Chapter 145

Luemei Ruins Dungeon (3)
"Be careful out there, and if you think it's too much, come back.

An adventurer's life is their greatest asset. There's nothing shameful about turning back."

The landlady, who handed us today's lunch and several days' worth of preserved rations, spoke to me seriously while looking straight into my eyes.
She didn't have to worry that much. Dad was with me, so our safety was assured.
Still, I appreciated her concern, so I simply nodded seriously and thanked her.

"Miss Vio, Copper Rank adventurer, and Mr. Alke, Upper Silver Rank adventurer. The two of you will be staying overnight in the dungeon. Your planned return is... two Saturdays from now?

Huh? Isn't that rather quick? Umm, our dungeon only has ten floors, but the latter half is a forest. I would think clearing each floor would take a fair amount of time, and since the monsters respawn fairly quickly, even taking the shortest route should still take a while..."

"With an Upper Silver there, a dungeon like that shouldn't pose much trouble no matter what happens.

Just so you know, if you haven't returned by three days after your scheduled return date, after the Day of the Church, we'll begin a search. Please note that the search fee will be thirty Nile."

"Aye, that'll do just fine. Then we're off."

"We're off!"

It was the same with the other dungeons, but if you're planning to stay overnight, you have to notify the Guild.
Otherwise, if you don't come back, they'll send out a search party.
It's just like filing a mountain climbing plan.
You tell them roughly how long you'll be gone, and if you don't return after that plus a few extra days, they'll start searching.

When monsters are defeated in a dungeon, they disappear in a shower of sparkles.
If drop items are left behind, the Slimes digest them.
The same goes for adventurers.
They don't vanish in sparkles, though, they get digested by Slimes.
If an adventurer's body and equipment are left behind, the Slimes eat them.
Strangely enough, however, their adventurer tag is left behind.
Maybe it's made from a material Slimes don't like to eat, but when an adventurer dies in a dungeon, only the tag remains, so whoever finds it takes it to the Guild and reports it.

Even in beginner dungeons, adventurers who underestimate them and enter lightly equipped can end up lost.
We don't report to the Guild when we're only making day trips, but we do tell the inn and the gatekeepers, so if we don't come back that same day, they'll probably notify the Guild.
Still, this dungeon is a fair distance from the village, so if a traveling adventurer enters without stopping by the village, there's a good chance nobody will notice if they go missing.
Apparently it's not uncommon for villagers making regular trips into the dungeon to find unidentified adventurer tags.

The one who looked worried when we told them we'd be staying overnight in the dungeon was a human receptionist.
He hadn't been there on our first day, so it was our first time meeting him.
The other receptionist who came over was the one who'd given me snacks on our first visit.
Since the first four floors only had worthless loot, we hadn't had any reason to stop by the Guild, but they probably knew from the village entry records that we'd been active in the dungeon for the past two days.

For some reason, even the staff member working in the back had come out to the counter, so when I said we were heading out, everyone waved at us, and I waved back.

"You're popular wherever ya go, Vio."

"Probably because I'm little? Adventurers tend to be big and rough-looking, don't they? I think that's why. Once I grow up, I'll just be normal, so I'm gonna enjoy everyone's kindness while I still can."

Thinking little kids are cute is probably universal.
Even Macole the butcher's grandson, he was a tiger, but as a three-year-old tiger cub he was unbelievably adorable.
And there was that three-year-old koala kid who fell asleep while clinging to his mom's leg. He looked just like a stuffed animal.
Kids who still turned into beasts wouldn't be leaving the village for quite a while yet, and by the time they turned seven, they'd become much more mature.
Meanwhile, I was still only five, and since I was human, I was small.
Most adventurers who came to the frontier, unless they were locals, were probably experienced veterans.
If that's the case, I must look like an angel to them.
Once I become an adult, I'll just be another person, so I might as well enjoy being doted on while I can.
Dad was laughing his head off at my theory, but I don't think I'm entirely wrong.

Now then, after our day off, we were back at the dungeon entrance.
We're skipping the first floor, but we already know everything from the second floor onward has fully respawned.
Let's do our best!
As always, the first-floor corridors still retained the atmosphere of ancient ruins and were wonderful to look at.
But today we had to make it all the way to the fifth floor.
I hurried along a little faster toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

We defeated the Small Rats, Goblins, and Kobolds from the second through the fourth floors.
Since there was no need to pick up any drop items, we never had to stop.
Halfway up the stairs connecting the third and fourth floors, we ate some trail rations.
It was a nutritional bar made from grains and nuts, kind of like a CalorieMate.
The downside was that it dried out your mouth, but it was actually pretty tasty.
They sold it at adventurer supply shops and Guild stores, but apparently the flavor differed depending on the shop, and the bad ones were absolutely awful.

"Dad, do you think we could make these trail rations ourselves?"

"Ah... yeah, I reckon we could. The ones from Samania Village were so tasty that buyin' 'em was just easier, so I'd never really thought about it before."

Oh!
Dad could probably make delicious ones.
He promised we'd make some together once we got home, so now I had one more thing to look forward to.

Once we finished eating our trail rations, we resumed clearing the dungeon.
Being a beginner dungeon, the monsters didn't coordinate their attacks or anything, so defeating them was easy.
Apparently in advanced dungeons, dangerous monsters started appearing even on the shallow floors, and sometimes there were traps built into the floors themselves.
You really couldn't let your guard down at all, which was fitting for a place called an advanced dungeon.

The hardest things about being inside a dungeon were the toilet and telling the time.
As for the toilet, all you could do was find a corner without monsters, use a cloak as a screen, and take care of business as quickly as possible.
It's easy for men, but women have to take off clothes, so it's a hassle.
Maybe that's why female adventurers in light novels and fantasy anime often wear skirts.
With pants, you'd have to bare your backside.
Dad said some adventurers just went as they were and cast Clean afterward, but I definitely didn't have the confidence to become that fearless.

The other problem was that you couldn't tell the time inside a dungeon.
In dungeons with something like a sun, apparently the sun could set and night would come, but nobody knew whether that matched the outside world.
In cave-type dungeons like this one, the brightness stayed constant, so you couldn't judge the time at all.

Dad figured it was around two in the afternoon, which meant we'd been inside the dungeon for about six hours.
It was way too early for dinner, but we'd reached the fifth floor, so it was time to prepare camp.
Up through the fourth floor, the passages had all been paved with stone, but the fifth floor was surrounded by bare rock.

"Earth Pole."

Using earth magic, I created a stone frame like a clothesline pole and tied the tent to it.

The tent was stored in Dad's bag, but I was the one who pitched it and handled all the camp preparations by myself.

"Yer still little, Vio. First take out the tent, then make the poles low enough to tie the ropes on, and after that, raise the poles. That'd be easier."

When I made the poles first like Dad usually did, they ended up too tall for me to tie the ropes.
After I'd even made myself a step to stand on, Dad finally offered some advice.
Part of me wished he'd told me sooner, but if he gave me the right answer from the start, I wouldn't learn anything.
I erased the poles I'd made and prepared the tent by tying on the ropes first.

"Earth Pole."

I tied the tent ropes to a pole about as tall as my waist.
Much easier.
Next, I placed my hand on the pole and poured mana into it while imagining the pole growing taller.
The clothesline-like pole stretched higher and higher, and I stopped supplying mana once the tent was pulled nice and taut.

"How's that?"

"Yep, that's first-rate."

He vigorously ruffled my hair.
Yep, I'd done a great job.