Chapter 85 The Place Called Home
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Snow and ash mixed in the sky as we walked. We were moving toward a dungeon gate that led to the Valley of Fear, or so it seemed.
Over the mountain, a second pillar of light shot up. In that bright place, plants, houses, and even people burned the same way. The main family home, half hidden by deep trees, boiled in orange light. Inside that bright ring, everything was burned to nothing. The hole in the mountain looked like a door to hell.
Those hit directly were almost lucky, because sudden death brought no pain. But if someone only met the hot wind, their skin and throat would burn while they still lived.
I hoped no one I knew from the town was there. I even wished that only people I did not like had died. Thinking that made me feel sick with myself.
The air was tight with fear. People around us whispered their worry, held each other, and ran away from the bright sky. They feared the war flames coming closer behind us.
As we walked, a strange feeling brushed my mind. These days, I spent every hour watching around me like my life depended on it. My nerves were sharp. I did not know what was wrong, but something felt off.
”Why? I cannot put it into words,” I said.
Something in the scene before my eyes did not fit. A tiny mismatch, like a small error in a picture. It was a small, but clear, wrong note.
It was not about people or a mystical object. It was not like the flying science weapon in the far sky, or that day an aberration older sister ran across the fields. This was not that kind of uncommon sense.
It was a small change in a place I had seen for many years.
I looked down at the ground. Snow had melted and mixed with dirt. The sky was dim. Our group’s shadows lay at our feet.
Something in what I saw was wrong.
”Hey, why did you stop?” Himawari, a black-horned girl, asked as she turned to me.
”Something is strange. I don’t know what. Himawari, do you feel anything? It’s not the ground. The sky is cloudy. The snow is normal. Nothing feels odd as we walk…”
My shadow lay at my feet. I felt something new there.
”We have no time! Hurry! Everyone is waiting for you! Every time you are late, someone dies!” Himawari shouted.
She pushed me to move, but her dark shape stuck in my mind like a small stone caught in a sock.
”What now?! Did you forget your cute flower handkerchief at the house?! Someone can get it later—”
”No, Himawari. …Ah.”
I found it.
Maybe I still had a child’s sharp eyes, and I was more alert than ever.
It was my shadow. My shadow was wrong.
From my feet, two shadows stretched out. There was only one sun, yet it looked like I was lit by another light from a different side.
This should be impossible.
I looked at the feet of the women around us, but only my shadow was like this. A cold shiver ran down my back.
To push away my worry, I pointed at my shadow for Himawari to see.
”Look. My shadow… isn’t it strange?”
”Shadow? What are you talking about? This is not the time. Don’t joke—” she began, then stopped as her eyes narrowed.
”Ah… a shadow. That Psionic Power… no way.”
As I stared, the black shape bent like soft tar. Darkness burst out, like a cloak flying open, and a rush of wind lifted our hair.
A woman as black as night stepped out of my shadow.
”…Sharp of you. Sorry,” she said.
A black chain-sickle swung at once, shining with no metal light, only a dark flash.
”Ah—!” I cried.
A part of the changed shadow had become a blade and stabbed into one of Himawari’s eyes. It pushed, trying to reach her brain.
But it stopped. Her eye burst, black blood flowed, yet the blade went no deeper.
Even with blood pouring down her face, Himawari seized the shadow woman with a fierce look.
”A traitor of the town! Don’t say you only hid just in case! I got no such message!” Himawari yelled.
”Monster. Even this won’t kill you?” the black woman said.
”Shut up. I will send you to hell,” Himawari said.
”…Stop… ggh… ah…” the woman gasped.
Himawari held the older sister by the neck. Now fully seen, she was a tall beauty with very long black hair.
Her legs kicked in the air. Himawari’s strength was far greater. With a sound like stone breaking, the woman’s neck snapped.
Her body fell to the ground with a wet sound. Her eyes were empty, and foam slipped from her mouth.
When she lost her Psionic Power, the black cloak of darkness left the body. She was a tall, slim, beautiful woman.
”Phew… You scared me,” Himawari said.
”Wh-What was that?” I asked.
I could only stare.
”…From Kujukuri Town, a Psionic Power user…?” I asked.
Had she been near me this whole time? I never noticed. Maybe she was part of a rescue team.
I looked down. My shadow was normal again. I tapped it with my toe. It was only cold ground.
”No. She was a Psionic Power user from Isumi town,” Himawari said through pain.
One of her eyes was gone, and black blood ran down her face.
My shock rose again.
”Someone from the same town attacked us? Why would she strike at her own side…?”
There were only a few Psionic Power users in Isumi town, so I thought they were close.
Himawari frowned with anger, as if she knew why she had been marked for death.
”She was an Imperial Guard of a rival noble house. Isumi town is not one thing. I’m the daughter of the Onjuku house, and the Katsura house has been our enemy for years.”
Even with her eye closed, I could see the long cut on her lid. My heart beat fast.
”Ahh… It hurts… I’m part of the war group. The calm Katsura house begged to spare the enemy and betrayed us. And they did it now, at the worst time.”
She paused for a moment.
Katsura… that was Shigerou’s surname. And I had been in their house only a short time ago.
Himawari took a cloth from her attendant older sister, covered her ruined eye, and tied it around her head like a band. After that quick and rough care, she let out a bitter sigh.
”Ugh… We were finally ready to move into the dungeon. But now almost a third of the town people and Shigerou-taichi-sama have been taken.”
I did not remember every detail, but I knew Isumi town had two rival noble houses. The Onjuku house, Himawari’s family, was the war side—the same line we had first planned to attack as part of our secret plan. Then the idea was to let the calm Katsura house take power and push for a truce.
The secret plan had failed, but it seemed another path to split the noble houses of Isumi town had kept going.
”Shigerou-taichi-sama likely knows nothing. Maybe someone even planned for you to run into that house,” Himawari said.
”S-Sorry. I’m not really following all this,” I said.
I didn’t know much about the politics of Isumi town, but Kujukuri Town’s pressure seemed to be causing betrayal inside the same neighborhood.
”But I didn’t know anything. No one told me,” I said.
”I know. She should’ve shown up at a much worse time. But you saw it early. Nice work,” Himawari said.
”Uh, well… yeah…” I gave a weak reply.
I had not been trying to help. If the two sides were fighting, maybe leaving it alone would have helped us more.
Still, I never guessed that shy man, worn down by Shigerou, had planted an assassin near me.
”What are you doing?” Himawari asked.
”I-I just thought I should… at least put my hands together,” I said.
”Oh. Right…”
I closed the older sister’s eyes and bowed my head in silence. She had been a very pretty woman, and she died so fast. I didn’t know the proper way, and my legs shook.
Soon, people led me to the town square. Many town folk were gathered there, carrying cargo into a dark dungeon door.
With quick hands, they passed small loads through the narrow door. It led to the first floor of the Valley of Fear. A dungeon door sat right in the town square itself. It must have appeared by luck inside the town, and they had used it for a long time.
I was supposed to be going for a tour, but many townspeople were coming too.
They moved the cargo with calm skill.
”What is this? It looks like moving house,” I said.
I looked closer. People had furniture in their loads. Someone even had a small calf.
”You got it. We are moving the whole town,” Himawari said.
”Moving…?”
I had never heard anything like that before. I couldn’t understand it at first.
”So… is everyone just going to hide inside the dungeon for a short time, to escape the war?” I asked.
It sounded like evacuation. A dungeon was big enough to hold many people. You could pack tens of thousands in there.
”Not a short stay. A full move. We will begin a new life inside. It’s nicer than you think,” she said.
”Live in a dungeon? I’ve never heard of that. I don’t think it’s that easy…”
Her words were hard to accept. But she really meant a true move.
There were monsters, strange weather, and doors that opened and closed on their own. The door could vanish and cut off the way back. Moving people and goods would be hard. Food and safety would be big problems.
Himawari pointed at me with a silent, annoying grin.
Pointing at a boy like that was rude. Well, pointing at anyone was rude.
”You’re joking, right?” she asked.
”What?” I said.
She seemed a bit excited from battle, smiling with a wild look.
It made me a little angry.
”Come on. Your place does it,” she said.
”Oh… ah. Right. That’s true.”
Kujukuri Town was inside a dungeon. The whole town lived on the first floor of an alien ship. There were no monsters, and it was so easy to live that I forgot how strange that was. Besides fishing and getting water, we did everything inside. It felt like living in a hotel.
”Just because a dungeon is dangerous doesn’t mean every floor is. Other towns have moved inside in secret before,” Himawari said.
”Is the floor safe?” I asked.
”Yes. It’s that special place. You will love it,” she said.
With pride, she explained the Valley of Fear.
”The first floor is a big cathedral of meat. The second is a city of lost faces. The third, which no one found before, we call Ever-Spring Hill. It is always spring there.”
I thought for a moment.
The alien ship’s first floor was the best place for people to live, so we cleared the main part and stopped monsters from coming. The mystery forest in Ichihara worked like that too.
Most dungeons had their kindest area on the first floor. But not always.
”I heard almost no one has gone far in the Valley of Fear. Even the first floor is still fresh,” I said.
”You don’t need to clear a floor to go down. And clearing it would be bad. If we clear it, there will be no food,” she said with a small laugh.
She raised her hand as if brushing the idea away.
”If we clear it, the red mist stops and the monsters vanish,” she said.
Some dungeons worked like that. If you cleared the whole place, it became safe but empty. So some people kept a little danger to manage it.
Her face changed fast from proud, to teasing, to bright.
”The sweet-potato maggot stew was not bad, right? When we get there, you can eat better food that looks nice too. You can eat as much as you want,” she said.
With her hurt face, she still smiled at me. She must have been in great pain but tried not to show it.
In some places, people had already cleared dungeons and turned them into tourist spots.
A dungeon was not always a bad place to live. My own town proved that.
But a new question rose in my mind. What would happen to the town left on the surface? If Kujukuri Town took it, no one could return to the outside world. The exit would be gone.
”Then… what about Isumi town now?” I asked.
”We leave it,” Himawari said.
She spoke as if I was the one who did not understand common sense.
”Of course. We kidnapped a boy. The neighbors will crush us. This town is finished.”
It seemed this had been the plan from the start. She spoke so simply, then glanced at the people evacuating.
”I knew your Imperial Guard talked with your home. That’s why we hid it. There’s no point keeping it secret now. Before we brought you here, we had already begun the move.”
She looked around the gray town as ash fell, and her face grew sad.
”I don’t want to throw away my hometown. But if we stayed, we were only going to watch the numbers fall…” she said.
When I asked more, Himawari watched the people entering the door and told me the big truth.
It was a full plan to rebuild the town. Break everything once, then start again from zero.
They kidnapped me, then would cut ties with the surface and hide inside the dungeon. There they would escape Kujukuri Town’s attack and begin a new life. Even now, the townsfolk were making a living area inside by using the endless mystical object.
It would be a life fully based on those mystical objects.
The plan sounded wild, but if it worked, they could end hunger. Once you reached a certain level, the mystical objects gave more stable life than the sea’s gifts. The land above had sudden rich years and poor years, while dungeon food stayed steady through the year.
Then I would be sent back with care to speak about the “new Isumi town” on the surface. It was a risky plan to rebuild the whole town that kept losing boys.
”So what about marriage? There are very few boys, right?” I asked.
”That part will take time. We must grow strong as a town first,” she said.
A rich town drew goods, people, and most of all, boys. That was true even inside a dungeon.
”If we show the charm of the place well, boys will come. There are cases from foreign places too,” she said.
”Maybe… but is that really okay?” I said.
”In the end, boys go to places with money. If the name is good, the place doesn’t matter,” she said.
Her words were blunt, but she spoke with a kind of firm belief.
She also said I was too scared of dungeons compared to normal boys.
Most boys did not feel such fear or dislike. For them, a dungeon was a place said to be scary, but one they did not really understand. If it was safe, some would visit it like a trip to a volcano or a deep-sea tour.
Inviting a boy like me from the outside world was just the first step to build a record.
They also had plans for travel between the two worlds.
”I was kidnapped, so… uh…” I began.
”You know how hard it is for other towns to attack a base inside a dungeon, right?” she asked.
”Well, yes. Anyone not local can’t walk well. Learning the monsters takes time,” I said.
They were also keeping the middle floors uncleared on purpose.
By placing the town deep inside, they gained more power. The farther from the surface, the harder it would be for Kujukuri Town to fight them. And if a baby boy was born, foreign countries could not take him for service.
She spoke like a young leader, guiding her people to a promised land on the third floor to escape their pursuers. Kidnapping me and the war would be wiped clean.
But she did not care about doing it in a “clean” way.
”Is it okay to build a town with such a… sneaky plan? People might get angry,” I said.
”It’s sad, but every town starts dirty. There is no town that began without doing something bad,” Himawari said with no shame.
”It’s not a good thing. But it’s still better than places like Inubou town, where they attacked the old people living there and scared them away,” she said brightly.
I thought I saw the tough heart of a town leader in her smile… maybe. I wasn’t sure.
The plan was so big that I could not guess if it would work. But she said things were going well. Even the three husbands of her lady were already living inside.
She stood with crossed arms, watching people go through the door. She looked out of place, like a guard in a surreal realm watching souls pass by.
No oni girl looked like her, so it felt odd.
”Almost half the town has moved. It’s so nice there that no one comes back. The people left here are those who can’t leave their hometown and those too sick to move,” she said.
”You’re leaving those people?” I asked.
”They are all dear to us. We’re trying very hard to convince them!” she said.
Isumi town had about six thousand people, so half was around three thousand.
So they had been secretly moving for a long time, hidden behind the war. And they did not plan to return. That was why they chose something as wild as kidnapping me.
I never noticed. I did think the place felt too empty for a small village…
To be honest, even if the two towns had different power, going down three floors and fighting skilled Psionic Power users on their own ground would cost too much.
Then I realized something. There might be more than one strong Psionic Power user like that cheating woman. Maybe none were here now, but with time, more demon-class users could appear.
The three husbands of Himawari’s lady agreed to move. As a real problem, if they kept this plan and had enough time, they could make twenty cheaters with all their hands and toes.
