Episode 65: The State of the Second Stratum, and Feelings I’d Forgotten
The day after the A-Rank Party promotion exam.
The four of us from Team Secret Base were at the shrine inside the Private Dungeon.
Each of us held a Dungeon Platinum coin obtained from the Utsunomiya Dungeon.
“Wow, the Offering Box is really glowing…”
“The coin is glowing too! Amazing!”
As a thank-you for our promotion to A-Rank Party, we decided to offer the Dungeon Platinum to the Offering Box.
Of course, we also had the ulterior motive of hoping our Private Dungeon would grow into a second stratum.
“Are we really going to put these in? They sell for hundreds of thousands of yen each…”
“I won’t force you… but I’d appreciate it if you would.”
“Manamin, you’re being too stingy! We got Stone Guardian drops too, didn’t we!”
“Ugh… fine… I’ll brace myself…”
“Alright, let’s pray. Hmm? What’s the proper way to do it again? Two bows, two bows, one bow?”
“Tama-chan, that’s five bows… Two bows, two claps, one bow is the usual.”
“Okay. Let’s do it then.”
We threw the Dungeon Platinum into the Offering Box.
Clink, clatter!
Then, we bowed twice and clapped our hands.
Clap, clap!!
(Thanks to this Private Dungeon, I was able to become a full-fledged Explorer. Thank you so much.)
I bowed once, offering words of gratitude in my heart.
When I opened my eyes and looked to the side, I saw Otama-chan bowing and muttering something.
“I was able to become an A-Rank Party without incident, and I get to be with everyone. Thank you very much. Also, I hope Ko-chan and I… can get married…”
“What about me?”
“Hya, hyaaa…!”
Otama-chan was exaggeratedly surprised.
“Ah, I didn’t mean to startle you that much. I thought I heard my name…”
“Tama-chan, you said it a little too loud, you know?”
“Ke, ke, I heard it too. Something about, Ko-chin and marr…”
“Waa, Manamin, you’re so loud!!”
“…?”
As we were making a commotion.
“Ah, Natsume-kun! White light is coming from the shrine!”
“Oh…!”
A white ball of light floated up from inside the Offering Box.
It was much bigger than the last time.
Moreover, there were four of them.
The orbs of light floated towards the large tree behind the shrine.
“What’s that! Amazing!”
“…Is it like the mechanism in other dungeons where you insert jewels to open a door? It’s rare for the shrine’s Offering Box to be the key…”
The orbs were absorbed into the trunk of the large tree.
And then.
“Ah, Ko-chan, look!”
The base of the tree, the gap between the thick roots, glowed white.
Perhaps because the rank of the material was different, the light was stronger than when we offered Dungeon Steel before.
“I hope this makes a staircase…”
After a while, the light quietly disappeared.
And in its place.
“Wow! A hole opened up!”
A large hole, big enough for a person to easily enter, had appeared.
“…Alright.”
“Amazing… So there are dungeons that grow like this…”
“Hey, Ko-chan, let’s go check it out.”
“Yeah.”
“Tamama, you have a record, so be careful in the new stratum.”
“Hey, that’s a terrible way to put it!?”
Approaching the hole at the base of the large tree, it was so deep that we couldn’t see the bottom.
When I illuminated it with 《Firefly Light》, I could see that it was stepped with tree roots and soil, allowing us to descend downwards.
I asked everyone.
“Is it okay if we go down?”
“Of course!”
“Let’s be careful.”
“I hope there’s something more valuable than Dungeon Platinum…”
“Okay… Let’s go then.”
Illuminating the way with the summoned fireflies, we descended the stairs.
“It looks pretty deep.”
“Yeah. I hope it’s developed into a second stratum.”
The stairs were spiral-shaped, continuing as we circled around.
After a while.
“Ah, I can see light ahead!”
“Hey, Tamama!”
“Tama-chan, wait! Let’s all go together?”
“I understand how you feel, though.”
I wonder what the second stratum is like.
Since it’s within the same dungeon, I don’t think the scenery will change that much, but I hope different insects come out.
Next, I want to catch a stag beetle.
Thinking about such things, the front gradually became brighter――.
――And soon, our vision was enveloped in light.
“…”
Kana kana kana kana…
The sound of cicadas could be heard.
Kana kana kana kana…
Not just one, but many of them.
When I opened my eyes, I saw.
“Ah…”
“Ko-chan, this is…?”
――The time was, dusk.
Under our feet was a single path of cobblestones.
On both sides of the path were stalls with only their frames.
Above our heads, paper lanterns that had not yet been lit were lined up in rows.
At the end of the path were stairs, and above them were a red torii gate and a shrine.
“A summer festival, huh…?”
“But it doesn’t seem to have started yet.”
――The second stratum of the Private Dungeon was a summer festival area before it started.
“If we make it night with Natsume-kun’s skill, will the festival start?”
“Should we try it?”
I used the 《Day-Night Reversal》 skill.
The sound of cicadas echoed throughout the dungeon…
And the surroundings were supposed to turn to night.
However.
“…Huh?”
“Ko-chan, it hasn’t changed.”
Even with the skill activated, there was no change in the surroundings.
“Is it being nullified…?”
Then, Shi-chan and Manamin said.
“No, Natsume-kun, it seems like the skill is working?”
“…The position of the sun has changed. Evening has become dawn. 《Day-Night Reversal》 is definitely activated, but either way, it’s a time when the festival isn’t happening.”
“Then, what should we do…? Or is there a possibility that this is just a floor with the scenery of festival preparations…?”
“Ko-chan! Let’s explore for now! Let’s think about it after that!”
“Tamama, you just want to explore, don’t you?”
“T-That’s not true!”
“Well, we won’t know unless we actually see things for ourselves.”
“Shi-chan, that’s a good point! Let’s go, everyone!”
“Yeah…”
And so, we started walking along the cobblestones.
Behind the stalls was a forest, and beyond the trees was an invisible wall, just like in the first stratum.
The second stratum seemed to be a very long and narrow floor.
“I wonder if the stalls will be open…?”
When I muttered that, Shi-chan said.
“Hmm, it’s possible. In the discount store floor of the Shinjuku Dungeon, robot-like dolls serve customers, and in the 9th arrondissement dungeon in Paris, people like black shadows perform operas.”
“I see…”
I hope the stalls are open.
I don’t know if Japanese yen can be used.
Goldfish scooping, candied apples, yakisoba…
Like the Elixir Ramune and seed-based candies on the first stratum, they shouldn’t be bad.
“Ko-chan, you look like you’re having fun.”
“Well, yeah.”
And then, I suddenly thought.
The four of us had never gone to a summer festival or fireworks display together.
When we were in the lower grades, we couldn’t go to festivals alone.
“Let’s all go together someday,” we promised each other, but the four of us drifted apart, and the conversation faded away.
――Some summer that we couldn’t spend together.
I hope we can have fun this time.
From now on, forever.
“Hmm…?”
At that time.
I felt a tingling, dull pain deep in my chest.
I felt like I was about to remember some important feeling that I had forgotten before…
“Ko-chan, let’s go!”
“Natsume-kun, is something wrong?”
“Are you worried about Tamama’s wish?”
“Ah…”
No… I’m sure it’s nothing.
“It’s nothing. I’ll be right there.”
I ran towards everyone.
Towards my precious friends.