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“That’s right. . . It was when I turned eight and was thrown into the dungeon for several months.”
That’s what Ravi said to me when I asked about Lucy and Trevor-niisama.
“Normally, when you turn eight years old, you enter the second level of the dungeon with an escort and live in the dungeon for a month. My father said, ‘You can do it,’ and I suddenly started at the 10th level. Normally, you would go down in order from the second level, but from the first day he took me down to the 10th floor in two days, left a few guards and me behind, and quickly went back to the ground.”
As he spoke, Ravi clenched his teeth with blue streaks on his forehead, probably because he remembered those days and his anger might have been welling up.
I don’t know the strength of the escorts or the danger level of the 10th level of the dungeon ‘Zervandam’, but I can predict that it is not a place for an eight-year-old to step foot in. Daimon-niisama is also spartan, but he never left me in the dungeon for several months. I wonder if it’s a good idea to have an escort.
When I was feeling deep sympathy for Ravi-kun’s hardships at that time, Ravi continued to talk after regaining his composure.
“So, after about a month, when half of the guards disappeared, when I couldn’t find the exit and was wandering around in the dungeon, I was able to join my older cousins who were active in the dungeon before me.”
I wanted to ask why half of the guards were gone. I know the story would be derailed, but I wanted to know why half of the guards disappeared. I want to hear it. But I suppressed my curiosity and listened to Ravi’s story.
“And so, one of my excited cousins wanted to show me as a rookie some good things and made a blunder. He broke through the dungeon’s random transfer trap, and all of my guards and cousins were scattered all over the dungeon. Damn it!! Even remembering it now makes me angry!!”
Ravi bounced in anger, and the table and the lunch plates on top shook with a noise. Both Ursch-kun and I had almost finished eating, so the contents of our plates didn’t spill out, but the soup from the lunch set that Geese had ordered and the drink that Ravi had ordered wet the table.
Wow, but that’s tough. . .
“Um, when you say that everyone was separated, does that mean that Labyrinth-kun was also separated from the escorts and was sent somewhere in the dungeon alone? No companions were sent to the same place together? Where you alone in the dungeon at eight years old?”
“Yes. I was blown to the 48th floor by myself. That idiot!!”
While saying so, Ravi slammed his fist on the table this time. The impact caused the plates on the table to bounce. Can I go put away the dishes for a moment?
While I was thinking about that, a passing student quietly collected the tableware of Ursch-kun and me. No, who is it now?
While Geese and I were confused as we followed the students who were taking the dishes with our eyes, Ursch-kun urged Ravi to continue the story as if nothing had happened.
“Hey, about that story, when the hell will Lucy and Trevor-niisan come out? The break is almost over, so please hurry up. To be honest, I don’t care about your situation at that time. Isabella wants to know about her brother.”
Ursch-kun. . . That’s true, but I think it’s too honest with this short-tempered guy. I hope he doesn’t get angry again. . .
But it seems that my worries were unnecessary, and Ravi continued talking without any problems.
“Hmm? Yeah, that’s right. . . The 48th floor that I was transported to was like a primeval forest. . .”
When Ravi started talking, Ursch-kun took a notepad out of his robe pocket and began taking notes.
“I see. The 48th floor of the dungeon ‘Zervandam’ is a primeval forest type. It seems like there could be rare medicinal herbs.”
There seems to be rare magic beasts and monsters that you can’t usually see on the ground.
“Yeah, it was a primeval-like forest, but I was transported just in front of Iron Ants, and I immediately ran away, but as expected, large insect-type monsters are ridiculously fast.”
“Even though Iron Ants are small, they can grow to 1 meter. Eight year old children won’t be able to escape with their feet. Except for Isabella.”
“Are insect-type monsters that fast?”
“Even normal-sized insects are fairly fast. If it’s just making an insect huge, it might slow down due to it’s own weight, but it’s a monster. Because it moves ignoring physical calculations such as gravity, large insect-type monsters are very fast and hard depending on the type. If it’s Iron Ants, it’s hard, fast, and move in a swarm, so even an A-class adventurer’s party would have a hard time.”
Ravi survived well after being chased by such a monster. Well, the story has derailed again. Ravi was encouraged to continue.
