Chapter 106 - Chapter 106: The Saint
I decided to make a movie starring Iroha, investing a huge sum of money.
No, the actual filming would be done by professionals; I was just providing the funds. But since combat footage inside a dungeon cannot be captured normally, I ended up being the one to gather the material.
Kaorulko, who also possesses an Item Box, was asked to help as well.
For Iroha's partner, we cast Eito, a handsome quarter-elf boy, as the heroine.
With the long ears attached for filming, he was the elf straight out of the story.
My intuition told me this combination would work.
Filming proceeded smoothly, and we descended to Floor 6.
Eito, who had been slaying monsters alongside Iroha, seemed to have leveled up a bit.
If he had offensive magic, he might have leveled up even more, but it seems his specialty is support magic.
Although filming was going well, the scenes were a bit dull.
I wanted something flashier, so I came up with an idea.
It was to try out Sana's Turn Undead spell, which she had learned but never used.
She agreed, so we came to the hole on Floor 6 we had explored before, guided by the Harpies.
"Let's go!"
The Princess led the way, diving into the hole and descending a steep slope.
"Hiiiii!"
The one screaming was Eito.
"Don't make such pathetic sounds, man. Girls are coming down normally."
I let out a bit of dissatisfaction at his voice.
"Everyone here is a high-level adventurer who can see in the dark, so you can say that!"
"Being pulled by your beloved Iroha-neesan, what is there to complain about?"
"That makes me happy, but it's scary in the pitch black!"
"Well then, here."
I took two chemical lights out of my Item Box and handed them over.
With two of them, I should be able to see Iroha's back.
A big back should be reassuring.
The green light of the chemical lights slowly seeped into the depths of the darkness.
The dim light source illuminated the walls of the hole, bringing out the contours of the rough rock surface, but beyond that, it was swallowed by pitch-black darkness, as if the hole itself was rejecting the light.
Even straining my eyes here, I couldn't see the bottom.
In the silence, cool air brushed against my skin, and a slightly damp scent brushed past my nose.
"Listen? Here we go."
"Hiiiii!"
He's still saying "hii hii".
Well, that might be normal.
We who have constantly skated along the edge of death might have our senses a bit numb.
"Shall I carry you on my back?"
"N-no, I'm fine!"
When someone you like says that, a man has no choice but to refuse.
Since I came to this dungeon intending to show off my good side.
Continuing down the hole, we arrived at a place where the path was cut off.
Peeking down gently...
"Huh? Are the footholds still there?"
"Darling, wasn't that the Yuuki guy who cast Fix magic on it?"
"Oh, right... come to think of it..."
Did he cast some magic called Fix so it wouldn't be absorbed by the dungeon?
This is lucky.
"Should I turn on the light?"
"Yes, Kaorulko, please."
"Light! [Light]"
The large space below was illuminated by the magical light.
"I didn't think we'd come here again..."
Iroha let out a slightly resentful voice.
"Um, what kind of monsters appear here?"
Eito was clearly terrified of the unknown place.
"Wraiths and Liches."
"Eh?! A Lich?! Aren't Liches quite high-level monsters...?"
"Well, I think they usually appear around Floor 7."
"That's impossible!"
"Shut up, we're going down."
Ignoring Eito's whining, we decided to go down anyway.
"Are there any enemies?"
The Princess peered down.
"Seems safe, Princess."
I had a good idea.
"What's wrong, Darling?"
"I want to film the scene of us jumping down from here, so can you go down first? Iroha and Eito, stay here for a bit."
"Got it."
I, the Princess, Kaorulko, and Sana went down first.
Kaorulko and I split up left and right.
"Iroha! Carry Eito in a princess carry and jump down from the middle, okay? I want to film it."
"Oh, I see! Got it!"
"Hyaah!"
"Toh!"
When Iroha grabbed his hand and forcibly pulled him close, she did a princess carry... and jumped down.
"Gwee!"
When Iroha landed, Eito made a sound like a frog.
"What, make a sexier sound next time."
"I-impossible! What do you mean sexy! I'm a man!"
Well, we can dub over other sounds later.
"But we should have been able to film a cool scene!"
When making the movie, we can change the foothold behind to a rocky area or something.
Judging from the sample video the director made, that should be possible.
Actually, we should use a blue screen, but there's nothing like that in a dungeon.
"Thanks, Kaorulko."
"You're welcome."
After finishing filming, I looked around the hall.
"Phew... Since those bastards aren't here, I don't know when the monsters will appear."
The Princess was on guard around her.
"I'm glad you've come to rely on the Harpies so much, Princess."
"It can't be helped!"
"Well, they are really useful."
"Yes. If they tell us about monster encounters in advance, we can prepare."
Sana seems to agree with Iroha.
"Well then... will the undead come out as I planned?"
Getting into combat stance and holding my breath, the air in the hall began to slowly grow cold.
