“Change of clothes… is this all there is?”
Yuma frowned as he asked Rui in a room inside the university campus.
“Yeah, that’s all they can prepare right now. You should be grateful they’re even lending it to you.”
“Ugh, I know, but…”
Yuma was wearing clothes borrowed from the Indian Seekers. A simple white kurta shirt and baggy khaki balloon pants. The size was too big, and they looked quite worn out.
They even seemed a bit dirty.
“Couldn’t they find something better?”
“Don’t complain. We originally had the bare minimum of clothes, and we left everything behind during the monster attack. Just bear with it a little.”
Akito’s words were reasonable. Yuma convinced himself that he should be grateful he even had a change of clothes.
“More importantly, we have things to discuss before we head into the Dungeon, right?”
Akito lowered his voice and looked around. The room Yuma and the others were in was originally a classroom.
Although the structure and atmosphere were different from Japanese universities, the large room was filled with many desks and chairs, and the three of them were sitting by the window.
Besides Yuma and his group, there were several other Indian Seekers in the classroom, huddled together and discussing something.
Akito continued the conversation in a low voice, so the Indians wouldn’t overhear.
“We’re going into the Dungeon soon. The Indian Seekers will be going ahead of us first.”
“Ahead? But if we do that…”
Yuma frowned and looked at Akito.
“Yeah, there will be considerable casualties. But nearly two hundred Seekers are gathering from all over India. If we have that many people, we have to make them useful.”
Yuma felt uneasy about Akito’s words.
“Wait a minute. Can’t we just go into the Dungeon by ourselves without everyone? That way, there won’t be any sacrifices, right?”
Rui, who was next to Yuma, shook his head at his suggestion.
“Yuma… we can’t conquer this Green Dungeon, ‘Dvarapala,’ by ourselves.”
“Huh? Why not?”
Akito sighed at the bewildered Yuma.
“Idiot! Can’t you even figure that out!? Think about the duration of your ‘Metallization’ ability. It only lasts about an hour, right?”
“Oh? Well, it’s actually one hour and ten minutes, to be exact.”
“Dvarapala is a Dungeon where each floor is massive. It will take at least three days to reach the lowest level.”
“Three days!? …That long?”
He had heard that the Dungeon was quite large, so he expected it to take some time to conquer. Still, hearing it would take three days made him feel faint.
Because he had raised his voice a little, the Indian Seekers in the room turned their gazes towards him. Rui lowered his voice and continued talking.
“To maximize Yuma’s power, we have to use the ‘Metallization’ ability near the lowest level. In the Indonesian ‘White Dungeon,’ we could divide the transformation time into five-minute intervals to conserve it, but I don’t think we’ll have that luxury in Dvarapala.”
“Does that mean there will be strong Monsters?”
“Yeah, and a lot of them. The large number of Monsters is a characteristic of the ‘Green Dungeon,’ so you should assume that time will be consumed in the blink of an eye.”
Yuma lowered his eyes and fell silent. Certainly, if the Dungeon was that vast, the duration of ‘Metallization’ would be too short to rely on.
“So, borrowing the power of the Indian Seekers…”
Rui nodded at Yuma’s question.
“First, we’ll have the Indian people fight from the lower to middle floors. During that time, we’ll conserve our Magical Power. I’ve already discussed this with Dasha-san. Akito and I will take the front lines from the middle to the Depths, and then we’ll pass the baton to Yuma at the end. That’s the most efficient way.”
“But it takes three days, right? If I can use ‘Metallization’ on the first day, wouldn’t we be able to advance faster if I took the lead and wiped them out?”
“Don’t make it sound so easy.”
Akito narrowed his eyes and glared at Yuma.
“If you show them your ‘Metallized’ form, it will spread confusion again and cause unnecessary conflicts. What do you think we’ve been hiding your power for?”
“That’s… true, but…”
“More importantly, there won’t be any Monsters worth fighting on the first day. We’ll only start fighting from the middle floors. But if you use ‘Metallization’ there, you won’t be able to use it in the Depths. In the end, we have no choice but to be patient.”
Yuma understood what Akito was saying. But he still couldn’t accept it.
“So, we’re using the Indian Seekers to achieve our goals, right? Does Dasha-san understand that?”
“Of course, she understands. Many Indian people will die in the early stages, but we’ll be fighting in the more dangerous middle floors and beyond. In that sense, we’re in a relationship where we use each other. They won’t care if we die either.”
It was a terrible story. Dungeon Conquest based on the premise of many sacrifices. But was that the only way to conquer “Dvarapala”?
Yuma glanced at Rui next to him. Rui also lowered his eyebrows and looked distressed.
Rui probably didn’t want to do it this way either. But he seemed to be prepared to carry out this strategy.
–I have to be prepared too…
“Well, either way, all we can do now is wait for the preparations to be completed. We should do what we can in the meantime.”
“That’s right. We need to gather information, maintain our weapons, and secure our equipment. Hey Yuma, should we practice your magic in the meantime?”
When Rui asked him, Yuma said, “Ah! That’s right,” and rummaged through his pockets.
He took out what was inside, placed it on his palm, and showed it to Rui and Akito. The two of them widened their eyes in surprise.
“This is…”
Yuma grinned proudly at the surprised Rui.
“I picked them up when I defeated the Monsters in the mountains. Well, it was a forest fire, so I was desperate to escape, and this was all I could pick up…”
In Yuma’s palm were shining Green Magic Gems. There were several of them.
“Amazing! Green Magic Gems, three emeralds and five jades. How did you find them in that situation?”
“Well, there were a lot of them lying around. Everything else was burned, though.”
Yuma puffed out his chest proudly. He hadn’t had any good luck since coming to India, so obtaining the Magic Gems made him very happy.
“Good job, Yuma. Try drinking them right away.”
“Yeah, I will.”
Yuma reached for the bag he had placed on the desk. It was also a used item borrowed from the Indian Seekers, but it contained the emergency rations and bottled water he had received.
Yuma opened the cap of the water bottle and threw the eight Magic Gems he had into his mouth. He gulped down the water, washing the Magic Gems down his throat.