I Came Back from the Dead, Quit Being a Holy Hero, and Just Wanna Shake My Hips in a Harem - Chapter 15: The Town with a Pop-Up Dungeon

Chapter 15: The Town with a Pop-Up Dungeon

Rocking gently along the great river on a ferry, dozing to the rhythm of the waves—

Swoosh… swish… sway.

Still half-asleep, I turned to Lily, searching for answers.

She casually explained,

“I used a sleep spell. You looked so peaceful… just sleeping away.”

Of course I knew it was you who knocked me out, Lily!!

I was just about to huff and puff with righteous fury when she leaned in close and whispered by my ear—

“(Lord Haruya…)”

“(What now? Say whatever you want, I’m still—)”

“(Lately… I’ve been practicing how to serve you with my mouth.)”

She followed it with a soft, sweet breath right into my ear.

And just like that, my anger evaporated into thin air.

Because I’m a man.

And instead, a very different reaction flared up—

Because I’m a man.

Filio gave me a slightly guilty smile.

“Don’t be mad at Lily, okay? I was the one who asked her to do it.”

“Lord Filio did nothing wrong. The fault lies entirely with me, for suggesting it.”

These two already had a rock-solid level of trust between them.

The devoted servant type and the noble prince type—

They really did make a great team, even back in our past life.

Then I noticed—

Filio, still smiling sweetly, was holding my travel pouch.

“Haruya, you really are an interesting person.”

“…The hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you were clearly planning to run away… And yet, you packed your gear perfectly—Like someone preparing for danger, just in case.”

She wasn’t wrong.

I had everything sorted and ready to go.

Because no matter what, deep down…

I never really let my guard down.

When I went quiet, Filio gave me a playful little smile.

Looks like I just earned myself some bonus Filio Points.

Nope.

Can’t let that build up to “Welcome to the party!” status.

I’ll just totally flop on the next quest—let her see how hopeless I really am.

She’ll get disappointed, lose interest, and move on.

…Wait a sec.

Didn’t I think the exact same thing when Lily joined!?

It’s fine. Totally fine.

If Lily and Filio are around, I don’t have to try hard.

That’s the whole strategy—maximum laziness, minimum pressure.

And so, we continued sailing north along the great river,

Eventually reaching the dock.

From there, we rented a carriage and made our way through the winding mountain roads.

It turned into a surprisingly long trip.

Right now, we were deep in the Carps Mountains, northeast of the Hawks Plains.

This whole region was mostly uncharted.

Thick forests, wild terrain, ancient dungeons, hidden ruins—

A paradise for researchers.

Which is why there were always escort requests for scholars floating around.

Lately though, probably thanks to the screwed-up monster ecosystem,

The Guild had started recommending large parties only for deep dives.

Our destination:

Gosse—a town nestled right in the heart of the Carps Mountain range.

It sat in a natural valley, basically a fortress built by the landscape itself.

Famous for its ores and blacksmithing.

If you’re an adventurer, it’s one of those places—an absolute must-visit.

As for why we were headed there…

The carriage driver turned around and asked:

“Hey, you folks headed to Gosse for that new dungeon?”

Filio answered with her usual sunny smile.

“They say a dungeon popped up in the town’s mines, and well… the adventurer in me just couldn’t resist.”

“Knew it! You folks are quick with the news—this only happened recently!”

“Where there’s a dungeon, you’ll always find adventurers, after all!”

Filio looked super pumped.

But let’s be honest—

There’s no way a red-sealed quest is just a casual dungeon check.

There’s gotta be something weird going on with that new dungeon.

Filio turned to me with a curious look.

“By the way, Haruya, how would you define a dungeon?”

“Unexplored ruins, ancient cities, underground labyrinths… But in Gosse’s case? I’d call it a random-type dungeon.”

“Exactly. There’s no way something like that stayed hidden in a mining town until now.”

A random dungeon.

It’s a phenomenon where a sudden surge of magical energy causes the surrounding terrain to morph and fuse into something new.

Basically, when that merging magic goes haywire, the overflowing mana has nowhere to go—

So it just balloons out and mutates the area into a full-blown dungeon.

Sometimes it’s triggered by stuff like the corpse of an ancient dragon, or a ridiculously enchanted weapon lying around.

Break the source, and things usually go back to normal.

So yeah—not too hard to deal with.

The real problem starts when something demonic is involved.

You get high-intelligence monsters—real mana freaks—who deliberately shape comfy little nests for themselves.

They prep some kind of medium and create a dungeon from scratch.

Those types are called Devourer’s Labyrinths.

And they’re a whole different level of dangerous.

That said—they’re super rare.

…Not foreshadowing anything, okay?

Seriously.

Monsters that smart and skilled with mana don’t exactly grow on trees.

It’s not like one would just casually show up in a human settlement, right?

…I’m serious. This is not a flag, alright?

But of course, my totally-not-a-flag concern?

Turned out to be a full-blown flag.

The mining town of Gosse, once bustling and famous for its ore, was now completely unrecognizable.

“W-What the hell is this!?”

The coachman’s shout rang out through the ghost town—

Because all across the streets, scattered everywhere, were…

Chunks of flesh.

They looked like inside-out organs—fleshy lumps all mushy and saggy, like rotten tomatoes left out in the sun.

Each one was maybe a meter wide, just… lined up neatly along the cobblestone street like some kind of grotesque merchant stall.

And every so often, they’d twitch—pulsing softly, like they were alive.

