'Master Iris, shouldn't we head out to explore the dungeon as well?

　The captain said to Iris, who was shivering at the news of her brother's arrival.

It's better to get some kind of result before Mr. Noel arrives.

Don't you trust the adventurers Iris has chosen for you?

'No, no, no, no, not at all!　Of course not!

　The captain shook his head in a rush.

It is only to assist you. It's a good thing that we have a lot of trouble with the dungeons, because we have a lot of things to do: ...... No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He's a very perceptive man.

There's a mixture of aquatic and land-based demons around here.

'Yes. In addition to the Aqualizard, giant alligators, large serpents, giant spiders, giant spiders, slimes, and even ghosts and skeletons of those who died at sea may also be roaming around. It's entirely possible that adventurers will falter.

Yes. ......

　Iris looked at the maid and the elf next to her.

　Both of them were drinking tea and staring at the entrance to the dungeon.

　Their expressions are calm and they don't seem to be worried.

　Where does that trust come from?

'One hour ...... no, let's wait for half an hour. After that, we'll head to support you if you need it, shall we?

You are very good, Mr. Iris. A wise decision.

　The captain of the regular army cleared his throat and turned to the maid and the elf.

I'm sure your master is quite adept at it, but there are many different kinds of demons that live in this area. I'm sure there are times when it's too much to handle. I couldn't let Noel see that. We will spare no effort to support you. Thank you.

Thank you.

　Pardon me, the maid and the elf bowed their heads.

　But they quickly shook their heads.

But I don't think we need the support.

　Maid and Elf-san spoke up.

''Because I heard that Nay-kun once made a dungeon.

Cecil and Rita are little chillas, you know.

　With those words, they quietly began to sip their tea.





　They rewinded the time back about an hour and a half and entered the dungeon, and Nagi and the others...





　We followed Cecil's normal version of "Light" and went ahead.

　We could hear the sound of water all around us on the damp rock walls.

　There were puddles underfoot. It was slippery and difficult to walk on.

　The waves might be high, and there was a faint hint of swaying.

　I used Cecil's "magic detection" and Rita's "presence detection" as my radar to continue on...



There she is. Nagi, the demon!



　The Giant Alligator has shown up!



"Giant Alligator.

　A giant crocodile over 5 meters long.

　It sometimes eats harpies that come to drink water.

　The scales are hard, making it difficult for swords and arrows to pass through.'



"As soon as you enter the dungeon, you're slowing down because you're blinded by the ancient word 'light'.
　Okay, Rita, just feint and move closer.
　Okay. Now that you've opened your mouth, Cecil, you can fireball the regular version.

　with a grunt

The 'fireball' exploded inside the Giant Alligator.

""It's over!"

　The Giant Alligator was defeated.





　The Blue Slime Swirl appears.



'Blue slime.

　A slime that emits a weak acid from its body.

　It inhabits the rocky shores of the seaside and melts and devours its prey as it approaches'.




"Reggie, try to negotiate.

"For each one of you, a piece of dried meat is yours to keep out of this dungeon!　Or the fist of an enchanted beastman, my lord, I will here and now wipe you out of the world!
　...... Oh, I can see the story. Lord, we got it all figured out. And he says there's a giant spider building a nest just ahead. Huh?　With an extra reward?　The Lord is kind.
　Listen, slime, do not forget your debt to the Lord!　What do you say?

　Wiggling and shaking.



　The blue slime swirl escaped.





　The giant spider appears.



The giant spider.

　A large spider that can be several meters long.

　It produces threads from its body and builds its webs.

　Its webs are so strong that they can be considered wards, and even medium-sized carnivores cannot escape once they are caught.

　It is a carnivore, with strong jaws, and can chew up a child's bones at least.'


"'Nest building' is a space domination capture skill, right? Then, Rita.

Understood. Activate 'Warding destruction (Area Breaker)'!

　Rita's fist blew the cobwebs away.

'Cecil!'

