Rocked gently along the great river aboard the ferry, drifting and bobbing1.
With my half-asleep head, I demanded an explanation from Lily. She said, "I cast a sleep spell. You were sleeping so comfortably."
I know full well that Lily cast sleep magic on me!
As I fumed and fussed, a whisper came at my ear.
"(Lord Haruya)"
"(What is it? No matter what you say...)"
"(I have recently begun practicing to serve you with my mouth.)"
A sweet breath was blown against me, and my anger sank all at once. Because I am a man. In its place, a certain part of my groin flared up2. Because I am a man.
Filio smiled apologetically.
"Do not blame Miss Lily. It was I who asked it of her."
"Lady Filio is not at fault. The fault is mine, for suggesting it."
A relationship of trust had already formed between them. A servant's nature and a prince's nature-the two had gotten along well even in my previous life3.
Then Filio, smiling, was holding my hip pouch.
"Mr. Haruya is truly an amusing person."
"...What is."
"It seems you intended to flee......yet your preparations for adventure were flawless. Always fully equipped, as though mindful of danger."
When I fell silent, she smiled as if amused. She seemed to have earned some Filio points.
I must avoid getting so liked that I fully join their ranks. During the quest I'll show them my clumsy side and let them be thoroughly disappointed.
......I feel like I thought the same thing with Lily, though!
It's fine, it's fine. With Lily and Filio around, I don't have to push myself.
And so we headed further and further north up the great river, and disembarked at the landing. We borrowed a carriage and crossed the mountain roads. It turned into quite a long journey.
Our current location is the Karpus Mountains, further northeast from Hawks Plateau. This area has many unexplored places. With deep forests and great undulations in the mountains, ancient dungeons and undiscovered ruins lie hidden. It seems ideal for research, and there are frequent escort quests for scholars. Perhaps because the monsters' ecosystem has changed, exploration now apparently recommends large parties.
What we're heading toward is the Town of Gosse in the Karpus Mountains. It is a natural fortress city built between the gaps of a ravine. It is also a town that produces ore, excels at weapon crafting, and is a place any adventurer would want to stop by at least once.
As for the reason we're heading to that town... the carriage driver speaks to us.
"You folks here for the new dungeon in Gosse?"
Filio answered amiably.
"I heard a dungeon was found in the town's mine, and my adventurer's spirit was tickled."
"Knew it! You got sharp ears-it only happened just recently."
"Where there is a dungeon, there we adventurers are."
Filio looks like she's enjoying herself, but a red-sealed envelope request can't possibly be just a simple investigation. There may have been some kind of anomaly in that new dungeon.
Filio glances at me.
"Incidentally, Mr. Haruya, what is the definition of a dungeon?"
"Undiscovered ruins, ancient towns, underground cities. Well......Gosse's is a random dungeon."
"Yes. It's impossible that a mining town never found one until now."
A random dungeon. A fusion phenomenon that swallows the surrounding area due to an abnormal surge in magical power. It is a phenomenon that occurs when the fusion property of magic works in a bad direction, and a force field with nowhere to go swells without limit and becomes a dungeon.
For example, it can arise from the corpse of an ancient dragon, or from a powerful enchanted weapon. If you destroy the cause, it returns to normal, so dealing with it isn't very difficult.
What you must be careful of is when a demonic being is involved. A monster with high intelligence and skilled in magic manipulation prepares a medium to generate a dungeon in order to create a comfortable dwelling. Dungeons generated that way are called "Dungeon-devouring Labyrinths4," and their danger level skyrockets. Well, it's not something you encounter very often.
......That's not a flag statement5.
A monster with high intelligence and magic manipulation skill enough to generate a dungeon is a rare condition to begin with, and there's no way it would build one near human settlements.
.........Really, I'm telling you, it's not a flag statement.
And yet my worry, as expected, was nothing but a flag statement.
The Town of Gosse, called the town of ore, was unrecognizable.
"Wh-what the hell! What is this?!"
