An Old Man Restaurant Owner Is Unparalleled by Relying on His Old Tricks. It Turns Out, He’s the Legendary Dungeon Conqueror. - 91

Chapter 91: I’ve Never Heard That Word Before—LOL

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With Masako Hojo working part-time at my restaurant, the number of customers coming specifically for her skyrocketed. Thanks to that, the severe staff shortage remained unresolved. The store was further expanded using “My Room.” At this point, it was as large as a community gymnasium. The kitchen area was also expanded. However, rather than adding more stoves or other equipment, I simply secured more workspace for me. In the first place, I wasn’t even using regular stoves or grills anymore. I had removed them long ago. Ordinary cooking appliances couldn’t possibly keep up with the sheer volume of orders. Besides, cooking with my magic was faster. Magic also allowed to fine tune the cooking process and resulted in tastier food.

“And so, we’ve come to Kyoto.”

〈What do you mean ‘and so’?〉

〈Oh, Kyoto! Nice!〉

〈I think this is the first time you’ve traveled this far, right?〉

〈Could it be a day trip?〉

〈Nishida only has one day off, after all.〉

〈You should take it slow, you know. Don’t keep working so hard.〉

〈Are you looking for a new part-timer?〉

〈Kyoto does have a lot of great figures in history.〉

“Yes, that’s correct. I’m thinking of recruiting another part-time heroic spirit here.”

〈A part-timer heroic spirit, lol〉

〈I’ve never heard that word before. LOL 〉

〈Which dungeon is this?〉

〈There are four dungeons in Kyoto, right?〉

〈Looks like some kind of park.〉

〈Isn’t it the Imperial Palace?〉

“That’s right, it’s in Kyoto Gyoen National Garden, where the Kyoto Imperial Palace is located.”

After taking the first Shinkansen from Tokyo Station, I arrived at Kyoto Station in just over two hours. From there, I lightly jogged north along Karasuma Street. In the vast greenery that awaited, the dungeon was there.

“The Kyoto Gyoen Dungeon… A Class 6 dungeon.”

The dungeon entrance had appeared in one corner of the national garden, where there was once a children’s park. A rugged building stood there now.

〈Still, it’s funny how the dungeon appeared as if it was avoiding all the important buildings, lol〉

〈Dungeon-kun is so considerate, lol〉

〈Since it’s the Imperial Palace, could it be one of the past emperors?〉

〈This could spark controversy in various ways.〉

〈No way. There’s no way he’s going to make a past emperor work part-time. LOL〉

“Actually, I lived relatively close to here during my university days, so I used to dive into this dungeon quite a lot.”

〈So this is the dungeon that raised Nishida.〉

〈Is this what you’d call a home dungeon?〉

〈Is Nishida a Kyoto University graduate?〉

〈Maybe he went to Doshisha?〉

〈Or maybe it was Kyoto Prefectural University?〉

〈It could even be Doshisha Women’s College.〉

“It wasn’t a women’s college, obviously. Well, since we’re under strict time constraint now, let’s dive right in.”

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“Alright, we’ve made it to just before the boss room on the 30th floor underground.”

〈As always, blazing fast.〉

〈I appreciate it. It keeps things from getting boring.〉

〈I’m starting to not even be surprised anymore.〉

〈Honestly, I’d be more shocked if it took longer.〉

“Haha, I’m very familiar with the characteristics of the Kyoto Gyoen Dungeon. Of course, I’ve also fought this boss many times before.”

As I said that, I stepped into the boss room.

〈It’s a deep level boss, but it’s going to get one-shot again, isn’t it?〉

〈No doubt about it.〉

〈What kind of boss is this, anyway?〉

〈Wasn’t it an oni?〉

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

Waiting inside the room was a massive figure, roughly 10 meters tall, with impressive horns and a muscular, red body. It was an ogre.

〈Terrifying.〉

〈Looks strong.〉

〈Is that Shutendouji oni?〉

〈That’s so Kyoto-esque. I like it.〉

〈Technically speaking, it’s not an oni but an ogre.〉

The boss of the Kyoto Gyoen Dungeon was a Crimson Ogre, a higher-tier variant of ogre. It was a formidable foe that wielded blazing flames. The first time I faced it, I was utterly outmatched and forced to retreat.

ZAN!

…However, after leveling up significantly, decapitating it, even after a long absence, was no challenge at all.

〈Yup, one-shot.〉

〈The boss probably has no idea what just happened.〉

〈Is this one of those bosses you can’t eat?〉

〈There’s no way you could eat it.〉

〈You guys are getting influenced by Nishida a bit too much.〉

Panpaka-panpaka-paan!♪

“Looks like we’ve taken it down. Now then, I wonder who’s going to show up this time…”

〈Excited!〉

〈Who’s it gonna be? Who’s it gonna be?〉

〈Another beauty, perhaps?〉

〈Totally possible. LOL.〉

As I waited in anticipation, confetti suddenly started fluttering around me.

“What…?”

Upon closer inspection, each piece of paper resembled a human figure, with writing on them. Moments later, the paper rapidly grew larger and transformed into creatures resembling the Crimson Ogre I had just defeated.

〈Wait, didn’t you already beat the boss?〉

〈What’s going on?〉

〈Where’s the heroic spirit?〉

〈Round two, perhaps?〉

Although much smaller than the Crimson Ogre, there were twelve of them in total, each equipped with weapons and armor. They completely surrounded me and attacked all at once. As I deflected their relentless strikes with my knife, I said,

“Uh, I don’t really know what’s happening, but since they’re attacking me, I guess I should fight back for now.”

〈Totally surrounded, yet so calm, lol.〉

〈This has to be the work of the heroic spirit, right?〉

〈If that’s the case, why is it attacking Nishida?〉

〈Is Nishida being rejected?〉

While fending off the fierce onslaught, I found an opening and slashed one of them with my knife. It reverted back into a paper figure and fluttered to the ground. It was clear to see they weren’t just ordinary monsters. 

“These humanoid pieces of paper… Could they be shikigami?”

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