Ugh. Just thinking of it felt awful.
With luck, an even stronger Psionic Power user than that demon woman could be born. They were like deathless monsters that rose from the red mist, struck, and left.
Even then, they would not beat Kujukuri Town as a whole, but they might hold their ground well enough to force a draw.
Maybe they really could reach a truce.
”At last, a light of hope. Your job is to enjoy our dungeon a lot and go home with good stories. Just a bit more. Soon, everyone can be happy,” Himawari said.
She spoke as if trying to hold on to something.
Then she looked at me and her face softened with guilt.
”I’m sorry for yelling at you so much earlier,” she said.
She seemed shy about it, but then smiled with a tiny dimple.
”We really do think about things. All of us. I know being desperate is no excuse. We did something awful to you… I’m truly sorry.”
I could tell she was trying hard not to scare me.
”But I’ll make you forget the fear and the bad part of being taken. When you go home, you’ll say you were glad you came, that our town was nice. I’ll make sure you feel it was a lovely little trip! Please look forward to it!” she said with new resolve.
Her face still had a youthful, innocent look. Her words were a bit naive, but full of genuine feeling. She truly believed she could make it happen. She wanted me to enjoy it wholeheartedly.
Her emotions washed over me like a wave.
”A trip… a tour,” I said.
”What is it?” she asked.
”No, I just… see what you mean,” I said.
Himawari watched me, puzzled.
Trash-san’s warning came to mind. Town mayors were clever and cold, he said. They put their family’s gain first.
Himawari kept calling this kidnapping and move a ‘trip’ or a ‘tour’. She said it again and again. Maybe there was more behind those words.
If I went home happy and started praising Isumi town, people might say it was a tour, not a kidnapping.
Was I thinking too much?
I decided to poke a little.
”Himawari… are you planning to tell the other towns it was a trip?” I asked.
”…Eh?”
Himawari froze with a bright smile still stuck on her face, like a stamp.
”Ah— n-no… maybe… not?” she said.
Her stiff smile melted, and her eyes drifted around like a student asked if they did their homework.
”Maybe… not. I don’t think so. But… it’s not a bad idea,” she said.
”Right now, only Kujukuri Town says it was kidnapping. Isumi town denies it. I thought it was just the usual government excuse. Why?” I asked.
”Ah, well… yes, that’s part of it. You know a lot for a boy,” she said.
I could not tell if she was flustered. She looked simple and direct, but she was smart. She could act too. Though her honest feelings often showed through.
”If I think about it… which story will people believe?” I murmured.
Even the towns that agreed to the truce were not really friends with Kujukuri Town. If the ‘tour’ story helped them, they might take that side and attack.
After all, the most important victim—me—would not claim harm.
If Kujukuri Town forced me to tell the truth, others might say they made me lie. People outside could not know.
Of course, they might use a mystical object to show truth, so it would not stay hidden forever.
Maybe the lie would break fast. But the fight over truth could pull in the Imperial Capital and last for years.
Once a town-level dispute began, the truth mattered less than which side helped your own town. It was like world politics.
It wasn’t about who was wrong. It was about which ‘wrong’ helped you more.
If Kujukuri Town lost the war, history might say they lied about a kidnapping to gain an edge and were destroyed for their own foolish plan.
Inubou town and Kamogawa town might choose that version.
It was a filthy tactic.
Isumi town envied the rich Kujukuri Town. But unlike Inubou town, who attacked the people living there, Isumi tried to make a home for themselves, even if they tricked the world.
Maybe that was why her lady’s three husbands agreed to the plan.
”Well, I won’t push more. You really thought this through,” I said.
”Of course. I’m the town mayor stand-in,” she said, tapping her own face.
She quickly recovered as the tense topic faded. It was slightly irritating, reminding me of Flatty-chan.
In times like this, she didn’t feel like a noble daughter. She felt like a normal girl from before all this.
Beyond the door, Trash-san and Flatty-chan waited for us.
Because I caused delays, Isumi town took more damage and the defence line broke. But maybe that also gave a little more time for rescue.
Isumi town was moving toward hope.
Even so, the scales did not change. More than Himawari’s wish, more than the people’s lives, more than generations of Isumi longing… those two mattered more.
We would leave before seeing the third floor that Himawari risked her life to find. I did not know how much it would break her heart. She would feel cut open by the lie.
Notes:
• Himawari – Young oni/aberration-type psionic; town leader/face; asks for promotion help; apologizes for killings; sets 2‑day deadline.
• Psionic Power – Mental energy concept in Chapter 35’s lecture. Trash-san teaches it to strengthen the protagonist’s mind after dungeon ordeals.
• Shigerou – A middle-aged man from the Katsuraura family; talkative, clueless about the war, enjoys a comfortable life.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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