Translator: Shizukuku

Editor: Lilia

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 126 – Exploration Date! Yay!

Today was going to be an exploration date with Vidello-san.

Healing potions, check. Blinding potions, check. Sandwich bento, also check. It felt like a picnic!

There were no items to break curses, so if you got cursed, you would have to go to a church to have the curse lifted by a clergyman.

After checking my equipment one last time in front of the workshop, I headed for the gate where Vidello-san would be waiting for me.

When I arrived at the gate, I found Vidello-san standing there wearing a different outfit from the one he wore when he was a gatekeeper. He was wearing a proper breastplate and gauntlets. On the bottom, he wore heavy-duty boots, making him look lightly armored and cool.

I was wearing a light breastplate and a robe as usual. Heavy equipment would only slow me down, and I didn’t have a use for it, anyway.

I ran up to Vidello-san, who raised his hand in greeting.

It was Sunday, exams were over, and I could spend the whole day dungeon-diving with Vidello-san.

“Vidello-san, sorry I’m late. I must have kept you waiting.”

“No, I’m just early. I couldn’t wait to see you. Shall we head out right away?”

“Yeah.”

We walked through the gate side by side.

Vidello-san’s colleague waved us off.

“It seems there’s some commotion towards the east today.”

“The east?”

“Yeah. If you enter the forest to the left of this road, it seems there are quite a few monsters. Hopefully, nothing happens.”

“Yeah.”

Some kind of mass outbreak? We headed west into the forest, in the opposite direction of the area we’d heard about earlier.

Two hours west of here was the cave that Vidello-san had mentioned. The dungeon was located at the foot of a mountain in the center of this continent.

However…

“Ah, wait, there are mushrooms here. Can I pick some?”

“Feel free to pick as many as you like.”

“Hmm, those monsters give some good materials, don’t they?”

“Got it. Hey Mac, do you want to pick those nuts growing over there?”

“Oh! I do want them.”

“Wait here, I’ll pick them for you.”

“Thank you.”

And so we hadn’t gotten very far as of yet.

The forest was a treasure trove of materials at any given moment.

Vidello-san knew me all too well, and he would point out or gather materials for me when he spotted them.

To say the least, it was fun. Even if we never made it to the dungeon, I would still treasure this day.

My face naturally broke into a smile. Vidello-san’s beautiful face smiled back at me with a devastating effect. I love him.

By the time we reached our dungeon destination, our inventory was replenished to almost full, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky.

It was a little over an hour before noon. Since we left Tre in the morning, that meant we took about three and a half hours to travel what would normally be a two-hour journey.

“It’s a bit early, but would you like to have lunch before we go into the dungeon?”

There were quite a few good rocks around, and although it was a forest, it was easy to keep watch, so there was no problem sitting and relaxing. But it wouldn’t be the same inside the cave.

“I guess so. Are you hungry, Mac?”

“Hmm… a little. But we might not be able to eat once we go inside, so let’s eat. I made something good for you.”

I pulled the bento out of my inventory and handed it to him, and Vidello-san’s face broke into a wide grin.

I couldn’t help but smile in response.

After some food and a rest, we stepped into the dungeon.

Inside, it was dimly lit, but we proceeded, using a lantern to illuminate the path ahead of us.

I was in charge of searching for enemies, but Vidello-san could also sense them to some extent. Impressive as always.

Of course, we collected materials along the way, and Vidello-san’s sword turned any enemies we encountered into light.

We continued on, taking various detours along the way.

We carefully opened any suspicious-looking doors we came across.

Inside, we found various things, like skeletons with swords still embedded in their bellies and the traces of someone camping, presenting quite an impressive sight.

When we found the skeletons, Vidello-san quietly closed his eyes and offered a prayer. Following suit, I also clasped my hands together. Find peace.

Then, we checked if there were any personal items on the skeletons so we could take them back with us. At first, I was concerned, because it felt like I was robbing them. But I was told this was considered proper etiquette for dungeon explorers. It was done as a courtesy, to ensure their items reached someone. I had never thought about it that way before, so I’ll do the same from now on.  

Unfortunately, the skeletons we saw in the first couple of rooms didn’t have anything to bring back, so we simply observed a moment of silence.

“Reckless ones, they’re increasing…”

Vidello-san muttered with a sigh when we found the third skeleton.

He told me that, in the past, there weren’t many people who would venture blindly into a place like this. Even those who were quite confident in their abilities would form parties and dive down little by little.

I see. We players were moving forward so aggressively and the adventurers in this world wanted to keep up. Perhaps adventurers in this world had started pushing themselves beyond their limits as a result of being influenced by us.

Vidello-san removed a shiny accessory from the skeleton’s chest and stuffed it into his waist bag.

We may be a little reckless, but that’s because we’ll come back to life again. These adventurers wouldn’t. Their journey ended here, in this dark cave. I’m so sorry. I wish you peace. With those thoughts in mind, I clasped my hands together.

Vidello-san, standing next to me, pulled my head towards him.

“There’s no one to blame. These guys just overestimated their own abilities. So, Mac, don’t worry about it.”

