The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter

A monster showed up in the village out of the blue. It didn’t have a mouth — at least, not where it was supposed to be. Instead, it sat on its round, swollen belly, complete with fangs. The Magic Eater. It had 【Magic Devour】 as one of its skills so I assumed it devoured magic through its stomach.

So I came up with a plan. I’d aim for its head; Emma would go for its arms, and Luna-san, its legs. We would launch our attack with carefully synchronized timing. Then it wouldn’t have time to activate its skill. Or so I thought. I wanted to punch myself for coming up with a plan so naïve.

「Ugh…」

「Yikes… that’s just disgusting.」

Right before we could land a blow, a bunch of mouths emerged from various parts of its body and completely devoured our magic attacks.

「Guhihihi…」

Foam started bubbling around the mouth on its belly. Good lord. And what’s up with that creepy laugh?

「Hmm.」

「What’s up, Toramaru?」

「I feel like it’s gotten a little more vicious. Though it’s just my intuition.」

「You mean it got stronger? Wait a sec. You’re right! It levelled up!」

It went up from level 80 to level 81. Luna-san furrowed her brows.

「Maybe it get stronger every time it absorbs magic?」

「Could be.」

「What do we do, Noir? Keep on fighting it?」

Emma’s growing concern was understandable. We couldn’t come up with anything effective against the creature. We also had the bandits to deal with so it was in our best interest to stay out of harm’s way.

「Let’s get out of here and make a mess.」

「Hop on, then.」

We mounted on Toramaru’s back and went out of the village. The Magic Eater followed. We kept a steady speed just enough to not let it catch up to us. A few kilometres out, we found some weaker monsters and killed them. The gluttonous creature happily partook of its delicious meal, sounds of bones cracking under its fangs. We left a few more dead monsters on our trail, luring it. We then used the opening to return to the village. It was too focused on its meal that it didn’t follow us anymore.

「That thing was so creepy.」

「True that. We could probably beat it but now’s a bad time. It might come back. What to do…」

More bandits might come once they notice that the ones they sent have not returned. I would want to avoid that at all costs. Our surprise attack won’t work if they’re on alert.

As I was contemplating, Toramaru suggested something.

「I could stand guard here in the village. If that thing returns, I’ll just do what we did earlier and lure it away. I can most likely take it down if I go all out and push my limits, though.」

「Would you get hurt if you did that?」

「A little, yes.」

「Then please don’t. I wouldn’t want your life to be in danger.」

「I see. Then I will do what we did earlier.」

「All right. The rest of us will take down those bandits.」

I just hope that thing was satisfied by his meal and won’t come back. After explaining the situation to the chief, the three of us headed to the bandits’ hideout.

It was completely dark by the time we made it to the foot of the mountain Goodman told us about. Too dark, in fact, that one would need a lamp to see. Fortunately, we had our 【Night Eyes】 so we made our way to the hideout without trouble. There’s barely any monsters here. The path however was steep and strewn with pebbles so we had to proceed with caution.

「There. That must be it.」

Near the peak, a mansion stood at a level area surrounded by trees. While it looked old, it was an imposing structure, quite grand in its size and two storeys high. Apparently some distrustful aristocrat had lived there a long time ago. There was light at the entrance where two men were stationed, wielding spears.

Are they drinking? There’s not a lot of people who’d come to raid the place so they’re not entirely cautious, I suppose. Which is a good thing for us.

We gathered behind a tree a few distance from the men and discussed our course of action.

「Hey, Noir. Should we take down those lookouts?」Emma asked.

「It should be around midnight right now. Just to be safe, let’s wait a bit more.」

「Got it. They look drunk. It would be easier if they just knocked themselves out cold.」

That would indeed be great. Though we could probably take them out without trouble anyway. The question was what to do once we’re inside, so we laid out our plan. Luna-san offered her suggestion.

