Chapter 27
Chapter 27 – Night City InhabitantWe, the Arrivers have arrived at the sixteenth floor. The second visit. Unlike last time, the objective this time is to clear the floor.
“Man, it’s creepy here~”
Force’s grumbling complaint echoes in the distance. Even if you speak in a normal voice it stands out in this dark Night City.
“Somehow, there is a total lack of life…”
The houses are still standing, but it doesn’t look like anyone lives in them. We open one of them to look inside, there is a table, a kitchen and a bathroom, but no dishes, tableware or knick-knacks. There weren’t any monsters lurking inside the house either.
“A little ways down, there’s a monster on the road, but there doesn’t seem to be any in the house…”
I rely on 《Enemy Search》 and 【Mapping】 to find the monsters. From this floor onwards we have no maps to rely on, so the information-gathering depends on my skills. I have finally been given a role. It makes me a bit happy.
Although the world’s rules don’t apply to the dungeon, here too there is a law. And that one law is, “The gate to the next floor is always directly opposite to the gate to the previous floor.” While relying on that rule we advance, exploring the whole way.
Although this rule can be used when the floor has an open layout like this one, it is not very useful when the floor consists of winding and narrow caves. You can’t figure out the direction you’re moving in and then there’s no way of knowing if you’re even moving toward the boss room.
It might be said that open floors like this one are easier, but it also leads to the high probability of being attacked by monsters on all sides.
Well, there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
After pa.s.sing the main street, we leave the house-packed residential area and begin to see buildings that look like shops.
“Look at that! It looks like there is something displayed!”
Neme rushes to the items on display, they have been set up on shelves outside the shop. Needless to say, I don’t stop her because with《Enemy Search》 I know there are no monsters around.
There is something painted on the tent that was raised on the shop’s roof. Is it writing? That’s what it feels like. But I’m not able to read it, no matter how hard I try, so I don’t really know.
“‘Super Neigh’ is what it says huh…” Erin murmurs beside me.
“What!? You can read that!?”
“Of course not…”
“Wait, why ‘of course’… Haha, could it be that… Erin was born here, as a dungeon monster?”
“There is no such thing! It is only natural for a first-cla.s.s mage like me to understand dungeon-writing!”
“Dungeon-writing?”
I tilt my head. Erin exhales like she can’t believe what she’s hearing.
“You know I don’t know much about your dungeon, right?”
And it’s true, I really don’t know. When I lived with Miya in the village, I never even imagined of exploring a dangerous dungeon like this. Oh, and I also don’t know much about mages.
There was no mage in the small village of Changs and I was never really that curious about magic either.
To become a mage you need both money and the right environment.
Those that aim to become mages usually start receiving instruction at a young age from their school and parents. In doing so, it seems they are able to increase the speed at which they gain magical power and knowledge. Furthermore, after going through that kind of training, gaining a magic related skill becomes easy.
This isn’t something specific to
magic though, if you train swordsmanship, it also becomes easier to attain a sword related skill.
By the way, I also received some special instruction with the sword, and yet the skill I came out with was【Mapping】.
And that’s why I have very little knowledge pertaining to the field of magic.
“Dungeon-writing is writing that is in the dungeon!”
“That’s your explanation? Erin-sensei?”
“Oh, shut up. Be quiet and listen to the rest…”
Ignoring my joke, Erin continues her explanation. Though, she could have joined in just a bit…
“Dungeon-writing is filled with all kinds of useful information, from what floor you are currently on, to hints on how to clear it and knowledge related to spells and arts.”
“Why is something like that written in the dungeon?”
“Even the Magic Society doesn’t know, it’s considered an eternal mystery… Right now, the predominant theory is that whoever made the dungeon wants us, humanity, to clear it. That’s why they say that the dungeon is a trial made by G.o.d.”
With so much information coming in at once, I wasn’t able to keep up. What’s a ‘Magic Society’? Don’t just throw in a new word!
If Erin got a job as a teacher in a school, she would probably be the type of teacher about which the students would always be complaining behind her back with, “That teacher’s teaching is so hard to understand!”.
“Next, there’s why mages study dungeon-writing! That’s because…”
“After hearing what you’ve said so far, I think I get the gist of it. Seeing as you study spells, you probably need as much information about them as you can get, and if dungeon-writing contains spell information, you need to read it as well, right?”
“Mmm… Well, I guess that’s about right… Then… Next is…”
With a groan, Erin was about to continue, when Neme raised her voice.
“Guys, come here! This store only sells carrots!”
At Neme’s words, we all exchanged glances. What could she possibly mean? Did something happen to her head?
In order to find out, everyone headed towards her.
