ăââââThe appearanceâŚâŚof a dungeonďźă
ăIndeedă
I had come to the Headmasterâs Office at Barna-sanâs call.
And this was where I was informed of the appearance of a dungeon
âŚâŚ Hmm âŚâŚ If weâre talking about dungeons, then the only real experience Iâve had are with the ăForest of Endless Love and Sorrowă, and the place where the Black Dragon God was âŚâŚ
ăAre dungeons something that can just suddenly spawn out of nowhereďźă
ăNo, âtis something that would never happenăHowever, because of the strange power that theăDemon God Cultăâs Apostle used, it ended up spawning in the forest close to the academyă
Come to think of it, wasnât Al deployed to investigate that forest at Barna-sanâs instructions? To think that it would be because an Apostle of the ăDemon God Cultă
ăIf itâs only just appeared, then this must be a new dungeon, rightďźă
ăNo, that might not be the caseâŚâŚă
ăEhďźă
I tilted my head in puzzlement.
Since you said that a dungeon has appeared, then it should be a new dungeon right?
Or so I thought, but Barna-san politely corrected me.
ăFrom the looks of things, it does not seem like you understand. When a dungeon appears, there are two things that can happen : Either itâs a new dungeon, or a new entrance has appeared to an already existing dungeon. If itâs a new dungeon then itâs simply a matter of capturing it, but itâs a different story if itâs a new entrance connected to an existing dungeon. Depending on the case, there might be dungeons that are large enough to span across more than one kingdom. In situations like those, early warning and accurate information gathering is necessary, for fear of its use as a passage in wars or otherwise.ă
ăI seeâŚâŚă
To think that a situation like new exits opening up in a different country could occur.
ăWith that being the reason, the appearance of a dungeon is not a matter that we can simply overlookă
ăThen, the reason youâve called me here today is toâŚâŚă
When I said that, Barna turned to look at me with a serious expression on his face
ăUmuăI would like to request that you, Seiichi, capture the dungeonă
ăMeďźUh, while I am definitely an adventurer, Iâve hardly had any experience in dungeons, much less clearing themâŚâŚă
ăI am well aware of your power. Though I havenât the faintest hint why you might be hiding it, I have at least caught a glimpse of it when you annihilated the army of monsters attacking Terveilâs wallsăAnd what confirmed it for me was when theăDemon God Cultăcame to attack us. I shudder to think of what would have happened if you werenât there to helpâŚâŚă
Ah- âŚâŚ Come to think of it, I havenât really been paying attention to keeping my power hidden recently. No wait, did I even have the intention to keep them hidden from the start?
âŚâŚ Looking back at what Iâve done in the past, I realised that my efforts to try and keep my power hidden havenât exactly been much to speak of. I got one thing though. That Iâm an idiot.
Well, then again, there really hasnât been a need to hide it up till now.
ăAt any rate, the reason I want to deploy someone as powerful as you is because I need to gather information on the dungeon earlier than usual ăBecause of the previous incident, I canât really afford to step out of the academy after allâŚâŚă
ăI seeâŚâŚI understand your reason for doing thisăIf youâre okay with someone like me, then Iâll goă
ăOh! That would really helpăAh, because you donât have much experience with Dungeons, feel free to take Altoria along with you, SeiichiăIâll leave it to your discretion who else you bring alongă
ăGot ităIâll head out as soon as Iâm done with my preparationă
ăMy apologies for burdening you for this heavy task, but Iâm counting on youă
âŚâŚ Itâs really been a long time hasnât it? Since Iâve gone into a dungeon.
Ah, butâŚâŚ I wonder if the ăUnderworldăcounts as a dungeon?
In any case, it is my first job as an adventurer after such a long while. Since it is a dungeon after all, I should get myself psyched for it.
After all, there was that situation where Al and I were separated in the Black Dragon Godâs resting place, so I have to be on my guard this time.
The members I should bring along are âŚâŚ Well, itâll probably be them wonât it? Al is a given, and I should bring Saria, Rurune and Origa-chan along too. It should be okay if I asked Agnos and Beatrice and company to help too.
While I was thinking about all that stuff and walking down the hall, something really bright suddenly shone in my eye.
