Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

「Okay. You!」

A map was proffered to me so I took it. It was more complex than I had thought. The stairs leading to the next floor were marked on it.

「You’ll be the interim leader. Form a party with the five of you and descend to the fifth floor. I'll be waiting below」

Wait a minute, what do you mean?

Was what I wanted to ask, but Otou-san had already ran off.

「That was fast」

Moreover, he had disappeared quietly, without even a sound from his equipment.

Four pairs of eyes turned to me.

「Is there anyone who wants to be the leader instead?」

I had been bad at leading others from way back.

「Should I do it instead?」

The young knight took on the role readily. I proffered him the map, which he took.

「Alright! Everyone, follow me!」

「Not so fast」

I stopped the knight, just as he was about to start walking off.

「The map, you’re holding it upside down」

「Hahaha! I’m sorry about that. It’s because this is the first time I’ve seen a dungeon map, you see?」

He gave an invigorating laugh.

The boy and the girl stared at me. I looked away. Didn’t the woman look more knowledgeable anyways?

「I’ll have it memorized by the next time」

Is that so?

「Sorry. I’ll do it after all. I'm sorry for holding everyone up」

I took back the map. I crouched down slightly and talked into the microphone of my glasses.

「Izora, read the map and guide me. Izora? Makina? Please respond」

Huh?

There was no response. You’re kidding me, was there something that was causing interference? Dang it…… Well, alright. All I had to do was to look at the map and move accordingly. I could do that even without modern technology. Taking out a military card compass, I checked our bearing.

Before we set off, I had to decide our formation.

「Onii-san, I’m entrusting you with being at the front」

「Okay」

「After that—」

The knight was at the front. Next was me, the boy, the woman, and the girl brought up the rear.

「Everyone, turn on your lanterns」

I tried to turn on the lantern that had been given to me, but I didn't know how to use it so I swung it perfunctorily and the light came on. It was a dim and unreliable light. I felt uneasy so I took out a simple probe and turned on its light. The light it gave off was incomparably stronger than the lantern. I could see all the way to the end of the passageway.

「Ohh, that’s so bright. Is that magic?」

「Something like that」

The surprised knight started moving forward. Perhaps because I had seen how Otou-san had moved earlier, the sounds of the party members' footsteps and the clinking and clanking of their equipment sounded strangely annoying to me. Our relationships weren’t close enough for me to say anything about it, so I held my tongue. Still, wouldn’t we get attacked if there was an enemy that detected their prey by sound?

「Turn right at the next crossroads」

「Okay」

The knight stayed vigilant, holding his sword and shield up and checking to his left and right.

My first impression of him was that he was egocentric and unreliable, but this person had fighting experience. There were no wasted movements in the way he carried himself.

「It’s clear」

Following his words, I also turned to the right behind him. Something was behind me.

「Enemy!」

When I raised my voice and shone the light behind us, the sound of flapping wings intensified and a monster attacked. It was a severed human head with large wings where the ears would be. It opened its big mouth and bared its fangs.

「Sorry」

I was grabbed by my shoulder and pulled back forcibly. Somehow, I managed to break my fall while keeping my eye on what was happening.

Everything was already over.

The knight had knocked the monster down with his shield and the boy followed up by piercing it with his sword. It was over in an instant. Just when I was feeling amazed, another monster appeared. It was run through by the girl's spear, and was set ablaze by the woman while it was still skewered on the spear. The nice smell of roasting meat filled the air.

I was helped to my feet.

「This is a Chocho, isn’t it? This is the first time I seen one in the wild」

The woman was touching the monster that had been stabbed by the boy's sword. I was worried about whether there were any germs. And it stank of blood.

「The human face is more well-defined than those bred in farms. The wings are also more than double the size. Um～mm, it’s rather fleshy, don’t you think?」

What had looked like a human face to me was just a pattern, a form of mimicry. From its wings and the arrangement of its bones, I wondered if it was a species of bird. In addition, I had a question about them.

「Is it tasty?」

The woman’s eyes shone at my question.

「It's delicious. It's a bit ferocious, but you can keep it as long as you have a dark room, and you can eat almost everything except for its fangs and bones. Above all, their eggs are exquisite. It's being sold under the name of Guinelle large egg. The big bird called Guinelle originally did not live on the right continent. This chocho egg was sold as a substitute as it has almost the same taste and richness, and it took over the name after it became mainstream. There, a lesson on trivia for you」

「You can eat this?」

Only the knight had a pale face.

