Chapter 45 - Chapter 45: 100m
We are rushing to return to the surface, leading two girls.
――Though we are doing that, we are also taking a dip in the dungeon hot spring, but a forced march without sleep or rest is impossible.
There are battles with monsters too.
To shortcut through the labyrinth-like dungeon that continues endlessly, we entered a side tunnel.
Since Harpies come and go from here, there is no doubt we can get through it――.
Surrounded by a massive swarm of insects inside the tunnel, the Princess broke down.
She regressed to a toddler's state, crying and screaming.
It seems the insects caused her a great deal of stress.
For someone raised in the countryside like me, I have some resistance to a certain number of insects.
Like when you open a long-unused shed and it is filled with crickets, or when the temperature drops and the area around the house is swarming with stink bugs.
Fortunately, the saving grace is that there are no cockroaches in the Testing Land.
"Eeeeeee! Sakurako, let's go home hooooome!"
She is crying her eyes out.
"Aa~, okay, okay! It was scary, wasn't it?~ It's okay now."
I hug the crying Princess and stroke her head.
"Eeeeeee!"
"It's okay now~~―― How about you, Kaorulko?"
"……I'm fine, but……"
A very low-tension, deep bass voice came back.
"Are you okay with insects?"
"I'm not okay with them…… but if I get blown away first, I become super calm, you know……"
"Aa, I get it, I get it."
"Ahaha……"
She has a face like she's just given up――.
After brushing the insects off the Princess, I took out a blue tarp from my Item Box.
"Here, there are no insects on top of this, so get on."
"Hic-hic……"
If I pull it like this, we can clear it without stepping on the insects.
The bottom is filled with insects, mixed with crushed grease and insecticide, making it slimy and gooey.
The blue tarp boat moves across the black sea, making a rustling sound.
"Kaorulko, at least put on some rubber boots?"
I took out rubber boots from my Item Box.
They are the sturdy ones I always used for farm work.
"Oh, that's good."
She changed into the rubber boots and stomped on the black carpet with a crunch-crunch sound.
It seems she has decided to just face it.
Maybe Kaorulko has a tougher personality than expected.
Anyway, both of them seem like young ladies, so they probably lived lives far removed from insects.
These insects this time seem unique to the dungeon, but already cockroaches, centipedes, crickets, and other ground insects have entered the darkness and are breeding.
Won't those guys turn into monsters with magic power either?
Giant cockroaches, giant crickets, etc., I don't want that.
If that happens, I think I'll quit being an adventurer.
It's physically repulsive to me.
While pulling the blue tarp the Princess is riding on, I hold insecticide in one hand.
We move while spraying into the darkness.
If we knew they were there, we could spray beforehand and prevent approach.
We cleared the insect carpet like that, but I can see the hand pulling the blue tarp is climbing a slope.
Fortunately, the tunnel height increased, and we can now walk standing up.
"See, the insects are gone."
"……"
The Princess got off the blue tarp and hugged me.
She won't be any help like this.
I want her to return to her senses quickly, but…… I guess I can't do it until we get out of this tunnel.
Since the Princess has completely lost her fighting spirit, I carry her on my back while climbing the tunnel.
Climbing is fine, but what if the exit is 100m high above the ground――?
Well, the Harpies can come and go freely, but we can't do that.
"Hm? Is it my imagination, or does the wind flow feel stronger?"
"Yes, the exit might be close, isn't it?"
"It could be."
The painful journey that seemed endless finally began to show signs of an exit.
Bathed in that light of hope, Kaorulko's face also seems to have returned to a bright expression.
The end of the tunnel gradually widens.
It is definitely the exit.
Relief colors Kaorulko's exhausted face, and a smile breaks out.
Her heavy footsteps become lighter, and hope wells up in our hearts.
"Princess, the exit is almost here!"
"……Ex-it?"
"Yes! The exit."
"Can we go outside?"
"No, not outside the dungeon……"
"Uuuu……"
She starts crying again.
Still, once we get out of the tunnel, she should calm down, right?
The uphill climb ended in a cliff of about 5m, so the ladder was a great help here too.
Climbing the ladder and sticking my head out――I check the surroundings.
I can see a place that looks like a landing, but something feels off――it smells!
"Gya! Gya!""Gyaa!""Gya!"
What was there were many Harpies with various fur colors.
This seems to be their nest.
Even though it's called a nest, it's not like they gathered ordinary bird branches――not that kind of thing.
Is it just trash inside the dungeon?
