Challengers*2
I pretty much know what’s going on inside the dungeon. Even while kneading a slime in my hands, I can sense how the exploration is progressing. Super convenient.
Right now, I can feel a group of adventurers rejoicing, like, “We found a gemstone!”
Looks like it’s the ones I rescued yesterday. This time, having taken proper precautions, they managed to find treasure right off the bat.
What they got was a large quartz crystal… Well, to me, it’s just an extremely cheap gemstone I can almost make for free from granite. But apparently, when it’s this pure and transparent, it’s considered valuable. Well, as long as they’re happy, that’s what matters.
At the moment, there are four groups inside the cave, totaling eighteen adventurers. Seems they usually form parties of four or five.
The mix is pretty diverse—some look like total rookies, others seem fairly experienced. Ages vary. Gender-wise, it’s around eight men to two women.
… And sure enough, as I watched them, some folks got lost. Figures. They seem to be making maps, but since this maze has elevation differences and isn’t divided clearly into “floors,” honestly, trying to map it in 2D must be tough…
On the other hand, the more experienced-looking ones were doing a slightly different kind of mapping.
… Seems they only note down path branches and rough distances. I see. They must’ve figured from the start it isn’t a flat dungeon, so they’re recording it that way. Interesting.
Anyway, like that, the four adventuring parties are each doing their thing—getting lost, finding gems like quartz, peridot, and garnet and celebrating, stumbling into poison mist and going, “Good thing we bought antidotes!” … Looks like they’re all enjoying the dungeon in their own ways.
But… there’s absolutely no sign of anyone reaching the second floor!
“At this rate, it might be quite a while before word about the fake World Tree gets out…”
“If that’s how it goes, then in the meantime, the people drawn in by the ‘World Tree’ will keep the village prospering, Asuma-sama!”
“Yeah. That actually sounds fine to me.”
… As long as we’re not taken hostage and forced to guide them, this maze is proving really effective.
“For now, let’s hold off on changing the maze layout until at least one group actually reaches the second floor…”
“I think that’s best. Otherwise no one will ever get there.”
Yeah, true. Okay, that’s how we’ll handle it then…
And so, ten days passed.
People were consistently entering the dungeon, and thanks to that, Panis Village was thriving off the adventurer boom.
The inn was packed every night, so we quietly built an extension a bit further away. With the extra capacity, the poor adventurers who’d been camping out in front of the cave won’t have to anymore. Please don’t. Seriously.
Also, antidotes were selling like crazy. They sold out as fast as we could make them, so we increased the number of slimes planting antidote herbs.
… In fact, over the past few days, the number of slimes increased. I noticed the squishy line crawling toward me had nearly doubled, and sure enough, about half of them were newcomers with nothing planted yet.
So, since adventurers were staying at the inn and eating and drinking, demand for food went up. Along with that, antidote herbs, medicinal herbs, poisonous plants… we decided to ramp up production across the board.
Luckily, we’d just gained extra hands, so we had plenty of leeway. Compared to open-field farming, slime farming takes a lot less effort. No weeds mean no weeding, and the crops grow healthily without us needing to prune or pinch them.
Ah, especially for poisonous plants—we needed a lot since they’re used in the dungeon… so we had no choice! I even set up hydroponic tanks in the deepest part of the dungeon to grow them there too.
Bathed in the magical energy pouring down from ceiling cracks, they grow healthy and full of toxins. Not as fast as with slime farming, but still at a pretty good pace. Convenient stuff.
… Anyway, today as usual, I was making weak poisons for dungeon use and brewing antidote potions when—
“Oh! Finally!”
“What is it, Asuma-sama?”
Finally, it happened! I jumped up and grabbed Lisas, who was peeling potatoes at my side.
“A group might actually reach the second floor!”
“What!? Really!?”
“Really!”
Yes! Been waiting for this! Lately, even those obviously well-financed types, all fired up with “We will bring back information about the World Tree!” and loaded with expensive gear, had started showing up, so I figured it was about time!
“Then Asuma-sama, get ready. I’ll go call Mishisia.”
Lisas quickly handed his potato and knife to a nearby villager and hurried off toward Mishisia, while I was still buzzing with excitement.
… Alright then, time for me to get ready too.
So, the three of us—Lisas, Mishisia, and I—headed into the cave.
… Recently, I made a back entrance to this cave. Well, I still had my own shortcut routes inside, but I came up with a way to safely manage a direct path to the lowest level.
Basically, I built myself a house behind the cave entrance, on the edge of the village. Inside, I furnished it with a bed, closet, a small stove, and cupboard—enough to look lived-in. And at the back of the closet, I installed a door leading into the cave.
