The Dungeon Seeker

Chapter 3 - The Corrupted Village's Legend ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ (Part 2)

「Originally, there was a dungeon in my village. According to some rumors, it's because of that, that that land appeared from the sea looking like that」

「Dungeon……」

Hearing that word, Junpei felt his blood draining out of his face.

Even though he knew that it was a different dungeon from that labyrinth, he involuntarily remembered many things.

「Hm? What's the matter Junpei?」

「No, it's nothing. Please continue. I mean…… why would it looked like that floating in the sea just because there was a dungeon?」

「They said that it was a dungeon that grew as time passed. Not spreading deeper and wider underground, but rising up like a tower, I guess? The island itself rose like that along with the dungeon, making it how it looks right now. Well, still, they say that the entrance wasn't under the sea, but in the island」

「Hmm〜…… it magnified in scale huh. That sounds unbelievable, but anything could happen in a fantasy world」

「And then, it was a dungeon where undead monsters loitered around. Thanks to that…… it was said that our village was called Decayed Village in the past」

「That's quite insulting to say? It's just an island having an undead dungeon right?」

「And then, since it was being called by that, naturally, the discrimination from outside the village was intense. The village was given unreasonable taxes, making it a very hard time」

「On top of that, the undead was crawling out of the dungeon, so they were probably feeling the worst」

Ami nodded.

「That's why, several hundred years ago, all of the villagers gathered to conduct a certain construction」

「Construction?」

「A big project to nullify the dungeon」

「Nullify…… the dungeon? Is that even possible?! How did they do it?! How did they nullify the dungeon?!!」

"Ahaha," Ami answered to Junpei who raised his voice.

「Well, even though I said that, it's very simple. The dungeon had only one entrance and the hole was small too」

「Don't tell me……」

Junpei drooped his shoulders for it was not what he expected.

「Un. They brought all kinds of rocks, big and small, and buried the entrance. The environment inside the dungeon seemed to be very comfortable for the undead, so they didn't force themselves out, solving the problem」

「You said they nullified the dungeon, so I expected much for nothing. To think that it was such a boring thing」

「But you know, it was very important for the people who live there」

Junpei's face twitched. He felt bad about it, seeing Ami looking at him with a solemn gaze.

「Well, I guess so. I went too far saying it's boring. My bad」

「It's fine as long as you get it」

"Still……," Junpei shrugged his shoulders.

「Uhhh…… Decayed Village was it? After sealing the dungeon, was your village able to escape the unreasonable discrimination?」

「Well, it's several hundred years in the past after all. There's not much of that right now. However…… there's still remnants」

「Remnants?」

「The village is near an undead dungeon right? Because of that, there were quite a lot of legends and customs that remained. The villagers from that settlement think a little bit different than other people」

「And you mean?」

「Do you know about reincarnation?」

「Oi oi, don't make fun of me okay? It's impossible that I don't know about reincarnation after living in Japan」

"Yareyare," Junpei sighed.

「Well, we don't believe that it's true right? But, the people from that village actually believes in it. Other than that, they also believe in resurrection…… for example, cremation is an absolute no, and the dead would always be buried to the ground. And those who have high positions like the Village Chief would be turned into a mummy, and other than thatーー」

And there, Junpei fell to his knees grabbing to his head.

「Ow……!」

「What happened?」

When Ami asked that, a mechanical announcement echoed inside Junpei's head.

ーー■■■■ has made more than a certain level of contact with information relating to undying legend. The information is approaching the core; therefore, the memories shall be reassembled in exchange for a decrease of 5 thesaurus points.

「………………no, I just got a headache. And then?」

「Junpei asked if the village was able to escape the unreasonable discrimination right? I said yes, but not all of it was baseless claims」

「Hm? What do you mean?」

「There's only a few right now, but many in the villagers in the past have worshipped an evil god. That's why it was said that there was a lot of arguments when the undead dungeon was about to be sealed」

「Worshipping…… an evil god?」

「It's a monster only mentioned in legends. Do you know about the No Life King?」

「You're really asking me if I know that……」

Junpei made a deprecating smile.

There was no way he could forget. After all, it was the first monster he killed in that labyrinth.

「Hm? What do you mean by that? You sound like you've even seen it for yourself……」

Junpei quickly rephrased his words.

「I didn't mean that, I was saying that there's no way I wouldn't have known such a famous monster」

「Ahh, you meant it like that」

「And then? What's up with the No Life King?」

「It was said that that monster is in the deepest part of that dungeon, making it the target of worship of the evil god cultists. That monster has a special skillーー」

"The attack nullification huh……," Junpei thought.

It's true that it was a skill befitting a god, no matter how strong one is, they cannot win against it without knowing its weakness.

「ーーlife and death. In other words, it would repeatedly die and resurrect within a short amount of time, it's as if it could completely control the concept of death itself. That's why if it was worshipped as the evil god that governs over death, they might be able to receive powers of resurrection or reincarnation…… well, that's what their logic was at least」

"Dokun!" Junpei's heart pounded.