ăEhďźă
I had a rather stupid look on my face as I stared, shocked, at the fading brilliance, which revealed a certain Treasure Chest who was supposed to be travelling with my father.
ăEhďźHuhďźWhăWhyâs the Treasure chestâŚâŚďźă
ăâŚâŚTarget identifiedăYou, I will, bring alongă
ăExcuse meďźă
Ignoring the fact that I was still in a daze trying to understand this incomprehensible situation, the Treasure Chest grabbed onto my arm.
ăThen, we goă
ăEhăWhăwhere exactly are we goiââââă
Unexpectedly, the treasure chest opened itâs lid, and stored me within itself.
And so, I was left in this completely dark space, still completely unaware of what was going on.
âââ
ăBrought hereă
ăWhat exactly is going on!? Can I please get an explanationďźă
I have no idea exactly how much time I spent there, when suddenly a burst of light filled the dark space, but before I could react, the Treasure Chest grabbed my hand, and pulled me out of itself. To think that treasure chests would have that kind of space inside them.
While I was thinking such escapist-like thoughts, I was suddenly brought out of it by a voice.
ăGreat, it seems like youâre doing fine, Seiichiă
ăEhďźWait, Ranze-san!? T-Then this must beâŚâŚă
ăIndeed, this is Terveil, capital of the Winburg Kingdomă
It seems that, while I was still confused about what was going on, I had been spirited off to Terveil
Taking another look around me, I spotted not just Zeanos and Luciusâ group, but I even spotted Florio and Louis nearby.
Hold up, whatâs that? Iâm even seeing a pair of familiar-looking gorillasâŚâŚ Is it just my imagination?
ăErmâŚâŚI donât exactly know whatâs going on here, so can anyone bring me up to speedďźă
I wonder if it was something I did?
Thoughts inadvertently came to my mind about how gloomy the atmosphere of the room seemed
With an intense look on his face, Ranze spoke up.
ăSeiichiăWe have something to request of youă
ăF-From meďźă
ăIndeedă
Somehow, it feels like the whole of today has just been people asking me for helpâŚâŚ
Well, Iâm indebted to both Ranze and Barna, so if possible Iâd like to help them.
While I did think that I wanted to help them, Ranzeâs request turned out to be an even heavier responsibility than I expected
ăââââThe Demon Kingâs Daughter has been afflicted by a curse from aăCursed ToolăăIâd like you to do something about thată
ăThe Demon Kingâs Daughter!? And sheâs been cursedâŚâŚă
When I was once again shocked by his words, Lucius came to explain the situation to me, but even though he had a smile on his face, Lucius wasnât exactly controlling his inner bloodlust.
ăThose pieces of garbage rolling around over there made a move against my precious comradesăWhatâs worseăthey even resorted to using something like a ăCursed Toolăă
ăGarbageďźă
Following Luciusâ gaze, when I turned my sight towards that direction, what greeted me was three bloodstained men rolling around on the floorăEh âŚâŚ What is this, some kind of murder scene? T-Theyâre alive, right?
ăThose things rolling about over there are Apostles of theăDemon God Cultăă
ăEeh!?ă
I was surprised to find out they were in the same organisation that recently caused trouble at Barbadora academy
ăThose bastards over there, attacked the Demon Kingâs Daughter using aăCursed ToolăăOn top of that, the curse they used was the same type that was cast on meăsomething that no one in existence should have been able to breakăBut, youâve already managed to break that cursed onceăUsing that power, Iâd like you to help the Demon Kingâs Daughteră
To be completely honest, the situation is developing so rapid that I canât quite keep up.
How the situation got to this point, why the ăDemon God CultăApostles came to attack âŚâŚ In any case, even if I have plenty of things I still donât understand, the safety of the Demon Kingâs Daughter comes first.
ăI-I understandăIâm not sure if Iâll be able to do anything, but Iâll give it a shotă
To think that I would once again have to use the Reversal Magic ăGet Wellăagain âŚâŚ !
No, this time I donât have to say the name of the spell out loud. Nice!
My words seem to give Ranze and the others a little relief, as I moved towards a certain room.
