Chapter 31

When I stepped forward off the cliff edge as Yul had instructed, I found myself not plummeting into a chasm, but standing inside a colossal cave. The ceiling was so high it was barely visible, and the cave opened up into a vast, expansive space on all sides.

Just a moment earlier, the sound of running water and a chilly breeze could be felt near the cliff, but the moment we entered the cave, those sensations vanished as if they had all been an illusion, leaving only a heavy, profound silence in their wake.

It seemed the entrance to the dungeon had been concealed using illusion magic. Yet, more than the fact that a dungeon had been hidden by illusion magic, I was far more astonished by Yul, who had actually managed to find it.

At this point, even I had to admit that Yul’s true identity was becoming deeply suspicious. Could she really be a dragon that had used Polymorph?

“Yul, how did you figure it out?”

At my question, Carusien nodded in agreement. Even with his eyesight and spiritual perception, which were far more advanced than those of an ordinary person, he hadn’t even suspected that the cliff was a product of illusion magic. Yet a woman he had assumed to be a mere maid had sniffed it out immediately.

It was impossible not to be curious.

For the first time ever, Yul’s expression shifted from her usual stoic blankness into a slight frown.

Gasp! Yul was frowning—could she be angry because I was interrogating her too closely? I couldn’t live without Yul anymore. A fleeting wave of regret made me wonder if I shouldn’t have asked at all, but the moment I heard Yul’s reply, I let out a sigh of relief.

She wasn’t angry because of me.

“When I was taking photographs of the Young Lady, I began to experience a rather unpleasant sensation.”

Were you still taking pictures even in a situation like this? In a way, it was a level of intense dedication that left you no choice but to respect it.

“My magical camera is equipped with a diverse array of magic, to the extent that it lacks practically nothing.”

Hearing her explanation, I nodded. As I’d heard before, aside from the fact that it could fly through the air, feature remote control, continuous shooting, and high-circle concealment spells like the Invisible spell, that camera was essentially a massive assembly of magic masquerading as a photography tool.

“Among its features, my absolute favorite is a magic function that automatically adjusts the surrounding background so that it always complements the Young Lady, who is far more radiant than nature itself. However, around this area, that background-adjustment magic inexplicably failed to function correctly. It was profoundly unpleasant. A background devoid of proper magical enhancement was completely overshadowed by the Young Lady’s beauty, making it worse than not being there at all.”

Hearing her describe me as more beautiful than nature itself was enough to make my face flush red, but I simply nodded. A young lady more radiant than nature—how terribly embarrassing.

Aside from that, I learned that such magic actually existed. At this point, nothing could surprise me anymore. I felt like I could even believe it if she told me the camera could shoot a Dragon’s Breath. Though, of course, if it actually fired a breath attack, it probably wouldn’t qualify as a camera anymore.

“In particular, right around that cliffside, the photographs kept coming out corrupted. That is why I grew angry without even realizing it.”

So that is why you threw your body off a cliff to investigate? Did you want to give someone a heart attack just to prove a point?

“Is that how it was?”

To be honest, it didn’t make a whole lot of logical sense, but since the fantasy world itself was a place entirely detached from common sense, I decided it could slide and just nodded along.

More than anything, the realization that we had finally stepped inside a dungeon made my heart race so wildly I couldn’t contain it. I was practically dying to push forward right this instant and catch a glimpse of the monsters waiting for us.

Good grief, I’m losing my mind just from wanting to see a monster. I briefly wondered if I might actually be a weirdo, but even if I ran the risk of being misunderstood as a freak, I desperately wanted to clap eyes on a monster’s vicious face and its squirming, fur-covered body right now.

“Let’s move. And Teacher, please only step in if I’m in actual danger.”

“Umm, understood.”

Watching Carusien gaze at me with what looked like genuine worry gave me goosebumps, and I almost blurted out, Just go ahead and fight everything yourself. However, if Carusien—one of the male leads who single-handedly shattered the world’s power balance—took the lead, the outcome was painfully obvious without even looking.

I mentally pictured the scenario if Carusien were to take charge:

[Ah, it’s a Kobold!]

A Kobold, arguably the lowest-tier monster you could find in a dungeon. The exact millisecond I shouted out in delight, that Kobold would instantly cease to exist in this realm.

Slash!—

[A Kobold… Still, one can never be too certain, so I shall not lower my guard.]

While I certainly wished he would lower his guard every once in a while, expecting such flexibility from this inflexible perfectionist was asking for the impossible.

