Dungeon And Slave: The Lustful and Violent Slave Harem of the Guard and Students Chosen as Testers for the Succubus Dungeon

Chapter 30: Melee

Tester Life Day 13, Test Dungeon First Floor, My Room, Yagumo Sanada

I wake up in the morning, take a shower, and, despite unloading ten times last night, I’m stunned to find my son standing tall as I brush my teeth and shave.

I buy a breakfast set, shove two Milano-sand-like items into my mouth, and sip coffee while reading an unfinished manga.

Then it hits me—it’s been six days since my last break.

“Not good. I was supposed to rest every three or four days.”

I got too caught up in exploring and forgot.

“Alright, whether I find the 4th floor guardian room today or not, tomorrow’s a rest day.”

It’d be nice to find it for a clean break, but I decide to rest tomorrow regardless.

I start thinking about picking out some manga for the JC loli succubus as I gear up.

I check the contents of the leather pouch at my waist.

Inside are three potions slotted into a perforated cork.

At first, I wrapped them in cloth as cushioning, but after breaking one during combat, I bought a cork, drilled holes, and fitted the potions in.

The spare potions and those from treasure chests go in a backpack pocket with only cloth. I drop the backpack during combat, so they shouldn’t break—that’s my reasoning.

Confirming one Grade 4 potion and two Grade 5 potions in the pouch, plus two Grade 5 mana recovery potions in the backpack pocket, I leave My Room.

As I head to the dungeon entrance, passing the Great Plaza, I catch sight of students washing their faces at the fountain.

More of them have healed up.

Fewer are seen with arms in slings from broken bones caused by Horn Rabbit charges.

They must’ve gotten Grade 4 potions from the 1st floor guardian room’s treasure chest or pooled magic stones with their party to buy one.

A party’s a lifesaver for serious injuries like that. A Grade 4 potion costs 10,000 DP—pricey, but split five ways, it’s only 2,000 DP each. Still, I prefer going solo.

I wouldn’t fight alongside people I don’t trust. It’s a matter of life and death. I’d only team up with old comrades I grew up and fought with, not strangers I barely know—solo’s less risky than that.

Old comrades, huh…

《Yagumo, this is where we part. Make it back to Japan alive.》

《I’m glad I was in your squad, man. I’d be long dead otherwise. Thanks, Yagumo, stay strong.》

《Don’t get snagged by some weird chick and never make it back, alright? Catch ya somewhere, someday, Yagumo!》

《I ain’t getting snagged, idiot. You guys make it home without getting caught! See ya, hole brothers!》

Watching the students make a ruckus around the fountain reminds me of my squadmates from our final battle against the government forces.

Wonder what those guys are up to now.

They’re all as stubbornly alive as me. I doubt they’d go down easily.

They’re probably in better circumstances than I am, that’s for sure. Getting kidnapped twice? What a life.

With a wry smile at my bizarre fate, I enter the dungeon.

※

“Tch, another bust?”

I grumble, walking across the scorched floor of a small plaza.

I cleared the second Monster House, but all that’s left are three treasure chests—wooden ones, at that.

“No way anyone else would bother with this.”

The risk and reward are way out of balance.

“A wooden small shield, a club, and copper coins… damn it!”

To top it off, the chests’ contents are total duds, which only pisses me off more.

“Mana’s down to just over half.”

After reaching the 4th floor, I drank a Grade 5 mana recovery potion to double my recovery speed while tackling the Monster House. Still, I burned through a lot of mana.

“The first Monster House really took its toll.”

The ambush went well, but I couldn’t take out as many Kobolds with Fireball as I’d hoped, so I overused Wind Cutter. That ate up more mana than the Monster House I cleared yesterday.

I handled this second one pretty well, but if I take out the two remaining Monster Houses, I’ll be out of mana. Even if I find a hidden passage, fighting the guardian would be rough.

If I don’t find the passage, that’s its own kind of letdown.

“For now, I’ll eat lunch, then hit the next Monster House.”

Complaining won’t help—there’s nowhere else to check but inside the Monster Houses. Clearing them is the only option.

I put off collecting the Kobolds’ magic stones and take a lunch break first.

I wolf down two yakiniku bentos, rest my stomach, and, since the Grade 5 mana recovery potion’s effect is about to wear off, I drink another.

Then I gather the magic stones scattered around the small room.

While collecting, I spot one stone that’s different in color and size.

“What’s this?”

It’s a red, translucent, round magic stone, slightly larger than a marble.

“Huh? A bug?”

It looks like there’s a bug inside the stone.

Thinking it might be red amber or something, I pull out my penlight and shine it on the stone to take a closer look.

