Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 154: Prologue

【170th day】

It's a floor that's entirely covered in ice.

Unlike the other floors, this one is an intricate cavern, which feels almost natural, that the adventurers are forced to navigate in freezing temperatures.

It’s getting warmer outside, but that has nothing to do with the climate inside the dungeon.

The predominant monster inhabiting this floor is called Eira Muru Ortoga. In the ancient language of the beastkin, that means "white destroyer".

It is, simply put, a polar bear.

At three meters tall, it has a huge body and is extremely ferocious. It will chase down and bite to death anyone who enters its territory. Its arms, which are as thick as logs, can send adventurers flying with a single swing. Its fur is so thick that no ordinary weapon can even scratch it.

Moreover, these guys always act in packs.

Even if we wanted to blow them away with area-of-effect magic, the only magic of that type that our magician can use are all fire-based. On this floor of ice, the power of flames is significantly reduced. Even after exhausting her magic power, our magician only managed to take out three of them.

Then what about physical combat?

Despite the poor footing on this floor of ice, our party's fighting ability is nothing to sneeze at.

Even so, we were unable to overcome the power of sheer numbers.

Even when we tried to lead them away using bait, the female polar bears would not budge from the center of their territory, and these females have a good nose and would call for the males the moment we stepped into their territory, summoning droves of them with a single cry.

The straightforward ways of clearing this floor are to either wait for the polar bears’ mating season, during which their territories shrink and gaps that adventurers can weave their way through will appear, or to wipe out the polar bears in one fell swoop with extreme firepower.

Other than that, there are the secret tricks that various adventurers have come up with on their own.

And right this moment, our party is using one of those secret tricks.

Our party is walking in a tight formation, with Ea, who's usually in charge of scouting and detecting enemies, moving together with us.

In all our time exploring this dungeon, we’ve never gathered so closely together that we can feel each other's breath as we move. Crowding together makes it difficult to take evasive action in the passageways after all. However, for now, this is the best option, or rather, the only option we have.

Because we're right now navigating this floor while completely surrounded by polar bears.

「Hey, Souya. I'm getting hungry. Let's take a break」

「Come again?」

I exclaimed in surprise at the suggestion the oldest person in our party had made.

「Oh, Onii-chan, I'm getting hungry too」

「Me too, me too」

The youngest ones in our party echoed his suggestion.

「Dear, me too」

Even my wife was urging me to make food.

「But………………you guys, there are all these around us, you know?」

I pointed my sword at the polar bears that were baring their fangs at us.

I took the opportunity to count them. Around us, there were roughly ten bears. In addition, there were about twenty more bears behind us.

Adventurers are so popular here that there are queues for them.

「We should be fine. Just space the shields out a little bit more and there should be no problem」

My face scrunched up at Otou-san's suggestion.

「I would ideally like us to clear this floor in one go………」

「This cold wears out everyone in the party. Eating while we still can is what adventurers do」

「Even when surrounded by monsters?」

「That’s right」

If he's going so far as to say that, I'll listen to him. Indeed, we've come the entire way here from the 35th floor without a break and I'm sure everyone is tired.

I'm too nervous to have an appetite though.

「Onii-chan, ramen! Quick, ramen!」

「Souya! Ramen, ramen!」

Ea and Shuna made a big fuss.

「Okay, okay. I'll make it right away」

「Yay!」

「Yeah!」

Maybe they were tired, but there was something weird about how excited they were.

「Alright then, everyone, let’s take a break. Space the shields out carefully」

With our cooing shields in hand, we moved further apart in a circle. We tried to make as large of a space in the middle of the ice-covered pathway as we could, all the while looking at each other closely to make sure none of the gaps between us were too big.

To prevent the shields from falling over, we propped them up with our swords and bows.

I went around and checked all of them to make sure that there weren't any problems.

「Coo, coo」

「Alright」

It would be a problem if they died, so I decided to give them some food. I took out a chunk of hard bread from my pocket, crumbled it up, then fed it to them piece by piece.

Tied to our shields were small monsters.

They're called Eira Muru Murfa.

In the ancient language of the beastkin, that means "white servant".

They're about 40 cm tall and have limbs that are short compared to their elongated bodies. They have cute round eyes and adorable faces. They're probably part of the weasel family. No matter how you slice it, these guys are otters, and they treat the monsters' wounds on this floor of ice.

They seek out the rare medicinal herbs found on this floor, chew them up in their mouths, and apply them on wounds. Apparently, they have this habit where they just can't ignore creatures that are injured "for some reason".

Even the ferocious polar bears understand this instinctively and do not harm these otters.

