CHAPTER 13 - PART 1 & 2

Part 1

"Satou Kazuma! Is Satou Kazuma here–?!"

Just like Megumin said, Sena charged in angrily.

"Again, again, what is it again! Is it toads? Or did something else happened?!"

I was a bit surprised by Sena's aura, but I still managed to ask her.

"It's the dungeon! What did you do to the dungeon! The Keele dungeon near the town! I heard that a large number of mysterious monsters has flooded out from there!"

Sena who was so angry that her ears were red said.

Mysterious monsters? That should be the one I heard about in town recently.

"No, wait, that has nothing to do with us! We did enter the dungeon before, but pushing all the blame on me when things go wrong is too much!"

Hearing me say that, the others nodded too.

… Good. From their reaction, they didn't cause any trouble that I didn't know about.

But Sena was still looking at me with suspicious eyes.

"That might be so, but I heard that you were the last batch of people to enter that dungeon. Going by your past history, the chances that you people are not involved is really…"

"What twisted reasoning is this! And we really have no clue this time. Right? Am I right? There is no problem this time right?"

Hearing me say that, the three girls shook their head strongly.

When Sena saw this, she was still doubtful, but believed us for now.

"But this is troubling… I have no idea who else but you guys will cause such trouble. I have to hire people to investigate then…"

Sena glanced at us as she spoke.

She was trying to pull the 'is there anyone who happened to be free' gaze on us.

"Ara, Ms prosecutor, could you be asking your original suspect to help in your investigation? We have plenty on our plate trying to prove our innocence in the first place."

Megumin noticed what Sena's intention was and struck first.

Sena bit her lips, but she ignored Megumin and looked straight at me.

"… I don't have the time for this, sorry but I have to reject you."

Hearing my strong rejection, Sena breathe in deeply and her shoulders slumped.

"You are right, I can't force this on you since you are not related to this. But if you change your mind, please lend me a hand. I will be making a trip to the adventurers guild."

After Sena finished, she turned and left the mansion.

When Sena was gone, I sighed heavily.

I am bad with such people.

Maybe it's because she was honest and one of the few people with a clear conscience in town.

"Well, I am curious about the mysterious monsters flooding out from the dungeon… but we have things we need to do. First is clearing Kazuma's suspicion, next is compensating the landlord for his mansion. In the end, there are no solutions for these two problems yet."

That's how it was.

"… Nah, Darkness, can we discuss…"

"Forget about borrowing money, I already helped you plenty. Or rather, I want to see the Kazuma who is at his wit's end."

Darkness said to me with a smile.

Ugh… This girl still had a grudge for the incident earlier.

… But, mysterious monsters huh.

"To be safe, I will ask you all again. You really have no idea what this incident was about? Is this really fine?"

When they heard what I said, all of them had an expression of not knowing what the situation was.

"For me, if this has nothing to do with explosion magic, I will not be interested."

"Same for me. I should say that I am different from the two of them and don't cause much trouble."

"Ah…! It's true that Darkness don't cause any major trouble, but on the other hand, you lack any stellar performance, like that battle with Destroyer!"

"Wha…! Me, Megumin you…"

Leaving the squabbling two aside, I asked the most suspicious person.

"What about you? Any ideas?"

Aqua responded to my uneasy words:

"Of course not. Really, you suspect me too much."

Hearing her frown while saying that, I sighed in relief.

"That's right. Even you won't stir up trouble all day! Sorry, my bad. It's all because of that trial, which made me so suspiciously…"

I apologized to Aqua and reflected on my action of blaming everything on Aqua…

"Really, you should trust me a little. You should say that thanks to me, monsters won't be approaching that dungeon. Wasn't there a room where the lich was staying? The magic circle I used to purify the lich were the fruits of my super effort and seriousness. And that magic circle is still there right now, keeping evil beings out of that room!"

... I grabbed Aqua's shoulders.

"Hey, what did you say just now?"

"? Why, why are you grabbing me? Like I said, that was a magic circle I made seriously, it should still be working now keeping the monsters at bay…"

I didn't let Aqua finish…

"You idiot—!"

I grabbed my head and screamed.

Part 2

— Walking on the snow covered road, we headed for that dungeon.

"… Sniff… This is not my fault… It's definitely not…!"

Together with Aqua who was still crying.

I walked in the front with Aqua behind me, followed by Megumin and Darkness.

I turned back and said to Aqua:

"Why do you do this every time; stirring trouble after accomplishing some good? Why? Is it an illness that compels you to cancel out your performance with mistakes?"

For now, the bad part had been overwhelming the good part though.

"Wait! This is definitely not my fault this time! Please believe me alright?! I only set up a purification magic circle in the boss' lair, it won't cause the mass spawning of monsters! This is different from the wandering spirits incident earlier!"

Aqua grabbed my shoulders and shook it as she spoke.

