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Chapter 14 Part 2

「How’s that? Are you still going to complain that you don’t have Strengthening magic even though you’ve got power on par with the world legends?」

 

「…I guess you’re right.」

 

As expected, I’m not so rotten to keep complaining about it after she told me that much.

Even I can understand the tremendous capabilities of this job after Sybilla laid it out for me.

 

It’s true that as an adventurer, I might’ve been unable to play an active role in dungeon exploration. However, there’s no way I can brush off such amazing magic, which could expose the secret of a legend, by calling it plain.

This magic is without a doubt, the proof that I have the ability to stand alongside the legends.

 

I can’t help but think how petty myself is for doubting, even cursing my own blessings until she told me this.

Then I turned and looked at Sybilla.

 

「Thanks, for a lot of things.」

 

「Ohh~ what’s this, the tsundere guy finally being honest with his feelings? With this, I’m 100% sure you’ve completely fallen for me!」

 

I dropped a light chop on Sybilla who quickly got carried away.

 

「Kya!」

 

「I might seriously have if you hadn’t said those lines, so I guess I don’t have to worry about that for the time being.」

 

「Guehh…」

 

My cheeks can’t help but relax as I look at this cheeky mage frowning like a child who just ate something bitter.

……Ah. I guess I’m getting pretty comfortable around her before I know it.

 

「Let’s keep going like this and annihilate the monsters on the first floor once and for all. Do you still have enough magic power?」

 

「Fufufu, I still have a lot to spare. At least I don’t think I’ll run out before you do.」

 

「You’ve said it now.」

 

And so I resumed exploring the first floor along with Sybilla.

 

We both explored for a while and after walking for some time, we finally grasped the entire layout of the first floor.

In front of us is a staircase leading to the next floor below. It was a bit unexpected that we were able to completely wipe out all of the monsters before we found the way to the next floor.

 

「….Four Dungeon Scarlet Bats, huh? Five, including the one that had gotten outside. It’s a miracle the village can survive this long…」

 

「With something like that coming again and again, it’s not surprising that they had to set up a curfew.」

 

「Yeah. But now the children of the orphanage can play in the garden until night without any worries.」

 

Hearing that, Sybilla looked at me with the corners of her mouth lifted. 

 

「You’re so nice to children, aren’t you?」

 

「I can be nice to someone other than kids too, you know?」

 

「You can be nicer to me as well, you know~」

 

「I’m already being nice to you though.」

 

「Look who’s talking…」

 

I ended our lighthearted conversation there and went downstairs.

 

Finally, we arrived on the second floor.

Well, we should be able to manage somehow, at least until the sixth floor——.

 

——The ground on the second floor was all purple.

The walls, too, are strangely neatly arranged.

And in front of us is a large space.

 

「What is this place?」

 

The first floor to the fifth floor of Dungeons has a surface made of normal rocks.

But from the sixth floor, the color becomes more bluish. This is also where the middle layer starts. The monsters that appear in this place are much stronger and can pose danger even for experienced adventurers.

 

「No way… how…」

 

「Sybilla? Is this place still in the upper layer?」

 

I look at Sybilla who’s staring at the large space in front of us with cold sweat, without looking back at me.

I look at the front too, but I can’t see anything since the dungeon is so dark. Just what is she looking at?

 

「Oi, Sybilla!」

 

Since she wasn’t responding at all, I called out to her in a louder voice.

Sybilla, however, still didn’t reply and just kept staring at the darkness in front of us.

 

「….A dungeon is divided into upper, middle, and lower layers. At least that’s how it should be normally.」

 

「Normally?」

 

Sybilla continued to stare straight ahead with a pained look on her face as she began to try to squeeze out the words to explain.

 

「In the middle layer, the ground is blue. The lower layer is red. And purple is…」

 

「Purple is?」

 

「….The lowest layer, also known as 『The Demon World』.」

 

Sybilla then lifts her shield up.

 

——Tap, tap.

 

The sound of footsteps suddenly rang in my ears.

When I turn my head at the source… I can see the silhouette of a figure with its body all black. 

Only its eyes are glowing red and it feels eerie just looking at it.

 

Has there been a monster like that?

No… Is that a monster in the first place?

 

「The first floor is filled with black goblins and now you’re telling me that the second floor is the lowest layer? Just what kind of absurd dungeon this is!」

 

「Sybilla! What the hell is that guy?」

 

The one who answered my panicked question was, unexpectedly, the shadow figure.

 

「Fumu, are you talking about me?」

 

The eerie silhouette spoke in a muddled male voice that was hard to comprehend.

 

「Iyaa, I decided to make the first floor to be very difficult but I ended up taking too much time because of it. That’s why I’ve only built three floors so far, but to think that the guests have arrived here before I can even finish my room… It’s quite a feat, I gotta say.」

 

「Who the hell are you!?」

 

The shadow figure’s out-of-place monologue and his nonchalant way of speaking were so eerie that I couldn’t help but ask in a louder voice.

The shadow figure replied with 「Ah!」 as it clapped its hands.

 

「Welcome! I’m the Dungeon Maker of this 『Adria Dungeon』.」

 

「Dungeon… Maker…?」

 

It was Sybilla who answered my mutterings.

 

「Well, it’s not surprising that you don’t know what a Dungeon Maker is.」

 

「Do you know what it is, Sybilla?」

 

She turns at me and nods lightly as she looks me in the eye, then turns her gaze forward again.

 

「The lowest level of a dungeon is also called 『The Demon World』, then… the Dungeon Maker who rules such a place is called——」

 

Then she told me what it’s called.

 

「——『The Demon Lord』.」