“We’ll Definitely Come Back to Save You!” — It’s Been Three Years Since I Was Left in the Most Difficult Dungeon, Isn’t It About Time for Help to Arrive...? - 66-67

Chapter 66: The Rising Omen

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After leaving the town and undoing our disguises, we crossed forests, rocky areas, and spots where monsters frequently appeared. What awaited us beyond them was a monster den that looked quite different from a dungeon. The walls and floors were not carefully paved, but instead exposed the raw form of nature itself.

“It looks… It looks like some kind of nest.”

“Yeah. Judging from the indentations in the walls, it must belong to something fairly big… But hey, why has this kid, Midi, been clinging to me since earlier? It’s ticklish, so I want her to stop.”

Lazuli swung her legs wildly, but Midi, clinging on like an insect stuck to a tree, endured without budging.

“…No… I don’t want to get sucked dry again…”

Midi was trembling so violently she looked like she was about to freeze to death, and because of that, it was hard to differentiate the outline of the two of them.

“The monsters in this cave feed on human magic. The last time we came here, I didn’t know that, and Midi got bitten right on the head and sucked completely dry.”

“Ahh, I see…”

That explanation was enough for anyone to imagine the gruesomeness of the situation. Hel winced and let out a strained “Uwaah.”

“But if that’s the case, couldn’t we just defeat them from a distance with magic before they can suck our magic power?”

“It’s not that simple. Since they’re constantly storing magic, they have an abnormally high resistance to spells. The moment you try to deal with them using magic, they close the distance in no time and chomp you dry.”

The monster Magic Eater Bird Domagros, also known as the “Mage Killer,” was the target of this mission. Because they were such a terrible match for magic-users, any party given the request avoided it, not wanting to risk their spellcasters. It was one of the monsters that had become a real headache for the guild.

“…And that’s the kind of request we were suddenly given as a guild entrance test? That old man’s got a cruel sense of humor.”

“Now, now. Since adventurers avoid it so often, the client probably offered a decent reward. Let’s just finish this request quickly and go home. …Well, I’ll mostly just be watching, though.”

“…Lazuli, please handle the rest…”

“Leaving it all to me!? Don’t you two feel like supporting me even a little!?”

““But…””

One sulked, while the other was on the verge of tears, throwing complaints her way.

“Haah, honestly… So, the actual request is to defeat this monster? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it have been better to leave these two behind?”

“No, defeating it isn’t the goal this time. I plan to avoid fighting as much as possible.”

“Huh? If we don’t have to defeat it, then there’s nothing difficult about it. So what is the goal?”

“To be precise, our goal is to transport the egg. The request is to take the eggs that the Magic Eater Bird Domagros is warming at the back of its nest. …But from the look on your face, it seems you’re not really getting it?”

Lazuli tilted her head with a huge question mark on her face, but nodded to my question.

“This is one of those things you won’t understand until you experience it yourself. Anyway, for now, let’s head into their nest—”

Clink…

Amid the rhythm we set with our boots, a faint noise slipped in. I glanced back, and for just an instant, it was like a splash of bright paint had been thrown onto a pitch-black canvas.

“…Hey, Midi. Like I asked before, there really were reports of seeing someone who looked like Eishia or Ripley in the city, right?”

“Eh…? Y-Yeah. I mean,there were reports of people seeing someone who looked like them… But they couldn’t say for sure if it was really them… Why?”

“…No, it’s nothing. Let’s keep moving.”

With their hair colors, they would stand out enough even in this dark cave. For a moment, I thought it might really have been them, but without any proof, I couldn’t act recklessly. I focused my attention on the increasingly strong presence ahead, and led Hel and the others deeper into the cave.

“…Hey, Master.”

Walking beside me, Hel took my hand, and the crest etched into our joined hands glowed faintly.

“There’s something I would like to ask of you—”

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Chapter 67: The Capture

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Listening to Hel’s request, I suppressed my presence so as not to be noticed and headed toward the center of Domagros’s nest.

