Chapter 44 - Chapter 44: To the Secret Side Passage
We found a hot spring inside the dungeon while returning to the surface.
Kaorulko, who is a mage, was exhausted, so we decided to stay for one night.
As we were soaking in the hot water, a Harpy flew over.
Along the way, we had done all sorts of cheating, like breaking walls or storing doors in the Item Box to bypass events.
I was a bit worried if we were on the official route, but the fact that she came here means this route is not wrong.
This path connects to the surface, so my worry was unfounded.
The Harpy came from behind the steam, so there might be an escape route.
Moving through the water, I discovered a passage that might allow a shortcut to the top of the cliff.
It's about 1 meter high, so it seems humans can get through somehow.
Since we set up a ladder, we will try to escape from here after staying one night.
I returned to where the Princesses were.
"Darling!"
"I found a passage on top of the cliff. I think we can probably shortcut this maze."
"As expected, Darling!"
"No, no, it's all thanks to the Harpy."
"That's not true! It's all thanks to Darling!"
She really doesn't seem to want to admit the Harpy's contribution.
"So, I've set up a ladder, and I'm planning to try escaping from there... what do you think?"
"Of course!"
"How about Kaorulko?"
"Yes, I want to return to the surface quickly too."
"But you know――we don't know what's inside, right?"
"The fact that that beast has passed through means there's no problem, right?"
"Monsters don't attack other monsters..."
"Gya!"
Even with monster corpses around, they don't seem to be cannibalizing each other.
The Harpy eats food I give her, so I don't think she lacks appetite.
"Don't monsters ever get hungry?"
"I've heard that when dissecting monsters, you rarely find contents coming out of their stomachs."
Kaorulko seems to have been investigating that part as well.
"The fact that they are still active means――there must be some energy source."
"That would be the Magic Stone, and perhaps it converts power from the dungeon into energy..."
Apparently, such research is being conducted.
If they receive energy from the dungeon and Magic Stones, it makes sense that the Harpy can fly around without eating.
Also, the Harpy seems to have a habit of stealing human food, so maybe she's a bit different from other monsters.
Could I tame her if I fed her?
Or is this individual just special?
I don't know that far yet.
"I see, in that case, it makes sense why monsters have Magic Stones commensurate with their bodies."
"There's also a story that if you stay in the dungeon too long, humans develop Magic Stones and turn into monsters, you know?"
I've heard the Princess's story, but are there actually such cases?
"That's just urban legend, isn't it?"
"But it has been confirmed that adventurers turn into monsters like Ghouls, right?"
"Yeah, I've even filmed it."
"Huh? Filmed? Was there a Ghoul outside the dungeon?"
Normally, filming inside the dungeon is impossible.
"I exploited a bug in the Item Box to film inside the dungeon with a camera."
"Is that so?!"
"Eh?!――Then, were our battles until now...?"
"Yeah, I was filming here and there, but I cut them properly when uploading to video sites."
"Kaorulko doesn't know, but I didn't need to do that, right?"
"Is Bikini Armor okay?"
"I've been watched during battles before, and I've released photo books, so it's too late now."
"You're still so manly..."
"..."
The Princess seems fine, but Kaorulko looks a bit shy.
Well, about the Breast-Curtain Dress...
I feel it's a bit pitiful to show it off in public.
I think so too.
"It's okay, I'll cut the parts where Kaorulko appears. Well, just having rare monsters in the video will get us views."
"Thank you."
I'll leave the matter of my videos there and move on to the shortcut passage.
"Darling, how big is that passage?"
"It's about 1 meter high, so I think it's fine if you crouch――but there might be places where it gets extremely narrow."
"Even so, wouldn't it save time compared to wandering around inside this maze?"
"That's true."
I could see a prospect for tomorrow, and my body was warmed.
We decided to eat.
I don't know if it's lunch or dinner anymore.
Even if I sleep and wake up, I don't know if it's morning.
I'll use the dragon meat from inside the Item Box.
This was quite delicious.
Kaorulko heats the pot with magic to make soup.
With this much humidity, even a Fireball might go out, won't it?
I was afraid to use the hot spring water, so I used drinking water from the Item Box.
For vegetables, I used potatoes from the Item Box.
I used to grow my own potatoes and distribute them because I couldn't eat them all, but since coming to the Tokyo Special District, they've decreased rapidly.
And then, bread.
"The remaining bread stored in the Item Box is running low."
"There should be mountains of meat. You shouldn't starve."
The Princess was stuffing her face with meat.
"Well, there are plenty of potatoes too, so we just have to eat meat and potatoes non-stop."
