Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Translator : Solo

【54th day】

I had a dream.

Dropped into an alternate world, I went through various hardships, contracted with god, gave up the precious firearms, met party members, explored the dungeon, picked a fight with royalty, got married after a great fuss, got a new sister, formed a party and explored the dungeon.

Personal relationships came apart at the seams due to a trivial matter and reunited because of a silly thing, we spoke about dreams, ate food, had fun, drank, talked, sang, quarreled, reconciled, overcame difficulties, defeated a strong opponent and obtained glory. It was a dream of an adventurer exploring the dungeon in this way, even into the future.

That was now a dream.

An unattainable dream.

「Souya, you have two paths before you」

I woke up on a cold bed and heard that voice.

The ceiling was stone, so I thought that I was still inside the dungeon, but I was wrong.

I was in a prison cell. 𝑓𝒓𝚎e𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯𝘰𝐯𝒆𝑙.c𝚘m

The light coming in was red. Judging from the way that voice echoed, it was pretty spacious. And, King Lemuria was on the other side of the bars, so I concluded that this was the royal castle’s prison.

My body had been cleaned. The memory of being covered in blood was still fresh in my mind, but it appeared that the blood had been washed off by someone. My clothes also appeared to have been washed.

「One is path of forgetting. You meet your party members again and explore the dungeon once more. There was no beast. Your party member was killed by a nameless monster. That's all」

That’s all?

Even though I knew that it was disrespectful, I glared at the king pointedly.

「The other is the path of knowing the truth behind your party member’s death. Depending on the situation, you’ll turn all of Lemuria into your enemy. Not just yours. You’ll endanger your entire party. Your wife and sister too. If you have the resolve for that, step into this path」

「May I ask a few questions before I choose?」

I couldn’t choose without coming to grips with these questions.

I had just woken up, but my mind had cleared and my body temperature had risen due to anger and adrenaline surging up within me.

「Go ahead」

「Why are you letting me choose?」

He could have just compelled me with a royal order.

In the end, I’m merely one of the adventurers of this country. Why isn’t he coercing me with his authority? This is a foolish act, even for a wise king. As a ruler, it’s wrong for him to accommodate just one person like this.

「It's the intuition of Medimu and me. Souya, sooner or later, you’ll arrive at the truth. It’s inevitable. And then, it’ll become a trigger that starts a fire. I don’t want you to develop a distrust of me and the others when that happens. People who have no trust, because of their stupidity, will awaken terrible destruction. As the king, I want to ascertain the sources of fires inside my country」

I see, that’s a sound reasoning.

It’s far too clear, so much so that I can see through it and read what he’s thinking.

My stepping into this thing he calls the truth may be dangerous to him, but there are also benefits for him. That’s why he’s letting me choose instead of quashing me.

I take back my previous opinion. This person is a good ruler. I think that he’s an admirable king. In no way is he an ally though.

………………Something that benefits the king, huh?

The only possibility that I can think of is the shaking up of the St. Lyridias Order and the allied nation of Elysium.

「Where are my party members now?」

「They’re being protected by Gladvain. They’re probably all in her dormitory」

I don't know who made that decision, but that’s a huge relief. That place is practically outside the jurisdiction of this country. I’m guessing that even the king won’t want to make an enemy of that militant group without a good reason.

「What was "that"? Why did my party member become “like that”?」

「Souya, that’s too close to the truth」

「I know. But before I choose, I really want to know what happened to my party member. Besides, even after I learn the truth, I can keep my mouth shut」

That wasn’t a lie. If the truth is something that balances out Irvin's death, then I’ll keep my mouth shut. I don't think that something like that exists in this world though.

「Tell him, Lemuria」

It startled me when I heard Otou-san’s voice. He hung the full set of my equipment close at hand.

I don't think that I can look this person in the eye for a while.

If I did, I’ll have the urge to kill him.

「Medimu, but……」

「I'm used to being resented, but only this time it's different. I hadn’t expected that bunch to be this stupid. To think that they would betray someone from the same school and the same organization so easily and use him in their power struggle. Moreover, that foolish act of leaving it to others to clean up after them. It’s stupidity that’s more than we can manage. If something isn’t done about it quickly, there’ll be serious consequences!」

「Not one word more out of you, Medimu」

Thank you very much.

I’m convinced now about who it is that I should bear a grudge against.

「I’ll tell you with my own mouth. I cannot hinge the fates of the young ones on your glib tongue. Souya, I’ll tell you a portion of the truth that you asked for. Brace yourself, for this is the same as consuming the focus of our disease」

「Alright」

Is that disease more agonizing than the death of a party member? More than having him decapitated right before my very eyes?

Haha, you’re kidding, right? 𝘧𝒓e𝑒𝑤e𝙗𝚗o𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝐜𝐨ｍ

「What should I talk about and where do I start……」

To the king, who was at a loss, Otou-san muttered,『From the beginning』.

「I guess so. Souya, do you know the story of the beastkin and the silver coins?」

The king took out a silver coin.

It was a coin with the design of a beast on it. It was only now that I knew. The true form of that beast.

「Yes, it says that with the invention of the malignant silver, humankind won the war with the beastkin」

「There’s something missing」

「Missing, you said?」

I was told something strange.

「Among your party members, there’s someone who uses beastkin sword techniques, right? Try picturing it in your mind. What kind of stance are the techniques unleashed from?」

Shuna's sword techniques.

Stance?

