"Thank you for the report."
When I went to report to the King about the new dungeon, I was immediately ushered into the audience chamber and found myself having to give an explanation before the nobles who served at the royal castle.
The explanation finished quickly, and I wanted to leave right away, but the King immediately began pondering something, while the nobles started celebrating the prospect of an economic boom like the one in the Southern Autonomous Region — so nobody would grant me permission to go. I was half-tempted to just slip out without a word when—
"There's one thing I'd like to ask. Do you think this dungeon, like the one in the south, could enrich the Royal Capital's economy?"
Zain-sama asked this in a somewhat detached tone.
"In my personal opinion, I believe that possibility is rather low. If anything, I think expenses are more likely to increase."
The dungeon I discovered in the south — whether it happened because a mountain had transformed into a dungeon or because it had originally been a mine, I couldn't say — was littered with valuable ores: Magic Iron, Mithril, iron, copper, and even silver. Moreover, the discovery site fell under the management of the Southern Viscount family, which meant the Viscounts were able to take control of the dungeon early on. As a result, the outflow of resources was prevented, and all the dungeon's profits went straight to the Viscount family. This, in turn, sparked an economic boom centered on Nanao that enriched the entire southern region. On top of that, Hana had sealed off everything from the fifth floor downward while also restricting adventurers from removing resources from the dungeon, so the south could expect a long-lasting economic boom going forward. For reference, the reason she had opened up to the fourth floor was to attract new adventurers by advertising it as a low-danger dungeon and create a flow of people into the south. Furthermore, by placing restrictions on resource extraction, the dungeon became unprofitable for veteran adventurers, and anyone who took resources out without authorization would be prosecuted as a criminal. Incidentally, adventurers paid an admission fee before entering the dungeon, but in exchange they received training on mining methods and safety precautions within the dungeon, and were allowed to keep a portion of what they actually extracted.
As for the dungeon's closure, a letter arrived from the royal family questioning its implications — essentially suspecting independence or a coup — but Hana responded that the dungeon's location was land directly managed by the Viscount family, it was far from any settlement, and the surrounding environment needed to be protected; moreover, the dungeon was small in scale, so fully opening it risked depleting the resources almost immediately. Her reasoning was perfectly sound, and since the waves of prosperity had already reached the Royal Capital, her position was accepted — though among the nobles, there were those who were none too happy about the Southern Viscount family's seemingly one-sided victory. Most of the ones making a fuss in this room were exactly those sorts of nobles who didn't look kindly on the Viscount family.
"The major difference between the southern dungeon and Seigen's new dungeon is the danger level. The southern dungeon is shallow and low-risk, so even beginners can bring back a decent haul of resources. But the only people who can currently access Seigen's new dungeon are the Dawn Sword, Grandpa, and me — that's it. Even if there are useful resources down there, there's a limit to how much we can carry out."
So after laying it out like that—
"Then one of you should just take us there!"
It was easy to predict that some of the nobles would fire back with something like this... but—
"Are you saying that with a straight face? If you tried to force that through by command, the worst-case scenario is the country collapses."
Just like that, I had my counter-response ready and waiting.
The bottom floor of a massive dungeon like Seigen wasn't something you could reach just by throwing money at it, and above all, it held treasures that adventurers could never convert into gold. That was precisely why Jin and the others taking me to the bottom floor was something no one would ever consider normal. Even knowing all of that,
You
were just doing whatever you wanted — I can almost hear someone saying. But that was part of the reward too (or at least, that's what I'm calling it), and I've decided the next time I go to the bottom floor will be when I can get there under my own power. That was a sort of bonus time... and later I told that to Jin and the others, who accepted it, so I should be in the clear. Barely.
Well, setting that aside — for a noble to use their power to access the bottom floor could be seen as seizing adventurers' treasures, and that
would be one of the largest-scale
If the bottom floor of a dungeon became accessible, there was a real possibility that many adventurers would stop obeying the Kingdom. And if that happened, I probably wouldn't cooperate with the King and the others the way I always had... or at least, I might not. At the very least, I'd treat any nobles I wasn't personally acquainted with as hostile.
