Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

【10th day】

It was my first dream since coming to this world.

I was in a forest somewhere. A “someone” was there in that place. Behind me was a dear and beloved person. I didn’t know who it was, but the person I was in the dream loved and fully trusted this person. Such feelings were conveyed to me.

I came to a place deep inside the forest. It was the special place where the two of us would secretly meet.

The trees made a canopy of branches and leaves, and the sunlight filtering through the leaves illuminated the surroundings.

It was there, that I was stabbed in the back.

The blade appeared to have dug into my spine and nerves. I could only collapse onto the ground, and crawl like a worm. I didn't understand why this had happened.

The person who had stabbed me; there was only one person it could have been.

That person had run into the jaws of death with me. Had loved me. That was why I had responded. We even had a child that we had showered with love. For all that, if I still couldn’t believe in that person, then I would not be a person, but a beast.

I thought that something must have taken that person’s appearance. But that person’s eyes were lucid to the bitter end.

Without any last words, two people said their goodbyes with the flash of a blade.

It was a terrible nightmare.

That face that I saw at the end, it didn’t seem like I would be able to forget it any time soon. My shirt was soaked with cold sweat. My back, which had seemingly been stabbed, hurt. No, there was severe pain. It was similar to the pain from being hit by a stun gun.

「Izora」

『Yes, what is it?』

I gave orders to Izora, which was at my bedside.

「My back hurts. I may have been wounded. Scan my body」

『Understood』

Izora extended a small arm and touched my back.

「Urggg」

My body jumped from the pain.

『It cannot be confirmed via palpation and visual inspection. Administering medical nanomachines』

I was given an injection on my neck. I desperately tried to steady my ragged breathing. Instinctively, I curled up into a fetal position.

『Souya-san, what happened?』

Makina seemed anxious as she rolled up to the entrance of my tent.

『Makina, please bring medical kit D』

『Understood, Izora』

The rumbling sound of something rolling could be heard. In a flash, Makina returned with the kit. Izora opened it dexterously, and removed an ampoule.

『Scan completed. No abnormalities detected. Vitals are unstable. Status unknown. Team member Souya, is it okay if Izora administers a strong sedative?』

『Izora, that decision is rejected. Scan him again. Cut the information from the medical nanomachines, we currently cannot fully control them』

『Understood, Makina. Starting scan. …………… Anomaly confirmed by ultrasound. Metal has encroached into parts of the right arm. This is presumed to be the cause, starting separation』

Izora grabbed my right arm. On it was the elven hand protector that had been put on me yesterday. That’s right, I had been wearing it even in the dream.

『It’s not coming off. Insufficient power. Makina, if you please』

『Understood』

Makina's arms grabbed the hand protector from both sides. There was the sound of metal creaking, then fracturing.

『Makina is very sorry, Souya-san. Part of the arm has been damaged』

『Let's amputate』

『Understood, Izora』

「Wait!」

Makina took out an electric circular saw and turned it on. It buzzed loudly as the saw rotated at high speed.

『Izora, administer anesthesia, just in case』

『Izora cannot adminster anesthesia, but will inject him with a strong soporific and painkillers』

『Understood. Then, let’s commence』

「Both of you, wait!」

「Why is it so noisy this early in the morning?」

We had woken Misuranika-sama up. She extended her forepaws forward and stretched her back. Kuwaa~ she yawned.

「And, what’s going on here?」

『Good morning, Misuranika-sama. Something is wrong with Souya-san, so we were just about to cut off the cause. It’ll be over in a flash』

「Oh, it’s fine. I’ll do something about it. Makina, get me a glass of water. Izora, blindfold Souya」

『Understood』

Makina and Izora did as they were told. I had very complicated feelings about this master and servant relationship. Who did the two of you serve again?

Izora blindfolded me. Through the thin cloth, I saw Misuranika-sama growing bigger. While I could not make out the details of her face, the seductiveness of her glamorous limbs alone could be easily perceived.

『Here’s the water』

「Okay」

Misuranika-sama held my head.

『Kyaa』

Makina let out a high-pitched voice. Water dripped onto my cheek. Then, I felt a soft sensation on my lips. A tongue forced its way in, pushed opened my teeth, and held down my tongue. Warm liquid filled my mouth. I swallowed it slowly.

「Mmm ……Alright, well, that should do it」

Misuranika-sama took a breath. I was utterly confused and had no clue what was going on. Because it was my first time in various ways. It felt soft. It was like the body of a shrimp. Her tongue, I was talking about her tongue.

「Souya, does it still hurt?」

「Oh」

In my surprise, I had forgotten about the pain. No, the pain had disappeared. My body had also been freed, so I immediately pulled off the blindfold. I saw Misuranika-sama meowing in the form of a cat.

Dammit!

「You were being drawn in by death. Because you drank consecrated water, its effects on your body disappeared. The culprit is this hand protector」

Her paw stepped on the hand protector.

