c41-c60 · 049-ch49

Chapter 49: Let's Go Smoothly - Perspective: Negomin

In the needle rock area of the 16th floor, where several rocks jut out from the ground like spikes, I was leaning against one of them, watching a particular scene.

Sister Rose's request to me was to guide her through the dungeon—she wanted to get to a certain place in the upper middle layer as quickly as possible. Following her request, I chose a path with few obstacles where monsters were unlikely to appear, but it took us an incredible amount of time to get this far.

The biggest reason for the delay was, well, that.

""Moonlight Shelter," how about this?"

"Wow, that's amazing... The pain's gone!"

As Sister Rose shone light on the explorer before us, the explorer's reddened knee visibly returned to a healthy skin color.

Whenever Sister Rose found an injured explorer, she would rush over to heal them, no matter the circumstances. From fatal wounds that would split open the abdomen to hangnails on the fingers, she could literally heal anything with her magnificent skill.

"Thank you so much!! I never thought I'd meet S-rank Sister Rose in a place like this...!"

"The pleasure's all mine. I'm glad I could help."

This explorer had apparently hit their knee while dodging a monster's attack. Certainly a painful injury.

But while one or two people would be fine, in Shinjuku Dungeon, which is more crowded than usual, injured people are everywhere. If I properly dealt with all of them, we'd never make any progress.

Well, Sister Rose did ask me to guide her, so I guess doing what she wants is the best approach.

"Um, who's this person here?"

"Um, this is Nego..."

"Hold it right there!"

I covered Sister Rose's mouth as she was about to speak about me, and forcefully pulled her away from that explorer. I'm here in disguise, so having my identity revealed in a place like this would be bad (or rather, troublesome).

"Mmgh? Mmmghh..."

I forced Sister Rose, whose mouth was muffled, away from that explorer. If I just watched silently, the sun would literally set, so while it's somewhat forceful, it can't be helped. The cause of it all, Sister Rose, was cheerfully waving goodbye, though.

...This is like the nth time I've had to do this idol handshake-meet-and-greet removal act. Once we were some distance away, I freed Sister Rose's mouth and instead grabbed her right hand, pulling her forward.

"Sister Rose, I've told you so many times not to talk about me, right?"

"Ehehe..."

"Why do you look a little happy about that?"

"Well, being called a 'friend' made me happy... I'm sorry."

...Somehow, my rhythm gets thrown off. When it's just her title or how she appears from the outside, she seems like a very put-together person, but being close to her, I often notice her absent-minded side. Each time, I feel like the mysterious veil surrounding her is dispersing.

And for some reason, I find myself happy about this change in how I perceive Sister Rose. Perhaps it's because I feel the emotional distance between us is closing.

"Oh, look, Negomin-san. A flower is blooming on top of that pointed rock."

"That's... a Swabur Flower. It has no value as a weapon material, but its fragrance and appearance are quite popular outside, you know."

"Heh, really now? Up we go..."

"Sister Rose!?"

She suddenly starts climbing that rock. Again...

Despite it being about 5 meters high, Sister Rose easily climbs it and plucks the flower at the top.

"Wow, it really smells nice. Negomin-saaan, this is amazing—"

"Okay, I get it! Please hurry down!"

Cause of delay number two. When Sister Rose finds something interesting, she gets sidetracked like this. The difficult part is that she's having so much fun, making it hard to scold her.

If you let your guard down in the dungeon, you'll immediately be attacked by monsters and forced to use your Life Cord... but with Sister Rose, I guess it'd be fine.

Sister Rose comes down from the rock with the flower. Her movements are nothing like what you'd expect from a backline support, but her eyes, gazing at the flower, sparkled like a child's.

"Um... I don't think it's that rare of a flower..."

"No, it's extremely fascinating. I don't usually get to touch such things often."

"Eh, Sister Rose, you don't do dungeon exploring?"

"...Well, not much lately. I haven't really taken my time to look around the dungeon like this since becoming S-rank. That's why I'm having so much fun right now."

