“The Dragon King’s Dungeon, you say? We have been deliberately avoiding that dungeon, it’s true.”
Following Evia-san’s advice the other day, I proposed challenging the Dragon King’s Dungeon when deciding the party’s future direction.
Dragons are the epitome of strength in a fantasy world.
While they might be used as decoys in some situations, they are rarely depicted as weak beings.
Challenging beings who always stand at the height of power is undoubtedly a source of growth, no matter the form it takes.
Now that we’ve grown considerably stronger compared to our earlier days, I proposed this to see how far we could push ourselves.
Minami wore a thoughtful expression and crossed her arms, pondering. I had a feeling, somehow, that the answer wouldn’t be favorable.
“I understand what you mean, Jiro-san. In a way, we’re in a slump right now. Challenging a new place to break out of that slump makes sense. But…”
“The Dragon King’s Dungeon is too much?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Rather, no, that’s an excuse too. I’m simply not confident. I’m worried if my current strength will be enough.”
While the meaning might differ, neither Minami nor Kitamiya could immediately answer my proposal. As Kitamiya mentioned earlier, their current slump is likely shaking their confidence.
“What about the rest of you? I proposed this because I believe our current party can do it. But I won’t force anyone.”
The name “Dragon” alone carries a name value so immense it can make people flinch. They surely felt no need to fight such a being. However, they probably questioned if now was the right time. Not just Minami and Kitamiya, but Kaido, Amelia, and Katsu all wore thoughtful expressions. In that atmosphere, I almost regretted acting rashly.
“No, what I’m pondering is not whether we should fight or not. Rather, if it’s those two choices, I believe we should fight.”
But then, as if to change the atmosphere, Minami blew a favorable wind.
“My assessment is the same as the leader’s. With the leader here, we are undoubtedly a party that can fight even in the Dragon King’s Dungeon.”
Minami spoke with a slightly serious expression, raising her index finger to indicate that fighting itself was not the problem. While Minami usually goofed around with Kaido, the members present knew that her rare serious expressions were a sign of her having something serious to say. Thus, their gazes naturally turned to her.
“What I’m concerned about is what happens when we’re without the leader. To put it bluntly, we rely too much on the leader in terms of combat power. From a practical, efficiency standpoint, our current composition is indeed the best, but I’m wondering if we can continue to accept that forever.”
Minami stood up from the sofa and walked to the whiteboard in the living room. She picked up a pen and drew a pie chart, marking about sixty percent for me and writing the names of the others for the remaining forty percent.
“We probably wouldn’t lose in a one-on-one fight, but given the dungeon’s characteristics, that’s rare. So, we have to assume our opponents will be in groups. Against such opponents, without the leader’s breakthrough power, we’d quickly tire out and be finished. On top of that, it’s questionable if we could handle even stronger individuals if they appeared.”
She explained that this was the current state of the party’s combat power, and no one present disagreed. I was one of them.
“That’s not all. While I hate to say it, if things continue like this, we might become a hindrance to the leader’s growth.”
As I listened to Minami’s words in silence, she presented another concern.
“…”
“A hindrance to Senpai?”
“That’s correct.”
“What do you mean?”
“Katsu-kun, do you understand?”
“No, I don’t.”
I remained silent, not saying anything about what she meant. I understood what she was trying to convey. The others, unable to grasp Minami’s meaning, looked at each other and asked for clarification. Minami glanced at me. Following her gaze, the others also looked at me.
“Leader, your challenge to the Dragon King’s Dungeon this time is for our leveling up, right?”
“…I said it was originally, didn’t I?”
“If that’s true, then this should be a chance for your leveling up, shouldn’t it?”
“That’s the plan.”
“If you go alone, you can probably delve pretty deep, right?”
“Perhaps.”
“Judging by that attitude, you’ve actually gone in alone before, haven’t you?”
Minami, who had been speaking in a tone that was close to a confident assertion after noticing the surrounding gazes, must have already had something close to certainty. The conversation progressed, cornering me like a shogi endgame, exposing what I had been hiding. At her words, I scratched the back of my head roughly, as if giving up.
