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Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita - Chapter 45

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The Branch Manager is Busy ①

While I was working, Takuya came by.

He said he had gone to the dungeon’s underground second floor today.

“There was nothing there, right?” I asked.

Takuya started talking about the left side wall above.

He said there were plants like cacti with sharp thorns growing there, and that he had squeezed his body sideways between large rocks to advance, where he found a statue of a goddess.

At his feet was a treasure chest, and inside was a large egg.

He took a beast egg out of his backpack and showed it to me.

“There was something like that on that wall?”

Hearing that, I judged that the Exploration Guild needed to investigate.

But how did he climb that wall?

The wall was made of clay—it’s impossible to climb.

When I asked, he said, “I climbed it using the wind magic of a spirit.”

There’s no way I can write that in the report!

I screamed inside my head.

The story didn’t end there.

He said there was a tunnel on the right side wall.

Inside the tunnel, there were many wraiths.

Later, I could check the magic stones Takuya delivered to verify if it was true.

I don’t think Takuya would lie.

He continued talking.

He said there was a trap, and at the back of the tunnel was a double door.

When he opened the door and went inside, a large magic circle appeared, and a lich was summoned.

A lich!?

Hearing that a monster like that had appeared made sweat run down my back.

But Takuya casually said, “When Freesia touched it on the shoulder, it disappeared.”

That’s impossible! But… if it was a spirit of light, maybe it’s possible?

While I was thinking this, Takuya took a magic stone out of his backpack.

It was a huge magic stone I’d never seen before, and it was red.

I’d never seen a red magic stone before.

Furthermore, he said he defeated a mimic, and from the treasure chest, another beast egg came out.

He took it out of the backpack and showed it to me.

This is bad.

If the monsters saturate and overflow from the tunnel, I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Only novice explorers are on that floor.

If such a thing happened, it would be a massive disaster.

Since Takuya defeated them, there should still be time before more monsters spawn and the floor saturates.

We have to investigate as soon as possible.

After Takuya left, I hurriedly prepared a report.

I decided to start the investigation from the safer left side wall above.

Who should I bring as exploration members?

We would need to build scaffolding to climb the wall.

When I ordered the scaffolding work from a construction company, they said they wanted to inspect the site.

I guided them around, they said the ground was weak and needed reinforcement, so I arranged that, checked estimates—really busy.

I also had regular work.

I had to prepare for the exploration while doing that.

Overtime every day.

So I applied to the district headquarters for additional personnel.

But the request was rejected, saying they couldn’t add staff temporarily.

Damn!

Then, I got a call.

It was the deputy director of the district headquarters.

He had been the branch manager where I worked before, at an A-rank dungeon branch in northern Kanto.

He was also my mentor who taught me the job.

The deputy director said, “Since you’re busy, I’ll send one of my subordinates to support you temporarily.”

I was really grateful.

That person was someone who came from the field and understood the struggles on site.

Knowing the deputy director, he’d send an excellent person.

I would ask that person to handle part of my regular duties and spend the free time preparing for the exploration.

Then, I got back to work.

More overtime today.

I’m management, so no overtime pay no matter how much I work.

But the explorers are risking their lives.

I have to do my best too.

Translator’s Notes:

  • Exploration Guild (探索者協会): A central organization managing adventurers or explorers, common in dungeon fantasy settings.

  • Magic stones (魔石): Magical mineral or energy-containing stones harvested from defeated monsters, often valuable or used as crafting material.

  • Lich (リッチ): A powerful undead sorcerer, usually a high-level monster or boss enemy in fantasy.

  • Spirit Wind Magic (風魔法): Here it refers to a wind element magic from a contracted spirit used to climb the otherwise unclimbable clay wall.

  • The branch manager is balancing usual administrative duties with urgent dungeon-related problems.

  • The scaffolding and construction company details add a grounded, realistic feel to dungeon exploration logistics.

  • The deputy director’s support is a typical trope of mentorship and camaraderie in workplace settings.

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