And so, the strategy that the king of adventurers came up with was to tie these otters to shields and line them up all around them. It's a method that looks pretty inhumane at first glance.

I feel like those Persian soldiers who fought with cats tied to their shields.[1]

The otters appear to be doing fine, and while the polar bears are glaring at us, they aren't attacking us.

No problems then.

I took out a space blanket from my backpack and laid it on the icy ground. Everyone put their own blankets and winter clothing on top of it and sat down.

I would have liked to rest as well, but I had to prepare food first.

Taking some of the nearby ice, I put it in a pot, then placed the pot on my portable gas stove, which I lit.

Then I took out some cup noodles. Their packaging was plain, but these were the cup noodles made in the alternate world. They were a slightly improved version of the ones Makina had made previously, featuring shredded dried meat, dried potatoes, and dried leeks as ingredients.

Ea and Shuna were looking at the cup noodles with great interest.

「Why are you guys so excited about these?」

The ramen that they usually eat in the city definitely tastes better.

「Onii-chan, eating ramen in the face of danger like this is what makes it the best」

「Yeah, that's right. Eating ramen in this damned cold is what brings out its true deliciousness」

Is this what they mean when they say, food tastes different in different environments?

I checked to make sure that everyone in the party except for me and Rana had their own cup noodles.

Also………………………………Rana was cooking.

In a different pot, she put some rice, which had been acquired recently from the fishmen, and water from her water bottle, which had frozen into a sorbet-like state, and put the pot over a portable gas stove, just as I did.

She’s a pro "only" at cooking rice. But for the rest……it's a little……how do I say this……rather than tasting bad, it's dangerous.

That said, I don't want to dampen her motivation. So I came up with a few rules.

First, she has to put her staff away when cooking.

Second, she can only use the ingredients that I've prepared for her.

Third, if she tries to make strange changes to the recipe, she'll get punished.

As long as she follows those three rules, amazingly, there's a 50% chance that food will be made.

Food that doesn't try to eat us, that is.

The above seems a tad strange, but I can’t help it as that’s what actually happened.

This time,

The dish that Rana is challenging is "Tomato Rice".

It's made by using a little less water than usual when cooking rice and adding a whole tomato in the center. After adding some salt, pepper, and olive oil, all that's left is to cook the rice as per usual.

Once the rice is cooked, just give it a stir and it's done.

There's no opportunity for any foreign substances to get into it during this process. However, for some reason, there’s a 50/50 chance that something terrifying will be born. Because I've had to dispose of so many of them, I've become very adept at dealing with a certain kind of enemy.

I'm probably the best in the city at dealing with them.

Or maybe even the best in the alternate world.

Why do I only get good at things that are utterly pointless, I wonder?

As the water in my pot had come to a boil, I poured the hot water into my party members' cup noodles through a filter.

「Souya, is the ramen already ready to eat?」

「Give it a few minutes and it'll be ready」

「Hmm」

Otou-san let out an exclamation of wonder.

I put down an hourglass that measured three minutes and kept an eye on Rana's pot. I lost myself admiring her beautiful and adorable profile.

When we're side-by-side like this, I get uneasy because I don't look like a good match for her.

My looks are average. In fact, I'd say I'm in the lower range of average. To be honest, I've never concerned myself with such things before.

Thinking about it just makes me even more uneasy.

「Onii-chan, it's been three minutes!」

As I agonized over it, the three minutes passed quickly.

「Alright, go ahead」

「Itadakimasu!」

My sister opened her cup noodles excitedly. Following her, Shuna, Otou-san, and Lys opened theirs.

Rana and I would have our cup noodles later.

As everyone in the party slurped their noodles, Rana and I watched the boiling pot nervously. So far, there had been no signs of it trying to attack us.

Just to be safe, I put my hand on the handle of my katana and readied myself to draw it from a half-sitting position.

If I hit its vitals, I can kill it with a single slash.

Being able to ascertain if something is wrong in a split second is the key to defeating this kind of enemy.

「Hmm. I've been an adventurer for a long time, but I never thought I'd be able to eat something like this in the middle of a freezing dungeon」

Behind me, Otou-san voiced his amazement as he slurped his cup noodles.

「Right? Medimu, you should thank Onii-chan for this」

My sister beamed with as much pride as she did over her own accomplishments.

「Gladvain-sama gives these cup noodles as a reward for defeating five or more of her kin. I did think for a second, “Could it be that they were made by Souya?” That's what I thought, but I never imagined that it would be true」

Gladvain-sama had taken a huge amount of cup noodles back as souvenirs.

That's how she's using them, huh?

