Sōzoku Shita Sofu no Ie no Urayama ni Danjon ga Dekimashita - Chapter 128

Chapter : Continuing the Exploration of Dungeon’s 7th Floor

We continued our exploration of the dungeon’s seventh basement floor.
After greeting the upper fire spirit, we left the castle.

I stopped in the courtyard and asked the spirits, “Is there still something left?”
The spirits nodded vigorously.

“In that case, we’ll continue our exploration!” I announced, and the branch manager asked, “There’s still more?”

“Yes! The spirits say there’s still something here,” I replied.

“I see,” the branch manager said with a nod.

Misuzu-san and the others once again climbed onto Kuromitsu’s back.

Anemone’s wind magic activated, and my body began to slowly rise into the air.

Then Amber, the earth spirit, used earth magic to open a tunnel in the middle of the sandstorm.

We passed through the tunnel.

Led by the spirits, we flew onward through the skies.

Our shadows stretched across the sand below.

After traveling for some time, we arrived at a canyon.

Not a single tree grew there.

A river of sand flowed through it.

Following the sandy river downstream, we came to a spot where the sand was being sucked into the ground.

A loud Gooo! roared in our ears.

It looked just like a waterfall—made of sand.

Amber activated earth magic.

A gap opened in the spot where the sand was being swallowed by the ground.

We carefully descended through the opening, heading deep underground.

Inside was a massive vertical shaft.

Avoiding the cascading sand waterfall, we descended along the edge of the cavern wall.

I peered downward.

Nothing but darkness. I couldn’t see a thing.

What’s at the bottom of this pit, I wondered?

As that thought crossed my mind, my body came to a stop mid-air.

I looked ahead and spotted a horizontal tunnel.

My body drifted into the tunnel and gently touched down on the ground.

I turned back.

The tunnel was too narrow for Kuromitsu to fit through.

He hovered just outside, sticking only his head in.

Misuzu-san and the others clambered over Kuromitsu’s head to get inside.

Once everyone was in, I took the lead and began walking.

“This tunnel is pretty long…” the branch manager muttered.

After a while, the ground turned into stone paving.

The path was raised about fifty centimeters on either side, and on those raised platforms stood rows of statues.

The statues’ faces resembled crocodiles.

Each wore armor, holding a spear in its right hand and a shield in its left.

“Those are lizardman statues,” the branch manager said.

So these crocodile-faced monsters were called lizardmen, apparently.

I looked ahead and saw a circular, raised area at the end of the path.

“Branch Manager, doesn’t that look like a boss room?” I asked.

“Yeah. No mistake about it—that’s a boss room,” he said.

Then he warned, “Step onto that stone path, and I bet those statues will come to life and attack.”

I had the same feeling.

“In that case, I’ll take them down. Could you wait here?” I asked.

“Alright. Just be careful,” he replied.

I glanced at the spirits—they looked more than ready for battle.

Just as I was about to take a step forward, Misuzu-san grabbed my left hand.

“We’re always together,” she said with a smile.

Then she turned to the branch manager and said, “If something happens, please escape on Kuromitsu’s back.”

“What are you saying! Come back alive, got it!”

Was this the first time I’d ever seen Misuzu-san get scolded by the branch manager?

“Yes, understood!” she answered.

“Then, let’s go!”

We stepped onto the stone path.

Gogoo! The stone covering the statues cracked and crumbled away.

So that was a stone coating?

In the next instant, the lizardmen came to life.

The spirits immediately launched their attacks.

But they weren’t going down easily.

“Their armor and helmets are made of mithril!” Misuzu-san called out.

Now that the stone had fallen away, their shields and spears glittered brilliantly.

Mithril, huh…

I recalled the branch manager explaining during the explorer card briefing that mithril was highly resistant to both physical and magical attacks.

The spirits changed tactics, aiming for the gaps in the armor.

Even so, the tough scales beneath made it hard to bring them down.

“Do they have magic stones?” I asked Misuzu-san.

Since they were monsters, there had to be.

“Same place as a human heart—the left chest!” she replied.

Just then, one of the lizardmen slipped through the spirits’ attacks and charged straight at us with incredible speed.

Snow instantly grew to giant size.

BOOM!

In the next moment, the monster crashed into an invisible wall and collapsed to the ground.

I glanced at Misuzu-san. From the bag she carried, Shiratama had popped her head out.

So Shiratama had deployed a barrier.

Perfect timing!

As expected of Shiratama!

I pulled my wallet from my pocket.

Taking out a coin, I placed it in my palm.

Then I activated my skill.

“Change!”

A magic stone appeared in my palm.

The monster dissolved into glowing motes of light.

Clink.

A coin dropped onto the floor where the monster had been.

“Change! Change!” I repeated the spell until every monster was defeated.

Amber used earth magic to gather all the coins into one spot.

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