Defense*4
The five surviving Holy Knights ran and ran—ran until they were sure they were far enough away—then came back to the same hollow, where they saw that their comrades had already been “removed.”
“Ah, so they managed to escape on their own...” they said, satisfied.
No, they were shipped out, actually.
It was a complete misunderstanding, but apparently, they’d convinced themselves that was the case. Saying things like, “If we keep moving forward, we might meet up with them,” they started walking again.
Well… fine by me. Really, it’s fine.
So, the Holy Knights started moving again—sometimes spotting traps, sometimes finding gemstones and rejoicing, taking occasional breaks as they kept wandering through the labyrinth…
And so, they finally reached the area I’d been expecting them to.
“This dungeon really is nothing but mazes. I’m sick of it.”
“Agreed. It’d almost be better if we had to fight monsters instead.”
Guess Holy Knights really do love fighting. A dungeon full of nothing but traps and corridors must feel completely off for them. Sorry, fellas—no monsters here but slimes.
“We must be close to the deepest level by now. Surely that’s where the dungeon’s core monster dwells. If so, perhaps we’ll finally get a battle.”
Sorry, no. I’m not a monster—I’m a human.
“You’re right. Honestly, if that’s the kind of being that rules this dungeon, it’s probably some cowardly, weak creature. Hardly worth getting our hopes up.”
Oh, shut up. I’ll bean you with a fried shrimp.
“Hahaha! Let’s at least enjoy seeing what pitiful little monster it turns out to be.”
You guys sure talk a lot of crap... Okay, now I’m actually getting a little pissed.
Well, not that I planned to let them reach the deepest level—or even the second one. Time to unleash that thing.
The one that’s “visible but impossible to dodge.”
… And while I’m at it, I’ll have them help with my test run.
So—
“Oh, this area’s got a good view.”
The five Holy Knights arrived together in a large room.
Just beyond this room was the Jewel Tree Chamber. This new area was the room I’d built right before it.
“Hm? There’s light coming from over there…”
Yeah, this place was bright—because I thought, “Hey, the Jewel Tree would look great if it were lit up,” and ended up building a small hydro generator and filament bulbs, which I installed on the ceiling.
That did mean I had to make a small waterfall, but the thin streams of water cascading around the Jewel Tree actually looked really beautiful. I hid the waterwheel neatly behind a wall so it wouldn’t be seen, and it all turned out so well that I’m pretty proud of it.
… Anyway, thanks to that setup, this chamber leading into the Jewel Tree room was softly illuminated too. Add in the lamps the Holy Knights were carrying, and yeah—nicely lit overall.
But see, with all that light... sometimes, because you can see, there are things you can’t avoid.
First thing to do: drop an iron grate at the entrance as soon as the Holy Knights enter. There—no escape.
… Kinda feels like a dungeon boss battle. Honestly? I’m starting to get excited.
Though, sadly, I’m not the boss. Bit of a letdown, but what can you expect from an elementary school body? Gotta accept my limits.
Instead, I’ll fill the room with poison.
… Harder to make than nitrogen or carbon dioxide—and since it’s visible, not super convenient. But I wanted to test how effective it could be, depending on how it’s used.
“Mishisia-san! Lisas-san! Sorry, but I’m counting on you!”
“Leave it to me!”
“Got it. I’m on it.”
I called out to Mishisia and Lisas—then immediately released the gas into the room where the Holy Knights were.
The poison this time… was, well, tear gas.
“What’s this? Green smoke... Hey! It’s poison!”
“Damn it, what’s going on!? The exit’s sealed and now there’s poison!?”
The Holy Knights were panicking. Ah—maybe there’s some kind of rule among adventurers that “Dungeon mechanisms don’t activate while intruders are inside.”
Even if that’s common knowledge—it doesn’t matter. The faint green mist of tear gas was already drifting toward them.
“Guh…! Wh-what is this!?”
“Cover your mouth! Wait, no—damn it, my eyes!”
In this world, “dealing with poison gas” basically means “cover your mouth and nose.” But that’s not enough.
Humans have exposed membranes—like, say, their eyeballs. Poison can enter through there just fine.
And the tear gas I made this time probably even works a bit through skin contact. Well, maybe not a big deal for armored guys like them.
“My eyes! My eyes!!!”
“Damn you, cowardly dungeon!”
The sight of five Holy Knights all clutching their faces and yelling “My eyes!” was quite something. Still, they weren’t completely stupid. Once they realized the poison was attacking their eyes and the entrance was blocked, they quickly came up with a plan.
“Move forward! We’ll break through!”
If the entrance’s no good, then head for the exit. Naturally, they started moving toward the Jewel Tree chamber.
Eyes watering, tears streaming, snot and sneezes everywhere—couldn’t see straight, but still managed to stumble forward.
… But that only works if no one’s in their way.
With a thunk, an arrow slammed into the floor at their feet. A knight froze mid-step—and the next arrow found its mark, slipping cleanly through the joints in his armor.
“Gwaaahhh!!”
“What happened!? What’s going on!?”
