Kays Translations

Chapter 190

“I’m sorry, Shizuma-kun. The backup birds — Bird XIII and Poppo 24 — both died while passing through this floor! We have no way to confirm whether the next level is safe, so as a precaution we’ve taken anti-toxin potions. Melt, Shizuma, you two should take yours as well — we’ll push through this floor together.”

“Understood.”

“R-r… Roger… It’s so hot, so hot…”

We each swallowed the anti-toxin potion we were handed and passed through the thin veil marking the end of the floor.

Instantly, the air became easier to breathe, and the oppressive heat clinging to our bodies faded away.

The air… didn’t seem to contain any poison, and there were no signs of abnormality in our bodies.
Could it be — we actually made it through safely? Perhaps… we truly survived the crisis.

“Phew… Everyone, is anyone hurt?”

“Aye, we’re all safe here. The rear group too… yes, all accounted for.”

“Ahhh, that was so hot! My shirt’s completely soaked! I’m changing right now.”

“Hey! Don’t start stripping here!”

I quickly stopped her as she began to pull her shirt off.
You can’t do that — everyone’s watching!

“Eh? But Rivana-chan’s already undressing! She even took off her underwear!”

“Wha—!?”

I instinctively turned to check, then immediately averted my eyes.
No good! What a terrible example to set!

“I feel refreshed. I don’t mind it.”

“Well, the rest of us do mind, so please stop. Melt might copy you.”

“Understood.”

Having escaped the scorching twenty-second floor, we all took a short rest at the entrance to the twenty-third.
Melt conjured cold water with her magic, and we drank it to cool our overheated bodies.

Everyone else also wiped off sweat, changed clothes, and began preparing to move on again.
Despite just surviving that hellish floor, they were already setting their sights forward.
Truly, a reliable group.

“We’ve used up more stamina than expected… Our original plan was to camp after defeating the floor boss on the fortieth level, but let’s move that up — we’ll camp after the thirtieth instead. Everyone agree?”

At Araza-san’s proposal, everyone responded weakly but in agreement.
Right… in that case, I’ll contribute something too.

I took out several recovery potions — not the best quality, but good enough to restore stamina — and handed them out to everyone.

“Here — stamina recovery potions. These were about to expire, so the brigade gave them to me. Don’t hesitate to use them.”

I added that line so no one would feel guilty about accepting them.
Even if the accessories slowly restored their stamina over time, everyone was clearly exhausted.

My own stats were higher than most ordinary people, after all — that meant the others must have suffered far worse in that blazing inferno.

“Thanks, Shizuma. Seriously, you’re amazing… These accessories are great, but the fact that you’re entrusted with so much gear — they must really trust you.”

“I hope that’s the case. How are you holding up, Quebec?”

“That potion really helped. I feel way better now. Damn, your brigade’s impressive… What are they up to these days?”

Quebec, a scout in the first team and someone about my age, struck up an easy conversation.
It felt refreshing — and honestly, kind of nice.

“I think Same, our former vice-captain, went to check on things, but for the most part, they’re still wandering. They seem to like this continent, so they’re probably traveling around right now.”

“Ha! True wanderers, huh? We can’t let ourselves fall behind — dungeon conquest has always been our clan’s dream. We even ventured to the neighboring continent before, but when this dungeon’s disasters worsened, we cut the expedition short and returned. That was… what, three years ago now?”

“Huh, I see. I’d love to visit that neighboring continent someday.”

“Oh, you should! The imperial state-run dungeons there are incredible — full of unique mechanisms and systems!”

“Wait, the country runs them? So that means they were cleared before — and the nation manages them using the dungeon core?”

“Is that how it works? I’m not too clear on the details myself.”

Ah — that’s right. Information about how cores are used is considered a state secret. I let that slip.

But… interesting. So the Empire already has dungeons under its control.
Then… if you clear one of those, does that mean you don’t get a dungeon core as a reward?

“Shizuma, thanks for the potion. Do you want the empty bottle back?”

“Oh, if it’s in the way, I’ll collect them, Rivana-san.”

“Give them to me when we return to the surface. I’ll hold onto them for now.”

“You collect empty bottles?”

“Yes. For my hobby.”

“Your… hobby?”

While I was still talking with Quebec, Rivana-san approached, holding several empty potion bottles.
Apparently, she’d gathered everyone else’s too.
But a bottle-collecting hobby…?

“Ah, you didn’t know, Shizuma? Our squad leader’s also a glass artisan. On her days off, she locks herself in the workshop and makes glass crafts for fun. She even helped make some of the stained glass in the Lindblum Church.”

“I only assisted. The actual work was done by a professional stained-glass craftsman.”

“Still, that’s impressive! Alright then, I’ll give you all the empty bottles.”

“Appreciated. The glass bead in this bracelet is also fine work. Who made it?”

Apparently intrigued by her borrowed accessory, she held it up to the light, examining the gleaming glass centerpiece as she asked.

“The person who made it is named Shijima, one of the brigade’s blacksmiths. He’s skilled not only in forging weapons and armor but also in crafting accessories. He’s like my mentor when it comes to smithing.”

“Fascinating. Shizuma, do you understand how this glasswork is made?”

“Uh, let’s see… I think it’s made by attaching a thin layer of silver foil inside a glass bead, then coating it with blue glass that has uneven color density to form that round shape…”

“I see. Thank you. That’s quite interesting.”

With that, Rivana left, looking just a little pleased.
Even though we were deep in a grueling dungeon expedition, she was already thinking about what she’d do afterward.
She really was tough — impressively so.

“Heh, the captain always looks happier when she’s around you, Shizuma. Alright, let’s get ready to move out!”