“Well, at that time, I encountered a single ant. So, when I was about to be overtaken, a woman jumped out while carrying a man on her shoulder and kicked the Iron Ant from the side.”
. . . Huh?
Am I suddenly out of my mind? It doesn’t make sense to me.
“. . . What did you say? What happened to the Iron Ant that caught up?”
“So a woman carrying a man on her shoulder appeared and kicked the Iron Ant from the side. The Iron ant that was speeding up and going straight flew up and turned over. It bought me a little time to get up, so I ran side by side with that woman and ran away. . .”
Ursch-kun nodded and agreed with those words.
“If it increases it’s speed, the contact area will be reduced accordingly. It will be in a slightly floating state, so it won’t be able to stick to the ground. As long as you can grasp the timing, physical attacks from the side are effective. Well, if you want to defeat an Iron Ant, you need the same leg strength as Isabella.”
Wait. The focal point is different. Not there. There’s something to be more concerned about, what you just said fits.
At this rate, the story will progress without any tsukkomi. I have to rush in.
“Before that, the woman who helped you was carrying a man on her shoulder? What’s the situation?”
“That’s Lucy and your brother that you wanted to hear about.”
No, no, no. . . . . . Well, since I was listening to the story of those two people, I’m sure those two will appear in the story, but the way they appeared was in a completely unexpected direction. I mean. Geese’s older sister, Lucy, kicked the Iron Ant away. And the one who was carried on Lucy’s shoulder was Trevor-niisama.
Eh? What are you both doing? Why are you in such a situation?
While I was confused, Ravi continued.
“So, while I was running away side by side with them, while being shaken on the shoulder of the running woman, your brother handed me something like a bundle of dried flowers and shouted, ‘Hurry up!! Wear this waist belt!!'”
“Sorry, what? What did my brother say?”
” I said, he suddenly presented me with a dried flower waist band and forced me to wear it.”
. . . No, I understand. If I’m running side by side with a woman and a man riding on her shoulder suddenly told me to wear a waist band, I would be confused and scared. Even I would refuse because I don’t understand much.
“Then he said, ‘maybe you don’t like the color, I don’t have the popular colors of blue and red at the moment, so I’ll persuade you to be patient and put up with this yellow one’.”
Yes. It went in an unexpected direction. Then you can’t understand the need for the waist band.
“That waist band, what is it after all?”
“Somehow, I was also confused by your brother, the conversation didn’t mesh well, but in short, the waist band is an item that your brother made by combining plants on that floor that have an insect repellent effect. It was a hell of a thing. If that’s the case, he should have said that from the beginning.”
When he heard that and looked closely, it seems that Lucy and Trevor-niisama were also wearing waist bands of different colors.
At that point, Ursch-kun tilted his head and asked a question.
“Did Lucy not say anything during that time?”
“Ah? Oh, the woman. She was eating some kind of meat skewers endlessly while she was running.”
Lucy, the former daughter of a count, has become a wild child. . .
“Why was my brother on her shoulder?”
“Your brother was more of a civil servant, wasn’t he? I heard later that he was in a research position, wasn’t he? Can a man who was always working at his desk run well in the primeval forest?”
Come to think of it, Niisama was the type to stay in the laboratory and mess around. There is no way he can run around in the dungeon. Rather, I think Lucy, who was trying to become the head of the family and chief of the magic division to the point of vomiting blood, has more physical strength and fighting power.
Niisama. . . . . . . To be frank, isn’t he a hindrance? No, it would be nice if he could be. . . at least as much as mental support.
“After that, I was taken to the headquarters of the squad formed to traverse the dungeon. The replenishment unit returned to the ground from the transfer magic circle on the 50th level, so I was able to stick to them and come back to the ground safely. So they were alive at that time. I don’t know after that.”
He left. . . They went down two more levels. . .
Certainly, at that time, you could only step foot on the 46th level. In that situation, it’s amazing to go to the 50th level. By the way, it seems that it has progressed to the 63rd level now. How many levels does ‘Zervandam’ have? I don’t want to go to the bottom level, but I feel like I want to go see it for a bit.
After talking that far, time ran out, and we parted ways with Ravi and Geese to attend the afternoon class. I headed to the alchemy department building with Ursch-kun. Now then, it’s time for the alchemy department’s first class.