There was also the chance that adventurers who shared my way of thinking would leave the country altogether. If some of them ended up in the Empire or elsewhere, that would lead to a decline in national power. In fact, the House of the Count of Haust had already seen exactly that — after the incident at Kukuri Village, so many adventurers had left the border territory that the Count's household finances had taken a dangerous turn. Saying the country would collapse might be an overstatement, but if adventurers became uncooperative, a decline in national power was highly likely. And once an entity like the Empire spotted that weakness, an invasion leading to the kingdom's ruin wasn't exactly out of the question.
Of course, all of that was just my own wild imagination... But my words — coming from someone who was, in part or at least in representative terms, the cause of the border territory's decline — seemed to carry a certain amount of persuasiveness. The audience hall, which had been getting rowdy, quieted down considerably. Though the real reason it went quiet was probably that the King, Caesar-sama, and the other royals who understood what I was getting at, along with upper nobles like Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, had shot glares at all the nobles who were making noise.
"Indeed, there is such a fear. The royal family has never placed restrictions on Seigen's Dungeon. That was because when Seigen's Dungeon was first discovered, they didn't believe it would ever be conquered, given its sheer scale. That was precisely why they valued drawing in as many adventurers as possible to spend their money over worrying about the loss of resources flowing out. Yet now, to suddenly impose restrictions just because a new dungeon has been discovered, and to strip adventurers of their privileges — that would be nothing but a foolish move."
At Lord Zain's words, the nobles who had been making a ruckus fell silent.
"However, on the flip side — if you were to conquer Seigen's Dungeon, the royal family would have no grounds to complain, even if you obtained resources from the new dungeon."
If nobles used their own power to conquer a dungeon and then simply walked out with resources from the new one, the royal family wouldn't sit quietly about it. But if there was a third party — like adventurers — sandwiched in between, the royal family would have no way to object. That was what he meant, presumably.
"Of course, that only applies if you have the strength to conquer the dungeon yourselves — or can muster enough adventurers to do so..."
Lord Zain murmured, in a voice too low for the rustling nobles to hear. And he was right — it all hinged on whether someone could reach the bottom floor. The "Dawn Sword," the party that had conquered the dungeon, was connected to the royal family through me. And the only others besides them who could reach the bottom floor — my grandfather and I — were part of the Royalist Faction with direct ties to the royal family. As things stood, no other noble had any means of reaching the bottom floor. And before any of them could get their hands on a ticket to the lowest level, I would reach it under my own power. Once that happened, I was confident I could get a rough overview of the new dungeon's information before anyone else managed to get there.
"Your Majesty, perhaps it would be best to allow Tenma to withdraw... Even a man like him must be exhausted from the forced march from the dungeon to the Royal Capital."
"Indeed. Tenma, you have worked hard this time. Both you and the Dawn Sword shall receive your rewards in due course. You are dismissed."
"At once!"
Finally given permission to leave, I headed for the exit to go straight home—
"Lord Tenma, this way, please. Lady Maria is waiting for you."
Waiting just beyond the door was Aina, and she promptly led me off to Lady Maria.
"Oh! Lord Tenma, it's been so long— wait, where are you being taken?"
Along the way to Lady Maria's place, I spotted a handsome guy who looked like he was about to become my escort. So I grabbed his arm before he could run and dragged him along with me. And then I noticed something unpleasant. Namely—
"Tida... when did you get so big..."
He'd caught up to me in height — no, he might have actually surpassed me. Just a year ago, there had still been a clearly noticeable difference...
"Big brother is being arrested! He's finally in trouble for harassing Amy-chan— That's a lie, I'm sorry!"
While I was still reeling from the shock of Tida’s growth, Luna, who hadn’t grown at all, appeared and started teasing Tida. She hastily apologized before she could get scolded and scurried behind Aina. It was a somewhat reassuring sight.
"So, Tenma, where are you headed?"
"I got called over by Maria-sama. I ran into Tida on the way, so I was thinking of taking him along."
As soon as Maria-sama’s name was mentioned, Tida started walking in the same direction, grumbling that it "wasn’t a valid reason," but Luna’s face went momentarily panicked. She spun on her heel, trying to bolt. However—
"Luna, since Tenma invited us, why don’t we go pay our respects too? Aina, take Luna to Grandmother’s place. Make absolutely sure she doesn’t escape."
Tida swiftly caught Luna and gave Aina strict orders not to let her get away before commanding them to bring her to Maria-sama.
"Maria-sama. I have brought Tenma-sama, Tida-sama, and Luna-sama."
"Tida and Luna too? Well, come in for now."