“Seems like everyone’s recovered too.”

“Yeah. Thanks to the potions.”

Following Quebec’s lead, everyone began preparing to advance again.
Now we were on the 23rd floor, just seven floors away from our planned camp on the 30th.

After getting past the scorching level, we didn’t encounter any other particularly harsh environments.
Still, not having our scout birds to check the safety of the next floors made everyone uneasy.
To compensate, we decided to capture a small monster along the way — tying it up with a rope to use as a living sensor.

But when we sent that creature forward upon reaching the 29th floor, something happened.
The moment it crossed the boundary, its body rapidly transformed — the small wolf suddenly sprouted scales, turning into a completely different subspecies.

It was possible that monsters here were automatically modified to adapt to the environment.
With that in mind, we braced ourselves and stepped into the floor — and immediately, the faint smell of sulfur filled our noses, our eyes stinging slightly.

As it turned out, the 29th floor was filled with a mildly toxic gas.
Fortunately, the antidotes and accessories reduced its effects almost completely, so it wasn’t much of a threat.
However, it was clear that monsters could no longer be used for safe reconnaissance — a worrying development.

Regardless, we managed to safely reach our target for the day — the 30th floor.

“Now then… we got off easy on the 20th floor, but on the 23rd, we were caught off guard and paid for it. This time, we can’t let our guard down. We’ll attack immediately after entering — full burst at the start for suppression and blinding. Rivana, you flank from behind. Gark and I will take the front to gauge the situation and respond. If it looks like we can push through, we do. If anything seems off, we retreat immediately.”

Once again, a formation focused on aggression.
Given that predicting the floor bosses was no longer possible, I suppose they judged that hesitation would only make things worse. Still… it felt a little too straightforward.

“Is there a chance it could reflect magic?”

“Certainly. But there’s no one among us who wouldn’t be able to respond to reflected spells. I’ve made you worry unnecessarily.”

“I see, my apologies. In that case… perhaps Melt should join the magic team. She excels at controlling magic — even reflected spells.”

Yes — Melt could manipulate any magic phenomenon present within the area.
Even if it wasn’t her own spell — even if it was an enemy’s attack.
In short, Melt herself was a walking anti-magic countermeasure.
…Honestly, she was absurdly powerful.

“There’s a limit, of course.” 

She added.

“But I can at least weaken the momentum of incoming spells. If everyone works together, we can neutralize them. So I’ll stay with the other magic users.”

“Understood. Then I’ll leave that to you. Shizuma-kun… you’ll act as a mobile observer.
Your perception is remarkable — I can trust you to coordinate commands.”

“It’s an important role, but I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Then… everyone, move out!”

And so — we stepped into the 30th floor.

“Well now… what a surprise. There are fewer of you than I expected.”

The moment we entered the floor, something impossible happened.
A human voice — not one of ours — echoed through the area.
Instantly, everyone’s alertness spiked to the maximum.
The shock made us hesitate for just an instant.

“—Tch! Fire!”

A heartbeat later, the group unleashed a barrage of spells at the source of that voice.

But—

“Ah, don’t worry. I just came to observe the group that managed to break through a high-difficulty area. I won’t be taking direct action yet.”

Even as the storm of magic raged around her, that calm voice—the voice of the Dungeon Master—continued to echo through the floor.

Through a break in the barrage, I caught sight of her figure and immediately activated my Divine Eye.

『Felschüler』

A higher being possessing immense power.

Even this “interference avatar” currently in use resonates with her strength and exhibits extraordinary abilities.

Her authority allows her to manipulate the dungeon itself, both in scale and effect.

Ordinarily, her power surpasses even that of Grimgram, yet she bears no cruelty.

She purely enjoys the act of running a dungeon.

It was the first time I’d ever analyzed a Dungeon Master using this ability.
And from it, I learned something crucial.

As expected… these beings are Higher Existences—inhabitants of a realm above this world.
The “Dungeon Master” is simply a vessel, a body through which they interact with this plane.

“Oh my… there’s a naughty child peeking at me, isn’t there? Hmm… how fascinating. You’ve already killed two people, haven’t you?”

“…No comment on that, ma’am.”

“Very well. I’ll overlook it. Now then, would you kindly stop attacking? I’m not here to fight you on this floor. I’ll be waiting much further below.”

“Cease fire—!”

Just as Araza gave the order, a shadow darted from behind the Dungeon Master and struck with a precise blow.
Rivana—she had followed the plan and gone for the kill from behind.
But—

“It’s useless. You’ve grown stronger, but you’re still not there yet.”

“—!”

The dagger meant to sever her neck from behind was caught effortlessly—
Her arm moved as casually as if brushing her hair aside, fingers closing perfectly around the blade.

Without so much as glancing back, she flung Rivana toward us as though tossing away a doll.

“Well then, I’ve seen something interesting, so I’ll take my leave. I’ll be waiting for you at the very bottom. Ah, and by the way—this dungeon currently has one hundred and twenty-three floors. One-two-three.”

“…Is that true?”

“It is. I won’t create any forced-ending floors this time—it’s far too entertaining to see how far you’ll make it. But there will be some difficult trials ahead. Do your best to overcome them.”

“…Thank you for the hint.”

“You’re very welcome. Now then, the true floor boss will appear shortly. I wish you a good battle.”

With those final words, the Dungeon Master—Felschüler—vanished.

…So Dungeon Masters can take female forms too, huh.

“Shizuma! The next one’s coming!”
“Understood!”

Shaking off the unease from our sudden encounter, I refocused my mind and readied myself for the real battle ahead.

One hundred and twenty-three floors, huh… I’ll reach the very bottom—no matter what.
There’s no way I’m losing here.

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