Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 91-92

Chapter 91: While Eating Monjayaki

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I had lost sight of Surami. I never thought she would run away. I was worried, but since she was a True Ancestor-class vampire, she would probably sneak into another dungeon somewhere and manage just fine. At least, that was what I wanted to believe…

““That’s your fault, Jiro(-san).””

When I brought up Surami, not only Mio but even Piroane said the exact same thing. This was during the after-party following the dungeon expedition. I had invited Piroane to the monjayaki restaurant before starting this conversation, but I didn’t expect both of them to chime in together.

“That’s right. Jiro, you really have that kind of problem, you know. Do you even understand how people feel?”

Piroane grinned mischievously. Was she trying to seize this rare chance to complain directly to me? 

Is that the attitude you’re going with? Seriously?

“Is it still possible to look for that Surami-san?”

“It would be difficult.”

Mio looked worried, but it really was impossible. If I had marked her somehow it might’ve been different, but at that time I had been completely focused on acquiring the Monster Master skill, and I never expected her to flee in the first place.

“You let your guard down, didn’t you?”

“No, I don’t think this is a matter of letting my guard down or not.”

Piroane scraped the burnt bits on the griddle with a small spatula as she spoke. She scooped up a bite of mentaiko-mochi-cheese monja with the tiny spatula, popped it into her mouth, and washed it down with a sip of beer while blowing on it.

She’s adjusting surprisingly well to life in Japan.

“Even I can tell you’re hopeless at dealing with women.”

“Then, what exactly would have been the right thing to do?”

I never thought the day would come when I’d ask Piroane this kind of question. If she answered wrong, I would tease her mercilessly.

“That’s obvious. You should’ve said something like ‘I’m so happy to see you’ or ‘I swear I’ll get this skill just for you’—something along those lines.”

“She’s right.”

“Huh?”

Mio nodded emphatically at Piroane’s answer. No way—Piroane actually got it right? Impossible!  No, but…Hmm…

“I guess it’s true. My words back then didn’t show any consideration for her feelings.”

Back then, I had been so focused on the method of getting the skill that I probably came off as insensitive. No, I definitely was insensitive. Surami must have gotten angry because of my careless words. If even Piroane could tell that I had done something wrong, Surami had surely felt the same way. I had really messed up.

That said, there was no way to look for her now. Nothing I could do about it.

“Well, she’s a True Ancestor-class vampire—she’s not going to just disappear so easily. Next time you see her, make sure you apologize properly.”

“By the way, she was in the dungeon you were planning to create on Earth, you know.”

“Eh? Really?”

“I explained that to you, right? At the very beginning.”

“Hmmmm…?”

Piroane crossed her arms and let out a low hum before slowly opening her closed eyelids, eyes going round. It looked like all her worries had just evaporated. Or perhaps she had just decided to give up thinking entirely.

“Well, I’m more of an instinctual type after all.”

“So basically, you moved your monsters around without thinking at all?”

And you didn’t even remember Surami existed in the first place?

“You could say that.”

In the end, Piroane finishing things on a disappointing note was par for the course. While I sat there, exasperated and eating more monja, Mio was giggling.

“What’s so funny?”

“You two… Sometimes you’re just like each other. Like siblings.”

““How so?””

“See?”

No, this was only because Mio said something weird and we both reacted in the most logical way. That was all.

There’s no way I’m anything like this useless goddess. I wish she’d stop saying such terrifying things.

And yet…

“Well, I did raise Jiro, you know. So practically speaking, I’m his parent? It’s only natural we’d end up similar. Go ahead, Jiro. You can call me ‘Mom.’”

“All right, that’s it—I’m not letting that slide!”

“Why?!”

“Waaah, please stop!”

Mio had to step in to separate us, and the restaurant staff scolded us for being too loud, so we called it off.

Not long after, my smartphone started ringing. It was a call from Tougo Shimazu. We were scheduled to head out soon to conquer a dungeon in Kyushu, so it was probably about that. I decided to answer the call once we left the restaurant.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“In the end, isn’t it actually a good thing that Surami didn’t stay with Jiro?”

“Eh?”

“Right? Don’t you think so, Mio?”

“Uh, well…That might be true, but…”

“She’s a True Ancestor-class vampire, anyway. She’ll be fine on her own. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Ugh…Okay.”

And yet, Mio still felt an odd sense of guilt gnawing at her heart.

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Chapter 92: S-rank Collaboration: Kyushu Edition

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A few days later, somewhere in Kyushu. The entrance to the dungeon was located inside an abandoned inn near a volcano.

“When we found it, it was already fairly developed. At first, another company took on the job of clearing it, but they ended up giving up.”

From the inn’s entrance to the dining hall where the dungeon’s entrance was located, the place seemed to have been cleaned up, so it wasn’t as dusty and decrepit as a typical ruin. However, beyond the unlit corridor lay a gloomy darkness, and if one’s imagination even fluttered, it was easy to picture some shadow peeking out from the darkness.

