Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 56: Luggage Carrier (14)
Amid the forest, there was an unexpectedly out-of-place slanted hole—it was the dungeon entrance. Twisting and turning, the inside was obscured from view.
“Be careful as you descend.”
“I’ll go first.”
“Huh?”
Mineha separated from my shoulder and leapt straight into the dungeon’s opening.
“That girl…”
“She just went on ahead.”
“She’s as self-centered as my seventh older sister. But… I’m a little envious.”
As Rel said this, I couldn’t help but feel the same.
We descended slowly.
At the bottom, torches were placed at regular intervals along the rocky walls, casting light around the area.
“You’re slow.”
Mineha said, fixing us with a cold stare.
Axe gave a strained smile.
“Unlike you, we don’t have wings like a bug.”
“Who are you calling a bug?”
“Enough of this bickering.”
I said.
“Yeah, loud voices will attract monsters.”
Hoss added.
“Hmph. If monsters come, it’s no big deal. I’ve already taken care of the ones nearby.”
Mineha declared.
“What? Skeletons?” Axes asked.
“Exactly.”
“Skeletons…?”
The image of the horde of skeletons we’d fought in the forest flashed in my mind. That memory would be hard to forget.
Axe explained.
“According to reports, the monsters in this dungeon are skeletons, slimes, and treants.”
“Treants—those are tree monsters, right?”
“Skeletons and slimes are standard, but treants are rare in a dungeon.”
“Really?”
“They’re typically forest monsters. They often show up in forests under our jurisdiction.”
“Not dungeon monsters.”
Rel confirmed.
“That’s irrelevant. Let’s move.”
Mineha said dismissively, perching on my shoulder with crossed legs.
“Hahaha…”
“Let’s get this pointless exploration over with.”
She continued.
“Pointless or not, it’ll still take more than three days.”
Axe remarked with sarcasm.
“What? Why would it take three days for just three floors?”
Mineha snapped.
“Is there a reason?”
I asked.
“That’s news to me.”
“I hadn’t heard anything about it taking that long either,” Hoss added.
Axe pulled out a map—specifically, a scroll.
“This is the map of the first floor of the dungeon.”
He said, unrolling it.
What the…? It stretched out, covering the ground completely.
“What is this…?”
Mineha muttered.
“This is just the first floor?”
“Yep. And there are two more scrolls of the same size,” Axes replied.
“A maze…”
“A massive maze…”
Hoss whispered.
Everyone but Axe was speechless. The entire map was an intricate labyrinth, with countless twists, turns, and dead ends.
Dungeons are fundamentally labyrinths—labyrinthos, not simple mazes. But this one was unusually complex.
“This is absurd.”
Mineha spat, clearly shaken.
Her feelings were understandable. Axe remained calm.
Ad
“Even so, it’s our assignment.”
“But this is meaningless!”
“Even so, we have to do it, Third-Grade Explorer.”
“…!”
Axe was clearly irritated. While his frustration was justified, he seemed to have forgotten his manners.
“Yeah, it’s an assignment.”
Rel said.
“No choice.”
Hoss added with a shrug.
So, this is how professional explorers operate.
“Fine.”
Mineha muttered quietly.
I sighed.
“Alright, if there are no complaints, let’s move.”
Axe said as he began walking.
Ad
I decided it’d be better to address this later.
The dungeon exploration continued smoothly despite the tense atmosphere.
So far, we encountered two skeletons and four slimes. No sign of treants yet.
Hoss was crouching down.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look. Mushrooms.”
Sure enough, there were mushrooms—three with thick, red caps.
Hoss carefully picked them.
“Are they edible?”
“Red mushrooms. They’re perfect for soup.”
Crisis Detection marked them as safe.
Hoss also picked wild herbs with precision, expertly avoiding any marked red or black by the detection skill.
“Is this from years of experience?”
It rivaled even a relic’s accuracy. Impressed, I eagerly helped.
How long had we been exploring?
Eventually, we came upon a bright patch in the ceiling, leading to a square, open space.
The area was barren and seemed like nothing more than a waypoint.
Axe and the others stopped and pulled out some kind of object.
“What’s that?”
“Probably setting up camp. It’s already late.”
Mineha said, perched on my shoulder with crossed legs.
She didn’t sit there the whole time, though—she’d occasionally fly off on a whim and then return.
“You can tell?”
“Every explorer carries one of these.”
She said, showing me a black crystal.
“What is it?”
“A Day-Night Stone. If it’s daytime outside, it turns white. At night, it turns black.”
“That’s fascinating.”
“Dungeons are mostly underground, so you lose your sense of time. When you return to the surface, your internal clock might be off, and it can mess with your body.”
“I see. So this stone helps you at least know whether it’s day or night.”
“Exactly. Roughly speaking, when it cycles from white to black and back to white, a full day has passed.”
“Do they issue these?”
“Yes. You get one from the guild when you become an explorer.”
“Huh… that’s pretty neat.”
A Day-Night Stone—something to look forward to.
I noticed they even made smaller ones for fairies like Mineha. Or at least, I assumed they did.
Just as Mineha suggested, we decided to set up camp here.
This was my chance.