“It’s pointless if only I get stronger, isn’t it?”
“It would be bad if that delayed your leveling up too.”
“What do you mean? I don’t quite get it.”
“The leader has been delving into dungeons alone during times when we couldn’t gather, and realized that at this stage, it’s more efficient to clear the dungeon alone.”
“…Haa, Minami, adults don’t need to say everything, you know?”
Minami cut off my excuse, my last line of resistance, with a single stroke. What Minami was worried about was this.
“But isn’t that true!! It’s strange for a gamer not to level up when they can!!”
“How you say that, and I’m a tester, not a gamer. Such a way of speaking shatters the seriousness we had. Honestly, why can’t you maintain seriousness?”
“Because that’s me!!”
Facing her proudly with a triumphant grin, I could only sigh. It seemed that my decision to reduce the number of battles to keep pace with the growing gap in strength between me and the party members was unforgivable to Minami.
“Um, so, you’re angry that Senpai isn’t getting stronger when he can, and Senpai was being considerate so the gap doesn’t widen further between us?”
“That’s part of it.”
“And ‘part of it’ means there’s another reason, right?”
“Ah, actually…”
The day before yesterday. Following Evia-san’s advice, I decided to try the Dragon King’s Dungeon alone as a first step.
“It’s as spacious as ever.”
The Dragon King’s Dungeon is unlike any other dungeon. In fact, I’m not sure if it can even be called a dungeon anymore. The Dragon King’s Dungeon is a single-floor dungeon with no layers. It’s a vast area where the entire combat strength of the Dragon race is deployed. In the rugged terrain of a valley, difficult for humans to traverse, dragons with their exceptionally high physical abilities are stationed in various locations. This allows them to establish territories and construct a defensive network. As a result, we testers are faced with the situation of having to find the dungeon core, whose location is unknown. It’s a rare field-type dungeon with a different structure from other dungeons.
“Alright, let’s check the map.”
Because of this, there are no gates that serve as checkpoints like in other dungeons. Besides the spot where I’m currently standing, there’s no other way to escape. Therefore, it naturally becomes a long battle. Flying dragons that crisscross this vast field, and earth dragons that stride through the valley passages as if they own them. There are supposed to be many other types of dragons. Thus, staying put is a poor strategy. I immediately began to move.
In addition to my usual equipment, I wore a robe the color of rock faces, which I suppose could be called valley camouflage, to move unobtrusively. Hopping around, I occasionally checked my map to confirm my location before jumping again and moving on. I challenged the dungeon, relying on the meager footholds found in the valley.
“Oh, as expected of a dragon! You’ve found me already.”
Even though I took great care not to make any noise while wearing my hood, his ability to sense foreign objects is high. A massive shadow, like it was about to engulf me, covered the sky.
“A Wyvern to start with, I guess.”
Its enormous body is too great to even compare with humans. Its spread wings proudly proclaimed the sky as its territory. And its crimson eyes locked onto me, a roar echoing from beyond its sharp fangs. The opponent’s fighting spirit was high. I judged that escaping was impossible due to the speed difference and immediately reached for my ore tree. It’s a creature that flies. I wanted to make it come down to the ground first, but…
“It’s good that you’re coming this way.”
Dodging the Wyvern’s lunge, which came towards me as if it had found prey, by a hair’s breadth. Then, as its head passed, I swung down the ore tree I had raised above and felt a slightly hard sensation, but the draconian’s neck was cleanly severed.
“Oh, is it scales for the material?”
Scales, about the size of a fan, were ejected from the Wyvern as it disintegrated into mana. I picked one up, but there was no time to dwell on it. I quickly put the scale into a bag and left the area.
“I’m sure they’ve noticed.”
Although I tried to keep it to a minimum, the attack of a large flying dragon like that inevitably alerted the surroundings to an abnormal situation. Dragon roars could be heard from various directions, and the entire valley was noisy. Hiding amongst the rocks in the valley, I peered around with binoculars.
