Tier V Seeker ⑧
Beyond the Teleportation Array was… a stone wall. Of course. We were inside the shrine.
Stepping out of the shrine, I saw mountains, forests, and—just like outside—small, round ponds dotted the landscape.
Perfectly round little ponds, like Hydrangeas.
And not just one. There were countless ponds, arranged with an exquisite sense of spacing.
In the center of each pond, a pole long enough to make you look up was stuck. Poles of various colors: black, red, white, yellow, and so on.
Looking up further, the sky above the poles shimmered and wavered unnaturally. What was that?
“That's the Six-Colored Pond, ssu. The Fountain of Healing is nearby, ssu,”
“Um, where are we?”
“The bottom of the Great River, ssu.”
“Then, that sky is...?”
“The Great River, ssu.”
“...We're not... underwater, are we?”
“Can't say for sure about that, ssu. It's one of the Dungeon's mysteries, ssu.”
“Ah...“
I accepted that. Well, thinking about it probably wouldn’t help anyway.
But I understood being at the bottom of the Great River.
Since going over the great waterfall beyond the Great River leads to the lower floors, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
Looking around, I saw Seekers here and there by the Six-Colored Ponds. They held rods and dangled lines.
Could they be fishing?
“Can you catch anything here?”
“You can catch Elemental Fish, ssu. Only up to the six main elements, though, ssu.”
“Elemental Fish?”
“Fish of fire, fish of water... the elements themselves take the form of fish, ssu. They have a pretty strange taste but are delicious, ssu. They're a specialty of this Water Dungeon, ssu. It's been verified and proven, ssu, but eating an Elemental Fish that matches your own attribute increases your power, ssu. Only by a tiny bit, though, ssu.”
“That's amazing. I didn't know fish like that existed.”
“Right, ssu? That's 'cause you can't take Elemental Fish outside the Water Dungeon, ssu. If you try, they just turn back into raw elements, ssu.”
“Huh...“
Food ingredients exclusive to the Dungeon, huh? So things like that exist.
The Fountain of Healing was in the forest. It had the same shape as the others.
There were no Seekers resting there.
I checked it with the investigation kit. Yep. No abnormalities.
“All done, ssu?”
“Yes. Now I just need to submit this to the Guild, and the request is complete.“
All the Fountains of Healing were fine. Regardless of whether anyone was using them, they could be used safely.
“Alright then, you're coming with me for a bit, ssu.”
“Okay. Where are we going?”
“To the 20th floor, ssu.”
“...Um.“
Isn’t that a bit sudden? Bid-san seemed to guess my thoughts from my reaction.
“It's fine, ssu. We'll use a few Teleportation Arrays, so it won't be a hassle, ssu.”
“What route are we taking?”
“Let's see, ssu. First, we go down to the 7th floor from here, ssu. There's a Teleportation Array on the 7th floor, so we'll use that to get to the 13th, ssu. From there, we go down to the 15th floor, enter another Teleportation Array, and head to the 20th, ssu.”
“That's quite a bit of moving around.“
It’s probably much better than traveling the whole way normally, though.
Still, it feels like a puzzle.
“With me and you, Woff-kun, it'll be a piece of cake, ssu!“
Bid-san, still in her jumper and swimsuit, gave a thumbs-up and grinned.
Huh? Come to think of it.
“Um, Bid-san?”
“What is it, ssu?”
“How long are you planning on staying in your swimsuit?”
“Heh...?“
Bid-san looked down at herself and froze. Her face turned bright red. Had she not noticed?
“Hyaa! H-How embarrassing, ssu!“
She crouched down as she said it.
She really hadn’t noticed… Bid-san crouched, pulling her jumper down tighter. Then she glanced around and hastily ran into the nearby forest.
When she came back out, she was properly dressed.
Her face still red with embarrassment, she fidgeted and said to me,
“S-Sorry for the unsightly display, ssu. I-I didn't realize... ssu.”
“A lot has happened, after all.“
Seriously, a lot happened.
I’d only just noticed myself.
“R-Right, well then, let's pull ourselves together and get going, ssu!”
“Okay.“
And so, we reached the 20th floor.
“...How should I put it? That was surprisingly easy.”
“That knife of yours is just cheating, ssu.”
“Well, true.“
I looked at the Knife Modified from Mr. Agaro that I held tightly.
The Water Nymph series monsters that appeared on the way to the 20th floor.
Humanoid monsters made of water. They’re the most hated in this Water Dungeon.
Water is liquid. Slashing or stabbing it is meaningless.
That’s why the only ways to deal with Water Nymphs are to burn them with the fire attribute or destroy their core.
Moreover, since they’re composed of water, they can heal if water is available.
Given enough time, they can even regenerate their core.
And this is the Water Dungeon.
The reason Water Nymphs are the most hated monsters in this dungeon should be obvious without further explanation.