Is that so? Are S-rank jobs really that busy? Or maybe it's because of the Steel Rescue Group. I heard they're a charitable organization that saves explorers without seeking reward, but I wonder what the reality is.

But if she enjoys it this much, she could just do it herself. If she hired one competent vanguard, even the deep layer would be a breeze.

While we were doing that, we finally reached the entrance to the 17th floor.

"Why are we headed to the 17th floor? What do you want to do there?"

"...To find someone."

Sister Rose answered my question with somewhat evasive wording.

"Is that person on the 17th floor?"

"No, I heard it from someone I healed yesterday, but there's apparently someone who knows Shinjuku Dungeon well on the 17th floor. They said that person would be helpful for finding someone."

"Heh..."

Someone who knows Shinjuku Dungeon well... I think I know this dungeon fairly well, but I've never heard anything like that before.

Hmm, maybe it's some secret information she was told because she's S-rank. But no matter how knowledgeable they are, I don't think they can surpass Shibasaki-san...

As we climbed the slope leading to the 17th floor, damp air brushed against my skin. It's the characteristic high-humidity wind of the rain-heat area. Water droplets dripped from the ceiling, wetting our clothes.

I don't really like this place. The monsters that appear here are all slimy and disgusting. I hope we find the dungeon expert quickly...

"Negomin-san, monsters!"

"Eh!? Yes!"

I was lost in thought, so I noticed them too late. Since they're monsters that appear near the entrance of the rain-heat area, they're probably Barrel Slugs or Slime Frogs. I focus on the monsters in front of me.

"...Eh?"

The words slipped out. There, in this damp space, were two wolf-type monsters with cracked skin—completely out of place.

I knew what those were.

"...Sand Wolves? Why are they here?"

Sand Wolves are supposed to appear on the 25th floor. There's no way they'd appear on such a shallow floor. A mistake? Or maybe an unidentified new species...

"I'll go forward! Please back me up!"

"Understood. ''Sunlight Shadow's Lead''."

Thanks to Sister Rose's buff, my body became as light as silk. I closed the distance to the two in one leap, accurately targeting their necks with my dagger.

Even if they're from a different floor, they're just 25th-floor monsters at the end of the day—not enemies I can't defeat. Sand-like fluid overflowed from the neck wounds of the two wolves, mixing with the mud on the ground. Clearly a fatal amount. They should be fine now.

"Negomin-san! It's not over yet...!"

Sister Rose's unaccustomed shout echoed in my ears. Just as she said, the Sand Wolves, which should have been clearly dead, didn't fall and instead attacked me.

No way, what are these things...!?

"That's right, zombies!"

I remembered the Blood Ogre from the day before yesterday. Fearing that there might be monsters that move even after their heads are blown off, I went home and researched it alone. According to what I found, if monster corpses are left unattended in dungeons, they sometimes become zombies. Those zombies won't stop moving unless you crush them beyond recognition. This is something even I, who worked my way up to B-rank over many years, never knew.

And right now, there before me were monster zombies that continued to move even in death. Scattering sand from their necks, they attacked with movements that could hardly be called biological, claws thrust forward. I deflected with my dagger's hilt, narrowly dodging.

...This is bad. I don't have any attack method that can turn these things into mincemeat in one hit with my current abilities. But if I run away here, the Sand Wolf zombies will attack other explorers. I have to stop that.

"Sister Rose, can you use attack magic or anything?"

"I'm sorry, I only have support magic...!"

In that case, there's no choice but to gradually chip away at them, even if it takes time.

Just as I was thinking that—

"To!"

Something came falling from above, crushing one of the Sand Wolves. Then, immediately after, it punched the other one. The Sand Wolf that was hit by that person's fist exploded amusingly.

"I'm glad, you two don't seem to be injured."

Having finished his work, that person spoke to us while shaking off the Sand Wolf meat from his fist. He had an appearance that made him seem younger than Sister Rose—a boy with a doll-like face.

"Ah, thank you. You saved us."

"No, no, they say you should help each other in dungeons, right?"

As he said that, he abruptly extended his right hand toward me and Sister Rose.

"Pleased to meet you both, I am Chiffon. I look forward to your acquaintance."