「You should be grateful, Shuna」

「I am, but………why are you so smug about it, Ea?」

「What belongs to Onii-chan is mine. And what belongs to me is Onii-chan's」

「Yeah, yeah」

Shuna slurped his cup noodles with a look that said he found her troublesome.

Having grown up in a household filled with women, Shuna is a good kid who can shrug off the troublesome aspects of women.

「………………」

As for Lys, she ate her cup noodles as wordlessly as always……

「Hot! Fuu~, fuu~」

She blew on it as she ate.

So she's bad with hot food too, huh? There's kinda a lot of them, people who are bad with hot food.........

Against the backdrop of my party members enjoying their meal, I watched over the pot as it settled down from the boil.

I offered a prayer to all the gods I was contracted with.

Please, let it be delicious~.

It had been 20 minutes since Rana and I first huddled together and watched the pot. Behind us, my party members had finished their cup noodles and were now eating their portable food.

「Dear, it’s done」

Rana said with a confident look on her face.

This might be bad. It feels like she had more success when she wasn't confident.

「Get back」

I pushed Rana back and faced the pot alone.

I poked the lid lightly to see how it would react.

Depending on what happens, I may need to slay the pot.

「………………」

There was no reaction from the pot.

「It's going to be okay. I feel confident」

Said Rana with both fists clenched.

「I want to believe in that confidence, but………」

「Pleas……… You should trust me for a change」

I trust her completely, but her skill in cooking is the one thing I really can't trust.

Also, we're being banned from using polite speech when talking to each other. It's something Misuranika-sama and Gladvain-sama have both pointed out, but it seems that the two of us sound a bit distant when we converse.

Apparently, it's in fact my sister and me who sound more like a married couple.

For that reason, polite speech is now banned.

「Now………」

When I resolved myself and lifted the lid, I was greeted by a large cloud of steam rising from the pot.

In that tense moment when the steam cleared up, an attacking shadow!

「………………」

………didn’t appear.

There was just normal cooked rice. With a steaming hot tomato in the center.

No, there’s still a chance it’s lurking somewhere inside.

I mixed the rice using a rice scoop.

「Onii-chan, is it done~?」

「Ea, I'm the one who cooked it, you know?」

「Onii-chan is the one who determines if it can be eaten or not, right?」

「That's true, but………」

I mixed it until the tomato was evenly mixed and had dyed the rice a nice red color. I took out my bowl and filled it………

「Itadakimasu」

………then sat down before trying a bite.

I picked up some of the rice with my chopsticks.

The rice is cooked wonderfully as usual. Each and every grain of rice has retained its shape well. The rice grown by the fishmen is chewy and sticky. It's the kind of rice that Japanese people really love.

When I put the rice into my mouth, I could taste the acidity of the tomato and a hint of saltiness. When I chewed it, the sweetness of the rice and the sourness came together in a perfect balance.

「Does it―――― How is it?」

Rana peeked at me as I munched away.

To be honest, I couldn't stop eating. Aided by my hunger, I scarfed down the entire bowl without a word.

「Delicious」

「Yes!」

Rana clenched her fists emphatically.

If only her food was like this all the time, she would be a wonderful wife. No, she's a wonderful wife even with all of that.

「In that case, Onii-chan, put my share in here」

My sister held out the container of the cup noodles. There was still some broth left at the bottom.

「When you add rice to ramen broth, it tastes exquisite, doesn’t it?」

We're in the middle of an adventure, so a high-calorie diet is a must, but is it really alright to be giving such food to an elf? In a lot of ways, it ruins the fantasy atmosphere, doesn’t it?

「Ah, Ea, that's not fair! So that's why you didn't finish your broth! Tell me earlier!」

「You always finish all of your broth, don't you? Better save some next time. Kukuku」

After the steaming hot tomato rice had been added to her cup noodle container, Ea made a show of eating it in front of Shuna. Shuna grumbled in frustration.

Ea, the fact that this side of you resembles your father so much gives me mixed feelings.

「Souya, me too, me too」

Shuna also held out his cup noodles container. There was no broth left in it, but it was too much trouble to prepare another serving of cup noodles, so I just filled it with the tomato rice.

After filling Shuna's container, I also filled the empty cup noodles container that Lys had handed to me wordlessly.

Otou-san was last.

「Hey, you got any vegetables? The ones that Lanseal served Lemuria for breakfast. The sour ones」

「Pickled vegetables? Yeah, I've got some」

I pulled out a jar of pickled vegetables.

It was filled with a variety of colorful vegetables from the alternate world. That said, the vegetables weren't all that different from those in the modern world.

