Petit No. 4 was trying to tell me something with his slow, deliberate movements. Unfortunately, since he was just flapping his hands about, I couldn't make heads or tails of it. His pace was so leisurely that I didn't feel any sense of urgency, but then again, Petit No. 4 was naturally a bit of a slowpoke, so it was hard to tell if he was actually worried.
"...Huh, what's he doing?"
"Is it a monster?"
While I was trying to figure it out, Halfa and Spira joined us.
"It doesn't seem like a monster, but..."
Even when asked, I didn't have any answers. Because of that, the situation lacked any real tension. Nevertheless, the fact that he’d gone out of his way to trigger the alarm meant something was definitely happening outside. Perhaps growing impatient with my lack of reaction, Petit No. 4's movements became a bit more frantic... or so it seemed. Just a tiny bit.
"We have no choice but to go out and see. I'll go first."
"Ah, wait. I'll go too. You might not be able to handle it alone."
"...I see. In that case, follow my lead."
"Understood."
It seemed Lowell had intended to check the perimeter by himself, but there was always the risk of an ambush the moment he stepped through the door. Having backup would greatly increase our ability to react. Because he understood that, he didn't reject my proposal.
Timing it together, the two of us stepped outside. There, we found a bewildered-looking man surrounded by three Petit Golems. If I had to sum him up in a single word, it would be macho. It looked as though he were encased in a suit of armor forged entirely from muscle. He was dressed in a sleeveless shirt, trousers, and leather armor—an outfit that seemed specifically designed to show off his physique. Honestly, it wasn't exactly appropriate for forest terrain. With all the dense brush and thorny twigs, exposing that much skin had to be a nightmare.
As I froze at the unexpected sight, the macho man finally noticed us.
"O-Oh! People! These little guys are yours? What even are they?"
"They're golems."
"Golems...? I-I see. So they’re golems. But... golems?"
Even though there was nothing suspicious about them, Macho-san kept muttering to himself as if he couldn't quite wrap his head around it.
How rude!
Sure, they might look a bit like haniwa, but they’re perfectly respectable golems!
For some reason, Lowell was nodding along with the man, so I shot him a glare. He hurriedly fixed his expression. No matter how you looked at them, they were clearly golems!
Regardless, I decided to release the man from the encirclement. To be honest, if Macho-san decided to just step on them, they’d be smashed to pieces. They weren't exactly a physical deterrent.
"Thanks, that's enough. Return to your posts."
The three Petit Golems raised their right hands as if to signal the end of their mission. It looked like a salute. Probably.
Now, the issue was Macho-san himself. Since he was on the tenth floor, he had to be an adventurer, but I had no idea who he was. Seeing as he hadn't attacked the golems, it didn't seem like he harbored any ill intent toward us.
"So, do you have some business with us?" I asked bluntly.
Macho-san rubbed the back of his head and gave a wry smile.
"It wasn't that I had business, exactly. I saw something unfamiliar in the woods and came to investigate. When I got close, these strange beings..."
"Golems."
"Y-Yes, right. Golems. Anyway, I ended up surrounded by them, and that leads us to where we are now."
Having realized that the "unfamiliar thing" was actually a house, Macho-san had correctly assumed there was a master nearby since the Petit Golems were acting as guards. He’d also noticed Petit No. 4 entering the Magic House and decided to wait, figuring the owner would eventually come out.
"At any rate, I'm sorry for approaching so carelessly. I figured it would look suspicious if I tried to run away, so I just waited. I didn't mean to cause a stir."
"Ah, no... It's understandable. If I saw something out of place like this, I'd be suspicious too."
By tacit agreement, adventurers generally don't approach each other's campsites, but I suppose no one expects to find a house in the middle of a forest. You’d notice it during the day, but the forest at night was pitch black.
"But if that's the case, how do other adventurers handle the night?"
"Hmm? Well, it varies, but most people spend the night at one of the established campsites. Of course, some people rough it elsewhere, but even then, they usually set a watch and keep a light burning. That way, you can tell from a distance that they’re human."
I see!
Because we had the Magic House, we could set up camp almost anywhere, but most adventurers didn't have that luxury. Tents for an entire party would require a significant amount of space, meaning you couldn't camp unless you found a clearing. Plus, they usually kept a lamp lit to identify themselves. Since the Petit Golems had night vision, I hadn't bothered with a light, but maybe I should start hanging a lantern. On the other hand, I had a nagging worry that a light would just draw monsters in.
"Doesn't the light attract monsters?"
"Hmm? Well, it certainly increases the number of monsters that might wander over. But they're sensitive to human presence anyway; they'll find you even in the dark. If you can't see your surroundings when they attack, you're at a disadvantage. That's why keeping a light during the watch is standard practice."
So the presence of a lookout itself was the bait. In that sense, the Petit Golems were actually ideal. Since they were magical constructs, the monsters likely couldn't sense them the way they did humans. As long as our presence inside the Magic House was masked, we were relatively safe. In fact, we’d had surprisingly few monster attacks while camping so far.
If that was the case, there was no reason to change what was working. I decided against the lantern. This dungeon was vast, and most adventurers stuck to the designated camps, so accidental encounters like this were probably rare.
That settled our camping policy, but I still had one burning question.
"Why were you walking through the forest in the middle of the night anyway?"
When I asked him straight out, Macho-san gave a bold, fearless grin. He struck a pose, flexing his biceps as if he were on stage at a bodybuilding competition.
"That should be obvious—I was training my muscles!"
No, that wasn't what I meant at all.
I wanted to know why he was doing it at night.