"Probably, if we get out of this floor, we can reach an area close to the floors we know."
"I believe that is what Lady Sakurako says..."
Kaorulko nodded.
"Gya!"
I held the Harpy and fed her bread.
"Mmph!"
For some reason, the Princess took off her bath towel and charged at me naked.
"Whoa!"
"Gya!"
The Harpy was startled and flew away flapping its wings.
"What's wrong?"
"Aaaah!"
She opened her mouth.
"..."
"Aaaah!"
"Okay, okay."
I tore the bread and put it in the Princess's mouth.
"Munch munch."
"Gya! Gya!!"
The Harpy, chased away from the feeding spot, is protesting, but this is probably natural.
"Shut up!"
"..."
Kaorulko watched the fight between the Harpy and the Princess with white eyes.
"Hmph!"
She wouldn't get off my back, so in the end, I fed her until she was full.
Well, it's fine.
She doesn't say anything even if I hug or touch her――and I can enjoy myself too.
Since I was full, I laid out an air mat and went to sleep.
We've been here for a long time, but there's no sign of monsters spawning.
It seems this is indeed a safe zone.
The humidity is terrible, so sleeping naked is a necessity, which is a flaw.
Even if I wear clothes, it's like wearing them in the bath.
In the warm white mist, the humid air spread out, enveloping everything.
Inside that, three people and one beast huddled together, sleeping as if they were a single lump.
In the dim mist, the white veil quietly hid our existence; no one outside could see us.
The three lay overlapping each other, falling asleep while feeling each other's body heat.
On top of me, the Harpy curled up and slept.
Soft feathers repelled the mist, turning into cold water droplets that fell onto me.
I took out a bath towel, laid it on my stomach, and placed the Harpy on top of it.
In the silence where the mist seemed to swallow everything, sound and smell alike, we spent a moment of peace.
This quiet moment was the most precious rest for us.
――The next day, sleeping in the white mist.
I don't know if it was truly the next day, but anyway, the next day had come.
Everyone gathered and ate potatoes and curry.
"Aaaah!"
The Princess sat naked on my lap with her mouth open.
It seems this position has become the default.
"Gya! Gya!"
The Harpy, whose spot was taken, was angry, but she had no chance against the Princess.
While eating like that, the bread finally ran out.
If we boil and mash the potatoes and fry them, they'll become like mochi, and we still have rice reserves.
Cooking rice is a bit troublesome, but if we have a wide safe zone, we can do that too.
Before that, if we can reach the floor where the railway passes, we can return to the surface immediately.
"Phew... my intuition says we have to endure for a few more days."
"I think so too. Enemies will get weaker the further we go. With me and Darling, it won't take long."
"Probably――Kaorulko, how is your mana recovery?"
"It's amazing! It's full."
"Does mana usually recover in one night?"
"When mana runs out like that, it usually takes two nights."
"Then――"
I looked at the water surface where steam was rising.
Maybe this water has a mana recovery effect.
"We probably won't see enemies using that amazing magic again."
"Yes. Dragons won't appear in shallow floors."
"If that woman from the Labyrinth Cult appears, I want you to blast her without hesitation."
"That's right! She must pay for making us suffer like this! My stomach won't settle!"
"Even dressed like that, you say such things..."
Kaorulko seemed bothered by the Princess being held by me.
"Don't say that. You were suddenly thrown to the bottom of the underground and fought a dragon, so you must have been scared."
I stroked her head.
"Un..."
She hugged me.
It was half a joke, but it seems she was under considerable pressure.
"Come on, come on, it's okay as long as I'm here."
"..."
The Princess hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go.
"Kaorulko, are you coming too?"
"I will decline."
"Hahaha."
"B-besides――I prefer Daisuke-san's back..."
"Hm?"
"N! N-nothing at all!"
We had eaten, rested for a night, and our condition was perfect.
We started moving through the hot water to use the shortcut.
Of course, everyone was naked――or rather, wearing only a bath towel.
If there's a place like this, we should have prepared swimsuits.
Once this dungeon is cleared, swimsuits will surely become essential equipment for adventurers.
"It gets very deep from here, so be careful."
"I understand."
"We should have taken a bath here~"
"No, it's so deep you can't touch the bottom, you'll drown."
"That's too extreme."
She is right, but it's not a bath we made.
We reached the deep part, and I thought of something.
Since it's deep anyway, I want to submerge all the tanks and fill them to the brim.
If the tanks are filled with hot water, the total weight will be 100 tons.
Normally, you can't carry that weight, but with the Item Box, it doesn't matter.
I submerged the tanks in the hot water, filled them, and stored them in the Item Box.