“It really is just carrots…”
Standing in the storefront, Jin lifts up a long and narrow red vegetable. It’s an ordinary carrot.
“I guess we won’t have to worry about food on this floor…”
Force is looking at the carrots with a troubled expression.
“I’m going to get so sick of carrots…”
I agree with Force wholeheartedly.
“Yo, Note! Why don’t you make us some delicious food so we don’t get tired of Erin’s【Cooking – Small】?”
Rosalia… Don’t f.u.c.k with Erin though me… I’m being glared at…
How is this my fault!?
“Look over there! That shop also has nothing but carrots in it!”
Neme rushes to the opposite shop.
SFX: pekepeke
And sure enough, when we arrived, there were nothing but carrots.
“What’s… up with this floor?”
Erin had a point. After that, we went to several shops, but everywhere we checked there were only carrots.
There were no other goods to be found. To the extent that I’m going crazy by just looking at carrots. I had a similar experience in the weapon shop, when I walked in to see all those carrots hanging on the walls, I couldn’t help but question whether or not a carrot was really a vegetable.
“Well, we are about to encounter monsters, so please be prepared…” I warned all party members.
About 100m away. I feel the presence of monsters just ahead, three in buildings and two on the road. The total is ten. It’s a lot.
There are no strong monsters among them. Examining their presence, I can see they are all of equal strength.
“They’re far enough away that we don’t have to fight them if we don’t want to. But I want to understand the opponent’s characteristics and get used to them… Is that okay with everyone?”
Everyone nodded in response to Jin’s proposal.
Going through an alley between two buildings, we approach the monsters.
We headed in the direction the monsters were moving to and waited behind a corner.
While using《Stealth》Jin looks around the corner to check on the enemy’s progress.
“What the…” Jin muttered with fascination.
Neme then turned to me and urged me to use 《Stealth》 as well. There was no way around it, so I put my hand on her shoulder so we could both take a peek.
“There’s a walking… horse…”
“What’s with that… description…”
Erin nitpicked at the words I’d accidentally slipped. Just look at it. There’s no better way to put it.
“That horse-man, Jin…”
“What’s a horse-man!? I still don’t get it, but I’m getting more and more worried!”
“It’s a term coined by Neme!”
“As always, absolutely no naming-sense!”
“What are talking about, Erin. I’ve never seen something like that, so I can say that.”
“Anyone who saw that would think the same way. Neme’s term is spot-on.”
“Well, then let’s launch a surprise-attack.”
On Jin’s mark, the party jumped out.
“Whaa! It’s really a horse-man!”
Ignoring Erin’s noisy cry, Jin uses 《Climb》 to run up the building walls.
It’s an armor-wearing, one-handed-spear-baring bipedal horse. And now that horse-man’s head is being cut off by Jin. Blood sprays everywhere.
Piiiiiiiii!
In response to Jin’s attack, a whistle blows from the horse-man’s hip. Force, who had followed Jin’s attack with his own seemed wary. He stopped before reaching top speed and attacked the horse-man group with caution.
“It’s a signal of some sort! It’s alerting his friends!”
Through《Enemy Search》I was able to detect the gathering monsters around us. If you blow a whistle in an open place like this, the sound will resound all around, and a huge quant.i.ty of monsters will come.
“Let’s run! This was my mistake, let’s go to the next floor’s gate!”
Although Jin moved his mouth, his black sword never stopped. Moving like a living thing, the sword cut off a horse-man’s leg. Jin seems to have switched his focus from killing the enemy to simply immobilizing him. Following suit, Force does the same thing as he confronted the horse-man group.
The horse-men are right behind us. We are running in the order of Rosalia, Erin, me and Neme.
Neme is falling behind.
I rush back to pick her up. Holding her under my arm, we promptly reach Rosalia and the others.
Force’s group has also caught up to us.
“Rosalia! Turn right there!”
We need to avoid as many of the approaching horse-men as possible.
From this distance, Rosalia who is running in first place, won’t be able to hear me. I raise my pace in order to keep up with her.
“There’s three of them coming! Be careful!”
Even with the full use of【Mapping】and《Energy Search》, collisions with the horse-men are inevitable.
Without slowing down, Rosalia barrels through a horse-man that appears from an alley. Without losing momentum, she sends his shield flying.
Then she turns around slashes him with her holy sword.
Piiiiiii!
The sound comes from the horse-man Rosalia just killed. It’s a signal to call his friends here.
Frustrated, Rosalia glares at the horse-man’s whistle.
“Ignore it! Let’s go!”
Jin, who has caught up with Rosalia, gives a withdrawal order. She nodded and gives Jin the lead.
The ‘Arrivers’ receive their sixteenth’s floor baptism at the very beginning.