Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita - Chapter 122

Chapter: A Giant Worm?!

The spirits flew ahead, guiding the way.

Just like Snow and Shiratama, Kuromitsu seemed able to see them too, for he followed closely behind their lead.

I glanced down and caught sight of Kuromitsu’s shadow stretching across the desert floor.
But there was no trace of the spirits’ shadows. Of course—ordinary people can’t see them, and apparently, they don’t even cast shadows under the sun.

Kuromitsu glided slowly through the air. No hot winds scorched my face, so he must have cast some sort of magic barrier against the heat. I was pondering that when Shiratama suddenly climbed out of Misuzu’s bag.

That’s unusual… Shiratama almost never comes out on its own.

And then—it cried out.

Even rarer. Shiratama never makes a sound. This is definitely strange.

Before I could dwell on it, Kuromitsu abruptly ascended, his massive body soaring higher and higher. The spirits all looked down toward the desert floor.

Something’s there.

I followed their gaze.

And then I saw it—bursting from Kuromitsu’s shadow on the sand.

A colossal worm. Its gaping mouth bristled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, its entire body slick and dripping with slime.

Misuzu let out a disgusted cry and turned away.
“Gross!”

So, it had been lurking beneath the sand, waiting for prey to pass by.
If we’d been walking instead of flying… it would’ve swallowed us whole in an instant. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

Could Lupinus—the water spirit—extract moisture from that thing’s body the same way she creates water?
I asked her silently, and she nodded, eyes gleaming, before darting straight toward the monster.

The magic activated.

The colossal worm convulsed violently, thrashing and slamming its head—and what I guessed was its tail—into the ground.
Boom! Boom! Each impact sent shockwaves through the desert, kicking up massive clouds of sand until everything vanished in a choking haze.

Kuromitsu hovered calmly above as Lupinus returned, now noticeably larger than before.

Then a cold, mechanical voice echoed in my mind:
《Water Spirit Lupinus has evolved into a Mid-Tier Spirit.》

So she leveled up from defeating that thing…!
That means everyone except Amber is now mid-tier.

The roaring stopped. The desert fell silent again.
As the sandstorm cleared, something glinted below.

A treasure chest.

Misuzu’s eyes lit up the second she spotted it.
“Look, Takuya! A treasure chest!”

Kuromitsu descended, wings beating against the heated air, and we landed near the chest. Anemone went ahead to check for traps, then nodded in assurance.

“No traps,” I confirmed.
“Great! I’ll open it!” Misuzu beamed like an excited child.

She really loves treasure chests, doesn’t she?

The lid creaked open, revealing a scroll—about the size of a framed certificate.

A skill scroll.

Misuzu examined it with a soft hum.
“Looks like it teaches a skill called… ‘Pierce the Veil.’”

“Pierce the Veil? What’s that?” I asked.

“Apparently, it lets you see through lies and disguises,” she explained.
That paired nicely with her appraisal skill.

“You should use it,” I suggested.
“Okay!” She held the scroll aloft as its magic circle shimmered and burst into light, the parchment dissolving into sparkling motes.

Skill acquired.

Beside the chest lay a magic stone—huge, like the ones dropped by Liches.
The difference? Lich stones were pitch-black. This one was an earthy brown.

I slipped it into my pouch, then moved on to the other scattered glimmers.

“Amber, gather them all up,” I ordered.

The earth spirit obeyed, summoning magic to draw every last piece of metal to one spot—swords, shields, fragments of armor, even several explorer ID cards.
We salvaged what we could. The weapons were too bulky to carry, so I asked Amber to bury them in a secure stone container underground.

After finishing the cleanup, I turned to Misuzu.
“Let’s head back and report to the branch chief.”

“Yeah, good idea,” she agreed without hesitation.

With that, we decided to cut our seventh-floor exploration short and return.

---

← Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter →

---