The Doomed Fief’s Dying Lord (45)

“What is this?”

Vittorio looked up.

He was sitting on a supply crate.

The nearby soldiers who were resting also turned their attention this way.

Their gazes were fairly favorable.

No wonder.

My magic had supported their unit several times.

Ah. What a refreshing feeling.

‘Yes, it’s me! I’m that magician! Look up to me even more.’

I wanted to enjoy their stares more, but time wasn’t plentiful.

I needed to hurry and get to the point.

I approached Vittorio and whispered.

“Sorry to bother you while you’re resting, but I need the help of you and your direct unit. I want to move before the final operation.”

But Vittorio was firm.

“I refuse. My men are tired.”

How curt.

Did he think I’d give up because of that?

“I’m not asking you to fight. We just need to check a few safe rooms. Walk in, look around, and come back.”

“Then it doesn’t have to be me or my unit; why don’t you ask a soldier you’re close to?”

‘I want to, but…’

I turned toward where the Denabi warriors were resting.

Of course they were there.

Izack* and Pietro.*

I had had a bit of a fight with those guys.

‘Well, I can’t use such an embarrassing excuse.’

I tried to stall vaguely.

“I’m not the commander of any unit right now. I’m not even part of the Denabi Corps. I have no authority.”

“Why don’t you tell your father? Why insist on asking me?”

“Huh. Well…”

People always ask the obvious.

“Because you’re not in a position to refuse my request.”

I gave him a wide smile.

He glared at me with cold eyes.

Nothing would change just by that look.

I decided we’d go together.

Still, it’s a bit much to be difficult when we’re going together.

Shall I explain why?

“I’m asking because I want to prove a hypothesis.”

“A hypothesis?”

“I’m thinking about how we might be able to exit this Dungeon. But my evidence is weak. It’s awkward to formally request a unit over it.”

To be honest, it’s just an excuse.

If I’d asked Alejandro for troops, he’d probably have given them.

So why am I doing this?

‘Because I want to go with you, damn it.’

I’ve thought that since we went to Limone.

I kind of like Vittorio.

His martial skill doesn’t fall behind the protagonist’s,

he’s loyal to FM,

and above all, he’s the legitimate heir of a neighboring territory.

I want to make him one of my people.

But if the operation finishes, there won’t be a chance.

It’s now or never.

“It won’t take long. Please. We all want to leave alive, right?”

“…“

Vittorio closed his eyes.

He seemed to be thinking it over.

But the deliberation didn’t last long.

“All right. But make it as quick as possible. I don’t want to tire my soldiers.”

“Ha! Thank you! Even without saying it, I planned to be swift and precise. I told you I wouldn’t make them do anything risky.”

“…“

Vittorio glared at me briefly, then signaled his men.

His direct unit gathered around.

I explained to them.

“Sorry to interrupt your rest. I have exactly one request: go to the rooms at the coordinates I’ll give and check if there’s anything unusual, then come back. All are safe-coordinate rooms, so don’t worry.”

“What coordinates?”

Vittorio asked.

I began telling them the room coordinates one by one.

There were five rooms in total.

“Understood?”

At Vittorio’s question, the soldiers nodded.

After that, things moved quickly.

Vittorio immediately split his twenty men into four groups and sent them to the coordinates.

The soldiers had no questions.

They went because they were ordered to.

Obey and do as told.

They were exemplary soldiers.

Just like his direct unit.

“So the remaining spot will be just the two of us?”

“…“

Vittorio led the way without answering.

His steps were brisk.

Very brisk.

I thought he was running!

I hurried after his long strides.

When I caught up, he suddenly asked.

“So what’s that hypothesis?”

“Oh. You’re finally asking?”

“It’s more efficient to hear it while moving.”

“Absolutely right.”

“Explain it.”

“All right.”

I twirled my finger.

“First, we have a problem. The Dungeon’s gate closed. Bam!”

I slammed my hands together up and down.

It was a gesture like a door slamming shut.

“There’s no sign of it opening. It’s an abnormal situation. Such critical anomalies always have a reason. Shouldn’t we try to imagine what that reason is?”

“Long preface. Just tell me what that reason is.”

So impatient.

Fine, you.

“Hypothesis 1: The anomaly is caused by progress in the Dungeon’s conquest.”

“What exactly do you mean by ‘progress’?”

Good question.

I formed a circle with my hands.

“Didn’t I say before? A Dungeon is like a beehive. It has its own defense system. It autonomously repels intruders, and those defenses are staged.”

“Stages?”

“Stage one is sending out copies when approached near the Dungeon from the surface. Stage two is using the Dungeon’s internal structure to defend against enemies.”

“And stage three is closing the Dungeon’s entrance?”

“That’s hypothesis two.”

This guy’s got some sense.

“Hypothesis 3: If the stage-three defense activated, the Dungeon’s defense system must have perceived a crisis. That crisis would be the direct trigger for the gate closing.”

“Crisis.”

Vittorio repeated my words.

“Right. A crisis. The event or turning point when the Dungeon’s defenses perceived catastrophic damage. What on earth would that be?”

“…“

He glared at me with a look that said, ‘Why are you asking me that?’

Then his expression became, ‘Hurry up and tell me the answer.’

Well, it was almost expressionless.

I got your point.

Here it is the answer.

I spread both hands wide.

“This is the answer.”

“?“

We had already arrived at our destination.

In front of us was, of course, a room.

More precisely, it was a room in a safe state after a battle.

