57. The Ruins Dungeon

Checking the former village headman’s house, I found a massive hole gaping in the floor where the wood had collapsed. Stone ledges overlapped to form a crude set of stairs, suggesting it wouldn't be difficult to climb in and out.

This explained how so many goblins could emerge from such a small building. They’d been living inside this hole. Furthermore, if this truly was a dungeon, it explained their superior equipment. They were likely items the goblins had looted from within.

That said, the goblins themselves weren't dungeon monsters. While dungeon monsters do occasionally wander outside, they supposedly don't leave corpses behind, just as they would simply vanish within the dungeon itself.

For the time being, the investigation of the hole was put on hold. First, we had to deal with the goblin corpses. Given the sheer number, it was quite the ordeal. We salvaged their equipment and the magic stones from the high-rank individuals, then piled the rest together for incineration. Eina took care of the disposal with her fire magic.

The cleanup took quite a while, so we stayed the night in the abandoned village. Even though it was the site of a massacre, it was still better than sleeping in the middle of the forest. We made ourselves at home in one of the intact houses for dinner. The menu consisted of the usual meat skewers and soup. We’d been camping so often lately that I hadn't had time to cook more; my stock was finally starting to run low.

"A hole in the headman’s house, huh? That explains it."

When I reported the discovery of the dungeon, Lowell gave a curt nod. He seemed satisfied that the strange nature of the goblins had been accounted for.

"How'd you know it was a dungeon, though? You barely had a second to look at it."

"Oh, Shiroru told me."

"Heh. I didn't know familiars could communicate that clearly," Zephyr remarked, sounding impressed.

I hadn't told Zephyr or Eina about our Thought Transmission yet. Ordinary tamed monsters didn't possess that ability, and it would have been a hassle to explain that she was actually a Holy Beast.

But as we spend more time together, should I tell them?

While I weighed the options, I gave a noncommittal nod. For her part, Shiroru was narrowing her eyes contentedly as Eina scratched behind her ears.

"That means we’re exploring a dungeon tomorrow!"

Halfa was rearing to go. Our experience with the previous "dud dungeon" had been rather anticlimactic, so she seemed determined to have a proper adventure this time.

Still, this was likely an unexplored dungeon. Shouldn't we report it to the Adventurer's Guild first?

Incidentally, that dud dungeon had also been an unexplored one. I’d made sure to report it to that one receptionist when we reached the Royal Capital.

"Um, what do you think?"

When I looked at Zephyr tentatively, he gave a broad, toothy grin and nodded.

"Even if we have to report it, we might as well do a quick sweep first to save ourselves a second trip! Even if it’s unexplored, there’s little danger in the shallow floors. It'll be fine!"

I-Is that how it works?

I glanced at Eina, but she was focused entirely on petting Shiroru, acting as if she hadn't heard a word. Lowell had already vanished into the forest with a meat skewer in hand while we were talking.

I wasn't entirely sure, but if Zephyr—who was far more experienced than us—said it was okay, then I supposed it was fine.

■

When I asked Lowell and Eina for their opinions again later, they both replied that they lacked experience with dungeon exploration and couldn't say for sure. However, they added that if most adventurers stumbled upon an unexplored dungeon, they would probably try to poke around for a bit regardless.

I could understand the desire to be the first to see it. Thus, following Zephyr’s suggestion, we decided to explore the shallow floors for the time being.

We cautiously descended into the massive hole in the former village headman’s house. I took the lead. I didn't know if I could handle the traps of an unexplored dungeon, but I was the only one among us with an explorer-type divine protection.

The area beneath the hole resembled an ancient ruin. It was built of stone walls and pavement, but moss grew in the cracks, giving the impression that a vast amount of time had passed since its construction.

"The stone walls are crumbling, even though it's a dungeon?"

"You're right."

I looked where Halfa was pointing. A section of the weathered stone wall had indeed peeled away and fallen. Normally, if a dungeon wall is damaged, it eventually repairs itself. This made our surroundings look a bit strange. One possibility was that it had broken just moments ago—but that didn't seem likely.

"I think the 'decayed' look is its natural state. If we broke it further, it would probably just revert to this crumbling version."

"Huh. I didn't know dungeons like this existed."

Perhaps this wasn't a case where a pre-existing ruin had been turned into a dungeon.

The exact cause of dungeonization remains a mystery. One day, a place just suddenly becomes a dungeon.

Generally, there are two patterns.

The first is a pattern where the dungeon remodels its surroundings entirely. The Cygnil Dungeon was like this; an underground labyrinth appeared in a place where there had originally been nothing.

The second pattern is when a dungeon absorbs an existing location. For instance, they say places like a dragon’s lair can become dungeons. It was possible that this dungeon was an ancient, decaying ruin that had been absorbed and converted.

Putting my theories aside, we continued our trek. Fortunately, we hadn't encountered any traps yet. Given that the goblins had been moving in and out, there probably weren't many traps on the shallow floors.

『Master, a monster!』

A warning from Shiroru. The creature that appeared was... a nostalgic giant rat! They were common on the first floor of the Cygnil Dungeon. Even normal goblins could defeat these, and since they dropped rat meat, they provided a steady food source. The theory that the goblins had been living in the dungeon was looking more certain by the second.

"Waf!"

With a single bite from Shiroru, the rats vanished into smoke. Sure enough, chunks of rat meat were left at our feet. There was no doubt about it—this was a dungeon.

If that was the case, I couldn't help but look forward to finding treasure chests.

The dud dungeon had been a disappointment, but this place felt different. I suspected the equipment the goblins carried had come from chests found within these walls. If they’d managed to scavenge that many weapons, then the loot in this dungeon was something to be excited about.