We rushed through the area where the Air Fish appeared—luckily, we weren’t attacked while moving.
“Let’s hide behind that rock for now. If we block the line of sight from the area with the pond, they shouldn’t fly towards us.”
Following Haruka’s lead, we moved behind a large rock. It got quiet for now—this spot seemed safe.
“It seems that they target you when you stay in one spot since we weren’t attacked while moving.”
“I see, so that’s how it works. Can they detect movement even from underwater?”
“It’s not quite like an archerfish, but more like a flying fish version of that, maybe?”
“Or rather, it feels like the monster version of a fish called ‘datsu.’ Apparently, they’re called ‘Air Fish.’”
“They can fly really far. So, ‘air’ as in ‘flying in the air,’ right?”
As we talked about the monsters we encountered, Beck’s memories flickered through my mind.
—An old man doesn’t need to worry about monsters, right?
—If you get injured, you’ll have to wait until you’re healed.
—There aren’t many baggage carriers as amazing as Beck.
Sophia was the only solace Beck had—without her, he would have been kicked out of the party long ago.
(…So, what happened to the Abyss Beast in the end? Defeating it was supposed to grant Ryud and the others the highest honors within the S-rank party. Did they defeat it after I was gone?)
As I pondered this, something felt off.
Beck, who wasn’t specialized in combat, was defeated by the Abyss Beast after teleporting his companions away.
That should have been the case, yet something was denying that outcome. He had done something before dying—but I couldn’t remember what. It’s odd to have any memories from the moment you died.
“—Hara-san, Fujiwara-san? What’s the matter? You suddenly started thinking deeply.”
“Oh… no, it’s nothing. By the way, Futaba-san, were you always using honorifics with me? I feel like it was different before.”
“Well… after some thought, I concluded that addressing you with ‘-san’ is more fitting for our relationship.”
“As expected, ‘Majime’ is a fitting codename for Futaba-sama.”
“Ah… I can’t deny that. But it’s just my nature…”
“You pay respect to those ranked above you, huh? My sister has always been weak to authority.”
“Say what you want. I won’t deny I respect Fujiwara-san.”
Being told that right in front of me felt a bit embarrassing. Cypher’s camera whirred as it moved—this wasn’t the time to record this.
“…Cypher, do you know where the water in that pond is coming from?”
“Beep. The source of that pond’s water exists elsewhere. There is an underground water vein nearby.”
“An underground water vein… could there be a river inside the cave?”
“Yes. I have detected the sound of flowing water from a 2 o’clock direction based on this location.”
“…That’s an impressive sensor. I can’t hear anything yet.”
Even if we found an underground river, it wasn’t necessarily our destination—but dungeons are always a guessing game. You have to explore wherever you can.
“Speaking of which, in other dungeons, I’ve heard of people using rivers to move to different levels.”
“Thinking about monsters in the river… it would take a lot of courage.”
“If there are Air Fish, moving through the water would be difficult.”
“I’d like to believe that’s not the case in this dungeon… but if it is, we’d need to prepare for underwater combat. Our current party can’t handle that.”
“…Perhaps we could bring a small boat?”
I hadn’t considered that until Nanami-san mentioned it—if we had the funds, we could even bring vehicles into the dungeon. Combat boats designed for water battles could be useful if we could get our hands on one.
“Having a vehicle would certainly be convenient if we ever need to head toward some unseen waterway. Well, let’s start moving again.”
◆◇◆
After about fifteen minutes of walking, we began to hear the faint sound of flowing water, and soon we came upon a river—the far bank was visible, but the current was too strong to cross easily.
“Oh… there are Air Fish flying all over the place.”
“We could think of several ways to use those as footholds or to get across to the other side.”
“With Fujiwara-kun’s skill, you could solve a dungeon like a puzzle… no matter the location, you seem able to clear it with the right approach.”
“…What’s that? It’s glowing…”
Nanami-san pointed toward the river—a bent, stick-like object was protruding into the air, its tip glowing.
“The Air Fish… disappeared?”
The Air Fish were drawn toward the light, only to vanish as soon as they jumped into the air.
“—Beep. Detecting a medium-sized monster from the water… Kyaaa!?”
Cypher let out a scream-like sound as it flew into the air and darted toward the river.
“Encountered a monster: Mimic Squid, 1 detected.”
“Everyone, be careful, there’s something in the river…!”
“Ugh… What is this…? It’s sticky and won’t come off… Ahh…!”
“Give it back, that’s my precious flute… Kyaaa!”
“Ugh… No good… These tentacles… they sap your strength…!”
Several rope-like tentacles shot out from the water, entangling my comrades and dragging them toward the river—Haruka-san’s dagger, which she tried to use to resist, was deflected and flew toward me, but I ‘fixed’ it in midair.
(They aren’t targeting me first… ‘Fix’ is slow to react in situations like this…!)
One last soft, rope-like appendage emerged from the water, aiming to capture me—however.
“Activating the skill ‘Fix.’ The spatial coordinates of the target object are now fixed.”
I fixed it just before it could grab me. If touching it weakens you, then don’t touch it—and then.
(Now that it’s fixed, it can become my ‘luggage’!)
I plunged Haruka-san’s dagger into what seemed to be the tentacle of the Mimic Squid and hoisted it up with all my might—the water’s resistance was intense, almost pulling me down, but at that moment, the effect of ‘Weightlifting 2’ kicked in.
“Uoooooo…!!”
With a loud splash, the massive squid-like creature burst out of the water—I immediately slashed at the tentacles holding my comrades with the dagger.
(It’s cutting pretty easily… It seems to weaken when pulled out of the water…!)
My comrades, now freed from the tentacles, were drenched, their bangs plastered over their eyes—they turned their silent fury toward the giant squid.
“You really did whatever you wanted to us… How shall we cook you up?”
“I was worried about my clothes getting soaked in this watery dungeon, but you really went all out, didn’t you?”
“…This slimy feeling is weird. I want to wash it off quickly.”
“Beep. The waterproof function of the automaton doll can withstand depths of up to 100 meters.”
“It weakens on land, but we can’t let our guard down yet. It’s coming…!”
The ‘Mimic Squid’ earned its name from having a glowing organ, much like an anglerfish—that’s how it lured its prey, devouring them while they were distracted by the light.
There was still a chance it had some other form of attack, so we needed to finish it off carefully. Rather than direct attacks, it would be safer to use ranged attacks to defeat it.
