Chapter 22
A Slightly Expanding
Sphere of Activity
Running toward me while swinging the club in its hand is an
earth-colored-skinned Goblin. No, I don't want to call it a Goblin
(Little Oni). Since it's bigger than me, I refuse to acknowledge it as a small
oni.
「It's
normally an Oni! That's an Oni, isn't it!」
Hey now, its intensity is amazing. From its sheer presence, it's
completely different from the small-fry monsters up until now. However, what I
frankly felt was a feeling of discomfort rather than fear. The humanoid Oni
is running towards me completely naked. As if dangling and showing off its
prized possession!
「You
perverted bastard.」
I know that thing is a monster and not human. But to me, the feeling of
disgust triumphed over fear.
Even so. Challenging me to a fight with its vitals completely exposed,
isn't that just a sick joke. Even as a rookie Hunter, and as a pure
maiden, the existence of that thing is unforgivable. Extermination.
The Oni's speed is nothing much. If it's that, the rats were
still faster. Arriving in front of me while making heavy thud thud
footsteps, the Oni took a large swing with its club. It's far too
obvious of an attack motion. Only its bulk and intensity are fully-fledged, but
overall, everything about it is slow.
The moment I saw the sign of it swinging down, I circled around to the Oni's
side. Paying no mind to the club that squarely struck the ground, I circled
further from its side to its back, taking its defenseless rear.
「Perverts,
drop dead!」
I kicked up into its dangling prized possession from behind with all my
might. Leaving behind a super disgusting sensation of squashing it with a squelch,
the pervert turned into light and vanished. Leaving behind a transparent magic
stone the size of a marble.
To think something like that is the first barrier of the upper layers,
I'm appalled. What a deceptively unimpressive blockhead. I can defeat it easily
despite its appearance, but I hate the idea of fighting that thing over and
over again.
No, no, wait. As a Hunter, I will end up fighting monsters with
unpleasant appearances many times from here on out. I think there will be
derivative versions of the Goblin too. Since I am aiming to become super
rich, I cannot be satisfied with just earning enough to make a living; I need
to challenge even deeper floors. At the very least, I intend to go down to the
floors where I hardly feel any danger. When it comes to that, I can't be saying
I hate the likes of Goblins. There will absolutely be monsters that are
even more gross.
Let's get so used to this level of discomfort that my heart isn't moved
in the slightest. Now that that's decided.
「Uoooooo, are
there any perverted Onis around heeeere!」
I'll rampage through. Since it's a solo space, I don't need to hesitate
in front of anyone. I raised my voice loudly and violently struck the wall with
my hammer. You Goblins, gather around. I'll slaughter every last one of
you!
And then. I intended to just go to the Fourth Floor for a little
trial, but it seems I ended up solidly staying there for nearly two hours.
Having finished my labor and safely returned, I looked at the wall clock in the
Dungeon Administration and was amazed by my own hard-working-girl self.
Well then, I can expect earnings corresponding to that. I've heard that
the price of magic stones skyrockets starting from the Fourth Floor, so
today's earnings must be quite something.
「Ngh, what
gives. The ossan is in the middle of something.」
The ossan from reception was engrossed in a conversation with
several Hunters over at the table seats, and gave off an atmosphere of
not being able to step away. The usual Onee-san is on her day off, so
maybe I'll exchange the magic stones for cash next time. Mine are all
high-quality ones, so it would be a pain if other receptionists start making a
fuss over them.
Even though I should have finished taking a bath and eating before
entering the Dungeon, because I rampaged so much, I got sweaty and my
stomach got empty again. Let's reset.
For the time being, I just informed a somewhat familiar-looking,
unimpressive young man at the reception of my return from the Dungeon
and went outside. Then, after taking my time to thoroughly enjoy my second
dinner and bath of the day, when I returned to the Dungeon Administration,
that receptionist ossan was gone. Even though I was looking forward to
seeing how much today's earnings amounted to, including the magic stones I got
in the other Dungeons.
「Can't be
helped.」
I submitted an application to use the simple lodging to the unimpressive
young man from earlier and called it a day. Today I got treasures like crazy in
many Dungeons, and additionally beat Goblins to death like crazy
too. I worked hard! No, really, I might be working too hard.
Morning comes early for me, who strives for a healthy and excellent
lifestyle. I took a shower, finished my laundry, and ate a breakfast set at the
usual beef bowl shop. What a happy start to the day. The grub is delicious.
What should I do today. The usual ossan wasn't at the reception
desk, and I've already done enough Goblin extermination, so should I
finally proceed to the Fifth Floor, or perhaps. Yeah, maybe I'll hold
off on the Fifth Floor until I meet Onee-san and hear what she
has to say. While I still have the motivation riding on yesterday's momentum,
let's try going to another Dungeon today too.
「I've already
been to the nice, depopulated Dungeons, so in that case, maybe I'll try
going to a popular Dungeon today. It's still early in the morning, so it
might be empty right now.」
There's no time like the present. If I recall correctly, the most
popular one was the Kagurazaka Dungeon, right. If I'm going to go, I
might as well make it that one.
Once I decide, my actions are fast. I traveled immediately, and arrived
at the Kagurazaka Dungeon. I had heard the rumors, but the magnificence
of the Dungeon Administration was already on a completely different
level from Higashi-Nakano.
Even though the Higashi-Nakano Dungeon Administration was a
shabby, three-story building that looked like a government office, the Kagurazaka
Dungeon Administration was a splendid high-rise building. It's as different
as a weather-beaten apartment and a newly built multi-million yen luxury condo.
I don't specifically know what a luxury condo is like, but it's probably about
that different. Well of course the number of Hunters who make this their
home base would be high.
However. No matter how popular it is, even though it's still first thing
in the morning, there are so many people! There are tons of receptionists lined
up in a row, so it doesn't seem like Hunters would need to wait for a
long time, but depending on the time of day, it looks like it gets quite
congested.
Even while feeling fed up before I even did anything, it would be a
waste to come all this way and go home without entering the Dungeon. I
might never come again, after all. Making up my mind, I lined up for a bit and
had a charming receptionist register me.
「Ah, is it
your first time here?」
「I'm the
rookie Hunter said to have a promising future, Nagakura Aoi. Nice
to meet ya.」
I finished the procedures and headed for the Dungeon entrance.
While walking through the magnificent building with a somewhat restless
feeling, I looked at the other folks and thought: Each and every one of them is
clad in splendid equipment.
Aside from some exceptions, they probably put bulky things like weapons
into their Dimensional Bags, but it seems normal to equip other armor and
defensive gear in the Dungeon Administration's changing rooms.
It's true that there isn't anyone walking around outside in armor, so I
guess that makes sense. In such an environment, me heading to the Dungeon
in a tacky jersey would attract weird amounts of attention. I get it, I'll buy
some slightly more decent casual clothes soon. Let's do that.
Well, it can't be helped even if I worry about it now. Let's flip the switch and go! I wonder what the Dungeon in the fashionable town of Kagurazaka is like.