It’s Dangerous Outside the Dungeon, Master

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– 1 –

“Probably won’t be any use.”

“Huh?”

Maria’s eyes, as she watched me discourage the search for her relatives, were filled with both doubt and anger.

If only she had been a bit more impatient, or if she hadn’t seen Sonia and me holding hands—

Her intense emotions seemed like they were about to burst forth at any moment.

It was quite a contrast to my sister Remia, who appeared calm until the very end.

Like the moon and the sun.

“I listened to Sonia’s story and searched with her, but whether her memories have become distorted or she has simply hidden away, we couldn’t find the dungeon’s location.”

As I spoke calmly yet firmly, reassuring her, her anger faded, but her gaze still remained filled with questions.

“I don’t want to disregard this, but she is just a beginner adventurer…”

“She is also a mage belonging to the Guild who has learned detection magic. You know that a guild mage can use magic better than a regular mage.”

“Ah.”

Maria, with a voice filled with realization, fell into thought for a moment.

The truth was that the spell I had cast with Sonia was why she couldn’t find the dungeon, but no one here could guess that cause.

Thus, our opinions, Sonia’s and mine, held more weight.

“I agree on the need for additional searches. Just because we didn’t find anything doesn’t mean she isn’t alive. However, you’ll need to bring in trap detection specialists from the city. It seems like you’ve mainly organized trackers so far.”

From their appearances, all of Maria’s party members seemed to be specialized in tracking human traces, either county hunters or assassins.

Finding dungeons and traps requires mages skilled in exploration magic or knowledge of barriers, or a rogue capable of locating treasures and dungeons, so my argument was quite rational and reasonable.

“But…”

Despite my strong arguments, Maria looked quite skeptical.

What happened?

“I don’t know what happened, but the city was in disarray, and Solemio’s guild was passive in finding the younger ones. They didn’t disclose the reasons.”

Indeed.

Whatever the reason, it seems the adventurers from Solemio were not in a position to expend effort searching for beginner adventurers.

In this situation, there would likely be no other search parties besides hers.

The safety of the dungeon had thus risen a little.

“Since I’ve come here personally, they’ll surely cooperate, but I don’t know if they’ll handle the transaction with the mages properly.”

“Why not ask a trustworthy guild for help? Sonia’s guild… was it called ‘The Eyes that Seek Truth’?”

“Hmm… If it’s that guild, they might agree to help.”

At that point, Maria seemed to realize something and stopped speaking, a hint of embarrassment on her face as she glanced at me.

“I realize I still don’t know your name, noble one. I’m sorry.”

“I understand. It’s a situation where the life of someone you cherish is at stake.”

“Thank you. I’m Maria Olas. I’m Remia’s sister, a friend of Sonia’s. I originally belonged to the ‘Shadow Blade’ mercenary guild in the eastern part of the kingdom.”

“Daniel Smith. Same here.”

There are many kinds of guilds.

Adventurers, mercenaries, mages, even stone masons and merchants.

If it’s a profession with potential to reach beyond the city, forming and operating under the name of a guild is the basic culture of this world.

Of course, the most prevalent is the adventurer guild.

The mercenary guild is technically different from the adventurer guild, but it is often treated similarly due to its role in protecting trade companies or engaging in the nation’s military front lines.

Because of this, I understand that those who view themselves as adventurers or mercenaries share a bit of rivalry.

Of course, there are far more who don’t care about that rivalry.

“I can’t say I’m pleased to meet you under these circumstances. I’m Angelita Mare, a roaming mage.”

“You certainly don’t seem ordinary.”

“I was in the area traveling when I sensed Sonia’s presence and rescued her. That’s all.”

“Um…”

She seemed dubious about my identity, yet I could tell she didn’t view me as an outright hostile entity.

After all, Sonia was unharmed despite the other two being missing, so it made sense she would trust and rely on me.

She might think of me as someone with a past similar to fallen nobility. The gestures of ‘nobility’ couldn’t entirely be hidden by acting.

Perhaps such characteristics made her view hiding oneself with acting as something unworthy of nobility.

“I understand what the noble one is saying. However…”

She was more stubborn than I expected… No, that’s not it.

Since it was about her sister, logic didn’t apply.

I had been separated from my family for a long time, so I was somewhat distant from the typical familial psychology.

So… If I were to apply this to Eve, it would make sense that I, too, would want to confirm things with my own eyes. As I mentioned before, when a life you cherish is at stake, you cannot help it.

Thus, thinking persuasion wouldn’t work, I was about to nod my head when unexpected assistance came through.

“We don’t all need to go. Maria.”

“Daniel?”

“I’ll stay with one other person to continue searching before returning. The other two can take you and that rookie mage with them, Maria.”

“But…”

“The mage looked quite unwell. You don’t plan to send for a priest, do you? That could cost a lot.”

There might still be a bit of anxiety left, but there was no reason to object.

The man before me was an upper adventurer, and the power and traps gathered in the dungeon were enough to deal with one upper adventurer. Having two mid-tier adventurers was a vast difference compared to just one mid-tier.

While the other two were variables, they weren’t that significant.

Furthermore…

“Even if there are magical tools, entering through that entrance in its current state is absolutely impossible with regular methods.”

I also believed in the method I used to hide the dungeon.

As I remained quiet, Maria ultimately agreed to Daniel’s suggestion.

“… You’re right. Thank you, Daniel. Take care. If things get dangerous, you must escape immediately.”

“Don’t worry.”

Thus, the joined adventurer party was once again split into two.

