Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 86: Arc Lab (8)
It was like a warehouse, filled with towering stacks of enormous iron crates.
Dimly lit, with red lights blinking here and there, the place was vast beyond belief.
And it wasn’t just iron. There were crates made of wood, copper, silver, gold, and even minerals I’d never seen before.
The shelves were arranged like a maze, with all sorts of boxes piled about haphazardly.
Was this… the world of boxes?
Haiyaan looked around and shouted:
“What is this place!?”
“Heheh… this is the Black & Dark Shop. If you’ve got enough money, you can get almost anything here. And even if you don’t, well… you can still get quite a lot.”
“So basically?”
“A shop where you can get all kinds of things.”
I understood one thing—it wasn’t an ordinary shop.
Black & Dark Shop… the name was awful.
Still, since the witch started walking, we followed after her.
“…We’re here to buy a portable teleportation circle, right?”
“Mm-hmm. That’s not the only thing, though.”
She stopped with a loaded tone.
In my experience, that sort of pause never led to anything good.
Then Haiyaan, perched on my head, spoke up:
“Magnificent view, Wof.”
“This place? With all the boxes?”
“What are you talking about? I mean the witch’s backside. Or tail. No—backside.”
…Where the hell are you looking?
I sighed, and the witch stopped walking.
She reached behind herself, covering her rear over her tight skirt, and glanced back with slightly flushed cheeks. She must have heard.
“Now, now, Wof-boy, don’t be staring at Kon like that.”
“Why me!? It’s this rabbit who was staring!”
“Wof. A man can’t be blamed for looking.”
…I could strangle this rabbit.
The witch swayed her three tails in an exaggerated motion as she walked on.
She let them hang low enough to block the view of her hips.
“So, where are we headed?”
“Why, to the counter, of course. We’ll see it any moment now.”
And suddenly, there it was—a small semicircular counter, standing alone.
Even here, iron crates were piled around it.
A bell sat on the counter. The witch rang it.
“Yes, yes—welcome to… Gah, it’s you, witch.”
From beneath the counter popped up a short figure in a deep yellow robe and hood.
They let out a displeased sound upon seeing the witch.
Smaller than me, with a high-pitched voice.
A child? No, not a child—they pulled up a stool to peek over the counter.
“Well, well. What marvelous customer service for a regular.”
“Yeah, well, the witch’s shopping is always scary in one way or another. Ugh—wait, a man!?”
“Uh, n-nice to meet you.”
“Whoaa—the witch brought a man with her!”
Leaning over the counter, they peered at me with amusement.
From within the hood gleamed bright gray eyes.
Something about them… they didn’t seem human.
“Hold on now. He’s Kon’s apprentice.”
“Whaaat, the witch’s apprentice is a man? No one told me that!”
“Because I didn’t tell you, of course.”
“So the witch’s at that age, huh… wait, how old are y—hey, stop! I was kidding—anything but the herbal tea—ahhh!!”
Rule number one: never ask the witch’s age.
Before they could be force-fed the murky herbal tea, they prostrated themselves and begged for mercy.
“Haaah… terrible. Ah, I’m Chive, the ‘Beast of Reason.’ I run the Dark & Black Shop. Also, First-Class Explorer—pleased to meet you.”
“F-First-Class…?”
They tossed that fact out so casually, I was left bewildered.
Chive grinned and asked:
“So, witch’s apprentice—what’s your name?”
“Wof.”
“Nice name.”
“Th-thanks.”
“I am Haiyaan.”
“Waaah—you startled me! A talking rabbit! Hm… Haiyaan… as in the three eggs—?”
“I knew it!”
“Well, yes, obviously. Please don’t slump in despair on my head.”
Seriously, what does this rabbit think my head and shoulders are for?
“Quite the amusing group you’ve got here, witch.”
“Hehehe, so it seems. Now then, Chive, I’d like to make a purchase.”
“Fine, but… I’m getting a bad feeling about this.”
“No need to worry. I want two things: a portable teleportation circle and a technician who can connect it.”
Chive twitched ever so slightly at that.
“…What are you planning to do?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just sending my apprentice into a sealed-off dungeon.”
“…Wof-chi, what’s this about?”
Wof-chi!?
But—those gray eyes were terrifying. They were like a predator’s.
Haiyaan must have felt it too—he shivered on my head.
