Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 31
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Chapter 31: Vanargand
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The night beyond Orario should've been quiet.
Crunch. Crunch.
A long line of more than twenty wagons wound along the rutted road, their wheels grinding over loose stone and breaking the silence. Around thirty people dressed like adventurers trailed behind the convoy, their eyes sweeping the empty ground on both sides of the road.
This was the main road leading to Orario's Fourth District. Merchant Eugene's caravan was driving its wagons toward the faintly visible City of Heroes.
"Every time I see the City of Heroes, I can't help getting stirred up." Eugene lifted the curtain of his carriage window and poked out his round head, gazing at the city blazing with light.
His face held a mix of feelings: excitement, awe, longing, and a thin trace of hate that was easy to miss.
Beside Eugene's luxury carriage walked a burly man whose upper body was covered only by a vest and a single shoulder guard. When he heard that, he let out a sneer.
"Stirred up? For outsiders like you, people who can't receive the gods' Falna, Orario's almost become a holy land for adventurers. But the truth is, this so-called City of Heroes has been rotten from the roots for a long time. Slaughter, bullying, forcing decent women into prostitution... every darkness you can imagine, and every darkness you can't, is hidden under the light of this City of Heroes."
"You don't need to remind me. Of course I know what that city's really like. All it wants are toys for the gods."
Eugene no longer hid the look in his eyes. When he turned toward Orario again, those muddy eyes were filled with hatred and venom.
"Good. As long as you understand. My god was the one who gave you Falna and let you taste being an adventurer at your age. The moment a god's brand was carved into your back, there was no way Orario would ever accept you."
"That's why I've been so patient in helping you gather fire stones, isn't it? In these wagons, only the top layer is supplies. Everything underneath is fire stones bought from outside. This time, only that Renard is cargo meant for the Ishtar Familia."
The burly man couldn't help grinning when he heard that. It was as though he could already see that self-proclaimed righteous Familia blown into the sky by countless fire stones.
"This time, they'll know darkness still hangs over Orario."
A strand of moonlight happened to fall on the burly man at that moment. It looked like coincidence, yet it felt more like silent mockery.
Then faint screams came from the front of the convoy.
"Ah!"
"Enemy—gh!"
"What's happening up front? Why've we stopped?"
The burly man kept shouting toward the front, trying to find out what was going on. The only answer he got was one scream after another.
He realized something was wrong and at once ordered the members behind him to protect the cargo.
He was about to rush forward himself when a graceful arc of fire cut across the night sky and landed right in front of him.
It was a head wreathed in flame. Through the yellow firelight, the burly man thought he could see the terror frozen on its face.
Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps reached the burly man's ears, clear even in the chaos.
A silver-gray figure stepped out of the dark.
"Sorry, small fry. This road's... closed."
With those cocky words, the other party tossed a headless corpse at the burly man's feet.
The burly man finally saw who it was.
A Werewolf with silver-white hair and a tattoo across his face.
"You're... the Loki Familia's Vanargand. Why're you here?"
The burly man was so scared he dropped onto his backside. His face twisted, his eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets, and his body shook beyond his control.
Vanargand. An adventurer who'd joined the Loki Familia one year ago and had risen from Level 3 to Level 4 in only that one year.
His personality matched his title. People who picked fights with him came to ugly ends.
If any other member of the Loki Familia had stood in front of him, even one of their Level 6 elites, the burly man wouldn't have been this afraid.
But of course it had to be this brutal wolf.
The burly man wanted to run, but his body wouldn't obey him through the terror. He tried to stand, only to collapse again when his strength gave out. His will to live made him push himself backward with his legs, but at that crawling pace, how could he shake off Vanargand?
"It's impossible. Why're you here? There wasn't any word from the Guild."
That morning, the Guild had sent only one piece of news.
"Perseus has submitted an application to leave Orario, stating that a commission requires his patron god's personal judgment."
Hoshimi Miyabi had left Orario with Perseus as well.
One was Level 1, and the other was Level 2. Their levels were so low that the Rudra Familia hadn't cared about them at all.
"Yeah. If we hadn't done that, how were we supposed to fool the spies watching from up top? Hey, small fry, while you were plotting in secret, did it ever cross your mind that a newbie had already heard every word?"
"What?"
The burly man cried out. He'd considered the possibility that someone had sold them out. He'd considered the possibility that this was just an accident. But he'd never imagined they'd been exposed because a newbie had overheard them.
And the four idiots who'd plotted it hadn't even noticed.
In that instant, endless humiliation flooded the burly man's heart.
They'd planned this for a full year. They'd fooled the Guild, fooled Orario's two strongest Familias, and fooled their target.
And they'd failed because of a newbie.
That shame made him forget his fear of Bete. He struggled to his feet and rushed to the wagons packed with cargo, then pulled a magic item capable of starting a fire from his cloth pouch.
"Don't come closer. I'll tell you straight: these wagons are full of fire stones that'll explode the second they catch. Take one more step and I'll ignite them. Once one wagon blows, everything under it will blow too. Even Vanargand won't get away."
The burly man's hysterical threat had no effect. Bete didn't give in. Instead, he let out a weary sigh.
"You know, small fry, just a few days ago, I thought the same thing as you. I thought there were things that could be done in an instant, and no one could stop them. But... in the eyes of people you'd call monsters, even that single breath is enough time to do plenty."
Bete's words made no sense to the burly man. He didn't understand a single thing.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm telling you to back off. Otherwise, I'll drag you down with me."
Bete slowly turned away and lifted his head toward the black night sky, murmuring, "Feel that? It's getting colder."
"What bullshit're you—ah!"
Before the burly man could finish speaking, a blade appeared behind him.
The flash of steel cut straight through the arm holding the magic item.
Blood sprayed. The burly man clutched his arm and fell to the ground, letting out a miserable howl.
"Resolved."
Hoshimi Miyabi stepped out of the dark, dressed in her Hollow Special Operations Section 6 uniform.
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 32
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Chapter 32: Gentleman Thug
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“You... you’re really a rookie? I’m Lv. 3!”
The burly man stared in disbelief at the arm that’d been cut off. Maybe because it’d only just been severed, the arm was still twitching nonstop, much like his heart right now.
Hoshimi Miyabi didn’t answer him.
She sheathed Tailless and said to Bete, “All the adventurers in the rear have been captured. Two Lv. 3s and fourteen Lv. 2s. The mission’s complete, so it’s time to signal Finn and the others.”
“I already sent the signal. Finn and the others should be here soon.”
Speak of the devil. Bete had barely finished when Finn, Gareth, Raul, and Anakitty hurried over.
“Looks like you finished your mission with ease.”
Finn glanced at the headless corpse on the ground, then at the burly man leaning against the wagon wheel. “Unless I’m remembering wrong, your name’s Liam Hull, right? Vice-captain of the Rudra Familia.”
“Heh. To think I’d be remembered by Braver. I don’t know whether to call that lucky or unlucky.” Liam had regained his calm by now. He knew he’d lost this time, and not just him. Everyone in the Rudra Familia, including their patron god Rudra, had lost.
“Of course. I remember every surviving member of Evilus very well.”
“You really are something, prum hero. Before I die, could you answer one question for me?”
“That depends on whether you can give me information worth hearing. Tell me, where’s the Rudra Familia’s headquarters? And aside from targeting the Astraea Familia, what else are you plotting?”
To pressure him, Finn drove the spear in his hand into the ground right beside Liam’s face. A thin cut appeared on Liam’s cheek.
He understood the warning. If he refused to talk, or if he lied, a scratch wouldn’t be all he got.
“You think I’m the kind of man who’d sell out his own god? Don’t waste your time on me. You’d be better off questioning the others. Maybe a few of them are scared enough of dying to talk.”
Liam put on a relaxed act and even whistled.
“I see. Understood.”
Finn showed him a graceful smile, as polished as any gentleman’s. Then, fast as lightning, he punched Liam straight in the face.
“Guh...”
