Dungeon's Final Boss: Banished by My Boss, the Goddess, to Earth—So I'll Continue My Past Life - 96

Chapter 96: Villain

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After safely rescuing Satoru-kun and getting him outside, I returned to the dungeon to complete the raid. The villainous criminals were still lying around inside the dungeon. Since only the local police were outside, I judged it too dangerous to hand them over just yet.

“Still, for people who go around calling themselves ‘Villain,’ your outfits are surprisingly plain. You really don’t put any effort into it, huh?”

It was disappointing that people who had chosen to become enemies of society in an era that favored Awakened individuals didn’t even have the decency to wear flashy outfits.

“Who the hell would do something that embarrassing?!”

“We still have some shame left, you know!”

“Is that so? Personally, I don’t dislike that kind of costume.”

“Then you wear something like that!”

“All you wear are suits!”

“This is the proper attire for a gentleman’s job.”

The two of them were restrained with a skill called 【Chains of Divine Binding】, so they couldn’t move. The chains had physically manifested and were binding them, so I grabbed one end and started pulling them along.

“Hey, hey, why are we going deeper into the dungeon?”

“Why, to complete the raid, of course.”

“Why the hell are you taking us with you?!”

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving you in the hands of the local police. Just accept it.”

“Don’t screw with us!”

“This is a human rights violation!”

“Haha, what a funny thing to say.”

Human rights? From criminals?

“A villain lecturing me about the law, huh? But you do realize dungeons are lawless zones, right? If I say you were killed by monsters, that’s the end of it. No one will try to argue with me for it.”

“Is that what a hero of justice is supposed to say?!”

“Oh my, when did I ever say I was a hero of justice?”

“Aren’t you an S-rank?!”

“But I don’t even wear a costume.”

Well, not that it matters.

“Let me ask you this. Do you really think someone who’s used to killing monsters would hesitate to kill a human who deserves it?”

“……”

“Hmm?”

When I smiled and asked, their faces immediately drained of color.

“That smile shows you don’t have any intention to protect anyone.”

“He’s terrifying.”

“Then please behave yourselves.”

So they finally understood. Honestly, what a troublesome bunch. Now that everything was settled, I continued dragging them along the chain deeper into the dungeon. Although some time had passed since the dungeon appeared, it hadn’t been a full year yet.

We reached the bottom without much trouble.

“Ah, that’s right—”

Stopping once before the final boss’s door, I looked at the villains. For some reason, they were dizzy and swaying.

“You don’t have to fake being weak, you know.”

“We’re not faking! We’re seriously dizzy!”

“Don’t swing us around like we’re some damn Gundam Hammer!”

“You’re perfectly fine. That just proves how tough you really are.”

One of my hands had been occupied earlier, and I’d thought it was a hassle—but then a good idea struck me, so I went with it.

“Anyway, what crimes did you commit to end up hiding in a place like this?”

“Peep-peep…”

“Well, the moment you tried to mess with a child, my internal court already handed down the death sentence to you all.”

““It was theft!””

They confessed surprisingly easily.

“Theft?”

“Hehehe~ Just a little something from a rural museum.”

“What exactly did you steal?”

“Well… We’re not really sure ourselves.”

“You don’t know?”

“It was a Buddha statue, but it was from a tiny place that just displayed works left behind by a local artist.”

“And the Buddha statue?”

“We already handed it over to our client, so it’s not here anymore.”

“Oh?”

It was said no one could check the content of another person’s Item Box. Only the owner of the said Item Box could know the content. In fact, smuggling via Item Box had already become a real concern. But then… What about monsters? Could monsters see into an Awakened person’s Item Box? The answer: no. However, monsters could steal from it. 

There was a monster called Goblin Red Mask that possessed a skill called Random Steal.

It could randomly steal something from an Awakened person’s Item Box. Whether humans could use this skill or not, I didn’t know, but… I could use it. 

As I stared at them, both of them averted their eyes. I kept staring to gauge their reaction, then activated 【Random Steal】 on the skinnier one. Since they couldn’t move, I could try as many times as I wanted. Clothes, wallets, passports—various things spilled out until finally, a hand-sized Buddha statue appeared.

“Hmm, so this is it?”

“Wh-Wh-Why is that in your hands?! It’s supposed to be in my Item Box?!”

“Who knows?”

Brushing off the question, I inspected the statue. It was black, possibly lacquered, and small enough to hold in one hand. I wasn’t too familiar with Buddhist statues, but I recognized the pose—it looked like Miroku Bosatsu.

I had only asked about the crime out of idle curiosity, but now I was starting to wonder why someone would want to steal this thing. As I tilted and moved it around, I noticed a sound coming from inside—it seemed to be hollow.

“Hmm.”

So, I cracked it open cleanly. A black object rolled out, and I caught it before it could fall. I decided to examine it later, and for now, put both the object and the statue into my Item Box. Then I restored the statue inside the box, took it back out, and placed it in front of the thin man.

“Once we’re out of the dungeon, confess everything honestly. And forget everything that happened with me.”

““……Yes.””

In the face of my combined Universal Language and 【Hypnosis】 skills, they couldn’t resist.

In that case,  wouldn’t it have been better to just do this from the start? But where’s the fun in that?

I left them asleep in front of the boss room and quickly took care of the final boss on my own before escaping the dungeon. Once on the surface, I handed the villains over to the Awakened officers waiting from the local police, then got in touch with Mio so we could meet up in Hiroshima.

Next stop: Shin Mouri’s place.

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