Why here, of all places — and why a mineral lizard?
Mineha looked puzzled.
"Huh? You're really the dungeon's will? Isibara's colleague?"
"I think so..."
For some reason, I could tell that was true. Maybe it was because I was a dungeon ruler.
The small pink mineral lizard — the will of the Earth Dungeon — stared intently at us.
"Then why are you in a place like this?"
"Hmm, why indeed?"
I'd have to ask to find out, but I had no idea how to even communicate with it.
Then the will of the Earth Dungeon drifted gently down from the ceiling to the floor.
And tapped a finger against the ground.
"Test. Hello."
"Writing on the floor!?"
"Well, now we can communicate."
Leave it to a dungeon's will.
"Hey you — could you be Wof?"
"Y-yes. That's right. I'm Wof. How do you know about me?"
"You've gotten pretty famous around the dungeon scene lately. Hey you."
"F-famous..."
"Dungeon rulers are something that barely ever show up."
"O-oh, I see..."
"Huh, not bad."
"Well, I mean..."
I wasn't exactly thrilled about it.
"So what are you doing in a place like this? Looking for treasure? There's no treasure here."
"No, that's not— wait, no treasure?"
"Huh, there isn't?"
"There isn't. When the original kingdom fell in the revolution, the revolutionary army took everything. But the last king of this country was extremely, extremely greedy, so the confiscated assets were far too little. That's why even now people say hidden treasure sleeps somewhere in this castle. The truth is the treasury had been bankrupt long before that, and what the revolutionary army carried off was the last of what remained. So in this castle and this city, there was never any hidden treasure to begin with."
"Is that so..."
What a massive spoiler.
Mineha looked like she had no idea what to say either.
"But there are plenty of delvers who believe it anyway. They're causing a ruckus in the castle right now too."
"Oh, was that what those guys were about just now?"
The patrol Rock Lizard Soldiers had all headed off in that direction in a big group.
I had a feeling that was probably it.
"Stuff like that happens all the time around here. It's no big deal, though."
"Is it really fine? Aren't the Rock Lizard Men being troubled by it?"
"Right. They live in this castle, after all. Even if they are monsters."
"What are you talking about? All I did was use events to set up the city and place the monsters. They don't live here. Wof — you're a dungeon ruler, so you should understand. The monsters in a dungeon aren't living things."
"Th-that's certainly true, but…"
The monsters in a dungeon.
They were pseudo-living things created by spending resources.
Even if defeated, as long as you spent resources, they could respawn.
He understood that much.
He did understand, but… it still felt a little off.
"Ugh, the lack of treasure is actually kind of a letdown."
"There's no treasure, but if you defeat the Rock Lizard King and Queen in the throne room, you're supposed to get something quite nice."
"Oh, so the King really is in there."
"What do you mean, something quite nice?"
"What you get is random. But if you sell it, it's worth at least a million oro."
"A m-million!?"
That was a huge sum.
But Mineha didn't seem satisfied.
"The rumored treasure is ten billion oro."
"Ten billion!?"
"I know. The rumors kept building on each other and it got out of hand. It's been a real pain."
"…Ah, so everyone just expected too much?"
"That's about the size of it."
"As far as treasure goes, there's nothing more to be done about it. I've already accepted that."
Even if I put the truth out there, no one would believe me.
That's what treasure is all about.
That feeling. I totally get it.
"But a million is a bit too low, don't you think?"
"Is that so?"
"Is it?"
"Part of it's the raised expectations, but I think it could stand to be worth a bit more. Well, if you're trying to attract more challengers to the King and Queen, anyway."
"I don't particularly want that, but I'll take it under advisement."
"Setting that aside, why are you hanging around a place like this looking like that?"
"Yeah, I'm curious about that too."
"Because Isibara was having so much fun with materialization."
"Huh, that's the reason?"
"Wof. It's not your fault."
Mineha says, exasperated.
"Well, that... I'm sorry..."
What a reason.
"Materialization is the latest trend in dungeon circles these days."
So materialization is trending now, huh.
What a reason it was.
"So why are you a mineral lizard?"
"There's no need to become human. Most of them do take a human shape, though."
"So human forms really are the most common?"
"There are a lot. An awful lot. Some even become delvers and explore their own dungeons."
"What the hell?"
"......"
What the hell indeed. Well, to each their own, I suppose.
"So you're a mineral lizard, then."
"We mineral lizards are what we like. It's comfortable."
I tilted my head slightly.
"Um, so what does the will of an Earth Dungeon do after manifesting as a mineral lizard?"
"Just sit here like this. It's comfortable."
"Just sitting there? I figured you must have some goal if you went and materialized?"
"A goal... I suppose occasionally becoming a mineral lizard on each floor and sitting there."
"That's your goal..."
"What the hell."
We were dumbfounded. What the hell indeed.
Well, if that's what they want to do... then that's fine, isn't it?
Never mind whether materializing is actually necessary for that.
"Hey, you lot. You're not after treasure. Then what's your purpose?"
"We're hunting mineral lizards on commission."
"It turned out the rare mineral lizard's reaction was a Relic."
'Huh. So that's why you came here."
"Yes."
"Yeah. It ended up being a wasted trip, though."
"Well, but it was an interesting encounter—"
'Then how about I give you this body?"
"Huh?"
