I turned on my heel, pretending I hadn't seen that.
Haiarn didn't say anything, so I took that as agreement.
If she said anything, I'd just use her as a decoy.
Actually, that might be even better.
So when I looked to see if she had something to say, Haiarn was already gone.
She bolted like a startled rabbit. Because she's a rabbit? Give me a break.
Well, this settles tomorrow's stew.
Now then, time to make my escape.
I quietly slipped away from the scene.
"Wof. You came at just the right time."
Couldn't get away.
No, not yet. If I just keep ignoring her...
"You there. Child. You're called Wof, aren't you."
Some arrogant woman's voice rang out, dripping with contempt for all humanity.
Huh, was I imagining it? That voice seemed to come from the Five Sisters.
And so every eye in the vicinity turned toward me.
"Wof? The witch's apprentice?"
"That's the witch's apprentice?"
"I know that guy. He's the one who always takes the second floor of Cider Hall."
"I heard he knows all sorts of famous beauties and pretty girls."
"I've seen him going up to the second floor of Cider Hall with all kinds of women."
"Lucky bastard."
"I'm jealous."
"But that guy's abnormally strong, so..."
"Well, he's the witch's apprentice."
"As expected of the witch's apprentice."
The delvers began buzzing and whispering about all sorts of things regarding me.
No, actually, everything they said was true.
"So he really is the Night King?"
"The Night King?"
"The king who rules the night in Hydrangea."
"The secret boss. That's the Night King."
"The witch's apprentice is the Night King?"
"No, the Night King is like two meters tall."
"A two-meter-tall guy."
"That's the thing. Apparently that's the Night King's first form."
"First form!?"
"For real?"
"Seriously?"
"Man, this is bad."
"I see."
"I see."
"I see."
"I see."
"What's going on?"
Hey. I'd already memorized the faces of every one of those guys who called themselves Night King.
Wait, what do you mean "first form"!? And why is everyone just accepting that!?
"Wof. Come over here."
"The human child Wof. I've been wanting to meet you."
Two of them called out to me.
Why does Mineha always try to drag me into this?
And as for the other side, I don't want to meet them. That's exactly why I've been keeping my distance.
But now that I'd come this far, there was no running away.
I resigned myself and walked into the eye of the storm.
"What exactly are you all doing?"
I looked at them and let my displeasure show.
Mineha, and several female delvers whose faces I'd seen before.
On the other side stood four girls and women.
I recognized all but one of them.
That Ryuzu gal waved at me like we were old friends.
I gave a slight nod.
Four of them, huh. Still the same.
As always, the Dungeon of Earth's consciousness was nowhere to be seen.
"You can tell just by looking. We're hostile toward each other."
"We're only on opposing sides due to a difference of opinion."
The grown-up Mineha — and, uh, probably this tall beauty in the center.
In other words, the incarnation of the Hydrangea dungeon, right?
"Oh my, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Rancia."
Rancia.
The beauty who introduced herself as such let a luxuriant cascade of long, pale-pink hair shimmer as it flowed behind her.
Her deep-pink eyes were wide and striking, and her features were refined almost to a fault.
She wore a magnificent suit of silver armor and carried a greatsword on her back.
Wait, she's basically just Hydrangea extracted into a person. And why does she use "ware" as a first-person pronoun?
I'd vaguely sensed this for a while now.
But I'd always let it slide, figuring it was personal and rude to comment.
I'll say it now. In my head, of course — but some people in this world really do have weird first-person pronouns, don't they?
"I'm Wof."
"Yes, of course. I know who you are. The one who kicked off the incarnation boom."
"Incarnation?"
"I have no such intention, though."
Absolutely none whatsoever.
"For that, I offer my thanks. The Superior One is supremely pleased."
Was that a pun?
She says "I offer my thanks" while radiating a condescending attitude and aura.
Hmm.
"So what happened?"
"These guys started picking a fight out of nowhere."
— Mineha said.
"Picking a fight? How rude. The Superior One merely offered a perfectly natural piece of advice."
— Hydrangea said.
"And what advice does a Rank V newcomer have for a Rank III like me?"
Mineha glared at her.
"The Superior One knows this dungeon better than anyone."
"Huh? What are you spouting, some random newcomer?!"
That part was actually true, though.
"What kind of advice was it, Hydrangea? What did you say?"
"A trivial matter."
"How is that trivial?! This woman — she looked straight at 'the Petty Valkyrie' and her Rank IV delver companions and said, 'You people over there. I've heard word of what's going on, but claiming a floor as your territory is no different from what dungeon monsters do. If you're delvers, go and explore. It is supremely disrespectful to the dungeon.' Just like that, without batting an eye!"
"It's the truth, you know. You over there whose looks and age are inversely proportional."
"And on top of that, I can't stand the way you look down on people and all that!"
"Because it's the truth."
Hmm. "The act of claiming a floor as your territory," huh.
"The Petty Valkyrie" is a Rank IV delver party that occasionally teams up with Mineha.
They're made up of three women, and they mainly take requests for floors 10 through 30.
Incidentally, a party of three is the standard delver party size.
So the vast majority of parties are three-person groups.
"Claiming the same floor as your territory" isn't rare among delvers.
Ranjia is right — delvers are, by definition, those who explore the dungeon.
Advancing through the floors is precisely what a delver does.
But delvers have lives to live, too.
If you can make a living by staking out a floor as your territory, it's only natural that it becomes a habit.
Besides, "The Petty Valkyrie" is in demand, and nearly all their requests are commissions.
From where I stand, I can see both sides of the argument.
"Wof. You find them irritating too, don't you?!"
"Child of man Wof. Fulfilling one's duty as a delver is the correct path. In other words, the above is supremely correct."
"Well, look — neither Mineha nor Ranjia is really wrong here."
"Save it already."
"That's not what this is about."
They shut me down in unison, flatly and without hesitation.
Their timing is perfect.
Come to think of it, have those two been the only ones arguing this whole time?
The Little Handy War Maiden was naturally on Mineha's side, but she looked a bit troubled in the back.
The Five Sisters on the opposite side, too… most of the other girls were with Ladia.
But they all looked disinterested.
The red-haired girl was bored, the blue-haired one sleepy.
As for Lüzgyaru, she was sitting down reading a book.
So the only ones who were actually worked up were Mineha and Ladia.
And, well, naturally, since this was turning into a commotion, it was about time.
"You two. You're being awfully noisy. What do you think you're doing?"
She's here.
The Delvers' Guild Hydrangea branch master.
Alance. An elf, and a big sister type.