「Eh~, even we have eaten it before on our island. It is delicious even if you simply add salt after you fry the wings in oil until they are nice and crispy. Making it into soup might be nice too~」

「Don't talk about the island. We’ll be treated as hicks」

「Knight-sama, 30% of the food that can be eaten in the city is from the dungeon, you know?」

「Is that so? Sorry, I didn't even think about where the food came from」

「What? Are you a sheltered young master or something?」

At the boy’s rude remarks, the young man replied softly.

「Being a fringe noble is not something to be proud of」

「Knight-sama, as I suspected, you came from a good lineage!」

「Eh, really?! Are you rich?!」

Handsome, tall, personality seems good, and to top it off, a noble. Yes, if there was a woman who did not gobble him up, she would have to be a pretty perculiar person.

The boy and I were looking calmly at the knight being bombarded with questions. Considering where we were at the moment, we should really stop them. But, as we were men, if we cut in now, it would probably look like we were being jealous. I didn’t want that. Even if I had already lost, I still didn’t want that.

「Hey, kid」

「Huh?」

During times like this, it was best to talk about something totally unrelated.

「What do you think those Chochos eat?」

「Probably insects or rats, I guess? Aren’t there small animals living here too? Otherwise, the dungeon would probably be piled full with feces and rotting meat」

「That's true」

It was a simple food chain. And then, I uttered a question that had naturally popped up in my head.

「Well then, is the Chocho the apex predator of this floor?」

「There’s no~ way that’s true. There were some guys who farmed them on our island, but they were all eaten by wild dogs. They’re not a really strong species. Just the fact that they use mimicry means that they’re weak. I was just a little surprised that it was wild」

「Hmm」

Two female giggling voices. The refreshing smile of one knight-sama.

We were high and feeling elated after our first battle in the dungeon. We had great coordination when fighting off-the-cuff despite not having planned anything in advance. And we had won. With that, it would be strange if we weren’t in high spirits. Our excitement was rising.

But,

The fact that the boy and I were feeling a little less excited had just a little bit of an effect. But, it still wasn’t enough.

We did not notice the approaching presence of the predator of those birds.

「BOOOOOOOOOH!」

A loud roar.

It was a fattened pig. Simply put, it was big. Both its width and height were near the limits of the passageway. It was about three and a half meters in length. Excited by the smell of blood and turning its wild killing intent onto us, it charged at us! At its speed, it would take less than five seconds for it to make contact with us.

I remembered the words that my classmate, who used to work part-time raising livestock, had said in the past.

『Those pigs? They're fricking ferocious. They get eaten in fairy tales, but if there were three of them, the wolf would be the one getting eaten』

After that momentary escape from reality, I raised my voice.

「Run away!」

The boy grabbed the sexy woman and the girl and pulled them back. The corner. If we turned at the corner, we could take its back. With that huge body, facing it from the front wasー

「Come on! You monster!」

In front of the approaching pig, the knight-sama raised his sword fearlessly and held up his shield.

「In front of the enemy, those who are knights will never retreー, GYAAAAAAAA!」

He was flipped upwards by its huge nose. Fortunately, he landed behind the pig. I didn’t have the time to check that he was okay. For now, I pointed the light at the pig to draw it over here. We’ll recover him later.

「Run! RUN! Turn right at the next corner! Go straight for a while!」

The boy ran in front. Next was the woman, who ran the slowest. The girl and I followed behind her.

「What is that?! What did it eat to grow so big?!」

To the girl’s shout,

「"Everything”, I suppose!」

I replied.

「NOOOOOOOO!」

I would probably have screamed too if I was alone. Being chased by a huge pig in a dark dungeon was considerably harder than you could imagine. And it was easy to imagine what would happen if it caught up with us.

「Kid, next is left!」

「Ah」

The boy had turned right. The woman, caught up in following him, had also turned right.

「It’s fine! Don't turn back! Keep going!」

If they took the time to reverse course, the pig would come into contact with us. Or rather, the pig would crash into us. If the map in my head was correct, ahead of where the boy had turned was a dead end. I did not follow behind them.

The pig had taken the previous turn roughly. Behind me came the sound of its footsteps then a huge crash shook the passageway.