Sonia, Maria, and I headed northeast towards Solemio.

Daniel headed southward near my dungeon.

“…”

I locked eyes with Daniel, who was looking at me with an emotionless gaze. When I slightly bowed my head in greeting, he flinched and turned his gaze away.

What filled those eyes was definitely suspicion.

However, as I had already asserted, there were no issues.

– 2 –

Dungeons are monsters that grow by devouring incoming adventurers. Likewise, dungeons are linked to the Dungeon Lords.

Therefore, all Dungeon Lords do not avoid incoming adventurers.

The instinctual hostility and predatory nature compel them to always welcome enemies.

The Dungeon Lords she knew, especially the young ones, were all like that.

“But…”

Scarlett, who had been scribbling something on the board with a quill pen, continued her train of thought with the nib still in her mouth.

What lay before her was merely a paper filled with scribbles that couldn’t form any words. It was the result of an unconscious habit she had when lost in thought.

“I haven’t seen a newbie in so long, surely I’m not mistaken.”

The new customer, the rookie Dungeon Lord and necromancer Lady Libertus, was different.

She acted as if she didn’t have such instincts at all.

While she had clearly committed murder and seized both souls and bodies to use them effectively, it didn’t appear she lacked such instincts completely…

Not only that, but despite her short time living as a Dungeon Lord, she was already trying to deceive humans.

That’s why.

Even though she was short on funds, she had dug deep into her own pockets to gather what she wanted.

“From the first time I saw her, she didn’t flinch at all. I should be much stronger, and a Dungeon Lord would certainly feel something like that.”

Such a Dungeon Lord was rare.

Though she maintained the arrogance typical of a Demon Lord candidate, Scarlett found Lady Libertus refreshing and…

Beautiful.

“Yes, beautiful.”

With an appearance that seemed to possess both coldness and fragility.

Standing upright, her expression glanced down at me as if to look me straight in the eye, despite being clearly much shorter.

With a mental fortitude so strong that charm skills wouldn’t succeed against her, and although she must have experienced impact, her eyes showed no sign of wavering.

Among Dungeon Lords taking humanoid forms, she particularly possessed exceptional beauty, somehow holding a cruel light within, yet exuding an air of gentleness, softness, and a low voice befitting someone with authority.

To summarize, one might say she possessed a “beauty that changes a human’s taste.”

“And despite still being a bit unpolished, she can still employ wonderful tactics.”

Smiling, Scarlett retrieved the pen from her mouth and began scribbling something on a new sheet of paper.

“I truly look forward to her future.”

As she envisioned a grand doorway and some indistinguishable presence blocking its path, Scarlett couldn’t help but think of her previous aspirants with a smile.

New remarkable recruits are always welcomed among veterans.

In the midst of this, a familiar voice broke into Scarlett’s focus.

“Senpai…”

As she turned towards the voice, her eyes fell upon a succubus.

A blue-haired succubus.

Although it was a rarity among the Mammon Trading Company, she felt slightly more amicable towards her, but Scarlett’s tone betrayed no kindness.

“What is it? Parachute.”

‘Parachute.’ That was the reason for her stiff tone.

Even though she was a mere junior subordinate with no particular authority, it became known that she was the bastard child of the representative of the Mammon Trading Company, and thus entered without any interviews or tests.

It was no surprise that she would be viewed poorly by the department manager who lost their chance to welcome a good recruit just because this one became her direct junior.

The fact that Scarlett was treating her the ‘kindest’ of all was amusingly ironic.

“Well… I have a rather tricky request, and I was hoping for your advice…”

“A tricky request?”

Whether she realized it or not, the junior revealed her request and handed a document to Scarlett.

“The mercenary mentioned there insists on going to one particular dungeon, no matter what…”

“Hmm.”

Having heard plausible reasons, Scarlett unconsciously started to nod before awkwardly raising her chin to just stare down at the document.

It was her way of expressing displeasure for showing a positive reaction to the newcomer before her.

Then, she opened her eyes wide and buried her face in the document.

“You really want to go to this dungeon?”

“Yes… It’s a mercenary I was in charge of, but I have no idea why they want to go to such a young dungeon.”

“Hmm…”

I was familiar with the mercenaries managed by this junior.

Having declared that he wouldn’t offer any unreasonable benefits, there were those who had gradually fallen into darkness and were now affiliated with the representative.

Given that, it was natural for this junior to have high loyalty from the mercenaries.

However, now it seemed one of those mercenaries was suddenly acting strangely.

It was indeed an interesting story.

“No matter how promising they are, it’s still a dungeon that could disappear at any moment…”

“It’ll be fine. Junior.”

Scarlett was blissfully unaware that she had instinctively called her junior properly and smiled.

She didn’t know how this mercenary had come to know of the dungeon, or why they would suddenly start acting strangely, but in any case, it was good for Lady Libertus, whom she had taken an interest in.

The junior’s mercenaries, even if she didn’t want to admit it, were excellent.

Being with such mercenaries would greatly enhance Lady Libertus’s chances of survival.

“Yes? But…”

“I guarantee it, just send them once. It could turn out to be a proper investment.”

“But that just means it could fail…”

“Oh my, oh my. Since when did you become so pessimistic? The risk in investing is always natural.”

“… That’s true.”

In the end, after seeing the junior mutter while signing the document, Scarlett beamed with delight.

She planned to take the gift herself. Excitement bubbled within her, imagining how the noble lady would react to receiving this present.

“Senpai… Hehe.”

Thanks to that, she failed to notice the blue-haired succubus observing her with great curiosity.