Chapter 34 Dungeon Strategy
{TL: By Creed}
The next day, we spent time preparing for dungeon exploration...
Furthermore, the day after that, Sofia and I decided to challenge the dungeon.
Leaving the town, we walked for about half a day.
Hidden in the forest was the dungeon.
"This is the dungeon known as the Fairy's Cradle."
"...It looks like an ordinary dungeon."
"What kind of dungeon were you imagining?"
"Well, something like a remote, hard-to-reach place, almost like an unexplored territory. That's what I had in mind."
"I see. It's normal to imagine that when you hear about a fairy sword, but... this place is different. You can reach it in half a day on foot, and the level of the monsters inside isn't that high."
The somewhat suggestive mention of the monster levels caught my attention.
"If it's relatively close, someone might have already cleared it, and the fairy sword is gone, right?"
"No, I haven't heard any such stories."
"...Is there a problem?"
"Yes. The monsters inside the Fairy's Cradle are not particularly strong. At most, they are of D rank. There are no significant physical barriers, so even novice adventurers can handle it with a party. However..."
She paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully.
"The thing is, strength is not really required for conquering the Fairy's Cradle. There are other factors that are key to the conquest, and despite reaching the bottom floor, obtaining the fairy sword has proven to be difficult."
Strength is not required?
What could that mean?
In a typical dungeon, there are numerous monsters, and there's a boss at the deepest part...
By defeating that boss, the dungeon is conquered. This is how you acquire treasures.
But does this Fairy's Cradle not follow that common sense?
"If it's not about strength, then even if a party not capable of obtaining the fairy sword appears and obtains it, it's not surprising, right?"
"Well, the thing is... it's filled with traps. Moreover, these traps are beyond common sense."
"A dungeon specialized in traps? But even so, if that's the case, it wouldn't be strange for a party to get the fairy sword, right?"
"Pitfalls, monster houses, those kinds of traps are common, but the Fairy's Cradle has entirely different traps. Because of that, it's been impossible to obtain the genuine sword. Well... it might be easier to understand if you experience it firsthand. Shall we go?"
"Understood."
Together with Sofia, I entered the dungeon.
"Huh... It's bright inside."
"It seems that fairy dust is emitting light. I'm not sure if it's true, though."
The walls, ceiling, and even the floor emitted a faint light.
Thanks to that, torches or lamps were unnecessary.
Occasionally, monsters attacked.
However, they were only E-rank goblins and such, not much of a threat.
Even I wouldn't lose to goblins.
Defeating them as we advanced, we continued onward.
By the way, the defeated monsters inside the dungeon remained where they were.
Monster corpses would attract other monsters, but...
Originally, dungeons were places with a large number of monsters, so even if they were attracted, it didn't matter.
There was no issue because it was a dungeon, even if the environment got contaminated.
"Oh?"
After a while, we reached a spacious room.
It was large enough for a small sport to be played, and the ceiling was reasonably high.
"Fate, be careful. From here on, the Fairy's Cradle becomes tricky."
"At a glance, it looks like there's nothing here..."
Extraordinary traps, what could they be?
Gravity reversing?
Or perhaps doors opening to another dimension?
With utmost caution, we advanced, and...
"Huh?"
Suddenly, our bodies floated gently.
Our feet left the floor, and we just floated.
"W-What's going on? What is this... huh? Huh?"
"This is the trap of the Fairy's Cradle."
Sofia, too, was floating gently.
"The room is set to zero gravity, making movement difficult. You don't come across traps like this elsewhere, do you?"
"Yeah, I've never heard of it."
"This is just the beginning. There are various other traps. Although the strength of the monsters isn't much, the inconvenience level is quite high."
Or rather...
This trap is unexpectedly troublesome.
You can move in water by kicking or scooping it, but since we're in the air, that's not possible.
Even if I desperately moved my arms and legs, I couldn't make progress, only kick the air.
"Fate, attach your sword or something to the floor or walls and try to move forward using the recoil. If you can reach the exit over there, the zero gravity state should be canceled."
"Yeah, I'll do my best... to try... it?"
Upon seeing something, I was at a loss for words.
"What's wrong, Fate?"
Sofia, looking puzzled, slowly rotated in the air.
Round and round, round and round.
Because it was rotating vertically, so to speak, under her skirt...
"..."
"Fate? Where are you looking...!?"
Sofia noticed my gaze, blushed, and quickly covered her skirt with both hands.
However, because she was rotating vertically, she couldn't cover everything with just that...
"F-Fate!"
"Y-Yes!?"
"Don't look this way! Please only look ahead! It's forbidden to look behind!"
"Sorry!!!"
...Despite such a mishap, somehow, we managed to pass through the zero-gravity zone.
"..."
Sofia's gaze was piercing.
Not like an accident or coincidence, but because I was unabashedly looking...
"Um... sorry about that."
"Fate, you pervert."
"Ugh."
"You were staring at my underwear."
"S-Sorry..."
"Really, it's embarrassing"
"Sorry....... I mean, if you were a guy and you saw the underwear of a girl you like, you'd inadvertently... No, that's not an excuse. I'm truly sorry."
"...I'm not really mad."
"Really?"
"I was just embarrassed. Um... if Fate wants to see, as embarrassing as it is, showing my underwear is... not off-limits."
"Huh?"
"...Do you want to see?"
Blushing, Sofia lightly pinched the edge of her skirt.
A glimpse of her beautiful thigh appeared.
If she lifted the skirt a bit more, there would be pristine white underwear...
"W-Wait... S-Sofia, stop!"
"Eh?"
"Well, you know... right now, we should prioritize conquering the dungeon. Th-that's right, isn't it?"
"Y-Yes... I-I can't believe I did something so embarrassing."
Seeming to come back to her senses, Sofia looked incredibly embarrassed.
Seeing her embarrassed like that, I couldn't help but think I messed up.
Maybe I missed out on something important... or not.
TL Note: There is no medicine for regret Fate and some of the reviews on NU are calling the author a newbie or amateurish but the author is a experienced one , this novel share her author with Beast tamer that got animated recently.
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