“I’ll kill that woman!”
“W-wait, please calm down!”
“Huh? Who the hell are you?”
With a threatening glare, the tiger-man seemed ready to attack.
I’m supposed to be one of his allies, but…
“Lord Ido. She is the reincarnated Okui.”
“Ah… just some weakling trying to imitate us on the outside. Tch, what good is someone like that?”
On the outside… I’ve reincarnated, so I should be a full beastman, yet…
“Reincarnated individuals possess special powers. Once we defeat the Demon King, there will be conflicts with other races, so we should gather the reincarnated ones.”
“Ah, whatever. Do whatever you want with that nonsense. I couldn’t care less about those weaklings with pathetic souls.”
… That’s a painful thing to hear.
It’s true that before my reincarnation, I lived in a peaceful world without conflict, and even though I’ve been granted power, I have no intention of fighting.
But being kicked out after securing basic necessities like food and shelter would also be difficult.
Sigh… Being caught up in such a ridiculous accident really messed things up for me.
“So, what about the others?”
While talking to the old beastman, it seems the anger from just being resurrected has faded a bit, and now the strongest warrior of the beastmen could speak more calmly.
This old man might actually be pretty capable.
“Lord Ido is the only one who has completed the resurrection; the others will take more time.”
“Huh…? How long will it take?”
“There are no signs of resurrection yet. It will likely take over a month.”
“Tch… Then forget it. I’ll regain my strength first.”
His mood seems to be getting worse again…
I really don’t want to deal with this tiger with a short temper.
“…It’s reckless to face the Demon King alone.”
“…I know. I won’t have a chance unless they’re resurrected and regain their strength. …That woman. I’ll definitely kill her.”
“If you understand that, then there’s no problem. Let’s gather information on the locations of monster outbreaks. You can regain your power there.”
“No. I won’t fight the Demon King, but I can’t calm down.”
Eh… Didn’t we agree not to make a move against the Demon King because we can’t defeat him?
“That ridiculous Demon King’s dungeon was also made in our territory, right?”
“I have heard rumors about such a thing being built on the outskirts.”
“Then we’ll hunt monsters in that dungeon. I can regain my strength, disrupt the Demon King’s plans, and it’ll work out just fine.”
“…However, the full extent of that dungeon is still unknown. It could be dangerous.”
“That’s why I’m going to destroy it. Hey, you over there.”
“Y-Yes!?”
Suddenly being called on made me reply nervously, my voice high-pitched…
Something… feels wrong.
“You said you’re a reincarnate. You said you have useful powers.”
I didn’t say anything like that…
“Then prove it. If you can keep up with me, I’ll recognize you.”
I really don’t want to be recognized…
If I’m recognized, I’ll probably have to go on crazy journeys like this more often…
But he’s like a beastman hero.
As someone just staying here temporarily, I couldn’t refuse his request…
◇
“This is so annoying!”
The tiger-man punches the wall. To my surprise, even though no attack had worked on the wall before, a small crack appeared.
He repeated the action, but he didn’t destroy it and eventually gave up with a tongue click.
“Damn it. Have I become so weak I can’t even break this?”
From the way he speaks, it seems he could break this wall in his previous life.
Truly, his strength is incredible… It’s best not to oppose him or get involved. So why did I get stuck in this troublesome situation?
“Hey, do something about it.”
“D-do something about it…?”
Oh no… I really hope he doesn’t get too involved with me.
Though, even the tiger-man probably can’t destroy this entire maze of walls, so I’m the one likely to end up dead if we stay here.
I guess there’s no choice… I’ll solve the maze and get him to move forward.
Sigh… If only this was a dungeon I recognized. Maybe it’s one that’s not related to the story?
“I’m going to solve the maze.”
I don’t even wait for a response from the tiger-man, I just tell him and move ahead.
Thanks to the skill given to me by the goddess—Material Permeation—I can move forward without being affected by the maze walls.
Not only that, traps, monster attacks, and even the tiger-man’s attacks have no effect on me.
That doesn’t mean I’m going to leave him behind or take him down though.
After all, there are certainly other people in his group who can use magic…
I’m powerless against magic, fire, or water, so…
Probably, I need something solid to work with for my power to work.
“Sigh… This is such a troublesome situation. But if I can be of some help here, I can live a stable life in that town, so I’ll have to endure.”
Defeat monsters and level up? Defeat the Demon King and return to my original world?
No way. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve died and given up on clearing this?
All I need to do is move my finger, and they expect me to actually do it? It’s too unreasonable.
Rather than doing something that dangerous, I’d rather choose a stable life in this world.
Sure, I still have regrets about my original world, but nothing’s more important than my life.
I never want to face such terrifying experiences again.
“Ugh… this is taking longer than I thought. That tiger’s going to get angry.”
I tried to slip through the wall, but quickly pulled my face back.
There was a basilisk on the other side of the wall.
It’s definitely going to spit poison. That won’t be affected by my permeation ability.
Also, I was lucky to spot it before it activated, but there’s also a poison gas trap.
… What is this place? It’s so filled with murderous intent.
I can’t help but feel a mix of irony and respect for the beastmen, who are able to regularly come through such a dungeon.
“Sigh… I’ll have to work hard to make a safe map.”
If I don’t, that tiger-man will probably just charge in, ignoring both monsters and traps.
He might be fine, but I can’t follow him like that.
I’ll just tell him that any route other than the safe one leads to a dead end.
“I see. Seems like the old guys weren’t lying about its usefulness.”
“Th-thank you…”
Using the map I made, we managed to get through the maze area.
Naturally, I took detours to avoid traps and monsters.
But right after that, there were pitfall and falling rock traps waiting for us, and I got caught in them.
… Really, isn’t this dungeon horrible? This is really the same dungeon from that game, right?
If my past self had been the one to clear this, I’d probably have thrown the controller.
“But, I saved you from those traps, so there’s no debt between us.”
“Y-Yes.”
That tiger-man had cleverly avoided the traps by himself.
Well, thanks to that, he easily destroyed the falling rocks and saved me, but if the pitfall trap had been a deadly one, he probably would have left me behind.
I really can’t rely on this guy.
Sigh… I really wish I had reincarnated in a human country.
The hero over there is apparently someone who treats all races equally, except for the demon race. Maybe I should just run away from this country.
“Hey, you should at least try attacking a bit.”
“N-No… I’m not good at fighting, so I’m acting as bait. Please let me off the hook for that.”
A stone monster, a gargoyle, had been relentlessly attacking me.
It’s pretty scary, but fortunately, it only uses physical attacks, so it’s safe for me.
Every time the tiger-man attacks, the stone body of the monster gets damaged, so I think we can handle it.
“You’re still only somewhat useful. I thought I might take you along if you seemed useful, but you’re no good.”
Phew!
If I had been useful here, that tiger-man would have seriously set his sights on me and dragged me along everywhere.
With a relieved sigh, I followed behind the tiger-man.
And then, both the tiger-man and I were buried alive.