“Yeah…”

Still, it’s hard not to feel uneasy when you consider that these aren’t just objects in a dungeon written by code, but the remains of people who lost their lives here.

After offering a brief prayer for the skeleton, we proceeded further in.

“This was supposed to be fun, but I’ve made you think too hard, huh.”

“No, it’s okay. Let’s keep going. I want to gather more materials!”

When I tried to sound cheerful, Vidello-san chuckled and patted me on the head.

“Yeah, there’s still a long way to go. Mac, make sure to be careful.”

“I will!”

We advanced through the dungeon, battling monsters along the way. And whenever we came across a door, we tried to open it.

Vidello-san told me that the traps on the doors were basic ones and he quickly disarmed them. Amazing. He was so cool.

I was watching from the side, but I couldn’t figure out what he was doing to disarm the traps. Apparently, there was a trick to it. While I could easily detect the traps, I had no idea how to disarm them.

Finally, we arrived at the innermost part of the dungeon, where the cursed altar was located.

In front of us stood what appeared to be a stone statue of a wolf beastman. It looked old, but the foundation and stone materials were quite solid. There was no sign of weathering or damage.

However, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to touch it.

After all, I could clearly sense that there would definitely be consequences if I did. Using my detection gave me goosebumps all over. It felt like someone was shouting loudly from the sidelines, ‘Don’t touch it! It’s dangerous!’

“This statue is what’s been cursing people. Don’t touch it, Mac.”

“Even if you wanted me to, I don’t want to touch it. It feels really creepy.”

I shuddered. Vidello-san grinned and said, “Good boy,” as he grabbed my arm and took a step back.

In this room, aside from the stone statue, there didn’t seem to be anything noteworthy at first glance. The floor was paved with cobblestones, with a few blades of grass peeking through the cracks. The walls were simply bare rock faces, with no unusual objects or special gimmicks in sight. Even when I used my detection, there was no reaction from anything other than the stone statue. It was a little disappointing.

But I got a lot of materials along the way, so I was satisfied.

Vidello-san was focused on the stone statue of the beastman.

“Mac, do you know about beastmen?”

“Beastmen? I’ve seen them walking around the towns.”

After all, you could choose to be a beastman during character creation. So, I’d sometimes see players walking around as beastmen.

In response, Vidello-san gave a small shake of his head.

“Not foreigners, but the beastmen who have lived in this land since ancient times.”

“Eh…?”

So, there were native beastmen in this world. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any, though. But well, elves were real here too, so it wouldn’t be strange if they existed.

Since I had never heard of them to that extent, I shook my head, and Vidello-san softly murmured, “I see.”

“It seems that, in the past, people and beastmen used to live in the same city. However, that was long before I was born. But I heard that some time ago, the beastmen all left to live in the mountains in the center of this country. That’s the reason why there are only foreigner beastmen now, because all the native beastmen moved to the mountains. There are various theories: some say there was a conflict between humans and beastmen; or that humans, fearing the power of the beastmen, drove them out; or that the beastmen, disgusted by the excessive development of the city, sought nature. But no one knows the true reason. So, I’ve never seen a native beastman even once. It seems nobody knows why this statue is standing here spreading curses either.”

I followed Vidello-san’s gaze and looked up at the statue to study it more carefully.

Despite the hard surface of the stone, the finely crafted statue displayed intricate detailing, with each strand of fur carved out. It piqued my curiosity about who made it and what they were thinking when they carved it.

And the curse. It wasn’t just one curse; apparently, the symptoms were random. You wouldn’t know what curse you’d be afflicted with until you touched it.

When I went around to the back of the statue, I found that it also had a tail firmly attached. It was amazing that I could tell the fur was fluffy, despite it being made of stone.

Vidello-san joined me at the back of the statue and observed it carefully.

“Beastmen look strong, don’t they?”

“He sure looks like he’d be strong. He has a sturdy physique, and his legs seem to be built for both bipedal and quadrupedal walking. And these thighs, they look like they could generate incredible speed.”

“You figured all that out from a stone statue?”

“I can tell just by looking.”

I see. All I could tell by looking at it was that it was muscular. But it was true that his chest, which was even thicker than Vidello-san’s, gave him an imposing presence, almost like a wolf howling in the distance. You would definitely feel like you couldn’t escape if he approached you on all fours. 

But he was wearing clothes, right? I guess it’s only natural, since he was a beastman.

“Even the accessories are made of stone. It looks like they had a proper model.”

Accessories hanging from the wrists and neck muscles were depicted in stone. And on their surface…

“These characters are from the ancient magical language…”

The accessory on his wrist, which looked like a bracelet, was engraved with letters in an ancient magical language. It’s the sort of subtlety that you would overlook if you were told that the artist carved it as a relief to make the bracelet look more luxurious.

“Can you read this, Mac?”

“Yeah. These aren’t too old, so it’s still understandable. Wait, let me read it now.”

I approached the statue and carefully peered at its wrist, making sure not to touch it.

There, it was written:

[ The peerless hero Jhal・Gar rests here. ]