「They’ve got the village chief’s granddaughter and other people inside, right? We should split into two.」

「That’s what I was thinking too. It would be difficult if they used the civilians as human shields. Let’s split into two. One pair and one will go solo. The former will take down the bandits, the latter will rescue the hostages.」

「Here, here! I want to go with Noir!」 Emma said.

「Very well. Then I’ll rescue the hostages while taking down any bandit I encounter」Luna said.

「I’m sure you’ll be fine, Luna-san. But please be careful nonetheless.」

「My gun is suited for surprise attacks. I’ll be fine.」

「I mean, about you fainting…」

Luna-san tends to lose consciousness and suffer from violent seizures if she used her magic gun too much. It wouldn’t be much of a problem if she had someone with her but alone, it should be rough. With our objectives confirmed, we proceeded to have a light snack, waiting for the night to further deepen.

Fortunately, the two men were now completely smashed and on the brink of falling asleep. Man, these guys are too relaxed.

「Let’s move.」

「I’ll take the one on the right.」 Luna said.

「I’ll go for the one on the left, then.」

I weaved through the trees, closing in on my target. Luna-san, however, didn’t move from her spot. With her long-ranged weapon, she didn’t have to. Lucky her.

My 【Stone Bullet】and Luna-san’s【Energy Shot】zipped through the air, hitting our targets almost simultaneously. Both men lost consciousness at the same time as well.

The three of us quietly pushed the massive door open. We shuffled softly through the corridor, which was covered in rug that was worn-out in places. There were a lot rooms on the first floor, but there was no one on the corridor. Maybe they’re sleeping. When we got to the stairs, we could hear guffaws echoing from the second floor. A group of people drinking I guess.

「Noir-dono. I’ll search the first floor.」

「Roger that. We’ll check the second floor.」

「Be careful, Luna-san」 Emma said.

With a wave of a hand, we went our separate ways. Emma and I climbed the stairs quietly, and then we immediately ran into trouble. We could hear footsteps from the second floor heading our way.

「Wh-What do we do?」

「Judging from the sound, it’s only one guy. Let’s wait for him to come closer then we strike. I’ll cover his mouth while you give him a blow to his stomach.」

「Leave it to me.」

A short aisle with walls on both sides continued from the top of the. Farther away a second corridor stretched perpendicularly to the aisle in the shape of a T. We hid behind the wall near the top of the stairs, holding our breaths, waiting for the man.

「Hmm~ hmm~ hmm~ I’m the strongest! The strongest! The strongest!」

The man was humming to himself as I jumped out and covered his mouth.

「Uughh…」

「Emma.」

「Hiya!」

With a short, spirited cry, she punched straight at his stomach. This should knock him… out? He was still conscious.

「Hmm? I guess I didn’t use much power. Hiya!」

The second blow knocked the man out cold. You scared me for a second there, Emma.

「Ehehe… My bad.」 Emma said.

I’ll forgive her just cause she’s cute. We tied him up with a rope we brought — tight enough so he couldn’t move even if he wakes up.

「Infiltrations like this make me tremble.」

「With excitement?」

「Too obvious, huh? We used to go exploring a lot when we were kids. There was even a time when we pretended to sneak into a burglar’s home. Do you remember?」

Not really. My memories are fuzzy. I do remember playing a game where we had to take back a treasure from a wolf’s den, though. Basically, we sneak into the house of a neighbour who had a dog, eat a candy, then come back. Looking back now, it was stupid. And we failed every single time too.

「The games we played together back then are helping us now. It was all worth it,」Emma said.

「Sounds like a bit of a stretch.」

「Ehehe~ Now, now. Let’s just keep our spirits up like this and move on.」

「You’re right. Anyway, this guy was probably on his way to the bathroom. Next, we’ll deal with those other guys making a racket.」

「Okay! Let’s go!」

Emma treaded down the corridor fearlessly as I trailed behind her.

All right, then. Is the boss among those guys? The grunts are no problem. The boss, however, is apparently exceptionally skilled. We have to stay sharp when we face him.