I shone the light on it again to threaten it. Rather than getting scared, the pig howled louder and charged towards us.

「Alright, come here!」

I took the girl's hand and ran.

We turned three corners but we couldn’t get away from it. Using smell, sight, or maybe both, it was tracking us perfectly. My breath was getting ragged. My thigh felt like it was starting to cramp. Compared to me, the girl seemed to have stamina to spare though, so I couldn’t show any signs of weakness.

「Onii-san! Do you have any ideas?!」

「I do! I do, but it’s impossible unless we can pull away from it a little bit more!」

「Just a little bit is enough, right?」

The girl let go of my hand and turned back. Carrying her spear under her arm, she raised two small, wooden idols.

「The Tree Spirit King, Ukazor. The God of Fertility, Gastolfo. Beltoriche of Azorido requests a miracle from the revered gods. Please! Confine!」 f𝒓𝑒e𝙬𝒆𝚋𝘯૦𝘷𝐞𝑙.c𝑜𝐦

She scattered some seeds on the ground.

The pig was almost on top of us. It wasn’t going to be in time. I immediately hugged her from behind to protect her. It might be pointless, but it was better than nothing.

Then, a miracle literally happened.

Thorns grew from the scattered seeds and entangled the forefeet of the pig, making it fall forward.

「It’s really just for a little bit! This won’t hold it for long!」

「Understood」

Every time the pig struggled, some thorns were torn apart. After taking a moment to check the map, we ran off. Because of the unusual circumstances and my nervousness, my stamina had reduced a great deal. My breathing was in disarray and the muscles in my leg were cramping.

Somehow, we reached our destination.

「The spear」

I borrowed the spear from the girl and placed it on the ground. I took off my poncho and used it to cover the spear.

「No way, you’re kidding!」

Having guessed what I was planning, her voice was filled with anxiety. I leaned back on the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the ground.

「You should stay close to the corner, and in the event that I fail and get eaten, use that opening to run away」

Ignoring my words, she sat down in front of me and entrusted her back to me.

「Oh man, that’s unreasonable. In this case, we’ll both get eaten after being crushed」

「Hmm, is that what’s going to happen?」

The passage was straight, about 12 meters in length, and the pig, who had found us straight ahead of it, was stomping its forefoot. All that was left was to pray that this beast was as intelligent as it looked.

The giant pig charged.

Wow, it was like a heavy duty truck made of meat.

Its intensity made my face twitch.

The girl smelled nice. Her neck was glistening with sweat. Her thin lips were trembling. She was probably above me in terms of physical strength, but even so, she was thin and small. When I held her shoulder, she grabbed my arm anxiously. I had heard that humans’ physiological response when faced with danger to their lives, was to try to leave offsprings. Then, this out-of-place lust wasn’t strange, was it?

My escape into my thoughts did not even take a millisecond.

Now!

「Get into position!」

The poncho was flung away, and the two of us stood while holding the spear up. With the butt of the spear braced against the wall, the pig charged into the tip of the spear. The spear flexed. Blood sprayed and it shrieked.

「BUHIIIIIII!」

The spear had penetrated through the top of its mouth all the way until the tip was near its brain. But, even with that, it still didn’t die. On the contrary, at this rate, it was going to eat us with the spear still stuck inside its flesh.

「NOOOOOO!」

「DAMN IT!」

I pulled out my hunting knife and slashed at it. It was completely ineffective. My teeth were chattering as the pig drew closer to Beltoriche. I kicked many times at the tip of its nose, but that didn't stop the dying beast.

What should I do?

This was bad.

What’s my next move?

After my confused thoughts came a peculiarly high-pitched shriek.

「?」

The pig’s eyes rolled around.

Breathing its last, the pig’s weight came down on us. The horror movie-like development where it would get up and continue to attack us did not happen.

「Bel! Are you okay?!」

The boy pulled out his long sword, which was wet with grease and blood. I didn’t want to think about where it had been inserted.

「It, it's heavy. Shuna-chan, move this pig」

「I'm already doing it but it isn’t budging!」

I also pushed desperately, but it didn’t move an inch. This was not me taking advantage of the situation where I was legally in contact with a girl around the same age as my sister. I simply didn’t have enough strength, I swear. Ah, I was happy but I couldn’t breathe.

