Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 071: At The End Of The Adventure… I

Translator: Solo

【86th day】

I lived.

For some reason, that thought gave me a sense of déjà vu.

It was a ceiling that I didn't recognize, or rather, it was a canopy. I was sleeping on a luxurious canopy bed. In spite of how luxurious the bed was, the other furniture in the room was unrefined and dated. My equipment and a change of clothes were on top of a nearby shelf.

The scenery outside the window was darkened by dusk. From the architecture of the stone wall, I realized that this was a room in the royal castle.

I was wearing loose clothes that I didn’t recognize.

I was feeling thirsty.

When I tried to reach out for the nearby glass and water jug, severe pain shot through my left shoulder.

「Urgh」

I lost my balance and fell, knocking my head hard on the ground.

The door of the room flew open.

「Souya!」

Lanseal came into view. I was lifted up and carried back to the bed.

「Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?」

「What about Rana?! Is Rana safe?!」

I asked about the most important thing.

「………She’s safe. She has been cured of the poison, and is waiting for you. So, do you feel pain anywhere in your body?」

「Did I reach the 20th floor?!」

I asked about another important thing.

「You did. Immediately after that, you were carried to the healing temple, and then to the castle after your condition had stabilized. So, do you feel pain anywhere?」

She pinched my cheek.

「My left shoulder hurts, a lot」

Perhaps it was because I felt relieved, but my body suddenly started hurting. My shoulder hurt the most, but I was feeling pain in my back and legs. Or perhaps I should say, my whole body.

「Excuse me」

Lanseal took off my shirt and removed the bandages on my shoulder. She also peeled off the compress and took a look at the wound.

「Does it hurt?」

「No」

Her hands were touching me gently. It didn’t hurt.

「The wound has closed. Also because of the poison, it was a severe injury and they very nearly amputated your arm. It took five healers an entire day to re-attach your arm and purify the poison. It might continue to hurt for a while yet. If you can’t bear it, I’ll give you a poppy painkiller」

「It’s not a problem if it’s just pain」

It’s something like phantom pain, I suppose.

I had done it on the spur of the moment, but it appeared that the wound was deeper than I had expected. I tried moving my shoulder. Severe pain shot through it again.

If I think of it as just pain, I’ll just barely be able to bear it.

「Souya, I would like to let you rest some more, but His Majesty has instructed me to bring you to him as soon as you wake up. Can you move? Do you want me to carry you on my back?」

「I can walk by myself. Let's go. But can I have some water before that?」

「Yes」

Lanseal poured water into the cup. For some reason, she drank it and held the water in her mouth. Without giving me a choice, she gave the water to me through her mouth.

She’s normally a woman who comes on pretty aggressively, but her gaze is hot. Her body is also hot.

Did I do something?

I changed into the laundered and mended combat uniform, and then put on the poncho. I got help from Lanseal. As expected, her touch was passionate. I also equipped my weapons and protective gear. I put on the glasses too. My eyesight wasn’t bad or anything, but recently, I felt unsettled unless I put them on.

Looking at the hand protector, I had mixed feelings.

After using Lumidia’s power for this and that, in the end, her sworn enemy was defeated by someone else and by using completely unrelated methods. I don't know the history between the two of them, but to think that Lola would be caught by an inept person like me and end up dead.

It's ironic in a laughable way.

Led by Lanseal, I exited the room and walked down the corridor. The place we went to was underground.

Once again, I was in a place that looked like a graveyard.

Lola's corpse had been placed on top of something that looked like an operating table.

The people gathered there were King Lemuria, Otou-san, the Guild President of the Adventurers’ Guild, and Rana's father, Melm?Raua?Heures.

Taking a calm look at his face, he resembles Ea.

「Souya, are you feeling better?」

「If it’s just standing and listening, then I’m well enough」

I bowed my head in response to the king’s concern.

「Umu. Solcia, go ahead」

「Yes, Your Majesty」

Prompted by the king, the Guild President spoke.

「I discovered many very interesting things about this monster」

The Guild President took out a thin stick and pointed to Lola's body.

Only what was below the shoulders had remained. The head had been smashed to a pulp and was being stored in a large container.

「First, its skin. It can be seen now, but it becomes invisible when lightly exposed to magic power. Moreover, its ability to conceal is perfect, blocking out sound, smell and even heat.

However, it has just one weakness.

It can be seen by those with very little regeneration point and magic power, just like the foreigner over there. In other words, it can be seen by the weak who aren’t cut out to be adventurers.

This ability is likely used for escaping the strong. And as you can see, it has no intestines. It doesn’t even have a heart. The only organs it has that are similar to a human’s, are its lungs.

Other than that, it has a tail-like tentacle which produces a paralytic venom that induces sleep. As well as a floating organ that resembles that of winged snakes.

After appraising the belongings of the deceased adventurers, there are some among them that are at least 600 years old. In view of that, I believe that this monster had lived on by using its preys’ bodies in place of its own to perform bodily functions」

Quite unusually, the Guild President was being sensitive to the mood.