Adventurers aren’t going to barge into some random little house at the village outskirts and open the closet, right? Plus, using a house as camouflage makes it natural to lock the door. If there were a locked door inside the dungeon, adventurers would think, “This must be the right path!” With a house, it’s safe.
So now the three of us entered from there, disabling a few traps along the way, and made for the lowest level…
“Alright, so if anyone tries to get through here, we’ll have to shoot and stop them, right? Ugh, I’m nervous…”
“… If it comes down to it, I’ll be fighting too. Can’t say I’m not nervous…”
“It’s fine, Mishisia, Lisas. I’m nervous too.”
… And so the three of us waited in a cave hole near the ceiling, overlooking the only path from the second floor to the lowest level—where the fake World Tree stood.
All of us tense, watching over the fake World Tree… Everyone’s nervous!
But, sometimes when everyone’s nervous together, it circles around and you stop feeling so nervous. Kind of like when you’re dozing off in class and then see someone even sleepier or outright asleep, and your drowsiness vanishes. Something like that…
… Well, still jittery though. Twitchy. Twitchy…
We waited there like that for about an hour.
“Ah! They’ve found the right path!”
“Alright! Then unless they turn back, they’ll be here soon!”
A gallant-looking party of men and women, including an older gentleman, had found the route leading to the second floor. Good, good, this way!
Once they’re on the right path, it’s just a few branches, some dead ends, and then the road straight to the fake World Tree. No looping corridors, no tricky pitfalls—you just brute force it and eventually you’ll get here.
So, with little trouble, that party kept advancing…
… And then.
“Wh-What is this…?”
“This… is the World Tree…?”
The gallant party stood speechless, while the fake World Tree towered silently before them. Looks nice, huh?
“No… this is not the World Tree.”
I wouldn’t have minded if they’d mistaken it for the real thing, but one of them caught on quickly. Well, that’s fine too.
“It’s not?”
“Correct. The World Tree is a living tree. This, on the other hand, is an artificial one.”
A man in a long robe explained to a swordsman in light armor. I listened closely too.
“Seems the adventurer riffraff who came before mistook this tree for the World Tree.”
“Ah… I can see why. It’s so beautiful, I nearly thought the same myself…”
Oh good! They reached the “correct” conclusion I wanted them to!
Yes, yes, that’s it—the dungeon contains this beautiful jeweled tree, and those thugs mistook it for the World Tree! Perfect! Take that story back to the guild!
“But still, who made this jeweled tree, and how?”
“I can feel mana from it. It really does seem like the World Tree…”
Meanwhile, the adventurers were murmuring as they examined the jeweled tree.
“Ah! This fruit has liquid inside! Should we check it out?”
“W-Wait! Don’t touch it yet! There’s an inscription here!”
One of them spotted the stone tablet I’d placed at the tree’s roots, just as another reached for the fruit.
The tablet was made of quartz, pure white and easy to spot even in the dim light. Etched into it were words that read—
“‘To those who have reached the depths: you may take only one leaf, one flower, or one fruit per hand. To the greedy, this tree will grant only poison.’ … That’s what it says.”
Exactly. It’s a warning!
… Glad these folks could read. If the first group to arrive had been illiterate, this would’ve been a total disaster! Lucky break!
“Poison… could that explain the poison traps all over this dungeon?”
“Ugh… if so, that’s one scary tree.”
“In any case, we shouldn’t touch it carelessly. But, for the sake of the report, we need to bring something back to the guild.”
And so, the adventurers carefully began harvesting leaves, flowers, and fruit from the jeweled tree. Saying things like, “It doesn’t say we can take branches!” and “Then let’s just take flowers,” they were cautious, very cautious.
… As expected of the first party to clear the maze. They were reliable. Way better than those thugs!
In the end, they took three leaves, three fruits, and two flowers. Since they were a group of four, they followed the rule of “one per hand.”
And they were even polite enough to carry one item in each hand—like a leaf in the right, a flower in the left. I liked their style.
“They’ve left.”
“Yeah… looks like we won’t need to step in.”
Mishisia and Lisas both sighed in relief. I also let out a deep breath once they were completely out of sight.
… Man, that was tense!
After that, we retraced our steps back to my house, rested for a bit, then headed to the “Dungeon Reception.”
… And right then, the adventurers returned.
“Everyone! We’ve uncovered the truth behind the rumor of the ‘World Tree’!”
The gallant swordsman shouted, and the square before the cave entrance erupted in commotion.
Alright. Now let’s see if the rumor of the “World Tree” spreads properly from here.
What do you think about this chapter?
