Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

<Lemuria's Heir I>

There was once a dragon-slayer god in this city.

Her name is Gladvain.

One day, that god disappeared without a trace. Along with all her kin. There are many rumors, but no one knows where she went. With time, her fame and the belief in her faded away.

The desolate building in front of me too, its origin will probably be forgotten in time.

「What do I do?」

Just in case and just to be safe, I’ve brought the sword that I got from the crazy elf with me though I think it's completely pointless.

『Come back quickly or there’ll be no lunch for you』

That's what Shigure said, but who knows if I can go back in the first place……

「Haaa」

I should stop wasting time thinking about it. I'll just play it by ear.

Passing through the open gate, I crossed a deserted square. Wooden swords, wooden spears, armor, shields, and training equipment had been left covered in dust.

I went into the building.

I found myself in a dining hall. I had been able to find my way there by intuition.

If there are people here, there should be traces of them in there.

That was what I thought, but I was wrong.

From the thick layer of dust over everything, I was sure there was no one coming and going from the dining hall.

In that case, the next place I should try……

「Ah」

There's one other place.

I went to the kitchen. I opened the door so unguardedly that even I questioned my sanity.

「Don’t move」

I felt the coldness of a dagger on my neck.

Well, of course that's how things are going to turn out.

「Who are you?」

「I’m no one」

「Are you trying to be funny?」

The blade bit into my skin. Right on top of my carotid artery.

「If I had to call myself something, I'd say that I'm an errand boy」

「An errand boy, you say?」

The person holding the dagger showed himself.

It was a rat beastkin with round ears and a long, hairless tail. Like a rat, he was small-sized, and his body was hidden by a poncho-like cloak. His eyes were round and looked adorable, but such things were of secondary importance in front of the blade.

「From an advanced adventurer, that is」

「Bullshit」

He's being wary of me. With my looks, I guess it can't be helped.

「Who are you? Identify yourself first」

A thick voice rang out.

I had no idea where he had been hiding, but a large body about two and a half meters tall suddenly appeared.

He too had round ears and his half-naked body was well muscled. He had thick body hair and his tail was small and round. His eyes were very small. In contrast, his nose and mouth were large. The fangs I caught a glimpse of were also thick.

It's a bear.

What's more, it's the man-eating variety of bear.

「It’s Ash」

「Meto, have you heard of him?」

The bear asked the rat.

「He's one of those information brokers that can be found anywhere. He's a little bit famous though for having a woman who's way out of his league」

That’s none of your business.

「Why would someone like that have connections with advanced adventurers, huh? Answer me, Ash」

It was an intimidating tone of voice.

Not wanting to sound frightened, I answered in a calm voice.

「Who knows. I was simply asked to deliver a message」

「I don't trust you」

「Orrock-sama, this guy's woman was originally an Elysium whore. In that case, it's not hard to figure things out」

What the rat told the bear pissed me off quite a lot.

「Those guys are dying after all. To think that they would send such a moronic spy……」

「There's no way that's true. You beastkin are all so impatient. Do you think you can pleasure a woman when you're so quick? Before they're satisfied, you'll have――――――」

A huge great axe fell towards me, scraping the ceiling of the kitchen.

Huh?

Something is weird.

Compared to that elf and that dumb dog, he feels several dozen times slower. And his killing intent is tepid.

The wind caressed my cheek. The axe grazed my hat and stopped.

「It's only natural to pay for insults with your life」

「I'll return the exact same words to you. You should discipline your pet rat properly」

The one who directed a sharp killing intent at me was the rat.

The moment the dagger at my neck moved, a crystal-clear clang rang out, and its blade was stuck into the wall.

「Oh」

I was the one who swung the sword, but that amazed me.

This sword is really a famed sword. The dagger's blade had been no better than a cookie before it. And it had also cut open the rat's poncho.

「Wait, so you're a woman, huh?」

The rat's skin from chest to lower abdomen had been exposed. They were small, but I could see the bulges on her chest. They weren't all that pleasing to look at, but they were still bulges.

「You bastard!!!」

The enraged rat was held back by the bear with one hand. She kicked and struggled noisily.

「You, what's with your left arm?」

「What business is it of yours?」

I had tried to swing the sword in a way that wouldn't be discovered, but he had seen through it easily.

