Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 28: In Search of Fame VII

Translator : Solo

It was a large space.

There were ornaments that had the atmosphere of a civilization of unknown origin, remains of what looked like ceremonial implements of unknown purpose, and an altar that honored an unknown entity.

We would run into spaces like this from time to time in this dungeon.

They seemed to be the remnants of a civilization from the remote past, but if I were to attempt to puzzle out the who, why and what, even the lifespan of the long-lived races wouldn't be enough. Well, it's a history that has little to do with us.

As if it was protecting the altar, Dragon-Tortoise Midoranga was sleeping quietly in front of it.

It looked the same as when we first saw it. The difference was that there were several weapons stuck in its shell. Also, there were bloodstains and fresh remnants of weapons and armor scattered about.

But it sure was big.

It was 8 meters wide and 2.5 meters tall. The length of its neck inside the shell was estimated to be 10 meters or more. The circumference of its neck was 2 meters. Its size was such that it could no longer leave this space.

Didn’t this guy grow bigger in the last three days? What was it eating? Oh right, adventurers and the like? The pigs here are big too, and I suppose they're quite nutritious.

「Everyone is in position, right? I’m going to do a radio check. Respond when your name is called」

Stuck near everyone’s throat and ear were stickers for communication purposes. Those stickers would play the role of microphone and speaker.

「Rana」

『Here』

「Ea」

『Here~』

「Irvin」

『Yeah』

「Shuna」

『Ugh, this makes me feel sick』

「Bel」

『Yes, here~』

「Zenobia」

『Why am I always the last one?』

「Signal strength is good」

I confirmed Rana, Bel and Zenobia’s positions, which were next to a passageway that they could escape into. Slightly in front of them, Irvin and Shuna were on the right while Ea and me were on the left.

「Izora, final check」

『Understood. ………………No problems detected』

「Operation start. Everyone, psych yourselves up and get ready. Ea, I’m counting on you」

「Understood」

Ea rolled the barrel forward as she approached Midoranga. Because she was approaching it much too causally, I got flustered.

「E, Ea. Quietly, don't make so much noise」

『It's fine, don’t worry, this guy isn’t the type of animal that attacks on its own accord』

Ea, who was now a distance away, replied via communication. She advanced leisurely while the barrel made a huge racket as it rolled. Once the barrel was placed at the specified position, she started sprinkling salt and silver coins evenly around it. She was doing it so carelessly that I feared for her the entire time. It was bad for my heart.

『It’s done, I’m heading back, alright?』

She returned at a trot. Midoranga kept an eye on Ea’s retreating figure, but quickly lost interest and went back to sleep. Cold sweat was gushing out of my every pore and my heart rate kept on rising.

「Onii-chan. That tortoise doesn’t have a sense of caution. My guess is that it has never experienced dangerous situations or pain ever since it was born. It’s like a pet that has never been outdoors」

「It’s too strong so the other monsters were no match for it?」

「Probably」

It was a little pitiful, but I wasn’t going to pull back simply because of that.

「Irvin, start moving」

『Alright』

Irvin positioned himself near the enemy.

「Rana, Bel, Zenobia, I’m counting on the three of you」

Rana thrust her staff into the ground, spread her arms, and weaved a web of words.

「Oh Ezusu, my god, in your great name, pass my words on to the gods worshipped alongside you. Midras of Suimei, your divine grace in my right hand」

A mass of water materialized in Rana’s right hand.

「Ri?Bau, the color of death, your powers of ruin in my left hand」

Ominous white smoke billowed from her left hand.

「Combine」

She put her palms together,

「Come into being」

A long ice spear came into being when she spread her hands apart. It seemed that this magic was incompatible with Rana, so casting this once would empty her magic power.

「By means of this spear, I herald the winter of death. Hohens?Romea?The Neomia!」

After taking a few steps as a run-up, Rana threw the spear with superb form.

That elicited a reaction from Midoranga.

It opened both eyes and twisted its body. It clearly feared that spear. However, Rana had aimed the spear accurately at Midoranga's core.

The spear stuck into the base of its neck.

It let out a scream.

Its cry sounded like metal scraping against metal.

「Urghh」

The violent screech of the audio feedback from the speakers in my glasses assaulted my ears.

「Zenobia!」

My ears were ringing, so I couldn’t hear her reply.