At first it was a slight chill, but gradually it changed into a coldness that pierced the skin.
I could see thin white cold air flowing in like invisible mist leaking from gaps in the walls and ceiling, spreading along the floor.
At that moment, a creepy voice that froze the spine echoed through the hall.
"Hehehe" "Ihihihi"
A low, muffled voice of unknown origin echoed from the darkness of the hall, reflecting off the four walls and echoing many times.
"Uwaaaaa!"
Probably his first time.
Eito screamed at the creepy atmosphere.
The air grew heavy, and a freezing tension dominated the place, and in the next instant, the presence of something appearing...
"They're coming!"
The Princess's voice echoed through the hall.
"Ooh!"
"Good! Let's start filming! Sana, standby."
"Understood!"
I asked Kaorulko to film as well, but of course I won't force her.
Safety first! First priority is safety.
White mist floated in the air, and as it gradually took shape, it flew around the surroundings.
"Hehehe!" "Hehehe!"
"They're here! Wraiths!"
"Gyaaaaa!"
Eito clung to Iroha.
"Hey! Don't stick to me!"
"Eito! Eito! Iroha can't fight, so get away! Get away!"
"Y-you're saying that..."
"You're going to show her your good side, right! Come on! Cast support magic!"
"Au! Auuu!"
"Come on!"
"Hii! ...K-Kin-ryoku-kyouka [Physical Up]!"
He separated from Iroha and somehow regained his composure, then used support magic.
Blue magical light seeped into Iroha's body.
"Whahaha! Maybe because the incantation is different from usual, it feels a bit ticklish! Oraaa!"
Do the caster's emotions and personality ride on the magic?
I can't use magic, so I don't quite get it.
Iroha, boosted, slashed through a bundle of Wraiths in a single flash.
"They're coming again!"
The cold air spreading on the floor gradually converged, and faint blue light began to flicker.
The light quietly pulsed in a circle, bringing up complex patterns like a magic circle.
Soon, as the light shone intensely, a black shadow rose from it, taking shape without a sound.
A creepy metallic sound echoed on the floor and walls.
What appeared was not just a skeleton of rotting bones.
Armored skeletons clad in blackened metal armor, armed with sharp blades.
Unlike normal skeletons, their equipment was neatly arranged, with chest plates, gauntlets, and greaves fitting tightly like living beings.
Some wore helmets adorned with ominous decorations, with pale blue light flickering deep within their eyes.
The moment one skeleton stomped the ground, everyone struck a pose in unison.
With blue light on their backs, the army of skeletons shifted into combat stance.
Their movements had the disciplined presence of living soldiers.
"What?! They're not just normal skeletons! That's why I had a bad feeling!"
Iroha grumbled a bit at the enemy type she had never seen before.
"An upgraded type of skeleton?!"
While saying that, the Princess cheerfully attacked.
It seems her combat junkie heart was ignited by the enemy she had never seen before either.
In the center of the hall filled with cold air and the aura of death, the Princess's body danced like it was flying.
A glittering silver blade tore through the air, and the sound of metal and bone shattering echoed.
What wrapped her body was a bikini armor with only a slight defense.
Her toned, supple limbs shone eerily in the darkness of the battlefield.
"Yaa!"
With a sharp shout, she stepped forward.
She dodged the sword swung by the skeleton by a hair's breadth, turning her body as if reversing.
Her fluid movements were beautiful like a dance.
"Bastard! How can I let only Cherry Princess look good!"
Iroha swung her sword horizontally... a sharp flash caught the skeleton's neck, and the skeletal head flew into the air.
As the remaining torso crumbled with a rattling sound, the warrior with bulging muscles immediately turned his gaze to the next enemy.
Two armored skeletons attacked from left and right, but she didn't move a muscle.
She spun quickly on one foot, and the sword carrying that momentum flashed.
Within the arc drawn by the blade, bone and armor were crushed in an instant, and the skeletons collapsed like fallen leaves dancing in the wind.
Iroha's movements did not stop.
She stepped in powerfully, dodging enemy attacks with minimal movement, and definitely eliminated them with a single sword flash.
Each time, pale blue light dissipated, and the fallen skeletons returned to the ground.
"Oi! Don't kill them all~!"
"Darling, don't ask for the impossible!"
There was a reply from Iroha, but at that moment, a strange occurrence happened in the hall.
The space groaned.
Before the afterglow of the battle disappeared, an ominous presence began to swirl in the center of the hall.
The air grew heavy and stagnant, and as if the world itself was twisting, an invisible pressure crushed the surroundings.
As I braced myself, a crack ran through the space.
A pitch-black fissure deeper than darkness was born, and ominous miasma oozed from it.
A cold wind blew through, and a moan like the sighs of the dead echoed around.
The fissure gradually widened, and something seemed to emerge from within.