The blow landed square on Liam’s features and caved them in. Blood poured from his nose and mouth, and at least five of his teeth had been knocked out. Finn’s attack didn’t stop there. Like a brutal interrogator, he hit him again and again.
“What makes people like you think there’s any honor in what you do? You’re scum from the dark, rats who only know how to hide in the gutter.”
Finn didn’t stop until Liam’s face was beaten beyond recognition. Then he dusted off his hands, pulled off his bloodstained gloves, and tossed them to the ground.
“If you don’t want to talk, then don’t open your mouth again. I doubt you’ll have much use for those teeth anymore.”
From gentleman to madman and back to gentleman, Finn’s change had taken only a few short minutes. His actions forced Hoshimi Miyabi to update her impression of him at once.
She’d thought Finn was the strategist type in his Familia. She hadn’t expected him to become this savage when he lost his temper.
“Sorry you had to see that side of me...”
“Huh? What’re you talking about, Captain? Back when you all beat me up, you went way harder than that.”
Bete rubbed his face with lingering fear. Back then, he’d only just joined the Familia and carried himself like he was the strongest man alive. The result was that three Lv. 6s had beaten the arrogance out of him.
From that day on, Bete finally understood that the depth of the Loki Familia, one of Orario’s strongest, wasn’t something the Vidar Familia could ever compare to.
“To keep our new member from thinking we’re too fond of fighting, let’s end that topic here. Hoshimi Miyabi, have all members of the Rudra Familia been captured?”
“Yes. Three Level 2 adventurers and fourteen Level 3 adventurers. Including the one Level 2 and seven Level 3 adventurers Bete ‘handled,’ we’ve dealt with twenty-six in total.”
“For a Familia of the Rudra Familia’s size, that should be their limit. Well done. I remember you mentioned that the merchant named Eugene planned to sell a Renard to the Ishtar Familia. Did you find her?”
Hoshimi Miyabi shook her head.
“We didn’t find any trace of a Renard on the road. But there’s still one place we haven’t searched.”
All three of them turned at the same time toward the lavish carriage beside them.
“Then it seems the missing young Renard lady should be hiding in here.”
Finn yanked the carriage door open with little care.
Sure enough, inside sat a young Renard girl with long golden hair, dressed in a kimono, along with Eugene, who’d curled into a trembling ball with both hands over his head.
“There you are. Mr. Eugene, would you be interested in visiting the Ganesha Familia for a cup of tea?”
Finn glanced out of the corner of his eye at the young Renard girl. Maybe Eugene had wanted to fetch a better price, because he’d not only arranged her appearance with care, but also bought her a kimono that looked expensive at a glance.
However...
“This girl looks only eleven years old, Mr. Eugene... What you’ve done is enough to earn you ten years in prison.”
Eugene, who’d been avoiding reality like an ostrich with its head in the sand, shuddered at the word “prison.” Trembling, he said, “This has nothing to do with me! Those bandits were already planning to sell her to the Love District. If anything, I did a good deed here!”
“A good deed? If you’re a good man, then I fear there aren’t any bad men left in the world. The Guild can decide your guilt. We’ll be taking this Renard lady with us.”
With that, Finn stepped up to the Renard.
“Hello. Could you tell me your name, and where you’re from?”
After everything that’d happened, the young Renard girl seemed badly frightened. No matter what Finn asked, she didn’t answer. Left with no other choice, Finn decided to bring her back to the Familia first.
“Raul...”
At the captain’s call, Raul, who’d been checking the cargo, came trotting over with eager steps.
“Captain, what can I do for you?”
“Hoshimi Miyabi and I will take this girl back to headquarters first. You, Anakitty, and Bete wait here for a bit. Shakti should arrive soon.”
“Got it. Leave it to humble little me.”
After giving his orders, Finn had Hoshimi Miyabi bring the young Renard girl out.
“Understood.”
Hoshimi Miyabi climbed into the carriage. Without saying a word, she picked the young Renard girl up in her arms. Perhaps because Hoshimi Miyabi carried a similar scent, the girl didn’t resist.
Instead, she leaned obediently against Hoshimi Miyabi’s chest.
‘She feels so warm. Just like Mama.’
Days of fear had left the young Renard girl exhausted in both body and mind. As soon as she “smelled” that familiar presence, she sank into a deep sleep.
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 33
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Chapter 33: Sanjouno Haruhime
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The Loki Familia's mission was done, but the work of the Ganesha Familia, who handled the city's public order, had only just begun. When Shakti, the Ganesha Familia's captain, heard they'd captured more than twenty Evilus remnants, she almost thought she'd misheard.
Ever since the Nightmare on the 27th Floor, the remaining members of Evilus had gone into hiding, and everyone in Orario had assumed there weren't many of them left.
Now, though, it looked like Evilus might be starting to rise from the ashes. Shakti quickly ordered her Familia members to lock those Evilus members in Orario's prison, where endless interrogations would be waiting for them.
--+--
Meanwhile, the upper ranks of the Loki Familia began to discuss what to do with the Renard girl. Even late into the night, one tower of Twilight Manor still glowed with light.
Inside Finn's office, Raul, Anakitty, and the others who'd been guarding the Rudra Familia members had already gone back to their rooms to rest. Riveria had also turned in, so the only ones left in the office were Finn, Gareth, Loki, and Hoshimi Miyabi.
Oh, and one little fox who'd just woken up.
After a good sleep, the girl's spirit had clearly improved, and her emotions had settled down.
"Thank you, honored benefactors, for saving this humble girl."
The Renard girl bowed to Finn and the others with perfect manners. Both her movements and her words were flawless, and everyone could tell at a glance that she was a noble young lady who'd been raised with care.
So why had a noble girl been sold to the Love District?
"No problem, no problem. Hey there, cutie, what's your name? Where're you from?"
Loki sidled up to the Renard girl with a lecherous grin, and the sight made the girl think at once of those bandits.
She let out a scream, fled behind Hoshimi Miyabi, and buried her face in Miyabi's skirt, too scared to even look at Loki.
"Uh... do you really need to be that scared of me?"
Seeing Loki strike out with the fox girl made the other upper ranks burst into laughter. Watching Loki hit on someone and get rejected was pretty much a shared hobby for the three of them.
Hoshimi Miyabi didn't join their little celebration. Instead, she turned, crouched down, and gently stroked the girl's head.
"My name's Hoshimi Miyabi. This is the Loki Familia. You're safe now, so you don't need to be afraid."
The laughter and bickering stopped at once. They stared at Hoshimi Miyabi in shock.
Ever since she'd joined the Loki Familia, her tone had either been cool and distant or stiff and formal. This was the first time they'd ever heard such a gentle voice from her.
"Hoshimi Miyabi... Hoshimi..." The girl frowned as she thought hard. She ran through the surnames of every guest who'd ever visited her home, but she couldn't remember any Hoshimi House.
"What about you? What's your name?"
The girl gathered herself and, following the etiquette of the Far East, first bowed to everyone before introducing herself.
"This humble girl is called Sanjouno Haruhime. I'm someone who was... cast out by her family."
"Cast out?"
Finn and Gareth looked stunned. Loki was even angrier, swinging her fist hard while cursing under her breath.
"How messed up do you have to be to throw out an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl?"
With Haruhime's explanation, everyone soon grasped the whole story. In the Far East, the Sanjouno House was a family in charge of rituals. One day, a Pallum visited the Sanjouno House and brought a sacred gift meant as an offering to Amaterasu.
By chance, Haruhime ate that sacred gift. Her father flew into a rage and wanted to offer Haruhime's life to Amaterasu instead.
In the end, thanks to the Pallum guest's persuasion, Haruhime kept her life, but her father still severed their father-daughter bond and cast her out of the house.
The rest of the story was about the same as what Hoshimi Miyabi had heard. After Haruhime left home, she was abducted by the Pallum.
On the road, they ran into beastmen, and the Pallum abandoned Haruhime and fled. Later, Haruhime was saved by a group of bandits. The bandits had planned to sell her to Orario's Love District, but the suddenly appearing Eugene bought her for twice the price.