The knight screamed, but the others couldn’t even tell what was happening—they could barely see at all.
… But they’d find out soon enough.
“Hey, answer m—Guaaah!!”
The next one was struck hard with a wooden sword and knocked clean out.
Then another fell to an arrow. Two more were clubbed with wooden swords and fainted soon after.
… And the ones who were only shot got finished off with another solid whack to the head for good measure.
The Holy Knights never saw their assailants—but if they had, they’d probably have gone, “What the hell is thatsssssssssssssss!?”
After all, their opponents—Mishisia and Lisas—were both wearing gas masks.
To anyone in this fantasy world, that must’ve looked absolutely terrifying.
… Anyway.
“Phew, great work, you two! That was amazing!”
“Asuma-sama too! You did great!”
I welcomed Mishisia and Lisas back into the hidden room behind the Jewel Tree chamber.
The tear gas on their clothes had already been broken down and absorbed when I cleaned the air earlier—otherwise, I’d be the one going “My eyes!!” right now.
“That poison really was something. I felt nothing thanks to this mask, but... to think those so-called elite Holy Knights could be neutralized that easily.”
“Huh, really…? Those guys were supposed to be strong, huh…”
Hearing Lisas’s thoughtful remark gave me mixed feelings. I mean, those guys came off kinda dumb. Sure, I know—fighting with poison gas is way more effective than direct combat—but still.
“If I’d fought them without the gas, I doubt I could’ve lasted even a few seconds.”
“Same here. I don’t think I could’ve landed a shot through the armor joints either. More likely, they would’ve sensed me right away and targeted me first.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Good to know.”
The reason I’d asked Mishisia and Lisas to fight in the tear gas room this time was simple—there’s a good chance I’ll need them to fight again in the future.
It’s risky to go into things blind, especially when people are directly involved. Better to test and prepare ahead of time.
So, this was basically a trial run—and it went even better than I’d hoped.
“For archers, staying unseen is everything. If you’re firing while running around, your aim’s gonna drop no matter what.”
“And if the enemy can’t use magic, it’s all the better. In that gas, they wouldn’t be able to cast even if they wanted to… we held every advantage.”
Seems like they both learned something from the experience too—which is great.
There’ll probably be more times when I’ll have to defend the dungeon, so it’s best to gather data while we can do it safely.
“Still, yeah… they really can use magic, huh. They even dodged the pit traps by jumping in full armor. And I get the feeling they could probably bust through iron bars with their bare hands…”
“Yeah, with enough prep, I could slice through iron bars myself.”
“Wow, okay.”
… Yeah, I’d better get used to how ridiculous this fantasy world is. Trial and error, bit by bit.
Seriously though—fantasy is terrifying.
“... Hm.”
“Huh? What’s wrong, Asuma-sama? Sleepy?”
“Yeah… sleepy…”
Maybe I used too much dungeon power, but man, I was exhausted. So sleepy I could just drop right there.
But I couldn’t crash yet—not until I finished shipping off the Holy Knights.
So, fighting off drowsiness, I stuffed the knights into cages (well, Lisas did most of the work—thanks, buddy), decomposed their gear, and sent them off for transport.
“Well done. You can rest now, Asuma-sama. We’ll handle the rest.”
“Mm… wake me up later, okay…”
And with that, I curled up and went to sleep right there. Curling up just feels nice, you know? Calms the body. Funny human quirk—but it works. Out like a light.
… When I half-woke later, I was being carried—cradled in Lisas’s arms.
“Mm…?”
“It’s all right. Keep sleeping. I’ll carry you to the house.”
“Good night, Asuma-sama!”
“Mmh… night…”
Mishisia peeked in and smiled at me. Well, since they were being so nice, I decided to just relax and let them carry me.
Being carried while sleeping felt weirdly nice. But hey—I’ve got a grade-schooler body now, so... guess it makes sense. Night-night…
――And then.
When I next woke up, I was in bed. Mishisia and Lisas were sitting nearby. Looked like they’d brought me to the little house we use to disguise the dungeon’s back entrance.
“Morning… What time is it?”
“Good morning, Asuma-sama! Look!”
Mishisia whipped open the curtains, and bright morning light streamed in. From the look of it, dawn had just broken. A little while longer, and the slimes would start squishing over for water and fertilizer.
“Gotta get up…”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. I still gotta deal with the Holy Knights… and feed the slimes, too…”
The Holy Knights had been shipped out—but that was as far as it went. The adventurers had probably helped move them into the village jail, but I still wanted to check how things turned out.
“Oh, in that case, maybe you should check the slimes first.”
“Huh?”
Before I could do that, Mishisia said something... odd.
So, I followed her, as she motioned for me to come see.
She led me to the spring I’d made—the one that supplies mana-rich water for the slimes. I’d redirected them there because they kept trying to clog the irrigation pipes.
“See?”
“... Whoa.”
There it was—
A slime.
A slime that had grown ridiculously huge.
Like, three meters tall kind of huge.
Way too big! What the heck is this!? What even is this!?
What do you think about this chapter?