“…Found it. That’s the egg.”

While hiding behind a boulder, I fixed my eyes on the space ahead. Unlike the scattered small chambers we had passed on the way, there was a special chamber here made for the queen, one that gave no sense of suffocating pressure despite being surrounded by rock.

…Kururuu…!

In the spacious chamber, as if a master craftsman had smoothed out the walls with great care, a single Domagros sat brooding over an egg the size of a human torso.

“So our goal is to bring that back with us.”

“They’re on alert, that’s for sure. I can see some guards circling around the egg.”

“We can’t use magic against those things, but… What do we do, Athos?”

“Right… Moving as a large group would just backfire. One person will grab the egg and make a run for it. The rest of us will hold off the Domagros chasing them and protect the one carrying the egg. That’s our plan.”

“““Got it.”””

As for who would actually take the egg, we decided it should be Lazuli, who had the best mobility.

“Alright then, I’ll snatch it real quick.”

With full confidence, Lazuli leapt from cover before the guard Domagros could even register her in their line of sight. She slipped into another shadow, and in an instant, she had reached the queen’s nest.

“With me, this much is nothing. Now then, I’ll gratefully take this…”

Just as Lazuli reached out from behind the queen Domagros to seize the egg all at once—an enormous shock reverberated through the cavern, shaking the walls, the ground, even the very air.

DOOOOONNN!!!

“―!? KUWEEHH!!! KUWEEHH!!!”

The queen Domagros, sensing the disturbance, rose from her brooding posture. Lazuli, who had her arms extended to snatch the egg, lost her balance in the tremor and fell forward with her hands on the ground.

“—Ah…”

“…………”

And there, before every Domagros in the chamber, stood a fragile-looking dragon that absolutely should not have been there—a being completely different from them. All of their eyes turned upon it.

“U-uhhh… Well… I-I’m here for…Collections…? I’ll just be… Taking this, okay~…?”

The three of us watching from behind all thought the exact same thing.

“Yeah, no way that’s gonna work.” 

But none of us said it out loud. Even in a hopeless situation where recovery was impossible, seeing our comrade trying so earnestly to fulfill her role—we couldn’t bring ourselves to say anything cruel.

“““—KUWEEEEEEEHHH!!!”””

“—Noooooo!!!???”

The Domagros, having understood the anomaly, all rushed not just toward their queen but to surround the insolent intruder who dared to steal their queen and their treasure egg. With their razor-sharp beaks, they began their assault.

“W-wait! My hands are full, I can’t punch! Somebody! Somebody help!!!”

Before Lazuli’s desperate cry even reached us, I was already charging forward, thrusting my sword deep into the flank of the nearest Domagros. After a whole day in disguise, I had finally returned to my original form. The blade I wielded showed me the path I had to follow.

“—Hahhh!!!”

I pulled the blade free in an instant, dodged the lunge of another beak, and cleaved its head from its body. Then, spinning on my heel, I crushed the skull of a third that had rushed me from behind with a brutal kick.

If I’m not careful, I’ll snap it in half.

Compared to my old weapon, the newly forged sword was far slimmer. Carrying around a greatsword like before was a bit much for my child-sized form, so this was the compromise I had to take. But still, it felt unreliable.

“Athosss!!! How much longer!? I’m almost at my limit here—whoa!?”

“Sorry! I’m coming to you right now, just hang on a bit longer!”

Keeping a slight gap in my grip so I wouldn’t overstrain it, I fought with the mindset of fending them off rather than killing outright, cutting down the monsters that came at me one after another. At last, when my blade carved through the horde, I spotted Lazuli being overwhelmed, and I grabbed hold of her hand.

“Let’s go! —On three!”

“Wha-whaaa!?”

With all my strength, I swung her hand upward, launching Lazuli high into the air, breaking her free from the flock’s clutches. In her arms, the prize egg was still held tight, completely unscathed.

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