Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 136

Chapter 06: The dungeon in the mountains

“It’s a big hole.”

“It’s huge.”

In front of us a large side hole was opening up.

The opening was over two meters in length and width, and the path was dark, so it didn’t seem like it would be an immediate dead end. I had Fricka throw a light ball into it, but since the path was curved instead of straight, I couldn’t see all the way into the hole.

In the game, there were several types of holes in the mountains.

The first one is just a naturally formed cave. It was created by erosion from wind and rain, so it is unknown what is inside. Of course, sometimes there is nothing inside.

The second one, It’s originally open hole or a burrow that a monster dug to live in. If it’s still in use, it’s definitely a monster house inside.

The third one is a tunnel dug by someone, including the ones dug by dwarves. There were no signs of people climbing up or down this mountain, so even if it was a mine shaft, it’s probably no longer in use. In that case, there is a high probability that the inside has already been dug up and the ore veins are depleted, so it is often impossible to extract much ore unless you go really deep inside. However, deep within the very hard bedrock, rare ores may be left behind.

When I looked into the type this time, I couldn’t find any shafts to support the hole, so I don’t think it’s the third one.

Well, one thing I can say for sure.

“… This is a dungeon…”

“Oh, seriously?”

I’m envious of Regulus’ ability to always reacts happily to things. Well, I also want the materials. The magic stone that a core is made out of have high quality… It’s frustrating that sometimes you can’t get one of that quality even when aim for it.

I knew it was a dungeon and I had to conquest it, but there was one thing I was concerned about.

The thing is, I can feel a strange presence coming from this dungeon.

But what’s the strange part about it… That I can’t put into words. But is not like I have an extremely bad feeling about it.

If it was the latter, I would have told the others the truth and ran away, but… Hmm, I’m worried.

“Rion-sama”

“… Hmm? Fricka, what?”

“If you have any worries, please tell us.”

… Oops, it was a little obvious.

No, but Uru was nodding in agreement, so I guess it was showing on my face…?

Well, It’s true that there’s no point in worrying alone. I told about the feeling to everyone to get more opinions about what to do.

“If you don’t have a bad feeling, I think we should go.”

“I see. Maybe there’s something there, we should go into it.”

“Whatever, let’s go!”

“I think I’d like to go too.”

Woah… They all agreed that we should go.

… Well, even if my ability to detect danger is bugging out, as long as Uru is here, I’ll be fine.

Am I depending on her too much? No no, this is just trust.

“… Then, let’s go.”

After taking out the lanterns for everyone and distributing them, I urged everyone to go in.

The formation remains the same, with Uru at the front.

The reason why we are able to proceed without hesitation may be because there is still a straight road from the entrance, but it is also because there is no smell of monsters or traps(?). I move forward steadily, even if it looks like I’m restlessly looking around.

I left the front to the others and pointed my lantern at the sides and above to see if there was anything unusual. In this case, the unusual thing is mostly the material. Yes. However, I couldn’t find anything in particular, except for the occasional bat or insect that wasn’t a monster. I’m sad that there are no materials.

“Hmm, there’s a fork in the road.”

The road that had always been a straight road, although it was winding left and right and up and down, but here it branched out. The left side remains the same size, and the right side is only large enough for a single person to pass through.

After thinking for a moment, I pointed to the road to the right.

“Do you sense that strange thing?”

“No, it’s just that the road is narrower that way.”

“Hmm? Is there something wrong with being narrower?”

“The fact that it’s narrower than the entrance means there’s a high probability that it’s a dead end rather than a path.”

“… What’s wrong with being a dead end?”

“Well, there might be some materials, and I want to explore the entire map.”

I answered everyone’s questions, and they let out sigh in the end.

Then, Uru said, “Well, it’s Rion…” with a resigned look of approval. Thank goodness that you guys seem to understand my point…? Huh, it’s a bit different?

As I had predicted, the road on the right immediately came to a dead end, but since there was nothing out of the ordinary or any materials, I just laughed it off trying to change topic.

… No, I’m sorry for wasting time. But no one knows what is wasteful and what is useful here, okay…?

Since then, as is to be expected, a fork in the road has appeared again. And there were places that were divided into three parts instead of two.

Reading the atmosphere, I put aside searching for materials for the time being and tried to see if there was a path that seemed like the right one, but I couldn’t find it. So I decided to go with Uru’s intuition.

I’ve already drawn up a mental map, but… It’s quite complicated. This may make me get lost. The good news is that I put markers and have a return stone, so there’s no chance that we won’t be able to return home.

But… Something in this dungeon changed compared to before I entered it.

“… Rion, this is really a dungeon, isn’t it?”

“Hmm? That’s right.”

Uru tilts her head as if she’s having the same strange feeling.

And that was made clear by the following words.

“Then… Why aren’t there any monsters?”

“–”

…… Ah.

While I was stunned at the unexpected content, Regulus asked a question.

“Huh? Isn’t nee-san trying to avoid them?”

“No, no, I can’t say for sure if there was any further down the path that we didn’t take, but… At least, as far as I can tell, there hasn’t been a single one so far.”

Regulus’ question was reasonable, but Uru denied it.

… That’s right, the fact that we hadn’t encountered any monsters yet in this dungeon was subconsciously bothering me.

It is no exaggeration to say that a dungeon is the place where monsters are born. Monsters instinctively understand this, which is why guardians exist to protect the core.

Then why are no monsters spawning here?

Actually this isn’t actually a dungeon? No, my senses as a miko tell me that this is definitely a dungeon.

Are they accumulating in somewhere like a monster house?… I can’t say anything at this point.

Or… All the resources in the dungeon are being absorbed by the guardians…?

The moment that thought passed by my mind, a shiver ran down my spine. If so, the guardian of this dungeon is a very formidable enemy. It’s going to be a tough battle as Uru won’t be able to use her full power inside a cave.

But… I don’t have a bad feeling about it. I don’t know the exact distance, but I feel like we are getting closer to the core. Still, that strange feeling doesn’t change.

What on earth is that…?

“Well, if Rion doesn’t know, no one else will either. I guess we have no choice but to move forward for now.”

“… That’s right.”

Judging from the way she said it, Uru doesn’t sense something dangerous ahead.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we can let our guard down. It wouldn’t be strange if there were monsters skilled enough to hide their hostility.

Besides, aside from the obvious danger, I can’t help but wonder what’s at the end now. If possible, I want to know the cause of this or I won’t be able to calm down.

After we nodded to each other, we resumed walking towards the core.