「It’s most likely cursed. I can feel alarmingly strong emotions from it. Take it off immediately」

「This is an elven treasure, isn’t it?」

「I guess the curse only activates when someone who isn’t an elf wears it」

「I see」

I was convinced. And,

「Makina, stop holding the circular saw at the ready」

『It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t of much use』

She dejectedly kept the dangerous tool and left.

If you do that next time, I’ll dismantle you!

「I tried removing it, but it seems physically impossible. Misuranika-sama, can you please do something?」

「I can’t. I don’t have such powers」

She said that with finality.

「For the time being, I’m not affected by the hand protector, right?」

「Most likely. However, curses are strong human emotions that never fade away. It’ll affect you again if there's some sort of trigger. There’s probably no benefit for you to hang on to it. If you ask a high-ranking thaumaturgist in the city, you can at least be released from the curse」

「Understood. And Misuranika-sama, can I ask for one thing?」

「What is it?」

「Please don’t say anything about this to those sisters」

In particular, I wanted to keep it from Rana.

「Why?」

「It’s what I prefer. Please」

Rana would be exploring the dungeon early in the morning. There was also what happened yesterday, and “this” today. I didn’t want to make her worry about me.

「Hmpt, I win in both bust size and height, you know?」

「That's not the preference that I was talking about」

It was mistaken as a problem of appearance.

「That’s fine, I suppose. I’m an open-minded god, and I value the will of my follower. Can I also say one thing?」

「Yes, anything」

「If those sisters are the cause of your death, I’ll curse both of them. That’s fine, right?」

「I’ll bear that in mind」

Alright, Misuranika-sama said, before curling up and going back to sleep. I went out of the tent with a towel and a change of clothes. The world outside was still shrouded in darkness. I took a bath in the river to wash off my sweat. As the percentage of women had risen, I dressed myself conscientiously. It was a vain resistance, but in a sense, it was better than not doing it.

I took a long hard look at the hand protector. It was made from a thin unknown metal, and had an elaborate foliage design on its surface. You wouldn’t think that it was cursed. To begin with, it was something that didn’t suit me.

I decided to make breakfast and a bento.

Putting whole wheat flour, which was cheap even in this world, in a bowl, I added water and oil, then mixed it using a spatula. Whole wheat flour is wheat flour that hasn’t been refined yet. However, it’s very nutritious, and has high levels of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Besides, a bag of it about the size of an adult’s upper body costs only three copper coins. Food that was expensive and delicious wasn’t necessarily good for health. Beastkin baked and sold this in street stalls, so I thought that I would try imitating that today.

I mixed it well and started kneading it by hand once the mixture was no longer powdery.

『Is this chapati? Should I give you a hand?』

「Then, knead this until it becomes smooth. After you’re done kneading, leave it for a while, then divide it equally into roughly golf-ball-sized portions」

『O~kay. Knead~, knead~ Become deli~cious』

I left it to Makina, and started to work on the ingredients.

I steamed, then mashed some sweet potatoes from the alternate world that I didn’t really know much about. I added flavor using a small amount of diced onions, sugar, salt, pepper and vinegar. As I thought, it was lacking, so I diced pork, vegetables and cheese, stir-fried them, and seasoned it with Worcestershire sauce. I mixed everything together. I wished that I had mayonnaise. Hmm, it was still lacking. I chopped up some pickled things from this side, and fried some bacon, which were great in times of trouble. More sweet potato was added. I fried a small amount of garlic in olive oil. Once the smell came out, I added some watercress that I had taken from the river, sautéed them, then added more sweet potato.

「………………Oh no」

I had messed it up completely.

What’s this stuff that’s totally lacking consistency in its taste? Isn’t this completely one of those failed dishes that men who lived alone often made? What’s more, I had used the same ingredient twice when I put in both pork and bacon!

「Alright」

I’ll cover everything up by mixing in curry powder.

『Souya-san, the dough is okay now』

「Alright, let's roll it out」

Both of us rolled out the dough using a rolling pin. Because it was my first time, I had misjudged the amount, and ended up making too much.

『Are we baking this next?』

「No, let’s sandwich the ingredients」

I put the curry-flavored ingredients on top of a piece of rolled-out dough. Placing another piece of dough on top, I turned it as I pinched it shut. Makina began making the same thing without a word.

I placed the pieces of stuffed dough into the still oily frying pan. The heat from the firewood felt about medium. I also put a pan that was smaller than the frying pan on the fire. Once it was heated enough, I placed the bottom of the heated pan on top of the pieces of dough to transfer the heat.

「Makina, I can’t tell if the temperature is correct, so can you scan it?」

『Yes, I can~』

I baked them according to Makina’s instructions. The contents of those that had been stuffed too full with ingredients spilled out. I would be more conservative when filling them next time. Once we got the hang of it, Makina was eventually entrusted with everything.

