The rolled cabbage set meal was sublime.
Here's what the set included.
Four pieces of rolled cabbage. Rice. Pickles. And a bean stew.
Technically soup was included too, but since it'd overlap with the meat broth I had, I turned it down.
The cabbage was thinly wrapped yet still had a satisfying bite.
It was a meat sauce, and the cabbage was completely submerged in it, going a little translucent.
The meat sauce itself had a slightly rich flavor.
The beef inside was simple but packed with juice.
And that was exactly why it went so well with the cabbage.
Both the rich sauce and the humble beef were balanced out by the cabbage.
No — the cabbage elevated them. That's what this rolled cabbage did.
It cut easily with either a spoon or a fork, so you could eat it together with the cabbage without any trouble.
Oh, I see. It had been scored with fine cuts from the start, hadn't it?
The cabbage made the rice go down in no time.
It was on par with the butter rice from the Cider Pavilion.
And then I remembered.
The image of my father, from my memories of my past life.
Sunday. Father standing in the kitchen, which was incredibly rare.
He was a quiet man who normally never cooked.
When I asked what he was making, he told me it was cabbage rolls.
I was still young back then, so I had no idea what cabbage rolls were.
And I couldn't understand why Dad was making cabbage rolls.
He seemed totally unfamiliar with it, struggling with every step.
But the cabbage rolls still came out without a single mistake.
They were incomparably more delicious than Dad's cabbage rolls from back then, though.
Somehow, only the gentleness came through.
There was no doubt about it. The person who made these was Hoss.
That earnest dedication and warmth toward the cabbage — that was Hoss.
Thanks for the meal.
I made sure to finish every last drop of the chunky meat soup, too.
We had some tea, and after a little while, we left Belk's Diner.
"Since it was Hoss making it, it was bound to be good."
"I feel like you barely ate anything and just drank the whole time."
"I was eating the snacks."
But he only drank, didn't he.
Then, as the sun was setting, it hit me — it was already evening.
I'd skipped lunch without even realizing it.
"So what do we do? Head to the dungeon?"
"I'd go right now if I could."
"Ah, I've got business at the Delvers' Guild, so tomorrow works fine."
"Understood."
This is where I part ways with Agaro.
There are two routes to the dungeon.
The "normal route" and the "Etrange route."
The normal one goes to the dungeon on the Zenzera estate at the edge of town.
From there, you use a save crystal to teleport to the deepest levels.
The Etrange route uses the Etrange itself to travel all the way to the deepest levels.
Since I'm here, I might as well take that one.
I gazed out at the streetscape of Heizen as I headed toward the edge of town.
Not bad at all.
I walked through the city streets with Alexander.
Alexander was a land catfish, but he had a steady gait, so there was no worry about him slipping off my shoulder.
Still, the curious stares from passersby were sharp enough to sting.
Alexander murmured, seemingly unfazed by the attention.
"It's been quite some time since I visited Heizen."
"You've been here before?"
"Yes. A very long time ago. Though it doesn't look all that different to me."
"The streets in cities like this don't change much."
But there were some differences, even so.
Heisen was different from the old days, too.
Once the dungeon really got going, it would change a lot.
The Zen Zera family's private estate, on the outskirts of town.
That was where the dungeon entrance was now.
I passed the guard's face check and entered the dungeon.
"Oh-ho, so the dungeon's basement first floor is the Delvers' Guild now?"
"Yes. I figured it would be more convenient than constructing or finding a new building."
"That's an interesting way of thinking."
"I get that a lot."
I'd meant to introduce Agaro to Guild Master Ennea while we were at it, but she was asleep.
"Asleep as always. The Bomb King."
"The Bust Queen, you mean?"
"...That's true enough, but I can't exactly say that in front of her."
"Fair point."
So the Bust Queen nickname wasn't wrong after all.
I led him to the entrance near the second basement floor.
The save crystal was set up just before the second basement floor.
A large crystal that glowed green, floating gently above a black pedestal.
"So this is the famous save crystal?"
"Yes. And this is the save stone."
Showing the pale green crystal.
"It looks a lot like a forced return stone, doesn't it?"
"I can see why you'd think that. If you hold this stone and touch the crystal, it stores the floor you're on. However, it only works in intervals of ten floors."
"I see... That's pretty handy, huh?"
"Well, while we're at it, want to go check out the floors ten at a time?"
"Sure, absolutely! Count me in!"
And so we ended up touring the floors in sets of ten.
We got a request to fight the boss keepers at each ten-floor interval, so that's what we did.
'Glarararararaaahhh'
"Hidden Sword. Abashiri."
I already knew it, but Alexander was strong.
'Dorurarurararaaahhh'
"Hidden Sword. Omiwatari."
His strength was enough to make you mistakenly think the keepers were weak.
At this point, we really ought to introduce some new keepers.
There was one I'd been thinking about anyway.
I'll set that aside for now.
Alexander's main weapon was a short blade overflowing with yakuza flair — a tanto.
I couldn't tell how he did it, but he gripped it in his hand.
His swordwork had absolutely zero wasted movement.
