Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 292: Floor 86
After returning to the dragonfolk village, Tauro resumed his daily transportation quests for the dungeon expedition’s supply teams.
Outside those duties, he helped prepare the village curry shop and investigated ways to apply dragonfolk technology to his own magical research.
Several mornings later, Drago spoke to him.
“Tauro, you’ve been even more energetic than usual since returning from the Royal Capital.”
Ragune’s older brother had been watching Tauro throw himself into one task after another.
“Seeing how hard my companions are working inspired me. I can’t afford to fall behind them. Besides, everything I experience here is valuable, so I want to accomplish as much as I can.”
Tauro answered brightly.
“I see. We dragonfolk have learned a great deal from you as well. Your help with the dungeon expedition is impressive enough, but your magic-circle tools—and especially that spicy, delicious curry—are wonderful!”
Drago wiped away the drool that had appeared merely from imagining the food.
“Ha ha. I’ll cook tonight, then. We’ll have hamburger-steak curry as the main dish, with a seafood salad on the side.”
“Hamburger-steak curry and seafood?! I can hardly wait. Those juicy hamburger steaks are magnificent on their own; combined with curry, they’ll be devastating! And seafood is still precious in this region. Dinner can’t come soon enough!”
Still excited, Drago returned to his room to continue his magical research.
“All right. I’d better head to the Adventurers’ Guild and take another quest.”
Tauro rose and made his way to the guild.
At the Adventurers’ Guild reception desk—
“Good morning, Ryuko. I’ll take today’s usual—”
Tauro approached the request board as usual, only to find two free quests posted there.
One was the familiar assignment to transport people and supplies to and from the expedition’s deep-floor base.
Beside it, however, hung a second notice:
—Urgent Request—
Transportation for a search party bound for Floor 86.
Transport a team dispatched to search for a support unit that has lost contact on Floor 86.
Client: Adventurers’ Guild
Tauro read the notice twice.
The request had been issued by the Adventurers’ Guild itself. Since the Dragonfolk Village branch manager was currently away, that could only mean…
He turned toward the reception counter. Ryuko stood there with her hands clasped in prayer.
“Um… The missing support unit isn’t the branch manager’s team, is it?”
Tauro voiced the ominous conclusion.
“It is. The branch manager failed to return by the end of the scheduled expedition. Another team reported that they had gone to continue mapping Floor 86, but they never came back.”
“Floor 86 still hasn’t been fully mapped? The expedition has already reached beyond Floor 200.”
“Some floors remain partly unexplored. Floor 86 is one of them; it’s known as the ‘labyrinth within the labyrinth.’”
“I understand. So a search party is being sent after the missing team.”
Tauro nodded gravely.
“Exactly. Will you handle transportation to and from the floor?”
“Of course. Where’s the search party?”
“They’re already waiting at the dungeon entrance.”
“Then I’ll accept the request and meet them there.”
The job appeared to involve nothing more than transportation. But when Tauro reached the Floor 85 rest room with his escort and the search party, he discovered that the situation was far worse than expected.
When he brought the search party there with [Spatial Transfer], one survivor was already waiting in the rest room.
The dragonfolk was a member of the branch manager’s party.
He was alone.
“A Storm struck Floor 86 and scattered all of us!”
The survivor reported.
A “Storm” was a phenomenon unique to Floor 86. Despite its name, it wasn’t an ordinary weather event.
It caused search, detection, visual-obstruction, and similar skills to malfunction wildly.
Among the dragonfolk, the phenomenon was known as “Skill-Killing.”
Only a handful of Storms had been recorded over several centuries, and almost no living dragonfolk had ever experienced one.
The missing party’s involvement in such an extraordinarily rare event could only be called terrible luck.
The search party’s expressions changed as they grasped the severity of the situation.
Even under normal conditions, Floor 86 was a “labyrinth within the labyrinth.”
With a Storm disrupting their abilities, locating the missing members would be exceptionally difficult.
The search force consisted of three five-person teams—fifteen people in total—but even that no longer seemed sufficient.
In the tense atmosphere, Tauro addressed Tsugumu, captain of his escort team.
“Could we join the search too? We’ve already completed today’s deep-floor transportation. You and the others are the reserve unit for the expedition’s support force, so helping here would be more useful than simply returning.”
Tauro proposed.
“That’s true, but we can’t expose you to danger again.”
“Is Floor 86 really that dangerous?”
“Monsters appear only rarely. The danger is becoming isolated. Anyone lost alone gradually loses all sense of direction and may be driven to the verge of a mental breakdown. Dragonfolk are trained to endure such conditions, but you’ve received no such training. If you became separated, the risk would be severe.”
Tsugumu explained the floor’s hazards.
“Then I’ll make certain I stay close to everyone.”
Tauro solemnly promised not to leave the group.
And yet, not long afterward…
“How did this happen?”
Tauro stood alone, lost somewhere on Floor 86.