Maria-sama seemed surprised that Tida and Luna were with him, but she quickly granted them permission to enter.
"Excuse the intrusion, Maria-sama."
"I’m sorry to call you over like this, Tenma. Please, have a seat. You too, Tida and Luna."
Tida and I sat in the offered seats, but Luna sat leaving one empty. Seeing this, Maria-sama whispered something to Aina and sent her off.
For a while after that, Maria-sama continued with idle chatter. The topics ranged from the King’s blunders, Lyle-sama’s night prowling, to Ernest-sama’s suspected dementia. While it was entertaining to listen to, it all seemed like conversation that had nothing to do with why I’d been summoned.
I was just thinking that this couldn’t be why I’d been called and was about to ask about the real matter when—
"It seems she’s arrived. Please, come in."
A knock echoed, and Aina entered. And with her was one other—
"Leaving your studies all behind, just what were you doing, I wonder?"
Lady Isabella stood there. I’d suspected something was up from Luna’s suspicious behavior, but… it was so typical that I wasn’t particularly surprised.
After that, Luna offered a flurry of excuses, but every single one was logically dismantled by Lady Isabella, and she was led away in dejection.
"Now it’s peaceful. Well then, the reason I called you here, Tenma… but before that, I haven’t told Tida anything about that matter yet. Is it alright if he listens in?"
The matter I hadn’t told Tida about was probably Primera. After getting engaged to Primera, I met Tida and Luna, but the fact that the engagement wasn’t mentioned then must be because they hadn’t been informed.
"I think it’s fine if Tida listens. But Luna, as for her…"
"She will absolutely leak it to someone somewhere, won’t she? Even if she doesn’t intend to, it’ll just slip out… Tida, the story I’m about to tell you is a matter of such importance to the Royal Family that it could be called a top-secret. Keep that in mind as you listen. If you say you can’t handle it, leave this room immediately."
Tida looked surprised by Lady Maria’s intensity, but he quickly sat back down in his chair and assumed a listening posture. Lady Maria saw this and nodded with satisfaction.
"Tida. Tenma recently got engaged to Primera, the third daughter of Duke Sanga. This news must be kept secret until the New Year’s party hosted by the Duke. If anyone from the Royal Family were to leak this, it would damage the trust we have with Duke Sanga and the Ootori family. Is that clear?"
"Y-Yes!"
Tida was surprised by my engagement, but he nodded along with Lady Maria’s words. This meant that within the Royal Family, the only one who didn’t know about my engagement was Luna… or so I thought, but I decided to ask just in case.
"Yes, only Luna is unaware… I wonder how Lyle took it?"
Lady Maria seemed to have lost track of whether Lyle knew partway through, so she had Aina go fetch him. If he didn’t know, then in Lady Maria’s eyes, Lyle was on the same level as Luna.
"Mother… I was already told, as expected."
When Aina brought Lyle in, his eyes were darting around initially, but when asked if there was something being kept secret about me, he calmed down and received the correct answer by whispering to Lady Maria.
"I see, so he was informed, as expected. My apologies, Lyle, you may go back. Also, I’m not sure what you’re hiding, but try not to worry me too much, alright?"
Lyle gave a wry smile at Lady Maria’s smile and hurriedly left the room.
"So, Tenma-san. Why did you suddenly get engaged?"
Once he confirmed the door was completely shut, Tida asked in surprise about the circumstances leading up to the engagement. I explained it for what must have been the nth time, but having an ally made it worthwhile. Yes, an ally to keep Luna in check.
"Well, considering the relationship between Tenma-san and Duke Sanga’s family, it may feel sudden, but it isn’t surprising. Congratulations."
Tida must have thought it was better not to ask any more, as he didn’t say anything further. Instead,
"So, how was the new dungeon?!"
He asked about the dungeon without hesitation. Lady Maria also seemed to want to hear about the dungeon; she furrowed her brow slightly at Tida’s high energy but said nothing, remaining silent.
"We didn’t find the vast resources that the nobles had been hoping for. At least, not in the lowest level where the Hydra was or near the entrance of the new dungeon."
Rather than relaying things for Tida to hear, I reported my impressions of the dungeon to Lady Maria as if giving her a formal report. Lady Maria mostly asked questions about the resources I'd mentioned initially, but Tida's questions were all about the skeletons and Rot Golems.
"There's a dungeon beneath the lowest level, yet you say it's full of weak Monsters? That doesn't sit right with me."
