Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 71

Chapter 71: Change of Heart

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“Take this!”

Vancet, stunned by the destruction of his sword, took Mio’s pickaxe strike head-on and collapsed on the spot. Mio was kind-hearted and never pointed the sharp end of the pickaxe at a human. She hit him with the flat side, but given Vancet’s limp state, the blow was more than enough—he didn’t move again.

“Aaah… I broke it…”

Now that Vancet had stopped moving, Mio realized what she’d done and grew flustered.

“W-What should I do?”

“There’s nothing to worry about. Tools breaking during a fight is a common occurrence.”

It would be troubling if someone tried to scold her just because she broke a weapon that had been used to try and kill her. Besides, the entire battle had been recorded on video, so a claim of self-defense would hold up. More importantly, if what was said during this fight were picked up and became a public issue, wouldn’t the Saloon Group suffer considerable damage?

“You don’t need to worry about it.”

In the end, it was a weapon that couldn’t cut through the shield I made and was destroyed by the weapon I created. It was never worthy of being called the greatest sword in the world. Even that sword must have been troubled by being used in such a way.

Yes, let’s go with that scenario. Yeah.

“Won’t they ask for their money back?”

“If it comes to that, Piroane will be the one returning it.”

“That’s exactly the problem!”

“Haha~ It’ll be fine.”

Even if someone said that, Piroane would never give the money back. I was certain of it. If it came to a court battle, she’d likely get pounded by a team of lawyers from a global conglomerate, but would they really let it go that far? 

“Now then, shall we continue the dungeon conquest?”

“…Sorry, but I’d like to return first.”

“Understood.”

Claire and Heaves apologized as they said that.

“During the last battle, several of Seraphim’s drive systems were damaged. We can’t repair it here.”

“I see.”

“Sorry about this.”

“No, it’s fine. We need to bring them back to the surface too anyway.”

I could probably continue the conquest alone, but Claire and the others likely wanted to witness it too. Besides, I couldn’t leave Mio somewhere out of sight. And so, we decided to return.

Heaves deployed a cargo platform as part of Seraphim’s auxiliary equipment and tossed the restrained Vancet and the others onto it. From the outside, it looked like we were carrying a large basket on our backs. On the way back, which took as long as the trip there, we ran into Rock Barnhorn.

“Oh? Heading back?”

“Yes. There was a bit of a mishap.”

“I see.”

Rock Barnhorn, holding a mug—probably filled with coffee—by the campfire of his camping gear, glanced at Seraphim and the figures of Vancet and the others peeking from the cargo platform. Then he looked at me and smiled. He wouldn’t mistake Seraphim for anything else. After all, they had fought in the auction, but he said nothing about it. 

It seemed he chose to pretend he hadn’t seen anything.

“I see. I still plan to go deeper. I might end up finishing it myself, you know?”

“Is that so? Well, I have no right to stop you.”

“Haha! You’re no fun to tease. Later, then.”

“Indeed.”

Rock Barnhorn raised his mug in farewell. Mio and I bowed our heads in return and parted ways. Other than that, we made it out of the dungeon without any major incidents. At the exit, the rising tide nearly drowned Mio, but she was saved by being stored in Seraphim.

Seraphim moved through the water without any issue, hopping along even at night as we made our way back to the villa. The butler showed no sign of surprise at our sudden return and had towels ready for our wet selves. When we came out of the shower room, a change of clothes and a hot meal awaited us.

Vancet and the others, who had been thrown onto the cargo platform, were disarmed and released once we returned to the island. Even if we accused them of their crimes, the ones who would suffer would be Claire and her family. Besides, it wasn’t like this island nation had a facility to imprison awakened individuals.

If we wanted to go that route, we’d need to fully expose their crimes to the world. The moment we failed to kill them in the dungeon, their release became inevitable.

“Is this really okay?”

“If they come back for revenge, I’ll make sure they regret it.”

That would make things simpler for me, but I doubted it would come to that. I wouldn’t let my guard down, of course.

“More importantly, how long will it take to repair Seraphim? Depending on that, couldn’t we shoot a few more videos for Mio?”

The immediate issue was really how to spend the time until the repairs were finished. If we were going to wait, maybe we could search deeper for a vast magic stone vein for videos.

“About that…”

As I warmed myself with soup made from seafood stock, Claire spoke up.

“How about we end it here?”

“Why?”

That was an unexpected change of plans. Even Heaves looked surprised, so she probably hadn’t consulted anyone about this.

“Thinking about it, this dungeon is an important resource for this country to attract outsiders. If the Saloon Group doesn’t have a de facto monopoly over it, then maybe there’s no need to conquer and erase it.”

That made sense, but judging by Claire’s somber expression, this didn’t seem to come from her usual logical reasoning.

“Weren’t you wary of the orichalcum?”

“I was. But going forward, it won’t only be found in this dungeon, right?”

“Correct. We don’t know when, but eventually, it will appear in other dungeons as well.”

“In that case, erasing this dungeon has no meaning. The real issue was only the Saloon Group’s monopoly.”

We had defeated Vancet and shattered the sword that had been backing their power. Given the current situation, no one could stop other awakened individuals from entering this dungeon. In other words, the orichalcum source could no longer be monopolized by the Saloon Group.

“If the client says this is the end, then I have no reason to object.”

“Yes. Then—”

“May I ask the reason behind your change of heart?”

“I realized that most people can’t understand my way of thinking and even if someone like me tries to act righteously, no one will understand.”

Her exchange with Vancet seemed to have struck Claire deeply. From our earlier conversations, it was clear she was tired of life as a wealthy heiress and longed for a normal existence. Being called out on that point must have hurt.

“I see.”

“Do you think so too?”

“I do think we share very few values.”

“Right…”

“…But, in the end, other people are just that—other people. Even when we think we’re the same, once you dig deeper, it turns out we’re different after all. Isn’t that something everyone goes through?”

In my case, I was basically a dungeon monster. There were only very few people I could share this secret with. Minister Niitaka and Samejima-san knew for political reasons, but that didn’t mean they would ever fully understand the inner turmoil I faced. Piroane might face similar problems and frustrations as me, but even then, I didn’t particularly want to connect with her on that level.

“Just because you’re the same doesn’t mean you’ll understand each other. In the end, the only thing that moves you is what’s inside you. Not someone else’s values.”

“You’re strong, aren’t you?”

“Perhaps.”

In her weakened state, that was all she said. As for me, this matter—whether to erase the dungeon for the orichalcum—didn’t really matter.

But… There was another issue that piqued my mind. What should I do about that?

“Milady, we have a visitor.”

As that awkward atmosphere lingered, the butler came to inform us.

“Who is it?”

“His Majesty the King. He wishes to meet with Hasegawa-sama.”

An unexpected guest had requested an audience with me.

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