Bit by bit, like lava seeping through cracks, those meat blobs were slowly, steadily swallowing up the town.

Dammit…

This reeks of a Devourer’s Labyrinth!

Lily came back from checking a nearby house and gave a quiet shake of her head.

“…There’s no trace of the townspeople anywhere.”

The coachman, now pale as a ghost, glanced nervously toward the fleshy blobs.

Judging by the look on his face…

Yeah. He probably thought those things were the townspeople.

Filio spoke up in her usual cool, calm tone.

“They’re not people. Those meaty things aren’t from the town.”

“H-How the heck would you know that!?”

“My senses are sharp. That’s definitely not human. …Feels more like something spawned from the dungeon.”

If Filio says so, it’s probably true.

Back in my past life, her scouting skills got us through a lot.

She taught me everything—tracking, detection, stealth.

But no matter how hard I trained, I could never surpass her.

That stuff was her specialty.

Now she stood there, arms crossed, brow slightly furrowed.

She was probably worried about the missing townsfolk—

And also wondering where the hell we were even supposed to start with a mess like this.

“But… where did everyone go…? And how do we even begin with something like this…?”

“W-Wait! You’re seriously planning to investigate this freakshow!?”

“Yup. Looks like it’ll take some time.”

“A-Are you nuts?! I’m not sticking around in some horror movie town! I’m outta here!!”

The coachman’s face went pale as he scrambled onto the driver’s seat and whipped the reins like his life depended on it.

And just like that—he bolted. Full speed. Gone.

Hey, hey, HEY!?!

You’re seriously ditching your paying customers right now!?

“I’m so reporting him to the transportation company later!”

“Well, well. It’s not like we can force him to stick around when his life’s in danger.”

Filio gave a soft smile, like all she cared about was the safety of innocent civilians.

Seriously—she hasn’t changed one bit.

Lily touched her cheek with one finger, looking just a little troubled.

“But now we’re stuck without transportation. And we still need to report what’s going on.”

“Oh, that’s no problem… *whistle!”

Filio let out a sharp whistle—

And from high above, a hawk came diving down like a feathered missile.

With a few elegant wingbeats, it landed perfectly on Filio’s outstretched arm.

“What a charming little hawk.”

“This is Persia. A good friend of mine. Super smart—scouting, message delivery, you name it.”

The hawk puffed out its chest proudly like, Damn right I can.

Oh, and for the record?

This bird is nuts in combat.

Back in the day, I used to joke, “Yo, is the hawk the real main character here?”

Seriously—it was so well-trained, it had to belong to someone from an ultra-noble family.

Why didn’t I figure that out in my past life?

“So I’ll have Persia send a report on the situation… What about you, Haruya? What do you think we should do?”

“I think we wait for the rescue team before we start any serious investigation. Till then, we keep our distance and watch from outside the town.”

“…………Yeah. That makes sense.”

Filio looked like she was wrestling with the same conclusion.

We were all worried sick about the townspeople—but with barely any intel, charging in blind was a terrible idea.

It made way more sense to call the knights or hire a solid group of adventurers to do a proper sweep.

Yeah, it’d take time…

But in the long run, it’d save more lives.

…If I were still the Hero, Filio probably would’ve already dragged me off on a solo recon mission by now.

But this time, we were just fellow adventurers. No special roles, no extra pressure.

Even if she was strong, I doubted she’d go charging in alone this time.

Still, Filio had this seriously conflicted look on her face.

But… she wouldn’t actually try to sneak in solo, right?

Just as I started getting worried, her expression shifted.

She’d noticed something.

“Someone’s hiding in the inn! It’s okay, you can come out now!”

Lily and I turned toward the building.

Wait, someone’s in there?

I didn’t sense a thing.

Of course, Filio picked up on it instantly.

Classic her.

She gave a soft, reassuring smile.

“As you can see, we’re just regular adventurers. We’re not here to hurt anyone.”

Maybe it was the gentle tone—

Because a small girl peeked out from behind the corner.

She had long chestnut hair and wore an adorable little dress, now completely caked in mud.

Her big eyes welled with tears as she tried to speak.

“Um… u-uh… I-I… uh…”

“No rush. Just take your time, okay? You can talk to us slowly.”

The girl’s mouth opened and closed a few times like a nervous goldfish, but Filio stayed calm and kept smiling.

Little by little, the fear on her face faded…

Just a bit.

“D-Dad… and Mom… they got taken away by some black shadow… And the other townspeople too… they were all dragged underground…”

“Black shadow…? Underground, you say?”

“Y-Yeah… I think… maybe the mining place…”

“The underground mine, huh…”

“U-Um… um… I-I want you to save… my mom and dad…”

Her voice cracked at the end—just barely holding it together.

And right then, Filio responded with a radiant, cheerful voice:

“Your parents are going to be just fine! After all, we’re here!”

She flashed a dazzling smile—so full of confidence, it left no room for fear.

Those sparkling eyes of hers just blew the girl’s anxiety away like it was nothing.

………………

And now she was turning those sparkly eyes on me.

Lily too—with that quiet, expectant stare.

Okay, okay—I get it already! Stop looking at me like that!

“…Guess we’re heading into the dungeon.”

The moment I said it, Filio smiled like a flower in full bloom.

Sure, I’m just some guy chasing the dream of a harem life—

Lazy, carefree, and full of creampie ambitions…

But even someone like me can’t ignore a desperate plea from a little girl.

…Still, I guess that just makes me a slightly less heartless scumbag.