After that came the events from just now.
Haruhime's story was something Finn and the others had heard far too many times before, but Hoshimi Miyabi found it almost impossible to accept.
They'd cast out their own daughter over a "small thing" like that?
"Their heads aren't right."
Loki nodded hard, fully agreeing with Miyabi's conclusion.
"Hmph. I'd heard people from the Far East think differently from normal folks, and now I see it's true."
After Gareth said that, he glanced at Finn by reflex, only to find guilt written all over Finn's face. Finn left his desk, walked up to Haruhime, and bowed to her with deep respect.
"I apologize for the actions of one of my people..."
Finn dreamed of reviving the Pallums. He wanted to lead his people and break the fixed views others had of them. Yet there were always rotten Pallums dragging him down.
From Haruhime's story, everyone present could tell that the whole affair, from start to finish, had been that Pallum's scheme. Haruhime's father's actions had been absurd too, but at the root of it all was still the Pallum's plot. They just didn't say it out loud out of respect for Finn.
"It's... it's all right. This has nothing to do with you. It was my own..."
"All of this was my kinsman's scheme. I swear upon Fianna, Goddess of the Pallums, that I'll find that fellow Pallum and make sure he gets the punishment he deserves."
Faced with such a solemn Finn, Haruhime didn't know what to say for a moment. Dazed, she could only thank him.
Once they understood what had happened, everyone began to discuss how to settle Haruhime. Finn leaned toward having Haruhime join the Loki Familia.
Part of it was because she truly was pitiful, and part of it was because he felt guilty toward her.
Gareth had no objections either. The Familia already had one problem child, so one more wouldn't matter. As for Loki... she had even fewer objections.
Loki was quite happy for her Familia to gain a Renard. That fluffy tail, especially, was tempting enough that even if Haruhime had no fighting ability at all, Loki would be fine keeping her at home and petting her tail all day.
Besides, Renards were a race with strong magic affinity, just like elves, and most Renards were born with three magic slots.
Unlike elves, though, most magic awakened by Renards tended to be support magic. That was exactly what the Familia lacked right now.
So Loki dragged Haruhime off in high spirits to engrave her Falna. While that was happening, Finn and Hoshimi Miyabi began discussing a trip into the Dungeon.
"Tomorrow, I plan to go into the Dungeon with Riveria. Hoshimi Miyabi, you'll come with us too. Gareth, I'll leave Familia affairs to you."
"You're really good at ordering people around, aren't you? Fine, I've got it."
"Right now, most of the Familia's funds are being used to prepare supplies for the expedition, and we still owe money to the Hermes Familia. We need to pay that back as soon as possible. Tomorrow, we're planning to..."
Before Finn could finish, a scream rang through the whole of Twilight Manor.
"We've drawn another ace!!!"
In an instant, the lights that had gone out in the other towers all came back on.
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 34
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Chapter 34: Uchide no Kozuchi, and the Familia’s Top Brass All Lose Sleep
--+--
Finn’s office had one extra person in it: Riveria, who’d been woken by Loki’s shrill scream.
She wore a long nightgown, her hair hung loose and messy, and every so often she rubbed her eyes like she still hadn’t shaken off sleep.
Loki, meanwhile, held the paper with Haruhime’s status on it and danced like mad in the middle of the room. The sheer frenzy of it made Hoshimi Miyabi wonder if she’d been drinking.
Haruhime just blinked her wide eyes in confusion, staring at the patron goddess whose mood had gone strange the moment she saw that so-called status sheet.
“Loki, no matter how happy you are, you should let us see it too.”
At Finn’s reminder, Loki stopped her “celebration” and slapped Haruhime’s status onto the desk. “Take a good look, all of you. As long as you lot work hard and go up one more level, the Loki Familia’s gonna be the strongest Familia in Orario.”
Those confident, certain words drew everyone’s curiosity. One by one, their eyes turned toward the sheet of parchment on the desk.
--+--
Sanjouno Haruhime
Lv. 1
Strength: I 0
Endurance: I 0
Dexterity: I 0
Agility: I 0
Magic: I 0
--+--
[Magic]
Uchide no Kozuchi: Level Boost. Limited to one target. Effect lasts fifteen minutes.
--+--
Hiss.
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath. Even Riveria, who hadn’t fully woken from her daze, snapped back to perfect clarity in an instant.
The spell description was simple and blunt, but it made every high-ranking member of the Loki Familia feel like they’d seen a ghost.
Level Boost.
The words were easy to say, but reaching that result was as hard as climbing the heavens.
Lower-class adventurers made up half of Orario’s adventurers, and within that half, perhaps forty percent would never level up in their whole lives. Yet Haruhime’s magic could raise someone by one level with no side effects at all.
Going from Level 1 to Level 2 didn’t mean much. But what about Level 5 to Level 6? Level 6 to Level 7? Orario had only one Level 7 adventurer, and even looking across the whole world, there were only two.
“Loki, does this magic ignore level?” Finn wanted to know at once whether Haruhime’s magic had any level limit beyond its time limit.
“Based on my experience, if the description doesn’t list a limit, then it doesn’t exist. Still, we’ll need to test it. Riveria, please find a room for our ‘future star.’ Oh, right...”
Loki suddenly opened her eyes, and a faint divine presence spread through the room. Even high-level adventurers like Finn felt crushing pressure from it.
“About Haruhime’s magic. For now, only the five of us know. Don’t tell the other members of the Familia yet.”
A spell that could raise someone by one level. Once news of that got out, it’d drive the other Familias mad, and even the Loki Familia would become everyone’s target.
On the surface, the Loki Familia’s current fighting strength was three—no, four—Level 6s, along with several Level 4s. They didn’t have a single Level 5 in between. Once Ais and Bete rose to Level 5, or once Hoshimi Miyabi reached Level 2, Haruhime’s secret wouldn’t matter so much even if it got exposed.
“Loki’s right. Haruhime... your magic is powerful. A spell that strong may draw the greed of other powers. So aside from those of us who already know, don’t tell anyone about your magic.”
“O-okay.” Haruhime nodded, still half-lost.
“All right. Riveria, take her to rest first. We’ll discuss tomorrow’s Dungeon plans in a bit.”
“Understood.”
Riveria planned to lead Haruhime away, but Haruhime ran to Hoshimi Miyabi’s side on instinct. She grabbed Miyabi’s skirt and hid timidly behind her.
Riveria didn’t get upset. Instead, she teased, “Looks like this child would rather cling to Hoshimi Miyabi than me.”
“Maybe it’s because they’re the ‘same race.’ Hoshimi Miyabi, I’ll have to trouble you to go with Riveria.”
Hoshimi Miyabi didn’t waste words. She left together with Riveria, bringing along the uneasy Haruhime.
--+--
Riveria thoughtfully placed Haruhime in a room near Hoshimi Miyabi’s. There wasn’t much inside, but it was enough for Haruhime to sleep there for one night.
“This is the room. Rest for tonight. We’ll talk about everything else tomorrow.”
“Riveria, go on ahead. I’ll say a few words to her.”
Hoshimi Miyabi could tell Haruhime was scared. Most of that fear came from being dropped into a strange place. Without some guidance, she’d likely stay awake all night.
“That makes sense. It’s late already. Also, if you get sleepy, you can head back and sleep first. It’s only the Dungeon, so there’s no need to make such a big fuss.”
Riveria knew her old friend too well. The reason Finn had chosen to discuss the Dungeon plan in the middle of the night was simple: the shock had hit him too hard, and he couldn’t sleep, so he wanted to drag everyone else into not sleeping either.
Riveria herself had been woken up, so she’d already lost her sleepiness. As for Hoshimi Miyabi, Riveria guessed this matter wouldn’t keep her awake.
Besides, with their lineup, any Dungeon trip would at least send them into the Deep Floors. Hoshimi Miyabi knew nothing about the Deep Floors, so bringing her to that meeting would be pointless.
“Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. Don’t mind him. Sleep if you’re tired. Leave the rest to me.”
Hoshimi Miyabi wasn’t sleepy either, but she didn’t want to attend a meeting. She decided she’d go back to bed after talking Haruhime through this.
When she opened the door, things were just as she’d expected. Haruhime sat on the bed in a daze, with no sign that she meant to sleep. When she saw Hoshimi Miyabi come in, she jumped to the floor in a panic and clutched at her own skirt.
“Lady... Lady Hoshimi Miyabi.”
“No honorifics. Just call me Hoshimi Miyabi. Can’t sleep?”
“Mm...” Haruhime lowered her head.
Outside, she’d fallen asleep quickly because fear had worn her out, and because Hoshimi Miyabi gave her a sense of safety. But once she reached this room and was left alone, unease sent all kinds of thoughts spinning through her mind. She couldn’t sleep at all.
“I know you’re frightened by this strange place and by your future, and I know you’ll need time to accept it. But right now, that’s exactly what you don’t have. Your magic will draw wicked people’s greed.”
“Even if the Familia’s members protect you all day and night, they still may not be able to keep you completely safe. You can only force yourself to adapt and grow stronger.”
Hoshimi Miyabi’s words weren’t gentle. They were even a little cold. But without question, they gave Haruhime a direction. In that chaos, she saw a road forward.
She didn’t know what waited at the end of it, but now she could keep walking.
“O-okay. I’ll... get stronger.”
Hoshimi Miyabi only wanted to give Haruhime a goal and help her shift her state of mind, so she could sleep in peace. This little girl still had a long road ahead of her.
“All right. Sleep easy. I’ll help you from now on.”
This time, Haruhime smiled.
“Mm!”
--+--
On the other side, Riveria had just reached the door to Finn’s office when she heard Loki’s loud, careless voice from inside.
“Finn, what if we go to the countries of the Far East and drag all the Renards there back to Orario?”
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 35
--+--
Chapter 35: This Sword Is Cursed
--+--
After seeing just how valuable Renards could be, Loki came up with a wild idea.
She’d kidnap every Renard from the nation of the Far East, drag them all back to Orario, then shove their heads down until they joined her Familia.
Their talent was just too strong. Hoshimi Miyabi was already a monster even without receiving a Falna, but even Haruhime, who looked soft and weak and didn’t seem like much of a fighter, had magic as absurd as raising someone’s level.
There had to be at least a hundred Renards living in the Far East, maybe even a thousand. If Loki brought them all over and gave them Falna one by one, she’d come out ahead even if only one of them had some broken skill like that.
Thankfully, Finn, the captain, stopped his patron goddess before her idea went off the rails.
“Leaving aside whether that’d offend the god presiding over the Far East, the Guild wouldn’t approve all of us first-class adventurers leaving the city together. So, Loki, give up on that fantasy.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just saying. Besides, Hoshimi Miyabi and Haruhime probably aren’t even the same race.”
Loki’s interest came fast and left just as fast. One second, she’d been thinking about abducting Renards; the next, she was already yawning her head off. “I’m done. I’m going to sleep. Night, everyone.”
A skill like Uchide no Kozuchi was so absurd it went far beyond even the gods’ common sense, but with a deity’s long life behind her, Loki wasn’t so excited she couldn’t sleep. Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, though, were a different story.
“Riveria, Hoshimi Miyabi’s going to the Hephaestus Familia tomorrow morning. Once she comes back, we’ll head straight into the Dungeon. Gareth, you’ll stay with the Familia and test Haruhime’s magic.”
To make things more efficient, Finn planned to take a few volunteers with them this time. It’d also count as letting Hoshimi Miyabi get an early taste of an expedition.
“Looks like I’m the first one who gets to try the Level Boost effect,” Gareth said. “Too bad there isn’t a good opponent for it.”
“That can’t be helped,” Finn said. “Our Familia’s short on funds, and we can’t keep owing the Hermes Familia for their commission fee. You think I don’t want to try the Level Boost too?”
They’d become Lv. 6 two years ago. In the two years since, each of their ability scores had risen by such tiny amounts they could only be called scraps. Reaching Lv. 7 was still a distant dream.
Given the chance to touch Lv. 7, even for a short time, every one of them wanted to try it.
But the Familia hadn’t been doing well lately. Finn could only force down that desire and put earning Valis first.
--+--
Early the next morning, after finishing her training, Hoshimi Miyabi took Tailless and headed out.
Her original appointment with Hephaestus had been for yesterday, but after everything that’d happened, Hoshimi Miyabi could only ask Loki to explain the situation for her.
Hephaestus had been gracious enough to push the contract signing back by one day.
Hephaestus’s workshop was inside the Hephaestus Familia’s shop in Babel. Before Hoshimi Miyabi left, Riveria made a point of reminding her where to go. Following the signs, Miyabi soon found the Hephaestus Familia’s shop, and one of its members guided her to Hephaestus’s workshop.
Hephaestus was leaning against a table with her arms crossed. When she saw Hoshimi Miyabi come in, she smiled and gestured for her to sit.
“You’re here. I’ve already written up the contract. Shall we sign now?”
“That’s fine.”
Once she got her answer, Hephaestus brought out two copies of the contract. Each of them took one and signed her own name.
“Good. Keep your copy safe. I’ll start preparing to make your custom weapon, but before that, I need to understand your sword.”
If she were only making a katana, three days would be enough. But what Hephaestus wanted was to forge a weapon that surpassed the blade Hoshimi Miyabi already carried.
Her pride as the God of Smithing wouldn’t let her make something that was just an inferior substitute.
“Here.”
Now that the contract had been signed, Hoshimi Miyabi didn’t hesitate. She handed Tailless straight to Hephaestus.
The last time Hephaestus saw the sword, most of her attention had been on the sheath, and she hadn’t studied the blade itself much. This time, she’d start with the sword. Only after understanding the blade’s power could she begin to understand the secret of its sheath.
Hephaestus drew Tailless.
In that instant, she felt some unknown energy crash against her divine presence.
“This sword uses an ore I’ve never seen before. The forging method is quite close to traditional techniques, though the process has been improved. There seems to be a soul inside the blade... no, that’s not right. More exactly, there are memories in it... and not just one person’s memories. What in the world is this sword?”
Some heretical forging methods did place souls into weapons to strengthen their power. But Tailless was different.
Rather than memories having been infused into the blade during forging, it felt more like the sword had absorbed those memories on its own.
Sinister. This sword was far too sinister.
“It contains part of the memories of each head of the Hoshimi family. That’s the fate of the Hoshimi family head. Only when the previous head dies by this sword can the next head use the memories inside it.”
Clang!
Hephaestus’s grip slipped, and Tailless dropped straight onto the table. She’d considered the possibility that the sword might have absorbed an enemy’s memories, but she’d never imagined it had absorbed the memories of former family heads. It seemed her earlier judgment had been too mild.
“So it’s a cursed blade in the truest sense, then. But if your family knows there’s something wrong with this sword, why keep using it for generations? Is it only for power?”
“To gain power, survive, and cut down more evil.”
By “evil,” Hoshimi Miyabi meant the powerful Ethereals inside Hollows, but Hephaestus clearly got the wrong idea.
“Using evil power for the sake of so-called justice... is that truly worth it?”
“It’s to survive.”
Looking into Hoshimi Miyabi’s steady eyes, Hephaestus suddenly felt as if some bright light were shining from her.
“...I understand. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I can tell you aren’t the kind of person who’d be carried away by malice. I’ll study this carefully. You can look around as you please.”
Hephaestus returned to her seat and lowered her head, falling deep into thought over the blueprints.
Hoshimi Miyabi sat in her chair, her gaze slowly moving across the weapon racks on the walls. These were likely all Hephaestus’s works. There was armor, and there were weapons.
The goddess enjoyed forging in her spare time, and the racks held almost everything, from daggers to broadswords. There were even several katana.
Every weapon was a masterpiece among masterpieces. The materials might not match Tailless, but in terms of forging skill, they were far superior.
