ch01-ch20 · 009-ch08

Chapter 8

Saito Megumi, leader of the A-rank explorer clan "Anthem," was aware that she wasn't that great of an explorer.

Ability-wise, she thought she was probably in the upper tier.

She understood that much, at least.

But she probably wasn't suited for it.

In middle school, there was a class where they went into a D-rank dungeon and defeated monsters. For Megumi, a member of the so-called Other World Generation, it was just "one of those things," but to generations who'd known the world before the Fusion, it apparently seemed like a cruel joke.

However, humanity, having experienced the "chain of Dungeon Rampages" in the early 2000s, had no choice but to affirm the need to force that cruel joke on children and identify those with exceptional talent.

Through that process, Saito Megumi manifested her talent for adapting to the "other world," and just by defeating a few monsters, she became stronger than anyone else at school.

Naturally, the government took notice.

The goal was to gather the elites discovered during compulsory education, form elite groups to foster growth — and reduce harm to the general public.

The goal itself wasn't bad, Megumi thought.

Because her middle school life after defeating monsters in dungeons had never been comfortable. People looked at her like she was a monster, flinched in fear at the slightest joke... it was more than enough to wound a teenage girl's heart.

So being gathered up wasn't bad for Megumi.

It was also good that there were other girls her age in the same situation.

The first person she became close with was Mido Airi. She had a somewhat reserved, gentle personality and an incredible talent for healing magic.

The next was Kagurazaka Chizuru. Megumi was surprised to learn she came from a samurai family, but she had a straightforward personality and swordsmanship talent sharper than anyone's.

They gathered, grew up — and formed "Anthem."

She wasn't that enthusiastic about streaming at first. But at the recommendation of the A-rank explorer "teacher" who'd become their guardian, they decided to give it a try.

At first, she wondered why they'd deliberately show their monstrous side to the people who treated them like monsters...

But somehow, they became more popular than expected, and before she knew it, they were being treated like idols. Their "teacher" was wryly amused by this, and the higher-ups in the government seemed overjoyed.

Without explorers, modern society wouldn't function.

Just as coal miners in the past had powered society's energy sources, countless explorers in the modern era were contributing to society, half-unaware of it.

If explorers like Megumi — who'd been protected and, in a sense, favored by the state since childhood — could make ordinary people think, "Explorers are pretty cool," then the experiment could be considered a great success.

But still — Megumi thought.

She didn't have the talent for being an explorer.

◇◇◇

The decision to enter Kamioka Dungeon came from a government request.

She didn't know the details, but probably a powerful prefectural assembly member had used their connections with a national Diet member to lobby the Labyrinth Agency.

At any rate, there was no option to refuse a government request — though if it was unreasonable, their guardian "teacher" would reject it — so as the leader, Megumi chose two of her old friends from the now sizable "Anthem" and a professional cameraperson, and set off on the assignment.

Explorations of regional dungeons like this came up occasionally.

It had become customary to also shoot travel-show-style footage of local specialties and scenery, using "Anthem's" idol-like popularity as a bonus.

But the fact that people were happy just watching them enjoy a fun little trip with their friends felt kind of strange.

Each member now had fans, and she could name a few old-timers on social media whom she knew of but had never met face to face... but if they ever met in person, would they still treat Megumi and the others like monsters?

Because Megumi couldn't shake that unease as a leader, she'd rejected all events involving real-life interaction with fans — but fortunately, none of the members complained.

After all, "Anthem" wasn't an idol group. It was an explorer clan.

They stayed at what could be called a high-end hotel in the prefectural capital, had the prefectural assembly member and mayor come to greet them, and the next day, they descended into Kamioka Dungeon.

It was a perfectly ordinary labyrinth with no distinguishing features.

Some rare labyrinths had blue skies even after descending underground, and then more blue skies after going down another flight of stairs — but Kamioka Dungeon was a common stone-walled maze with walls, floors, and ceilings glowing faintly, full of winding passages.

If anything, there were fewer trash mobs than usual.

Streaming as always, picking up viewer comments, exchanging banter among themselves... for the A-rank explorer clan "Anthem," the stream itself was harder work than the exploration.

That was how it was — until a certain point.

Kamioka Dungeon was said to be a semi-unconquered labyrinth whose exploration hadn't been completed yet. The deepest floor was confirmed at nineteen levels underground. The scale was such that if they rushed through the upper levels, they could reach the bottom floor boss and return in about two days.

They weren't in that much of a hurry, but since sweeping trash mobs didn't make for good streaming content, their approach ended up being a speed-run through the upper levels.

Things started getting suspicious from the twelfth floor.

There were subtle discrepancies between the map of Kamioka Dungeon they'd printed out beforehand and the actual internal structure they walked through.

For a B-rank dungeon, especially a semi-unconquered one in a regional city, maybe not many people had explored it thoroughly. The monsters that appeared weren't particularly "lucrative," and there were other "profitable" dungeons nearby, so maybe the maps weren't precise either — they discussed this with the viewers.

And then — the fourteenth floor.

Supposedly a floor where the maze should continue, but after descending a long staircase, they found themselves in an abnormally spacious area. A room-type floor, known as a "boss room."

The labyrinth walls' faint glow was a little brighter than the maze floors, but it was still so vast they couldn't see the opposite wall.

"Megumi-chan... could this be a labyrinth mutation...?"

Mido Airi said with a worried expression.

A labyrinth mutation was, literally, a phenomenon where the labyrinth's internal structure changed. The logic and cause were unknown, but according to one theory, high-rank labyrinths with "weak power to attract people" were more prone to mutation. The theory was that an unpopular B-rank dungeon was more likely to mutate than an unpopular D-rank dungeon — but at this point, no theory mattered.