And the mechanical announcement played as if it was a repeat of earlier.

ーーThesaurus points are decreased by 10. There is the possibility that the cause of the No Life King's skill 【Attack Nullification】would arrive at ■■■■'s core along with the accumulated information; therefore, memories shall be reassembled once again.

Together with that sound echoing in his head, Junpei's expression distorted due to the more intense pain he felt compared to the one before.

Junpei did his best to look calm after noticing Ami looking at him curiously.

「Well, it's just a legend, so no one knows if it's real or not」

「Legend……」

And there, Junpei asked Ami.

「Although this is just my biased image; there would usually be a boss and treasures in the deepest part of a dungeon right?」

「It's not just your biased image. In this world, there would usually be a boss monster and treasures in the deepest part of the dungeon」

"It's really like a game……," Junpei laughed.

「Well, it's a world where status points exist, so it would only be natural huh. And then? Other than the No Life King, what treasures are there in the deepest part of that undead dungeon?」

「It'll be back again to the evil god cultists, but it was said that that was the part that attracted the cultists the most」

「Hm? What do you mean?」

「It was said that it was an artifact that governs over immortalityーー」

And there, Junpei's vision suddenly blacked out.

Following that, he stopped hearing sounds, he stopped smelling odors. He even lost the warmth of the sun and the caress of the wind, all of his senses disappeared including his sense of touch.

Sight.

Hearing.

Smell.

Touch.

Taste.

Losing his five senses, Junpei felt as if he was thrown into an endless darkness where direction does not exist.

Everything was dark. A deafening alarm echoed inside his head and a mechanical announcement played at the same time.

ーーEmergency. The core has been reached. In exchange to releasing a part of the original ability engraved into Takeda Junpei's soul, the Thesaurus points shall once again be returned to its initial state.

The next instant, Ami appeared in Junpei's vision.

「Hey, Junpei? Are you alright?」

「No, it's nothing……」

"However……," Junpei placed a hand between his eyebrows.

The feeling that tickles his mind.

"Something is strange……in the first place," Junpei thought.

ーーwhy did I…… fall to Ami this easily? No, why did I let my guard down towards Ami this easily?

I fell into Kido and Noriko's trap, and got dreadful experiences because of other people's evil intent many times.

Despite that, why did I sleep with Ami that easily?

I was the most vulnerable during sex and after sex, it was the best time to get myself killed……

It's true that as a result, I found out that Ami isn't someone who would do something like that, but during that guild exam, I didn't know Ami at all…… why did I, do such a dangerous……

「…………………」

Ami peeked into Junpei's face worriedly because he turned silent.

「Are you sure you're okay? Your complexion looks really bad you know?」

Junpei regained himself hearing Ami's words.

And he said while making a wry smile.

「Ever since I came to this world, I would sometimes get a headache. Don't mind it」

「U〜n, like being mentally stressed because you came to this world from a peaceful country like Japan?」

「I think so」

「Ahh, now that we've mentioned stress, my menstrual irregularity is the worst」

「Well, there's nothing I could do about that. Unless you're insane, your body will get irregularities because of the stress you'd get after coming to this world」

Ami mischievously smiled.

「But, these past two months, Junpei might be the cause of my menstrual irregularity. It's already late two weeks this month」

Junpei was caught off guard, and his jaws dropped.

「Eh?!」

Junpei froze in his place and asked Ami with cold sweat.

「……are you serious?」

Ami started to laugh out loud grabbing her stomach.

「Hahaha! Of course it's a lie. Junpei would only shoot it outside, so of course it's difficult to have one」

Hearing those words, Junpei let out a sigh of relief.

「That kind of lie is too bad for my heart so stop it please? That's not a joke at all」

After thinking for a moment, Junpei shook his head.

「Even so, even if we try to avoid it, it would be made if it would…… maybe I should think about this a little bit more」

「What do you mean think about it?」

「That's, well……」

Seeing the faltering Junpei, Ami smiled mischievously.

「You're hesitating to do it with me? Shall we start not doing it tonight?」

「……」

「Let's stop then? You have many things you need to do right?」

「……」

「Un, I get it. Junpei seems to be troubled by it, so let's just stop」

「………………just let me pull out earlier than usual, please」

Nodding in satisfaction, Ami tapped Junpei's shoulder.

「It's good that you're honest」

When he started to walk dejectedly, Junpei noticed something strange.

「Oi, your village is over there right?」

「Un, we should see it by now. It's over there…… eh?」

As soon as she looked at that direction, Ami was shocked.

There was a small village surrounded by fields in that direction. However, dark smoke was rising from all over the place.

The two of them nodded at each other and ran down the slope.

As they approached, they understood the situation better.

Most of the buildings were burned down and they could tell that the ones not burning were plundered.

「Why? Why……is this……?」

Junpei did not reply to Ami's words. All that he could do was to support her shoulders, not to let her fall as they ran.

Right now, there was only one way to describe the village's situation as far as Junpei and Ami could tellーー

ーーit was in ruins.

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