“What do humans want?”
It seems that I am not welcome.
Normally, I would expect a more friendly reception, but they probably suspect I came to take over the dungeon.
“I’m looking for someone named Luf. Do you know where he is?”
As soon as I brought up a topic unrelated to that, it seemed to ease their wariness somewhat.
“Luf… Oh, now that you mention it, I haven’t seen him around lately.”
“Maybe he’s dead?”
“If he were, there’d be some kind of trace left behind. Knowing him, he probably went to another country.”
Despite calling him odd, they don’t seem to be underestimating him.
It seems his strength is recognized here as well. That makes it all the more unfortunate that I couldn’t meet him here.
If it were the heroes, they could have shown him their strength and perhaps convinced him to join them.
“Maybe he messed up in a dungeon or something. Got complacent after clearing it so many times.”
“Hey.”
“Oh, sorry…”
The moment dungeons were mentioned, the atmosphere shifted back to one of caution.
I wish they wouldn’t act like this… I wasn’t the one who brought up the topic.
◇
“Sorry. It seems like we struck out.”
“No, it’s not your fault. We didn’t have any leads either, so it’s not your responsibility.”
“Besides, we learned that the dungeon doesn’t seem that dangerous after all.”
The swordsman, Old, was reflecting on this, and I agree with him.
It was a dungeon that the beastmen had repeatedly attempted and failed to conquer, so I thought it was probably impenetrable, but it turns out Luf had already cleared it many times.
In that case, it’s probably like our Goblin Dungeon.
It’s not dangerous, but it can be used to regularly cull monsters, gather treasure, and train.
It seems the beastmen didn’t want other races to use it, which is why they avoided talking about it.
We’ve gathered the basic information, so I guess we’ll have to retreat for now.
Just as I was thinking this, the hero seemed to have spotted someone and approached a beastman.
The man with black mixed into his blonde hair gave me a sharp glare, his intense gaze making it clear that he had a fiery temper.
He’s the type of person I’d rather avoid… but I also recognized this tiger beastman.
“Hey, it’s been a while, Ido.”
“You… What do you want?”
The beastman hero, Ido, exchanged words with Rick, the human hero, likely because they knew each other.
Though his attitude was poor, at least he was talking, which was better than nothing. If I were someone like me, a complete stranger, he might not have said a word.
“I wanted to ask about the dungeon.”
“Go away. There’s nothing to talk about.”
Even Rick, someone he knew, was dismissed coldly.
As soon as he heard the word “dungeon,” Ido seemed to shut down the conversation, pushing Rick away.
I wondered if it was the same reason as the other beastmen, but it seemed like he was holding back his anger.
“I need to know. If someone like you was defeated, it must mean that a Demon Lord or someone close to them has appeared.”
As Rick finished speaking, Ido made his move.
His sharp claws swung down toward Rick’s face.
However, Rick easily blocked it with his sword.
“Didn’t you hear me? I’ve got nothing to say. I’ll kill that bastard myself.”
“I see… By the way, what about your companions?”
“Huh? They’re busy picking out their gear.”
“So you’ve revived them. That’s good.”
“Tch…”
It’s hard to believe that just a few seconds ago, Ido had attacked as if he might kill Rick, and now he was casually talking.
Perhaps he decided it wasn’t worth the effort or got annoyed by Rick’s nonchalant attitude, but Ido walked off.
“If you can wait for your companions without rushing ahead on your own, you’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, Ido’s the type to act without thinking… But if he’s with his companions, he probably won’t do anything reckless.”
“Is that how all heroes are?”
In agreement with Saintess Stia’s words, Old expressed his concerns, but Rick remained unfazed.
He was probably referring to Rick, but Rick seemed unaware of it.
I don’t know for sure, but it seems that Rick must have done a lot of reckless things in the past, causing trouble for his companions.
That certainly happens a lot in games too.
“By the way, about their equipment… I wonder if those guys got absorbed by the dungeon as well.”
As Misty, the spirit user, pointed out, the current equipment of the hero party is inadequate to fight the Demon Lord.
After their defeat in the previous battle with the Demon Lord, their equipment was left behind and absorbed by the dungeon.
That seems to be the reason behind it.
It’s harsh that in this world, losing your equipment means losing everything after a game over.
In a game, players would complain if they had to gather everything again each time they died, so it was a wise decision not to have such a system.
“So, the equipment is absorbed by the dungeon… huh.
I don’t know what the result will be, but at the very least, it’s certain that it won’t lead to anything good.
By absorbing the equipment, will the monsters become stronger, or will the dungeon itself change? Honestly, I don’t know what will happen.
…Perhaps the rock trap that caused the kingdom’s soldiers to retreat in the Goblin Dungeon was added for such a reason.
Maybe the reason it didn’t activate the second time we visited was because the absorbed power wasn’t enough.
“Restoring our power is important, but first, we need to get new equipment.”
“You’re right. Even in perfect condition, we couldn’t defeat the Demon King. So from now on, we should be even more prepared to fight.”
