It's Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

* * *

“Damn it!”

“Ah…”

Seeing a person’s figure across the corridor, Sonia unknowingly raised her hand in greeting but then stiffened her expression and hid her body.

“It pisses me off that I’ve gotten used to this…”

A person skillfully carried numerous cleaning tools with movements like a farm boy, despite wearing a maid outfit that couldn’t be hidden.

It was because that person’s identity was none other than Maria.

‘Sister Maria…’

Although they lived in the same dungeon, it was rare for the two to meet.

The living spaces assigned to this young female mage and the material warehouses entrusted to her were on the 2nd floor or in corners of the 1st floor that couldn’t be entered from the ground, while the summons’ waiting rooms that Maria was assigned to clean were mainly underground.

So the only time the two could meet was when they went out to get some sunlight, but even then, Sonia went out early in the morning and Maria late in the afternoon, so their times didn’t match.

Of course, they often saw each other’s faces in passing or felt traces of the rare ‘human woman’ in the dungeon…

But it had been over a month since they were properly in the same space.

Moreover, considering what happened before that.

‘I don’t know what face I should show her.’

It was natural for Sonia to hide when she saw Maria.

She knew well her own state of feeling both hatred and pity for someone who should normally be hated.

“Sonia?”

“Eek?!”

So when she came out feeling relieved after seeing Maria disappear a moment later, she couldn’t help but be surprised again.

She heard Maria’s voice from behind, which she thought had disappeared.

“What’s with that face? Someone might think you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Ma-Maria… Sister…”

The place Sonia turned to while pressing down on her chest.

Seeing Maria’s face looking at her, she momentarily had the illusion that they had returned to their daily lives.

Maria’s smile looking at her was…

“Yeah. What is it?”

The same as always. As if nothing had changed.

However, what surrounded them was the dark corridor of the dungeon, and because of this, Sonia, who came to her senses, shook off the momentary feeling of discomfort and barely managed to put on something that could be called a smile on her face.

“Did you just hide? Did you secretly hide something delicious? If you have anything like that, give me some. The food here is always poor.”

The ‘people’ currently remaining in the dungeon were Sonia, Maria, Jacob, and Jin Kyung, with Alexis from the Western Continent who had recently joined, for a total of five.

The meals given to the four people were not very abundant, excluding Alexis, who was always being taught something by Libertas and Evangeline.

It was enough to maintain health, but conversely, just that much. Considering this is a dungeon, it’s actually a decent meal, but still.

So it wasn’t strange for someone who had eaten ordinary meals outside to express complaints.

[Always be grateful that there’s something to eat. In some dungeons, you might count a week just on jerky.]

If it wasn’t Maria who had said such things before.

“…”

Once again Sonia felt a sense of discomfort, and yet she inwardly shook her head.

One was because of hope, and the other was because of relief.

Hope that Maria hadn’t broken down, and that maybe they could plan for the future together more than now.

Relief that in this place with few people to converse with, there was now someone with whom she could continue more ordinary conversations.

‘She can’t be… alright. But still…’

She naturally knew well that Maria wasn’t okay.

However, despite that, she believed that having hope was essential for both of them. For herself, who evaluated herself as not strong, it was an even more necessary element.

If someone heard this, they would shake their head saying ‘she just hasn’t bloomed yet’…

But even that someone didn’t know, ironically, what Maria, who had been with Sonia for quite a long time, didn’t know.

“Sonia. I know you can’t help it with how you are now.”

“Yes…?”

“If your magic power wasn’t sealed, you might have been able to land a hit on that thing, but expecting that now would make me stupid. So wait. Until the opportunity comes.”

Sonia questioned with visible confusion to Maria, who was speaking with a serious face.

And Maria continued speaking as if she hadn’t seen such an expression on Sonia’s face.

There was already an invisible wall of perception between the two.

“Sister…?”

“It probably won’t be far off.”

Only then did Sonia realize that Maria’s focus wasn’t directed at her—as if she were looking somewhere else, not here.

“I left someone to contact. To my parents.”

“Ah… The two of them…”

“Yeah.”

Unlike Sonia and Jack who were orphans, Maria and Remia clearly had parents.

They probably didn’t mention those people’s existence even once until now because that was their only hope.

Maria already had hope. It just wasn’t her.

Although it somehow felt disappointing, Sonia was able to shake it off quickly because of that.

“Um… But.”

“Hmm?”

Strangely glistening eyes. Full of obsession.

Meeting those sick eyes, the woman who had been sick could only shake her head in the end.

“…It’s nothing. Sister. They’ll surely come looking for you. The two of them.”

“Right. I’ll tell you right away when that time comes. I have to do it now. Now… If I don’t, there won’t be another chance… It’s gotten so strong so quickly…”

Watching Maria’s departing back and the swaying black and white hem of her clothes, Sonia gradually darkened her complexion.

Although she couldn’t say it, she knew properly.

That Libertas wasn’t such a careless being. And that in Solemio, which was clearly a rural town despite its size, the appearance of a high-rank adventurer would attract attention.

In such a situation, people handling information would have valued Maria and Daniel’s whereabouts.

In the worst case, that ‘contact’ was likely already in a state worse than death.

“It’s better to step on rotten hope in advance for that person’s sake. Sonia. The later it gets, the deeper you’ll have to dig, you know. Then, won’t that scar deepen too?”

And Sonia became certain that her guess was correct while listening to her saying such things after meeting her.

“Master…”

Though she didn’t put it into clear words, Libertas’s eyes seemed to be asking Sonia, ‘Can you really handle Maria’s despair at that time?’

