Dungeon Exploration

By the time the western sky began to turn red, Liricia and I stood in front of the wardrobe inside the hut.

With her hand resting softly on my back, Liricia spoke.

“It has become quite dark already… are you sure this is all right?”

“The dungeon is dark whether it’s day or night. We’ll head back after scouting a bit. Worst case, we stay in this hut.”

“Understood.”

“Okay then, let’s go.”

I opened the wardrobe doors.

Darkness spread out behind the wardrobe.

I drew my sword and stepped inside.

Angel-form Liricia followed behind me with the lantern in hand.

We walked down the narrow corridor made of fitted stone.

I noticed it was brighter than I had expected.

When I looked at my hands, my sword, filled with Serâge, glowed a pale blue.

“So it can serve as a torch too. Convenient.”

“But please be careful—enemies hiding in the dark will be able to see you easily.”

“I see. You’re smart, Liricia.”

“Thank you!”

I couldn’t see her face behind me, but I imagined she must be smiling shyly and beautifully.

Then the slender fingers touching my back traced little circles in a cute, delighted motion.

That alone was enough to let me feel her happiness.

We continued deeper along the narrow passage.

It stretched on and on in a straight line.

The width never changed—just enough room for three people to stand shoulder to shoulder.

How far did it even go?

With the scenery and situation never changing, uneasiness began to creep in.

“Liricia, there weren’t any side passages or doors, right?”

“No, none at all.”

“Right… Maybe I should hold the lantern and have you check ahead with your finger-scope—oh.”

When I turned around, Liricia was already walking while using her finger-scope.

The lantern was floating in the air, held aloft by several white feathers from below.

“I see. Clever. Angel powers really are convenient.”

“Yes! Please leave it to me.”

“Let’s keep going carefully.”

As we walked further, a faint light finally appeared ahead.

“Is that the exit?”

“For an exit, the light seems rather weak.”

We advanced cautiously through the narrow passage.

And what we emerged into was a large hall.

A windowless chamber. The floor and walls were all stone.

The ceiling was high, glowing faintly red—dim overall.

There was a passage like the one we came from on the opposite wall.

And there were several doors as well.

But what drew the eye most was the object in the center of the hall.

A black, round sphere. About the height of a person.

With my sword at the ready, I stepped closer.

“What is this?”

“It can’t be… Master, could this be a dungeon core?”

“Huh? A dungeon this small exists?”

When we reached the front of it, a vrrrnnn sound hummed and a red glowing line ran across the black surface.

『What is your request?』

“It can talk? What are you?”

『I am the Dungeon Core. Revived by Lord Farlbule. Issue any command.』

“I’m not that guy though—are you sure you should obey me?”

『Issue any command. Any command.』

…It seemed a little broken.

Liricia peeked from beside me.

“Master, may I operate it?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I don’t get any of this.”

“Yes. Dungeon Core, could you display the layout of this dungeon first?”

『Anything is possible. Insufficient mana. Possible. Insufficient mana.』

The red line glowed.

“Will Serâge work as mana?”

『Any mana is acceptable.』

“I see—haaah!”

I placed my hand on the core and poured Serâge into it.

The ceiling light turned pale blue.

The glowing lines on the sphere shifted from red to blue.

The entire dungeon brightened to the point we no longer needed the lantern.

『Mana reserve 76%. Displaying layout.』

With a dry beep, a translucent window appeared on the sphere’s surface.

According to the diagram, there were only two corridors.

The one we entered from, and one extending from the opposite side.

At the end of that extension—

“So it does lead to the Royal Capital.”

“There also seems to be a room labeled ‘Laboratory’ connected to this hall. It’s locked, but it appears there are no traps.”

“Let’s check it. Can you unlock the door?”

『Opening.』

A metallic clack echoed from every door.

Leaving the core behind, Liricia and I headed toward the nearest door in the hall.

There were two rooms on each side of the hall.

We entered the first.

Inside was a gruesome sight.

“Ugh…”

“This is…”

Liricia covered her mouth.

It was a large room with a central worktable.

Shelves lined three of the walls.

And on the worktable lay human and monster bodies, all cut apart.

On the shelves stood jars filled with grotesque specimens—humans and monsters forcibly fused together.

“They were conducting human experimentation.”

“How horrible…”

Liricia’s face twisted in sorrow.

“He fell to darkness and became a Hell Lich because of these experiments… or perhaps even that Hell Lich was a created being.”

“Do you truly think there are other Hell Liches?”

“I’m not sure… Let’s leave that question for later and check the next room.”

“Yes… Master.”

Liricia took my hand.

She trembled, distressed.

The next room was another laboratory.

There was a worktable in the middle, with flasks and alcohol lamps—various laboratory tools.

On the shelves were bottles filled with purple liquids and jars of black powder.

There were many suspicious-looking tools as well.

“I don’t really understand this room.”

“It seems they were doing alchemy. There are rare ores and herbs here.”

Liricia said this while checking with her finger-scope.

“I see. We can look for things to sell later.”

“Yes.”

Liricia nodded quietly.

We crossed the hall and entered the room on the opposite side.

Tall bookshelves filled the room.

In the corner stood a reading desk.

It seemed to be a library.

A book lay open on the desk.

“Oh, this is…”

I picked it up—it was Necromancy, Volume Four.

A full set cost 300,000 Gort.

…But once you completed the set, it felt wasteful to sell it.

It might be useful later, so I decided not to sell it yet.

Liricia spoke.

“This library has many rare books on magic, biology, and medicine… oh—there’s angelic magic too!?”

She grabbed a blue-bound book.

She flipped through it.

“Ohh, I see… ah—so that’s how it’s used… I understand…”

Liricia began reading intently.

I urged her onward.

“Put that book in the bag. We should check the remaining rooms first. There could still be enemies or dangers.”

“Ah! My apologies!”

Liricia hurriedly stuffed the book into the backpack and took my hand again.

We entered the next room.

It was a personal room, with a bed, a table, and a writing desk.

Digging through the shelves and drawers, we found jewels and coins.

We took them—two large gold coins, sixteen gold coins, forty-nine silver coins.

Liricia picked up a book and spoke.

“There is a diary here. It belongs to Mr. Farlbule.”

“Oh? That’s interesting.”

Liricia and I read it together, heads close.

Farlbule had apparently been a genius, but he suffered from a chronic illness. His research was all in pursuit of curing it.

He worked as a doctor in town by day, and studied magic by night.

Gradually he fell deeper into dark magic.

He repaired and used the dungeon core to build a secret research facility, and to capture monsters from the forest for experiments.

He conducted experiments transplanting monster organs into living humans to overcome disease.

But in the end, he failed to cure his own illness and suffered a relapse.

Rather than die of his illness, he turned himself into a Hell Lich.

The diary ended with his lament—In the end, I could not overcome my illness.

…What a selfish man to the very last, I thought as I finished reading.

Total funds on hand: 34 large gold coins, 27 gold coins, 8 large silver coins, 57 silver coins.

3,683,700 Gort.