「Crawling on the ground just like a beast and running the enemy through from a low stance, I believe」

It's a style of unconventional sword techniques that are unleashed from a low stance. Feinting by aiming at the feet, then stabbing the vitals. I'm sure that it’s more profound than that, but that’s the extent of my knowledge.

「That's right. I’ve seen all sorts of beastkin sword techniques, but all of them are unleashed from a low stance. As for why that is, it’s really simple. The beastkin who devised these sword techniques were fighting enemies that were much smaller than themselves」

「Huh?」

What an outlandish story.

There are certainly big-sized men among the beastkin of today, but there are some like Tyutyu who are smaller-sized than me.

「Let's call them the old beastkin. They were creatures who were much stronger and bigger compared to humans. Most of the legends about giants that were left all over the world are based on old beastkin」

In other words, when the sword was thrust out from a low stance, it would hit a human’s vitals.

That would make them at least twice the size of the humans of today, which would mean that they were about 4 meters or 5 meters tall. It’s a size that reminded me of the bone giant.

「The fact that the strong old beastkin created this style of sword techniques is probably proof that the old humans weren’t powerless. Or it could be that they were showing a kind of fairness by putting their vitals within the reach of their enemy. No, it’s probably a part of how they toyed with the humans」

No way, beings who were not just big, but also possessed the intelligence to create a system of sword techniques——

「I can tell from your face that you’ve realized. Even if they had created the malignant silver that can burn the beastkin’s body, it counts for nothing if the humans wielding it are weak. A blade that doesn’t reach is meaningless. An arrow that doesn’t penetrate can’t kill. Humans, if they remained humans, couldn’t win against the beasts with intelligence」

Spontaneously,

I remembered the story that I had heard from Geto-san.

「In the story of the beastkin and the silver coins that’s being told nowadays, there are parts that were intentionally removed. The part where the beast hunter king drinks the abominable blood and becomes a beast. Blood and beast, you’ve witnessed it with your own eyes, so you probably understand.

It’s a terrible and horrifying power.

Just its physical strength alone easily surpasses that of a beastkin. Even though it should have lost all reason, its martial arts get elevated to the utmost limit. That roar locks contracts with the gods, and finally, it ends up a pure demon, killing non-stop until it loses its head and heart. Beasts that silver aren’t effective against, beast hunter beasts, human hunter beasts, that’s the story of the silver coins.

Foolishness…… I can’t call it that. If not for it, we would be kept as pets by the beastkin. This world would be impossible」

It’s an impression that’s very fitting for a king of humans.

I had a bad feeling as sweat streamed down my neck.

「King Lemuria, by any chance, is that blood……」

「It’s being passed down among the descendants of the beast hunting princes, in other words, the knights of St Lyridias. However, even among the knights, the ones who know about it are probably only an extremely small number of humans. Those who are direct descendants, the ones called heroes」

You're kidding, right?

I don't know the scale of the knight order, but it must number in the tens of thousands at least.

Are you telling me that there are that many beasts?

「The predecessors of Elysium had repeatedly tried in the past to break the curse of the abominable blood. Lyridias, before she attained godhood, was also one of them. Due to her tenacity, research, and blessing that’s almost obsessive, the curses of the knights are usually sealed. However, the blessing can’t get through to them when they’re on the verge of death. In other words, she solved nothing. If anything, some among the knights use this power in their power struggle to――」

That's it, said King Lemuria after cutting off his own words mid-sentence.

「It's not something that you can decide on easily. I’ll give you one day to――」

「I’ll step in」

I replied.

In the end, none of the truths that I had been told had changed my mind. If there was something that balances out the death of a friend, I suppose that it would only be the same measure of death.

「It isn’t such a simple thing, you know? Your party members also——」

「I know. I won’t get my party members involved, even if it means my death. Supposing someone was to die, it’ll only be me. That won’t inconvenience you either. I won’t let you lose out, and I’ll make it so that our interests are aligned. All that I would ask for in return, is at best something at the level of keeping our stories straight」

Both King Lemuria and Otou-san had slightly dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

I had a good momentum going, so I asked a question.

「I've got a question for you. The person who conspired against Sir Sanperie, friend of Irvin?Foz?Gasim, is Varner Kalbezzo. ………I’m not mistaken, right?」

It's my intuition and what I thought of on the spur of the moment, but I shouldn’t be mistaken.

Otou-san answered in King Lemuria’s stead.

「Yeah, we got proof when we inspected the things that the knight had on him. It’s the symbol that every knight of St. Lyridias has. The owner’s name is engraved on it and only one is ever made. Sanperie had Varner’s symbol. In all likelihood, he must have stole it when he fell for Varner’s trap」

It’s proof that could be have been fabricated, but can it be used?

「Do you know the background behind Varner's betrayal of Sanperie?」

「Sanperie is the heir of the Godoru family. The Godoru family has close ties with the Third Pope. For Varner, the hero who acts on behalf of the Second Pope, getting rid of Sanperie won’t inconvenience him in any way. No, I suppose there’s also the possibility that Sanperie was the one who attacked Varner」

A power struggle, huh?

That’s something that happens in every organization regardless of its size, but their methods are far too stupid. Of all things, it's like a bunch of people, who are holding bombs, setting one another on fire.

As an organization, Elysium has rotted to the core. There’s no saving them, is there?

「I would like to have Irvin and Sanperie’s things. It’s fine even if you only lend them to me. Can I leave the prison? There’s somewhere I want to go right away」

「Wait, Souya」

The king stopped me.

「What are you going to do?」

「Negotiate. Because, even if it may not seem like it, I’m contracted with a god of business」

If that doesn't turn out well,