Magic Bag And Dungeon Talk

Afternoon in the Royal Capital.

Liricia and I entered the dungeon from the wardrobe in the shop.

We walked down a narrow corridor lit brightly by a pale blue light.

Then we passed through the great hall and went into the room where Kou was.

I spoke to the white sphere.

“Kou, I want a magic bag, so we’re going to clear some dungeons.”

“Yaaay! I’m so excited~!”

“So. Do you know of an undead dungeon that would be easy for me, given my abilities?”

“I can tell the direction and distance of dungeons, but not their type. What I can tell is power level, the number of cores, and the amount of materials.”

“Mm, too bad. I thought it’d be easy if you knew that…”

I grimaced and let out a low groan.

Then Liricia raised a finger and spoke.

“If it is the Adventurer Guild, would they not also have documents on the various dungeons around the land?”

“Oh, that’s true! They have to teach the adventurers, after all. I’ll go look it up.”

“In that case, I shall go.”

“I see, I’m counting on you.”

“Yes!”

She bobbed her head energetically, her white habit swaying as she broke into a quick little run.

—Still, once she left, I started to feel uneasy.

Liricia was the cutest girl in town—no, in the whole world—so what if some creep tried to bother her?

At that moment, I remembered the existence of the sub-device.

“Hey, Kou.”

“What is it~?”

“Is there a way to let Liricia carry a sub-device too?”

“It is possible, but also not possible~.”

“Hm. Let’s start with the reason.”

I nodded and urged her to continue.

Kou flashed the pale blue light on the surface of her sphere in a clever-looking pattern as she answered carefully.

“Um. For each dungeon, there is only one dungeon master. So by default, having just one sub-device is considered sufficient~.”

“I see, that logic checks out. So what would it take to increase the number?”

“…If I have one dungeon core, I can make one more sub-device.”

“Cores again! Once I think about Teti’s share too, that means we’ll have to clear even more dungeons.”

“Being satisfied with now or aiming for even greater comfort, it all depends on Master’s feelings~.”

“Got it. I’ll help with the dungeon conquering.”

“Yaaay, thank you so much~!”

The dungeon’s greedy specifications wearied me, but Kou’s straightforward joy was adorable.

Since Liricia still had not come back, I asked a different question.

“Then there’s this: what kind of dungeon should we make ours?”

“Yes~. For increasing the number of subordinate monsters, it would be better to decide soon, yes?”

“I heard there’s such a thing as a field dungeon.”

“There is~. However, if you make it a field type, the only way to increase your subordinate monsters is either to lure monsters into the dungeon, or to absorb monsters you have defeated and regenerate them. It takes a lot of steady effort, you see~?”

“Hmm, in that case I can’t defeat anything C-rank or below, and the weak ones just run away, so it’d be hard to increase our numbers.”

“I think so too~. Master is outside the usual standards, after all~.”

“Hm. Then do you have any preferences, Kou? Before, you mentioned a puppet dungeon, I think.”

“Hmm, the materials I currently have in stock have changed a bit, so something else might be better~.”

“What do you mean?”

In response to my question, Kou made the surface of the sphere shine brightly with little flashes.

“Tadaaah. A dragon dungeon~.”

“Oh? Come to think of it, you absorbed not only the wyvern but also that dragon zombie.”

“That is not all. I also obtained baby dragon zombies and rotten dragon eggs. If we make it a dragon dungeon, I can turn them all into brand-new dragons!”

“Oooh, dragons that are alive, not zombies. …They sound strong. I could probably leave them in charge when we’re away.”

“Exactly, exactly. Dragonkin-types are strong too, though.”

“Mm… humanoid ones would be more convenient… this is tough.”

“Careful consideration in progress, now loading~.”

“Let me think it over a bit more. Anyway, you want something dragon-related, right?”

“Yes. Recycling is eco-friendly and a good bargain~.”

“Hearing that from recycled Kou is pretty convincing.”

“Uuugh. Some things are better left unsaid, you know~?”

The surface of the sphere flickered sulkily.

I gave a wry smile and changed the subject.

“By the way, I’ve wondered for a while now: what are dungeons fighting for, exactly?”

“Who knows? I do not have that information~.”

“So you’ve been fighting without even knowing?”

“Where do dungeons come from, and where do they go~? To be on TV or not TV, that is the question~.”

“Even without knowing the reason, dungeons still follow the rules and keep fighting, huh?”

“Hmm. I do not know if we are fighting because we did bad things in a previous life, or if we are here because we did good things. But if you defeat all the other dungeons and become number one, then you can stand on a new stage.”

“A new stage?”

“You say goodbye to this world~.”

“So you reincarnate into a higher world.”

“Probably, yes~. …At first, it was just a simple board game. You rolled the dice, moved your piece the number of spaces, and if you were first to the goal, you won. We kept on doing game-like things like that for a long, long time, and now it’s dungeons.”

“I see. Do you want to be number one even as a dungeon, Kou?”

“I do. But this time it is the hardest it has ever been.”

“On top of the rules being complicated, you have to stay on guard all day every day.”

I remembered how another dungeon had launched a sudden attack on us.

Spending so much time constantly on alert and pushing on.

If a human tried that, their nerves would be worn to shreds.

Then Kou suddenly said something strange.

“There is that, but you not only have to be number one in this world, you also have to be number one in the world battles.”

“World battles?”

“The dungeons of this world warp to other worlds and fight. Sometimes dungeons from other worlds come here. At those times, dungeons from the same world become allies and thoroughly fight the other world, battling to steal each other’s cores.”

“That sounds rough… has that happened before?”

“There have been many world battles in places humans did not know about~.”

“So that’s how it is.”

Just then, Liricia came back.

Her silver hair streamed behind her as she ran toward us, breathing a little hard.

“I have returned, Master.”

“Welcome back. Nobody weird tried to hit on you, right?”

“I was fine. They only watched me from a distance as ‘someone important to Master.’ If anything, it felt like they were keeping each other in check so as not to stir up trouble. —For you to protect me even when we are apart, as expected of you, Master.”

“I’m glad to hear that… but I was still worried.”

Even though we had only been apart for a short while, my anxiety had kept building up.

Without thinking, I reached out to Liricia and pulled her into a hug.

In my arms, Liricia let out a soft gasp, her cheeks flushing red.

“Ah… I’m so happy, Master…”

After we spent a while confirming each other’s warmth, we separated.

Then we compared the information Liricia had brought back with the dungeon data Kou possessed.

We found three undead dungeons. They had a total of six cores between them.

While we were at it, we used the map of the Fantasy Realm that Edgar had researched to search for the princess’s soul.

We still did not find it. But we could just keep checking like this, eliminating places one by one.

I drew the sword at my waist and held it in one hand as I spoke.

“All right! Let’s head out!”

“Yes, Master!”

Liricia furrowed her slender brows and nodded with a serious expression. Then she spread her white wings with a whoosh.

“Okay then, departing~.”

With Kou’s voice, a new passage opened from the great hall, leading to the enemy dungeon.

With Liricia following behind me, I strode into the passage.