kscans

Chapter 43 - Writing

The ‘E-Rank Dungeon’ we arrived at was thankfully not that crowded.

Even so, the parking lot was about thirty percent full. Before, it would have been much emptier.

They were probably people who started at ‘E’ like us, or maybe they had ranked up a little while ago... Either way, they must have come to the dungeon thinking they could earn more at ‘E-Rank.’

Things have really changed.

With that thought in mind, we finished our usual preparations and headed into the dungeon.

The place we emerged into after passing through the gate was a passageway paved with stone.

The ceiling curved into an arch, and the walls, though crumbling, were clearly once solid stone.

The passage was about one lane wide. The ceiling was high, about four meters up.

But the most notable feature wasn’t the shape of the ceiling, but what was next to it.

—trickle, trickle, trickle...

Next to the path, there was a large waterway.

There was a three-meter drop from the path we were standing on, and water was flowing there.

Slightly murky water was flowing through it, but it was shallow. The store information said that if you put your finger in, it would only go up to the first knuckle.

I wondered if the place I was standing on now was used for inspecting the waterway... As I thought that, I looked around, relying on the lights set up by the SDF.

"This sound... don’t tell me, Kyo-chan-kun...!"

"Of course not."

"It’s okay, Kyo-chan-kun. Sometimes there are physiological urges you just can’t help...!"

"I see. You want to hear the sound of water, right? I’ll bring a plastic tank and a towel next time."

"I am sorry from the bottom of my heart."

"I forgive you."

"Enhanced interrogation... a modern ninja...!?"

"I am not."

I don’t understand why she’s so determined to make me a ninja.

After asking Erina-san to keep watch, I formed ‘Byakuren’s’ body. I showed her marble eyes a picture of the monsters that appear here.

"Ready to go."

"Y-Yes. Then let’s begin our exploration."

"Right."

"Let’s go!"

Fortunately, there were lights set up by the SDF, so the inside of the dungeon was quite bright. Still, the drop-off created many blind spots, so we had to be careful.

About thirty seconds after we started walking, we found an SDF paint marking. About a minute after that, Erina-san let out a small voice.

"I hear footsteps up ahead. Three of them."

"Got it."

"You two, be careful, it might be people. This dungeon is large, so I don’t think you’ll run into other adventurers often, but..."

"Right."

Since we ran into Miyoshi-san twice in the Cockatrice dungeon, it was possible we’d run into people again this time.

If we mistook a person for a monster and attacked, it would be a disaster. The conversation about the increase in people going to dungeons on the way here made me hesitate to reach for my knife.

"It’s okay."

But from behind me and to the side, Erina-san’s calm voice spoke.

"Those aren’t human footsteps."

"...Got it."

I firmly gripped the hilt of my knife with my left hand.

Then, from around the gentle curve of the passage ahead, humanoid figures appeared.

But, as Erina-san said, they weren’t human.

Pitch-black eyes with no whites, and sharp, bared teeth. They had no neck, but a head with gills. Their slimy scales covered their entire bodies, and while their skeletons were similar to humans, they had webbing between their fingers and toes.

I felt their large, bulging eyes turn towards us.

‘Sahuagin.’

The monsters, which could best be described as ‘fishmen,’ roared at us, tridents in hand.

GYA GYA!!

Almost simultaneously, I threw a knife and a shuriken. They pierced the scales, and the lead Sahuagin fell on its back, spilling red blood.

As its corpse began to turn to salt, the two behind it charged, trampling over it with their weapons ready.

In response, I also stepped forward, cloaking my blade in wind. Just as the opponent was about to thrust its spearhead, thinking it was in range, I swung my sword in a horizontal slash.

The tip of my blade didn’t reach. But the wind I’d gathered around it struck their scale-covered bodies and sent them flying.

Their scales cracked, and the flesh beneath was crushed. One was slammed against the wall, and the other was blown backward.

The one that hit the wall stopped moving, and the one that was blown away was just twitching.

To be safe, I stomped on the former before thrusting my sword into it, and Erina-san finished off the latter with a shuriken.

As expected, I wouldn’t struggle against an ‘E-Rank’ enemy at this point. While staying vigilant, I gripped my sword a little tighter, confirming my own growing strength.

After making sure all three had turned to salt, I collected the dropped coins.

"Yes. Your wind seems to have grown more powerful, Kyo-chan-kun. In fact, you should have just reached ‘LV: 13’ with that."

"Looks like it."

I replied to the earring as I handed the coins to Erina-san.

"It seems you had a lot of experience points stored up from the last boss fight. In any case, congratulations."

"Congrats!"

"Thank you."

...Somehow, it’s nice to have it presented as a clear number like ‘LV.’ It gives me a real sense that I’m getting stronger.