Hoshimi Miyabi walked over to the rack holding the katana.
“May I draw one and take a look?”
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 36
--+--
Chapter 36: Bath
--+--
Two hours later, Hoshimi Miyabi left the Hephaestus Familia and returned to Twilight Manor.
Hephaestus had spent those two hours studying the blade, but she still couldn't find a way in. She could tell Tailless's strange nature came from the strange nature of its material.
She'd lived for more than a hundred million years, yet she'd never seen anything like it, not in Heaven and not in the Lower World.
A thought began to form in Hephaestus's mind. The material used to forge this sword didn't come from this world.
After two hours, Hephaestus handed the sword back to Miyabi with a weary look and told her she didn't need to come by for the next few days. She needed time to think.
--+--
When Miyabi returned to Twilight Manor, she found Finn and Riveria already geared up to leave. Several supporters stood nearby, along with... Bete.
He was leaning against the railing by the front gate, swatting at flies with an impatient look on his face.
"You're back? We've already prepared the supplies we need. If there's anything else you need to get ready, we can wait."
"I'll go to my room and grab a few things. It'll be quick."
Miyabi returned to her room and pulled the box out from under her bed. Inside were the bracers she'd taken off, as well as her W-Engine. Riveria had said they'd need to go down to the Deep Floors this time, and there wouldn't be any supply points beyond Rivira on the Eighteenth Floor.
Miyabi brought both items in case something went wrong. The arm guards spoke for themselves, and her W-Engine, Hailstorm Shrine, could work with her personal Drive Discs to draw out power beyond her normal limits. If they ran into trouble, she wouldn't be caught on the back foot.
With the arm guards and engine on her, Miyabi went to Twilight Manor's front gate and headed for the Dungeon with Finn and the others.
With Finn and Riveria leading the way, they broke through to the Eighteenth Floor in no time.
When they passed through the Seventeenth Floor, Miyabi made a point of looking at the fissure she'd opened. It was still there, with no sign that it'd healed at all, but she could feel that the Ether activity around it had dropped by quite a lot.
"All right, everyone. We'll rest in Rivira for a day first. Raul, you're setting up tents with me. Bete, you're in charge of the food."
The inns in Rivira cost too much, so Finn chose to camp in the open instead.
"I'll also..."
Miyabi had just been about to say she'd help, but Riveria caught her by the arm.
"Let's go take a bath. I know a very hidden place, and the water there is good."
Whenever the Familia returned from an expedition and reached the Eighteenth Floor, the women almost always chose to bathe at that "secret base." This time was no exception.
"This is... All right."
After cutting down so many monsters, Miyabi's clothes had blood on them, and the smell of monsters clung to her body. A bath did sound like a good idea.
So the two women took their changes of clothes and washing supplies and left.
--+--
The "secret base" Riveria mentioned was a small, well-hidden lake. Just as she'd said, the water was clear enough that Miyabi could lower her head and see the stones at the bottom.
Riveria checked the area and, once she saw no one was around, began taking off her clothes. Miyabi followed her example, and before long, the two women who'd been wrapped up from head to toe were bare.
The lake water was a little cool, but it wasn't much to Miyabi's body.
"Hm? Miyabi, you really don't have a tail?"
Riveria had glimpsed Miyabi's smooth back, and there were no signs of injury. Before, she'd worried Miyabi's tail might've been cut off in some accident, but now it seemed Miyabi had never had one at all.
"Yes. It isn't just me. My father and mother don't have tails either. My family probably doesn't have much in the way of Renard gene fragments."
"Gene fragments? What's that supposed to mean?"
Miyabi had let another unfamiliar term slip out, one beyond Riveria's understanding.
"I'm not an expert in this field. I only learned some of it from textbooks back in school. Genes are..."
Miyabi explained the biology of genes to Riveria by the book. Riveria only half understood, but she still grasped the general idea.
"So you're saying genes determine the traits of a species? For example, the reason we elves are different from ordinary humans is that our genes are different?"
"That's roughly it..."
Miyabi wasn't a biologist, so she couldn't give a more exact definition. She only felt that it was close enough.
"I never thought your world had studied the inside of the human body to such a degree."
Riveria gave a wry smile. For some reason, she thought of her homeland. Even if those stubborn elves were given another ten thousand years, they likely still wouldn't discover something like this.
"I'd truly like to see your world one day, given the chance."
At the mention of New Eridu, a faint look of memory flickered through Miyabi's eyes.
"Hollow disasters break out from time to time, and most people live from one day to the next, but it's still beautiful."
Riveria smiled bitterly at Miyabi's answer. "A world like that doesn't sound beautiful at all."
"If even those of us who live in that world can't believe it's beautiful, then that world truly has no hope left. Hollows devour people's hope. We can only move toward tomorrow by protecting that hope."
Miyabi didn't go into detail, but Riveria could still hear the cruelty of that world in her words.
Perhaps because the topic had grown too heavy, Riveria changed the subject and began talking about Ais's education. She spoke of Ais as a child, how she'd snuck into the Dungeon, gone around picking fights, and done all sorts of other things.
From beginning to end, it sounded like a weary mother complaining about her troublesome child.
At the mention of Ais, Miyabi pictured that child during the battle with Goliath.
"She... seems to carry a very heavy past. I saw my former self in her."
Miyabi had always felt that Ais might've gone through something similar to her. That hatred of monsters didn't feel like something an adventurer should have.
The difference was that Miyabi had already walked out of the shadows of her past and kept moving forward, while Ais still seemed trapped there.
Riveria fell silent. Ais had stayed with the Loki Familia for years, yet her past was still a mystery. No one knew what sort of burden that child carried.
--+--
The next day, the members of the Loki Familia geared up and prepared to leave the Eighteenth Floor for the Nineteenth Floor. Before they set out, Riveria made sure to explain some basic knowledge about the Nineteenth Floor to Miyabi.
"Starting from the Nineteenth Floor, not only will the types of monsters change, but the Dungeon's traps will become much more common. Most of the monsters there are poisonous as well, so keep your antidotes safe. Don't lose them."
Before they left, Finn had assigned Miyabi a large number of antidotes, since she was the only member of the party without Abnormal Resistance.
Miyabi nodded to show she understood, then followed the others into unknown territory.
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 37
--+--
Chapter 37: Training to Be Faster Than Riveria
--+--
The nineteenth through twenty-fourth floors were known as the Large Tree Labyrinth. Unlike the rocky structure of the upper floors, the walls, floor, and ceiling here were all made of wood, as if the adventurers had stepped inside the body of a giant tree.
The monsters on these floors had changed, too. Compared with the upper levels, there were far more species that used poison. The signature monster of the nineteenth floor was the Bugbear, a bear-shaped monster with a head that looked like a tapir, which was where its name came from.
It was about the same size as a Minotaur. Its body was huge and powerful, yet it had a speed that didn’t match its build at all. In simple terms, it was a nimble fatty.
Since Hoshimi Miyabi didn’t know much about Bugbears, her first swing at one missed by mistake. Since coming to Orario, Miyabi had never once missed an attack. And just like that, her “first time” had been carelessly handed over to a monster on the nineteenth floor.
Because the nineteenth floor was still close to the eighteenth, there weren’t that many poisonous monsters yet.
Once they reached the twentieth floor, though, the number of poisonous monsters rose, and the monster lineup changed in a big way.
Insect monsters, led by the Gun Libellula, appeared in clear numbers. Gun Libellula were small monsters that looked like dragonflies, and they attacked by firing needles from their tails.
Those needles weren’t that powerful, but they were fast enough that an ordinary Level 2 adventurer could get hit the moment they let their guard slip.
Plenty of adventurers died here every year. For the members of the Loki Familia, though, it wasn’t much of a threat. Even setting aside whether they had enough time to react, getting hit would’ve felt about as bad as a scratch.
“We’ll stop on this floor for a while and finish a commission,” Finn said during their break, after they’d cleared another wave of monsters.