With a small pair of tongs, I threw them sloppily into Otou-san's cup noodle container.

「More onions」

「Got it」

As per his request, I added more onions.

Perhaps it’s the wisdom of age, but Otou-san seems to instinctively know what his body needs.

「Does anyone else want vegetables?」

「Dear, I want some too. Just give me whatever is suitable」

「Alright」

I put some random pickled vegetables into Rana's bowl.

「Anyone else?」

There was no response from Lys, Shuna, or Ea.

You vegetable-hating kids. One day, I'll make you all say "Yum yum" when eating vegetables.

I poured hot water into two cup noodles for me and Lana, then enjoyed the tomato rice while waiting for the three minutes to pass. As I chewed on the crunchy pickled vegetables, which were just like the ones I ate back in Japan, I devoured the tomato rice.

It's simple.

But delicious.

This kind of meal is basically good enough for me. My tastes are as ordinary as it gets.

「Onii-chan, seconds」

「Ea, get it yourself」

「Ehh~」

Scolded by her elder sister, Ea huffily took a second helping of rice herself. She filled her container until the rice was almost overflowing, then sprinkled some of the curry powder she made herself on top of the rice and started to devour it in a refined manner with the spork.

「Me too. I want seconds too」

Shuna also helped himself to another serving. He didn't fill his container with as much rice as Ea did, but it was still a hearty helping.

「Ea, I want some seasonings too. Give me something not too spicy」

「You're such a child. Here, dried garlic and herbs mixed with salt」

「I was thinking of having some curry powder though」

「………It’s spicy, you know?」

Said Ea with a grin.

What she considers spicy is closer to intense pain. Maria once ate it by mistake and screamed, "Myaaah!"

「I'll settle for the salt」

Shuna was given a small bottle of salt, which he sprinkled over his rice, and when he took a bite――――

「What?! Delicious! What's with this salt?! It's so delicious!」

It seems that he likes the Krazy Salt.

Otou-san and Lys seemed to have had enough and were taking a break after their meal. Rana and I ate our cup noodles to replenish our calories.

The tomato rice that had been made with four cups worth of rice had been eaten up to the last grain.

After the meal, I made some bean tea, which I enjoyed a cup of.

「But」

The polar bears were still all around us, but………

「Humans really can relax anywhere if they put their minds to it, huh?」

………somehow, we were able to get some rest.

Otou-san lit a pipe and blew the smoke towards the polar bears. Not liking the smoke, the polar bears backed away a little.

「We're safe for time being. For someone who was complaining about it earlier, you seem to be taking it rather easy」

「It sure is scary what people can get used to」

Even though there were ferocious beasts just five meters away, we were totally relaxed.

Eating while we still can and resting well whenever we can is what adventurers do.

Have I become more "adventurer-like", I wonder? I'm still uneasy. It'd be good if I could channel this unease in a positive direction though.

In the end, I think it comes down to finding a balance between being tense and being relaxed.

After resting for fifteen minutes, our break was over.

Because of the extreme cold, it was impossible to sleep as we normally did inside the dungeon. In exchange, it did make detecting enemies and fighting much easier.

「Shall we?」

We picked up every last piece of trash, leaving nothing behind.

Keeping the dungeon as clean as possible is considered basic adventuring etiquette. If we neglected such things, the other adventurers would get really mad at us. It would make my already bad reputation even worse.

There's no guarantee that even the smallest piece of trash won't have an effect on the monsters, and Otou-san is particularly fussy when it comes to such things, so I abide by the rules.

I felt it odd since burning up entire floors with magic and slaughtering large numbers of monsters is what adventurers usually do, but he said that's a completely different matter altogether.

But the cup noodle containers are made from parchment and dungeon pig skin. I believe it should be fine even if we left them here.

Well, I'll just have to suck it up and carry them back.

We resumed our exploration.

We trudged on while surrounded by polar bears.

When we set off, the otters on the shields started cooing.

The icy cavern looked the same whichever way I turned, but I had activated the locator function of my glasses-type device, so I could just follow the line of light shown to me through augmented reality to get to our destination.

Just in case, a mini-map was also displayed in the bottom corner of my vision.

We were currently three-quarters of the way across this floor.

The average width of one floor is about 20 kilometers, and though it differs from floor to floor, the shortest route from stairway to stairway is usually between five and ten kilometers long.

The maps that the king had given me are really accurate.

Not only have the distances been marked out, they also include detailed annotations about the terrain. They’re so accurate that it's hard to believe that these maps were made more than 30 years ago.

The dungeon is very easy to clear if one knows the right strategy.

