I was reincarnated as
bait for the summoned hero
The entrance to the Anheim Dungeon is located at the edge of the town, on the side of the Great Forest.
One day, a large hole appeared in the ground, and the dungeon was formed. The lord at the time surrounded the large hole, which served as the entrance, and built the Adventurers Guild building on top of it.
As a result, the Adventurers Guild in Anheim is overwhelmingly large.
Early in the morning, after thoroughly enjoying breakfast, the three of them—two people and one cat—visited the Adventurers Guild.
They had done some reconnaissance the day before, but the place was so crowded that they withdrew quickly, now observing the surroundings with great interest.
(This is the first time I’ve seen a building of this size since reincarnating in this world.)
The guild, built on top of the dungeon, is a sturdy brick structure with an impressive four floors.
The area is quite spacious, and although a large number of adventurers have gathered, it still seems to have plenty of room.
The first floor is a dedicated request reception area, with requests posted all over the walls.
The second floor serves as an office and a registration area. This is the first place those wishing to become adventurers visit.
The third floor contains a cafeteria and a shop. It’s a relief to hear that alcohol is prohibited in the cafeteria, meaning the security isn’t bad.
The shop sells weapons, armor, camping gear, miscellaneous items, and portable food.
“The fourth floor is the adventurers’ lodging area. It only has large rooms, and staying without meals costs five copper coins per night. That’s a bit expensive.”
While frowning at the price list, Shella agreed with him.
“It seems that because Anheim has few inns, the lodging fees are higher compared to other places.”
For a large room with no meals or baths, it would cost around 5000 yen, which is considered relatively reasonable.
They felt grateful for renting land from the Commercial Guild.
Shella , having asked the receptionist, pointed to the back and explained.
“It looks like the buying location is directly behind, where the dismantling area and storage are. It’s right next to the dungeon exit.”
“That’s efficient. I glanced at the request board yesterday, but let’s take a closer look at the request list.”
“Yes!”
They maneuvered through the crowd toward the bulletin board.
The sight of various requests pinned to the entire wooden wall was overwhelming.
“Herb gathering request, purchase request for rare materials… Oh, there’s even a high-price offer for magical tools.”
“All of these are from fields below the twentieth floor.”
“Yeah. Since this is our first dungeon, we’ll have to start from the first floor and work our way up slowly.”
“That’s right. It seems we’ll be able to use ‘Teleportation’ after the tenth floor. Should we aim for that?”
“Hmm, let’s skip through the lower floors.”
If they defeat the floor boss of the tenth level, they’ll get a unique item, the ‘Teleportation Bangle,’ which can be used to teleport to any field of a completed floor in the Anheim Dungeon.
They plan to return without camping for the day, so they want to obtain this magical tool first.
“There are no requests we can accept on our first dungeon, so let’s just sell the materials we collect.”
“Right. Tohma -san, are you planning to exchange them for points?”
“Yeah. Points are important because they can be used at the skill shop.”
That’s important, Ketsue nods seriously. Japanese-made cat snacks can only be purchased through magical summoning online shopping.
Shella also mutters seriously, “Points are very important,” which is a line only someone addicted to Japanese-made sweets and ice cream would say.
“Let’s work hard for a while, so we can shop without hesitation.”
“Right. I worked hard hunting Sahagin and digging for clams in Olivete, so I’m not short on money right now.”
“Since the magical beasts Shella defeated don’t give points, we should sell them at the guild.”
“…Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
When Ketsue defeats something, it gives points, likely because of being a familiar.
The real cat, Ketsue, often complains about wanting to use points for shopping, so they’ve been changing them into points.
After thinking for a moment, Shella declared with a smile, “Okay, I’ll pay as usual, so please shop for me!”
“Got it. Now that we’ve settled the shares, let’s get going.”
“Yes!”
As usual, they placed Ketsue on their shoulder and headed to the dungeon entrance.
Perhaps as a countermeasure for potential stampedes, the underground entrance was surrounded by sturdy stone walls, and guild staff were checking the adventurers’ ranks at the stairs.
They showed their guild member tags and were able to pass without issue.
Ketsue was briefly glanced at on the shoulder, but when they explained it was a familiar, no complaints were made.
(Well, I wouldn’t bring an ordinary kitten into a dungeon.)
An ordinary cat would be too scared of the dungeon’s atmosphere to even approach it.
Ketsue, who had been trained extensively in the Great Forest Dungeon, had no fear of the intermediate-level Anheim Dungeon.
“Meow! (Let’s hunt!)”
In fact, the little cat was so full of energy and enthusiasm that it was meowing aggressively.
“Take it easy, alright?”
“Hmm?”
When they whispered, Ketsue tilted its head cutely. Too adorable.
◆◇◆
The first floor was a cave inhabited by slimes. The second floor was a grassy field where horn rabbits ran around. The third floor was a mountainous forest where wild foxes lurked.
They quickly passed through each area, only defeating the magical beasts that came their way.
Since the drop items from the low-level magical beasts don’t fetch much money or points, they didn’t want to waste any time and moved swiftly.
“Dungeons are fascinating. The monsters you defeat turn into materials.”
“It’s nice that it saves the trouble of dismantling.”
“That’s really convenient. Right now, I have the magic bag I borrowed from Tohma -san, but if I only had a regular backpack, carrying everything back would have been difficult.”
Slime magic stones, low-level potions, horn rabbit magic stones and meat, and wild fox magic stones and fur were the drops.
If these magical beasts had been defeated outside the dungeon, they would have had to deal with the labor of skinning and transporting them, which would have been a nightmare.
“Tohma -san has an [Item Box], so he could just carry everything back without a problem. Normally, people would only take the magic stones and fur they stripped off, and would have sadly thrown away the meat on their way back.”
Shella might just cook and eat the meat on the spot, though.
“With drop items, you don’t have to worry about what to keep or toss, which is nice.”
Magic stones are small and light, making them easy to carry. Fur is dropped in a neatly tanned state, so even if thrown into a backpack, it doesn’t smell. For medium-sized magical beasts, their meat typically drops in pieces weighing around a kilo.
You just have to choose whether to carry it back, use it as food for the day, or toss it.
“I’d feel it’s a waste, so I’d either work hard to carry it back or just eat it!”
“That’s the spirit, Shella . But let’s sell the meat this time. The guild has plenty of better meat in stock.”
“Better meat…?”
“Forest boar meat, famous for its particularly sweet fat, and reliable, delicious orc meat. The marbled meat from Black Bulls is exceptional, you know?”
“I’ll sell it.”
Shella ’s quick decision-making is one of her strengths.
Seeing her nod without hesitation, he decided to splurge on tonight’s meat dish.
“Now, I wonder what we’ll encounter on the fourth floor.”
They wanted to reach the sixth floor by noon.
Up to the fifth floor, it was said to be a hunting ground for adventurers of Iron Rank, so they didn’t want to be noticed too much.
“Oh, the next floor is a plain. According to my [Presence Detection] skill, there seems to be a bunch of them on the ground.”
“That’s a giant lizard magical beast, right… I wonder if it’s tasty?”
He nervously asked the girl who was glaring seriously at the giant lizard.
“…Are you going to eat it?”
“I’ve heard that lizard tail meat is a delicacy, so I was curious…”
She smiled sweetly, a carnivorous beauty.
Lizard tail meat… Is it like chicken breast? He had to admit, he was somewhat curious.
“I’m the one who’s going to cook it, right?”
“Hehe?”
“…………”
Sympathetically, Ketsue meowed quietly, “Naan.”