“A commission?” Miyabi pulled a melon out from somewhere and had been munching away at it. The moment she heard the word, she looked up.
“That’s right. While you were out, Riveria and I accepted a point commission from the Guild. Since we need to make money, we might as well maximize the profit.”
Finn then began explaining how Orario’s familias worked. In broad terms, Orario’s familias were split into four major types: Exploration Familias, Smith Familias, Agriculture Familias, and Business Familias.
The Loki Familia was an exploration familia. Their main work was exploring the Dungeon, gathering materials, then selling those materials and magic stones to business familias.
Whether it was equipment, medicine, or magic items, all of it needed large amounts of Dungeon materials, so the Guild’s commission board was packed almost every day.
After receiving those materials, the merchant familias processed them into goods that adventurers needed, then sold them back to adventurers. Of course, making money wasn’t the only duty of an exploration familia. Their most important mission was conquering the Dungeon.
The deeper a familia explored, the larger the bonuses the Guild paid out. At the same time, the price of monster materials from the deep floors rose at an almost exponential rate.
“The Loki Familia’s current record is the forty-eighth floor. On this expedition, we’re planning to push past the fiftieth.”
“How deep does the Dungeon go?” Miyabi asked, curious about this natural labyrinth.
“No one knows. The ones who explored the deepest were the Zeus Familia and the Hera Familia, both of which have vanished into history. Only the Guild knows how far they reached, and only the Guild has records about anything beyond the fiftieth floor.”
A soft breeze drifted past, accompanied by the sound of beating wings. Every familia member who’d been resting went on alert at once, and Miyabi gripped the hilt of her blade as well.
They all knew what this meant. The Dungeon had waited for them to relax, then launched another attack.
Finn cut off the conversation and sprang to his feet.
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
The words had barely left Finn’s mouth when dozens of Gun Libellula appeared, surrounding them from every side.
“We can’t stay here too long. Finishing the commission comes first. Riveria.”
Riveria gave a short reply, planted her staff before her, and began chanting.
“Harbinger of the end, the white snow. Blow with the wind before the twilight. Closing light, the freezing land. Blizzard, the three severe winters—my name is Alf.”
Wynn Fimbulvetr.
The moment Riveria finished her chant, three blizzards burst forth, freezing the entire area within dozens of meters, Gun Libellula and all. Every one of them was sealed in ice by Riveria’s magic, then fell to the ground and shattered.
“So that’s magic?” Miyabi said, sliding the half-drawn Tailless back into its sheath.
Riveria’s grand spell gave Miyabi a deeper understanding of the word “magic.” Before this, she’d thought this world’s magic was all like the kind Ais and Alise used.
‘It covers a wide area, and the power’s decent, but the chant takes too much time. She needs her teammates to protect her. Against me, I’d close the distance the moment she spoke the first syllable and kill her in one strike.’
Miyabi had complete faith in her own abilities. As far as she was concerned, that kind of slow chant would never have the chance to finish in front of her.
After one group of Gun Libellula was dealt with, another group came right away. That was the Dungeon’s malice at work. The moment adventurers relaxed, it sent wave after wave of monsters at them.
More and more monsters appeared. Riveria was about to act again, but Miyabi shot forward first.
“Let me…”
Foxfire began to bloom along Miyabi’s blade. She pushed her speed to the limit, moving so fast that even Finn and Riveria could barely follow her path. Lower-level members like Raul and Bete could only see streaks of blue light.
Swish, swish, swish.
Inside the range of Wynn Fimbulvetr, sharp sword energy filled the air. The newly spawned Gun Libellula underwent another baptism of ice.
Under everyone’s stunned gaze, Miyabi returned to Riveria’s position and slowly sheathed Tailless.
Clink.
A blade of blue flame appeared on every Gun Libellula’s body. Bete touched his neck without thinking.
Back then, Miyabi hadn’t actually swung that strike down at him. Even so, seeing that cut again, so fast it brushed the limit of what he could grasp, sent a chill crawling over his neck.
Just how desperate for death had he been to provoke this monster?
And Miyabi’s speed wasn’t the only frightening part. Her accuracy was just as terrifying.
The earlier fight had taught her where the magic stones were inside the Gun Libellula, and her slashes had struck so cleanly that the stones dropped out on their own, saving the supporters the work of cutting open the corpses to dig them out.
Miyabi let out a long breath, turned to the familia members who were still frozen in shock, and said something that left them not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
“‘Training to wipe out Gun Libellula faster than Riveria’… complete.”
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 38
--+--
Chapter 38: An Official Match, Hoshimi Miyabi “Cheats”
--+--
So after all that wild showing off in front of everyone, she'd only done it because she wanted to be faster than Riveria.
The other members of the Loki Familia had also made a sudden discovery: Miss Hoshimi Miyabi had a strange competitive streak now and then. Riveria couldn't help laughing at what she'd said.
“Haha. Want to make it a contest? My magic has a three-part chant. That was only the first part. When we run into more monsters later, I'll show you even stronger magic.”
Riveria's declaration, sharp enough to count as a challenge, caught Miyabi's interest at once.
“Training objective revised. Accepting Riveria's challenge. Serious mode engaged.”
Seeing Miyabi switch on like a machine only made Riveria laugh harder. Beside them, Bete couldn't help nudging Finn with his elbow as Finn watched the show.
“Are you sure it's fine to let them mess around like this?”
Finn only gave him a casual answer. “They're full of energy, aren't they? I can't even remember the last time I saw Riveria's competitive spirit light up.”
Riveria and Miyabi agreed to compete over who could kill more monsters within one hour, with Finn serving as the judge. The wager was that the loser had to do one thing for the winner.
Finn agreed with a smile, and even suggested that one thing wasn't enough, so they might as well raise it to three. Riveria shot that proposal down on the spot. She knew perfectly well that her old friend only wanted to see something fun.
And so, on that day, the members of the Loki Familia finally remembered the terror of being ruled by women.
Once her competitive streak was stirred up, Riveria went all out. The moment she found monsters, she began chanting at once, and a whole swarm of them would be frozen into ice sculptures.
Miyabi was even more vicious. Her instincts and senses were almost frightening.
Sometimes, before the Loki Familia members had even seen a monster, Miyabi would vanish with a whoosh, and the next thing they knew, a whole flock of Gun Libellulae had been cut down.
Countless monsters died at their hands, leaving Finn and Bete with no chance to step in. Bete, who'd been itching for a fight, felt stifled beyond words.
Finn, on the other hand, had only one thing to say.
Lovely. Love to see it. More, please.
About half an hour later, Miyabi had killed one hundred and seventy monsters, while Riveria had killed... two hundred and sixty.
The gap was close to a hundred.
After hearing the exact count, Riveria looked very pleased as she raised an eyebrow at Miyabi.
In a duel, sure, call me weak and I won't argue. But when it comes to farming monsters in the Dungeon, a mage is king.
“There's still half an hour left. The winner hasn't been decided yet.”
Riveria took that as Miyabi putting up a brave front and didn't pay it much mind.
To win and complete her training, Miyabi changed her strategy: kill-stealing.
Though kill-stealing wasn't quite the right word. Riveria and Finn had both stressed that stealing someone else's monsters in the Dungeon was a serious breach of the rules.
What Miyabi did was read Riveria's movements, predict where she planned to go, and use her own speed to arrive first and wipe out the monsters there.
That way, Riveria came up empty and gained nothing, while Miyabi raised her kill count.
A win-win.
Scouting, tracking, and predicting routes in advance were all skills Miyabi had learned back at school. She just didn't use them often, but that didn't mean she didn't know how. In that field, she was far stronger than Riveria, who'd never received formal training and relied on experience alone.
Riveria treated the first and second times as coincidence. But when it happened a third time and Miyabi caught up, she finally realized Miyabi was doing it on purpose.
“Foul! Judge, she's fouling!”
Riveria lodged a protest with the judge. Miyabi was far too fast, and her instincts were terrifyingly sharp. If this kept up, Riveria wouldn't get to kill a single monster.
