Dark dungeon corridors.
The cave-like space echoed with the faint sound of flowing water somewhere.
Clara's staff cast light upward, revealing stalactites hanging from the ceiling.
The ground was uneven, and the corridor was probably less than five meters wide.
The stalactites made the ceiling feel oppressively low.
Aria, who had entered the dungeon, breathed out a white puff of air.
"It's freezing in here, isn't it?"
She wasn't dressed lightly, exactly, but she'd prioritized mobility over warmth, leaving her cold protection lacking.
I felt the chill too — worse than I'd expected.
Clara spoke up.
"Water drips down from the stalactites. And depending on the area, there are puddles forming as well. We've turned down a few corridors, but... Porter still can't make it through, I'm afraid."
Right now, the four of us dispatched from the Guild were walking through the basement floor one of the newly discovered dungeon.
The cave-like entrance led straight into a staircase going down.
We'd entered with Aria, Miranda, and Clara — four of us total — for purposes of investigation.
Miranda chimed in.
"The things coming out of the walls look like nasty bats, and I think the rest are frogs? I really wish they'd stop."
She said she wished they'd stop, and all.
But both Aria and Miranda fought the Monsters without so much as raising their voices, dispatching them in a calm, methodical manner. No — "processing" might be more accurate.
Meanwhile, I was using my Skills[Map]and[Search]to watch the basement floor map while keeping tabs on the other adventurers' movements.
"……Let's turn right next."
I'd pick the path that avoided the corridor ahead that was just a dead end, and turn right.
Up ahead, we ran into a different party from ours — they were in the process of turning back.
First day.
The party led by Albano was pushing ahead, and behind them, other parties had entered the Dungeon and were engaged in combat.
If I listened closely, I could pick up the sounds of fighting and voices.
(Narrow and maze-like. Fine, but is the boss the type that doesn't respawn?)
Once we entered the Dungeon, there was no boss signature detected.
The room leading down to the second basement floor was spacious, but the system showed no boss presence there.
Albano's group appeared to have already descended to the second basement floor, while we were methodically working our way through every corner of the first.
(Sure, if they push ahead first, they get to hog the treasure chests… but that also means a lot gets left behind.)
They seemed to prioritize advancing, and in the process they were disarming the traps along the way. For the ones they couldn't handle, they'd marked them with warnings so others would know they were dangerous.
Aria, who was walking ahead, came to a stop and drew the short sword sheathed at her hip.
She apparently judged that she wouldn't even need to ready her short spear — she raised her left arm, shield forward, and set her stance.
I drew my Saber as well, and I heard the flutter of wings.
Miranda slipped her hand into her robe, produced long needles pinched between her fingers, and flung them at the ceiling.
In the dim light, several things clattered to the ground—.
"Tch. Two of them got away. Riel, Aria — take them out!"
Miranda clicked her tongue in frustration, but she had already taken down three.
Aria swung her short sword wide, cleaving through a large bat that had been swooping in to attack.
I thrust my saber into the one that had lunged at me.
The blade pierced straight through its torso. The bat let out a shrill cry and went still.
Scanning the surroundings, I spotted Clara — with Mini Porter in tow — setting down her staff and moving to strip materials and Magic Stones from the bats.
With Clara no longer holding her staff, the light began to fade.
I turned my right palm toward the ceiling and prepared a light for Clara.
"Thank you."
With that, she got to work.
Aria took up watch to the front while Miranda moved to cover the rear.
I looked down at the monster.
"With its wings spread, it'd easily surpass a meter. There's probably some variation between individuals, but… these things have awfully creepy faces."
I wasn't looking for cuteness in a monster, but the Jewel hanging around my neck was a different story.
Even now, the Fifth Generation was—
*'That's a monster, that's a monster… but if you look closely, it's kind of cute…'*
To which the Fourth Generation replied:
*'No, there is nothing cute about this.'*
She had sounded thoroughly exasperated.
Lost in thought, I was jolted back by Clara's voice.
"Laiel."
"What?"
I turned toward Clara, and she held up one of the monsters, showing me its size. With its wings spread, it was big enough to hide the petite Clara behind it.
"It's the biggest one we've seen today."
Hearing that, I took a look myself.
"Miranda took this one down? I'll need to get her to recover her needles... There's quite a lot of variation between individuals."