It feels like they are using such things as beds.
"Hii-fuu-mi――about 10 of them……"
Since they have breasts, they are all females.
――Or rather, it seems only females are here.
Since they are such monsters, they probably aren't breeding here.
I thought since they were on Floor 4, they would use Floor 4 as a bed, but it seems their action radius is surprisingly wide.
"Daisuke-san! Are they monsters?!"
Kaorulko's voice comes from below.
"Aa, there are many Harpies."
"What should we do? If it's outside, it's easy to burn them with magic."
"That feels a bit pitiful……"
"They are monsters, you know."
Kaorulko says that, but we have spent so much time together, and she even guided us this time.
No, these are different individuals from that one…….
As I was hesitating what to do――.
"Gya! Gyaa!"
One Harpy flew over and stood between me and the other Harpies.
This neat-looking one is probably the usual Harpy.
There are many of them, but――looking closely, everyone has different fur colors and faces.
Their hairstyles are messy, so they all look similar, but there seem to be individuals with different hair textures.
Like frizzy hair and straight hair.
Their facial features also have quite a bit of individuality.
"Gya! Gya!"
"……""……"
Did she mediate? The surroundings all went quiet.
If they aren't hostile, there is no need to fight them specifically.
To show I have no hostile intent, I took out food from my Item Box.
I think bread would be good, but it's out of stock.
What I threw was a calorie bar cut with a knife.
The Harpy who knew what it was grabbed it with her feet and ate it first.
Seeing her, the other individuals also started grabbing and eating the calorie bars.
"Gya!""Gyaa!""Gya Gya!"
They seem noisy, but not angry.
I cut another calorie bar and threw it on the ground.
Since the other Harpies started eating, they must have lowered their guard.
Even so, Harpies can communicate with each other.
Are these guys actually quite intelligent?
If they are intelligent and can communicate, it seems like "Reconcile with monsters!" or "Monsters should not be killed!"――people like that might increase.
Anyway, the sight of many Harpies is rare.
I took out a camera from my Item Box and filmed their situation.
It's not just combat; sometimes videos like this are nice too.
At the very back of the group, there is a dull-looking individual who was left out of this commotion.
Since she seems to want to eat too, I threw a calorie bar in front of her.
At first, she was timid, but she started eating what I gave her.
Since she is happy, it looks delicious.
"Gya Gya!""Gya"
It seems the Harpies' guard has been lowered.
"It seems safe! Let's go!"
I climbed the ladder to the landing and set the Princess down from my back.
Then, a slightly hesitant Harpy came over.
It was the dull one who ate the calorie bar last.
Her hair is straight and a little long.
"Gya"
"Hehe, sorry~ there's none left."
As I crouched and stroked her head, the Princess snapped.
"Darling likes Harpies more than me!"
"Eh~? That's not true."
"You're the same perverts who use Harpies for H!"
"Eh?! Living Harpies sell for a high price, is that why you use them like that?"
"Eeeeeee!"
The Princess started crying again.
It seems she hasn't fully recovered yet.
"Okay, okay, Lady Sakurako, you should stop being such a troublesome woman."
Kaorulko came over and calmed the Princess down.
"Don't call me troublesome!"
"If you keep saying things like that, Daisuke-san will hate you."
"Uuu……"
Well, I wouldn't hate you for that much.
From my perspective, they are still like children.
More than that――.
"Kaorulko, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"I'll leave the Princess to you for a moment."
"Please."
"Well, I need to check where this is."
"It felt like we climbed quite high inside the tunnel……"
"That's what I'm worried about――"
I pushed through the Harpies and went to the edge of the landing, then cautiously looked down.
"How is it?"
"What is this!"
"What is it?!"
I can see something like the ground, but…… it is far below.
That is not all.
Walls cut vertically from the ground continue up to the ceiling.
It looks like a huge hall is blocked off by vertical walls, like a dead end.
"Probably about 100m high……"
I was thinking maybe it was like that――and it was actually true.
"Eh?! It's that high?"
"Aa…… Oh?"
I noticed lights moving flickering below.
Probably magic lights.
It means there are adventurers who have come this far.
"What is it?"
"It seems there are other adventurers."
"Really?!"
Kaorulko also came to my side and looked at the huge hall together.
"T-this is……?!"
"Could you possibly know this place?"
"Yes! This is the entrance to Floor 7――Lady Sakurako!"
She went to call the Princess, and they looked at the scenery below together.
