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Novel Title
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Translator : PolterGlast
In the middle of the
night, I came to a desolate wasteland on the outskirts of Triange. Only
Anneliese, Lin, and a few guards are with me.
I drew Kokuzan from my
waist and raised it.
"Haaaah!"
A slash of energy flew
out, leaving a single gash on the rough ground. I repeated this four times,
creating four scars at two-meter intervals.
I took a wooden box
out of my Item Box. Inside were hard seeds that looked like walnuts.
We all split up,
placing the seeds at equal intervals along the scars on the ground, covering
them with dirt, and burying them.
"Rose, I'm
counting on you."
Rose, who has leveled
up, is a ball of light, but it now faintly resembles a human form. Detailed
Appraisal told me that it will take on a proper human form if it levels up
further. I haven't had a chance to level up recently, so I hope I can do so
somewhere.
Detailed Appraisal's
proficiency has also increased, so it tells me more things. Among the new
information was that my jobs, Assassin, Reincarnated Hero, Heroic Sword King,
Lightning-Fast Hero, and Gratitude Saint, won't change to Bandit even if I
commit a crime.
This probably means
that even when Akaba and the others committed crimes, their jobs didn't change
to Bandit because they were heroes. I'll have to confirm that if I ever see
them again. Though I don't really want to.
But let's not worry
about jobs for now. What's more important is the plant that Rose grew.
It grew taller and
taller, becoming a magnificent tree. And red fruits grew on its branches.
"Are these fruits
edible?"
Anneliese seemed to
know that the red fruits were astringent and looked at them curiously.
"Yeah, you can't
eat them as they are, but you can make them edible."
These trees are
Byshtan. It's a plant that grows on the unnamed island off the coast of
Triange, and I asked some fishermen to gather the fruit for me. The raw red
fruit is too astringent to eat, but you can make it delicious if you prepare it
like a dried persimmon.
"Shall I ask my
mothers-in-law and the others to harvest the fruit tomorrow?"
A single tree has
about 200 fruits on it. We have 100 trees, so it will take a lot of people to
harvest them all.
The next morning, I
had Marhaleta, Lilith, and all the children they were looking after, including
the controlled slave boys, harvest the fruits. They harvested a little over
20,000 fruits.
Itsukushima-san said
she's made dried persimmons before, so I asked her to take charge of the
process of ripening the fruits. She's teaching everyone, acting as their
instructor. I also wrote down the ripening method that Detailed Appraisal
taught me and gave it to them. The small details are different from dried
persimmons, so I've asked them to prioritize the information from Detailed Appraisal.
They're supposed to be
ready to eat in the spring after winter passes, so I'm looking forward to it.
Of course, it takes a lot of time and effort to make them edible. Marhaleta and
the others will handle that. By the way, Rose can't do the ripening process
like a dried persimmon. It has to be done by hand.
We're starting with a
production of 20,000, but if the response is good, I plan to increase
production. I'm hoping that if this goes well, it will be a place for the
children and the rehabilitated young criminals to work.
***
Itsukushima-san said
she wanted to see the plants that grow naturally in the mountains, so we
decided to go to the Suzuka Mountains.
There are wild plants
in winter, so there's a possibility that wild plants grow in the mountains all
year round. It seems Itsukushima-san finds it enjoyable to research these
things over the long term.
After we took over the
former Parton territory, the entire Suzuka Mountains became part of the
Footscythel viscount family's territory. The plants that grow naturally in the
Suzuka Mountains are ours to do with as we please.
I went into the
mountains with Itsukushima-san, Anneliese, Lin, and 10 of her Royal Guards.
Since Anneliese is here today, Lin's Royal Guard is acting as our escort.
We entered the
mountains from a different location than when we were attacked by Daigo and the
others and headed for the summit.
Whenever Itsukushima-san
finds a new plant, she observes it and takes notes. She was serious and
diligent as a student, and that's still true here. I secretly peeked at her
notebook, and it was filled with detailed information in tiny letters. It might
be rude to say this, but she's surprisingly good at drawing.
"Wow, this is an
easy-to-understand notebook."
"Don't look at it
too much. It's embarrassing."
She slammed the
notebook shut and blushed.
"Did you find any
interesting plants?"
"Yeah. I feel
like I can make some interesting things."
"That's
good."
We climbed the
mountain at Itsukushima-san's pace. I was also using Detailed Appraisal on the
mountain as we went. I'm trying to look at it from a different perspective than
Itsukushima-san, but there's nothing particularly new... Hm?
There it is. An old
stone wall, I think. It's buried in grass and trees, but there are traces of
stones being stacked up artificially.
"Is this the
remains of an old fort or castle?"
Itsukushima-san also
seemed to think so, but something felt off. What is this feeling?
"It looks a bit
like the stone walls of Japanese castles."
"That's it!"
As Itsukushima-san
said, the stone wall looked strangely Japanese. The castles and stone walls
here are mostly made of large, stacked stones, but the one in front of us is
made of stacked, mismatched stones ranging from 10 to 30 centimeters. Of
course, not all castles in my previous life had this kind of stone wall, but
it's strangely similar.
Was it built by an other-worlder
who came to this world long ago, or is there no connection at all? I'm a little
curious.