In the end, there were two failures, but we had made twenty in total.

Chapati stuffed with curry-flavored ingredients completed. It seemed like Indians ate this more than they ate naan. I taste-tested one. Hmm, it appeared that I had somehow covered it up nicely using the curry flavor. It felt like the off-flavors were terrible though. It wasn’t unpalatable, but I wondered if it would taste good even when it was cold.

「You’re up early」

Rana had gotten up. She was dressed up as an adventurer. She was looking cute today too.

「Good morning. I had a strange dream, so I woke up early. Are you going already?」

「Yes, as being early is always better than being late」

That's true.

A drowsy Ea came out from their tent. I wrapped five chapatis with the dried leaves that had a preservative effect, and put powdered juice mix into a water bottle.

「Rana, this is breakfast and a bento」

「Ben-to?」

「Portable food for the dungeon」

「I see. Eh, did you make them?」

「They may not be very tasty, but I think that they’re nutritious and are quite filling. I'll do better next time, so for the time being, please put up with them this time」

I put the chapatis and the water bottle into Rana's bag.

「Thank you very much」

「Shall I accompany you?」

「No, I can’t let something like what happened yesterday occur again. Please take care of your body」

Erm, it’s because something like that happened yesterday that I want to go with you though.

「Alright then」

Rana bowed respectfully and walked away.

「Have a safe trip」

Ea waved her hand.

「Is it fine if you don’t go with her?」

「I would have gone if I could. It's an individual request for Onee-chan, but since the client is an elf just like us, at the very least, it’s less worrisome than a request from a Hemu」

I saw Rana off until her figure became small.

「Hmm?」

Ea flopped to the ground. 𝒇𝚛e𝘦wℯ𝑏𝓃𝑜νℯ𝒍.co𝗺

「Hey」

「Sorry, take me to the tent」

When I picked her up into my arms, she put her feeble arms around my neck. Her body was feverish. I carried Ea into their tent, laid her down and covered her with a blanket.

「If I’m attacked right now, I won’t be able to resist, you know?」

「What the heck are you saying」

As if I would do something like that.

「Don’t find me attractive? I'm quite confident in my looks though……」

Her complexion was worse than usual, but her white skin and her slender, well-proportioned limbs were captivating. It’s a bit late, but I did think that she was a tremendous beauty. But I didn’t have such a warped sexual disposition that I would lust after frail and helpless girls.

「You’re certainly a beauty. I’ll keep you company after you regain your health」

「Haha, that’s impossible. Cuz I hate Hemus」

Despite the fact that she was joking, tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes.

「It’s the worst, having to rely on a Hemu even though I’m about to die because of a Hemu」

「It’s the worst for me too, having an elf with such a bad personality as a teacher even though I want to learn bow techniques」

「Shut~ up」

She swatted my arm. It didn’t hurt at all.

Ea spoke in a murmur.

「Do you like Onee-chan?」

「Huuuuhhh!? I, it’s not like I particularly like her or something! I think she’s pretty, but yes. No, errr」

It had come out in a strange voice.

This was that, wasn’t it? It was like the thoughts of a foolish male middle school student who had gotten the wrong idea that a female classmate liked him just because she was a little bit kind to him. It made me remember the past, and I felt like dying.

「Uwaa, gross. Well, it’s fine. Don't worry about it, fool」

That “fool” had been gentle. Ea’s insults were adorable. My sister had once called me a caterpillar with limbs. I wondered how many times she had made me cry.

「Do you want breakfast?」

「It’s okay, I’ll sleep for a while」

「Call me when when you feel hungry. I'll bring it for you」

「Alright」

I was about to leave the tent when a weakly hand grabbed me.

「I'm lonely, so stay here for a short while」

「Okay」

I consented to the request from Ea, who had become docile. This was something that couldn’t be refused. I sat beside her and adjusted the blanket, which had slipped. I was a little hesitant, but I wiped the sweat on her forehead with a towel.

「It feels weird」

Ea closed her eyes and her breathing became soft and shallow. Without tiring of it, I continued looking at her face. It felt like I was watching a piece of art. Her time, which was on the brink of wasting away, was a memserizing blink of an eye. The stupid thought of wanting to sacrifice everything to save her crossed my mind.

Even though it wasn’t my place to do something like that.

After nearly an hour, I left the tent. My heart hurt. I felt as if I was going to fall to my knees, so I hit my chest to stop myself from collapsing. I saw a vision of my heart being pierced through.

『Man, I have a request』

My shadow was talking to me. It was a ridiculous sight.

「Excuse me, who are you?」

『A nameless ghost. Don’t let it bother you』

A distinctly dark shadow escaped my outline and formed a humanoid shape. It was enigmatic, and obviously dangerous. Just when I was about to call Misuranika-sama,

『My blood relative is in imminent danger. I need your help』

I decided to stop and listen to it. I didn’t need to ask the identity of the person who was in imminent danger.