I don’t even really know what ‘LV’ actually is, though.

"I’m level ‘10’ now! Let’s master the way of the ninja together!"

"Ah, yeah. Good luck with that."

"You’re treating it like it has nothing to do with you!?"

Because it doesn’t. I’m not a ninja.

After that conversation, we resumed our exploration. We continued on, defeating Sahuagin as we went.

Along the way, we marked a spot near an exit before continuing. Following Aira-san’s instructions, we walked through the maze-like waterway.

"Ah, I hear fighting sounds from the right."

"Hmm. Then let’s go straight and turn right at the second intersection."

"Okay!"

If there was fighting, it must be another party.

Unless they ran into a boss monster, anyone who had managed to rank up shouldn’t have much trouble. With that thought, we proceeded a little further, and Erina-san spotted a Sahuagin up ahead.

"About eight meters ahead. Looks like three of them are hiding at the edge of the waterway. Their breathing isn’t human, and I caught a glimpse of a trident tip, so I’m sure of it."

"Got it."

I readjusted my grip on my sword and replied in a low voice.

But they were below the ledge. I had the high ground, but I didn’t have much experience fighting an enemy with such a height difference, so it felt a little awkward.

To be safe, I sent Byakuren ahead to scout.

GYA GYA!

As we approached the spot where the enemy was likely waiting, three Sahuagin thrust their tridents at me, who was in the middle of our formation.

"Whoa!?"

I predicted their trajectory with my Spirit Eye and jumped to evade. Immediately after, a shuriken struck one of the Sahuagin.

The creature let out a short cry and fell back. But it probably wasn’t finished.

One still thrust its trident at me from below, while another tried to climb up the ledge.

I had Byakuren block the one climbing up while I dodged the trident and swung my sword down. But—

"Geh."

With a sharp clang, the tip of my sword hit the stone pavement. This is so awkward!

In that case, I jumped down to the lower level. The water was shallow and didn’t hinder my movements much.

GYO!?

The creature with a shuriken sticking out of its face turned its trident towards me. But before it could thrust, I punched it in the face with my left hand, sending it flying.

Its head caved in, and the impact slammed it against the wall. I quickly scanned for the remaining two. The Sahuagin that had been thrusting from below was now facing me, and the one that had been trying to climb up had been knocked down by Byakuren, a shuriken now embedded in its face.

GYA GYA!

With a strange cry, the Sahuagin thrust its trident at me, but I stepped forward diagonally to evade and cut it down with a diagonal slash.

I spun the tip of my sword once and delivered another diagonal slash to the last one. It blocked with its trident, but I forced my way through and sliced it apart.

The corpse, bisected along with its weapon, rolled away. I maintained my guard, watching my surroundings with my back to the wall, but all three soon turned to salt.

As I was collecting the coins, a voice called down from above.

"Kyo-chan, you okay? Can you climb up on your own?"

"Ah, yeah. I’m fi—"

Without thinking, I looked up and saw a pair of slender, shapely legs, and beyond them, what looked like panties... no, black inner shorts.

And, as she leaned forward to look down at me, her large breasts bounced with a jiggle.

I forced myself to look away from the white absolute territory, the slightly high-cut inner shorts, and the voluptuous chest. I felt like the image was seared into my retinas, but I tried not to think about it for now.

"I’m fine! I’ll be right up!"

"...This is inner wear, you know?"

"I get it! So don’t lift up your hem!"

As I leaped up the ledge in a single bound, Erina-san tilted her head and playfully lifted the hem of her kimono.

Please stop. I’ll be paralyzed.

"Stop it, Erina-kun. You’ll make Kyo-chan-kun get stuck, you know? Since he’s so... up and all!!"

"Arisugawa-san. Please stop with that kind of talk."

"Full name?!"

Thanks to the unfortunate college student’s unfortunate remark, I somehow managed to switch my focus back.

This is a dungeon. A life-threatening workplace. Banish worldly desires. Be cool, calm down, Yagawa Kyouta.

"So, it’s right at the next intersection, correct?"

"Yes. Your friend, Aira-chan, age 21, guarantees it."

"‘Chan’?"

"‘Tan’ is also fine, you know?"

"Isn’t that a bit of a stretch...?"

"Roger, Paisen-chan!"

"Erina-kun is such an honest and good child. You’ll be a professor or a minister one day."

"Nope! I’ll be the leader of a ninja village!!"

"Okay. Let’s stop this conversation. I feel like it’ll never end."

Our usual banter brought my thoughts back to normal. I let out a sigh of relief.

Maybe that was Aira-san’s way of being considerate.

"Thank you."

"Eh? Are you thanking me for the chance to see Erina-kun’s inner wear...? I’m a little put off by that."

"That’s not it, you—I hope you break your pinky."