「Meto, it's unusual for you to be misinformed. This guy is one hell of a swordsman. "Though he has his flaws"」

「Damn you」

The rat tried to intimidate me with her face bright red.

It's ultimately just the intimidation of a rat. It's rather adorable.

「Ash, let me ask you this. Which advanced adventurer sent you?」

「It's "Wyclis the Sunset", a member of Ringusunova. To you, who have served justice on Elysium, they’ve graciously offered to lend a helping hand」

「Meto」

「Ringusunova has been wiped out. As for "Wyclis the Sunset", he passed away decades ago with no wife or children. However, I've heard that his【title】and【fortune】still remain」

「I don't like that. Isn't that person just taking someone else's accomplishments?」

You guys did the same as well.

「So, what will you do? They won't wait around for long. I want an answer to whether or not you're going to partner with them right this minute」

Being rushed into a decision dulls people's judgment.

The proprietress hadn't specified any time limit. She had merely told me to build a partnership with them. The problem with this is that I have no choice but to succeed. This isn't some kid's errand. If I report that I had failed, I'm not going to get away with it scot-free.

「I have a condition」

「A condition?」

Ahh, I have a bad feeling about conditions brought up in such situations.

「I want you to deliver one woman to me」

「If it’s just a woman you want……」

For something of this extent, I can just ask the proprietress.

「What I want is not just any woman. Her name is Lanseal. She's the daughter of Verxina, the silver fox who became the coat of arms of Lemuria, and she's Lemuria's heir」

As I thought, this is impossible for me. We're talking about a princess here.

No, that's not quite right, I suppose.

If memory serves, Lanseal is a beastkin. In this world ruled by Hemus, there's no way a beastkin would be recognized as royalty.

Which makes her【Lemuria's illegitimate child】.

But this bear called her【Lemuria's heir】.

「Lanseal is now imprisoned inside the dungeon by the Adventurers' Guild. By the terms of our alliance with King Lemuria, she was originally to be my wife」

「I see」

That that promise had been called off due to the alliance with the Myriad Kings.

「Let's say I’ll do it. What are you going to do with her after I deliver her to you?」

For him to still be so keen on a woman no longer promised to him, is she really beautiful or something?

「I'll finally get to take her as my wife, and then this Orrock will become the new king of Lemuria」

「………………Huh?」

This guy is out of his mind. I don't know exactly what kind of strength this【Beastkin Alliance】has, but they're ultimately just a gathering of the tribes living in the forest. There can at most be a thousand of them who can fight, and perhaps 10,000 or so women and children.

Do they really think they can fight against Elysium and the Myriad Kings with such numbers? No matter how strong the beastkin are, the difference in strength is as great as that between an ant and an elephant.

「The center continent is a dying country. The Myriad Kings are no more than a band of barbarians. The times are now calling for a new king. He must not only rule Lemuria, but he must be a king over all beastkin. Yes, a new【King of Beasts】is needed in these chaotic times. This great undertaking is one worthy of waging my life on」

This swollen-headed talk.

It's dangerous.

Those who make judgments based on passion and not in calmness are the type who drag all those around them with them into death.

This guy is a fire hazard.

「Now go, Ash. This is the agreement between you and me. If you deliver Lanseal to me, I'll give this person of Ringusunova the "leftovers" of our【Beastkin Alliance】」

This is really troublesome.

It's shrewd in all the parts that matter.

Presences that had been staying hidden revealed themselves. And they weren't just in the kitchen. I sensed the presences of beastkin throughout the building. There were not just ten or twenty, but at least a hundred.

More than a hundred beasts who cannot calmly judge the difference in strength and who follow this moronic, smart, and dangerous man.

Oh, for crying out loud, this is the worst.

<Lemuria's Heir II>

I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

In order to fulfill my agreement with the Beastkin Alliance, I must go into the dungeon. I can't involve Arianne, so it would need to be with other adventurers, but I don't have those kinds of contacts. With the details being what they are, I can't just issue a request either, and to begin with, I don't have the money to do so.

Without any good answers, I wandered through the cold and snowy streets of the city.

Somehow or another, I made it back by noon.