I was relieved when I caught sight of her movements out of the corner of my eye. Countless small balls of fire materialized and flew forward. The flames homed in on the spear and destroyed everything but the spear’s tip.

It burst into a cloud of ice crystals that fell like hail.

「Ea, let's go」

「You better not miss, Onii-chan」

I moved in unison with my sister beside me and nocked an arrow. It was a specially manufactured arrow that was made of silver from tip to shaft.

「Now」

I released the arrow. The target was the remnant of the ice spear's tip. Our arrows stuck inch-perfect into our target. They weren’t deep, but they had reached its flesh.

「Okay, Bel!」

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『Waa, I'm the divine medium, Beltorichee~』

Bel’s voice cracked from nervousness. Midoranga fixed its gaze on Rana, and then it extended its long neck and shot its head forward. Its force and speed could be mistaken for a cannonball fired from a cannon.

However,

『Not going to happen!』

Irvin blocked its jaws with his shield. Frightening fangs bit down on his shield. Its snake head lifted Irvin's body up and was about to swing him around, but right then, Shuna slashed at its scales with his longsword.

『Damn it, I can't cut through!』

Although he couldn't cut through the scales, Midoranga loosened its fangs and released Irvin.

Ea and I switched to normal arrows and started providing support. Our target was its eyes, but we couldn’t hit them as its head could move faster than the arrows. Midoranga turned its killing intent towards Irvin and lashed out at him.

「Bel, calm down. We still have time to spare」

『O, okay』

Rana took Bel’s hand, which was trembling from the pressure she was under, and gripped her own staff.

『Calm down and repeat after me』

『Okie』

Rana chanted first, and then Bel repeated the words after her.

『Divine medium, Beltoriche, offer my wishes to the present-day gods. Oh Ukazor, my main god, hear my wishes』

『Di, di, divine medium, Beltoriche, asks present-day Ukazor-sama』

It was a somewhat hesitant chant, but Bel continued her chant with everything that she had.

『I seek power. I beg for a miracle from the god worshipped alongside you. Luteyugun of Kazaana, manifest your power before us』

『I, I’m, I seek………………I, I’m………begging for a miracle, from the god worshipped alongside……』

Rana whispered something in Bel's ear. The teary-eyed expression disappeared from Bel’s face. Looking like she had changed into another person, words flowed easily from Bel's mouth.

『Luteyugun of Kazaana, manifest your miracle and grace at its location. Oh wind, dance, start with a whirlwind, and become a rampaging tornado of destruction. Twist, go round and round, engulf, crush, absorb everything, freeze, and reenact the tragedy of Neomia, the capital of death! Raging storm, bring a downpour of icy rain, freeze even its scream, and cast down the “icicle" of death from the skies above』

With a shadow of devilishness on her face, Bel released her magic.

『Rauaryuna?Romea?Brinicle!』

The scattered pieces of ice were caught up by the vortex of wind that had formed.

I nocked and released my trump card, the Misuranika arrow. It pierced the barrel, which had fallen over, and exploded. The Reika water, which has a high affinity with magic, was drawn into the vortex, which then intensified into a storm.

「Irvin! Shuna!」

『Got it!』

『Here I come! ORAAAA!』

The shield and the longsword intercepted Midoranga's sixth bite with perfect timing. They caught hold of its jaws and launched the snake head back towards its shell.

「Now! Defensive magic!」

Irvin held up a symbol.

Zenobia held up her staff.

『Beautiful Lyridias. Bestow upon “it” your benevolence, dedication, and the grace of protection. Zamonglass?Romea?Tirungu!』

『Oh fire. Marry the elements and become a wall of light. Illuminate tranquility, protect “its” food, and become a defensive barrier』

The combined defensive magic enveloped Midoranga. The huge Dragon-Tortoise was completely encased in a dome of light.

And, just in time,

The final stage of Bel's magic had arrived.

The melting ice mixed with the salt, and absorbed the heat from the surroundings. Buffeted by the storm, whose temperature had dropped below 0°C in a flash, Midoranga was dyed white. The extremely low temperature sucked out heat through the silver coins that were lodged in its shell and the silver arrows stuck in its wound, freezing Midoranga from the outside and the inside at the same time.

Its scream had been frozen.

But this was merely the medium for what was happening next.

