Chapter 55
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
After taking care of the Gatekeeper in the 3rd District, I collected the magic stone and walked toward the door ahead.
According to the map, this area also seems to be a passage, but when I got closer, the door itself wasn’t that big.
It was about the size of a convenience store’s double doors.
With a door like this, it would be hard for carts to pass through, and big companies must be struggling to transport supplies to their bases… I thought to myself,
”!”
The moment my hand touched the door, it vanished, and at the same time, a passage appeared that was about the same width as the one I had just come through.
The passage continued for about 100 meters (≈ 328 feet), and I could see light coming from the 4th District at the end.
I had heard that there was day and night inside the dungeon, but it seemed to be daytime ahead.
Since it wasn’t completely dark from the light coming from the end, I decided to switch my night vision goggles back to magic power here.
Now then.
According to the map, there’s a spacious square when I exit to the 4th District, and I’ve heard that a big company has a base there.
It seems that while waste disposal is easy because slimes and the dungeon itself absorb it, securing water and food is quite difficult.
Since it’s a big company, there must be a lot of people, and as the number of people increases, the needed supplies will also increase.
However, it seems that securing water can be somewhat solved by having magicians, and food can be locally sourced to some extent… but relying on that wouldn’t help with the guild’s evaluation.
As I floated toward the 4th District, making myself invisible, a figure appeared ahead.
”?”
I wondered what it was and slowly approached the figure to get a better look.
Gradually, I could see that the shadowy figures were interacting with someone, and the other person appeared from the opposite side, and the two of them were watching my way.
One was shorter and muscular, while the other was taller and somewhat thin.
At first glance, they didn’t look very strong, but since they had made it this far, they must have some skills.
If I looked at them positively, they seemed like a club trying to recruit successful candidates after the university entrance exam results were announced, but on the other hand, they also looked like they might want to eliminate people as a threat to their earnings.
Which one is it? As I got closer, I could hear their conversation.
”Hey, the door is open, right? There’s no one here?”
”Hmm, did the people die or go home after they defeated the Gatekeeper?”
”Ah, that’s a possibility. Today isn’t some ‘restock day’ or anything, so maybe someone tried to force their way into a big company and couldn’t do it.”
”Should we go check? If they’re dead, there might be something valuable left behind.”
”I didn’t see it open, and I don’t know how much time has passed… it could close at any moment, so it’s dangerous.”
”Then it’s better to avoid it.”
”We’d have to go out the ‘exit’ and circle around too, and if that takes too long, we might not make it back. It’d be impossible to return to the city, and asking others to come with us wouldn’t go over well.”
”Yeah. Still, we should have just gone to pick up some money.”
”I see. We should have gone to check right away.”
”But if, by any chance, it’s an emergency transport team sent by a major company, just going to check it out could be problematic. They might think we’re hoping for them to fail.”
”If it’s the ‘Golden Lion,’ it probably won’t be too much trouble, but with ‘Silver Orchid’ or ‘Gem Snake,’ it could be a hassle. At least for us, we wouldn’t be able to refuse whatever they demand as an apology.”
”Right? Hah, let’s just go.”
”Yeah.”
Saying that, the two left with gloomy faces.
In the end, I couldn’t figure out what their purpose was for passing through the 3rd District, so of course, I couldn’t judge if they were good or bad.
Well, from that exchange, it seemed like they were trying to do something like scavenging… but if the target is already dead, they don’t really care that much.
What I was more curious about was… probably the “arrival date,” which seems to be the schedule for transporting supplies by a big company, and the fact that those outsiders seemed to know about it, along with the existence of a major company called “Silver Orchid.”
As for the first point, could it be that they are trading supplies with adventurers outside the company?
If they aren’t that big, there probably aren’t many of them, and that would make the amount of supplies they can carry a problem.
If the hunting goes well and they get more loot, their load will increase, slowing down their progress and making it harder to deal with monsters.
So, if they were exchanging money or loot for water and food… they could keep earning for a long time, and the trip back would be easier with less stuff to carry.
This is just a guess, and I wonder how that would affect their evaluation and income from the guild… but maybe that’s why outsiders knew about the big company’s supply transport schedule.
There might be other reasons too, but if I want to find out more on-site, I can just look into it.
Now, about the second point that caught my attention… based on the conversation, “Silver Orchid” seems to be the name of a major company, and I was just curious if it has any connection to Iris’s regular place, the “Silver Orchid Inn.”
I might look into this opportunity later.
With that decided, I passed through the corridor and reached the grassland of the 4th District.