Clara nodded in agreement as she continued butchering.
"Yes. The small ones are small, but their Magic Stones aren't that different in size. As for the materials, I'm not sure how much the price changes with size..."
It was annoying that we couldn't easily calculate a per-head price, but as long as we kept our expectations to a minimum, it shouldn't be a problem.
I looked at the mini Porter that Clara had inserted her staff into.
The mini Porter was essentially a deep-bottomed box with wheels and legs for descending stairs attached to it, though its head section consisted of a cylindrical body with two small round glass orbs embedded in it.
Monica had insisted that if it was going to call itself a Porter, this was absolutely necessary.
I agreed.
"Come to think of it, Porter started out as a simple build too. It's become quite impressive now, though."
Clara looked slightly uncomfortable.
"Even if it got any more impressive, that would be a problem. I'm getting close to my limit in terms of operating it."
As she said this, Clara packed the recovered materials and Magic Stones into the mini Porter.
They were sorted by type and stored away, and when she was done, Clara picked up her staff to resume moving.
I extinguished the light and checked the map for our next destination.
However, most of the Monsters had already been hunted by other adventurers, so there was no choice but to press forward.
Maybe I should go collect some treasure chests that Alberno and the others missed.
Though I called them treasure chests, they weren't shaped like boxes at all.
Some were embedded in walls, and they were often difficult to spot.
But I can easily locate such places using my Skills[Map]and[Search].
As I started walking, I said to everyone,
"Let's take a break in the next large room we find."
Aria was delighted.
"That would be a relief. Actually, it's colder than I expected. You brought firewood, and you'll be setting up a fire, right?"
I had brought a reasonably sized pot, and my plan was to put the firewood inside it and light a flame.
I did have other tools available, but part of it was that I wanted to test how this one felt to use.
Above all, I could have easily warmed up using a Mana Tool, but this method was cheaper.
I had gathered fallen branches and such while traveling, so there was no need to use Magic Stones like with a Mana Tool.
"We'll also eat. Today, if we find the entrance to the second basement floor, we'll head back right after."
Miranda said.
"Wouldn't it be better to check out the second basement floor?"
I shook my head.
"We probably could, but I don't want to push it. Besides, it feels like every party here today came just to scout things out."
On the map floating in my mind, I could see that many other parties had found the entrance to the second basement floor without forcing things and simply turned back.
There were also quite a few parties, like us, that had started searching for treasure chests.
And so, I entered the large room with the treasure chest, just as planned.
When we returned from the Dungeon, the sky was still blue.
Stepping outside and stretching, I could feel in my body just how much colder it had been inside the Dungeon.
"Now then, let's see how much we earned this time."
When I looked inside the mini Porter, it was packed with Monster materials and Magic Stones.
It could definitely carry more than if someone were hauling it on their back.
But still—
"We took down quite a few, but if this keeps up, our luggage will fill up by the second basement floor. Even if we avoid combat as much as possible, from the fourth or fifth floor we'll need more space… I'd want at least one or two more."
When Clara voiced those thoughts, Aria agreed.
"That's true. I'd like to lighten our hand luggage too, but if we pack this much in, there won't be room to load anything else."
Miranda said:
"Why not attach the tools to the sides? It's not like we're using the Porter as a shield or anything."
I said:
"There's definitely room for improvement. I'll talk to Monica about it, but for now let's just put the luggage in the tent and—huh?"
Near the Dungeon entrance, Guild staff had been hiring people to set up tents.
Yet today, for some reason, there was already a building standing there.
Thinking I might just be tired, I rubbed my eyes several times, but the result was the same.
Looking around more carefully, it had developed even more than yesterday.
"What the…?"
Aria was just as stunned.
Clara said:
"Leave it to the adventurers of Baim. They're remarkably efficient at this sort of thing. Now I understand what they meant about a town being built."
Miranda was the only one who looked like she was having fun.
"Wow, it's gotten way bigger. I mean, I didn't expect them to go this far. Also—has the number of people increased too?"
It was the Third Generation who muttered that, with the Jewel in hand.
"Man, this is just like the Village of Mages. Y'know, the cautionary tale—how you're not supposed to do that?"
Having some hustle and bustle was a good thing, but it did make you scratch your head in bewilderment as to what exactly was going on.