'Once I dissolve the incarnation, I won't need it anymore. I'd be happy to hand it over to you lot."
"Won't need it anymore?"
'I only incarnated because the mineral lizard happened to have a high compatibility rate. We're about to separate from it anyway, so it'll serve no further purpose. There's no soul in it — it'll just be an empty husk."
"…I see."
Mineha looked like she wanted to say something, but held back.
Treating a dungeon's monster like an object.
I didn't really like that way of thinking from the Earth Dungeon's will, either.
But it was also a fact that dungeon monsters were quasi-life forms.
I'd created all sorts of monsters with that same game-like mindset myself.
"Understood. I'll gratefully accept the mineral lizard's body, then."
'Heheheh. I'm glad I got to meet you lot today."
"I learned something interesting too."
"One more thing, if you don't mind?"
'Sure, but what is it?'
"In Hydrangea, um, there's Hydrangea's dungeon and four others. Does that mean the wills of those dungeons might have incarnated too?"
'It's trendy.'
Trendy, huh... I guess it is trendy.
"So that means we could meet other wills like you?"
'No. Normally you can't tell. But Wof figured it out, so probably.'
"Whoa..."
"Right. How did you figure it out?"
"What do you mean how? I don't know."
If I had to guess, it's probably because I'm a Dungeon Ruler.
'Because you're the Night King?'
"That's not it! Wait, how do you even know about that?"
'Everyone knows.'
"Why!?"
"Everyone"...? Mineha gave me a flat stare.
"Night King... is that what this is about?"
"No it's not! I'm not the Night King!!"
I flatly refuse. This is the one thing I will firmly oppose!
I'll fight this. I'll fight it with everything I've got!!
'That's why you should be careful.'
"Huh?"
"Cautious— what do you mean by that?"
'Not every dungeon's will is friendly just because not every human is an enemy. Especially the ones in the middle of incarnation—they usually don't want their identity discovered. Just remember that.'
"…Understood."
"Right. Be careful, Wof."
"Y-yes. Oh, and there's one more thing."
'What is it?'
"What does a dungeon's will think about a delver living inside a dungeon?"
I wanted to know how the dungeon itself felt about it.
'Nothing in particular, really. If you want to live here, go ahead—that's about the extent of it.'
"That's so dry."
'Oh, I do think you're an oddball, though. So I help out a little.'
"You do?"
'Just enough to make it barely livable. That's all.'
"Hmm. So that's how it is."
"Is living inside a dungeon not that unusual?"
'Search me. It's never come up, so I wouldn't know.'
Is that so. That's unexpected.
Maybe it's actually pretty common, then.
"So there are quite a few oddballs out there."
"Maybe so. Anyway, we're heading back. That was fun. Bye-bye!"
"Eh, ah, sure."
"See ya."
The presence vanished from the pink mineral gecko, and its vitality drained away.
Mineha poked it with the tip of her spear to confirm it was safe, then tucked it into her pouch.
"That's ten."
"Right."
"Phew, I was worried about how things would turn out there, but I'm glad it ended safely."
"Yeah..."
With the last encounter and everything we'd learned,
the whole notion of living in the dungeon
felt like it had been overwritten.
Mineha pulled something out of her pouch.
A stone that glowed pale green. A forced-transfer stone.
Catching my gaze, Mineha gave a faint, wry smile.
"I'm unusually exhausted."
"I know the feeling."
"So I'm thinking of heading back. How about you?"
"I want to go back too."
When I said that, Mineha cracked the forced-transfer stone open.
Wrapped in green light, I teleported to the first floor of the Earth Dungeon.
Then I returned to Hydrangea. It was nearly evening by then.
I headed to the Delvers' Guild to file the quest-completion report.
While waiting for Mineha to finish her report, a group of delvers caught my eye.
Four delvers, all women, chatting away animatedly.
It was probably a party. The tallest of the group was likely the leader.
A beautiful woman with long pink hair, clad in impressive armor.
She carried a long-handled black axe on her back, giving off a completely different vibe.
Next were two girls—one with short red hair, the other with long blue hair. They looked so alike they could have been twins.
Red eyes and blue eyes. Red cape and blue cape. Red outfit and blue outfit.
Their weapons were a red sword and a blue spear—extremely easy to tell apart.
Everything about them was completely contrasting.
Finally, a green-haired woman. Easygoing was one way to put it—she had a gentle, carefree air about her.
Jade-colored eyes. A light outfit consisting of a green mantle, green tunic, and green skirt.
She carried a green bow, and she alone had pointed ears.
All of them were strikingly beautiful and cute, far beyond ordinary. The solid-color scheme made them stand out even more.
Under normal circumstances, delvers with inappropriate thoughts would have definitely approached them.
Yet, for some reason, not a single person did.
Strange, that.
I think I kind of understand why, though.
"Sorry to keep you. Let's go home."
Mineha came back.
"...Ah, yes."
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. Let's head out."
We left the Guild.
Just for a moment, I thought I saw a green-skinned woman watching us.
Nah, probably my imagination.
On the way home.
I casually asked Mineha, who was perched on my shoulder in her fairial form.
"So wind is green, huh?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"No, never mind. I was just thinking that."
The explorers at the Guild and their girlfriends. That must have been it.
A trend, huh.
Guess it's a trend.