''Flame Arrow (Flame Arrow), Fureyimu, Fureyimu, Fureyimu, Fureyimu!''



　The Giant Spider burned up.



　The Giant's Spider dropped the skill crystal.



''Nest building LV2.''

The skill of capturing the enemy with the thread



　I couldn't use it because there was no thread (but I recovered it).





　A pirate skeleton appeared.



Pirate Skeleton.

　The lifeless body of a pirate who died at sea.

　His weapon is a scimitar. Sometimes I have a treasure.



Activate.　"Jiu-Sui Kenjutsu.

　The Devil's Sword Leggy swept away the pirate skeleton's half-moon sword.

''At least!　"Divine Power Seizure!

　Rita's kick exploded into the gut of the pirate skeleton.



　Swoop!



　The pirate skeleton was shattered.





　The Large Serpent appeared.



The Large Serpent.

　Amphibious giant snake. Venomous.

　Huge enough to block dungeon passages.

　'Wraps its long body around its enemies, crushing and swallowing their bones.

''With this size, I wouldn't miss it. Ei, 'Delayed Swordsmanship (Delayed Arts)' (for 20 thrusts).

　The blade of the gigantic Magic Sword Reggie split the Large Serpent in two.



　The Large Serpent was knocked down.




　The Large Serpent dropped skill crystals.

"Wrapped LV3

Skill to 'choke' the 'enemy' with the 'torso' (don't use the limbs)

　But the attributes didn't match (but I recovered them).





'So far so good?'

　We're down to the second level of the basement.

　Iris gave us some good intel.

　We can look at the map, we know where to intercept the enemies and we have a list of potential targets.

　It's not that hard to plan for them.

　When I was making the game in the original world, I would place monsters in dungeons by myself. I can pretty much imagine how to fight the monsters on the beach.

The walls in the Sea Dragon Dungeon are rugged, rocky and watery, and the ground is filled with water everywhere.

　There are lamps on the walls that are lit by magic.

　I'm sure they're used by Iris during her rituals, but they've been broken by the demon attacks.

　I'll have to repair this one as soon as I get the warding back up. No wonder Iris is in such a hurry.

　The rest of the place is the corridor on the second underground level and the great hall that leads to the dungeon's center.

　The dungeon has a number of small side holes, through which the demons enter. We're checking them out as we go.

　So far there are no problems.

　If we continue on to the main hall, our work is done.　

"Cecil, Rita, what do you notice?

　I asked Cecil and Rita.

"Yes!

　They both simultaneously pointed to the walls, which were stained with the Large Serpent's return blood.

...... anything else you've noticed?

''Yes!''

　They pointed to the wall of the passage once more.

　.................. It bears repeating, this dungeon is a natural cave that has been altered by man.

　I mean, for a long time, this place has been used as a place for rituals with sea dragons, and

　But apparently there were some murals that had been lost over time.

　And it's really rare for a demon to nest in this dungeon...



　Sometimes, the blood you've gotten back in the dungeon will bring up a mural that was on the verge of disappearing.



　We take a break in the middle of the dungeon.

　We stand side by side and stare at the wall.

　It looks like an old mural here.

　The walls were carved and painted, but the paint has been peeled off for a long time.

　It looks like the Serpent's blood got on it and just poured ink on it.

　It's depicted in The Legend of the Sea Dragon.

　A mural of a brave man with a sword, 'Kerkator the Sea Dragon', and the sea dragon's natural enemy leads to the end of the passage.

''This is the sea dragon, this is the hero, and this is the sea dragon's daughter?

A brave man is fighting a sea dragon's natural enemy!

　To my right, Cecil said in an indifferent voice.

''A sea dragon's natural enemy seems to be a powerful one!

　To my left, Rita said in a voice full of realization.

''Yeah, it sounds like you have a high regenerative capacity or something.

You've got a lot of tentacles on your head.

But I'm sure Rita would be able to handle it easily.