Zenobia’s wall of light maintained the temperature inside. Moreover, it gathered the cold air that had been lifted up at the center of the upper portion of the dome, which then formed into a smothering maelstrom of pure-white that slowly descended.

Freezing-point depression, silver, Reika water, and the prayers of a divine medium. It was a miracle brought about by piling up all of these factors.

A new type of magic invented by Rana.

Magic that used phenomena as a medium, Brinicle <Icicle of Death>.

It was insane.

Makina’s measurements indicated that the temperature had become absolute zero(-273.15°C) in an instant. It was a destruction that stopped the breath of each and every molecule.

Yesterday, they had failed to control it and had turned part of the plain into a tundra, creating pillars of ice that were 15 meters tall. They had plenty of room to escape yesterday, but not today.

However, Irvin’s defensive magic had been added as a barrier, so――

『Souya, I'm sorry. I can't hold it any longer』

『Oh, it's impossible on my end as well』

The two of them gave up in no time.

Wait, are you serious? If we get caught up in it, it’ll freeze everyone to the bone!

「Bel, stop the magic. Bel! ………Bel?」

There was no reply. I had a bad feeling. I ran up to her.

「Freeze, freeze, stop the blood and soul, stop, stop, prescribe time and history, prescribe, destruction――――」

「Rana, is this that thing? The trance state?」

「Yes」

With lifeless eyes, Bel continued to chant softly.

Rana shook her and Zenobia slapped her, but there was no reaction. That time with Rana, she had returned because of Ea’s technique. But Bel had no breasts, and there was already no time. I had no time for hesitation, and there was no time to lose.

I had no choice.

「I’m sorry!」

Even I myself had no idea who I was apologizing to.

I took Bel's chin and kissed her.

I pressed our lips together.

I was afraid so I didn’t look at Rana’s face. I did see Zenobia’s face freeze with shock.

This was something that I had no choice but to do.

There was still no reaction.

To hell with it, I thought as I stuck my tongue in and entwined it with hers. I traced the upper part of her mouth with the tip of my tongue and also traced the back of her teeth. This incredible technique was passed down directly from Tyutyu.

「………………ch」

Light returned to Bel's eyes, and the magic behind me dispersed.

And then, I ate a full-armed slap from Zenobia.

「Gufuu」

「You pervert! Aren’t you a married man?! Hey, Bel! Bel! Hang in there! The wound isn't deep!」

Bel, who was being shaken by the shoulders by Zenobia, regained consciousness.

「Fuwaa, wh, what? I have the feeling that I was doing something unbelievable, but……」

「It’s troublesome so leave it for later. It’s okay, I'll claim plenty of money as damages from that man for you」

It was unavoidable though.

I did it to protect the lives of everyone in the party though.

「Dear」

Oh crap.

Rana edged up to me quietly. She grabbed my poncho and drew me closer.

She stole my lips clumsily.

「We’ll continue this later」

「Okay」

It was too sudden, so my feelings were completely muddled.

『Heyー, can you have your lover’s quarrel outside?』

Hearing Irvin's voice, I regained my senses. Yeah, we were in the middle of a battle.

I looked back at the enemy.

The dome of light had held up somehow. Because of the dispersed Brinicle, white spray coated the entire dome. I couldn’t see inside it at all.

「Irvin, stop the defensive――――」

One beat faster than my order, the snake head shattered the defensive magic and sent Irvin flying. His body was thrown back violently and he ended up embedded in the wall.

「GOOOOAAAAAARRRR!」

It was the cry of a creature that was close to death.

Midoranga had already been fatally wounded. Its body had split in half from the wound caused by the silver arrows, and I caught a glimpse of its frozen innards. Its death had merely been delayed because its blood vessels had been frozen. If we simply left it alone, it would die.

However, a saying like this exists:

Beasts show their true colors after they have been wounded.

「Rana, Bel, Zenobia, all of you get to a safe place!」

I couldn't hear their reply.

Midoranga went wild. It writhed in pain and the snake head thrashed about.

I had to dive in there in order to help Irvin. I would die in one blow, wouldn’t I? Nevertheless, that wasn’t a good enough reason for me to stop in my tracks, was it?

「Ea, cover me」

「I’m already doing it! There’s no effec, GYAA!」

Ea was struck by the snake head. It wasn’t a direct hit, and she broke the fall safely when she landed. She immediately released an arrow. It had no effect.