There was quite a line in front of the store.

Shigure and a salesgirl I didn't know were serving the customers.

「Today's lunch bread is bread with winter mist grass mayonnaise salad and fried fish! They're fresh out of the oven! There are only 100 available! Don't miss out~! They're only two copper coins each~!」

Shigure seems like a different person after putting on their sales smile and sales voice.

Or rather, that's cheap! It's a fish dish, so they could have charged more for it. Are they even making a profit?

………It's none of my business, I suppose.

Seeing that the two of them were having no problems with the customers, I turned and made my way around to the back door.

I entered the store through the back door stiffly and bumped into Tyutyu in the kitchen.

「Ash-san, welcome back-nya」

「Thanks」

「I'll get you some lunch right away-nya. Sorry it's just staff food-nya」

「Not a problem」

Any kind of warm food is fine. All the better if it's not beans.

I washed my one hand in the sink. I was going to wipe it on my clothes, but Tyutyu wiped it with a towel for me.

「Thank you for saving me-nya. Sorry for not thanking you earlier-nya」

「No, I didn't do anything useful, isn't it? The hoodlums were all defeated by that mutt」

That very mutt was in the corner of the kitchen, gnawing on a delicious-looking piece of meat.

It must cost enough to feed me for several days.

「I'm just happy you tried to save me-nya」

「Is that how it is?」

「That’s how it is-nya」

Being thanked makes me happy too though.

Or rather, Tyutyu isn't letting go of my hand. The mood is a little awkward. I'm not so desperate as to lust after a woman with a child, but what am I supposed to do here?

I'm not in a romantic relationship with Arianne, and according to her, she doesn't think of me as anything more than a pet. It's not that I'm particularly reserved or excited about――――――

「Oh」

At the sound of the pot boiling over, Tyutyu let go of my hand.

I felt both relieved and a sense that it was a shame.

「What's for lunch?」

I changed the subject.

「It's tomato pasta today-nya」

Tyutyu grabbed the pasta from the pot with tongs. With a seemingly practiced hand, she tossed the pasta with the sauce in the pan next to the pot and then taste-tested it……

「Hmmm, as I thought, it's no good-nya」

……and then cocked her head

「It looks good to me though」

「Can you taste some of it-nya?」

I grabbed the pasta she had handed to me on a small plate with my fingers and gave it a taste.

The pasta is a little firm. The sauce is tomato, garlic, and basil. The acidity of the tomatoes has been boiled away and it has a mild flavor. The taste of garlic, the accent of basil, and its saltiness are all perfect.

「It’s delicious」

It's simple but exquisitely delicious.

I've heard that it's this kind of dish that's the most difficult to make. Is it lacking something, I wonder? Or rather, who am I to talk about it? I’m just a guy whose staple food is the bar's boiled beans.

「One more thing-nya. It just lacks one more thing-nya」

「How about adding cheese or something?」

「That'll make it the version Shigure likes-nya. But it's not cheese-nya. When this store first opened, this dish was served as our staff meal-nya. I've been trying to recreate the taste it had at that time through experimentation-nya. But it's difficult-nya」

No, even if you tell me that, something like cooking is………………something like cooking?

「………………?」

I cocked my head too.

Among the many seasonings and condiments lined up in the kitchen, there was one that had struck me as odd.

In all likelihood, it's something that's not usually kept by the stove. Perhaps it was used for another dish and the person cooking forgot to put it away. I think it's something like that. With her skill, there's no way she would mismanage the kitchen like this.

「How about using this?」

「Eh, Nya don't think that'll go well with the tomatoes-nya」

「It won't hurt to give it a try. Just add a little bit, just enough to bring out the flavor」

「If you insist, I'll give it a try-nya」

Tyutyu scooped out a teaspoon of said seasoning and added it to the frying pan along with a bit of the water the pasta had been boiled in. She gave it all a good stir and then taste-tested it.

「………………」

She froze.

「It’s no good, huh?」

It's just something an amateur came up with on the spur of the moment after all. I should stop sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.

「Did you work as a cook in the past-nya?」

「No way」

I really doubt a cook would die in an alleyway covered in wounds.

「This taste……」

「It doesn’t taste good?」

Curious, I taste-tested it too.

