Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 62

Chapter 62: The Hero Falling from the Sky

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“I’ve actually never been overseas before.”

“I’m pretty much the same as you.”

I responded to Mio, who was looking around after we arrived at the port. It was a long wooden pier. A breakwater and port area built by stacking countless stones. Even the buildings in the distance seemed to be primarily made of stacked stone. The rounded shapes of the buildings, worn smooth by time and weather, suggested that they had been standing for quite a long time.

“It feels like I’ve wandered into a movie or something.”

If it were a film set in the medieval era, this kind of scenery might exist. That was the kind of atmosphere the entire port exuded. The fishing boats and the fishermen working there felt completely normal—aside from their different ethnicities—but the port itself gave me the strange sensation that something was out of place, like we had stepped into the wrong era.

“This tiny island nation in Western Europe managed to stay independent for this long, you know? It’s only natural that it’s a little behind.”

Claire spoke as she observed our confusion with a bored expression. She had a point. With no words to counter her, I could only shrug in return.

“Well, I’m not particularly knowledgeable about foreign countries either, so I don’t really know.”

Having spent over a hundred years as a dungeon monster, my memories from my time as Jiro Hasegawa were becoming quite vague. Recently, I had been trying to stimulate my brain by watching movies and anime through streaming services, but my understanding of foreign affairs was still only at a broad, general level.

The Peschel Kingdom wasn’t even mentioned in our textbooks, was it?

“It’s not, right?”

“Ah, yeah… I don’t think so?”

Mio, who was younger than me, looked completely unsure. But the history of this country wasn’t the issue here. That wasn’t what mattered.

“Anyway, if we can go now, let’s check out the dungeon first. We can do some sightseeing afterward.”

Since I wasn’t particularly interested in the Peschel Kingdom itself, I urged the two of them forward. Though sightseeing would probably just end up being us looking at the townscape, it still seemed like a waste to come all the way overseas and not do anything remotely touristy. Back in that other country I visited with Piroane, we could have had a proper sightseeing experience, yet we left without even trying the famous cuisine.

“Wait, you don’t mean to start clearing the dungeon today, do you?”

“No? We’ll record Mio’s video first. Besides, is it really something we could clear that easily?”

“Well…”

This dungeon in the Peschel Kingdom was one of the earliest dungeons to appear on Earth. It was said to be quite deep inside, and the monsters that spawned there were considered strong, even by Earth’s standards. And, of course, there were the awakened ones—those who sought orichalcum.

“That’s exactly why we need to do a preliminary survey first.”

To be honest, I didn’t think scouting out enemy factions was necessary. Once Mio finished filming, we could just clear the dungeon quickly and be done with it. But after coming all this way, it felt wasteful to only film a single video. If possible, I wanted to gather enough footage for multiple videos.

That was my true intention behind suggesting the scouting trip…But… As we walked off the pier and approached the four-wheel-drive vehicle waiting to pick us up, I sensed something in the sky.

A plane roared past overhead. Looking up, I saw that it was flying at a considerable altitude.

It seemed to be merely passing by, using this area as a route… or so I thought, until something fell from it.

That thing was…

“Mio, come here. Ah, you stay right there.”

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

I adjusted their positions while keeping my eyes on the object plummeting from the sky. Ignoring it might have been an option, but if not for me, Claire at least needed to acknowledge his arrival.

A sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out, followed by impact. Amid the cloud of dust that rose from the landing, the man appeared. A large, bald man, kneeling on one knee with one fist pressed against the ground, striking a pose straight out of a hero movie.

“Rock Barnhorn!”

Claire tensed and called out his name, prompting the man to lift his head.

“Huh? I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before… Ah, the troublesome brat.”

Rock looked at Claire and casually threw out those words.

“Wha—You! You do realize this is an illegal entry, don’t you?!”

“Who knows? I just had the bad luck of falling out of a plane, that’s all. But my entry procedures should already be taken care of.”

As he stood up nonchalantly, he glanced over at us.

“You… You were on the ship, weren’t you? And this one is… Oh, it’s you from before.”

“Ugh…”

Mio stiffened under Rock’s gaze. Was this the moment where I needed to replace the golem with my own fists? That thought crossed my mind, but what happened next was the complete opposite of my concerns.

“My apologies for the other day.”

Rock bowed his head in a formal apology.

“What I did was deeply significant to me personally. But at the very least, I want you to understand that I had no intention of acting in any sexually inappropriate way toward you.”

“Huh? Oh… I see…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Ah, no, it’s fine. Really. I know that a lot of men are into that sort of thing.”

“I see. Thank you for accepting my apology. You two are awakened ones, right? That means you’re here for the dungeon. I suppose we’ll meet again.”

With that, Rock left as swiftly as he had arrived. We silently watched his large figure fade into the distance, feeling a strange sense of awkwardness.

“He just apologized to me in Marisa’s voice.”

“For me, it was Rem’s.”

“So, not the same then.”

“Apparently not.”

Finding that amusing, we exchanged glances and laughed.

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