The traces of the past fight were clear.

“This coordinate is…”

“I know. It’s point [6, -5].”

Vittorio cut me off.

“It’s where my unit fought. We found and eliminated the werewolf original here.”

His gaze pointed to the corpse of the werewolf original.

The werewolf original that the unit had taken had its upper shoulder area missing.

“I think I get it now. The ‘turning point’ you mean is the originals’ deaths.”

And he looked down at me as if to say, ‘Am I wrong?’

I don’t have the talent for speaking with my eyes, so I used my finger.

My index finger drew a circle.

“Correct…!”

I said.

“The core of conquering a Dungeon is removing the originals. A Dungeon with all originals removed is almost cleared the factory that produces defensive monsters is gone.”

“So that’s why you came here.”

“Exactly. The gate probably closed when the fourth or fifth original was removed. So it’s reasonable to think the clue to opening the gate lies with the originals. Or…”

I looked up at the room’s ceiling.

“…or it’s in the room where an original is.“

There was nothing on the ceiling.

Then the walls?

There wasn’t anything special on the walls either.

Then the floor?

I looked around the floor.

Just corpses of monsters and Mana crystals scattered about.

“Strange.”

But no matter how I searched…

“There’s nothing.”

“Hmm.”

Vittorio snorted in frustration.

He also seemed unable to find anything special.

I asked him.

“Vittorio. Was there anything during the fight? Any unusual monster…?”

“No. If there had been, I’d have said so already.”

“True.”

Damn.

What is this? Is my reasoning wrong?

“Well, this room might just not be it. Let’s go back. There are still four rooms left with originals.”

“All right.”

But even after going back, we didn’t get the news we hoped for.

I pressed the Limone soldier and asked repeatedly.

“Did you really, really find nothing?!”

“I told you we didn’t. Seriously…”

No way that’s possible!

I grabbed my head.

There must still be originals left in the Dungeon.

But like this, it’s obvious nothing will come of it there either.

‘Is there really no way out…?’

It can’t be that there truly isn’t one.

What Dungeon like that exists in the world!

This is absurd!

In the end, we had to spend our rest without learning anything.

And so the final operation began.

I no longer needed to go out.

There weren’t many rooms left.

There was no need to split units, so manpower shortage wasn’t an issue.

Units began sending similar reports one after another.

Walls without doors.

They were beginning to find the Dungeon’s edges.

It seemed the Dungeon was circular around the entrance room [0, 0].

The remaining originals began to be eliminated one by one.

But as the operation neared its end, I grew more anxious.

“Damn… it seems like there are no rules at all?”

I tried to find some rule from the locations of the originals.

But no matter how I looked at the operation map, the conclusion was the same.

There were no patterns.

‘Then how are we supposed to escape?!’

Cold sweat ran down my back.

Then Ronari spoke to me.

As the operation wound down, she also seemed to have some leisure.

“How’s it going? Is it going well?”

“Look at my face. Does this look like someone who’s doing well?”

“I wouldn’t know. The young master’s expression is always bad.”

Oh.

Can’t I speak with my eyes or at least my face?

Ronari asked.

“How far have you progressed? Say something.”

I scratched my head.

“I’m not sure this counts as progress, but…”

I explained to Ronari the same hypothesis I had told Vittorio.

Her assessment was surprisingly positive.

“…That seems plausible.“

“Right?! Then why does nothing show up? Honestly, it’s not me the Dungeon itself seems strange!”

“Calm down and be quiet. I’m thinking too.”

“Yep.”

I shut my mouth.

She rested her chin and fell into thought.

Then she suddenly spoke.

“The key.”

“?“

“You said the core of Dungeon defense removal is the originals’ elimination, young master.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s odd for there to be multiple cores.”

“Why is that strange?”

“I thought about it mathematically.”

Mathematics.

A word that represents Ronari’s strategy.

Her fingertip touched the center of the operation map, the center of the circle.

“Every shape has a single center.”

Suddenly her finger moved.

Her finger drew a line on the map.

The line connected the points where originals had been found.

“What are you doing…”

‘Quiet.’

Her finger touched my lips.

Her gaze remained fixed on the operation map.

She said.

“I’m calculating the center of mass. This is difficult.”

“Center of mass?”

“Like I said, think mathematically. Every shape has one center. The Dungeon’s overall center of mass is [0, 0], the entrance room. But…”

Ah. I finally understand.

I finished her thought for her.

“The Dungeon’s defense center isn’t that. The center is the center of mass formed by the locations of each monster original!”

“Exactly.”

She then pointed to a spot on the map.

“Here it is.”

It wasn’t very far.

Point [-4, 2].

I headed to that room immediately with Ronari.

“So it’s here…”

There didn’t seem to be anything notable there either.

“It’s no different from the other battlegrounds.”

As Ronari said.

There were traces of battle everywhere,

rooms stained with the blue blood of monsters.

Nothing special…

“Wait.”

“?“

“Blue blood?”

“Why blood?”

Ronari asked.

People often overlook the obvious.

So they always ask the obvious.

“This is inside a Dungeon.”

I said that and looked up at the ceiling.

Ronari followed my gaze and looked.

There was a structure similar to the entrance room’s ceiling.

“A… basin on the ceiling.”

A pool hung on the ceiling, defying gravity.

That pool defied one more law of this world.

“…A blue basin.“

The basin contained liquid mana.

Not following the Dungeon’s laws,

in other words, not crystallized…

It was blue blood.