ăSheâs sleeping in hereăThe ones around her are all her vassals, so donât worry about themă
ăOkayă
Just as Ranze said, the inside of the room was filled with what seemed to be Demons, with looks of worry and anxiety on their faces, as they wandered out with their bloodlust unchecked, causing the room to have an even heavier atmosphere than the one I just came from.
Seeming unaffected by it all, Ranze called out to everyone in the room.
ăOi, all of youăIâve brought along someone who can break theăCurseăă
ă!!ă
ă!!ă
ăOooh-!?ă
I let out a little squeak of surprise as they all simultaneously turned their eyes towards us. Y-You donât have to look at me like thatâŚâŚă
Then, a beautiful lady, with a getup that was almost pornographic levels of exposure, asked Ranze.
ăâŚâŚThat boyďźYou must be jokingďźă
ăI understand why you might think this is a joke, but Iâm telling the truthă
ăâŚâŚEven though Iâd rather not admit it, you know this aăCurseărightďźIâve never heard of aăCurseăever being dispelled beforeă
When the lady said so, one of the ones loitering around while releasing their bloodlust, a handsome white haired guy, turned his sharp gaze in my direction
ăTo think that you would make these kinds of jokes in front of us nowâŚâŚ I take it that you must really want to die, donât youďźă
I thought about this when I helped out Ranze before but, itâs really true that ăCursesăare something that this world has no solution for, huh?
Well, that asideâŚâŚă
ăIâm a friend of this kingdomâs ruler, RanzeăWhile it may impossible to ask you all to believe me completely right now, may I at least ask for a little bit of trustďźă
ăNo chance. Hidinâ your face under that dubious hood pretty much marks ya as a suspicious personă
Thatâs a perfectly understandable reason!
Having realised that I forgot to remove my hood, I immediately pulled it down.
When I did, every one of the Demonsâ eyes shot wide open. I donât recall my face being that shocking though?
ăIs this alrightďźă
ăEhďźăAhâŚâŚO-OhâŚâŚNo, I mean I did tell him to show his face butâŚâŚă
What the heck is that?! That response!
I get that letting someone strange close to the master youâre serving is bad but âŚâŚ Ah whatever, can I just get on to using my magic?
While I was thinking of using a slightly forceful way to make some progress, Lucius stepped forwards from behind me
ăThereâs nothing to be worried aboutăI guarantee ită
Thatâs right! Lucius is the first generation Demon King after all, so they should listen to what he says!
ăEh!?ăAhăthatâsâŚâŚIâve been wondering about this for a while butâŚâŚWho exactly are youďźă
ăOopsď˝ăI forgot to introduce myselfď˝ă
ăYou canât just go around and forget to introduce yourselfďźă
If you havenât introduced yourself then youâre basically another stranger just like me!
ăAh, my bad my badăIâm Lucius Arsahl. Founder of the Demon CountryâŚâŚOr in other words, the First Demon Kingă
ăEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?ă
Sounds of shock filled the room. Well, thatâs to be expected. Even Iâm surprised after all
ăDid I just mishear what you saidâŚâŚă
ăB-But stillâŚâŚEven if you say youâre the First Demon KingâŚâŚă
But, even the Demons would be troubled if you suddenly introduce yourself as the first Demon King
In truth, everyone wasnât really sure how they should react.
ăHmmăźâŚâŚWe donât really have the time to do a Q&A hereâŚâŚAh, I knowďźă
Said Lucious suddenly, as if he thought of something after a short moment where he looked like he was deep thought.
ăYou all, remember your fight, and that you would have died if I had not come alongďźăIn other words, Iâm telling you to believe me since Iâm your lifeâs saviorăâŚâŚRightďźă
Lucius, that line of argument is too irrational!
It was faint, but I could tell that Demons had no choice but to nod their heads because of Luciusâ aura of intimidation bearing down on them.
In a certain sense, his actions were befitting that of a Demon King âŚâŚ Or rather I should say they were straight out evil, but Lucius simply turned to me, smiling, as he said
ăThere, go ahead and do what you need toďźă
ăâŚâŚOkayă
I had no choice but to follow along and nod my head.
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