Chapter 323: Demon King’s Castle Dungeon – Start!
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The place was just like a fortress. Its sturdy stone corridors perfectly engendered that certain feel with the torches installed along the walls. I reflexively ended up oohing and aahing in admiration.
“Hmm, would it be more fun to clear this place without using a map? I mean, it looks like it has hidden rooms, secret treasure chests, and a hidden jail, right? The jail will be full of corpses, which will immediately leap at you as ghouls and walking corpses! That’d be so awesome! I’m getting totally hyped here!”
Somehow I ended up mixing up a few things there, but even so, it should be fun!
“I ain’t thrilled ’bout hidden jails, to be honest. But, hidden rooms would rock. Goin’ by the standard, you’d find strong enemies in those rooms, right?”
Sword finally got it! Nothing less of a guy with a high learning ability!
――At that moment, we got a message from Mr. Amato.
“Mmh? From Mr. Amato?”
“Oh, I think it’s because I’ve sent him a message that we’re gonna enter the demon king’s castle.”
I checked its content.
『Mr. Sword, Lady Indra, are you going to defeat the demon king? Won’t that make you two braves then?』
After reading it, Sword placed a hand on his jaw, and looked at me with a slightly troubled expression.
“How should I respond to this?”
“How about you tell him the truth as it is with something like, 『The demon king is kinda of like a dungeon core, so we’re not going to defeat him, okay? We only came here to play since he told us that we were welcome to do so when asked』?”
Sword immediately typed it in. He’s become ridiculously fast at typing.
Are you a female high-school student or what?
I also typed a message.
『Demon king’s castle NOW. We’re going to look for hidden jails』 1
I got an instant reply from Mr. Amato and Damsel Scarlet.
『『Spare me from sending any of pictures of that!!!』』
……
Sure, it might look inoffensive as 2-D pixel art, but real pictures of walking corpses would be very raw and graphic, bordering harassment.
But putting that aside, I’m well aware of that myself!! Just who do they take me for!?
＊
After putting the tablet PC away, he explored the castle.
Being all cheerful, I said, “His Majesty the Demon King sure got some style!”
“…Your right. The dungeon’s design is by far the most elaborate I’ve seen. Building a proper stone wall instead of simple mud walls has to have taken lots of time and effort, right?” Sword said some stuff that completely missed the point.
I shrugged, “The other world used slaves for that. Over here, magic can take care of it, I’d think. It might also be a magic spell making it look as if stones have been piled up, but whatever it is, it’s got great style!”
Rather than looking like a demon king’s castle, this place was filled with the ambiance of a tasteful, old castle. I’ve never been to the royal castle of Hewland Kingdom, but I doubt that its interior design would have the same atmosphere.
＊
After walking for a while, we suddenly found a door.
“Ah! Don’t try to open it all of a sudden, girl!” Sword scolded me when I was rattling the door’s knob. Without minding that, I yelled, “Okay! It was another cliche!”
It was locked!
“Huh? Are you saying it doesn’t open?”
I nodded at Sword’s question, and declared gleefully, “You arrive in a hidden room through a secret pathway or by advancing the standard route, and there you’ll find a key. That’s the common theory!”
Sword was astonished by my words.
“Would it be wrong to destroy it?” Laser Sword hurled at me.
“Whoa! Let’s reserve the physical option as a last resort. Going through the proper steps is usually more fun, you know?”
“Makes sense. It’s my first time in a dungeon like this, but I think I’ll be able to have plenty of fun in here together with you.”
Sword said and caressed my head.
＊
After we walked on ahead for a while, we finally encountered an enemy.
“……For real!?” Sword muttered, appearing speechless while staring at the monster.
But I can see why. It was a humanoid monster looking like a soldier of the kingdom.
“Humph!”
I bisected it in one stroke.
Sword looked at me, flabbergasted.
“What’s wrong? It’s unusual for you to become careless. Are you feeling unwell?” I asked him while trying to look cool by shouldering my wooden sword.
“……Nah, I was just startled. You seriously kill ‘nyone without any hesitation, no matter what sort of enemy it might be, don’t you?”
Sword, what are you talking about now after all this time?
“Isn’t that obvious? I’m only differentiating whether someone is an enemy or not. Moreover, we’re in a dungeon, you know? I’m sure there are no other demonkin in here since the demon king must have notified them of our presence. So, it’s an immediate slash upon meeting anything here!”
“Can you stop slaying everything instantly like that? Some demonkin might be in the middle of clearin’ the dungeon without havin’ heard ‘nythin’ ’bout us.”
Being told so, I saw the point in his argument and nodded.
“It’s possible that some of the slimes in here might be good ones, yep!”
“You instantly slash at people, yet you don’t do the same with slimes?” Sword retorted with a frosty tone.
＊
Since it was our first time here, we killed the enemies while taking our time walking around, but we couldn’t get to the next floor, no matter what we did. The floor was large, multi-storied, and seemed full of gimmicks.
“Himm, it looks like it’ll take a substantial amount of time to completely clear this dungeon, doesn’t it? Clearing the dungeon by circumventing things or clearing it by meticulously checking every nook and cranny; which would you prefer?”
Sword pondered.
“…Well, isn’t it fine if we just walk ’round roughly for our first run? In the first place, in my book a 『complete clearing』 includes the defeat of the last boss on the last floor.”
I learned something new.
“Hmm, I see. Okay, in that case we’re going to give up on looking for walking corpses and turning slimes, who appeal that they aren’t evil, into friends, and hurry onwards, I suppose.”
Sword squinted his eyes, “Neither of those are things you do in a dungeon! Your totally lackin’ any common sense!”
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