“Riveria, it's hard for me to call Miyabi's actions a foul. After all, you hadn't even made a move...”
If Riveria had seen the monsters and begun chanting, and Miyabi had stepped in to steal them, then yes, that would've been poor form and might well count as a serious foul. But Riveria hadn't even seen the monsters, much less begun chanting, so Finn could fairly judge that she hadn't launched an attack against them yet.
In that case, the claim of kill-stealing didn't hold.
“So you're saying that as long as I see the monsters and start chanting, she can't make a move, right?”
“That's right. You're a mage. As long as you've seen the monsters and started chanting, we can judge that you're attacking them. Miyabi can't steal them then.”
Finn said this as a reminder to Miyabi too. Even he hadn't expected her to pull a move like that. She could not only follow Riveria in silence, but also predict her path ahead of time based on her route.
For Riveria, a mage, that put her at a sharp disadvantage.
“All right. I understand.”
Riveria already had a way to break Miyabi's “kill-stealing” tactic. Her protest to Finn had only been meant to confirm the rules one more time.
The match continued.
This time, Riveria didn't stroll along at her leisure. She started running, and as she ran, she chanted.
Concurrent chanting meant chanting a spell while fighting in battle. It sounded simple, but it tested a person's ability to split their focus, and it was a skill only advanced mages could master.
Riveria didn't specialize in speed, but as a Lv. 6, once she ran at full strength, she was still faster than some Lv. 4 adventurers who didn't specialize in speed. Using that method, she successfully killed several waves of monsters.
Miyabi had no choice but to speed up too.
The two of them chased and cut each other off like that, and soon another half hour passed.
When Finn announced the end of the match, both of them stopped at the same time. Bete and another volunteer began counting the magic stones.
The final result was four hundred to four hundred.
A tie.
Neither Miyabi nor Riveria was satisfied with that result, and both asked for a recount in perfect unspoken agreement. So the two assistants counted again, but the final result stayed the same.
“All right. Since it's a draw, the wager doesn't count. The monsters on this floor have mostly been cleared out, so everyone, spread out and search for the commission materials. Raul, you go with Miyabi.”
As soon as Raul heard that, he knew Finn wanted him to teach her about the plants while they searched for the requested materials.
“Understood. This humble servant will help Miss Miyabi learn about those medicinal plants.”
Seeing that Raul had understood his intent, Finn nodded in satisfaction and had the others spread out to search for the commission materials. Raul then moved together with Miyabi.
“Miss Miyabi, there are many plants in the Dungeon that look safe but are actually very dangerous. You need to be careful with anything brightly colored in particular. Some plants spray toxic mist if you so much as touch them... Miss Miyabi, don't touch that!”
Raul hadn't even finished speaking when, to his despair, he saw Miyabi reach toward a plant that sprayed toxic mist.
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 39
--+--
Chapter 39: Raul: I’m Numb. Seriously Numb.
--+--
From the nineteenth floor to the twenty-fourth, plenty of herbs could be used to make medicine. Some plants, though, went out of their way to disguise themselves as those same herbs.
When adventurers came close to pick them, they’d release a poisonous mist and leave their victims poisoned.
That was one more kind of malice from the Dungeon. Plenty of green adventurers had fallen for it, though the poison wasn’t deadly to Lv. 2 adventurers. Because of that, the number of people who’d died from it was pitifully small.
The plant Hoshimi Miyabi touched was one of those poisonous plants disguised as an ordinary herb. By the time Raul tried to stop her, it was already too late.
Her hand had already brushed the plant’s stem, and the moment she made contact, the herb sprayed out a purple mist.
“Hm? It’s that fast?”
Miyabi had noticed something was wrong the instant she touched it. Her instincts told her to pull her hand back, but the plant was half a beat faster.
She backed away at once, yet the mist didn’t need to be breathed in. As long as it clung to her body, it took effect, and her arm turned purple at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Raul hurriedly took out an antidote and handed it to her. “Miss Miyabi, drink this, quick.”
His face was tight with worry, while Miyabi’s stayed blank.
Without the purple arm, no one would’ve known which one of them had been poisoned. She took the antidote with perfect calm and drank it down in one gulp.
It didn’t taste good, though it didn’t have any strange flavor either. Once she drank it, the purple color on her arm vanished at once, as though nothing had ever happened.
Raul let out a breath of relief, then spoke to her with grave concern. “Miss Hoshimi Miyabi, you’ve got to be careful. Some poisonous plants look a lot like the herbs the commission wants. The way to tell them apart is—”
Before he could finish, Miyabi lifted a hand and cut him off.
“Is the poison from these plants lethal?”
Raul’s words caught in his throat. Then he said, “It isn’t lethal. At most, it’ll make you dizzy and blur your vision. In serious cases, it can knock you unconscious. But if an adventurer’s already badly hurt when they’re poisoned, they could die.”
“I see.”
Miyabi opened the small leather pouch at her waist. It held several common medicines, and most of them were antidotes. There were ten full bottles. She took out five and handed them to Raul.
“Hold these five. Give one to me when I’m poisoned.”
Raul stared blankly as he took the antidotes from her, still not quite grasping what she meant. “Wait, what d’you mean, ‘when you’re poisoned’? Are you planning to…”
“I’m going to train by successfully dodging the poisonous mist before all five antidotes are used up.”
The plant released its mist with real speed. Even Miyabi’s reflexes had been half a beat too slow. So she realized at once that this was a good way to train her reaction speed.
The mist wasn’t lethal, and she had antidotes on hand. It was perfect practice. So Miyabi kept searching for herbs while sharpening her focus, ready to pull her hand away the instant she picked the wrong one.
At first, Miyabi found three herbs, and all of them were real. When she went to pick the fourth, poisonous mist burst out.
The plant’s spray was truly fast, with almost no wind-up at all, and Miyabi was hit again.
She held out her hand to Raul without a change in expression. With his heart in his throat, Raul could only pass her another antidote.
The second time she ran into a poisonous plant, Miyabi found the trick. She pulled her hand back almost the instant the mist sprayed out. Her speed was already more than fast enough, but a little still caught the tip of her finger.
Raul, now numb to it all, handed Miyabi another antidote. They’d already wasted two bottles, but this time, she’d come close to success. That proved the poisonous mist could be dodged.
After detoxifying, Miyabi began looking for another target. On the third try, she missed dodging it by only a tiny fraction of a second. This time, only the edge of her fingernail caught a trace of the poison.
Even so, the poison still spread across her arm fast. Raul, resigned to fate, was just about to hand over the third antidote when what happened next nearly made his jaw hit the ground.
The purple color, which had been about to spread up her arm, suddenly began retreating at high speed, as if Miyabi had already drunk the antidote. In about a second, her arm returned to its original color.
“This… that’s way too absurd. Miss Miyabi clearly doesn’t have Abnormal Resistance, so why?”
Everything happening before Raul’s eyes had gone far beyond what he knew. She’d only come into contact with the poison a few times, yet she’d become completely immune to it.
‘Miss Miyabi’s not just a monster in strength. Her body’s like a monster too.’
“Maybe it’s because of my constitution… or maybe it’s something else. Let’s go. We’ll continue.”
She’d gained immunity to the poison, but Miyabi’s training wasn’t complete yet. On the fourth attempt, now that she’d gotten the feel for it, she successfully pulled her hand back before the mist could touch her.
“Training complete. Are these herbs enough?”
Since not every plant sprayed poisonous mist, Miyabi had gathered quite a few herbs during her practice.
“They’re enough, they’re enough. These herbs already complete the commission, and that’s not even counting everyone else.”
“Then let’s regroup.”
“Oh? Oh.”
--+--
Miyabi and Raul arrived at the meeting point, where everyone else had already finished their own tasks. Finn looked over the amount of herbs and nodded with satisfaction.
“Good. Raul, pack the herbs away and make sure they don’t get damaged. The next commission is for ten pieces of lower-floor coral. Everyone, this time we’ll head straight down to the twenty-fifth floor.”