"I say weak, but if Tida challenged it, you'd get stuck near the entrance. No matter how weak they are, a group that doesn't fear death is terrifying. When enemies like that appear, or look like they might, or you feel like you're in a disadvantageous location, you need to keep the option of retreating immediately in mind and act accordingly. Especially since Tida, in most cases, you'd be in a leadership position, right?"
"You're right. I'll be careful. But what about when you encounter them in a situation where retreating isn't possible? How should I fight?"
It was good that she didn't stubbornly dig in her heels, but as Luna's brother, his fighting spirit was strong. I'd only experienced such situations twice that I could remember, so the one most likely to be useful as reference… I gave the example of Kukuri Village. For what it's worth, the other time was against a Lich, and that fight involved overwhelming the enemy with magic, so there wasn't much Tida could take from it.
"So, either build an improvised defensive wall, or attack from outside their reach… It sounds simple, but it's difficult, isn't it?"
"Well, if you can pull that off, you'd be able to fight not just skeletons and Rot Golems but even far more powerful Monsters. Besides that, you need to train so that everyone fulfills their roles properly and can act flexibly when the need arises."
If students formed a party among themselves, Tida's group would likely attract top-tier students like Amy and others at the top of their class, but the academy would never allow something that dangerous, so he probably wouldn't get the chance while still enrolled.
"Lady Maria, I'll take my leave now. I think Jin and the others are waiting for me."
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry for keeping you so long after your report was finished. Aina, please see Tenma off. And while you're at it, go enjoy the rest of your day off."
"Understood."
Lady Maria said to enjoy her day off, but Aina's reply was stiff. Well, what awaited Aina after this was "guidance" in name only—from Jeanne and Aura…
"Eek! Tenma-sama, why did you bring her here?! Wait, um, hold on, sis!"
When I returned to the manor with Aina, Aura had come out to greet us but screamed upon seeing Aina. Aina sighed at the sight and dragged Aura off toward the dining hall.
"O-oh, Tenma. Sorry for dumping this hassle on you~"
Following Aina into the dining hall, I found a full-blown feast underway. It was probably meant to celebrate the discovery of the new dungeon.
Not only Grandpa and Jin's group were at the feast, but Amur and Lady Reni were there too. And,
"Thank you for having us."
Primera and the Three Idiots had joined as well. The Three Idiots were eating and drinking as usual, but Primera looked like she wasn't sure it was appropriate to carry on without me present, and she didn't seem to be enjoying herself much.
"Grandpa must have given his permission, so there's no need to worry about it. That's just how they are, and by showing that kind of unrestrained side of themselves, it also serves to let people know that I'm on close terms with the next generation's central figure of the Royalist Faction… probably."
I don't know about Lion, but Albert and Cain surely understood perfectly well what was going on and were making all that noise on purpose. Well, there were probably still some people who didn't quite get it, but once the announcement of my engagement to Primera was made, they'd have no choice but to understand. In that case, the Three Idiots' behavior would last right up until the engagement announcement… but knowing those three, they'd probably keep showing up and causing a ruckus even after.
"Primera, I'm going to be pretty busy from now on, and things might get hectic right up until the engagement announcement. It's not like we won't be able to see each other at all, and I won't be leaving all the engagement arrangements entirely to you, but I'm afraid I'm going to be a real burden."
Over the next four months, I had to conquer a dungeon and build a Golem. The preparations for the engagement announcement would be almost entirely handed off to Primera—or rather, to the Duke Sanga household.
"I understand that, and I suppose… my side will probably be handed off to the ducal household as well, so I can't really say much either…"
It seemed Duke Sanga was already getting fired up about it, and Primera didn't have much to do herself. Besides, she and Tenma were planning to marry less than a year after the engagement was announced, so she needed to get the knight order's liaison unit fully operational and complete the handover before then, which meant she was quite busy as well.
"On my end, it seems like Lady Maria is even more fired up about it than Grandpa or me… I told Tida about the engagement today, but it was decided that we keep it a secret from Luna."
"A secret from Lady Luna… She does seem like she might let it slip, but honestly, even if the information leaked, I don't think it's the kind of thing where other nobles could stick their noses in and make a fuss about it, do you?"
I thought so too, but I supposed they just wanted to exercise every possible caution.
"I feel bad for Luna, but if it's Lady Maria's decision, there's nothing we can do about it."
