Kays Translations

Chapter 77: Crown of the Wonderland ⑥

Upon returning to the campfire, everyone was either sitting or leaning in their own way.

Liv and Bid were comfortably maintaining their weapons.

Axe and Hoss were playing the board game Shield Board.

It was a classic board game—called Shield Board because it was played with shields.

The two were playing under the King Road rules.

It looked like Axe was about to lose.

Well, of course, they wouldn’t play Krum.

That game had too much gambling involved and was banned during expeditions.

Speaking of Axe, he didn’t seem to be talking to the women.

Hoss was acting a bit strange too. Rell was the same as ever.

Rell stood near the entrance, keeping watch outside.

Though nothing seemed unusual, there was a somewhat awkward atmosphere.

Maybe because there were more women present.

Oh, right—Thunderfang wasn’t good at dealing with the opposite sex.

I had completely forgotten since he was fine with Mineha.

Let’s see… the women present were:

Lupinus, Pakira, Liv, Bid, Mineha…

And probably Megadia as well. That made six.

As for the men:

Me, Axe, Rell, Hoss…

Alexander, if we count him, made five.

Just a one-person difference.

At Lupinus’ command, everyone except Rel gathered around the campfire.

Rell remained on guard duty.

“Now then, let’s talk. Starting with you, Axe.”

“O-Oh… Us first, huh? Well, whatever. We originally—”

Axe began explaining.

Hoss joined in, and since Rell wasn’t there, I helped fill in the gaps.

“So that’s how it is.”

“…Haah, so a land catfish.”

“Yeah,. Is there a problem?”

Lupinus’ tone was slightly irritating.

“If you put it that way…”

“Hmm, indeed…”

What was this? Something felt off.

Was it because they were monsters?

Yes, they were monsters, but even monsters could become adventurers.

It wasn’t unheard of, but still… the mood was getting weird.

“…Hmm. An earthquake… related to this…”

“Next, it’s our turn to talk.”

Pakira began recounting their side of the story.

The dungeon anomaly suppression team had been steadily advancing through the floors.

Since the investigation team had already pinpointed the affected floor, the journey there wasn’t too difficult.

More importantly, they had two Second-Class adventurers with them.

Agaro, the Destruction Sword, and Megadia, the Black Devourer, were overwhelming forces.

Because of that, Pakira’s team assumed the mission would be over quickly.

Then, they finally reached the dungeon anomaly.

The floor contained a half-destroyed colosseum—

A deserted, empty arena.

At its center stood a massive land catfish and The Fool.

The Fool—a jester-like humanoid monster, supposedly an undead.

It wore a black-and-white jester outfit with a red-and-blue four-horned hat.

Its makeup-covered face was twisted into a manic grin.

Yes, a Clown.

Sitting cross-legged on a ridiculously tacky throne.

When the Clown saw Pakira’s team, it burst into laughter—absurdly loud, as if mocking them.

That was when Megadia snapped.

The moment they charged forward to attack, the massive land catfish roared.

Then, with a snap of its fingers, the Clown summoned three enormous Mimics to the arena.

Three giant Mimics—

Mimic Panic Box, Mimic Strange Box, and Mimic Monster Box.

Thankfully, the Black Box wasn’t among them.

“We each fought a different Mimic—Megadia, myself, and the others. Agaro went after the Clown directly.”

“Ahh, man, that was seriously rough!”

“More than that, those Mimics were disgusting.”

“D-Disgusting?”

Axe reacted to Lupinus’ words.

Bid gave an uncomfortable smile.

“…Yeah, well, total enemies of women.”

“Filthy things, for sure.”

“What kind of Mimics were they?”

I asked without thinking. Liv answered.

“Mm… Lots of tentacles… coming out…”

“Ah, oh… that kind of…”

I immediately understood. A box that unleashed all kinds of tentacles.

No wonder the women hated it.

“Mm… Also… Couton. Got stabbed in the stomach by a tentacle… almost died…”

“We used our trump card to save him.”

Wait, did they use that vial? An Elixir?

Couton was a member of Zan Brave, one of the ones who stayed behind.

Bid frowned in suspicion.

“That was really a High Potion?”

“Mm… Certainly…”

“Now that you mention it, I wonder.”

