The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter - Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Translator: “Kell” Editor: ”Weasalopes”

Feeling completely refreshed, I headed for the dungeon next . Not to clear it, but to visit my master . I could hear her telepathy as soon as I reached the 2nd floor .

「You’re finally here, Mi Anoir . 」

「Please just call me by my name properly . Though it does have a nice ring to it . 」

「Actually, that reminds me . 」

「Of what?」

「Olivia didn’t have a lot of friends in her lifetime . 」

「You’re still alive technically . There’s still a future for you . 」

Have faith in your own future! I didn’t know about lovers, but friends seemed unneeded for my master .

「Anyway, my story aside… Next was the 6th floor, wasn’t it?」

「Some other time . I’m here because I wanted to talk to you . 」

「I feel like crying… I want to scream out this line that I read from a famous speech compilation a long time ago . Can I? I’m so glad to be alive!」

I wondered where she got all the energy from . She looked like she was having a lot of fun, laughing incessantly . When I talked to her, even I could feel my voice raising .

「I mentioned about how we needed raw materials from a dragon for our exam, right? I’m actually headed to take one down soon with my friends . Do you have anything that might help?」

「Well there are different kinds of dragons . A high-level one would be quite difficult for you right now . 」

She tried to word it nicely . It would be best to assume that we had zero chance of beating one . However, we’ve been told that the one in Treasure Mountain wasn’t absurdly strong or anything . According to Laura-san, the reason other higher ranked adventurers didn’t take on the quest was because the reward was too low .

「Come on, now! Turn that frown upside down! I’m sure you can do it . I’ll teach you a skill that’s effective against all kinds of dragons, yes!」

「Please teach me . 」

「Do you respect me as your master?」

「Of course . 」

「Then show me you love me anyway you can~」

She was being unreasonable again . She wouldn’t tell me about the skill if I didn’t do it . First, I gently patted her head which was chained .

「I’m no longer at that age where I enjoy head pats . 」

「Then how about here?」

I rubbed her back . It seemed she liked back rubs — belly rubs, even more .

「Go lower . Lower . 」

「Yeah, no . 」

「Don’t you want the dragon info?」

「Fine…」

I asked her to cut me some slack and she settled for gentle strokes of her hips instead .

「Hmm . You did your best, so I’ll give you a passing mark~」

「I’m just glad you still have some morality left in you . 」

「I plan to up the difficulty level next time, though . Anyway, dragons usually have the skill【Intimidate】 which is much more powerful, beyond compare even, to that of the average monsters’ . It’s powerful enough to freeze someone in place . To counter it…」

My master taught me some skills: one that helps me stand toe to toe against a dragon, another that was effective against them, among others .

◇　◆　◇

For the meantime, I decided to focus on storing up more LP . I needed three skills to fight the dragon .

【Courage】, 【Hearing Protection】, and 【Dragon Slayer】 . I needed 1,000 LP and 800 LP to create the first two skills, respectively . The last one required 2,000 to create for a rank C . Dragon Slayer rank B required a whopping 5,000 LP .

The first two were defensive skills with【Courage】used to lessen the effects of 【Intimidate】 . Even with this skill, it would still be tough if the enemy was extremely powerful . But it was certainly better than nothing .

【Hearing Protection】as so your eardrums won’t burst if you’re hit by a roar at point-blank range .

The last one, as the name suggested, was an offensive skill made specially for dragons . Its true powers would manifest itself when used against their kind . But there was a problem — where to grant the skill .

There would be no point it in me learning the skill unless I fought with my bare hands . And it would be pretty much useless to a weapon user apparently . So I figured I should just “grant” the skill directly into the weapons themselves . Would my double-edged sword even have enough reach? No matter how strong the weapon was, it would still prove difficult unless it hit the enemy .

Anyhow, the defensive skills come first .

I decided to be more proactive and assertive . Dusk settled in when I ran into Luna-san . It seemed she was on her way home from work as a Saint .

「If you don’t mind, how about a dinner together?」I asked .

「Why, of course . My stomach’s growling . 」

「Then let’s go to some place delicious . 」

Hol’ up . I was struck with an idea which I then proposed to Luna-san .

「Would you like to go to a bizarre food restaurant? I went to one before with my family . 」

「I see . It would help with our fight with the dragon as well . 」

And so we made our way to the bizarre food restaurant . It was pretty much empty even though it should be peak hours .

「Well it’s practically empty . Luna said . 」

「Shame . Their food is delicious . 」

It was completely understandable . People would be put off by how the food looked . If they tried though, they would definitely change their minds .

I had fried scorpions last time, so I ordered something different this time . I decided to try the fried mealworms .

Luna-san order fried scorpions and pit viper saké . Our order arrived fast, most likely because we were the only customers .

「This looks quite astonishing . 」

Luna-san was older, but she was still a girl . She looked at the food with teary eyes . I felt sorry for her .

「You don’t have to force yourself . I can eat it myself . 」

「No, it’s a perfect opportunity . I believe that people need to be fearless and adventurous, that they should not be afraid to open the doors to the unknown . 」she said with tears in her eyes .

My food looked a lot grosser than the scorpions . I had a plateful of mealworms — which looked like earthworms — that were a few centimeters long . I poked it lightly . The surface was crisp since it was deep fried without any batter .

I summoned some courage and put one on my tongue . I then closed my eyes and began to chew .

「Ooohh!」

I accidentally let out a shameful sound . I couldn’t help it . It was delicious — crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside .

One bite and I couldn’t stop . I quickly worked on my plateful of mealworm . Luna-san on the other hand had her eyebrows raised, surprised by the taste of the food . She didn’t seem as averse to it as before .

She was also drinking the pit viper saké . Well, it was pretty much just liquid in a cup, not all that gross — only a few tiny pieces of viper skin in it .

We didn’t even talk . We simply enjoyed our food . I was happy for the 800 LP I got . I immediately learned the skill【Hearing Protection】 .

Bam!

Oh crap, that scared me for a bit .

「A-Are you okay?」

Luna-san finished her food and her head was on the table . Her face was red, eyes droopy . She got drunk after downing the strong pit viper saké .

「Noiry-dono, I feel great . 」

She could barely even speak so I decided to take her home . After settling the bill, I put her arm around my shoulder to help her walk .

「I’m fine! Very fine! Like, totally!」

「You sure don’t look fine to me . I’ll take you home . 」

「Men are animals… Anoirmals? Oh no, Noiry-dono is coming for me! I’m in luck!」

「Don’t you mean ‘trouble’?」

「But I can’t offer you much of service . I would only disappoint you . I’m fine with a casual affair, though, Noiry-dono…」

She touched my neck, staring at me with a passionate gaze . It seemed she was drunk down to her core .

Her house was situated in a corner of a residential neighborhood . It was quite big for someone living alone . Instead of feeling envious, the first thing that came to mind was how hard it would be to clean the place . Was I weird for thinking that?

I went inside and brought her to her bedroom . I dropped her on her bed and turned to leave when she caught my hand, not letting go .

「Tonight, I finally move on from being a Saint . Please be gentle . 」

「You’re too drunk . I’ll cover you with a blanket . You better not kick it away, or you’ll catch a cold . 」

She wasn’t listening . She was already fast asleep, breathing sweetly . I covered her up with a blanket and left her house .