Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 18: Knight Attendant (Tsukaeshi) ⑥ – The Fire Dungeon
Before lunch.
From what I hear, the chimera subspecies still hasn’t been defeated.
The chimera subspecies moves in packs together with normal chimeras.
Even when discovered, it uses the chimeras as decoys and immediately escapes.
That keeps repeating, and nothing gets resolved.
That’s where my relic comes in.
“You’re planning to make good use of Crisis Discrimination, aren’t you?”
“That, and there was that Fortune-type relic too, wasn’t there?”
“Ah, but that one doesn’t react to living creatures.”
“What? But it reacted when we dealt with the Monoceros, didn’t it?”
“It was responding to the Monoceros’ horn, not the whole creature.”
“Hmm… I see.”
“If the chimera has some kind of horn or similar feature, I think it would react, though.”
“Did it have one? …Well, leaving that aside, it would help if Wof could cooperate.”
I looked at the witch.
“Ah, ah, yes, yes, no need to worry. Alweld probably won’t be attacking. Still… hmm, maybe we should assign a First-Class as an escort, just in case. That way young Wof can also enter the Fire Dungeon.”
“Ah—yes. Understood. Pakira-san, if you’ll have me, I’ll be of assistance.”
“Much obliged.”
I shook hands with Pakira-san.
“Well then, it’s Kon’s turn now. Young Wof, do you remember how Alweld used the relic?”
“…How? He… chanted the relic.”
And then it hit me. Why did he chant?
You don’t need to chant to use relics.
Yet he did. Which must mean—it was a necessary step.
“Hmm, anything else?”
“…Umm…”
If I remember right… he said: “Why shape it? Just look and call.”
“Look and call? …But I didn’t understand what that meant.”
“What? What’s that about?”
Pakira tilted her head, so I explained.
She nodded.
“I see. Wof, you don’t have any attribute relics, do you?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Think. How do you use an attribute?”
“…Umm… sorry, I don’t know.”
“Then I’ll show you.”
With that, Pakira stepped into the courtyard.
“Fire would be too much here, so let’s go with wind.”
She chanted:
“Come—【Wind Edge】!”
A blade of wind shot forth. Then she looked at me.
“Notice anything?”
“You chanted.”
“Only that?”
“…Umm… sorry.”
“My gaze. The wind blade flew in the direction I was looking.”
“Your gaze?”
“It’s basic. You decide the direction with your eyes, then chant to activate.”
…That’s right. When I looked at Shardina and chanted—it was the same.
So that’s the foundation.
“Yes, yes. That’s the basics. But young Wof’s concern is that you can’t control your power, isn’t it? Control—management, so to speak.”
“Y-yes.”
“That’s where I come in!”
Haiyaan appeared, overflowing with his usual pointless confidence.
“Haiyaan…”
“I heard from the witch. Checked the database. Turns out I can build a training machine that uses【Evil Eye】.”
“A… training machine?”
“Even better—I discovered I can unlock the training room in the lab. That room has relic training programs built in. One program trains relic adjustment and control using gaze, and the device needed for that is the training machine.”
“…That’s possible?”
So the lab can go that far…
“But the training machine needs a certain item. Specifically, an eyeball containing【Evil Eye】. Around here, that means the chimera subspecies.”
“You’re telling me to go collect an eyeball!?”
“Exactly.”
I looked at Pakira-san.
“No problem. As long as we can defeat it.”
…So that’s how it is. I understood.
Let’s go. The Fire Dungeon.
The Fire Dungeon lies west of Hydrangea.
Heading west, the greenery gradually disappears, replaced by jagged rocky terrain.
Steam vents burst forth everywhere, and the geothermal heat makes the whole area hot.
Wearing armor here would practically get you burned.
Even Lupinus-san, usually armored, was in light gear. It felt refreshing to see.
“Mineha-san couldn’t come?”
“Mm… something urgent came up… apparently.”
“Can’t be helped.”
Dagaa is coming too.
Speaking of which—Mineha’s mother is First-Class, so she’ll be here.
Her name was also listed on the Knight Attendant candidates’ preference sheet.
“The Fire Dungeon. This is my first time entering.”
Shiro-san looked up at the entrance as she spoke.
With her white dress and tea table strapped to her back, she stood out ridiculously.
She was the one who volunteered as my escort.
The witch and Munieka-san went off with Haiyaan to the lab.
Munieka-san about Minos Doll, and the witch—unknown.
“Never thought I’d have a First-Class accompany me…”
Lupinus-san spoke nervously.
“Don’t misunderstand. Shiro is Wof-kun’s escort. Nothing more.”
“That’s fine. This is our issue after all.”
“Mm… but… introductions…, I’m Liv… member of Torquetam… nice to meet ya.”
“I’m Lupinus Lord Denton, leader of Torquetam.”
“Pakira. A fellow member.”
“Shiro White Weiss Blanche Album Sephid. A First-Class explorer.”
“I know you. The ‘Immortal White Rose Princess.’”