"Break it?!"

"Paisen-chan, we’re at the intersection!"

"Ah, right. Then please go right. Also, please don’t use ‘chan’ anymore."

"Roger!"

Apparently, even Aira-san found it hard to be called ‘chan’ by someone younger. I think she should have realized that before she said it.

In any case, after proceeding for a while, Erina-san stopped.

"Ah, Paisen. I found what you were talking about!"

"Excellent."

I followed Erina-san’s pointed finger and saw what looked like ‘writing,’ though it was quite faded.

But I couldn’t read it. I couldn’t even understand a single word; I couldn’t even tell if they were letters. It was something that looked like writing.

It wasn’t English or Chinese. It was another, unknown language.

"Is this it?"

"Yes. I’m filming it on my end, but please record it on your end as well."

"Okay!"

With that, Erina-san took out a large camera from her Item Box.

While keeping an eye on our surroundings, I spoke to the earring.

"What does this say?"

"I have no idea. It doesn’t match any language on Earth, you see."

Aira-san said something incredible so casually. But at this point, I wasn’t surprised.

After all, this was discovered right after the dungeons appeared.

When the SDF and police entered dungeons all over the country to investigate, they found many instances of such unknown languages.

Sometimes in books, sometimes on signs, and sometimes, like this, carved directly into walls. It seemed to be in common use.

Of course, scholars all over the world are studying it, but they’ve only managed to decipher a small portion. The contents, which were recently made public, seem to be some kind of administrative report.

Things like, ‘We are running low on wooden planks, please send more,’ or, ‘Groundwater has erupted, no entry beyond this point.’

The hypothesis that dungeons were originally facilities used by some kind of intelligent life form is gaining more traction than ever.

But I digress.

Aira-san specified this dungeon so that her research lab could secure a ‘photo that can be definitively said to be unprocessed.’

Drop items from this dungeon can’t be brought into the lab, but just a photo of this text will get us ‘100,000 yen.’

I’m truly grateful. Aira-san apparently negotiated with the professor for me.

She often says strange things, but she can be reliable.

"The most likely theory is that it’s related to the management of this waterway. This place is clearly man-made. On top of that, the water flowing through the channel is apparently a mix of fresh and salt water. How very interesting."

"Is that so...? Do you think people really lived here?"

"Who knows. It’s highly likely that an intelligent life form was here, but whether you can call it human is unknown. Even if you define human very broadly, they could have looked like octopus aliens for all we know."

As Aira-san spoke with a laugh, Erina-san reported back, camera in hand.

"Paisen, I took the pictures just like you said!"

"Very good. Now, please return to collecting drop items. And you two, don’t overdo it."

"Roger!"

"Right."

＊　　　　　＊　　　　　＊

About two and a half hours later, after defeating nearly fifty Sahuagin, we were on our way back. I was once again reminded of how useful Erina-san’s Five Senses Enhancement is, not just for detecting approaching enemies, but also for hunting them down.

The subjugation reward for the two of us was ‘50,000 yen.’ Since we defeated so many, I was happy to get a good amount. The reward from the research lab will be added to this, so my wallet is feeling warm.

Speaking of money.

"By the way, Erina-san. Aren’t you going to sell your share of the coins?"

I still don’t have enough materials, so I plan to save up my drop items for a while.

But it seems she also plans to take her coins home without selling them anywhere.

As we were rocked by the bus heading to the station, I asked Erina-san, who was sitting next to me.

"Yup! It’s a secret for now."

"Oh."

"But you can look forward to it! I’m a capable ninja, after all!"

Erina-san puffed out her chest proudly. I averted my eyes from her and simply replied with a short, "I see."

Apparently, she was planning to make something too. She shouldn’t have any production-type skills, but maybe she has a connection?

glance... glance, glance

"...Can you at least give me a hint about what you’re going to use them for?"

"Mmm, no can do, Kyo-chan! Ninjas don’t talk about their secret tools."

Erina-san wagged her finger, saying, "Tsk, tsk, tsk." She was so obviously fishing for me to ask, and this is what I get.

"I hear Kyo-chan-kun wants to uncover a maiden’s secret."

"That’s a straightforwardly misleading way to put it."

"Very well. Then how about this, Erina-kun: if you win in a game, you get a hint."

"I’d love to!"

"Please be quiet on the bus."

"Okay."

"Okay."

...It’s a secret that my gaze momentarily fell on Erina-san’s lips.

For a guy to do that to a girl is definitely out of bounds. And I definitely don’t have the guts to ‘place my finger’ on her lips.

And so, the first round of material gathering was over. It seems there’s still a long way to go.

Incidentally, Erina-san went on to win all ten rounds of ‘Matsuo Race’ after this. Seriously, this self-proclaimed ninja...