* * *
As I stepped into the grassland, a grassy square spread out just as the map showed. A few hundred meters ahead, there was a fenced area right in front of the corridor from the 3rd District.
As I got closer and looked from a little higher up… there was a campsite set up with several tents of different sizes, and there was a larger section with bigger tents, so they might be storing supplies there.
People entering and leaving that base were showing something hanging around their necks at the entrance, so that must be proof of belonging to this company or a pass for outsiders to enter.
Watching the people carrying what looked like loot or supplies, they stopped by a tent with just a roof and pillars right after entering the base.
It looks like the same kind of tent as the first aid tent at the dungeon entrance.
As I lowered my height to see what was happening inside… just as I guessed, they seemed to be trading loot for supplies.
”Okay, half will be water and food, and the other half will be money.”
”Yeah, that works.”
Then the man at the reception prepared some paper and a wooden tag, writing something on each.
”Here you go. Please keep the wooden tag safe until you exchange it at the city office. We won’t take responsibility if you lose it.”
”I understand. See you.”
With that, the adventurers left the reception.
I see.
So here, they assess the loot, write the assessed value on that wooden tag, and then they can exchange it at this company’s office in the city.
The paper seems to be used for gathering supplies here, but I wonder if they separate it from the wooden tags to consider the risk of damage on the way to the city.
I can’t shake the feeling that they might be taking jobs away from the guild… But looking at the guild headquarters and the dismantling area in the city, it gets really crowded during peak times, so having a place like this to gather supplies might actually be convenient.
I’m curious about the company’s profits from these transactions.
Are they making the assessments stricter than the guild’s and keeping the difference as their income?
Since this is inside a dungeon, and there’s a risk of damage during transport, I think it’s fair for them to have some benefits like that.
For now, after confirming that I can trade supplies here, I go back to observing from above.
It’s no surprise that most of the people I see in the base are men, but I occasionally spot a woman too.
Well… there are titles and skills, and there are powers that don’t rely on magic or strength, so it’s not strange to have capable women around.
The woman I’m looking at doesn’t seem to be a magician or a cleric, but she doesn’t look very strong either, so she must have some title or skill.
She looks like she’s just wearing a regular dress and doesn’t seem armed, so I think maybe today is her day off. Just then, she starts looking around and walks into a certain tent.
Curious, I decide to get a bit closer…
”Hey, hurry up. If you take too long, they’ll find out…”
”Yeah, I know. So then…”
”Mm…♡.”
I hear this exchange with a man, and I quickly decide to leave and become transparent.
I don’t have a hobby of eavesdropping on such things, and whether she’s an adventurer or a Cleric sent on a mission, it’s not something others should interfere with if there’s mutual consent.
I thought it would be difficult for someone to monopolize the few female adventurers in the dungeon… but if there’s a safe, hidden place like this, it seems like it could work out, at least on the way there.
That said, they can’t just bring along someone who isn’t useful, so they can’t just increase the number of women randomly. In the end, they still have to be careful about how they treat women in general.
While thinking about such things, I become transparent and, as I took my eyes off the main base, I looked towards the bases on the left and right.
Both are large bases that have secured a wide area, though not as much as the main base.
Outside the plaza, the grassland stretches far, but the base on the left is oddly far away, existing right on the edge of the plaza.
Is there some reason for that?
Putting that aside, there’s a common question about all the bases.
That is, whether the installations won’t be absorbed by slimes or the dungeon.
Anything left alone should be processed by one of those, but as I was thinking this, I noticed some movement at the largest base in front of me.
Several small groups of people scattered in different directions, lightly shaking the tents as they moved around.
Could it be that they are preventing things from being absorbed by the dungeon with that?
If even a little movement keeps things from being absorbed, then that would be effective in avoiding it.
The stakes surrounding the base are also being kicked and shaken, but it seems they aren’t doing the same thing to all the installations… the tent that the earlier woman entered was ignored.
Upon closer inspection, there was a sign that said “In Use” at the entrance of the tent, and the same sign was placed at the entrances of other tents that were being ignored.
If there are people inside, it’s considered in use, so they won’t be absorbed into the dungeon, which means there’s no need to shake it?
That’s why there are only tents and no buildings, I guess, but I still don’t really understand the criteria for judgment.
That aside, there are a few things I need to think about for the future.
It’s about passing through this square.
With such a large base and many people here, it’s hard to go unnoticed using normal methods.
There might be people paying attention to the passage from the 3rd District, just like those 2 earlier.
I don’t want to stand out too much, but the problem is how people will see us coming here as a group of 3.
If they think we’re skilled and try to recruit us, it would make things difficult, so I would obviously refuse.