'I can't do it by myself. It's not a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing. Isn't Cecil-chan supposed to strike a blow with the ancient word 'fireball'?

'We'll need Nagi-sama to buy us some time to chant...'

So you're saying that we need three people to help us take it down.

""Right?"



　To put it simply, the mural depicted a whale with an anemone on its head.

　To put it bluntly, it was the "Great Monster Fish Leviathan" that we fought about ten days ago.



　It was the monster I met in the village I stopped by the day after I was summoned to this world.

　Rita, who was still the head priest of the Iturna Order at the time, was fighting it in order to protect her fellow cult members - in the end, Rita and I rescued the cult members and blew them up with Cecil's ancient language "fireball".

　This is the demon that caused Rita to become my slave, so I can't forget it even if I try.

　If it wasn't for this guy, Rita wouldn't have become my companion, and she wouldn't have been fired from the cult.

　It must be complicated for Rita to know that this guy was the 'natural enemy of the sea dragon'.

' ...... He's the demon that brought me and Nagi together.

　But he's clasping his hands together like he's grateful.

"Nagi-sama.

What's up, Cecil?

Didn't Nagi-sama pick up anything after the fight with Leviathan?

I found some scales.

Like the one in this mural?

Like the one in this mural.

　What the sea dragon hero was holding up was a scaly 'something' that looked like a scale.

''Or rather, it's there now. 'Scales of Leviathan'.

　The mural ended with the brave man bringing back the scales and being recognized by the sea dragon Kerkator, and the brave man and the sea dragon's daughter being physically united.

'I wonder if Iris knew about the legend.

　Since she's a priestess, it's not surprising that she knows detailed legends, right?

　However, if the one who has the 'Scales of Leviathan' is certified as a sea dragon hero, ...... is it possible that I'm one of them?

　...... I remember when Iris and I were in the hot springs together, she said, 'When I interact with a hero, my scales shine with a pearl color.

　At that time, Iris and I were back to back.

　If anything has changed since then, .......

　...... I think I'm overthinking it.

　But that explains why Iris wrote her name in The Shoddy Inventory.

It's a good thing that the "Sea Dragon Maiden" is able to escape her role as a maiden by connecting with the "Hero of the Sea Dragon".

　So, if that "Crude Inventory" is accepted as a formal "master-slave contract" document, then as soon as I sign that document, Iris will become my slave and be released from the role of a priestess.

''So that's Iris's plan.''

　That's what a sea dragon maiden looks like. Clever.

''Nagi-sama, what do you plan to do about ......?

Of course, I'll do my best to ignore it.

　It's dark in the dungeon.

　We noticed the mural thanks to Cecil's regular version of The Light, but we're not sure Iris will notice it either. Water is dripping from the ceiling, so the Serpent's return blood washes away in a short time. By the time you get back, you won't be able to read it.

'Which means we'll pretend we didn't notice the mural.

Is that what you want?

What's the point, our job is to 'defeat the demons in the dungeon', not to awaken as heroes, right?

But ...... Mr. Nagi.

　Cecil shook my hand with an anxious face.

''If I tell you that I'm the 'Hero of the Sea Dragon', won't you all praise Nagi-sama?''

'Yes, Nagi. Hopefully, you guys will be able to provide for us?

No, you're a pain in the ass.

"It's a pain in the ass!

'I can see from watching Iris that it's going to be tough. If she becomes an important figure, it's likely that the Knights of the Divine Order will be involved. More importantly, the people of the town won't look good if visitors from another world have the fate of the port town in their hands.

　Besides, that might get the king's ear.

　If they can control the fate of the port city by having me, they're likely to dispatch someone with cheat skills.

　We already know after the 'fake demon tribe' incident that the king is using his visitors as disposable.

''For now, I'll just check to see if Iris is aware of me, and then I guess we'll negotiate.

Are you sure Nagi-sama is okay with that?

Yeah, I've decided that the only thing I'm not going to do is brave and PC phone support.

