041-060 · 046-ch40
Chapter 40: Well, Don't Be So Impatient
After checking one edge of the city, I circled around the outer perimeter to see if there was anywhere that looked like an entrance.
>>It's completely covered in beautiful ice
>>Doesn't look like there's anywhere to get in
>>Wait, the part submerged in the lake isn't melting
>>That's the biggest mystery
>>Fantasy for ya
>>For real
"The ice might not be physical ice. It could be like a protective magic or sealing magic that takes the form of ice. So it's ice, but not really ice."
Walking along the ice wall while surveying my surroundings, I answered the questions coming in through the comments.
Actually, among the spells I use, there's one that creates an ice barrier—but that isn't physical ice, it's ice created through magic.
Because of that, depending on how much magic power I put into it, it could withstand fire-attribute magic just fine.
Then.
When I reached a different edge from the one I'd checked first, I noticed something concerning.
"...The way the sunlight hits here is a bit off."
>>Hm, what's up?
>>Something happen?
>>I don't get it at all
>>Did he say the way the sunlight hits?
>>Ehh, the sun looks normal though
I moved away from that spot, then returned to the place that felt wrong while paying attention to the shadows and the sun.
Normal shadows. Normal sun.
Still, still, still, I checked the situation step by step.
Nothing seemed off so far.
The sun was shining properly, and the shadows existed properly where they should.
But I definitely felt something off for a moment just now.
What was it?
And the moment I arrived back at the place where I'd felt that wrongness.
The shadow shifted.
Furthermore, the sun's position also looked slightly different from one step back compared to right there.
"The shadow's shifted... which means, what?"
The sun's position and the shadows projected on the ground from its light—they were off.
Yes, that meant there was something altering the sunlight.
"This way."
I headed in the direction where the sun was.
The ice covering the city was interrupted at a low position.
That itself made sense—since the ice covered the city, it wouldn't be strange for there to be no ice where there was no city.
But if I recalled the buildings on the opposite side I'd seen earlier, built as if biting into the mountain, it felt somewhat odd that only this side had such a spacious structure.
So, what was there?
No.
Something was there.
Now that I thought about it, there was a slightly unnatural empty space.
Space that shouldn't exist in this cramped valley city.
The moment I stepped into it, a magnificent castle manifested before my eyes, filling my entire field of vision.
"See, there was something."
>>Whoa, wait, that definitely wasn't there just now!?
>>We didn't see anything like this from far away either. I mean, we definitely would've noticed if it was there
>>Wait, did it have invisibility or something?
>>Ah, John's sense of wrongness—maybe the refraction rate of the invisibility was slightly different from air. That's why the shadows looked off
>>Noticing shadows that only changed by millimeters is way too impressive
>>Right? I was looking normally and had no idea
A castle existing within the ice-covered city, found from just a slight sense of wrongness.
Beyond that castle, the setting sun was sinking behind the mountain shadow.
>>Ahh, hurry up and investigate that castle alreadyyy
>>I mean, if something like that exists, does that mean there really are or were people in the dungeon world?
>>John, hurryyy
>>"It's pitch black"
>>You must have at least one spell for light
"Shut up, shut up. I make sure to observe proper day and night cycles. I only explore at night when I've decided to beforehand."
Right after finding the invisible castle.
I wanted to investigate it right away, but unfortunately, the sun had just set, so Robo and I found some flat ground in the nearby mountain without ice and set up camp there.
Though calling it a camp is generous—it's just a simple tent made by hanging cloth between trees, plus a campfire and some firewood.
Right now, at that camp, I'm making a stir-fry with the onions and meat I brought while cooking rice haphazardly in another pot.
If it were a mess kit it'd be one thing, but since I'm using a big pot for Robo to eat from, some parts of the rice will probably burn. But Robo will eat that part anyway, so it's fine.
I'll just eat the normal, tasty parts.
Anyway.
Maybe because I'm showing such a relaxed scene, I've been getting a lot of comments since earlier asking me to go explore.
Well, most of it is probably playful banter with me, so I'm ignoring it.
But still, if I don't make my position clear, it might cause trouble later, so I'll talk about it properly first.