"At this size... could it be a boss room?"

"You've got it, Leader."

At Megumi's involuntary murmur, the swordswoman Kagurazaka Chizuru gave a crisp affirmation and pointed the tip of her already-drawn blade toward the far end of the great hall.

What was there was a dragon.

A dragon... but it seemed to be over a hundred meters away, and she couldn't tell the species. But from the pressure that made her insides vibrate, it was no lesser dragon — it was a true dragon. A monster on par with the bottom-floor boss of an A-rank dungeon.

Megumi spun around in a panic — the stairs they'd come from had disappeared.

Boss rooms sometimes locked you in like this. Not always, but the more powerful the boss, the higher the likelihood that you couldn't retreat.

"...Then staying by the wall here is bad. Chizuru and I will move to the center of the boss room as vanguard. Airi, support from the rear while protecting Sanagi-san. Please."

It wasn't much of a plan, but they needed a group strategy.

Nobody rejected Megumi's suggestion. They all nodded, and Megumi gripped the hilt of her trusty greatsword and ran.

...Yes, up until then, it was still fine.

Because nobody expected a black knight to be there alongside the dragon.

◇◇◇

At first, things went smoothly — they dodged the dragon's "breath" and landed a hit.

But dragon-kind scales were far too tough. In a hit-and-run, Chizuru's slashes didn't cut through at all, and while Megumi's greatsword strikes were effective as blunt force, they were nowhere near fatal. Still, they'd somehow managed to maintain a stalemate.

But it collapsed instantly when a knight clad in pitch-black full-body armor appeared.

It wasn't a dragon's great hall — it was a dragon and knight's great hall.

The knight targeted the cameraperson, Shingu Sanagi, and Airi shielded her. The opening created allowed the dragon to breathe again.

To make matters worse, it was a clever feint — as Airi moved to protect Sanagi from the "breath," the black knight knocked her unconscious and took her away.

That level of intelligence was unusual for monsters, but cunning monsters weren't unheard of.

What was worst in this situation wasn't Airi's removal from the battle — it was that there was no one left to protect the cameraperson, Sanagi.

Chizuru and Megumi managed to block the next "breath" by slashing through it with sword strikes packed with massive magical power — but it was clearly a bad move.

The dragon seemed tired too, from overusing its "breath," growling deep in its throat... but they were more worn down. And Sanagi was still unconscious — if they didn't abandon her, Megumi and Chizuru couldn't even coordinate properly.

Carrying Sanagi, they dodged the dragon's tail sweep, deflected a large claw strike with Megumi's sword, and Chizuru tried to run toward rescuing Airi — but the dragon blocked their path, easily foiling the attempt.

From there, several minutes of gradual attrition continued.

Time that only saw them slowly ground down — but it was ended by Airi's scream. The black knight had woken Airi, whom he'd knocked unconscious, and stabbed her with his sword to torment her. He even approached to a position where Megumi and the others could see.

"No! Airi! Airi!"

Almost hysterical, Megumi tried to charge — but Chizuru grabbed her arm and yanked her back hard. When Megumi turned to ask why she was stopping her, Chizuru's face was right there, her lip bitten through and bleeding. It must have taken that much effort to maintain her composure.

"Calm down, Leader! Screaming won't help! Dealing with that dragon and black knight at the same time is impossible for us alone! Sanagi-san is unconscious too!"

"But Airi! I know that!"

"We have no choice but to land a blow, rescue Mido-san, and escape. Logically, we should abandon Mido-san, but... damn, I'm green too. I can't choose that option. Leader, we're probably going to die here."

Even if they escaped, the path they'd come from was sealed.

That being the case, their only option was to plunge into the "way forward" — which might, by some miracle, be open. They couldn't go back, so they had to go forward.

Bosses don't leave their boss rooms.

One of the mysterious rules of labyrinths.

If they could descend to the fifteenth floor... maybe they could wait for help. The streaming camera was gone somewhere, but the abnormal situation should have been communicated to the outside world. Their guardian "teacher" probably wouldn't make it in time, but there should be people at the city's Labyrinth Department.

But.

"No! But — abandoning her is wrong too! Chizuru, please... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Chizuru. A leader like me..."

She knew she was being incoherent. Dying was wrong, but abandoning someone was wrong too. She knew she was lowering their survival odds more and more. But she couldn't bring herself to take it back.

If it was just Megumi and Chizuru, they could probably escape to the fifteenth floor with about a fifty-fifty chance. Of course, that assumed the path downward was open.

But she didn't want that.

Carrying the unconscious Sanagi, rescuing Airi from the black knight's torture, shaking off pursuit from both the dragon and the knight, and descending to the fifteenth floor... that was impossible.

She knew it.

She knew it, but.

"It's because of a leader like you that we made it this far. Hold your head high."

Chizuru grinned as she said it.

What an incredible woman. If Megumi were a man, she might have pinned her down right there. Well, if this weren't a boss room, anyway.

Megumi returned a tearful smile, and they nodded at each other — steeling themselves.

No signal was needed. The moment their breathing aligned, they both dashed forward at the same time. Megumi held her greatsword in one hand while still carrying Sanagi. Chizuru slid forward with her katana still sheathed, in an iai stance. First, a strike at the dragon. Then, take Airi back from the black knight.

How?

There was no way to know.

That was exactly why — Saito Megumi wasn't suited to be an explorer.

The moment she thought that, light flashed.