Chapter Fifty Five: The Dungeon

“.………………………………”
Silence swallowed the living room in our house.
Meila and I couldn’t say a thing. I’d suspected I wouldn’t be able to drag Leila back with me the moment I met her, but I never imagined she would run away from me like that.
Like a bolt of lightening, I escaped from the elf with my flying ability. While flying inside the barrier of the sacred land, another guard appeared and shot arrows of ice at me. I didn’t look down, but I figured it was the same guy I’d glimpsed the other day.
I dodged the arrows in midair and made my way out without taking a hit. I was in no mood to play around with them.
If only I had the deception ability — then I could have tricked Leila into coming back with me. She didn’t even give me a chance to say the things I wanted to say properly. It turned into a fight instead of the touching reunion I’d hoped for.
Leila………. she looked so sad. Her eyes were red. What kind of harsh life is she living? Why does that noble need her so much? Doesn’t he have enough high-ranking maids to take care of him? Was the vase Leila broke really that precious to him?
“AAAAHHH! I’ve had enough! That Leila, trying to act foolish by wasting our efforts! I would have dragged her back with me even if I had to force her!”
You can’t win against Leila. If she wanted to, she could easily beat up some of the maids and a few men to get away. But she refused to do that. There is definitely something keeping her from running. Was she being blackmailed again? Or is that bastard threatening her? That might be the case, for all I know.
What if he has threatened to kill us all if she decides to escape? That would make a lot of sense, and considering Leila’s personality, she would never disobey him.
If that’s the case…… then that’s all the more reason for me to get her back. To hell with the nobles! To hell with the king himself!
Why is it that I can’t fight the people of the races? What purpose does it serve?
At my current level, I’d be able to fight those guards one-on-one and get Leila back. But I’m useless as long as I can’t use any of the abilities I’ve gathered. Forget about abilities — I don’t even feel any strength at all when I’m face to face with an enemy that isn’t a monster.
What do I have to do in order to get Leila back?
That’s a question I’ve asked myself thousands of times. Money doesn’t work, and I doubt replacing the vase will work either. Just what in the world does he want with her?
I feel so helpless and powerless without my abilities. At this rate, I’m just a normal boy who doesn’t even know the existence of magic and monsters — just like I was before coming to this world. Why do I have to go through all this? Why do you take away my power when I need it the most?
“Why!!!??”
“Hey, keep quiet!! I know you’re frustrated, but think about it. Leila will never do anything that would harm her friends. I’m sure…………….. I’m sure there is something we are missing here. Something only Leila knows. Something that she has to protect by staying there. I’m sure that is what’s going on!”
I’d already thought about that. But…………. I can’t just sit and do nothing when Leila might be suffering because of us. I just can’t.
Girl in black, are you the one who brought me into this world? I always see you when something big is about to happen. Why do you take away my abilities when I need them the most? Why do I have to keep on suffering in this world? Did you bring me here just for your entertainment? Are you that much of a sadist, or are you just bored to death sitting on that scary black throne of yours? I don’t get it.
{Everything………….. is for everything………”
Huh!? Did I just hear a voice?
“Meila, did you say anything?”
“NO I didn’t. What’s wrong?”
I could have sworn I heard a voice. No — I’m sure I heard it. But it wasn’t Meila. Could it be the girl in black?
If so, then I have to know.
“What do you mean by ‘Everything is for everything?’ I don’t get it.”
{.…………….}
No reply……..? Was I imagining things?
Meila, who was seated on the cushion beside me, furrowed her eyebrows. “Hey, are you sure you’re all right? You should get some sleep since it’s already late. Don’t think about it too much. I’m sure we’ll get Leila back once the time is right…… I’m going to bed so see you tomorrow. And one more thing: I’ll kill you if you decide to do something bad to me again!” She stood up and made her way to her room. She looked as if she were mocking me.
“I won’t!”
“Hmph!” she ignored me and kept walking.
Hmm…… guess that’s her way of cheering me up. I should be the one supporting her in this situation, but I’m letting myself get dragged down by it.
I had only been away from the house for less than an hour when I left earlier. My meeting with Leila ended so abruptly.
Leaving the sacred land, I made my way straight home where Meila was still passed out. Duddul had returned home much sooner due to the orders I gave him.
It seems she passed out for nothing since her abilities didn’t get transferred to me. I sat on the cushion opposite hers and lost myself in thought. I stayed there for a few hours before she started waking up.
“Hnn~!” she moaned as she stretched her body.
She sounded surprised. “I feel so light and refreshed. It’s amazing how…………” she stopped as soon as she saw me looking at her.
“How dare you kiss me without my permission!?”
She was going to go on a rampage when I told her, “Leila refused to come back with me.”
Her expression changed into one of sadness and loneliness. She stopped being angry at me and started trying to make me feel better by saying, “It’s not your fault.”
After that, she continued on with a smile on her face. I knew she was hurting just as much as I was, but for some reason she didn’t want to show it.
She left and took a bath, then came back to clean the cushion she had stained with her fluids.
“S-Stop staring at me. It’s all your fault this happened. You and that weird ability of yours………….”