「I don’t mind lending a hand. I’ve gone too far to turn back now. Well, what should I do?」

Even though I didn’t know the true nature of what I was dealing with, I consented easily.

It felt ominous. I was covered in cold sweat. Would it request something unbelievable from me?

『That’s a big help. The hero of the hidden name will definitely reward you for your self-sacrifice and for your life』

「Wait, what are you doing to—」

「Weak one. Adventurer from foreign lands. The contract is hereby formed」

Its voice drew very close.

The shadow stood up.

Under the light, the darkness was bottomless.

I felt like I had seen this in a horror movie before.

Slight nausea. A deep breath.

The weak smell of grass. Wind, the dampness of the morning dew.

There was no wound on my heart. My body moved well enough.

「Izora!」

I called, but Makina was the one who came.

『Yes, what is it?』

「Where is Izora? I'm going to the dungeon right now」

『Izora is in the dungeon』

「Huh?!」

That reply was completely out of the blue.

『Izora disguised herself as Rana-sama’s lantern, and accompanied her to the dungeon』

「What the heck is she doing? No, it’s perfect. Is it possible to establish a communications link with her?」

『Makina will give it my best shot』

Makina's screen displayed a snowstorm, like an ancient television set.

「Izora, can you hear me?」

There was no reply. Instead, a grainy video was shown. The point of view was from around a person’s waist, and it showed the inside of the dungeon. It was seemingly the point of view of Izora, which was hanging from Rana’s waist. I couldn’t tell their exact numbers, but there was one beast-man and one elf accompanying her. The party stopped moving. They were having a conversation, but the sound of their voices was distorted, and it was hard to make out what they were saying. Only the disquieting atmosphere could be felt. They met up with another party.

Among them was the idiot prince from yesterday. He had a huge grin on his face. Their conversation was inaudible. Rana took a step back. The other party members stared apathetically at Rana.

She took to her heels. The prince and his party followed.

The video cut off there.

「Do you know the floor that they’re on?」

『Izora has transmitted the data. It’s the 10th floor, and a map is attached』

「Understood」

I didn’t know if I could descend five floors in one go, but I was going. I was going even if I knew that it would be futile. First, I prepared my equipment. I put on extra layers of blade-resistant shirts, put my hunting knife into its sheath on my waist, wore protectors on every limb other than my right arm, and hauled my usual backpack onto my back. I pulled on a replacement poncho. Then, the bow was,

「Dammit」

The string was broken. I’ll ask Ea to repair, no……, I had the location of a replacement bow in mind. Next, I needed arrows that would be suitable, but—

「He~yy」

Geto-san came out from the river. He looked different than usual. Apart from the harpoon he always had on him, he was carrying a quiver-like bag on his back, with harpoons haphazardly strewn inside it. He held a net with a huge chunk of meat in one hand.

「Look at this. We found a big fish last night, and my entire clan went out and hunted it down. I thought we could eat it right away…… What’s wrong?」

Geto-san had noticed that I was acting weird. The arrival of this person was nothing but a stroke of good luck. Could it be that meeting this person was the luckiest thing that had happened to me?

「Geto-san, I would be glad to eat that deliciously. But I would like to ask you for a few favors」

「Alright, go ahead and ask for anything」

「Those harpoons that you’re carrying on your back. Please sell them to me」

「I’m not going to take money for something like this. I’ll give them to you. However, a small amount of the paralytic poison used for hunting the big fish still remains on them. Be careful. If you carelessly let it enter your body, a Hemu like you will be immobilized for half a day」

「That’s extremely helpful」

I took the bag and carried it on my back. It was fairly heavy. I took one harpoon in my hand and gave it a close look. Its form was more like a spear than a harpoon. The point was curved and sharp, and made from a white non-metallic crystalline material. Its shaft was made from bone, which I realized was hollow when I hit it.

「Also, please carry me to the city. How long would it take you to get there?」

「Via the river? If I take it seriously, I can make it in about 300 seconds」

I could really save time and strength with this.

「Makina, the various devices are waterproof, right?」

『Yes』

「Let’s go right away! I’m counting on you!」

「A, alright」

Geto-san pulled on me lightly as I drew close to him.

「Makina, I’m heading out. Please keep an eye on Ea while I’m away」

『Okay, please leave it to me. Good luck』

「Here we go. Hold your breath. It may be a bit tough for a Hemu, but you have to endure it」

I took a deep breath. Geto-san held me as we fell into the river.

Not much to say since it's all plot, though I'm glad the plot has finally picked up after a few slow chapters. I have to say though, I'm pretty sure those chapatis are inedible. Really nice moment with Ea though.

How will Souya rescue Rana? Stay tuned!