“A dark inn is scary…”

“Don’t worry, there won’t be any ghosts. And even if one shows up, I can just punch it to oblivion.”

Mimimi and Tougo spoke in front of the filming drone. Back when the S-rank members had gathered together, they had decided to cooperate on clearing “dungeons that were in the way but had been left alone so long they’d become time-consuming, making them hard to fit into anyone’s schedule,” and do it quickly.

The first of these was this dungeon in Kyushu, assigned to Tougo Shimazu. At that time, Mimimi, who had acted as an instructor teaching 【Energy Blast】, had been invited along.

Of course, filming was allowed. The one who suggested it was Shin Mouri. He didn’t seem like the type to propose for things like these, but he had been strangely enthusiastic about planning it.

The other two agreed to Shin’s idea, which led to today.

“This inn went out of business even before the dungeon appeared. But you know how the tourism industry’s been bouncing back lately? So there are people who want this dungeon cleared quickly so they can reopen the inn.”

“If that happens, everyone can come and use the inn again!”

“You’re a good person.”

The two chatted like that in front of the drone as they walked toward the dining hall.

“Um, Hasegawa-san, don’t you want to be on camera?”

The one speaking to me, who was following a bit behind, was an employee from the company Tougo belonged to. Since we planned to go with a small group this time, this employee had come along as our camera operator.

“No, I don’t mind. I don’t want to stand out.”

“But you show up a lot in Mimimi-san’s videos.”

“That’s because we happened to cross paths.”

“Fate, huh? Indeed. Fate is important, right?”

“Do you have a story?”

“Hahaha… Well, if our squad leader hadn’t picked me up, I’d have been in some serious trouble.”

The black-haired, long-haired female employee kept her left eye hidden behind her bangs. Through the swaying strands, I could see a deep scar running across where her eye would be.

“Encounters really are important.”

“They truly are.”

While we talked, Mimimi and Tougo wrapped up their conversation, and the opening shoot ended. It was time to head into the dungeon.

“Alright, let’s clear this fast. Is it okay to ignore the magic stone veins?”

“Yes! It’s fine.”

“Then let’s rush it. Jiro, give me support.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll draw all the enemies. Anything I miss is Inori’s job. Jiro, you guard Mimimi.”

“Is that really okay?”

“It’s fine.”

“Got it.”

Well, if we wanted to clear it quickly, it was best not to change our usual fighting style. By the way, the woman we’d been talking to earlier was named Inori Ishidan.

“I can also heal, so don’t worry even if you get injured.”

“Oh, that’s great. I’ll be counting on you, Inori.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t need it.”

With that, he pulled a weapon from his item box. What he drew was a spiked iron club, like something an ogre would wield. Inori drew a Japanese sword and secured it to her waist belt.

“I’ll also—”

“Mimimi, you don’t need to.”

I stopped Mimimi as she hurried to pull out her own weapon. This time, Mimimi’s role was more like a reporter tagging along. Since we weren’t going to mine magic stones, she didn’t need a pickaxe.

“I’ll protect you.”

“Fueee…”

“Huh?”

“Ah! It’s nothing!”

For a moment, Mimimi’s face looked flushed with excitement. What was that about?

“Whoa, as expected of an S-rank! This is way better than a dungeon convenience buff!”

When I gave him a support enhancement, Tougo shouted happily.

“Alright! We can finish this by today at this rate!”

Looking delighted, Tougo took off running, and we followed him.

As expected, Tougo was incredibly strong. He swung the heavy spiked club around freely, smashing through monsters’ defenses as if they were nothing. Though his weapon was heavy, he moved with agility, running and leaping nimbly. He barely stayed in one spot for long at all.

Most who used heavy weapons were themselves heavy and slow, but Tougo didn’t have that problem. His fighting style alone made it clear: Tougo was a master of close-quarters combat.

It was the same as when I’d analyzed his abilities with 【Analyze】 before. His fighting style was like that of a berserker, continuing to fight without concern for taking damage. And he had added new skills since then.

The new skill he had learned was 【Taunt】.It was a skill shield-type Awakened usually learned early on, and Tougo was using it to gather enemies together. Though he had picked up the knack for learning skills after the 【Energy Blast】 incident, to be able to master it so quickly was just what you’d expect from an S-rank.

The dungeon’s boss was a giant fire-lizard, the Fire Lizard. It had grown quite large, so it was probably close to an A+ monster—almost at the level of S-rank by Earth standards. Now that I thought about it, the Lesser Fenrir in the Kichijoji Dungeon might’ve also been around A+ if it hadn’t been weakened.

Even that Fire Lizard had its flames blown off its scales by Tougo’s 【Energy Blast】, and before it could reignite, he crushed its head with his spiked club, ending the fight seamlessly.

“Man, Jiro’s support is insane.”

Tougo said that with a serious face at the end, and the filming drone’s camera caught his face.

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