Wrapped in a tattered robe that reminded one of former dignity.
The robe, woven with gold-thread patterns, still seemed to hold magic after many years, emitting a faint phosphorescence.
Peeking out from the gaps were exposed bones, but they were not just skeletons.
"Urorororo"
"They're here! A Lich!"
We immediately raised our weapons, but overwhelming magic converged before the monster, and the air became taut.
It was not just light.
Compressed magic raged wildly, pulsating fiercely.
"Damn it! We've been preempted! Kaorulko!"
At the Princess's shout, our great mage stepped forward.
"Leave it to me! Holy Shield [Protection]!"
With her magic, a transparent shield appeared before us.
The moment we all hid behind Kaorulko...
『Perish...』
It was neither words nor sound... but I felt like I heard that.
At the same time, the light exploded.
Raising a terrible roar, a torrent of light mass rushed toward us.
Outside Kaorulko's magic wall, the torrent of light swirled, raging as if burning up the space.
At its center resided pure destructive power, and just approaching it felt like heat and pressure that would burn the skin.
"Gyaaaaa!"
I thought it was the dying scream of someone, but it was Eito's scream.
"Shut up!"
Even when scolded by Iroha, his screaming didn't stop.
The torrent of magic that seemed to burn everything to ashes cannot be released forever.
It quickly subsided.
"Alright! We held it off! Sana! Go for it!"
"Y-yes! O holy light given by God, return the souls of the undead to your kingdom... Turn Undead! [Turn Undead]"
The words of magic Sana spun made the air tremble, and a dazzling white light ran across the floor in a circle centered on her.
Like dropping a stone on the water surface, the ripples of light spread in layers.
The moment that light touched the undead, their bone bodies trembled slightly, and the black stagnant miasma scattered like bursting.
Skeletons began to crumble into ash from their feet, and countless bones lost their support and shattered into pieces.
Even a single finger bone collapsed without exception, and finally, even the eye sockets that housed an ominous red light were swallowed by the afterglow of the light and disappeared.
The Wraiths flying in the sky were also erased, and that light attacked the Lich, a high-level monster.
『Impossible... a Saint in such a place...』
Leaving words that resembled a mutter, the Lich's body also turned to ash, leaving only something like cloth behind.
The noise that had filled the hall until just now disappeared as if it were a lie.
The violent torrent of magic piercing the ears, the sharp sound of armor clashing, the countless footsteps stamping the floor... all of them were erased in an instant, and a tense silence dominated as if time itself had stopped.
Even though there was still a faint remnant of the commotion deep in my ears, it was now so quiet that even my own breathing sounded.
"Amazing!"
Suddenly, Eito's voice echoed.
It's troublesome because it's completely different from the elf image I had in mind... but setting that aside, we captured a wonderful video.
No one has ever captured such footage before.
It's no longer a movie, it's a dungeon documentary.
"I-it's more than I imagined..."
Even the Princess seems unable to help but be surprised by the power of Sana's magic.
"Amazing, Sana!"
"Kyaa!"
I lifted her up and spun around.
"With this, one shot is enough for any undead!"
"Haa haa... thank you."
As expected of such a big magic, it seems she ran out of mana with that one shot.
I took a hot spring potion out of my Item Box.
"Drink a mana potion."
"Thank you."
"Darling!"
"What is it?"
Turning to her voice, she was pouting.
"Muu!"
"Ah, understood, understood!"
Holding her under the arms and lifting her up, I swung her around.
"Waaaaa!"
With her, it's okay to swing her around a bit harder.
"..."
Kaorulko was watching that scene intently.
"What, Kaorulko too?"
"Eh?! N-no... I... kyaaa!"
I lifted her up too and swung her around in circles.
As expected, the magic breast-curtain dress.
Her big things were shaking vigorously, but they didn't look like they were slipping.
After enjoying the movement of the plump fruits...
"Well then..."
I turned to Iroha and approached her slowly.
"No, Darling, I... uwaaaaaa!"
She resisted a little, but I lightly dodged it, lifted her huge body, and spun around.
"Hahaha!"
"Uwaaaaaa!"
Because she's big, it's a huge, powerful wheel.
I can hear screams I've never heard before.
"Phew... satisfied, satisfied... well, what remains..."
"Eh?! No way! I'm fine! I'm a man! Waaa!"
I lifted the too-light Eito onto my head and started spinning him like a helicopter.
"Gyaaaaaa!"
"Hahaha! I'm spinning him more than usual!"
His equipment doesn't seem to be affected by magic, so his long hem lifted up, revealing his butt.
"Rororo!"
Satisfied, I threw Eito, and he collapsed on the ground, croaking.
Since I spun him hard, he must be drunk.
This probably causes a status abnormality, so maybe because he's low level, his resistance is low.
"Daisuke-san, isn't that too harsh..."
