Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 106

Chapter 106: The Backstreet Behind the Shadows

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

A dungeon located somewhere across the sea in a certain country.

This wasn’t the first time I had infiltrated this country. After all, I had set up a Dungeon Convenience Store here. I tried to install them in locations that had as little to do with national ideologies or political situations as possible. The only real consideration I made was that if a country had a clearly defined enemy, I would install stores there too.

I wanted to minimize any shifts in the military balance caused by the presence of Dungeon Convenience Stores. I didn’t know how effective that had actually been. Maybe this only served as just a token gesture, but the more stores there were, the less inconvenience people experienced, so in that sense, erecting Dungeon Convenience Stores anywhere I wanted shouldn’t be a problem.

There was, however, one clear downside to the increase in Dungeon Convenience Stores. The volume of products being produced had surged dramatically. With the introduction of the DC Ring, demand had skyrocketed.

I had already set up a system to automate product manufacturing, but the flow of magical energy was so intense it felt like magic power was passing from right to left without stopping. The numbers fluctuated wildly. Of course, the amount of magic power being stored as profit was also enormous.

If I converted it into a monetizable substance, how much would it be worth? Or should I use it for a new evolution? Ever since I became the Luminous Glorious Majestic Invincible Supreme Dragon or EX Magnifique Dragon for short, I felt like I couldn’t evolve any further. That said, ever since defeating the Ruin Seed, I had started to sense some new potential.

So, should I evolve?

When I asked myself that, I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like I still served as the final wall of defense in the dungeon like I used to, so if someone asked whether I truly needed more strength, I couldn’t say yes. I had plenty of time. I could take it slow and carefully consider the possibilities.

For now, I turned my attention to the dungeon.

This dungeon was troublesome in that it was of the world-corrupting type. First, I descended to the surface while avoiding any eyes and concealed my presence. Using 【Invisibility】, I erased my form and cautiously moved forward.

Apparently, this area was called “Ura-Kage Street” (“The Backstreet Behind the Shadows”). The road was paved with slightly uneven cobblestones. The street was narrow, lined on both sides with small shops. Lantern-shaped lights hanging from eaves created a dim, moody atmosphere.

There were many fortune-tellers here. There were also plenty of shops selling occult goods like power stones. The people walking through the street had come looking for such things. Some fortune-tellers were so popular they had lines forming. This place was a tourist spot.

“This is a pain.”

The troublesome part of backstreet was that the dungeon here was being kept secret. In places like the Kingdom of Peschel and Aomi Prefecture, dungeons were publicly acknowledged, but here, the dungeon officially didn’t exist. Because it was hidden, I had to search for it. And since it was a tourist area, there were plenty of civilians unrelated to the dungeon.

Not just tourists—some of the people running shops here were regular humans. Of course, there were also many monsters disguised as humans. I could interrogate people by force, but if I slipped up, I might cause a huge incident involving innocent civilians.

In other words, the tourists functioned as hostages to protect the backstreet in case of emergency. So, if I wanted to search, I would have to continue my solitary, tedious investigation…

“＄％＆％＄”

“％＄＃＄％＄＆”

Now and then, a few people passed by speaking in the local language. They all looked like similarly-faced young men. I once hid in the shadows and used my phone’s translation function to catch what they were saying.

“Did you find it?”

“No, not yet.”

So, they’re looking too, huh?

As more time passed, an old woman dressed exactly like a stereotypical shaman started leading those young men up and down the street in repeated patrols. The backstreet was shaped like a T, with shops lining both sides of the vertical stroke.

The area wasn’t large, but if I wanted to thoroughly search inside the stores, there would be quite a few places to check. And even though I was invisible, I couldn’t act carelessly with so many people around. I had no choice but to use 【Phase Through】 to pass through walls and search the backs of the stores. 

This might take more than a day.

That thought came with a hint of resignation.

By evening, the number of tourists gradually thinned out, and as sunset approached, the stores began their closing routines. Eventually, the area was deserted. Ropes were strung across all three entrances to the street, and signs reading “No Entry After Hours” swung in the middle.

Rough-looking men loitered nearby, clearly trying to intimidate any would-be trespassers. The patrolling shaman stood motionless at the T-junction, eyes sharp. She looked like a hunched old lady, but her stamina was that of a monster. Inside the stores, the clerks—many of whom had worked during the day—were now prowling around on alert for intruders.

They definitely know I’m here.

I had checked nearly all the shops, but hadn’t found the entrance portal. So where was it? If there was any place I hadn’t looked… It would have to be underground. But the only underground spaces in the shops were storage basements—nowhere else to go. They were hiding it, obviously, but was there some kind of mechanism behind it?

No… If it’s underground, then….The manholes.

Thinking it might be the case, I checked under the shaman’s feet. There was a manhole cover right there. There was no way they would open a manhole in front of tourists during the day and neither would someone investigating like me.

If a world-corrupting type dungeon appeared in a place like this, how would the sewer connections work?

That idle curiosity floated through my mind—but putting that aside… If it was underground, I could just use【Phase Through】 to go down. Just as I was about to do so,  a commotion broke out.

“＆％＄％＆！”

“％＆％＄％！”

“％％＆＄＆！”

Suddenly, voices shouted from all around, and even the shaman started moving. As I wondered what was going on, one of the shops suddenly exploded, and figures came tumbling out from within.

“＆％＄％＆！”

“％＆％％＆！”

This time, they were speaking English. Bursting into the darkened street were a woman in a business suit, and a girl—no, a woman—dressed in a Gothic Lolita outfit that totally didn’t fit this atmosphere.

Ah. I know them. Why are they here?

They were surrounded on both sides with no way out, but I slipped in while still invisible, grabbed both of them by the collar, and used 【Phase Through】 to dive underground.

Just as I thought, there was a portal.

Still holding the two of them, I entered the portal. Every dungeon portal had a designated safe zone. No monsters could fight within it. That was the same in the Kingdom of Peschel, so it had to be the same here too.

“Why are you two here?”

I spoke to them using my phone’s translation function. Standing before me were Claire Saloon and Heaves Lincoln.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー