Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 11

Chapter 11: Not an Awakened

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What a shame.

From the moment Samejima-san led me here, I had considered several possible outcomes.

The best-case scenario was, “Actually, I’m an Awakened!” but that possibility had just been completely ruled out thanks to this machine. I had a feeling it wouldn’t work, but a small part of me hoped the machine might malfunction and mistakenly classify me as one.

Yeah… no luck. So, what now?

“Who are you?”

Samejima-san asked, motioning for the staff to step back. She was completely on guard.

“Is there a chance the video was edited?”

“No. We have already had multiple experts analyze it, and it has been confirmed that it is not tinkered with.”

“I see. Then let me ask you this… If I’m not an Awakened, what do you intend to do with me?”

If the best-case scenario was out, I wanted to steer things toward the next-best option. But that depended on how they reacted from here.

“What do you mean, ‘do with you’?”

“Will you arrest me as a criminal? If a non-Awakened enters a dungeon, I believe that falls under the crime of unlawful entry into a structure, but you can’t exactly charge me with destruction of property for defeating monsters, can you?”

“That is…”

I had looked into dungeon-related laws on my phone beforehand. In Japan, any dungeon that appeared within the country’s borders was, for the time being, treated as Japanese government property. Without that rule, there would be an endless number of legal disputes over the ownership of dungeons, and the Ministry of Dungeons would have a much harder time managing the dungeons.  To that end, the ministry had restricted dungeon access to Awakened individuals only. Thus, illegally entering a government-owned dungeon was considered unlawful entry of government property.

“That would mean a sentence of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 yen, correct? If possible, I’d prefer to settle this with just the fine.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

Perhaps surprised by my response, Samejima-san stopped me.

“What we are most concerned about is your ability.”

Yeah, I know, I know, but there’s no law in Japan that says I will be punished just for being strong… Right? Yeah. There shouldn’t be any law like that. 

“I see.”

“How were you able to do that?”

“Who knows?”

“‘Who knows?’⁉︎”

“I recently quit my job and was taking some time off to refresh myself, so maybe that’s why?”

“There’s no way that’s—”

Yeah, I know. But it’s not like I could just say, “Actually, I was reincarnated as a dungeon monster, worked for a hundred years, got fired, and just recently came back.” If they found out I was a dungeon monster, who knows what would happen? Or… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if they knew? The real question was, how would the government react? If they treat me like a test subject, I will resist with all of my might, but I don’t want to live under constant surveillance either. Would I enjoy being treated like a celebrity? …Maybe. But I had a feeling I’d get bored of that pretty quickly.

I had experienced something similar back in my mid-boss days, before I became the final boss. Back then, I had a lot of interactions with other monsters—helping each other out, getting helped in return. But once I became the final boss, I lost all contact with the others. Maybe part of that was my own fault, but it was the same for the final boss before me.

I figured that was just how it worked. After all, as the final boss, I couldn’t just casually leave my chamber.

“A regular person shouldn’t be able to do that to a Spriggan Giant! That would completely undermine the meaning of being an Awakened…!”

“But I am not an Awakened. The machine, which operates based on the country’s standards, has already determined that.”

“That’s…”

“Um, it feels like we’ve lost track of the main topic, so let’s get back on point. What do you want to do with me? I thought I was being reprimanded because I entered a dungeon despite not being an Awakened. Was that not the case?”

“That’s…”

Samejima-san faltered. She had assumed I was an Awakened. She had expected the machine to confirm it. Now that assumption had been shattered, and it was obvious she was at a loss of what to do next.

“…Understood.”

At last, Samejima-san seemed to regain her composure.

“Please go home for today. Regarding your unauthorized entry into the dungeon, another department may contact you at a later date.”

“Understood.”

So, they retreated. Well, that made sense. Their initial plan had fallen apart, so they must have decided to reassess their approach. Still, getting the government’s attention this quickly was a serious blunder on my part. What should I do now? Should I change my appearance and start over? I could even swap identities with an Awakened who had died in a dungeon.

“Huh?!”

Just as we stepped outside the Ministry of Dungeons, led by Samejima-san, she pulled out her phone and looked at something.

An email?

Then, all of a sudden, she spun around, grabbed my arm, and yanked me forward.

“Come with me!”

“Huh? Wait, what?”

Before I knew it, I was shoved into a car.

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