“Oh, oh, there they are.”
Small, medium, and even large types could be seen here and there.
“On the ground, agile small types use groups to search, medium types are distributed at a certain distance, and large types are on standby. Their vigilance is well-established.”
Although this dungeon is like a natural habitat, its original purpose is for defense. Therefore, monsters do not fight amongst themselves within the dungeon; instead, they attack in groups when an enemy appears. Within such groups, I confirmed the presence of Blood types, which, though the same species, might be individually larger or have different coloration. I ran to escape that encirclement. Thinking it would be endless to defeat them all, I intended to lie low for a while, but it suddenly occurred to me.
“Wait a minute, I came here to get stronger. Conversely, more enemies would be better.”
The reason I came here was to get a trigger for getting stronger. I had prepared meticulously for this. Therefore, thinking conversely, there isn’t much need to clear it right now. There is, but its priority is currently low. So…
“Instead of breaking through, it would be better to gather more of them.”
Reaching this kind of thought process, I chuckled wryly, realizing how much I had become consumed by combat. “This means fighting dragons is the best option.”
I rotated my shoulders, confirming my body’s warmth, and took a step out from the rock shadow where I had been hiding. At my action, the dragons immediately noticed and let out roars. They are here. As if to say the enemies are here, small dragons let out high-pitched cries.
“Call them, call them, call as many as you want. I’m challenging this to know my limits.”
Satisfied with their reaction, I smiled. I meticulously circulated my magic power in preparation for the battles to come. Increasing its density and purity, with my heart pounding to the fullest, I took a step forward as the dragon swarm gradually approached. I sneered. Annoyed by my demeanor, a dragon resembling a giant lizard, thinking it was its chance, attacked me.
“Too weak.”
But perhaps this brave dragon was not among the strongest in this dungeon, or perhaps I had already reached a certain level of strength. It attacked with the agility and ferocity of a wild beast. Utilizing its claws and fangs, I severed its claws with my ore tree, then cut off its fangs with the returning blade, and bisected its torso with a third swing, taking its life.
“Next.”
I knew I had switched gears. From here on, I was the blade. I became a blade that merely defeated dragons. I took up my stance, thinking so. Perhaps reacting to my fighting spirit, or perhaps because the first one was defeated so quickly, the dragons attacked me, swarming me. I cut through their snapping fangs, their sharply approaching claws, and their swinging tails. I created an opening by negating the breath attacks fired from a distance with magic.
“Haa, haa.”
There was no need to think about how long I had been fighting. The battle, which felt long yet was short, finally subsided. The residual mana overflowing from the dragon corpses here and there drifted, creating a beautiful scene as I caught my breath. By the time the swarm that was present was wiped out, a large amount of loot lay on the ground, and I was only slightly out of breath, with no injuries that would hinder combat. Just as I was about to take a moment to relax, my consciousness shifted. I quietly looked up at the sky.
“Looks like I’ve hooked something big.”
With its massive, spread wings, ruby-red rather than just red, and a body one or two sizes larger than the dragons I had fought so far. Fire smoldered in its mouth, and its eyes burned with fighting spirit, ready to slay the enemy who had killed its brethren. The dragon prepared for battle and let out a war cry, charging at me.
Today’s Word:
It’s not bad to try it out first, right?
Thank you for always pointing out typos and for your comments.
If you found this interesting, please leave a review, rating, bookmark, etc.
*The first volume of the book has been published by Hayakawa Bunko JA.
It was released on October 18, 2018.
The e-book version was released on October 31 of the same year.
Volume 2 was released on December 19.
Volume 3 was released on February 20, 2019.
The content has been revised and expanded from the version posted on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, with the addition of unpublished intermissions.
Please check out the new releases as well!!
A manga adaptation is being serialized in Kodansha’s “Young Magazine The Third.”
We hope you enjoy that as well.
We appreciate your continued support of this work.