「Onii-san! Something is strange about your breathing!」

「My consciousness is a little……」

「Hurry up, Shuna-chan!」

「Like I said, I’m trying!」

The boy and the girl’s back and forth was growing distant. My vision darkened. Just when I thought that, the pressure on my chest suddenly disappeared and I gasped for fresh oxygen.

「You're amazing, you know?」

Otou-san had appeared unnoticed.

「Even intermediate adventurers have trouble with dungeon pigs that have grown so big」

Otou-san pushed back the pig with one hand. That was because his other hand was occupied by carrying the knight.

Good grief, are you a freak of nature or something?

「Oh, it’s female? Good for you. If it was a male, you would have been devoured. Because it's so hard, it takes a lot of training to be able to kill it using physical methods」

「Are you serious?」

The pigs of this world were terrifying.

Super terrifying.

I decided that tonight’s dinner would be pork.

「Otou-san. This is a big one. Newbies did this? That’s amazing」

Moreover,

Men in aprons had crowded round before I had realized. In their hands were huge kitchen knives.

「Alright, let's drain the blood. All the entrails are useless, so light them on fire with magic. Crush the bones as you see fit and discard them to provide nourishment for the dungeon. After that, process it to a size that can fit through the portal. Quickly, or other adventurers will come」

The men moved hurriedly. The speed in which the pig was being butchered was fascinating.

「Who’s the party leader?」

One of the men who had been butchering the pig asked, while holding a scroll.

The boy and the girl, who were sitting down, pointed at me.

「Because it's a female. I’ll buy the meat at a high price but there’s not much skin on it. Since there’s a huge amount of the meat, you’ll still earn good money. The cost of transporting materials on the lower floors are borne by the Guild so it’s free. If you sell it to us, the Guild’s butchering department, you’ll get around 30 gold coins. If you have a merchant company that you're on good terms with, you can also send it to them, but what will you do?」

「If all three of you don't have any objections, is it okay if we sell it to the Guild?」

Just in case, I asked the other members.

「30 gold coins! Um, if we divide it among five peopleー」

「Isn’t it six people?」

「You don’t have to include me. Divide it among yourselves」

I watched the exchange between the boy, the girl and Otou-san, then checked with the woman, who was standing a little apart from everyone, with my gaze. Do as you like, she replied.

「We'll sell it to the Guild then. Oh, can I get one gold coin’s worth of the meat? A fillet from a good spot」

「Sure. What’s your name?」

「I’m Souya of Japan」

「Okay. Souya of Japan, right? The exact amount of the reward and the goods will be given to your person in charge, so please collect them at the reception desk upstairs. Here is the deed」

I took the scroll

Looking at the carcass of the pig, which had become quite small, we left it behind us. I felt awfully tired, but I moved my feet with a sense of superiority that I completed a difficult task. And the sense of security that came from Otou-san accompanying us was impressive.

Otou-san began to talk along the way.

「I'll give you all one piece of advice. Don't be in high spirits just because you won a battle. Don't let your guard down. Even though it looks haphazard, monsters have an ecosystem. Learn to understand it. Move around while being conscious of it. If you ever have the slightest thought that you can't win, run away. Some idiots call recklessness the way of the adventurer, but that’s pig dung.

Don't think that people will teach you anything and everything. Even if you make mistakes, find your own answers. Learn from your many mistakes. Don't give up even after a hundred or two hundred failures. Don't forsake your party members. Don't believe in your party members too much. Count on your party members. Don't run for your own sake. Run for the sake of your party members. And survive. That's it. Was that a little too much?」

Wasn’t it supposed to be just one piece of advice? I wondered if I should respond with that quip.

Well, nothing much happened after this. Otou-san leisurely dealt with all the monsters we met.

Then, we arrived on the 5th floor.

With Otou-san leading the way, we proceeded smoothly. The fifth floor was over in a flash, and the portal was found near the stairs leading to the sixth floor. We completed the validation without delay.

「Alright, go take a bath then head upstairs. Wash your equipment properly. Good work, you guys are pretty much on the right track」

I held my hand over the portal and the floors were displayed. It had gesture recognition capabilities. Any sufficiently advanced technology was indistinguishable from magic, but could the reverse also be said to be true?

I chose the 1st floor, went into the portal, and my first dungeon exploration was over.

If I had to give my impressions on it, it was so tiring that I thought I would die.