Water has various uses.
It can be used for the Princess's bath too.
Also――based on Kaorulko's earlier talk, this water seems to have a mana recovery effect.
I can utilize this.
"Um, Daisuke-san, how do we proceed from here?"
"We float the air mat."
I could take out the tanks, but moving them is troublesome.
"I see! So you're making the air mat into a raft!"
"That's right."
I put the two on the air mat, jumped into the water, and pushed them with flutter kicks.
It's like a pool kickboard.
A super-luxurious kickboard with two beautiful women's buttocks right in front of me.
"Gya! Gya!"
The Harpy's cry could be heard from the white mist.
She must be on top of the cliff, so if we move in the direction of that sound, we won't be wrong.
Soon, a black cliff covered in glow moss came into view.
"Here it is."
"Ah, Daisuke-san's ladder is there."
"I managed to set it up, so use that."
"Okay."
I ferried them to the cliff and climbed out of the water myself.
Since I was naked, Kaorulko was facing away.
If I swim, the towel comes off anyway.
I can't swim with clothes on either.
"Store."
I put the air mat back in the Item Box.
"Alright! Time to escape finally."
The Princess clicked her fists and palms together in front of her chest.
"It's wet here, so it's better to change clothes up there."
I handed the two's equipment from my Item Box to Kaorulko.
She also has an Item Box, so she stored the received equipment inside it temporarily.
"Good! Alright! Kaorulko! Go!"
"Eh?! Am I first?!"
"I'll be holding the ladder from below."
"Well, even if we fall, we'll manage somehow."
"As Darling says."
"A-ah, b-but..."
She was covering her crotch with her hands.
"You won't see anything from above, so it's okay."
"There's only me and Darling here, what are you shy about? This isn't the time for that?!"
"I-I know that, but..."
Well, women might be concerned about that kind of thing.
On the contrary, the Princess is too manly.
She's standing naked in front of me right now too.
"Ugh..."
Pressed by the Princess, Kaorulko started climbing the ladder.
"Gyaah!"
A bath towel fell from above in front of us.
She had wrapped it around herself, but it seems to have come off halfway as she moved.
That's natural.
"Just go up like that!"
"It's okay, I'm not looking."
"Aaaah!"
It's pitiful, but escaping is the top priority for now.
The reaction of the ladder I was holding disappeared.
It seems she managed to climb all the way up.
"Alright, next is the Princess."
"I understand!"
Unlike Kaorulko, she didn't hide and ran up the ladder in the blink of an eye as if flying.
Or rather, she might be able to jump this high even without a ladder.
"Hey! Call me when you're done changing!"
"You don't have to do that, you can just come up."
"Gya~! Stop it!"
Kaorulko was desperately stopping me, and I had no intention of forcing my way up either.
After a while, it seemed she finished changing, so I climbed the ladder to join them.
Up there, the two in equipment were waiting.
It feels like a long time since I've seen the Bikini Armor and the Breast-Curtain Dress.
I retrieved the ladder, took out my own equipment from the Item Box, and changed immediately.
The humidity is high, so it feels damp.
I feel like I'll sweat just by moving a little.
"How is it? It looks like a normal hole, right?"
"Yes! I imagined a hole where we'd have to crawl, but this shouldn't be a problem?"
"I hope this hole stays this size all the way."
"There's definitely enough space for that beast to pass."
The Princess pointed at the Harpy.
"Well, that's true."
There's no point worrying here.
It's humid, so we'll get wet as we go.
"Light! 《Light》"
The mage cast a spell, and the light illuminated the pitch-black side passage.
"Gya."
The Harpy entered the hole first.
"I'll take the lead."
Following the Harpy into the narrow, long dark hole, the first thing I felt was the humidity and the chilly air.
I proceeded cautiously step by step.
Inside the cave, it was dim, with the magic light as the only source.
Since the surroundings were just rock surfaces, I thought the scenery would be boring, but the light reflected off the walls, creating a myriad of strange shadows.
As we advanced, the cave became narrower, making it difficult to walk even crouching.
I placed my hands on the ground, lowered my body, and crawled forward.
I had to press my body against the ground using my hands and knees, moving slowly.
The rock surface was cold, and the hardness transmitted to my palms and knees.
As I moved, my equipment rubbed against the rocks, and the cave's humidity seeped into my body.
Crawling forward, a slight widening appeared ahead.
We could take a breath here, but the surrounding darkness remained eerie.
Listening closely, the sound of water droplets hitting the rock could be faintly heard, further emphasizing the silence inside the cave.
I hesitated for a moment whether to proceed, but since we've come this far, we have no choice but to go.