The driver's shout echoes as if sucked into the empty town.
In the Town of Gosse, lumps of flesh were scattered everywhere. Lumps of flesh like turned-inside-out innards, their forms crumbling mushily like rotten tomatoes. The largest were about a meter across. They lined the stone-paved main street in place of merchants, occasionally writhing as if pulsing. The lumps of flesh were slowly, little by little, like magma, trying to erode the town.
Damn it! This reeks of a Dungeon-devouring Labyrinth!
Lily, who had been inspecting the houses, appeared and shook her head left and right.
"...The townspeople are nowhere to be found."
The driver's face twitched as he looked at the lumps of flesh. He must have thought the lumps of flesh were the townspeople.
Filio said in a calm voice.
"Those lumps of meat are not the townspeople."
"H-how the hell d'you know that?!"
"Because my senses are excellent. They are not people. ...They appear to be dungeon-born, though."
Since Filio has declared it, it must be the truth. On our journey in the previous life, her scouting ability helped us a great deal. She taught me reconnaissance, detection, and presence-concealment techniques, but I could never beat the professional herself.
Perhaps worried about the vanished townspeople, Filio furrows her brow and crosses her arms.
"But where is everyone......? And where should we even begin the investigation......"
"Y-you're gonna investigate this place?!"
"Yes. It looks like it will take considerable time."
"Y-you gotta be kidding! No way I'm stayin' in a place this dangerous! I'm runnin', got it?!"
The driver, pale-faced, leapt onto the carriage and frantically spurred the horses to flee.
Hey, hey?! You're completely abandoning your customers?!
"I'll call the management company on you later!"
"There, there. I cannot ask you to stay when your life is not guaranteed."
Filio smiled as if the lives of the people came first. She really hasn't changed.
Lily puts a finger to her cheek and says, looking a little troubled.
"However, losing our transport is a difficulty. We must report the current situation."
"Then it is fine... fwip."
When Filio whistles through her fingers, a hawk that had been waiting high above swoops down. The hawk flapped lightly just above the ground and settled softly on Filio's arm.
"What a very lovely hawk."
"This is my friend Persia. Clever girl-messenger, scout, anything."
The hawk puffed out its chest proudly. Incidentally, it's also reliable in combat. In the previous life I honestly admired, "Amazing hawk, amazing. Is the hawk the real one?" But such a thoroughly trained super-elite combat hawk is clearly of noble status. Notice it, me of the previous life.
"I shall have Persia relay the situation......What do you think, Mr. Haruya?"
"I think the full investigation can wait until the relief force arrives. Until then, we watch from outside the town, maybe."
"............Yes. I suppose so."
Filio seems to have reached the same judgment, and looks pained.
I'm terribly worried about the townspeople, but information is scarce and I can't see ahead. It would be better to call the knight order, or hire a large number of adventurers and investigate or clear it all at once. In the end, that might keep the damage lower.
......If the Hero were here, Filio would have pushed the investigation through even by force. No matter how capable she is, right now we're fellow adventurers. I don't think she'd force it.
Filio has a terribly troubled expression-surely she isn't thinking of going alone?
Then Filio's face shows she's noticed something.
"Person hiding in the inn! Won't you come out?"
Lily and I look toward the inn. Is someone hiding? I can't tell at all. As expected of her.
Filio wore a refreshing smile.
"As you can see, I am merely an adventurer. I mean you no harm."
Perhaps reassured by her gentle voice, a small girl pokes her face out from the shadows. She was a lovely girl with long chestnut hair, and her cute clothes were covered in mud. The girl appeals to us with a face about to cry.
"Um, hey. Hey......A-um, um......um......"
"Do not rush. Tell us slowly."
The girl's mouth flapped open and shut for a while, but since Filio watched over her with a smile without rushing, her fear must have eased, and she regained a little composure.
"M-my dad......m-my mom were taken by a black shadow......The townspeople too, one after another, underground......t-taken......"