I also released an arrow, but it didn't hit its vitals. I couldn't get any closer.

The snake head smashed into a spot near Irvin. No matter how much regeneration point he had left, he wasn’t going to survive being crushed into a pancake. This was bad. It was really bad. I had no moves left.

『Haaa............... Good grief, do I have to do something about it using “that”?』

「Shuna?! Do you have a way to deal with it?」

『I do have one, but……………… I'm sorry, Teacher』

A distance away, Shuna held his sword in a stance. His own face was reflected on the body of his blade.

『My name is Shuna. The kin of Gladvain, who is renowned for martial skill and strength. Endow one fragment of that martial skill in my arms. With my technique, with my actions, I’ll become a new legend of Gladvain! The heroic blow that slayed the evil dragon, tch――』

The snake neck was bearing down on Shuna.

「Huh?」

Shuna’s figure disappeared.

In a blink of an eye, he reappeared on top of its shell.

『EAT THISSSSSS!』*

His longsword flashed through the air.

It was a god-like blow.

It was cracking to pieces from being frozen, but nonetheless, Shuna cut clean through the tough shell. In exchange, his longsword shattered like ice.

A howl-like cry rang out.

Midoranga was on its last legs.

But, even with this, it still wasn’t dead.

The snake head, which had rampaged about so much earlier, was now targeting Shuna with the calmness of something that knew that it was already dead. Its eyes practically said, I’ll take you down with me. It opened its jaws.

『Damn it!』

Having lost his longsword, there was nothing Shuna could do.

Right then,

『What do you mean "good grief"?』

I heard Irvin’s voice.

Before I knew it,

He was in the air, high up above Shuna’s head. He raised his shield.

With the speed of his fall and the weight of his equipment combined with all of his strength and spirit, he swung his shield downwards.

The metallic crash trailed off, and silence fell over the surroundings.

After one beat,

Starting from the cut made by Shuna, Midoranga broke apart. Having lost all strength, the snake head crashed down to the ground with its tongue still out, and its shell shattered into countless fragments.

「………………」

Nobody said anything. Amidst the chill in the air, lukewarm sweat streamed down my face.

Kicking aside the fragments of the shell, Irvin supported Shuna with his shoulder, and the two of them walked over.

They stopped in front of me.

「Leader, it's over」

「Oh……………… Ohh, we won?」

I ended up giving Irvin a foolish-sounding reply.

I had challenged it because I thought that we could win, but now that we had really won, it didn’t feel real to me.

「We won, right?」

「Yes, it’s because of you and everyone in the party」

My knees started trembling after all this time. Someone would have died if we had taken one wrong step. There were also countless problem areas. I’ll leave them as experiences to draw from on another occasion, and――

「Everyone. The operation is over. We won」

Ea came up and hugged me.

In addition, the trio of women also walked over to us. Huh? There was a familiar figure behind them.

『I hadn’t expected a greenhorn party to be able to defeat it』

I was surprised by that unexpected voice.

There was a doll in front of me. It was about 30 cm in size and was made of burlap. It had small wings ornaments on its back.

「Was the Guild President observing as well?」

Evetta-san, who was following behind Rana and the rest, walked over.

「Wh, why are the two of you――」

In response to my question,

『Well, it seemed like it would be interesting, so I decided to observe』

The doll that appeared to be the Guild President said.

「Same here」

Came Evetta-san’s reply. This was bad, wasn’t it?

「But Souya, didn’t you say that you wouldn’t participate in the subjugation of Midoranga?」

「Please come here for a moment, I have something to discuss with the two of you」

I left Ea with Rana, and then moved to a corner of the space along with the Guild President and Evetta-san.

「Please keep it a secret that my party had participated in the subjugation of Midoranga」

『Huh?』

The two of them replied in unison.

「For Irvin to gain fame, the fact that he had worked together with elves is problematic. I beg you. If this can be settled with money, I’ll pay」

『If you put it like that, then for the time being, gold coins———————』

The doll of the Guild President was crushed under Evetta-san’s foot.

「I would have refused if you wanted to inflate your fame. But if what you want is to hide your fame, then I accept. The Guild won’t lose anything regarding this matter anyways. Souya, are your party members okay with this? Did you properly discuss it with them many times?」

「I’ve already taken that into consideration」

I had gotten everyone’s agreement on this matter when we formed the party.