Yes. These heroes, including Ido, have been defeated by the Demon King. That fact makes it clear how difficult it will be to achieve the goddess’s words.
‘Defeat the Demon King. Then, when the story is brought to a conclusion, I will send you back to the world before your reincarnation.’
…Still, it’s dangerous to just follow the goddess’s instructions.
I’ll focus on finding ways to live, while gathering allies in this world.
“Kunimatsu-san. Thank you. To challenge the Demon King, we need even more preparation than last time. When the time comes, I would appreciate your help.”
“Ah, yes. Likewise, I look forward to working with you.”
I answered with neutral words, bowing politely to Rick. When the time comes… huh.
When that time comes, is it really the right thing for us reincarnators to defeat the Demon King?
The heroes don’t know.
After defeating the Demon King, we would have to fight against the gods.
Of course, that’s just one possible path, depending on the route.
But this world, where the heroes have already been wiped out once, seems to be heading dangerously close to that route.
The fear of the yet-to-be-seen Demon King makes me feel more and more uneasy, and I sighed right there.
◇
“Sigh… haaa~~ahh…”
“What’s wrong, Lady Fiona?”
The Demon King seems to be sighing heavily. It must be for some unpleasant reason.
“Only because I can’t get it, I understand its value. In other words, I want it more than anyone else.”
“You exploded, didn’t you?”
“…However, the magic power I spent wasn’t wasted. It will become our nourishment in another form.”
“Tokito is reporting that the stock will be excessive if it remains like this.”
“…Ugh! What is it! I’m depressed because I got another dud this time! Rey, your job is to be kinder, pamper me, and comfort me, right?”
“I apologize. I’m just being honest.”
But I can’t let her get any more sulky.
I put effort into comforting and pampering Lady Fiona to keep her in a good mood.
“Rey, you’ve become tough.”
“That means he’s gotten used to it.”
“Demon King… how pitiful.”
“Ripianem-sama. You must not pamper the Demon King.”
The Four Heavenly Kings behind her were each saying something.
It seems that the Demon King’s dignity is operating as usual today.
◆
“He’s a new member, but he’s a man~.”
“I quite like the warrior character.”
“What are his stats?”
“Zero magic power?! Hey, that’s… he’s totally a muscle-head.”
Although everyone had different opinions, with Luf officially joining, he greatly helped them during combat.
“So useful!”
“High damage, pretty durable, and fast, so he’s really handy.”
“We can’t explore without Luf anymore.”
“He’s excellent at drawing aggro. Plus, he handles most things on his own.”
Surrounded by a large number of weak enemies, Luf attracts most of them. When the party tries to assist him, the enemies are already annihilated by Luf.
“Alright, let’s take down Ripianem.”
“Maybe we can do it now that Luf’s here…”
After leveling up their characters and Luf, they face the final Four Heavenly Kings, who had been interrupted from their conquest.
As expected, Luf shows excellent performance, and they continue to push on.
“We can do it! We’re almost there!”
When they corner Ripianem, who has transformed into a dragon, the game screen suddenly pauses, and a movie starts to play.
“Huh, wasn’t the second form supposed to appear after his HP hit zero?”
“He still had about half of it left, right?”
Confused, they watch as a different scene begins to play.
‘Swordsman of the Lion. State your name.’
‘Luf. I have no special title, just Luf.’
‘I see. I’ll remember that. Luf, you were strong.’
‘Yeah, it was a satisfying fight. Thank you, Ripianem.’
They couldn’t control it.
They could only watch as their trusted ally was slashed.
“Luf!!”
“Hey, this is ridiculous! We were winning!”
“Our Luf-san…”
Having lost a companion, they challenge Ripianem to avenge Luf.
“So, how do we avoid this? This ugly thing!”
“She’s cute though.”
“Well, I get it. It’s common to get angry and curse when you’re heated.”
Still, they had gotten used to the first form, and he consumed healing items, slowly chipping away at Ripianem’s HP despite being nearly exhausted.
“We’ve used up too many items… I can’t handle the second form.”
“We have to at least defeat the first form if we want to face Luf again!”
“He was the one who said he didn’t need any men…”
As declared, he managed to defeat Ripianem. Whether it was due to his feelings influencing his actions or just a coincidence with the enemy’s attack patterns, it was actually neither.
After Luf’s defeat, not only the characters they controlled but also the ones outside the screen became stronger.
Due to a special event triggered by a combination of factors, all of their characters were enhanced, allowing them to finally corner Ripianem, who had transformed into a dragon.
“We can do it! Somehow, we can do it!”
“Idiot! Don’t get greedy!”
“Ah…”
Before the wide-area wind breath attack, the characters fell silent.
Then, a bit late, the game over text appeared on the screen.
“…Somehow, didn’t our durability and damage increase after Luf died?”
“Wait, really? Let’s try again.”
Finally, they found a glimmer of hope.
They figured that if they leveled up, they could defeat Ripianem, but they didn’t want to do that. Instead, they decided to try again to defeat Ripianem in their current state.”