I think that these maps and this secret trick are the best examples of this. That ba―――――Ahem, that king of adventurers. How on earth did he find out about the habits of the polar bears and the otters? Was he more diligent and methodical with his adventures than I had thought? It's hard to say for sure. Especially when I know how he normally acts.

Might there be something under the surface that could get me in trouble if I probe too deeply?

………I should be more careful about it. I had better warn those A.I.s who are always trying to find out people's secrets too.

『Team member Souya』

「What is it?」

As if she had read my thoughts, the mini-pod hanging from my hip called out to me.

『There seems to be a way through that wall there. Yukikaze believes that going through it would cut the route short by a considerable amount』

「The wall?」

Yukikaze marked out a section of the wall. Looking closely, I saw a narrow opening in it. If we could get to the other side, we would be right in front of the stairs to the next floor.

There was nothing about this on the map, but………

「Yukikaze, good job noticing it」

『The load on Yukikaze's resources was low, so Yukikaze was monitoring the air flow』

「I see」

That reminds me, the A.I.s mentioned that they had developed an app to help counter invisible monsters, seeing as I had encountered one previously.

They've also been upgrading themselves to better meet the challenges of the alternate world without my knowledge.

「Shuna, give me a hand here. Everyone else, keep an eye on the surroundings」

「Yeah?」

「Try to open this up a bit」

「Alright」

With Shuna by my side, we started to drive our sheathed swords into the wall of ice to try and widen the opening.

The rest of the party stayed on high alert just in case.

「Hey, Souya, I know this is a weird thing to ask, but………」

「Hmm?」

As we worked, Shuna talked to me.

「Where did you get all this information about the dungeon?」

That's a tough question to answer.

The strategy guides for the dungeon that I had received as a reward are definitely worth everything I had to go through to get them. If things had gone badly, I would have lost my life, but then again, that goes for going through trial and error in the dungeon as well.

However, I can't divulge anything about the incident with Barfuru.

No matter the circumstances, he's currently revered as the hero who vanquished the vampires, so it'd be bad for people to find out that he was actually just an ancient man driven by obsession and delusion. This secret is something that only the baldy and I need to bear.

The shady side of adventuring should be borne only by those who are shady.

「Just like how you do training in secret, I do a lot of things behind your backs. It's not a very enjoyable topic. You'll be so bored that you'll fall asleep」

「If that's what you say, then it's fine」

Hearing that kind of reply makes me think that Shuna has become an adult.

Recently, he has let his hair grow out, making him look more and more feminine, but he has also grown taller and his physique is becoming more well-developed. His strength has become more impressive and has a substance to it.

The reputation that he had gained together with Irvin, the nickname "Dragonshell Slasher", is not for nothing.

I want this guy to walk the right path. That's what will lead to him being called a true hero.

But one day………

When we're both old enough to openly drink in the afternoon, we'll crack jokes about Irvin, about the heroes of this world, and about all the things I've done behind the scenes during our adventures.

It's really a long, long way off, but I'll tell you everything one day.

It can only happen in the distant future, but I don't think it's wrong of me to have a dream like that.

And then………

The wall of ice that we had been chipping away at broke apart, opening up a way through it. The opening was now just wide enough for us to go through one by one.

Immediately ahead were the stairs leading downward.

「Come, let's go」

For now, let's go as far as we can.

We can look back on things all we want later.

[1] According to Polyaeunus, the Macedonian author of Stratagems of War, the Persian king, Cambyses II, persuaded his troops to tie animals that were sacred to the Egyptians, like cats, when they invaded. It’s said that the Egyptians did not fire their arrows at the Persians for fear of hurting those animals, which allowed the invading Persians to defeat them easily.

By the way, when speaking of “tomato rice”, I think that the pic on the left depicts the dish that pops into most people’s minds, but that’s not what the Japanese call “tomato rice”. It is, in fact, the one on the right. Yes, it’s really as simple as Souya described it. (pics courtesy of foodrepublic.com and lettuceclub.net)

We haven’t had a proper prologue in a while, isn’t it? Yeah, this is going to be a pretty hefty volume.

AR is pretty well-known by now, thanks in large part to Pokemon Go, and this chapter was released about half a year after that was released, so I’m guessing that played a part in the author adding it to the story. But well, just keep the fact that Souya’s glasses have AR functionality in the back of your mind……

That ending part……it’s really nice how Souya really looks out for Shuna, isn’t it? And it’s rare for Souya to think of the future, isn’t it? In his small little way, he’s trying to be Shuna’s father figure, and probably without realizing it, don’t you agree? I really love how the prologue ended in such a sentimental mood, because……… Well, it’s only just begun, so stay tuned!