“I told you already. It was a special High Potion. Enough questioning. If you want more details, you’ll have to pay for information. Oh, and Bid—Couton’s treatment fee will be charged to you.”

Pakira sounded irritated.

“Nothing, nothing at all. Let’s move on!”

“Mm… moving on…”

“I just thought it was odd, that’s all. Nothing more.”

The others backed down easily.

I chuckled despite myself.

“Anyway, we somehow managed to take down the giant Mimics. After that, only the Clown and the giant land catfish remained. But then the catfish caused an earthquake. And suddenly, we were in another floor. Just like what happened to your group.”

“That thing has the Relics Earthquake and Teleport, huh.”

“A real pain.”

A massive land catfish…

Even in my past life, large catfish were said to cause earthquakes.

I never expected it to be true in another world.

Or maybe land catfish were actually giant salamanders.

A giant salamander… like that mafia boss from a famous sci-fi series?

“When we returned, more Fools had appeared. The giant land catfish had been riddled with holes by Megadia. Right after that, another earthquake happened. And when we came to, we were here.”

“So when that giant land catfish died, it triggered the Earthquake Relic?”

“A final spiteful attack.”

“Bid, that’s not something a lady should say.”

“My bad… Anyway, that means four of them are still on the other side: the leader, Couton, Romomo, and Agaro.”

“Four stayed behind, huh. But with those members, they should be fine.”

That was reassuring. But that didn’t mean they were safe.

A phrase from my past life popped into my head—
“The way there is easy, but the way back is dangerous.”

That was from Tōryanse, wasn’t it?

“Alright, the skewered Hishi-mochi is ready. Everyone, dig in.”

Hoss handed out the skewers.

They were made from kneaded water chestnut flour and roasted.

Another item from the temple city’s storage.

The Hishi-mochi had a simple flavor. Probably good with sweet sauce or salt.

“Now, let’s discuss what to do next.”

Liv spoke up.

“Mm… about the Clown… its Relic… called Vanish… creates… invisible spheres… anything they touch… gets erased.”

Everyone tensed at Liv’s words.

“So that was the invisible juggling trick.”

“If you can’t see it and get hit, it’s over… What a nasty ability.”

“Truly chilling.”

“Mm… But my Taygete could block it.”

“So there’s a countermeasure.”

“Liv, where did you learn this?”

“Mm… the boy…”

All eyes turned to me.

“Uh… um…”

“Wof-kun?”

“You…”

“Mm…”

“How do you know this, child?”

“W-Well, my Relic is Crisis Perception. It lets me see enemy Relics.”

I went along with Liv’s misunderstanding.

“A Relic that detects danger… Liv did mention that.”

“That’s pretty useful!”

“Indeed. If that’s the case, it makes sense.”

“I-I guess so.”

“Very well. But how do you know the Relic’s name?”

“Uh…”

“—Wof is the apprentice of that witch.”

Axe spoke up. The room fell into hushed shock.

“The apprentice… of that witch?”

That witch.

“Mm… that witch… many things… now make sense.”

That witch. What things exactly?

That witch. Why does Pakira have such a displeased look?

“Wof-kun, do you mean that witch!?”

Yes, that witch.

“H-huh? That witch…?”

What’s with this repeated that witch reaction? That witch, huh.

Lupinus takes a deep breath.

“I understand. This is valuable enemy information. Child, I appreciate it.”

“N-no, I…”

I got carried away and accidentally lied.

“Does anyone else have something they want to do?”

“I suppose we should continue searching.”

“What about the giant mimic?”

“Hmm… that too…”

“That’s true.”

“Hey, uh… Megadia. Are you really in the deepest part of this place?”

Axe muttered the question.

“What do you mean?”

“They might have stayed behind like the four of them did.”

“That’s not possible. At that time, Megadia landed a spinning kick on one of The Fool’s minions.”

“I see… wait, a spinning kick?”

In a gothic lolita outfit?

“Also, Alexander hasn’t come back yet. That’s concerning.”

“Yeah, we need to find him.”

“Alexander left for our sake and never returned…”

He hasn’t come back yet, but he’s probably fine.

After all, he’s a former Grade I explorer.

“Wait, isn’t he a land catfish?”

Bid?