"So, you two have reached here after clearing Floor 6……"
"Yes! But we didn't know the entrance at all and turned back."
"……"
The Princess stared fixedly at the huge wall.
"Could it be that the entrance you couldn't find was here?"
"Eeeeeh?!"
Kaorulko has a truly unpleasant look on her face.
Well, considering everything we encountered, it might be natural.
If the insects were stronger monsters, we would have died there.
"If we knew this was the only entrance, they would build stairs or widen the tunnel."
"But if the passage widens, large monsters might spawn."
Suddenly, words came from the Princess's mouth.
"Oh, the Princess has returned to her senses. You made it this far too, Princess."
"Aa, this is the entrance to Floor 7."
"――That means we have returned to Floor 6."
"We did it!"
"Well, from here, it shouldn't be that dangerous. We defeated the Minotaur too."
"I think that guy was quite dangerous……"
"Look, I have an Item Box too, haha."
"As Daisuke-san said, magic lights are moving below……"
That isn't a anglerfish-like decoy, is it?
"There are no monsters that fish with magic lights, right?"
"I haven't seen any――probably……"
Kaorulko also seems unsure, but more than that.
Right now, we have a major problem.
"How do we get down from this floating landing?"
"A, um~ I really don't want to go back to the tunnel……"
She seems to have been traumatized by the insect attack, shivering.
It seems to be quite a trauma.
"No, I can't stand it either. Even if we go back, there is no dungeon entrance on the walls here, right?"
"That's right."
"Maybe it's the type where a door opens from the back."
There is a possibility as the Princess says――but this tunnel is too mean-spirited.
Do they intend for us to clear it?
In the first place, the one who made this dungeon might not intend for anyone to clear it at all.
We adventurers are the only ones assuming it's a game and saying such things.
More than that, how do we get down from here?
There is no long rope that can reach this height, and ladders won't reach either.
Even stacking tanks vertically, 100m is impossible.
Anyway, stacking them perfectly vertically is something only Dekko Nice could do.
"Umm……"
I think for a while.
Something that can serve as a rope substitute…….
My parents' home had lots of straw stored, but I certainly didn't bring that in my Item Box.
"Daisuke-san?"
"I might have thought of something good!"
I took out a blue tarp from my Item Box.
It got dirty crawling over crushed insects, though.
"W-what are you going to do with that?"
Kaorulko is taken aback by the blue tarp covered in insect juice.
"I'll cut this into thin strips and then twist them into a rope."
"You can make a rope?"
"In the countryside, making ropes was normal."
After the world stopped, there was a shortage of supplies, so we made everything ourselves.
Starting with straw hats, if we didn't have shoes, we made straw sandals.
It helped that there were elderly people over 90 with experience in that kind of thing.
I was taught and made straw boots too.
The size of the blue tarp should have been about 3.5m x 5.5m.
If I cut it into 3.5cm strips, I can get 100 pieces.
Twisting 2 pieces into 1 gives 50 pieces x 5.5m = 275m of rope.
No matter what, we don't need 270m of length, so I'll twist 4 pieces to make 135m.
That would have more margin in terms of strength.
"……No, wait a minute."
If I twist it, the length shortens, so I need to account for that.
I took out a notebook from my Item Box and calculated.
100 pieces ÷ 3 = 33 pieces x 5.5m = approx. 180m
If I twist that, it becomes 2/3, so approx. 120m…… seems possible?
Of course, the 100m to the bottom is my estimate, so the precision is rough.
My house has a machine for twisting ropes I made myself, but I certainly didn't bring that.
Because I never thought I'd use it in a place like this!
Good grief, how did it come to this!
Once we return safely, I'll buy several 100m ropes at the home center.
If I'm going to dive into dungeons in the future, I'll definitely use them.
"Both of you, help me! If you hate the dirt, I'll give you rubber gloves."
I handed rubber gloves from my Item Box.
If you do farm work, rubber gloves are essential.
The two of them stretched the sheet tight, and I cut it into strips with a cutter.
This blue sheet is extremely strong against pulling, but weak against blades.
After all, it's 100 pieces――we'll do it steadily.
Once they are strips, I take out rocks from my Item Box and break them fist-sized.
I tie them to the ends of the strips and attach them to a standing ladder.
While spinning the rocks hanging from the strips, I twist them.
I line up 3 pieces and twist them so they cross to make a rope.
"Hey~, ropes are made like this, huh?"
Kaorulko watches what I'm doing with interest.
There's no chance to twist ropes while living in Tokyo.