"Hey, stop that, it's hard to walk like this! And whether you are the cause of this is not important! If Sena finds your magic circle during her investigation is the real problem!"

The magic circle in the depths of the dungeon.

We had to destroy the evidence, or they will think we had something to do with this.

I brought an item that could dispel magic circle with me, but if possible, I would like to settle this without going inside.

Aside from the wailing Aqua, we didn't meet any problem along the way and reached the entrance to the dungeon.

"… I see, it is really a mysterious monster."

When we reached the dungeon, we observed monsters that kept on spilling out from the entrance.

Simply put, they were masked dolls.

Wearing a mask, they are about the height of my knee and bipedal.

"What is that? How queer. I have never seen or heard of that before."

Megumin tilted her head and watch these dolls with interest.

"At a glance, they don't seem strong in a fight."

Darkness said with her heavy armor clanking.

"How should I put this? I can't accept the existence of this doll on a biological level. Why is that? Just seeing that thing makes me angry."

Aqua picked up a rock as she said that.

— At this moment.

"Satou-san…! What are you doing here? Did you change your mind and are willing to investigate the monsters?"

Hearing someone calling me from behind, I turned and saw Sena with a large group of adventurers in tow.

Sena was dressed lightly, wearing no armour and holding a talisman with a strange drawing on it.

So she was already here.

… No choice, I had to accommodate her.

"Now that I think about it, the appearance of the mysterious monsters will affect us too. And protecting the town from these monsters is the obligation of an adventurer."

"I have never wished that I had a lie detection device with me so strongly…. But I am deeply grateful for your assistance."

Sena said and bowed deeply.

Oh no, my conscience is feeling bad about this.

This person didn't have any agenda against me, she was just inflexible and persistent in investigating me as a suspect.

"If that is the case, please take this, Satou-san. It is unknown why the monsters are spawning, but they are probably summoned by someone. If that assumption is true, please take down the summoner and paste this on the magic circle."

Sena gave me a talisman as she spoke.

"… This is?"

"A talisman imbued with powerful sealing magic. By pasting this on, it will disable the magic circle, no matter how powerful it may be. Among the magic circle that summon monsters, some would still continue to summon monsters after it's caster had fallen, so please take this with you."

I see, such a convenient item— But we don't need it.

"No, I don't need that. Don't worry, I have a good idea. With so many monsters in the dungeons, there is no need to trouble ourselves by going in… Megumin! Are you ready?"

"I am already ready, leave it to me."

Answering my call, Megumin lift her staff and walk up.

When Sena saw this, she said in a panic:

"What, what is this? What are you thinking? Could it be…!"

"Ara, you figured it out? That's right, by casting explosion at the entrance of the dungeon and sealing it…"

"No, don't! Please find out the reason! No matter how you look at it, these monsters didn't spawn naturally. The one lurking in the dungeon must be dangerous if it could summon so many monsters. Even after sealing the dungeon, the other party will escape if it can teleport. So the goal is for you to find the enemy that is causing this major crisis and defeat it."

Damn, such troublesome things again.

This is bad, I don't want to enter that dungeon at all.

And Megumin couldn't use her explosion magic in the dungeon…

At this moment, without caring how troubling it was for me, Aqua got in position to throw rocks at the masked monsters.

She said that she was unable to accept that creature on a biological level, so she really hated it that much.

The monster that bored no hostility towards us suddenly charged at Aqua who was planning to throw rocks at it.

"Eh, wait! What, what is this!… Ara?"

And then, the monster didn't attack Aqua, but hugged her knees tightly instead.

"What, does it want to cuddle? The mask makes me mad, but I think it looks cute when it cuddle like this… Nah nah, Kazuma, I think this doll is getting warmer. I have an ominous feeling!"

Aqua ran towards me as she yelled. I had the same ominous feeling and hurried to get away from Aqua.

And so—

With the sound of explosion, the doll that was hugging Aqua tightly had disappeared without a trace.

What was left was Aqua who was lying face down on the ground with her clothes all torn up from the explosion.

"… As you can see, this mysterious monster stick to people who are moving and explodes. The adventurers guild wasn't sure what to do about this too."

"I see, this is troubling indeed."

"Why are you all so calm! Can't you worry about me a little?! At least check to see how I am doing!"

As I was chatting calmly with Sena, Aqua leapt up and protest with a face on the verge of tears.

But she seemed to be lively.

"But this is troubling… This monster could only attack by exploding, and would detonate if we hurt it a little; Even if we don't harm it, it would stick to us when we don't pay attention and explode anyway. From the current situation, we could only stay far away and defeat them one at a time."

Sena said as she looked at Megumin consoling Aqua, who was hugging her knees.

Aqua might act like this, but her hagoromo was the strongest godly equipment.

If not for that, she would have suffered considerable injury from that powerful explosion.

What a troublesome monster.

Do we have to throw rocks at it as we advance?

But there was already a large number of monster spilling onto the surface, who knew how many more were congregating in the dungeon.