A herbivore staring into the eyes of a carnivore.
“I have to go. There’s no choice.”
I met Chive’s eyes as I said it.
He glanced at the witch, looking uneasy.
“Your apprentice just told me—with sparkling determination—that he’s going to commit an illegal act. Proudly. What’s going on here? This is scary.”
“Mhm. Well, that’s how it is. We’ll pay in full.”
“Wow—you completely ignored my question. What’s with you two?”
“Please!”
I bowed my head.
Chive-san fell silent, as if deep in thought.
“Well, fine. You’re just all sparkly and dazzling—ugh, whatever. I won’t ask for the reason. There are things you’re better off not knowing. Anyway, business comes first. One disposable transfer circle is five million ouros. And the only one who can do the connection work is me, right? Which means you also want me to handle the link design?”
“Mm-hm, I’m counting on you.”
“Ughhh… From where to where?”
“Let’s see… from the first floor to the twelfth.”
“If that’s the case, well… maybe… only if there’s a spot on the first floor or so where we can set up a disposable transfer array.”
“Hmm. So you can’t connect from outside?”
“Nope, impossible—you have to place it inside the dungeon.”
“Mmm… that’s tricky.”
Haiyaan asked me what the two of them were talking about.
Even a legendary alchemist couldn’t understand? Then of course I wouldn’t…
…No. Wait. I think I did understand.
It reminded me of something from my previous life’s memories.
And then a question came to mind.
“Can’t you hack into an existing transfer circle?”
“Haaa? Hack?”
“Ah, I mean, can’t you illegally connect to one?”
“Oh, that—yeah, you can, but it leaves traces. If you get found out, you’re in trouble. That’s why it’s better to connect two disposable circles. Disposables vanish after use, so there’s no trace left.”
“Uh… so how do you even set one up?”
Hearing this, I couldn’t picture how they would install a disposable transfer circle inside the dungeon.
If you set them up while moving, how do you determine the destination?
Then it hit me.
“…Use an already-installed transfer circle? No—make use of it.”
Chive-san’s eyes widened at my muttering.
“Witch! Witch! Your apprentice Wof is amazing, isn’t he?”
“Mm-hm. Kon’s apprentice is indeed impressive.”
For some reason, the witch was wearing her smuggest expression of the day. Embarrassing.
Chive-san spoke in a wheedling tone:
“So, Wof—give him to me.”
“Eh!?”
“Ha ha, ha ha… Please save your sleep talk for after you’ve slept, okay?”
The witch laughed—but her eyes weren’t laughing at all.
“Ahahaha… I was just kidding! Kidding, so please put away that herbal tea right now! No, seriously, put it away!”
Chive-san fled, the witch chasing him with a cup of herbal tea in hand.
As I watched their almost-wholesome little game of tag, Haiyaan asked me:
“What did that thing you said earlier mean?”
“You understand that to enter a sealed dungeon, we have to transfer via a transfer circle, right?”
“Yes, that much makes sense.”
His long ears twitched.
“Each dungeon floor has a transfer circle installed—mainly for escape purposes.”
“I know that. And those circles are Legendary-grade.”
“Right. Disposable transfer circles are Legacy-grade. If you hack—illegally connect to—a Legendary one, it leaves a trace and you get caught.”
“Hmm. It’s not my field, but I follow your logic.”
“Since disposables vanish after use, there’s no risk of leaving a trace.”
“I see… but then how do you install them?”
“Exactly. The installation is one problem—and you wouldn’t know the destination.”
“So what do you do?”
“You use the transfer circles that are already installed.”
“But illegal connection—”
“You connect the permanent circle to the disposable one. Then you use the disposable.”
“What…!? Th-that means… I see. That way you’d know the destination and erase the connection trace afterward.”
“Probably. I think that’s how it works.”
In reality, I had no idea how transfer circles actually functioned.
But it seemed like a reasonable guess. And apparently, I’d guessed right.
Yeah… no matter how you look at it, it’s heretical.
Even so, I—
“Hm. Wof.”
“What is it?”
“No… my pouch just… no, maybe it’s nothing.”
“?”
Before long, the two of them came back and resumed their shopping and negotiations.
And so the preparations for our illegal entry into the sealed dungeon moved forward—
completely unaware of what awaited us inside.