Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita - Chapter 120

Chapter: To the Sky Castle to Leave Kuromitsu in Their Care

The second term had ended, and winter vacation had begun.

Since then, Kuromitsu had grown… and grown.

Sure, he had a size-reduction skill that let him shrink down, but there was a limit to it.

Even when reduced, he was still taller than me.

If he could become as small as Snow—a puppy-sized ball of fluff—we could’ve kept him at home. But at this size? Yeah, no chance.

Which is why we decided to bring him to the Sky Castle.

With some effort, we managed to squeeze him into Kenta-san’s car and headed to the Explorers’ Guild.

After arriving, Misuzu-san and I got out of the car and walked toward the dungeon gate.

Kuromitsu floated silently beside her.

Despite having wings, he didn’t flap them at all. Instead, he hovered effortlessly above the ground, gliding smoothly through the air as if the world itself carried him forward.

“B-Black Dragon!”
“Crap! Run for it!”

The explorers who caught sight of him immediately panicked and started yelling.

Before long, the commotion drew out the branch manager. He stepped out of the office and barked, “That Black Dragon is tamed! It’s safe! Stop panicking!”

The uproar died instantly.

“I’ll make an announcement later, but for now—this dragon will be making its home on the clouds of the first underground floor of the dungeon. So do not do anything unnecessary! You all know the rule: inside the dungeon, you act at your own risk!”

“Takumi! Misuzu! You may go!”

With the branch manager’s permission, we resumed walking toward the gate.

“That’s Sunrise—the A-rank party!”
“I heard they had a Fenrir, but now a Black Dragon too?!”
“Unbelievable!”
“How the hell do you even tame a monster like that…?”

…Their voices carried easily to my ears as we passed.

I hadn’t wanted to draw attention, but it was too late for that now.

We stepped through the dungeon gate and crossed the vast grassland beyond.

Behind us, a steady stream of explorers followed.
When we turned right, they turned right. When we climbed the hill, they climbed after us.

“Takumi, there’s… so many people following us,” Misuzu muttered, glancing back for the fifth time.

I ignored them. “Forget it. No point worrying. Let’s just head to the Sky Castle.”

“Mm… okay.”

“Anemone! If you would.”

At my call, Anemone’s wind magic enveloped us, lifting our bodies gently into the air.

“Ohhh!”

A chorus of awed voices rose from the explorers below.

As we ascended, Kuromitsu floated upward at the same speed, without a single flap of his wings or a sound—just a smooth, silent rise toward the clouds.

We broke through the mist and set foot on the cloud’s surface, making our way across the fluffy white ground. Passing through the castle gates, we entered the great Sky Castle and went to pay our respects to the High Wind Spirit.

“Starting today, Kuromitsu will be in your care,” I said, bowing my head.

Misuzu followed my lead. “Please take good care of him,” she said with a deep bow.

Kuromitsu, watching us, mimicked our gesture and bowed as well.

With the formalities complete, we moved on to our own rooms.

I accompanied Misuzu to her chamber.

“Kuromitsu-chan! Be a good boy, okay?” Misuzu said gently.

Kuromitsu bobbed his head up and down in a nod.
He really was smart. It made everything so much easier.

“Don’t worry, we’ll come visit. I promise,” she said, stroking his head.

That reminded me of something the branch manager had mentioned before:
Monsters in the dungeon live off the dungeon’s magic essence, so they don’t need food.

Snow and Shiratama never eat either.
But they do need to regularly absorb magic essence inside a dungeon.

The spirits I’ve contracted aren’t visible to normal people, so they haven’t been studied much.
But they don’t eat either, so maybe they also absorb dungeon essence instead of food.

If that’s true, then they’ll need to enter a dungeon regularly too…
Well, worst case, there’s always the little mountain dungeon near home. No problem.

“I’ll come see you tomorrow, so behave yourself until then,” Misuzu told Kuromitsu as she gave him one last pat.

After that, we descended back to the surface.

By then, the crowd of explorers had already dispersed.

“Finally, some peace,” I sighed.

“No kidding,” Misuzu said with a laugh.

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