When it came to a decision from the highest authority in the royal family, neither Primera nor I—and probably not even Duke Sanga—could override it. And if speaking up or staying silent wouldn't make much difference to the outcome anyway, it was better to choose the path that wouldn't anger Lady Maria.
"I'm going to go ahead and take a bath, so… even if you can't get Albert and the others to tone it down, enjoy the party to your heart's content."
I parted ways with Primera, planning to enjoy a nice quiet bath by myself—
"Come on, Tenma, have a drink!"
"We brought plenty of snacks too!"
Not long after I got into the bath,
two drunkards
barged in, and the rest of the men followed right behind them, flooding in like a landslide. Each of them had their arms full of booze and snacks.
"Did the party venue just… relocate to the bathhouse?"
Drinking in the bath wasn't great for the body, but these weren't the kind of people who'd keel over from that. I'd just have to keep an eye on Albert and Cain. And just to be safe—
the elderly
Too.
"Come on, one more!"
"Albert, you should probably stop soon. Here, drink this instead of alcohol—water, water."
Albert's face was flushed and he was about to take another drink, so I put a cup of water in his hand instead. Whether he himself realized he was reaching his limit, he obediently took the water and started drinking.
"Looking at it this way, everyone's really scattered into interesting groups."
As the night wore on and everyone got progressively more drunk, groups naturally formed: me and Albert, Cain and Garat, Gramps with Jin and Lion. Albert and I felt less like brothers-in-law and more like a pair of misfits, Gramps's group was bonded by similar ways of thinking, but Cain and Garat were surprising. On top of that, they were hitting it off remarkably well. Curious about what had them so animated, I crept a little closer and pricked up my ears—
"So the basics are, when you're draining blood, you beat them half to death and hang them upside down. If the heart isn't pumping, the blood doesn't drain well."
"What if you can't hang them up?"
"Then you dig a hole right next to the quarry and let it flow in there. If you can't dig a hole either, you'd better be prepared to cut off the bottom half and let it drain. Well, better to have only half of it stink than the whole thing."
"Could you use this on humans too?"
"As long as the basic structure is the same kind of creature, there are all sorts of applications. Though, some people only keep the knowledge and can't come back from it, so be careful about that."
They were having this bloody, gory conversation. Garat's knowledge and Cain's curiosity seemed to mesh together perfectly.
"I'm starting to feel nauseous, so I think I'll get out."
Cain and Garat's gruesome talk was making me sick, so I decided to take Albert and get out of the bath.
When Cain and Garat noticed that Albert and I had gotten out of the bath, they followed us out, but—
"So then, I saw my chance when the Hydra was weakened, and—*shlunk*—I chopped its head right off!"
"That time for me, I cut it with magic, crushed it with magic, and burned it to ashes with magic!"
"That's amazing! I want to take down a Hydra just once, even if it's only one time!"
The brawn squad, known as the athletic types, were going at it completely unaware of us. If my memory serves me correctly—
"Tenma, isn't this conversation looping?"
As Cain said, it felt like I'd heard the same story three or four times already.
"It seems like they've been at it for a while. We should probably just drag them out forcibly."
The three of them were considerably more drunk than us, so we decided to pull them out whether they liked it or not.
I was assigned to handle Old Man, Garat took Jin, and Albert and Cain drew Lion... But there was no way we were going to forcibly drag naked men out of there without something we'd rather not touch brushing against our bodies and dealing us mental damage, so we brought over the wooden Golems we'd had assisting with the bath cleaning and had them carry the three out instead. We just helped guide the Golems.
"Tenma, is it really okay to leave Lion and the others behind?"
"We took their sake away and made them drink plenty of water, so they should be fine. As a precaution, I also had the Golems clean the bath and drain the hot water, and I ordered them to kick anyone out who tries to get back in. So the only place they can go is back to the dining hall."
We'd made Old Man and the others get out of the bath, get dressed, and drink some water before leaving them there. We'd also confiscated Old Man's Magic Bag, so if they wanted to drink, they'd have no choice but to come back to the dining hall. If they didn't return, we could always go check on them later.
So we left the three of them behind and headed back to the dining hall, where—
"Man, this place has its own crazy smell going on."
A cloying, overwhelmingly sweet scent greeted us as we walked in. Well, I supposed it was still several times more wholesome than the bath, which had been filled with the stench of alcohol.