「Then, as your person-in-charge, I have nothing more to say. I’m going to call people over to collect the materials, so I suppose Souya should leave」

「Understood」

After grinding and crushing the doll flat, Evetta-san left.

I went back to everyone.

「Rana, Ea, we're heading back. It seems that the people from the Guild are coming to collect the materials」

「Okay」

「Understood~」

「Wait a minute」

We were stopped by Shuna.

「Do we really have to pretend that you guys had nothing to do with this?」

「Yes. That was what we decided when we formed the party, right?」

Shuna should have agreed as well.

「That's true. But it’s the same as that time with the giant. We would have never defeated that tortoise without Rana-san’s magic」

「No, it's not just me. Without Bel-san, that magic would not have been possible」

Hearing Rana's reply, Shuna pressed me.

「That’s just it, isn’t it?! This is something that was done by the seven of us! Not one, not four, but seven people did this. No matter the reason, strong people should receive praise and be proud of it! I cannot accept hiding it after all」

What are you saying at a time like this?

Was Shuna seeing an overlap between his teacher and our current situation? If I remembered correctly, it was a pitiful situation where the talented person who brought up a genius swordsman like him wasn’t acknowledged by society simply because she was a beastkin.

However, this was something that was absolutely non-negotiable.

It was for Irvin’s sake, and it was also a problem for me as the leader. So long as it was something that had been decided, I must never budge.

「Shuna, I’m ordering you as the leader. Don't bring up this matter ever again. Rana, Ea and I weren’t here. Midoranga was defeated by the four of you. That won’t change, no matter what. Do you hear me?」

「………………」

He glared at me silently.

「Answer me」

「If you're not here, then there's no reason for me to follow your orders」

「Shuna!」

I raised my voice, not in anger, but in shock.

「Souya, stop it」

Irvin stepped in between Shuna and me, who were on the verge of getting into a fight.

But I was definitely not going to yield.

No matter how much of a genius swordsman he was, this guy was still a child mentally. He didn’t understand how to deal with people’s self-interest and authority. He didn’t understand, even if reason and sound logic were presented to him. He felt that he had to correct those above him, even if he had to be a little forceful. If I backed off now, he would get carried away and become arrogant. In the adventuring business, where a person’s life was always at risk, arrogance was the closest thing to death.

Be it behind the scenes or whatever, I had decided to be their leader.

That was why, even if it kills me, I won’t let them die.

In the worst case, I would have to stop him and make him listen, even if I had to shoot him in the leg. If that still didn’t work, then I would have to break him in.

If it was against a bare-handed Shuna, the odds were in my favor as I had a bow.

『Proximity warning, it may be another party. If you intend to disperse, then you should hurry』

Izora's warning poured cold water on us.

「Shuna, we’ll continue this after everyone is upstairs. Just this once, I’m not going to let you have it your way. Keep that in mind」

He replied me with a click of his tongue.

When I was about to leave the space along with the sisters,

「Wait a moment, Ea」

Irvin called out and stopped someone unexpected.

「Huh, what?」

Ea couldn’t hide her surprise as well. This was the first time they had communicated with each other face to face.

Irvin knelt down in front of Ea and held up a symbol. It was a silver accessory in the shape of Φ <Phi>. It was proof that he had received a baptism from St. Lyridias, and was also a medium for using her magic and miracles.

I hadn’t noticed because of the rush of blood to my head. Ea’s regeneration point had run out. She was bleeding a little from her knee.

「It’s such beautiful skin. It would be bad to leave a scar on it」

Irvin chanted healing magic. Bathed in its warm light, Ea’s wound disappeared.

「Th, thank you」

Feeling bewildered, Ea thanked him.

The sisters and I kept out of sight as we made our way back. The adventure wasn’t over until we got back home. I still had to stay on my toes.

We had defeated the evil title, Dragon-Tortoise Midoranga.

However, the sense of accomplishment had vanished because of the dispute with Shuna.

It would be great if it didn’t come back to bite me in future, but I was concerned.

In addition,

「Come to think of it, Onii-chan, you kissed Bel, right?」

「Butsuu」

「After that, he also did it with me」

「Then, do you want to do it with me too?」

「Ea!」

Rana got angry with Ea. There was also a reason for concern here.