What happened to the "Peaceful Phone Port"?

　I won't tell you. I don't want to remember.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. If you are told, 'The hero-sama is a valuable resource, so please don't go outside,' you'll have to do your best to escape.
　After escaping, in the end, we all have to play adventurers together, so then it's no different than now, right?　If that's the case, I don't think we need to add an extra step.

I don't know if Nagi is selfless or greedy: ......

　I'm just doing my best to live a sloppy life, is that right?


Anyway, as far as the murals we saw this time, 'Basically Rangoon'
　When Iris picks up on it, 'Speaking of which, ......'
　When they found out about the scales, he said, 'How surprising. I didn't realize that!'
　Then we'll negotiate if we can't transfer the heroic rights. Let's go with that kind of policy.

　I'd help Iris if she said "I want to quit being a priestess, please help me".

　But if I make her a slave, she's going to turn all Ilgafa against me.

　If only there was a way to 'connect' with Iris other than a master-slave contract.

"So, we'll pretend we didn't see anything and continue to attack the dungeon, okay?

Yes ...... ehehe, Nagi.

　Cecil smiled happily as he held my hand.

'What's up, Cecil?'

No, it's a bit chilly and I was wondering if Nagi-sama's hands were cold.

　Then Cecil wrapped my hand in his tiny one.

　It's nice and smooth ...... but it's not really chilly. It's cooler because it's underground, but Ilgafa is a southern town, so it's basically warm. But I have goosebumps on Cecil's palms.

'I'm sorry.'

　I put my palm on Cecil's forehead ...... flat heat.

　He doesn't seem to be as sick as before. Your face is red, though. He's frowning, though.

"...... Oh, um, well... Nagi-sama?

'Cecil, if it's chilly, do you get a chill?　Do you have a cold?

'No, it feels like the wind is flowing towards the back of the dungeon: ...... Huh?'

　Cecil nodded his head curiously.

　Rita is also very upset. There is no wind.

　But if Cecil is feeling it, does that mean ......?

'...... Wrong, Nagi-sama. It's a stream of magic. It's flowing deep into the dungeon.

　The flow of magic?

　...... I see.

　I'm not going to be able to get a good idea of what I'm talking about.

　You're going to be able to see that the magic power is flowing vigorously, just like the wind is blowing.

"Is someone trying to use great magic in the back?

'No, it's more like someone is sucking the magic out of the dungeon.

　Cecil nodded his head.

'But it's funny, isn't it?　There should be a warding here. If there's something there that sucks the magic out of it, it's normal for the warding to weaken: ......

　Me, Cecil and Rita looked at each other.

　We chow down on our portable food, drink some water, take a deep breath, and end our break.

　We walked towards the back of the dungeon.

　I instructed Cecil and Rita to keep activating their "Magic Detection" and "Air Detection" for a while, and raised their alert level.

　I'm going to lead the slime to the limit of its range (10 meters).

　After about 10 minutes, they could see the exit of the passage.

　According to Iris's map, beyond that was a large hall with a door leading to the center.



　bang



　The vibrations came.



　Boom, boom.



　It sounded like something was hitting the wall.

'...... As promised in these situations, there's a boss character in front of the sealed door.

　If you want to pass through this door, you have to beat me before you can go through it, and so on.

　As a player, the real challenge is beating that thing. As a game creator, the real challenge is how to make it more exciting to beat it.

'But this is a dungeon that Iris manages. All that's there are natural demons, and there shouldn't be any boss characters: ......

Nagi-sama, I can feel the magic in the air.

Something big is moving, Nagi.

'Lord. There's a fatality.

　I shouldn't have said .......



　A report from the child Elder Slime (Reggie) who preceded me.

　Observations from Cecil's 'Magic Power Detection' and Rita's 'Attitude Detection'.

　According to it, ......




　The source of the vibrations is a hall with a door leading to the center.

　There was an ice (made of ice) golem that was over five meters tall.