“And I know Torquetam as well.”
“Why, how flattering.”
“Hardworking girls leave a good impression.”
“That makes me happy. By the way… aren’t you a bit too close to Wof?”
Shiro clung tightly to my arm.
Her softness, her pure white, made her feel cool to the touch.
“That’s because I’m his escort.”
“Mm… more like bodyguarding too much…”
“I also don’t think it’s appropriate for boys and girls to press so close together.”
Lupinus-san gave a mild rebuke, her cheeks a little red.
Shiro reluctantly let go. Pakira shot me a sharp look.
“W-what?”
“You two seem quite close.”
“I think so too…”
I was more confused than anything.
“Now then, our destination is the 13th floor. After repeated investigations, we confirmed the chimera subspecies lurks there. But even knowing its location, defeating it won’t be easy.”
“Even though you know where it is?”
“You’ll understand once we’re there. Wof, I’ll explain the route. First, we head to the 4th floor. From there, we transfer to the 9th. From the 9th we go down to the 10th, and there we transfer to the 13th. However—the 10th floor has a monster called a Keeper.”
“A Keeper?”
“Yes. Some dungeons have them. They’re like gatekeepers, guarding the path to the next floor.”
Maybe it’s what they call an area boss.
So even those exist, huh.
“Salamandara. But it’s not a very strong monster.”
She must be right—after all, they’ve investigated here several times.
From the name, I’m guessing it’s some kind of fire serpent.
“Mm… but… don’t let your guard down… You never know what a dungeon might throw at you.”
“Y-yes.”
I tightened my focus.
First stop—the 4th floor.
The Fire Dungeon is a lava cave.
Dark, jagged rock, with little variation between floors.
It’s always hot and humid from the geothermal heat, and the monsters that appear are all blazing red.
4th Floor.
On the black stone ground beneath a low rocky ceiling, countless glowing spheres floated.
They were Liv-san’s light spheres.
“A good party.”
“Yes, indeed.”
Shiro and I watched Torquetam fight.
Lupinus raised her shield, Liv’s blade shone with light, and Pakira swung her staff.
“Their roles are clearly divided. The coordination is solid. Most importantly, they can act together with just a glance.”
“You mean eye contact?”
“Yes. It’s wonderful. But… it’s a little lacking.”
“Lacking? In what way?”
“They probably know it themselves, so I won’t say.”
“Lacking,” huh…
Torquetam’s opponents were goblins with red skin.
Red Goblins.
I hadn’t seen them in a while, but they still looked like scrawny brats to me.
Other than their red skin, they didn’t seem much different.
But that redness made them resistant to heat, which was a bit troublesome.
And they just kept swarming—at least twenty of them.
Goblins aren’t pushovers.
They’re mid Copper rank, decently strong and annoyingly persistent when they come in waves.
Lupinus blocked with her shield, deflecting the enemy’s attacks.
In the openings, Liv slashed.
And then Pakira’s elemental relic—wind—tore through them.
They kept repeating that cycle skillfully, whittling the numbers down.
The main force was clearly Pakira.
Her elemental relics were like magic, able to strike multiple enemies at once.
Lupinus and Liv coordinated to let her use them effectively.
Elemental attacks require cooldown—the larger the scale, the longer the downtime.
If I remember right, Pakira possessed two attributes: 【Fire】 and 【Wind】.
But in the Fire Dungeon, most monsters resist heat, making 【Fire】 harder to use.
Elemental relics, huh…
Haiyaan once said he could manufacture attribute plates.
At this stage, 【Fire】, 【Water】, and 【Wind】 could all be mass-produced.
I told him I wanted 【Fire】 too, but he gave me a warning.
The number of relics one can hold is proportional to the size of the vessel of the soul.
The larger the vessel, the more relics it can contain.
If you ignore that and take on too many relics, the vessel of the soul can collapse.
When the vessel collapses, the soul is released. In other words—death.
I had never heard that before.
There had been many attempts to artificially expand the vessel, but all had failed.
And the stronger the relic, the more space it consumes in the vessel.
The relic that occupies the greatest share is, of course, the【Pseudo-Divine Relic】.
Supposedly, the lab’s database even contains blueprints for a device that graphs the vessel’s capacity.
“Looks like it’s over.”
Before I noticed, all the Red Goblins had been wiped out.
Not a scratch on them.
“Still, we could use a bit more firepower.”
“We’re getting the job done, but it takes too long.”
“Mm… something to work on…”
“Maybe I should… like Mineha…”
Huh? Did Lupinus just glance at me?
…Must have been my imagination.
And so, without me doing much, we made it to the 9th floor.
The 9th floor had a red-black sky like sunset, a colossal black wall towering like a volcano.
Nearby stood a charred black castle, above which black-winged monsters flew.
And a river of lava. It was a hellish sight.
Against that backdrop, Torquetam fought a majestic, four-eyed, flame-clad giant boar.
The Good Flame Boar.