However, this knife cuts that water.
It severs it, and the cut part won’t mend even if it gathers more water.
It’s like how flesh, once cut, doesn’t simply stick back together.
“Na!”
“Dagaa says it's cheating too, ssu.”
“Na!“
Sounds like him. Well, I’ll test this knife properly when I get back.
“...So this is the 20th floor?”
“That's right, ssu.”
“...“
The 20th floor of the Water Dungeon. There wasn’t really anything interesting about it.
It was the same old stone wall maze you find in every dungeon.
Brightly lit stone wall passages stretched endlessly, branching off multiple times.
Along the way were dead ends, small rooms without doors, and small rooms with doors.
Traps like pitfalls and flying arrows. However, the ceiling was a surface of water, and droplets occasionally fell.
There were rest stop-like areas here and there, with springs, fountains, and small waterfalls.
I followed after Bid-san.
It was strangely quiet; I couldn’t see any monsters or other Seekers.
“---Do Pachira and the others know that you're a Seeker, Woff-kun, ssu?“
She asked me abruptly.
“No, not yet. I plan to tell them soon.”
“In that case, I'll keep quiet too, ssu.”
“Thank you. By the way, it's quiet here.”
“It's always like this here, ssu.”
“There aren't any monsters either.”
“They're around, ssu, but only Water Fairy Warriors and Water Fairy Swordsmen appear occasionally, ssu. This 20th floor isn't popular, ssu. The treasure in the small rooms has all been taken, there's nothing here, it's easy to get lost, it's boring, and it's plain, ssu. So not many Seekers use this floor, ssu. Plus, there's a shortcut to the 25th floor on the 19th, ssu.“
I see. I understood why it was unpopular enough for there to be no other Seekers around.
Actually, I’d vaguely sensed it already.
“Could it be that the Water Dungeon isn't very popular?“
When entering the Water Dungeon, the hole in the water’s surface was large. So were the descending stairs.
And yet, there were only a few Seekers.
On the 1st floor, too, I encountered monsters frequently until I met Bid-san.
On the 3rd floor shore, there were many boats, but most were abandoned, and few Seekers boarded them.
On the 6th floor, there were only a handful of Seekers fishing.
Even on the route to the 20th floor, I hadn’t seen many— Seekers.
However, the tavern and general store in the fort ruins at the entrance were reasonably lively.
Still, it wasn’t exactly bustling with popularity.
“...It certainly isn't popular, ssu.“
Bid-san gave a wry smile.
“It's about the second least popular, ssu.”
“What's the least popular?”
“The Fire Dungeon, ssu. You can really die there, ssu.”
“Aahh... Incidentally, what's the most popular?”
“The Earth Dungeon, ssu. You can mine ore there, ssu.”
“Ah, does it sell for a high price?”
“That's part of it, ssu. The other reason is the Earth Golems, ssu.”
“Could it be? Do those elemental dolls exist in every dungeon?“
Bid-san nodded. Hearing that, I understood why the Earth Dungeon was popular.
“As for why it's popular, well, you probably get it, ssu, but even though they're really tough, basically all attacks work on them, ssu.”
“That's certainly better than fire, water, or wind. Ah, what about wind? How do you deal with that?”
“Blowing them away is the best method, ssu.”
“Ah, so you fight wind with wind...“
I only knew the dungeon in town.
That’s why I’d decided that going to other dungeons was something I’d definitely do once I became a Seeker.
This somewhat sad reality stung my heart a little.
“We're here, ssu.“
Before her was a stone wall.
Small stone blocks were stacked tightly like bricks, leaving no gaps.
That was all. A dead end, so to speak.
“...?“
Then Bid-san crouched down and got even lower, almost crawling on the floor.
As I watched, wondering what she was doing, Bid-san placed her small hand on the very bottom of the stone wall, on the largest, roughest stone block, and moved it.
It moved.
A rough stone block that looked absolutely impossible to move with one hand was removed.
And a hole gaped open. An opening just large enough for one person to crawl through.
“Surprised, ssu? This stone block is lighter than it looks, ssu.”
“A hidden passage?”
“That's right, ssu. Follow me, ssu.”
“Okay.“
With that, Bid-san crawled into the hole.
Just then, I saw it. Her butt almost got stuck on the top edge of the opening.
“This way, ssu.”
“Right.“
I also crawled into the hole. I slipped through easily.
Beyond the hole in the wall was… what is this place?
First, damp air drifted around.
Next, I saw stone pillars in the distance. It was a space. A reasonably large space lay there.
And then, rusted swords, rusted armor, and cracked leather shields were piled up here and there.
Like mountains— Eh? This place is… As I stood there speechless, Bid-san laughed.
“Welcome! To the Water Dungeon's Hidden Junkyard, ssu!”
“...Huh? Wha...?“
What the heck is a Hidden Junkyard?