Sana is worried about Eito, but she also looks a bit envious.
If you're a man, it's okay to be a bit wild.
I want you to grow up strong.
"Hahaha, sorry, sorry."
"I-it's harsh!"
"Here, a recovery potion."
I handed him the bottle I took out of my Item Box.
"Gulp gulp... phew... it's working..."
"Well, well, we've achieved the original purpose..."
"Amazing! There are lots of Magic Stones and drops!"
The crying crow is now laughing, and Eito is squealing over the supplies lying on the ground.
"He's a cash-oriented guy. We'll all share them."
"I understand!"
"Me and Eito didn't do anything at all, hahaha."
"Darling! Please forgive me already!"
Iroha looks a bit exhausted.
"What, Oga! It's going to get interesting from here!"
The Princess still intends to fight.
"Uwaa! This is why combat junkies are like that!"
"You're the same!"
"Princess, let's withdraw around here."
"Eh? Just a little more..."
Unusually, the Princess is making a cute pose.
And I was defeated by it.
"Okay, just a little more."
"Yay!"
"Oi, oi, Darling!"
Iroha looks dissatisfied, but if it gets dangerous, we'll evacuate immediately.
"Anyway, Sana."
"Yes."
"Didn't that Lich say something about a Saint or whatever?"
"Yeah, I heard that too."
It seems Iroha heard the Lich's words too.
"Being able to use Turn Undead means Sana's class has become a Saint, right?"
"That's amazing! It means you can't learn Turn Undead unless you become that class, right?"
"That might be true."
"Such a thing, I..."
Sana is blushing being called a Saint, and the Princess watching her looks resentful.
"Gugu..."
Just then, Eito, who didn't read the air, came over.
"Daisuke-san! I found this!"
He was picking up drop items and spread the cloth excitedly.
Probably an item dropped from the Lich.
I recognized that shape.
"Eito, that's a mage's equipment."
I pointed at Sana and Kaorulko.
Yes, the breast-curtain equipment.
Maybe the probability of dropping this from a Lich is high.
"Eh?! Is that so?"
He seemed a bit disappointed, but he doesn't know this guy's abilities.
"Why don't you try it on?"
"Eeeee?! I'm a man!"
"I know that, but this is amazing! It has defense up, and automatic recovery of stamina and mana."
"Really?!"
"Yes, yes."
Kaorulko and Sana nodded.
"Well, I won't force you..."
"U, um..."
He is a mage too.
Once he knows those abilities, he won't be able to ignore it.
He pondered for a while, then went to the corner of the hall and started changing clothes.
Well, since he's a man, he should be fine with that.
"How is it?!"
Eito wearing the breast-curtain equipment came over.
At this point, I'll film his appearance.
"I see~ Even if a man wears a breast-curtain dress, it looks like a normal navel-out equipment. Hahaha."
"It suits you quite well, doesn't it?"
"Is that so?"
Praised by his beloved Iroha, he seems not entirely displeased.
"A scene where we defeated a Lich and got new equipment."
"..."
Sana was silent with a strange expression.
"What's wrong, Sana?"
"More cute than girls..."
"Hahaha—right!"
I lifted him up again and spun him around.
"Gyaa!"
"This time I'm spinning him lightly."
"Please don't spin me!"
What I wanted to confirm was whether the magic tip guard works even for men?—whether or not.
As I glared, even swinging Eito around, the breast-curtain dress and hem didn't lift up to reveal important parts.
"Whoa! This equipment has a function to guard important parts so they aren't visible even when moving violently."
"Oh, I see!"
Eito looked like he understood.
He might have been staring for a long time, expecting the women's breast-curtain dresses to lift up.
"Muu... Daisuke-san, isn't it okay to spin me a little more?"
"If Sana says so."
"Stop it!"
Fufufu—too bad.
The tips of their secrets are my exclusive privilege.
"What, you want to see that? If so, I'll show you mine."
Iroha, who was watching Eito's gaze, shifted her equipment and gave a peek.
It seems her micro-bikini equipment also doesn't slip no matter how much she moves, guarding firmly.
"Eh?! Eh?! Ah, au..."
He was staring at Iroha with a flushed face, then suddenly bent forward.
"Huh?! So big?! Hahaha!"
Seeing Eito pulling back his waist, she laughed loudly.
"Really, what's funny about looking at such muscles..."
"It's not muscles! It's a proper cute pink color!"
Again, the Princess and Iroha are arguing.
—In the end, it seems Eito will also use the breast-curtain equipment.
Well, he can wear a robe in crowded places.
We continued to collect combat footage after that, then returned to the surface.
With this much, movie production should go smoothly.
If the director says, "I want scenes like this!", we can dive into the dungeon again.
I have Iroha's promise that she'll do anything.
There shouldn't be any problems.
—After that, our filming continued.