* * *

-So when I said I didn’t like it…

“Serica. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

-What, already? It hasn’t even been 30 minutes yet.

30 minutes would be more than enough for ordinary communication time, but I wonder what she has so much more to say.

It’s already the fifth day since she left.

However, as if forgetting she said she ‘didn’t know why she had to contact’, Serica kept contacting once every day or two.

The calls, mainly about how ‘the mansion and nobles here are too stuffy’, lasted from 10 minutes to an hour at the longest. Still, I realized from the first communication that it was right to cut it off appropriately as it would go on endlessly once I started accepting it.

“Something came up on this side.”

-…I see. I won’t bother you then.

However, even though I was really cutting it off because something came up this time, that somewhat sulky appearance was hard to leave alone.

‘I don’t know why she’s approaching like this, but…’

…I was also weak to people approaching me.

After pondering for a moment while touching my head, I decided to give some advice, also to increase the interval between communications.

“It’s natural that it will take time for you, who grew strong like a wildflower, to adapt to a new environment. But at the end of that, you’ll bloom like a jewel. I hope you adapt well in your family home.”

-…Okay! I’ll call again next time!

Fortunately, Serica’s voice at the end was extremely bright.

-Click click.

After that, when my gaze turned to the ground, a summon with a peculiar appearance, consisting of human bones with porcelain eyeballs attached, climbed onto my desk.

Maria probably felt relieved, thinking I hadn’t noticed anything about the two’s private lives until now.

However, I was always ready to listen to their words.

How could I, who always emphasizes the importance of information, not take any measures after bringing unstable elements into the dungeon?

Sonia probably knew that I value information so much, but she couldn’t have known what the means were.

-Click.

That means is the ‘Necromancer’s Eye’ that other Dungeon Lords mainly use to monitor outside the dungeon, which has now climbed onto my hand like a spider.

A very minor summon that can only be used for seeing and hearing, and picking up something, with almost no other functions.

Of course, I didn’t just scatter these all over the dungeon. There’s no need to do such an inefficient thing.

-I have to do it now. Now… If I don’t, there won’t be another chance… It’s gotten so strong so quickly…

I deployed this in places where Sonia and Maria might meet, and excluded the skeletons that had been attached to them for surveillance when they passed through those places.

It’s just that the two met in one of those places.

‘It’s what I already knew.’

Although not entirely satisfactory, it was a result worth the effort.

‘There’s also the assumption that Maria noticed the surveillance and said something else, but…’

Well. At least it doesn’t seem that way now.

Not only does Maria not seem like a person who could exercise such cunning, but if that were the case, then this experience has really changed her from the roots up and there’s no way to prepare for it in the first place. To respond to this, I’d have to use more defensive moves.

Of course, there’s also the option of just getting rid of her now, but…

-Clatter.

“No.”

It’s Mire standing beside me now that concerns me.

‘She won’t betray me, but she could break.’

This was one of the events that often happened in MilDun 1 too.

An event where a familiar who had already been turned into a summon breaks for ‘some unknown reason’ when executing the family of the original person.

It would be too optimistic to think that wouldn’t happen here.

Of course, objectively speaking, losing her alone wouldn’t cause a great loss in combat power. Although she has a heroic-grade characteristic, she hasn’t become a great force right away.

‘If she disappears, they’ll probably be quite discouraged…’

The reason I’m wary of her breaking is just because of my ‘attachment’.

The attachment I originally had for summons has been further strengthened coming to this place where it has become reality.

So I wanted to ‘own’ Maria as much as possible.

There’s half a mind to collect as a gamer’s collection, but the biggest reason is to not lose the attachment I’ve really gained since coming here.

I don’t particularly intend to maintain humanity as a Dungeon Lord, but I also don’t intend to become a monster without a heart.

Taking care that Sonia and Maria don’t completely break down now is also part of that thinking.

-Clatter clatter.

“It’s better to step on rotten hope in advance for that person’s sake. Sonia.”

“Master…”

After letting go of the ‘Necromancer’s Eye’ and watching it crawl away, I greeted the woman who entered the room.

“I came at your call. Please…”

Watching me with very shaky eyes, she just bowed her whole body in the manner of addressing an extremely high person, seemingly unable to come up with an appropriate reply.

I could understand the meaning.

“Even if you don’t ask. I don’t particularly intend to do anything to her. I’m one who cherishes my possessions.”

“…Thank you.”

The atmosphere of her lowering her eyebrows as she rose from her seat exuded a very empty feeling.

As a result of living under the threat of a constitution related to lifespan all her life, she came to exude a somewhat ephemeral and pitiful atmosphere as if she might give up her life at any time.

『Magic Overadaptation – Currently sealed.』

There was one characteristic that could be cited as the reason this woman acquired such an atmosphere.

This heroic-grade characteristic, ‘Magic Overadaptation,’ is a high-quality characteristic that naturally increases magic power while living and increases the stability limit of that magic power.

However, because the discovery of this ability was delayed, excessive magic power stopped her physical development, so her physical abilities were practically fixed at the childhood level before becoming an adventurer.

It’s like she forcibly dragged a body that essentially couldn’t do adventurer work, with the help of friends.

“Now… choose.”

“What…?”

And now I’m going to retrieve this woman’s characteristic.

“Whether you maintain that ‘blessing’ you have. Or shed that lifelong shackle and become an ordinary mage. I’m curious what your choice will be.”

“…”

Through one of two methods.