"Listen, there's probably something in that castle, right? You think I'm gonna investigate a place like that in the dark? I'm gonna wait until it's bright out and investigate properly without missing anything. Got it?"
>>Cheh, guess it can't be helped
>>Well then, guess I'll get some sleep early for tomorrow morning
>>Honestly, looking at how pitch black the background is, that's totally reasonable
>>Why can't starlight or moonlight get in here?
>>So this is what true darkness is like, huh? Scary
That's right.
As the comments say, this land surrounded by steep mountains on all sides with the city in it seems to block out star and moonlight for some reason, making it a completely pitch-black space except for the campfire I lit.
Even during normal night camps, there's usually starlight and moonlight, so experiencing a world this dark isn't common.
Then.
My senses picked up on something while I was making the stir-fry.
Robo, who had been lying down, twitched his ears as if noticing the same thing, then raised his body and disappeared into the darkness.
>>Hm? What's with Robo?
>>Something happen?
"Enemy attack, probably. Might not be a monster though. Well, since Robo went to deal with it, it should be fine..."
>>Enemy attack!?
>>Wait, is it okay to leave it just to Robo?
>>Take the pot off the fire before you go
>>It's gonna burn
>>Don't make Robo fight alone!
"That guy's not that weak. Rather, if it's an opponent Robo can't handle, I'd be able to tell from their presence."
Even though Robo is still a juvenile with plenty of room to grow, his combat ability is nothing to scoffe at.
He has enough strength to clear most of the dungeon by himself.
After Robo's growls and several metallic sounds echoed in the darkness, the area fell silent again.
When Robo returned, he didn't seem to have any injuries, but he looked somewhat irritated.
"Did you let them get away?"
『Bawrururu』
When I asked, an unhappy-sounding growl came back.
It seemed he'd managed to damage them but couldn't finish them off in the end.
Actually, even from my perspective doing detection, their presence suddenly vanished.
They probably used some method to literally disappear from that spot and escape.
If that's the case, I could understand why Robo couldn't finish them off.
"Well, they probably only intended to probe our strength from the start? Maybe they're surprised at getting a painful counterattack instead."
『Bauf』
"Haha, sorry, sorry."
I tried to comfort him, but even so, failing to finish the hunt seemed unforgivable to Robo, who excelled at hunting.
>>What kind of attack was it in the end
>>Does John seem like he knows?
>>Knowing without seeing is like ESP or something
"I was constantly doing presence detection. I knew there were multiple unknown presences, that they clashed with Robo and combat started, and then the next moment they just vanished. Probably teleportation or something. Or maybe they used summon magic to return what they summoned. Well, either way, that's the kind of thing I can tell even while sitting down."
Rather, if I couldn't tell at least that much, I wouldn't have let Robo go alone.
It was precisely because I had the confidence to detect and understand what was happening without going that I sent Robo by himself.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to help Robo if he fell into danger.
>>I thought he was being careless but he's actually considerate toward Robo
>>Just his specs are so high it's hard to tell
>>John really does love Robo, huh
"Shut up."
Well, we've been together for several years, and probably spent more time together than anyone except my parents.
He's become an important partner to me.
"Alright, food's ready."
After putting my portion of rice and side dishes on my plate, I dumped the rest into Robo's big container.
It's too hot to eat straight from the pot.
Even as a monster, he's still an animal, so I need to be careful about that.
While Robo devours his meal noisily, I also enjoy the tasty stir-fry and white rice.
>>Robo's got such a big mouth
>>Seeing him like this really drives home that he's a beast
>>He's cute but scary, my brain's glitching
After finishing the meal, I went down to the flowing river in the darkness to wash and put away the pots and dishes.
After that, I brushed my teeth and quickly organized what I'd brought.
Once that was done, I finally went to bed, and tomorrow at last, I'd be exploring that castle I'd discovered today.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Thinking that as always, I wrapped myself in cloth and fell asleep next to Robo.
Though I intended to fight if a night attack came, staying somewhat alert while in light sleep, no additional attacks came during the night, and we peacefully greeted the next morning.