What If the Strongest Villain from the Original Story Became the Protagonist's Ally?

I left the village after parting with Iris. I had no particular destination. I decided to randomly wander around the surrounding area.

“The dungeon’s location… the original story didn’t describe it in detail…”

It was described as being in a corner of the forest, but there weren’t specifics like “in this direction!” or “a few hundred meters from the village!”

Because of that, even with my previous life’s memories, I unfortunately had to find it through trial and error.

The only hope I had was…

“The dungeon is relatively close to the village.”

I didn’t know exactly what distance that indicated. It could be a hundred meters, or it could be a kilometer.

When you put it in numbers it sounds big, but when you actually walk a kilometer, it surprisingly goes by quickly.

So while I had set out with great enthusiasm, I ended up leisurely searching for the dungeon.

Iris was already in the village. Even if I couldn’t find the dungeon, with her there, it would be impossible for monsters to attack and destroy the village.

At times like this, having the protagonist around is huge.

“Still… this area is peaceful since knights come regularly to thin out the monsters.”

I’d walked quite a bit, but so far I hadn’t encountered a single monster. I could hear birds chirping nearby. It seemed safe enough that you could let animals roam freely.

—However.

“At times like this, when you mention it out loud, they usually show up, right…?”

I stopped dead in my tracks. A moment later, gray wolves emerged from the thicket.

“Three of them… that’s not many.”

If a dungeon had formed somewhere, it wouldn’t be strange for more monsters to come attacking.

This was…

“Is the dungeon just newly formed? No, if that were the case, it would be strange for medium-sized individuals to casually wander around outside… normally, small monsters should emerge first…”

Thinking about it, there was only one answer.

“Hmm… could it be that Empire soldiers have already found the dungeon?”

It was a simple deduction.

In the original story scenario, Empire soldiers injected illegal drugs into monsters, trying to create original monsters.

The result was only making them go berserk, but… because of that, villages with dense populations got attacked.

There were also Empire schemes involved, and if my thinking was correct… there was a possibility that Empire soldiers were culling the less useful monsters to some degree.

That would explain why the number of monsters was low despite the event having started.

“In the first place, why has the event already started? That’s the biggest question.”

I tried talking to the wolves in front of me, but got no response. Sharp gazes pierced deeply through my body. The feeling was murderous intent at maximum.

“Okay, okay. I wasn’t expecting to have a conversation with animals… Hurry up and come at me. I’ll kill you quickly.”

“Grooooooo!”

Accepting my provocation, all three wolves kicked off the ground at once.

Using my sword on such small fries would be ridiculous. I tore apart the three monsters that closed distance—with my bare hands.

“Hand blade, you know.”

The monsters’ bodies were severed. Only one barely survived with light injuries. As soon as it landed on the ground, it leaped at me again without learning.

I grabbed that wolf’s neck and—

“Good luck in your next life.”

After saying that, I mercilessly snapped its neck. The monster stopped moving forever…

“…Good grief. I hope there’s a dungeon nearby…”

I discarded the dead monsters and continued walking. Thinking that I wanted to get home as quickly as possible.

▼△▼

“Hehe… hehehe!”

In the dim cave, a gray-robed man let out a vulgar laugh in front of a monster chained up.

The restrained monster was a fairly strong individual among the monsters that spawned in the cave—the dungeon. A four-legged crocodile. Red eyes captured the man standing in front.

If it could, it would want to open its huge mouth and bite him to death right now, but the monster couldn’t do that.

Detestable chains, and a device sealing its mouth. On top of that, the man possessed special items that weakened monsters.

Using those, he had slowed the monster’s movements to the extreme.

“Finally… it’s finally complete! I never thought permission to use that drug would be granted, but this is thanks to Yuguram-sama disappearing, isn’t it? Hehehe. Initially it was supposed to just drive them mad, but to think I could even try experiments combining them with other monsters… It’s the best! The very best, His Highness The First Prince!”

The robed man was so moved he nearly ascended to heaven.

He was like a child who had found his favorite toy, and also like a scientist holding chemicals in front of a guinea pig.

In short… the man was insane.

Several bottles that had contained chemicals scattered on the ground made the man’s madness all the more prominent.

“Ah… I’m looking forward to it! I’ve conducted experiments, and even been provided with a place to test those experiments!”

In the mad scientist’s mind, images of suffering humans flashed by. Little by little… something was beginning to break. No one noticed that sound.

Not even Yuguram.