The twenty-fifth floor was already part of the Dungeon’s Lower Floors, a place where ordinary adventurers could lose their lives with one careless step. But to first-tier adventurers like Finn and Riveria, it wasn’t much of a threat at all.
Finn was even considering whether they should defeat the Monster Rex.
The Dungeon’s twenty-fifth floor was a narrow water zone known as the Great Fall. Multiple tiers of waterfalls connected throughout the area, making for a grand sight.
With the roar of rushing water in his ears, Finn found a safe area where monsters wouldn’t spawn and had the group set up camp.
“We’ll rest here for now. Once we’ve recovered, we’ll go gather the lower-floor coral, then push into the Deep Floors in one go.”
Everyone obediently began setting up camp. While Raul and the others prepared food, Finn called Riveria and Miyabi over for a meeting.
“All right. Next, we’ll discuss the Monster Rex. There hasn’t been any news of other Familias going on expeditions these past two weeks, which means the Monster Rex on the twenty-seventh floor is almost certainly still there.
“We’ve got two choices in front of us. The first is to use Riveria’s defensive magic to bypass the Monster Rex and break straight into the Deep Floors. The second is to defeat the Monster Rex directly. Which do you think is better?”
--+--
Hoshimi Miyabi, Enters the Dungeon! - 40
--+--
Chapter 40: Decision! A Solo Floor Boss Hunt
--+--
With Finn's squad in its current state, taking down the floor boss on the 27th Floor would be pushing it.
The two-headed water serpent Amphisbaena was rated as Lv. 5 by the Guild, but if it fought from the water, that rating rose to Lv. 6. Even with two Lv. 6s like Finn and Riveria, fighting it would be rough, and Bete, as a Lv. 4, could only provide cover at most.
Their medicine supply was another problem. If Amphisbaena stayed in the water the whole time, they were bound to be dragged into a hard battle, and once their medicine ran out, they wouldn't be able to keep going deeper.
Still, if they could kill the floor boss, the magic stone they'd get from it would count as completing the mission. That was why Finn planned to ask Riveria and Hoshimi Miyabi for their opinions.
“My opinion is that we avoid it and head straight down. With our current lineup, fighting the floor boss is too much of a stretch.”
Riveria's decision matched Finn's. They both knew how much trouble that floor boss could be.
“Hoshimi Miyabi, what about you? What's your decision? Avoid it, or hunt it?”
“Could I try it myself?” Hoshimi Miyabi asked, leaving Finn and Riveria stunned.
She hadn't picked either of the two choices Finn had given her. She'd chosen a third option.
“You mean you want to take on the floor boss yourself?” Finn stared hard at Hoshimi Miyabi's face, trying to find some sign that she was joking. Sadly, her expression stayed calm, so calm it was as if she'd said, “We're having melon tonight.”
“No. A solo hunt against a floor boss is too dangerous. Against Amphisbaena, even Ottar would need a long time to bring it down. You're still a newcomer, so you can't take that kind of risk.” Riveria tried to talk Hoshimi Miyabi down, worry clear on her face.
She was afraid this hot-blooded idea would get Miyabi killed in the Dungeon.
Finn didn't speak at once, but the look on his face made it clear he also thought Hoshimi Miyabi was being reckless.
“Hah…”
Hoshimi Miyabi let out a long sigh and said to them, “Finn, Riveria, you seem to be ignoring one issue.”
Riveria froze, then looked at Hoshimi Miyabi in shock. They'd only ever seen Miyabi this serious when they'd first met.
“I… Hoshimi Miyabi, Chief of Hollow Special Operations Section 6, the youngest Void Hunter in New Eridu. I'm not the reckless newcomer you keep calling me, and I'm not an idiot who charges ahead just because my blood's up.”
That single sentence snapped Finn and Riveria awake.
Despite her strength, they'd always treated Hoshimi Miyabi like a newcomer, afraid she'd fall in the Dungeon because of some reckless mistake. But they'd forgotten who she was in her own world: a specialist who handled disasters, one of the seven at the very top.
She wasn't a newcomer. She wasn't a brute.
Respect the Dungeon.
That was the first lesson every veteran taught a new adventurer after they joined a Familia. No matter how strong someone was, they were still small inside the Dungeon.
Nobody knew when the Dungeon's malice would fall on them, so veterans had only one demand for anyone entering it for the first time: come back alive.
Hoshimi Miyabi was different from the new recruits who'd just joined a Familia. Before she'd joined the Loki Familia, she'd already been a battle-tested warrior.
What she lacked was a full understanding of Orario and the Dungeon, so she shouldn't be judged by the standards of an ordinary newcomer.
Finn and Riveria had been so shocked because they hadn't shifted their thinking.
Now that Finn thought about it, they'd never actually found where Hoshimi Miyabi's limits were. Soloing a floor boss might not be impossible.
Finn licked his thumb out of habit. He felt nothing, which meant nothing bad was about to happen.
“...Since you've made your decision, that's what we'll do. Hoshimi Miyabi will take on the two-headed serpent Amphisbaena alone.”
Riveria took a deep breath and patted Hoshimi Miyabi on the shoulder. “Since you've made up your mind, I won't try to stop you. I'll stay behind you. If anything goes wrong, I'll get you out.”
“Thank you. With my blade, I'll open the road forward for everyone.”
Hoshimi Miyabi's gaze was steady. She hadn't decided to hunt the floor boss on impulse. She was thinking about what came after.
Finn's plan was a little timid, but it would keep the squad safe. But what about the trip back? If something went wrong in the Deep Floors and they ended up low on supplies and worn out, what would happen when they returned to the 27th Floor? Would they be hunted by Amphisbaena at full strength?
For safety's sake, killing the floor boss outright was the most reliable choice.
--+--
After returning to the rest point, Finn announced in front of the whole squad that Hoshimi Miyabi would take on the floor boss alone.
Raul and the others, who'd still been worrying over the floor boss, all stared with eyes wide as bells.
She was a newcomer who'd joined the Familia only a week ago, yet she'd already killed Goliath, the floor boss of the 18th Floor. Now she was planning to solo the floor boss of the 27th Floor too. More than a few people thought Hoshimi Miyabi had lost her mind.
Raul remembered their last expedition clearly. Back then, they'd had to use several Magic Swords to defeat Amphisbaena. In Raul's mind, that thing wasn't a monster anyone could kill alone.
Could Hoshimi Miyabi really do it?
Everyone had doubts, including Bete, the first one who'd learned how strong Hoshimi Miyabi was. He thought she was strong, sure, but not strong enough to handle the 27th Floor's floor boss alone.
“Quit joking around. If we let you take down the floor boss alone, then what's the point of the rest of us going into the Dungeon?”
“Aren't we in the Dungeon to make money?”
That line drove into Bete's chest like a perfectly aimed throwing knife. Only then did he remember that Finn had gone into the Dungeon to make money, while Bete had joined halfway through.
“But…” Bete wanted to say he was worried about Hoshimi Miyabi, but he wasn't the type who knew how to put his thoughts into words.
So, after a thousand things reached the tip of his tongue, all that came out was, “Hmph. Do whatever you want. Just don't blame me for not warning you if you get yourself killed.”
“Understood. Thank you for your concern.”
“Hey, who's concerned about you?”
Hoshimi Miyabi's blunt reply made Bete flare up at once, like a dog whose tail had been stepped on.
“All right. Since Hoshimi Miyabi has chosen to take on the floor boss alone, we should respect her wishes. Bete, I'll trouble you to take Raul and the others to gather coral from the lower floors. Riveria and I will stay here and explain Amphisbaena's traits to Hoshimi Miyabi.”
“Tch. Got it.”
Bete turned his head away in irritation, grabbed Raul by the collar, and hauled him up by force. “Speed wins wars. You and that supporter, come with me.”
Once Bete and the other two adventurers had gone, Finn began explaining Amphisbaena to Hoshimi Miyabi. As he and Riveria spoke, even the cold Dungeon seemed to gain a touch of warmth.
--+--