I think it goes well with the flavor of the tomatoes. But that's just the stupid palate of an amateur talking, I guess.

「This taste-nya! Are you a genius-nya?!」

「That's absurd」

「To think that tomatoes and miso go so well together, that was a blind spot-nya~」

「It was a blind spot, huh?」

I don't get it, but it seems that it was the right answer.

「Thank you! Nya wants to thank you in some way-nya!」

「You're overreacting」

「That's not true-nya! I've always wanted to let Shigure try this taste-nya! It's something really important-nya!」

「I, is that so?」

She's very serious about it.

Even though all I did was suggest adding miso to tomatoes……

「But even if you say that, you're already looking after Arianne, and you're giving us food too………」

Oh, food.

If I recall correctly, the clientele here is……

「Sorry, can you introduce me to an adventurer? I need someone I can trust to keep their mouth shut」

「You can count on me for something like that-nya!」

This is a godsend.

「There's one who's helping Shigure right now-nya. She's a very skilled female adventurer who will soon become an intermediate adventurer, and she's the leader of her party-nya. She's a foreigner and an oddball, but she's a trustworthy person-nya」

「Hmm, a foreigner, huh?」

For such an adventurer to work as a bread salesgirl, she really is an oddball, isn't she?

Tyutyu's animal ears twitched.

「It looks like they've just finished selling the lunch bread-nya. I'll introduce you right away-nya」

Sorry~, we're out of stock for the day! came Shigure's voice. A booing similar to a cheer resounded outside. Tyutyu exited the kitchen and then came back bringing a woman with her.

She was a petite woman with long, lustrous black hair.

She had strong-willed, unyielding eyes. She was wearing the same serving outfit as Tyutyu and Shigure, but upon a closer look, I could see that her bearing was very different.

She’s well-trained and leaves no openings. Unlike the thugs or hoodlums who live from hand to mouth, she has the bearing of a【sound person】as befits an adventurer pursuing a higher purpose.

And……

And what's this, I wonder? What's this strange feeling that something is off?

「Eh, Tyutyu-san, who's this person?」

「Yukikaze-san, this is Ash-nya. Ash-san, this is Yukikaze, an adventurer-nya」

「Ash?」

Yukikaze cocked her head……

「Yuki……kaze?」

……and I cocked my head too.

It's déjà vu. It feels a bit like we've met before somewhere and a long time in the past, but I can't be sure. If I were a flippant man, I might have called this a "fateful encounter".

Oddly enough, she also seems to have something on her mind after seeing me.

「Ash, you――――――」

With a wide smile, Yukikaze lifted one leg into the air.

「Huh?」

Inside her skirt, which had flipped up, I could see her panties.

Black. Rather mini-sized.

Oh crap. I had been so distracted that I completely forgot to dodge the heel coming down.

With a thud, the impact rocked my skull.

I blacked out for a few moments, and only woke up when my face hit the kitchen floor. I tried to get up, but due to the damage, I couldn't move at all.

「So you're the piece-of-shit guy who's leeching off my party member!」

「………………」

That's a misunderstanding.

I couldn’t quite deny it completely, but before I could defend myself, I lost consciousness.

Wow, what happened to cause such a huge change to Gladvain-sama and her whole religion/faith? Is it something to do with Souya’s bonds? Or had something happened after the final battle?

Sigh~ Souya’s perviness will never change, will it? Once wasn’t enough, he had to diss the rat’s small boobs twice.

Why is the Adventurers’ Guild holding Lanseal prisoner? What weird turn of events led to this? Things have really gone downhill after the final battle, huh?

Souya was the one who cooked that first staff meal, wasn’t it? And though she’s probably unaware of it, Tyutyu had been trying to recreate that taste so Shigure can have a taste of their father’s cooking, isn’t it? Sniffle.

Ahh, it’s Yukikaze and her tendency to kick first and ask questions later lol. And…she seems to have the same taste in underwear as Ea, huh?

In case you forgot, Yukikaze’s party had a female knight in it. That’s Ari, huh? What a coincidence…

How’s that for the start of a new arc? Ash is getting embroiled in the power struggles and slowly coming into contact with the people we know well, isn’t he? Well, stay tuned!