The herbal tea the witch served us had clearly been made with extra care — it had been a while, after all.
First, the white ceramic cups were part of a set the witch had purchased at the Full Moon Bazaar.
The liquid inside the cups.
It was colorless and transparent. At that point, I already had a bad feeling.
Ambrosius ran his finger around the handle of the cup and stopped.
Seeing that, Mirese made a puzzled face and froze, staring at the cup.
From the colorless, transparent liquid inside the cup, a single tiny droplet rose to the surface.
It was black and slowly spinning. The droplets gradually increased.
Then, little by little, the liquid that had been colorless and transparent began turning red.
At the same time, red liquid started overflowing from the cup.
But even though it was overflowing — flowing like a waterfall from the cup's saucer — it vanished mid-stream.
So the table wouldn't suffer a total catastrophe... but they clearly never intended for us to drink this from the start.
Oh — Mirese was foaming at the mouth and collapsed!?
It was too soon for humanity.
No, it would be too soon for any species, honestly.
We all drank the tea I had brewed and enjoyed it together as I gave a simplified explanation of everything so far.
"...The... dungeon's... will... conversations..."
Mirese was trembling.
It seemed to have struck a chord with the second-generation Dungeon Master.
"Through Narcissus as interpreter, yes — that's quite surprising. So the will of Heisen's dungeon will cooperate with us?"
"Yes. It seems the will understands that the current situation is untenable, and it said it won't hold back on cooperation."
To be precise, Narcissus had translated it as "I won't hold back."
"In that case, this should be quick. We can obtain what's absolutely necessary for creating a dungeon."
"Oh my, and what might that be?"
"A Dungeon Core."
I held my breath.
A Dungeon Core... said to exist in the deepest part of a dungeon.
I believed the Dungeon Lord guarded it, and that destroying it would cause the dungeon to collapse.
That much was similar to how dungeons worked in my memories from my past life.
And that reminded me.
That an anomaly in the Dungeon Lord was what constituted a dungeon anomaly — an error.
That had been Alexander's hypothesis.
Nekea was originally a dungeon anomaly.
Which meant she had been Heisen's Dungeon Lord.
I'd have to ask about that later.
"Why is a Dungeon Core absolutely necessary? Before I explain that, I think it would be better to first explain what a dungeon fundamentally is. What do you think, Wof?"
"I'd appreciate that."
The dungeon lecture began abruptly.
I left it to Ambrosius.
He spoke.
"Dungeons — they are the incarnation of dreams and desires. Since time immemorial, they have been called by many names. Labyrinth. Tower. Pillar. Palace. Castle. Shrine. Pain."
"The... the, the oldest name of all is... a tomb..."
"Yes. A tomb. The world's oldest and first dungeon was a king's tomb. It is said to have been a Mausoleum."
"Mausoleum..."
Hmm, that sounded familiar somehow?
"Indeed. But nobody knows where it is anymore — it's been thousands of years."
"That's because it's a dungeon that wanders for eternity. As for that one — Yomi — well, we're searching for it too, for certain reasons. Someday, perhaps. Now then, Wof. Dungeons can be broadly divided into two types. Did you know that?"
"If I recall correctly, there are bottom-level dungeons and deepest-level dungeons."
"Exactly. Bottom-level dungeons are small in scale and have fewer floors. At most, around fifty floors. Bottom-level dungeons have neither a Dungeon Lord nor a Dungeon Core. However, they do have treasures and ruins. They're connected to deepest-level dungeons in some way. Deepest-level dungeons are large in scale and have deep floors. The ones with the most floors are said to have several thousand. They naturally have treasures and ruins as well. In the deepest part, there's a monster called the Dungeon Lord, and there's a Dungeon Core. Destroying it causes the dungeon to collapse."
[Bottom-level dungeon: Small in scale with few floors. No Dungeon Lord or Core on the lowest level. Contains treasures and ruins. Connected to deepest-level dungeons in some way.]
[Deepest-level dungeon: Large in scale with many floors. Contains a monster called the Dungeon Lord in the deepest part. Also contains treasures and ruins. Has a Dungeon Core. Destroying it causes the dungeon to collapse.]
So that's how it works.
"Ha... hahaha... Hydrangea's... dungeon is a deepest-level dungeon..."
"There were anomalies as well."
"Y-yes, that's right."
That raised a question.
"What happens to the Dungeon Lord after it's defeated?"
"If it was an anomaly that was defeated, a new Dungeon Lord will be deployed by the dungeon's will, so it's fine. If one isn't deployed, that constitutes a crisis for the dungeon. The Dungeon Lord is the Dungeon Core's absolute defense system."
"I see. That's a relief."
Hmm? Was it actually a relief?
Something felt off.
"Th-there are also... two types that don't... fit into either category... special... dungeons..."
"That's right. The wandering type and the surface type. The wandering type is a dungeon that roams. It appears suddenly and vanishes just as suddenly. A truly elusive dungeon. The surface type — well, this is one. This isolated island continent of Heisen itself is the dungeon. Now then, Wof. Surface-type dungeons are rare. The reason they even exist is still unknown. The sample size is too small to even investigate properly. And the reason surface-type dungeons are so rare is — they're easily destroyed."
"That... that's what the Forest Wave... is."
In a dungeon's system, the number of monsters it can contain is regulated.
With a surface type, that population can't be distributed across floors. Even if the will tries to control it, it overflows.
Inevitably, at some point, it becomes a massive horde.
That's the true nature of the Forest Wave.
"Exactly. Heisen has held on well. But even this Heisen will eventually be destroyed someday."
"...No way."
"Hmm, hmm. I did see hints of that."
This time had been exactly that.
Those who knew it was a dungeon probably understood.
They may have been feeling the crisis building for even longer than that.
So... that was it. The Goro family's crab — or rather, the Poor Man's Club — had been struggling.
And they had failed.
"Th-that's why... we have to turn it into a proper dungeon..."
"And what's needed for that is the Dungeon Core, right?"
"Without that, nothing can begin. Now then — where is the deepest part of Heisen?"
"It's in the Forbidden Land deep within the Heisen Great Forest."
So in the end, we have to go there after all.
I thought vaguely.
That night.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a mysterious white space shrouded in pure white fog.
"..."
There I stood, alone in that space. A sight I'd seen more often than my own parents' faces at this point.
After a major event had concluded, I'd figured something like this might be coming.
As I waited vaguely, a beautiful woman appeared — otherworldly, serene, with the gleam of a blade about her.
Yes. The Knife Goddess. As always, pure white and beautiful.
"Wof."
"It's been a while."
"I have something to say to you."
"What might that be?"
"Why didn't you use the knife that I, the Knife Goddess, bestowed upon you?"
Ah, that.
Well, I had expected a complaint might come.
"It's, well, the timing was a bit off."
"I'm angry."
The Knife Goddess puffed out her cheeks and glared at me, fuming.
It's disrespectful of me to say, but — adorable.
"I'm sorry. I'll use it next time for certain."
"I gave it to you because it's useful. A knife is only a knife when it's used. It wouldn't matter even if it broke."
Please stop talking as though it's going to break.
"I'll treasure it and use it well."
"Very well. That aside, Wof — I hear you're building a dungeon?"
"Y-yes."
As always, her intelligence gathering was swift.
"Then please take these."
As she spoke, four boxes materialized not far from the goddess.
They were quite large boxes, and their shape was... treasure chests?
"What are these?"
"A set of four treasure chests, each containing a randomly selected knife."
"...?"
"I want you to place these in the dungeon you're building."
"Um, could I get an explanation?"
She'd finally jumped on the bandwagon.