Lupinus speaks without hesitation.

“Excuse me, but can we really trust this Alexander, this monster?”

“Hey, that’s really rude. Even if he’s a monster, he was once a Grade I explorer!”

Axe gets angry. He and Lupinus glare at each other.

Uh-oh, this is bad. Lupinus crosses her arms and speaks.

“What? It’s a natural suspicion.”

“Are you trusting him just because he’s also a land catfish?”

To be fair, everyone probably had that thought for a moment.

I did too, but this is dangerous.

Axe and Lupinus are like oil and water.

If they keep arguing, our fragile unity will collapse.

Now is not the time for this.

Then, Hoss slams the butt of his halberd into the ground.

A deep thud resonates. Everyone turns toward him.

“Axe. Lupinus wasn’t saying that much. Everyone, calm down.”

“Hoss…”

“…Fine.”

“…Yeah. Sorry.”

Lupinus and Axe step away from each other.

“I only suspected him because they look alike.”

“…Lupinus. Let’s trust him.”

At Liv’s words, Lupinus sighs and looks at me.

W-what?

“Child, what do you think?”

“Me? Uh, why do you ask?”

“You’ve met him before, haven’t you?”

“I don’t think Alexander is our enemy, not even a little.”

“And why is that?”

Why? It’s simple—Alexander owes me a favor.

But that aside…

“I understand your concern. Despite the size difference, they’re both monsters. It’s natural to have doubts.”

“Exactly.”

“Wof…”

“But assuming a connection just because of that is unreasonable.”

“…That’s…”

“By the way, without Alexander, we can’t escape from here.”

“Child, what do you mean?”

“Did you forget? He’s the only one who has a return teleportation circle and can set it up.”

“Oh, right.”

“That’s true. According to Axe, we might be trapped here.”

“Escape… I hadn’t considered that.”

“Hmm… important… Liv also forgot.”

“Yeah, same here.”

“So, that’s the situation. I understand your concerns, but now is not the time for them. If you still have doubts, you can ask him directly when we find him. Does that work for you, Lupinus?”

“…Child, you’re quite capable.”

Lupinus says with frustration.

I don’t want to think it, but—Lupinus seemed to be trying to turn suspicion into a conviction.

As if she believed gaining enough support would make anything justifiable.

That’s not how it works. Nothing can justify baseless accusations.

At least in this case, it irritated me.

If that’s how things are, then what about me? I carry the same relic as the clown.

I couldn’t say that out loud, but…

To be honest, I was planning to reveal that I also possess the relic Vanish.

Given our situation, I should share any information I have.

But with how things are going, they might treat me as a monster too.

Still… they seriously forgot about escaping?

I feel a bit uneasy.

On top of that, the land catfish’s final struggle caused an earthquake.

We don’t know how that affected the dungeon.

If Alexander’s theory is correct and the dungeon is restoring itself, there should be an exit.

But for now, we’ll deal with that later.

“By the way, I have a question… was the land catfish really a dungeon monster?”

Or rather, was it even a monster? I thought it was just an animal.

“It doesn’t matter. If it’s dangerous, we exterminate it.”

Lupinus’ words make everyone nod in agreement. She has a point.

After some discussion, we decide to search for Megadia while also dealing with the mimic.

Opinions were divided, but we prioritize finding Alexander.

“Wait… what’s with all these people?”

A sudden voice makes everyone turn.

Mineha flies over, looking flustered.

When all eyes fall on her, she flinches and shrinks back.

Then, spotting me, she immediately flies over and lands on my shoulder.

Her face turns red as she glares at me, silently demanding an explanation.

I can’t help but chuckle.

Maybe, with this team, we can actually pull this off.

“Sorry to interrupt the excitement, but we have guests.”

Rell leads someone in, and… no way.

“Finally here. I’m exhausted.”

“What a tiring day.”

A tall, elegant beauty with deep purple eyes, wearing a tattered gothic lolita outfit.

She’s taller than Axe.

And—clearly a giant salamander, smoking a pipe.

“Alexander!?”

“A land catfish!?”

“Megadia!?”

“Alexander!?”

“What in the…”

“A miracle!”

“Hmm… I’m relieved.”

The very two we were about to search for had just arrived.

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