Chapter 52: Trade City Heizen ⑯: The Dungeon Anomaly

When I saw that figure, I couldn’t help but groan.

“Ugh…”

Purple twin-tails and deep purple eyes. A cute, well-arranged face.

She’s undoubtedly a cute girl, but at 24 years old, “beauty” would be more accurate.

For some reason, she’s standing with her hands on her hips, full of confidence.

She’s wearing ceremonial-looking clothes made of layered pure white fabric.

Somehow reminds me of shrine maiden outfits from my memories of previous lives.

It suits her. It really suited her well.

Ah, the bracelet. I’m glad she’s wearing it.

Yes. It’s Narcissus-san.

“Huh, wh-who is that? And purple hair and eyes!?”

Nabel-san is confused. He’s flustered, tearful, looking like he might start barking any moment.

Well, I was also quite confused until this person appeared.

But thanks to Narcissus-san appearing, I was saved from the absolute despair I felt at first.

I was prepared for something serious or full-blown horror, so being a gag was a huge relief.

Thank you. Narcissus-san. Thank you. Narcissus-san.

So can I take Nabel-san and go home now?

The door to the Great Temple is closed. I guess not.

Oh, I made eye contact with her.

We stared at each other for a while before I spoke.

“Hello.”

“H-hello. Long time no see. Wof!”

“Um, why is Narcissus-san here?”

“I don’t know!”

“Huh…”

“Because I suddenly realized I was here. By the way, who is that?”

Narcissus-san glanced at Nabel-san with slight caution.

Come to think of it, this person is basically a chihuahua.

“It’s Nabel-san.”

“N-nice to meet you. I’m the leader of the Rank IV explorer party ‘Cerberus Stern.’ P-pleased to meet you.”

He greeted nervously and bowed politely.

He really was well-raised.

Narcissus-san immediately became assertive.

“I am Ura Narcissus. Ura of Narcissus Utopia of the Six Houses of Edda!”

“I’ve heard the rumors.”

“Rank IV, huh? I’m Rank I!”

“Of course. I know of you.”

“Then that’s fine!”

“Y-yes…”

Ehehe~ Narcissus-san naturally takes the dominant position.

I can’t help but wryly smile.

“So, do you know why we were brought here? Wof. You. Do you know?”

“…Could it be the dungeon anomaly?”

This Great Temple. There’s only one thing that comes to mind.

The dungeon anomaly. What happened here before.

That outcome—absolutely unforgettable.

“Exactly! A dungeon anomaly has occurred in Heisen. The series of events that have been happening in Heisen recently were all because this dungeon anomaly occurred!”

“W-wait, there’s no dungeon in Heizen. Right, Nabel-san?”

“That’s right. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

A series of events… events, she said.

What is this… unpleasant feeling.

Why did events happen consecutively in Heizen?

And a dungeon anomaly?

That’s impossible. There’s no dungeon in Heisen.

Heizen itself isn’t a dungeon, you know.

In response to our denial, Narcissus-san placed her hand on her chin and tilted her head slightly.

“That’s true too.”

“Narcissus-san?”

How anticlimactic. This person hasn’t changed.

While still tilting her head, she said:

“But Heizen is a dungeon.”

“No, that’s—”

“A four-floor above-ground dungeon! The first floor is Trade City Heizen. The second floor is Heizen Plains. The third floor is Heizen Great Forest. And the deepest part of the dungeon—the fourth floor—is the Forbidden Land. What’s the Forbidden Land?”

How should I know. No, I do know. Even so.

“…Seriously?”

“Seriously!”

Narcissus-san’s baseless confidence can probably be ignored.

But I can accept it.

If Heizen is a dungeon, various things make sense.

So then, that series of incidents caused by Laada… were they events?

The witch’s auction disturbance too? No, that might become an event from now on.

Thinking that way, the sense of wrongness I felt disappears.

Then the Full Moon Bazaar and Forest Wave were events too.

No, no matter how you think about it, they’re events.

And it’s not just dungeon monsters that perform events.

The people living in that land… in that dungeon are also subject to them.

Or do those present participate in the EVENT?

“…Wof-san… I don’t understand anything anymore… I’m more confused than back then.”

Nabel-san’s eyes spun as he sought salvation from me.

If it were Koran-san, he would have collapsed.

He actually collapsed just from that explanation before fighting Hellftu.

“Hmph. How naive. I don’t understand anything either!”

“Isn’t that a problem…?”

Nabel-san couldn’t help but retort.

Ehehe~ Narcissus-san smiled boldly.

“How naive! It’s fine because we can still live like that!”

“Y-yes… but, um, Lady Narcissus knew it was a dungeon, right?”

“How would I know! I’ve never even been to Heizen. Where is it anyway? Or rather, what is Heizen?”

