The Scent of a Dungeon

"...Mmu?"

We were strolling leisurely along the road toward the Royal Capital when Shiroru suddenly came to a halt. He peered around, his small nose twitching as he sniffed the air.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I smell something... unpleasant," he projected.

The scent seemed to be wafting in from our left. It was apparently quite foul to Shiroru, as his face was twisted into a grimace.

"Hmm, I can't tell. Tort, how about you?" Halfa asked.

She had been sniffing the air just like Shiroru, but she eventually gave up and shook her head.

"Nothing out of the ordinary for me, either," I replied.

"You two can't tell? This is the scent of a dungeon! And a very pungent one at that!"

Shiroru puffed out his chest with a smug look, even going so far as to stand on his hind legs. However, his head was a bit too heavy for his balance, and he promptly toppled over.

It was a cute sight, but Halfa and I were left tilting our heads in confusion.

"The scent... of a dungeon?"

"What does that even smell like?" Halfa pressed.

"Mmu, it’s hard to put into words. Whenever I'm in a dungeon, I can just 'tell' somehow. Usually, the smell isn't this clear, though."

Hmm, I see.

He called it a "scent," but it was likely more like a presence. He was sensing a powerful dungeon aura coming from that direction.

"I’ve never heard of a dungeon being in this area," I noted.

"Is that so? Well, I’m certain there’s one over there."

Shiroru seemed remarkably confident in his senses. He didn't seem to have a shadow of a doubt.

"Mnuuu, now I'm curious!"

"Is that because the 'scent is thick'?"

"Exactly! A scent that strong means there might be all sorts of delicious things we don't usually find!"

Ah, right. Of course that was his motivation. It was very like him.

"What should we do?" I looked at Halfa.

"Let's check it out. I'm curious too."

Since Halfa had no objections, we veered off the highway and began walking toward the source.

Before long, we entered a forest. We encountered a few monsters along the way, like Horn Rabbits and Forest Spiders, but they were weak enough that they didn't give us any trouble. We bagged the Horn Rabbits for their meat, but we left the Forest Spiders where they fell—no one eats those, and their materials weren't worth the effort of harvesting.

"That’s the spot," Shiroru said, gesturing forward.

He pointed toward a massive crag. Upon closer inspection, we found a hole in one side that looked like an entrance.

"This definitely has that dungeon feel to it."

"It looks just like the one back in Cygnil!" Halfa agreed.

The atmosphere around the entrance was remarkably similar. Beyond the opening lay a flight of stairs; it felt as though a sprawling underground labyrinth waited for us below.

The surroundings, however, were entirely different. There wasn't a soul in sight besides us. Naturally, there was no Guild Branch Office either. It was likely just an obscure, low-traffic dungeon.

"What do you think? Should we go in?"

"We’ve come this far, let's do it!" Halfa chirped.

"I'm going to find something delicious!" Shiroru added.

We decided to enter the dungeon with a fairly lighthearted attitude, though I was secretly a bit nervous. We had zero information on this place. Even if the shallow floors were generally safe, it didn't pay to be careless.

Stone floors, stone walls. The maze-like layout was no different from the Cygnil Dungeon I had grown familiar with. However, it was narrow. The tunnels were cramped—barely wide enough for three people to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Since it was pitch black, a light source was mandatory; I led the way holding a lantern.

I only truly began to feel at ease after we encountered our first monsters.

"Gehehe!"

Three Goblins jumped out at us. They were enemies we had fought countless times back in Cygnil.

"If it's just Goblins, we should be fine."

"You can't eat those things..." Shiroru grumbled.

"Leave this to me!"

Halfa stepped forward and readied her bow.

I stayed back. The passage was so narrow that moving around would only get in her way, so I decided to let her handle it.

One, two, three.

With every release of her bowstring, a Goblin slumped to the floor. Her marksmanship was as sharp as ever.

Truth be told, the dim-witted creatures were so busy bumping into each other in the narrow corridor that they couldn't even mount a proper charge. Even if it hadn't been Halfa, they wouldn't have been much of a struggle.

The Goblins vanished without leaving corpses, leaving only their Magic Stones behind. The Goblins in the Cygnil Dungeon usually dropped clubs, but these didn't even leave those. Not that I wanted them, anyway.

Regardless, the fact that the bodies dissolved confirmed that this was indeed a dungeon.

"Nuu... food..."

"Come on, those were just the first enemies," I said, trying to cheer Shiroru up.

"There might be some tasty-looking monsters further in!" Halfa added.

We continued through the labyrinth, encouraging the dejected Shiroru as we went. Since we didn't have a map, getting lost would be a disaster. I made sure to map our progress as we moved.

"Ah, a dead end."

"You're right... wait, hold on. Look at that!"

A maze-like path naturally had its share of dead ends. However, I spotted something in the shadows. I stopped Halfa just as she was about to turn back and held the lantern out to illuminate the floor further ahead.

"Oh! A treasure chest!"

"Wait, really!?"

"No doubt about it."

I hadn't been seeing things. Tucked away in the corner of the cul-de-sac was a small box. It was no wonder Halfa had overlooked it—the chest was significantly smaller than the ones we were used to seeing.

"I didn't know they came in that size."

"I only know the Cygnil Dungeon, so I couldn't say for sure," I replied.

"The inside is a different space anyway, so the outside size shouldn't matter much, right?" Shiroru noted.

He had a point. Treasure chests utilized a sort of pocket dimension, so items far larger than the box itself could be tucked inside.

"There don't seem to be... any traps."

"I wonder what's in it?"

"Something edible, hopefully!"

"Alright, I'm opening it. You two stay back."

I investigated the box thoroughly but couldn't find any traps. Just to be safe, I had Halfa and Shiroru move back before I popped the lid.

Sitting inside was another box, just a size smaller than the chest itself. It was a sight I knew all too well—a Pandora Gift!