, if it’s Shizuka-chan, I suppose there won’t any problem, huh.」
「Well, that’s true, but
」
「Yes. No problem.」
Nodding her head, Shizuka sat down next to Touma with a nonchalant look on her face.
「It’s already time anyway, let’s start the secret meeting at once, I suppose. Just in case, what we are about to discuss is not to be said to anyone else. At the very least until we grasp the matter we are to clear up.」
The lantern on the desk made a faint sound as it flickered.
「Now then, here’s the materials of the raid quest provided by Black Honey as preliminary materials.」
◇
Assignment:
Achieve 80% mapping of the corresponding raid domain as well as list the monsters that inhabit it.
Name:
(Tentative) Howling Mine
Type:
(Tentative) Origin (Primitive) Flame
Class:
(Tentative) Advanced
Bosses and world core:
Unconfirmed
Map coverage rate:
40%
◇
「I also checked the raid threads on the academy net, but it was reputed to be a very normal, Root(Primitive)-type raid. It was discovered half a month ago. Right now, the gate seems to be on the seventh stratum. Root(Primitive)-type of intermediate or higher class seems to be rare, but Root(Primitive) is not popular to begin with, and it appears to have been left alone as is.」
「Well, unlike the『Royalty (Diadem)』 type, it will deteriorate and disappear on its own if left alone, after all. It is said that the Root(Primitive)-type, which is of low-risk, low-return, is suitable for beginners, but since it’s oddly advanced, on the contrary there is no need for it, so it has been left alone, I suppose.」
「I see.」
Touma nodded sagely, but he was thinking about the method to exterminate the battle tomatoes.
「The quest this time is for mapping the inside of the domain as well as monster investigation, right?」
Instead of such a Touma, Shizuka connected the conversation.
There were two attachments to the copied materials: floor plans and cross-sectional drawings.
The dungeon structure was of the type that expanded underground, so the floor plan for each stratum as well the complete map of the entire raid area had been depicted as cross-sectional drawings.
By exploring the terrain from the outside of the dungeon, i.e., from the safety area, one could grasp the overall map of the raid domain.
Based on that overall map, the coverage rate of the map was calculated.
Rinko floated an ambiguous smile at Shizuka’s point, but she turned over the sheet of paper stacked underneath the materials.
「Well, based on the academy’s request, that’s true, but you see
. I suppose we shouldn’t use that mapping alone as our rope.」
The cross-sectional map, attached with the provisional name of Howling Mine, looked like a cylindrical-shaped multi-floor building.
The place they were currently at that was deemed as the safety area was the rooftop part of the building.
The cross-sectional map depicting the ten-story building, next to it, a hand-drawn cross-sectional map that extended even deeper was lined up.
「This one is the drawing of the world map that I had had Natsumi-chan show me using her『Atlas』, I suppose. The internal stratums seem to repel clairvoyant. Even with my『Analysis』, I can’t properly see the components of the domain, you see. This is the first time I’ve stumbled upon such an unanalyzable (unknown) domain since『Zakurosan』 and『Onigashima』, I suppose.」
「That, they’re both extreme class (ultimate rank) raid quests, right
」
「Even if we leave the rank aside, such a thing is originally impossible, you see. For a Root(Primitive)-type raid domain to expand.」
*Thud, thud* Rinko, tapping her fingertips on the map drawing, turned to Touma.
「『Invasion (Barbaroi)』. I don’t know if such a message that Touma-kun saw is true, but I suppose there is a high possibility that it is not a Root(Primitive) type.」
「I see.」
Toumna, crossing his hands on the desk to cover his mouth, was thinking about tomorrow’s breakfast.
Shizuka, serving as an option for such a Touma who sat as nothing but a figurehead role, was joining in.
「Doesn’t the quest include such an investigation, too
.」
「Well, yeah. But it’s special. 『Invasion (Barbaroi)』 alone, that is. If the other raid quests are trials, then『Invasion (Barbaroi)』 is a war, I suppose.」
「The quests offered by the academy and the conditions for clearing the raid domains of the dungeon are different
 Something like that, huh.」
What echoed over from far away through the vent hole was a cry that relentlessly roared from the demon face cave.
It continued to spit out grudges, dark gifts, writhing aura and curses.
「Do you think the academy’s in the know as they offers the request?」
「They are, I suppose. To ask an A-rank club to investigate a mere advanced raid, I suppose that’s a bit too unnatural.」
「
 You’re right. There was also this strange response on the raid thread, you see. Saying that there were Lost Men.」
「I see.」
「The unreturning ones, huh? I wonder if it has anything to do with that?」
「By the way, 『who』 was that one who showed up over there?」
Seiichi, ignoring Touma who had turned into an I see air man, asked Shizuka.
「Of course, it was『me』. The other side seemed surprised that I was with him, though.」
「Was it because you two logged in while being glued to each other? Well, we all managed to log in without incident anyway, though, I don’t know the reason why it showed up only to me and Touma.」
「I don’t know what to say since it didn’t show up on us, but I wonder what would have happened if we had received its invitation
.」
Touma, beginning to have too much free time on his hands, captured a rag doll that secretly sneaked up from the entrance.
Placing it on his lap, he stared at it fixedly and nodded「I see」 noncommittally.
「Come to think of it, how did you manage to escape from that forced event, I wonder?」
「
 I’ll make no comment.」
「In our case, we didn’t do anything in particular. Saying that it couldn’t bear to bother Touma-san, it went and committed suicide on its own.」
「
 I don’t know what you’re saying, I suppose.」
「If an entity that harbors malicious intent toward Touma-san were to copy『me』, then of course it would turn out like that. Yes, there is no problem at all.」
Seiichi and Rinko floated a vague smile at Shizuka, who on the contrary proudly put her hand on her own chest.
「W, well, leaving that aside. In reality, we have no choice but to proceed with the dungeon conquest, but what’s the method of conquering『Invasion (Barbaroi)』-type raid?」
「We have to exterminate the monsters in the raid domain, I suppose. That is the rule for『Invasion (Barbaroi)』 type raid quests. Besides, Rashomon should also have been activated in a somewhat special mode, so we won’t be able to leave this place until we clear the quest, maybe?」
「We’re totally treated like sacrificial pawns, aren’t we? Rather, well, what a shitty matter it is.」
「It’s still a hypothetical matter anyway. But rather than leaving it to Black Honey alone, looks like we should move and do investigation on our own, huh.」
「I see.」
On the lap of Touma, who crossed his arms and nodded, the rag doll also crossed its arms and nodded.