"A black shadow? ......Underground?"
"Yeah......probably, where they dig the stone......"
"The underground mine......"
"A-um......um, um......m-my dad and the others......"
To the girl who choked on her words there, Filio cheerfully declared.
"Your parents will be fine! After all, I am here!"
Filio smiles radiantly, as if to say there's nothing to worry about. Her eyes sparkled as if to say she would blow away the girl's anxiety.
............
She's staring at me with those sparkling eyes. Lily, don't look at me like that either. I know, I know.
"Let's get to clearing this dungeon."
When I said that, Filio smiled like a flower.
It's true that I'm a man who wants to build a harem and have irresponsible creampie sex. Even such a man is not so heartless as to refuse the earnest wish of a small girl.
............Does that still make me heartless?
Trivia:
- The narrator repeatedly insists his talk of a dungeon-devouring labyrinth isn't a flag statement, which is classic self-aware foreshadowing—and then the town is already consumed, confirming his words were a flag all along.
- Filio's casual mention that her combat hawk Persha is clearly of noble status hints at her own high-born background, a detail the past-life Haruya failed to notice and the present one still glosses over.
- The detail that random dungeons can spawn from ancient dragon corpses or enchanted weapons establishes that dungeons are not always monster-made, quietly setting up the possibility that the Gosse dungeon's cause is something other than the black shadow.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ Onomatopoeia for bobbing/drifting aimlessly on water, evoking the folk-tale image of a floating peach; rendered here as gentle river rocking.
2 ↩ Sound/sensation of flaring up in anger (or arousal), a reduplicative Japanese onomatopoeia with no single English equivalent.
3 ↩ "Previous life" or "past life"—a key isekai/reincarnation term referring to Haruya's prior existence as the holy hero.
4 ↩ "Dungeon-devouring Labyrinth," a coined compound (魔 = demonic/magic, 喰い = devouring) denoting a dungeon generated by an intelligent monster; kept literal to preserve the in-world terminology.
5 ↩ "Flag statement"—internet/gaming slang for a remark that jinxes oneself or foreshadows a bad outcome, as if triggering a story flag.
Notes:
• Lily - A servant-type companion to Haruya who addresses him with formal deference. She is also described as an innkeeper at an adventurer's lodge and a devout follower of the Great Goddess faith, serving as a priestess of the Goddess Flora. Polite, composed, and professional, she is attentive to Haruya's needs and practical about travel funds, never complaining about unpaid quests. She observes Haruya's duel and recognizes when he is holding back, using a promised reward to snap him out of his deliberate losing act. Skilled in sleep magic, she has a sweet, deferential demeanor and a teasing streak. Though strict and proper on the surface, she deliberately seduces Haruya through the wall at night.
• Haruya - Solo adventurer in the trading city of Gran Neal, formerly the Holy Hero who defeated the Demon King Chronova. Maintains a bronze-rank adventurer status deliberately to avoid responsibility and attention. Slim-built young man in plain breast armor with a longsword and a large hip pouch of adventuring tools. Harbors a singular life goal of losing his virginity at a high-class brothel and building a harem, a dream he loudly declared at guild registration, earning him infamy among female adventurers while being well-liked by male adventurers for his candid lewd talk. Secretly a returnee from death who deliberately destroyed his hero-route reputation.
• Filio - Given name of Filio Valceid. A noble-born scout-class adventurer who disguises herself as a man. She has radiant golden hair, clear sea-blue eyes, and a boyish, handsome appearance with distinctly feminine loveliness. Despite her light blouse-and-trousers outfit, her large chest is conspicuous. Cheerful, persistent, and idealistic, she believes those with power have a duty to help others and make everyone smile. Skilled in scouting, detection, trap avoidance, and lockpicking, she owns a falcon named Persha. She prioritizes civilians' lives, rewards others generously, and refuses to let talent go to waste. A trusted companion from Haruya's past life, she often pushes his party to accept unpaid quests as a duty to do good.