Truly a flash of the sword.
On top of that, since the target was small and nimble, they were excellent at dodging attacks.
As expected of a former First-Class delver. Terrifyingly strong. At that pace, we swept through the keepers with ease.
But floor forty.
"Huh? Someone's already here?"
"What's the matter, Wof?"
"There's someone ahead of us. We can't go in."
When someone else was already fighting inside, the door wouldn't open.
But something felt off. Right now, nobody else should have been in the dungeon.
If anyone was, it would be Isibara-san and Mires-san in the deepest part.
Still, the two of them fighting a keeper on floor forty was pretty hard to imagine.
"A guest already, huh? Well, can't be helped, Wof."
Alexander lit his pipe.
I made a suggestion.
"Um, this is off schedule, but could we head to the deepest part?"
"The dungeon core's down there, Wof. But why?"
"If we go there, we can figure out who's fighting on floor forty."
"Fair enough. I'm curious too, Wof."
Using the floor forty save crystal, we warped straight to the deepest part.
There, Isibara and Mires-san were near the dungeon core.
Something is catching their attention. I follow their gazes and see something on the display.
That's... Pakira and Riv and Lupinus and Bido.
In other words, Torquetam.
Torquetam was locked in a fierce battle with the floor forty keeper.
Wait? Why?
Heisen.
Wof's dungeon, floor forty.
Floors thirty-one through forty had a strange, temple-like mystique to their architecture.
I'd heard the motif was drawn from that great temple of Edda and Heisen's forbidden ground.
But I never expected even the air to match the motif so perfectly.
So floor forty was just as solemn as a temple's prayer hall.
Giant columns lined both sides, with marble floors. Deep within stood an ornate gate carved with elaborate reliefs.
That would be the entrance to floor forty-one.
At the center, the floor forty dungeon keeper waited.
I fixed my glare on the keeper and raised my shield in a rallying gesture.
"Everyone. Here we go."
"Mm. This is the moment of truth."
"R-Right... I'll do my best... super do my best..."
"She looks tough."
The floor forty dungeon keeper was a golem with four arms and a single eye.
A beast with bull horns and blue skin. A Minos unit, apparently.
How dreadfully menacing. And this is one of the powerful monsters Wof-san created.
Four arms, each bearing a weapon—a sword, an axe, another axe, and a spear.
Could those be OOPArts, I wonder? I have also heard it possesses Relics.
"Allow me to draw this Keeper's attention first."
I took—the deepest breath I could muster, and released it.
"ROOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!"
This is my Relic, the Battle Cry.
It draws the monster in with a provocative cry.
According to Wof-san, this is called "taking aggro."
I have absolutely no idea what that means, but apparently it is terribly important.
Me—shouting at the top of my lungs. I still find it mortifying and shameful.
But it is an exceedingly capable Relic.
It is an indispensable Relic for the role I aspire to—a tank!
So I am fully prepared to endure a little humiliation!
With that, the Keeper is glued to me. Aggro secured.
"BWOOOOOOOOOOMMMMB!!?"
The Keeper, now crimson with fury, charges straight for me alone and attacks with both axes.
"Shield of Calm"... Now it is your turn.
"Calmm—open!"
"Yes, my lady."
The black jewel at the center of the shield glowed in response, and the blue joints all burst open at once.
It bloomed wide like a flower in full blossom.
Then a pale blue light expanded outward from the shield, intercepting the Keeper's attack.
Whether fire or lightning erupted from those axes, the barrier caught every last bit of it.
According to Wof, it was apparently called a "Barrier Field."
He'd said something about being able to expand the range by partially deploying the shield.
Wof really did have ideas and knowledge far beyond what you'd expect from a thirteen-year-old.
"Now!"
On the signal, Riv dashes forward.
Behind her, Pakira launches a massive blade of wind.
"Great blade of wind, manifest here! GRAND WIND EDGE!!!"
The wind blade — its power and size now on an entirely different level thanks to the Relic's Rank Up.
A true giant blade.
When unleashed, it cleanly severed both of the Keeper's arms along with its weapons.
Reliable and terrifying. Even with the cooldown, the power was outstanding.
Almost simultaneously, an arrow loosed by Bidd crushes one of the Keeper's eyes.
The Keeper groans in bewilderment, writhes, and falls to its knees.
"Hm… Aether Style… Subaru… Electra Blade."
The sword in Riv's hand erupts with a flash of light, cutting through the Keeper's arm.
The Keeper is down. This is our biggest chance!
"Full power, full body — combined assault!"
"O giant star of flame, turn to ash. GRAND FIRE STRIKE!"
"Mm… Aether Style… Subaru… Alcyone Blade."
"Flash Step Sword — Aid!"
Limbs severed and battered beyond recognition, the Keeper burst into massive flames from the fireball.
In the end, it turned to charcoal and vanished.
Right after defeating the 40th-floor Keeper…
…we leaped up and high-fived each other to celebrate our victory.
After that, we were summoned to the deepest level.
Wof was waiting there, wearing this oddly complicated expression for some reason.
What was that about?