I hope they give up easily, but if it’s a big organization, it could hurt their pride, and that might lead to trouble.
My goal is just to get one ring to break the curse, so if I prepare supplies with my “Imitation,” I can minimize my load and sneak through at night using night vision goggles, but… I really don’t want others to know that I can create things.
It’s not that I don’t trust Iris and Seria, but it would be a hassle if a third party found out.
There’s also another problem.
If we hide and pass through here, it will be as if we didn’t come this way, and if information about no sightings gets shared… if we encounter others while doing activities deeper in, we would be seen as suspicious.
So, should I just say that I’m working for Ms. Wendy and refuse?
It’s a question of whether that would work, but at least if I’m already affiliated with someone, it seems less likely to cause trouble.
The problem is… if Frederica has already talked to me, then I might officially be employed by Ms. Wendy.
Well, she’s quick when it comes to things being decided, so even though it’s only been one night, the paperwork might already be in progress.
Should I meet her when I get back to the city to confirm?
She probably won’t ask me today since it’s so soon, and I was planning to build up some experience as “Koji” with a small amount of magic stones.
Besides, there’s no guarantee I’ll even be recruited, so if it turns out to be just my overthinking, that would be fine.
For now, I decided to leave the plaza where the big company’s base is and watch some actual hunting.
Outside the plaza, tall grass was growing thickly, and several groups of people were moving around in it.
With this density, they must be fighting over monsters in the 2nd District.
Among them, I noticed a group of 5 men.
If I get too close, they might accidentally notice me, so I’ll observe from a distance where I can’t quite hear what they’re saying.
I wanted to see clearly, so I created binoculars to look at them… They seemed to have better equipment than the younger ones active in the 1st or 2nd District, though I couldn’t tell what materials it was made of.
It looked like they had been cutting through the grass to get here, and now they were each facing different directions, using their swords to slash at the grass.
It’s clear that this is to secure visibility, which means they are likely targeting small prey.
I can tell where the monsters are thanks to the magic stone, and as I watch, I wonder if the creature nearby is the rabbit I heard about at the skewered meat shop. It seems my guess was right, as a rabbit suddenly jumps out from the shorter grass and leaps at one of them.
It’s small compared to other creatures, but it looks about a size bigger than a basketball when compared to the adventurers.
For some reason, I remember a giant rabbit I saw online in my previous life.
I think it was bigger than a person, but was that just a manipulated photo or something?
Well, that’s not important, so I focus back on their battle.
The man who was targeted swings his sword down at the rabbit, but the rabbit jumps in the air, dodging the attack, and the new path of the sword ends up aimed at another man.
Of course, the first man seems to have called out to his teammates by that point, and the next man isn’t too surprised by the rabbit’s change in direction. He easily dodges and strikes back.
Since they’ve made it this far, it seems like they can handle an opponent that can change its path in mid-air.
That strike seems to have dealt a fatal blow, as the rabbit stops moving, and while staying alert, they lift the defeated rabbit upside down.
Are they draining its blood?
As I watch this, I sense from the magic stone that a group of several people is approaching from a distance.
When I point my binoculars in that direction, it looks like a group of only women, and they are heading straight toward them.
Since the adventurers below are using the path cleared through the grass, I can see their figures clearly, and… they’re all beautiful, even if they come in different types.
They are armed, so I can only see their figures over their gear, but they seem to have good body shapes.
One girl stood out for some reason, wearing a red cheongsam that reached about her shoulders, and her prominent chest made her even more noticeable.
The dress had a long hem but featured a pretty deep slit, and with no sleeves, her exposed arms and the skin that showed with every step made me worry they might get scratched by the grass.
But what worried me more was… they looked like they were ready for a fight.
Maybe it was because they were in a place with monsters, but everyone had serious expressions, and some were even resting their hands on their sword sheaths or pulling out magic catalysts.
I wondered if the adventurers I was watching had something to do with them. Just then, it seemed they noticed the girls too, and from their expressions, they started to get a bit flustered.
They exchanged glances and whispered something while stealing looks at the girls.
Before long, the girls reached the adventurers, and among them, a woman in white armor spoke up.
From their behavior, it seemed like the girls were in a higher position, either in skill or status, and the adventurers were becoming more cautious around them. But after a short conversation, their tension eased, and they left the area with a rabbit the men had caught.
What was that about?
I thought to myself, but the remaining female adventurers began to look around cautiously once they confirmed the others had moved far enough away.
After they finished scanning the area, the woman in white armor said something to the girl in the cheongsam, and then… that girl looked over ‘my way’.
…Huh?
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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