“It’s a trade city.”

“Is that so? I didn’t know.”

“…”

“You see. I was just told to say that, so I’m saying it exactly as told!”

Narcissus-san makes a triumphant face despite having nothing to boast about.

Nabel-san is bewildered. He’s holding his head, wondering what is with this person.

Thinking that was her victory, Narcissus-san laughed loudly.

This person really likes taking the dominant position at every turn.

“Told by whom?”

Something is speaking to us through Narcissus-san.

“I don’t know. It’s something I don’t really understand.”

Why of all people is it Narcissus-san?

But compared to her personality, that’s a trivial matter.

That someone. I first thought it might be the gods, but probably not.

If so, the Goddess of Knives would have told me back then.

So she didn’t know either.

Then who is making Narcissus-san say these things?

“Could it be the dungeon?”

“Exactly! The dungeon?”

As I thought.

Dungeons sometimes help explorers.

They sometimes grant power to explorers.

That’s because dungeons have a will.

The will of Heizen’s dungeon is speaking to us through Narcissus-san.

Probably because it normally can’t communicate.

Maybe Narcissus-san has a relic for that.

Unfortunately.

“A dungeon anomaly has occurred in Heizen, and you want us to resolve it.”

“Exactly! Easy to understand. As expected of Wof! But it’s not us. It’s you, Wof. The reason? Because you have a track record of resolving anomalies and are one of Heizen’s top combat forces. You’re the only one with good conditions worthy of trust! Huh? Wof resolved an anomaly!?”

“Y-yes…”

Narcissus-san’s subjective comments keep interrupting, making it hard to follow.

Nabel-san’s eyes sparkled and his tail wagged.

“As expected of Wof-san!”

“No, it was just a coincidence. Just a coincidence. So this subjugation is a designated request, right?”

And Heizen’s dungeon knows that I resolved the anomaly.

Do dungeons have some kind of network between them?

“Of course. There’s proper compensation.”

“What is the compensation?”

“Let’s see. You seem to know about the garbage dump already, so… how about a ship? I’ll tell you where a ship is. A ship?”

“A ship?”

“A ship?”

A ship, huh. And the garbage dump information was casually mentioned and ignored.

“Yes, I think you’ll definitely like it! That’s what was said. Good for you, Wof!”

“Understood. I’ll accept.”

Well, actually, the reward is secondary.

“As expected of Night King Wof. I thought you’d accept.”

“Hey, wait.”

“Indeed, Night King.”

“I said that’s wrong!”

Conquest King has been fading recently, but for some reason Night King won’t go away.

And just 2 meters more.

“Alright. That settles it—oh, I forgot. Here.”

Restraint Relic [Dimension Crack]

Text appeared in my mind, engraved into the vessel of my soul.

A new restraint relic. So this means defeat the dungeon anomaly?

But she just tossed it to me.

“By the way, will this dungeon anomaly appear during the Forest Wave?”

“I don’t know. But the anomaly is in the Forbidden Land!”

“Figures. But the Forbidden Land is cursed.”

“That’s news to me!”

“Huh… There’s a crab who said his daughter was cursed because he set foot there.”

“That’s impossible! A crab?”

“What does this mean?”

“Besides, it’s strange that the daughter would be cursed instead of the person who entered, isn’t it?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true.”

“Yes.”

That crab is hiding something.

“Find out for yourself. And you, Wof boy!”

“Huh, me? Um, you mean me?”

“Cooperate with the dungeon anomaly subjugation! That’s what was said—cooperate!”

“Eh, y-yes.”

“That dungeon anomaly is the enemy of the wielder of that Ulfen sword! Who?”

“Enemy——I see. Understood. Wof-san. Please let me help too.”

Nabel-san had a face full of determination.

I nodded.

“I should be asking for your help. Please take care of me.”

“No no, I should be asking you.”

“I should be asking you.”

We bowed to each other.

In my memories of previous lives, we used to greet each other like this.

“I sense some pathos!”

“Ugh!”

“Augh!”

At Narcissus-san’s words, both Nabel-san and I choked.

Then the door to the Great Temple opened. I suppose that means we can go home.

After greeting Narcissus-san, we passed through the door and returned to where we were.

A back alley in Trade City Heizen. We remained silent for a while.

“…”

“…”

“…P-please take care of me.”

“Please take care of me too.”

We bowed to each other again.

So full of pathos.

And the next day.

I was at the Gourou family mansion.

The room I was shown to was filled with elegance, and I could tell the furnishings were expensive.

But the person before me made everything look shabby.

The head of the Gourou family, Puamanclub.

Average build, wrinkle-free suit.

But his head was a mitten crab.

And whole, with pincers and legs attached.

Can’t you spare me this kind of thing…