[Ah, it’s a Web Spider, which is weak to fire! Let me just use flame magic to—]

Slash!—

[Fortunately, it wasn’t a particularly strong monster.]

Is there any monster that’s strong to you, you crazy bastard?

[Ah-ha, a Minotaur! You could practically call it a dungeon sub-boss—]

Slash!—

[It seems rather underwhelming, all things considered.]

I want to kill him. Not the monster—I want to kill Carusien.

If things keep going like this, he’ll slice the final boss to pieces in a single stroke, and as long as I’m alive, I am never, ever going to let that happen.

“Shall we move on, then?”

Encountering monsters. I realized that just the thought of it was enough to put a person on edge. Not knowing when or where something might suddenly pop out at you, combined with the genuine possibility of losing your life, drained your energy even while doing nothing more than walking.

“Hah, huff.”

Still, wasn’t this dungeon way too big? We had been walking for two full hours, and yet here I was, still trudging along to the point where walking itself felt grueling. On top of that, I had been keeping every muscle in my body rigidly tense out of the constant paranoia that a monster might ambush us from anywhere—yet it was as if all the monsters had collectively taken a group vacation to Las Vegas, because I couldn’t spot even the shadow of a Kobold, a creature so common they were rumored to be everywhere.

Right then, Carusien called me to a halt.

“Young Lady, something feels rather amiss. There are far too few monsters in this dungeon.”

“Huff, huff—w-what is?”

“Normally, the moment you step inside a dungeon, monsters are the very first things you encounter. The reason dungeons are assigned a high hazard rating is precisely because their numbers are said to be as abundant as pebbles rolling along a street.”

I couldn’t see those damn pebbles, which was the exact reason I was suffering right now—what kind of nonsense was he spouting? I just wished he’d hurry up and get to the point before I ran out of breath.

“Usually, in situations like this, it means either an entity vastly superior to them has entered the dungeon, or the dungeon has already been cleared.”

I see.

“However, the dungeon near ‘Dria’ conceals itself the moment it is cleared and respawns elsewhere, so it should never have been cleared.”

If someone couldn’t understand after being told all this, they’d have to be an absolute rockhead.

“Are you saying there is some unimaginable entity inside this dungeon, then?”

“Indeed.”

“Then what are we supposed to do about it?!”

Irritation flared up inside me, and I snapped out loud. Just how badly had I wanted to see a monster? Monsters were the one thing I had longed to see in my dreams across all four seasons (?). Just when I thought I’d finally get to lay eyes on one, this cursed world was trying to screw me over yet again.

“I apologize, but I believe it would be wise to turn back now. I am well aware how earnestly you desire to bring back a gift for the Duke, but once a dungeon is judged to be this perilous, it is best to withdraw. To be frank, I should have warned you beforehand, but keeping silent was simply because I possessed absolute confidence, regardless of who might appear.”

At his words telling me to turn back, tears welled up in my eyes. It felt exactly like being a child standing right in front of a toy store on Children’s Day, only to hear their parents say, Let’s buy that next time…

“Sob, but we can keep going, right? Teacher Carusien is strong.”

“Even so, the deeper we go, the more concerned I grow regarding the scale of this dungeon. This unnaturally towering ceiling—it was undoubtedly carved out by someone artificially, and given dimensions of this magnitude, it is likely…”

“Likely?”

“…it appears to be a Dragon.”

Gulp.

At the mention of a Dragon, I snapped wide awake. A Dragon! The entity hailed as the absolute apex of the fantasy world, and at times revered as the guardian of the middle realm!

A creature capable of manipulating magic freely from the moment of birth, boasting a terrifying level of destructive power where the mere appearance of its signature technique, Dragon’s Breath, heralded the arrival of absolute catastrophe.

That Dragon?!

I felt an urgent need to revise my stance slightly. No matter how much I wanted to see a monster, having it be a Dragon right out of the gate made zero sense.

I’d be dead before I even had a chance to feel moved, and isn’t there a saying that nothing is more precious than your own life? Sweeping away my resolve from just moments earlier—where I had sworn I’d look at a monster even if it cost me my life—I blurted out:

“Let’s go ba—”

Right then. A voice echoed from behind me.

“Noisy.”

“……………….”

The master of this dungeon had finally revealed itself, and as we confronted that existence, our eyes widened in unison. This was an entity that soared far beyond our wildest expectations.