It must be rare for her.
"My parents' home has a machine that does this automatically, but I never thought I'd use it in a place like this."
"Darling knows about all sorts of things."
"In the countryside, this is normal. For about 10 years, there was nothing, so I had to make it myself."
"In Tokyo, you rarely use ropes."
"That's right."
While talking, one rope was completed.
I tie the ends so they don't fray.
The length――about 4m.
Since I can make 33 of these, it will be over 120m.
Just as calculated.
Numerically it seems fine, but what about strength?
I tied it to the ladder and hung from it――.
"Okay! No problem at all."
Even when I hang from it, it doesn't budge.
For now, I should be the heaviest.
The Princess is definitely lighter than me, and no matter how curvy Kaorulko is, she can't be heavier than me.
"Mm! No problem! Darling is amazing!"
The Princess also hangs from the completed rope to check its strength.
"Now――just make all of this into ropes and tie them together to hang down."
"So, we can escape from here!"
The Princess suddenly became energetic.
"If it's us three, a shallower layer than Floor 6 won't be a problem."
"Actually, we struggle even on Floor 6, you know?"
"Haha, well. I've become completely numb. Look, you two have leveled up too."
"Yes, but……"
Now that we know we can use the rope, I asked them to help cut.
I made the cut long strips into ropes, and they tied them together for me.
I taught them the bowline knot.
"You tie it like this……"
Kaorulko is checking the rope knot, but both of them are young ladies, so they've never done rope work.
In times of scarcity, outdoor hobbies didn't catch on either.
"Gya, Gya""Gi……"
Two Harpies climbed onto my back.
The usual one and the gentle-looking one that came to me earlier.
"Hey~, two of them are heavy, you know~"
If we do it with three people, the work goes fast.
While talking, a long rope was completed.
"Rock Summon!"
"Gyaa!""Gya Gya!"
Suddenly a large rock fell, and the Harpies were startled.
Some individuals flew away flapping their wings.
I brought it out to fix the rope.
I wrap the rope around the rock and tie it.
"Okay!"
Even when I apply weight, it doesn't budge.
The rope is thin, and since the material is a blue tarp, it might slip――but it should be fine.
I put away the ladder used for preparation and threw the rope, coiled like a snake, down below.
Looking down――it seems to have reached.
My estimate was not wrong.
"How is it, Darling?"
"It's fine. It reached the bottom――I'll go first, then who's next?"
"I'll tie Kaorulko and lower her."
"Please……"
"Are you okay? Should I go down to check first and come back up?"
"No problem."
Well, she is a high-level adventurer too, so she should easily support Kaorulko's weight.
I was about to grab the rope and hang from it――but the rope was hitting the corner of the landing.
In movies, this is where it rubs and cuts.
I took out a towel from my Item Box and inserted it where it hits.
This should be fine.
"Phew!"
Grabbing the rope, I took a deep breath and threw my body into the air.
"Darling!"
"Whoa~!"
Naturally, I dangled in the darkness――the feeling was like Tarzan.
There was nothing around, so I was truly floating in pitch blackness.
Normally, hanging from a rope would put a lot of load on the arms, but I am a high-level adventurer now.
I can descend smoothly with just my hand strength.
In just a few minutes, I arrived on the ground.
I check the surroundings just in case――according to the two of them, this is a safe zone, but…….
I look up and wave, and probably the Princess waved back.
I waited for a while, and something was thrown into the air.
"Kyaaaaa!"
I heard a small scream from Kaorulko.
A round object gradually descended, took human shape, and arrived on the ground.
"Here, good job."
"I-it was scary……"
She was secured with a sash across her crotch and armpits.
You don't have to secure it so tightly――well, she must have been worried about Kaorulko.
I untied her rope and waved up, and the Princess came down immediately.
She fell as if sliding, landing in about ten seconds――fast!
"Everyone, we can escape with this!"
"Darling!"
The Princess hugged me.
"For now, let's try calling out to the adventurers over there? I want to warn them about the Labyrinth Cult."
"That's right."
"How are the relationships between adventurers in a place like this?"
"There can be trouble if someone steals prey――but here, they are probably looking for the entrance."
"Probably……"
Kaorulko also nodded.
"And――is it okay if I tell them about this place?"
I pointed to the hanging rope and up above.
"It doesn't matter. Someone will discover it sooner or later."
I confirmed with Kaorulko――she said it was fine, so I headed toward where the magic lights were flickering.
"Oooooh!"
Finally, humans other than us.