And when she had finished cleaning the cushion she asked, “Y-You did the same thing to Taht, right? I know because she told me. She said that she had never felt anything like that before. And I heard that you healed me by kissing me too. I don’t know if I should thank you or not, but since you are always trying your best, I’m sure that a day will come when you’ll be able to save Leila as well.”
It was already past dinner time. She went to the kitchen and brought out two plates of the food I had cooked in the morning. It was still very warm since it was wrapped in that magical leather wrapper.
To get me in the mood to eat, she sat next to me and placed my plate in my lap. “Eat up or you won’t have any strength tomorrow.”
I couldn’t touch my food even after she’d finished hers.
That’s when she finally lost it and yelled about dragging her back.
I wasn’t in the mood for any food. I took the plate back to the kitchen, wrapped it up properly, then made my way to my room where Duddul was waiting.
In the corridor close to Meila’s room, I heard a faint sound coming from it: “Leila, you idiot! Why do you always have to do everything by yourself!? Don’t you know that there are people who care about you!? You idiot!!” It was Meila crying in her room.
I stealthily opened the door to my room and entered. I didn’t want her to know I’d heard her crying. We should continue being positive about this or else we would all end up depressed.
“Everything is for everything……….?” What in the world does that even mean? If it was truly the girl in black who said that, then what could she possibly mean by it? And why is it that I keep seeing her? She seems to be on the dark side. Is she a monster or a devil? No — maybe she’s someone powerful, or maybe she’s just my imagination.
But whatever she is, her words ought to have some meaning.
I’m not very smart, so “Everything is for everything” only means one thing to me.
I think it means that “Everything that is happening now is for everything that will come in the future.” But is that really it?
If I go along with that explanation, then it only seems like she’s trying to cheer me on by telling me not to give up when something I don’t like happens.
“Haha…… I must be getting really desperate trying to convince myself about something I’m not sure of.” Maybe I’m the one trying to make myself feel better.
I think I should lay low for a while. The guards must be extra cautious now that I’ve infiltrated the sacred land twice. And I should change this mask as well since they already know this face.
I’ll have Meila buy another mask for me in the city. I’m sure they wouldn’t be able to sell her something fake. And I should also contact Wrok about the items I’ve gathered. I think he’ll love them. That guy has become really rich selling the things I bring him.
He is a nice guy, so it feels good to have someone like him on my side.
The next morning, I acted cheerful and energetic so that Meila wouldn’t get worried about me. After we had breakfast, I asked her to buy a few things for me after we’d left home.
She headed for the shops while I went my separate way.
It was quite the ordeal trying to get Duddul to let her ride on top of him without me. The place I’m going doesn’t allow dragons to enter, so I couldn’t go with him. A lot of people crowded around us with enthusiastic faces. They wanted to see if he would really let her get on top of him without his master riding in front.
He didn’t want to do it. I gave him a lot of orders, but he disobeyed.
I had no choice but to threaten him.
“If you don’t let her get on, I won’t ride you again.”
“Rnn!” he made a disappointed sound as he lowered his body.
“Whoa, he did it!” the people commented.
“Are you sure about this? Won’t he get mad at you?” Meila asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry. He won’t do that.”
She left with the money I gave her into the city. The place she dropped me was very close to the dungeon.
My aim was the dungeon all along. It’s about time I ventured inside.
There is one thing that’s been on my mind ever since I got here. Everyone claims that the hero should be here because all the dungeons were cleared. The time I came here coincided with the time the hero was supposed to appear. Is there a relationship between the two? I don’t know.
But what I want to know is this: if clearing the dungeon brings forth a hero, then how will the hero get back to his own world? That I really want to know.
If it turns out that I’m the hero that was summoned, then I’m not really of any use to them. As such, I might as well go back to my world. But I have things to do before that. And Leila is one of them.
Now then……….. how does this dungeon compare to the nightmare forest? I heard that the monsters appear in smaller numbers and that everything here is organized — meaning that different monsters don’t come at you from every direction. But that’s how it’s always been for me in the nightmare forest. I only faced a single type of monster each time.
To clear the dungeon, that means I’d have to defeat 100 monsters on each of the 100 floors. That’s quite a lot.
But I do wonder on which floor the winged freezer is. I think I should be teleported to a level higher than that since I’ve cleared it in the forest. Well, whatever. It’s not like monsters weaker than him pose any real challenge to me at all.
Standing very close to the huge black gate, I stared intently at the black veil that led to the dungeon. Only a few people were on the massive stairways that led here. It seems the dungeon isn’t all that popular, huh?
I moved slowly until the veil was just centimeters away from me.
Say hello to me. I’m going to clear all the floors by myself.
“JJNNG……” a sound pierced my eardrums as I got enveloped by the dark veil.
It became really dark all of a sudden. I could feel my feet on concrete, but nothing could be seen at all.
That’s when light poured from the sky. Just like the arrival of morning, the sky slowly became bright. I was in a dungeon, but there were clouds and even the sun.
“Oh……….”
Green grass stretched everywhere and the scenery looked like some village in the countryside. Everything was flat and not a single tree could be seen.
I wonder what kind of monster lives here?
“Boing! Boing!”
I heard a sound I’d never heard before.
What could it be!?