"Wait a minute!"
"What is it, Darling?"
"Something is ahead――probably a Slime."
Something translucent was blocking about half of the hole.
The Harpy had already gone ahead, so it seems monsters don't interfere with each other after all.
"Are you okay?"
Kaorulko's voice came from behind.
"Since we're in such a deep place, even a Slime might be a strong version..."
"Super Slime or Ultra Slime..."
"I don't know――I'll handle it."
If I'm going to hit the Slime's core, a sharp weapon would be better.
I took out a sword I once captured from a Lizardman from the Item Box and approached.
"Darling!"
"It's okay! Here I go!"
With a burst of spirit! My level has risen considerably, so my eyes are good, and if I concentrate, my senses sharpen.
One shot, and I destroyed the Slime's core.
"Ugh?!"
When the Slime burst, the hole was filled with a pungent smell.
"Cough! Cough!"
The Princess started coughing.
"What is this, acid?!"
"Ah, is it an Acid Slime?"
"It might be."
The acid had spread throughout the passage.
However, we can't proceed without defeating it.
It's quite troublesome.
"Darling, what do we do?!"
"The rock seems to be melting, so it's quite strong acid... That's it."
I took out an aluminum ladder from the Item Box.
This time, the ladder is really useful.
I might have them make a custom, longer ladder next time.
With the Item Box, weight doesn't matter.
I placed the ladder on top of the Slime's corpse, and everyone crossed over it.
Since the ladder material is aluminum, it might melt a bit, but it's better than skin melting.
The rock was melting, bubbling with a sizzling sound.
Even if some gas comes out, we, high-level adventurers, should be fine.
If symptoms are severe, we have Recovery Potions.
Everyone crossed over the bridge made of the ladder.
"Phew――Alright! Store!"
I put the ladder back in the Item Box.
I still need it to be useful.
"Darling, are you injured?"
"No problem――how about you?"
"I'm fine." "I'm fine."
My equipment seemed slightly melted, but the two's equipment was fine.
As expected of drops from the dungeon.
Having resistance to attacks from monsters is probably like this.
"Ouch――are there more of these ahead?"
"Originally, this kind of hole might have been made by some monster."
"Yeah, in games and fiction, there are Rock Worms or things like that."
"Yes."
If there really are such things, it would be troublesome, but we are a party of three high-level adventurers.
We'll manage with momentum――probably.
We advanced for a while――nothing happened, but I noticed it was gradually sloping upward.
Taking a breath, I felt something black moving ahead.
"Something's there!?"
"Darling!"
I drew my weapons again and assumed a stance.
If the opponent is really a Rock Worm, a missile might be better.
As I braced myself, a black wave came toward us.
Was it a monster, or just a――.
"Huh, bugs!?"
"Gyaahhh!"
The women's screams echoed.
"Whoaaaaa!"
Countless black bugs closed the distance in an instant and swarmed over us.
"Gyaahhh!"
Even the Princess seemed to hate bugs.
"Eeeeeek!"
Blue light from magic gathered from somewhere.
It was Kaorulko's magic.
"Don't use magic in a place like this!"
"Kyaaaaa!"
"D-damn!――That's it!"
I took out a bee spray from the Item Box.
I brought this from the countryside.
At my parents' home, if I'm not careful, bee nests form, so I always keep it.
I don't know if the opponent is bugs or bug-type monsters, but this is all I have.
Now, should I gamble and use a Fireball?
"Take this!"
I sprayed the yellow spray everywhere.
First, I sprayed white mist at the bugs perched on the Princesses.
I was worried if the bug spray would work, but as soon as the chemicals hit, the black wriggling things started falling down flapping.
"Gyaahhh!"
"Here I go!"
Since the bugs were gone from the Princesses' bodies, next it was my body.
I sprayed the whole body with the spray.
"Cough! Cough!"
All three of us coughed, but it was much better than being swarmed by bugs.
After driving them off my body, I sprayed the black wave ahead with full force.
Did the chemicals work? The black wave flipped over and started flapping its legs.
Looking at the bugs showing their bellies――long antennae, black bodies with many segments visible on the belly.
They look similar, but they aren't Gs.
I've never seen such bugs, so are these spawned in the dungeon too?
I sprayed chemicals from the front, driving the bugs toward the back.
Eventually, almost nothing moved, and it seems we won the battle.
"Haa~"
When I let out a huge sigh, the Princess started screaming.
"Whoaaaaaaa! I don't want this anymore! Sakurako, let's go home!"
She sat down flat and cried like a child.
Ah, it seems――due to the shock, the Princess has regressed to infancy.