“Ge… Kuni-matsu?”
“Ah, the person who made us conquer that Goblin Dungeon. Now they’re tackling a Dwarf Kingdom’s dungeon? They really don’t have any principles, huh…”
That may be true, but to me, they’re an unwelcome intruder.
A reincarnator with appraisal skills. They are the worst possible match for the Dwarf Dungeon, which is nothing but traps.
“What should we do? Should we crush them? Should we destroy the dungeon?”
“Calm down. If we do that, all the hard work we’ve put in will have been for nothing.”
You’re right. Yeah, let’s stay calm.
Even if Kuni-matsu somehow conquers the dungeon, the damage will be less than destroying it.
…But should I deal with Kuni-matsu here and make it work out for the future?
“Right… First, Pilkaya. It’ll be bad if they detect you with appraisal, so stay away from noticeable places.”
“Got it. I’ll make sure to watch from behind, staying out of their line of sight.”
That would be really helpful.
If they find out Pilkaya is here, this abandoned dungeon could quickly turn into a dangerous area where the Four Heavenly Kings were storing their power.
“Hm… Should I kill them? If you want, I could take them down in one swing.”
“Ah, wait! No killing. No killing. Let’s put that sword away, okay?”
Did my confused thoughts get across? Ripianem was already drawing her sword and heading toward the Dwarf Dungeon.
Sure, Ripianem would be able to take them down in an instant, but it’d be bad if the Four Heavenly Kings appeared from the dungeon that we thought was empty.
“Thanks to Ripianem-sama going wild, Rey-sama can keep a cool head. It’s a good thing.”
“I don’t really understand, but if I’m being helpful, then that’s great!”
Well, I can’t deny that this time, so let’s leave it at that.
Now, the problem is Kuni-matsu. They could easily clear a trap-filled dungeon like this.
Appraisal would render the traps meaningless, so should I secretly place some monsters here?
No… I don’t want to waste the camouflage of this abandoned dungeon.
Looks like I’ll have to let Kuni-matsu conquer it quickly.
Then, they can just return to their country. I’ll give them whatever is in the treasure chest.
“I see they retreated… Was it because they didn’t find it threatening, or did they give up?”
“No, it was more like the same frustrated expression I had when I lost to the treasure chest trap. They probably just got tired of not seeing any progress!”
“Not sure if that’s convincing…”
But it’s true that Kuni-matsu turned back.
And from what I observed this time, even though they can detect traps with appraisal, they don’t have the skills to disable them.
In the end, it seems like they’ll just have to avoid the traps or activate them in a way that doesn’t harm them.
“That’s tough, huh? It’s Rey’s sadistic trap dungeon after all.”
“It’s impressive how they tried their best to take it down, but hey, we don’t kill every intruder, right?”
“No, there are definitely safe areas. Otherwise, the Dwarves wouldn’t have stayed here so much.”
True, I’ve set up many traps, but some are meant to be visible yet don’t activate.
I hoped that would cause Kuni-matsu to overlook the real traps. So, they got fed up with it, huh?
“Walking on a thin wire while navigating the dungeon. As expected of Rey-sama.”
“Why are you looking at me, Primilla ?”
“I’m not saying I don’t like Rey-dono’s dungeon, but I also like the wide and easy-to-fight dungeons created by the Demon King-sama.”
“Ripianem just prefers dungeons where she can fight freely, so it’s not that she dislikes intricate ones.”
“If you have something to say about my dungeon, speak up clearly, Pilkaya.”
Fiona-sama’s dungeon…
It was probably a tutorial-like dungeon…
“Fine, whatever. I’ve got Rey by my side, so I’ll just leave dungeon creation to him.”
“Yes, that’s all I can do, so please focus on other work, Fiona-sama.”
“Work…?”
How can she look so pure and confused about the word “work”?
It’s like she’s hearing it for the first time. I wish she wouldn’t act so surprised.
“Shall we raise some treasure chests?”
“That’s fine… I guess…”
If more subordinates can be resurrected, we’ll have more hands to help.
So, that’s probably the best choice for Fiona-sama, but why do I feel so uneasy about it?
“Can’t do it… Honestly, I feel like my mind will break trying to either deactivate or avoid all of these.”
“If only there were a reincarnator who could negate physical traps.”
Or someone with the ability to pass through physical traps entirely.
With that, this dungeon would just be a walk in the park.
“This kind of dungeon would’ve been the worst in a game.”
“That’s probably why it wasn’t implemented. They might’ve thought about it, but decided it was too much and scrapped it.”
“If this was why something like this exists in this world, I’d want to say ‘don’t mess with things unnecessarily’…”
Well, at least it wasn’t implemented, which is a good thing.
If it was a dungeon you had to clear, I might’ve been complaining, saying ‘don’t mess with things’ after all.
“Though, at least this dungeon had some meaning…”
“Did we find something?”
“Both Kuni-matsu and I came here after hearing rumors about this dungeon. The fact that this became the chance for two reincarnators to meet means this place had some meaning. That’s enough. So, we have no further business here.”
In the end, Zino added words that almost sounded like an excuse, as if to convince himself.
“Yeah, if we met a reincarnator who’s already cleared the game, then it would have been meaningful. Even among reincarnators, there’s a difference in sense of danger depending on whether they know the game or not.”
“The place where Kuni-matsu is seems pretty bad. He’s the type who hears about the game and does whatever he wants. He tries to act like he’s gathering everyone to act carefully, but instead, he does nothing and just gets drunk on his own sense of superiority. I at least hope he doesn’t get in the way.”
Yeah… That’s exactly it.
Those who act recklessly and tarnish the image of the people of this world.
Those people probably never came back, either doing as they pleased in another country or dying somewhere.
So the real issue is with those reincarnators who formed large factions.
I understand those who claim that, having been reincarnated from peaceful countries, they can’t fight.
Even so, they’re not exactly doing nothing, as they’re trying to level up safely and grow stronger.
But the truth is, their progress is almost negligible.
That king doesn’t favor them just because they’re reincarnators. How long will they be allowed to stay in that castle if they don’t bring any benefit to the country?
“Even if they tell us not to go ahead, it’s hard to just sit back.”
Even if we acted together and safely defeated monsters, we wouldn’t get much experience points.
They seem satisfied just by having done something, but with that pace of leveling, they’ll never clear the game.
So, it was good to split up and act, but it seems they don’t find that amusing.
“Sometimes you have to push yourself a bit. Time isn’t endless, you know. In a way, I envy those who don’t realize that.”
Yes. Time is finite.
If we could live peacefully forever, then I’d probably be okay with living in this world at worst.
Living safely in an unfamiliar land is better than risking my life in battle.
But for me and Zino, who know how this world will end, such a choice isn’t allowed.
“If the Mad God (Kurugami ) route happens, then the world will collapse and the gods will die… If we’re not careful, it might even affect the world we came from.”
“That’s why we have to stop that route at all costs.”
For that, we should take some risks.
At the very least, we need to be prepared to defeat the Demon King at any time.
But in this reality, even meeting the conditions to defeat the Demon King has become incredibly difficult.
I can’t do it. Zino can’t do it. We need some kind of power like the “Eye of the Sky” to obtain more information.
While hoping that the goddess has granted such powers to reincarnators, we must find allies.
The Demon King was defeated.
We defeated them.
Yet, despite that—
None of it had any meaning.