Next to the stone wall
were a mound and a ditch that looked like an earthen wall and a dry moat. The
height difference is about 10 meters. Observing it closely, it looks quite
sturdy.
I jumped onto the
one-meter-high stone wall and took Anneliese's hand to help her up. The stone
wall continued for about 300 meters east to west, and there were also traces of
a building that used to be there. The house was apparently made of wood, and it
had already rotted away, leaving no trace.
"Toi-sama. Look
at that."
Anneliese found
something and pointed at it. At the end of her slender finger was a hole. I
peeked inside, thinking it was a trench or something. It was pitch black, but
when I changed my sub-job to Assassin, my vision opened up.
"It looks like a
cave or the remains of an old mine."
The entrance had
traces of artificial reinforcement.
"I'm going to go
inside. Anneliese, please wait here."
"I'm coming with
you."
When she says
something like that, I can't refuse. I took her hand and we went in, being
careful of our footing and what was above our heads.
"Light."
Anneliese used her
magic to provide us with light. There were remains of wooden reinforcements.
It's a completely man-made hole.
We explored a few
rooms, but there was no treasure. I wasn't expecting any, but exploring ruins
is fun.
As we went deeper,
there was a large hole about 2 meters in diameter on the floor. I peered into
the hole...
"Huh?"
"What's
wrong?"
"There's
something in there I didn't expect."
"Unexpected? What
is it... huh?"
Anneliese also looked
into the hole and was dumbfounded.
Beyond the hole was a
vast space. And in it...
"Aren't those
monsters?"
"Yeah, they're
definitely monsters."
Monsters are creatures
that live in dungeons. That means this is a dungeon. No, I checked the walls
and floor with Detailed Appraisal, and it says, "The Abandoned Mine of the
Suzuka Mountains." It doesn't say "dungeon" anywhere.
Nevertheless, there
are a lot of monsters a dozen meters below us.
"Let's go out and
organize a proper exploration team."
Right now, I don't
know if this abandoned mine is a dungeon or not. It's probably not. Detailed
Appraisal doesn't lie. Dungeons have entrances that connect to them. They're
entranceways with a foreboding vortex. We don't remember going through anything
like that.
There's a dungeon in
our backyard!
It sounds like a light
novel title.
After we came out of
the cave, we met up with Lin and the others. When I told them there were
monsters swarming inside the cave, their eyes changed.
"Let's go back to
the mansion immediately."
Itsukushima-san, who
had been engrossed in sketching wild plants, reacted to Lin's voice and stood
up and looked at us.
"What's
wrong?"
"There's a cave
with monsters inside."
"Oh, really? That
sounds interesting. Let's go."
Itsukushima-san is
surprisingly active. Yamato would probably say, "Let's go home now."
***
Gandarvan came with 30
of his subordinates. They were surprised to see the monsters.
"They really are
monsters."
"Yeah, they're
definitely monsters."
"But we haven't
entered a dungeon."
"Yeah, this isn't
a dungeon."
"Then..."
"We should assume
there's a dungeon beyond this point, and the monsters are overflowing from
it."
I was summoned to this
world—or rather, reincarnated—because the royal capital dungeon was about to
overflow with monsters.
"Don't tell me
there's a dungeon entrance beyond this point?"
"We should assume
there is."
"This is a
serious matter."
It's a serious matter
because monsters are overflowing from a dungeon.
If we leave this be,
they might climb up from this hole. If that happens, our citizens will be in
danger.
"We need to
eliminate the monsters and return the dungeon to its normal state as soon as
possible."
"It won't be
easy, my lord, since this many monsters have already overflowed."
"We have to do it
even if it's not easy. We'll have to risk our lives."
The monsters swarming
in the vast space below are mostly in the Level 10-20 range. I don't know how
far this space goes, but there must be higher-level monsters as well. If we
don't take this seriously, it'll become a disaster.
***
We held a meeting in
front of the cave. Gandarvan was the facilitator.
"First, we'll
reinforce the hole inside the cave. We'll have the mages do that."
The two-meter-diameter
hole in the floor might not be stable, so this is an important step.
"Understood."
Solidia, the commander
of the magic unit, nodded. She will have the mages under her command who can
use earth magic reinforce the hole.
"Next, we'll
eliminate the monsters near the hole. Jojok's unit will handle that."
"Yes, sir!"
I'm expecting Jojok's
assault unit to live up to their name.
"After we
eliminate the monsters near the entrance, we'll establish a bridgehead inside
the cave. The transporters will carry in stones and wood to secure the
entrance."
"I will be in
command of that."
Barth will take
command.
This is an emergency,
so we will mobilize all of the Footscythel viscount family's military power.
The fact that Count Parton attacked us is a mere breeze compared to this.
"Banarji, you
will go to the royal capital. Report the situation to the Royal Family."
"What should I
say about the dungeon?"
"For now, we have
not yet confirmed that it is a dungeon. Just report that we are
investigating."
"Understood."
After giving Banarji
his instructions, I looked at everyone's faces one by one.
"We will handle
this with the resolve that the fate of the Footscythel viscount family is at
stake. Please act accordingly."
" " "Yes,
sir!" " "
Everyone immediately
went into action.
I have endless
concerns about how vast the cave is, whether there's a dungeon, and how strong
the monsters are. But if there really is a dungeon, it might be a pleasant
surprise, even if it's inappropriate to say.
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