“A Kobold?”

What I thought was a bug is a Kobold sitting cross-legged inside the stone.

“What the hell? Some kind of item?”

It doesn’t look like candy, and even if it were, I wouldn’t want to lick it.

“I’ll check it out when I get back.”

The magic crystal has an item appraisal function.

It doesn’t react to weapons or armor, only appraising potions, so I’ve never used it before. That’s expected since weapons and armor aren’t classified as items.

But this big marble might be an item. If so, the magic crystal should identify it.

It could be a decorative collectible, like a figurine, but I’ve killed nearly a thousand Kobolds and never seen a drop like this. It’s gotta be a rare item.

If it is, it might sell for a lot.

Looking forward to appraising it later, I leave the Monster House.

After running for about an hour, I reach the fourth of the five Monster Houses.

To pull off an ambush, I quietly peek inside.

“Hm? Aren’t there more than usual?”

There are clearly more Kobolds than in the other Monster Houses.

Maybe a bit over 30? And the plaza’s bigger too.

Last time I passed through, I only checked if it was a decoy Monster House like on the 3rd floor, barely glancing inside. I just confirmed Kobolds were there and moved on.

But looking closely, there are over ten more Kobolds, and the plaza’s size has grown from about 10 meters square to around 15 meters square.

“Could this be it?”

A Monster House that’s different from the others is suspicious.

But over 30, huh?

If I go all out with my remaining mana, I might pull it off.

I doubt I’ll come out unscathed this time, though.

“Phew… time to steel myself.”

It’s possible there are just two types of Monster Houses. If I burn all my mana here, I might not have enough for the last one.

Doubts and anxieties swirl in my mind, but I convince myself this Monster House is the one and push those worries aside.

“Alright! Physical Enhancement!”

With my resolve set, I activate Physical Enhancement magic and leap into the crevice.

I pour mana for three shots into Fireballs and blast them in three directions as fast as I can.

Twenty minutes later—

The small plaza is littered with over 30 Kobold corpses and magic stones.

“Hah… hah… hah… ugh, they left teeth marks.”

In the center of the plaza, I catch my breath, grimacing at the Kobold bite marks on my right gauntlet.

As expected, I didn’t come out unscathed. My leather armor has multiple claw marks, and the guard uniform pants have a hole at the calf where I got bitten. The iron shield’s surface is dented from punching Kobolds too much.

The Kobold’s fangs pierced the pants, and my calf stings a bit, but there’s no bleeding.

Looks like my skin’s been enhanced too. Between my libido, strength, and durability, I’m starting to feel less human.

I took some hits, but handling over 30 Kobolds with this little damage is a solid result.

“Fireball really saved my ass.”

Honestly, without Fireball, I wouldn’t have even tried tackling a Monster House. It thinned their numbers right from the start.

In this Monster House, I took out 15 or 16 Kobolds with a barrage of triple-mana Fireballs right off the bat.

The aftermath was rough, though.

I fought off 20 without a scratch, but the last ten or so swarmed me all at once. That was a pain. Once they closed the distance, it turned into a melee, and I had no time to cast spells. My leather armor’s covered in claw marks now.

But the effort paid off, at least a little. There’s a copper-colored treasure chest glowing in the back of the plaza.

I collect the magic stones, looking forward to opening it, and check every corner of the plaza.

No hidden passage, though.

“Not here either, huh? Was it just more Kobolds because of the copper chest?”

It’s better than three wooden chests, at least.

With only one Monster House left, my hopes are fading, and I head to the copper chest, feeling deflated, and open it.

“An iron shield?”

Inside is an iron shield about a meter in diameter and 60 cm wide.

It’s a bit big for me.

My current iron small shield is about 60 cm in diameter and 40 cm wide. Double the length would make it harder to handle.

“Oh, a Grade 4 potion, and this bottle’s design and color—it’s a Grade 4 mana recovery potion! Nice.”

I decide to take it back and pull the iron shield out of the chest, revealing two potions underneath. My face lights up at the Grade 4 potion—I only had one—and my first Grade 4 mana recovery potion.

I take the potions from the chest.

That’s when it happens.

Suddenly, the floor behind the chest makes a loud clunk and opens.

“Whoa! What the—!?”

Startled by the floor giving way right in front of me, I jump back.

But the floor in front of the chest doesn’t collapse.

Cautiously, I peer into the hole behind the chest and see a staircase.

“Not a hidden passage, but a hidden staircase?”

A classic staircase showing up now, huh.

No doubt the guardian’s down there.

So my guess that a Monster House would lead to the guardian room was right.

Does this mean I’d have to clear all five Monster Houses to find it in the worst case?