We headed straight for the building managed by the Guild, where merchants and staff were buying up materials and Magic Stones.
Since they were free to sell anything other than Magic Stones to the merchants, we went ahead and brought the Magic Stones to the staff first.
There were still only a few adventurers who had returned, so we were able to sell them right away.
"Good work out there. Let me take a look at these, then."
Saying that, the staff member examined the Magic Stones and weighed them, and I asked:
"So, this is getting pretty... well, how should I put it... are you really planning to build a whole town here?"
The staff member looked up at my face.
"Oh, is this your first time participating? Actually, I guess 'are building' would be more accurate. We didn't exactly set out to make a town, but if it becomes usable in the future, I think that'd be fine."
While I was still puzzling over it all, the buying price for the Magic Stones was presented.
I nodded, collected the money, and headed over to regroup with Aria and the others, who had gone off to sell the materials.
Around us, multiple merchants were standing by, waiting to make their purchases.
If anything, they were all on the young side.
I called out to Aria and the rest.
"How'd it go over there?"
And they replied:
"Cheaper than Baim. Although, they told us from the start that transporting stuff and hiring escorts costs money, so the prices would be lower."
Being able to take down Monsters near the Dungeon, though, meant the earnings were a significant bonus on top of what they normally made.
Because we're entering a limited space packed with Monsters, the encounter rate skyrockets.
For the four of us splitting a single day's earnings, it was more than enough to make it worth our while.
"...Well, at this rate, I guess we won't end up in the red."
Looking at today's take, I nodded, confident there was no way we'd end up losing money.
That was when Clara spoke up.
"Lyle, what are we going to do about that?"
I started walking and led everyone back to where Porter was.
"I'm thinking we hold off for now. There's no rush—might as well hear everyone's input before we decide."
What Clara meant by "that" was the treasure.
Specifically, the valuables we'd found in the treasure chest.
They were gems, but not raw stones—these were already polished, as if they'd been cut from the start.
If we sold them, we'd be looking at anywhere from several gold coins to several dozen.
Depending on the quality, a lot of treasures found within a Dungeon tend to store mana within them. That makes them fetch a very different price compared to ordinary gemstones.
As for their use, they're mostly sought after as materials for Mana Tools, much the same as rare metals.
Clara adjusted her glasses as she spoke.
"Even so, for a Dungeon that's barely been discovered, it's remarkably ancient. The fact that you can find valuable treasure right away on the first basement floor is incredible."
Even calling it "newly discovered," it wasn't exactly rare for something to turn out to have existed for ages without anyone knowing about it.
Maybe its discovery had been delayed—right to the point where it was on the verge of spewing out Monsters in massive numbers.
"Were those stalactites? Those take decades or even hundreds of years to form, don't they? Dungeons really are full of mysteries."
My first impression upon entering was that between the cold and the damp, managing your physical condition was going to be a real pain.
The other thing was that the passages were so narrow that even with a larger party, some members might not be able to participate in combat.
On top of that, using magic required checking first to make sure there wasn't another party nearby.
"Tomorrow I'll have Aria and Miranda rest, and take the rest of the members instead. Novem and Eva, plus May and… what about Monica?"
Miranda let out a wry smile.
"Shannon's been excluded from the party from the very start, hasn't she? As her sister, I'd like her to come to terms with that early on, so I want to let her into the Dungeon…"
When I heard that, I said:
"Then how about I take Shannon the day after tomorrow? Ah, and we could add Monica to the party at that point too."
This time, I'd brought a small group in order to scout out the Dungeon's conditions.
But starting tomorrow, five or even six members shouldn't be a problem.
As we were talking, we made our way through the increasingly lively streets and arrived at Porter's place.
When we looked inside, Monica was cooking something in a large stockpot.
Aria took one look at it and said:
"Ah, just watching it makes me feel warm already. I want to eat it soon!"
She had a blissful expression on her face, and sure enough, it smelled delicious.
(Preparing everything after we get back is such a hassle — it really is a relief having companions around. In that case, I should split up the people who can handle household chores and form parties accordingly… Man, this is getting more and more complicated.)
When the party size was small, that came with its own set of difficulties.
But now that the numbers were growing, I could feel a whole different kind of complexity piling up.