Exterminating these monsters one at a time would be a little…

Furthermore, I couldn't comprehend what the goal of these mysterious monsters were.

In the end, who unleashed these monsters, and for what purpose?

— As I was troubled about these things, Darkness suddenly approached a doll and punched it without a word.

"Hmmm? What are you doing all of a sudden?!"

As the surrounding adventurers and I were panicking because of her action, the doll which took the punch stuck onto Darkness. Shortly after, that doll exploded splendidly just like the one that stuck onto Aqua.

After that explosion—

"… Hmmm, I could take that. No problem."

Darkness who was saying that was still full of life.

As Sena and the other adventurers were still shocked by the tenacity of Darkness…

"I will clear a path, just follow behind me, Kazuma."

Darkness said something really manly.

The dungeon exploration this time wasn't a sneaking mission like the previous time.

The plan this time was to attack openly from the front with the other adventurers.

At this moment Megumin tugged at the corner of my shirt and said:

"Kazuma, Kazuma, I will only get in the way inside, can I standby out here? I will be ready to use magic at the entrance of the dungeon, just run out if you run into a powerful monster."

True, the one summoning these monsters should be inside the dungeon.

And it should be very strong.

It's better to let Megumin standby here so she could be the ace if a powerful monster chased after us out of the dungeon.

"If that was the case, I will wait for you guys together with Megumin. I will cast buffing spells on you before you go in, so both of you be careful."

Aqua said as she dusted off her clothes…

"Hey, wait a minute! You are coming too! You are different from Megumin and could be of use in the dungeon!"

"I don't wanna—! I don't want to go into the dungeon anymore! I will be left behind if I go into the dungeon! That's right, and a large number of undead will chase after me—!"

Aqua covered her ears and squatted down, voicing her refusal while shaking her head.

Seemed like she had a trauma when I threatened to leave her behind the last time we visited the dungeon.

I pondered over it, and decided to leave Aqua outside too.

With this girl around, the chance of meeting undead would skyrocket.

And other adventurers would be entering the dungeon too, if we meet any undead without physical form, someone should be able to attack it.

"The only ones entering the dungeon from my party will be just Darkness and me."

"Yeah… To be alone in the dark dungeon with Kazuma. I think Kazuma is more dangerous than the monster."

"Be careful, I might just leave you in the depths of the dungeon and give you the same trauma as Aqua."

As we were squabbling, the other adventurers seemed to have decided the members to enter the dungeon.

Some of the adventurers stayed behind on the surface to protect Sena and exterminate the monsters.

About twenty men and women would be entering the dungeon with us.

The plan was for Darkness to take the lead and the other adventurers to follow behind—

— The oil lamp in my hand illuminated the dim passage in the dungeon.

Darkness who might be attacked by the suicide bombers was holding a great sword instead of an oil lamp.

I was several steps behind Darkness and held the oil lamp up high, allowing Darkness who was walking in the front to see the road.

The other adventurers fell into line behind us.

It might be a dark and moist dungeon, but there was nothing to fear with so many people around.

That might be so, but our goal was different from them.

The other adventurers were here to investigate the reason why the monsters are spawning, but our objective was to dispel the magic circle inside the lich's room and destroy the evidence.

And so, having them follow behind was troubling for me.

—But, on the other hand…

"Fufufufu, hahaha! Kazuma look! I hit it, I hit it! Even I can hit these fellows accurately!"

Darkness who was walking before me was swinging her sword happily, slashing at the dolls that made no attempt to dodge.

As expected, the dolls counter attacked by suicide bombing, but that just covered the face and armor of Darkness with a bit of dust, and she continued charging happily as though nothing was happening.

Well, she was probably a bit concerned about not being able to land a hit on her opponent.

If that was so, stop being stubborn and learn a 'long sword' skill alright?

Maybe her attacks falling made her happy because she was useful. Darkness rampaged through the dungeon like a tank.

The dungeon created by the renowned lich was really sturdy, showing no sign of collapsing despite the series of explosion.

"Hey— Wait, wait for us! Slow down…!"

I could hear the voice of the adventurers coming from behind.

I turned back and realized we had pulled away from the others due to Darkness' fast rampage.

And those monsters kept jumping out from either side of the dungeons.

"Wait…! Ahhh, it's sticking on me! Hey, someone pull it off me!"

"Wahhh, don't come here! Don't come—!"

The explosion of these monsters were really powerful.

They might not be as durable as Darkness or wear godly items like Aqua, but an adventurer in armor wouldn't die so easily.

I felt a bit bad about that, but I should use this chance…

"Keep it up Darkness! Go straight down the passage! Keep charging ahead!"

"Okay, leave it to me! Ahhh, such a thrilling experience! I think this is the first time I am fulfilling my role as a crusader!"

The excited Darkness did not realize what the situation was like behind her.

Charge into the depths in one shot and we can say goodbye to this dungeon in no time.