Continue, said the king.

Otou-san also nodded.

「Excuse me. With regards to the『seedlings』, I was able to discover only one thing. As Father suspected, they were created using the deceased adventurers’ bodies. Many of the bodies had amputated limbs and deformities could be seen in the bones of their lower abdomens」

How gruesome.

What was Lola trying to achieve by creating such things, I wonder?

「Pardon my intrusion. Lemuria, Medimu, Melm. And Souya」

Someone who didn't seem suited to a graveyard appeared.

It was Gladvain, the dragon-killing god. Perhaps it was to avoid prying eyes, but she was wearing a hooded cloak over her usual high-leg dress.

「How unexpected, Gladvain-sama. What are you doing here today?」

「Hmm, I’m afraid I have some long-standing business to settle」

The king’s respectful way of speaking made me realize that this person was truly a big-shot. I sure did well to not die despite rashly picking a fight with her kin.

「Souya, your right hand」

「Huh? Yes」

I held out my hand after being called out all of a sudden. The god clasped the hand protector in both her hands and brought it to her forehead.

A faint light danced like a firefly. Strangely enough, it looked to me like she was praying. Far be it from me to know who gods prayed to.

「Hmm, my daughters have caused trouble for you all, I fear」

「Daughters?」

I know about Lumidia. Could it be,

「I had two daughters. One was an inept child, who was utterly incompetent in everything except for bow techniques. Her name was Lumidia. The other was a promising child, who was even praised as a reincarnation of a war god. Her name was Lola」

You're kidding.

「I doted on the capable child and scorned the inept child. That's how it is in martial arts schools. If things aren’t made clear like that, people won’t toughen up. However, that made the raising of those children difficult. Things didn’t go as I had hoped.

One day, in order to obtain even greater power, Lola dabbled in immoral arts. The evil dragon that I had slayed. She ate its corpse. Having provoked the anger of the dragons, my entire clan went down the path to ruin.

Many warriors were burnt to ashes by the flames.

The war that had broken out at the same time dealt the final blow to our martial arts school. Lola took advantage of the turmoil and escaped from the left continent, and then she endangered this land with even more evil deeds. She awakened the ancient large spider, putting the lives of everything that lived in danger」

「Gladvain-sama, talking about that in the presence of an outsider, a foreigner……」

With much trepidation, Melm stopped the god.

「Don’t worry, Melm. That man already knows」

「What?!」

His surprised face resembles Rana.

「Chasing after Lola, Lumidia came to this land. Then, with the help of the fog caster, Heures, she slayed the large spider, but was unable to hunt Lola down, allowing her to escape. Leaving her blood with the elves, she transferred her soul to this hand protector.

How Lola had lived after escaping is something I don’t know. But right now, Lola has died and become a corpse in front of me. And Lumidia is also here before me, borrowing a foreigner’s body」

The gaze she was directing at her past daughters were full of compassion.

Or is it parental love, I wonder.

「You did well redressing the long-standing grievance, my daughter」

Gladvain-sama hugged me. A sense of security enveloped everything strongly.

I've never been hugged by my mother, but if I had experienced that before, I would probably have thought of her.

The checkered life of the hero of the hidden name ended here.

Like sand, the hand protector returned to dust. For the final time, Lumidia spoke through my body.

「Farewell, Mother. Please forgive your incompetent daughter」

「Farewell」

The mother of few words watched her daughter’s last moments.

Gladvain-sama messed up my hair as she stroked it.

It might be impious, but it feels like I’m being played with by a large beast.

After a while,

「I'm going back. Souya, Medimu, I’ll reward you accordingly for what you’ve done. Show your faces at the dormitory at a later date」

『Yes』

Otou-san and I replied at the same time.

The god left. Next was the issues of the people living in the now.

「Otou-san, is that……」

「Yeah, I found it」

I had only just noticed that Melm was holding something long that was wrapped in cloth.

Is it a keepsake of Alma, her staff maybe?

「We’ve already said our goodbyes. It isn't anything you will find pleasant anyway」

「I see………」

Otou-san looked like he had been freed from something that had been possessing him. I was the one who had been possessed though.

「Souya, Medimu. I offer you my thanks as well. Good job avenging my party member’s death. ………………Hey, Melm」

King Lemuria nudged Melm.

「I thank you. Foreigner」

「No, it’s the husband's duty to protect his wife. It's an extremely, extremely, extremely~ natural thing to do. It’s very normal. It’s not something you have to thank me for or anything」

I said with the biggest smile I could muster.

「I thanked you for avenging my sister’s death. I didn’t say anything about you saving an inept woman. Especially since I wouldn’t have let my wife do something as dangerous as exploring the dungeon」

He replied without batting an eye.

(#｀皿′)

「Let's go somewhere else. I can’t talk about grim topics in front of a corpse like this」

We left the room at the suggestion of the king. The Guild President stayed and got along with Lola’s corpse.