Danmachi – Card Wizard - Chapter 9

Leaving the armoury, the two young people walked back inside the center hall of the mansion. The dining room was on the right side of the room, while at the far end of the hall were the stairs leading to the second and third floors. On the left side of the aisle was a large door that was kept open at all times. Above the door was the words ‘dormitory’, which the two were searching.

On the other side of the door was a large corridor, and the inside was separated on the right, left and front. On the right were the numbers one to three hundred. Straight ahead were the numbers 301 to 600, while the hallway’s left side had the number 601 to 900. Turning to the left along with Ais, they once again pushed a door open only to find a long highway. However, it seemed extremely clean, as if constructed recently.​​

None of this mattered, however, as both of them arrived in front of their room’s door. Both rooms were exactly in front of each other. The two looked at each other. “In twenty minutes in front of the armoury.” Said Aidan pushing the door key in the door handle and opening his door to reveal a clean small apartment.

In the entry of the room was the vestibule as he left his shoes there. Entering further in the apartment was a small living room with a couch and a small table on its side. A fluffy blue carpet was in front of the sofa. Looking at the small table next to the couch, he saw a large book with the title ‘Dungeon and monster.’ After giving it a quick look to understand the monsters on the first floor and their weakness, he turned towards the dining room and saw a brown, wooden table along with four chairs intrinsically made, standing around the round table. Next to it was a kitchen, but he was sure he wouldn’t be using it for a while as he didn’t seem to be interested in cooking at all.

Going to the bathroom, he saw a shower and a small toilet right next to it. A sink was on the bathroom’s right wall, and a few shelves were above the sink to leave his items.

Leaving the bathroom, he went to the last room, the bedroom. The small room was also simple. A single-sized bed stood in the center of the room and a night table was next to it. The mattress was soft, and the blankets had a blue and red colour scheme. Leaving his identification paper, Orario city pass and his money on the night table, he only kept his scabbard with his longsword, his deck of card, the door key which he would leave at the reception in the hall, and he held 120 Valis to buy Jagamarukun before entering the dungeon.

After visiting the new apartment, he looked at the clock and saw that he still had about fifteen minutes until he had to leave to get his armour. As such, he took out his magical card with the word ‘Shield’ and started to input his magic. He wanted to have this magic card, at least in case something happened. Currently, he was too weak to make multiple cards at once, as his mother had done. All he could do was use his magic to create a single card before heading to the dungeon. As for choosing between ‘Fireball’ and ‘Shield,’ he chose the latter since he believed that the two of them would be able to fight on the first floor and only kept the ‘Shield’ card in case something happened.

After a dozen minutes of inserting his magic in the card, he managed to improve it to 1.1. It would be able to block a blow once of a weak enemy. Seeing the time, he got out of his door and met Ais as she got out at the same time. As he looked at her, he noticed that she had changed from her green dress and instead wore white shorts with a white shirt that exposed part of her arms.

“It suits you well.” Aidan praised as Ais gave him a brief happy smile.

Smiling back at her, they turned together and went to the armoury, which should have about finished with the leather armour’s modifications. As they arrived, they quickly collected the modified armour for them and their adventurer’s card made by one of the familia’s workers with the guild’s help. Adventurers had to always keep the card with them when entering the dungeon. It served as identification.

Leaving the manor afterwards, Aidan and Ais met Gareth and Finn, upon which they greeted before going to the dungeon. For people like them who only lived to become stronger, the idea of entering the dungeon was pleasant and attractive. On their way towards the tower, Aidan stopped at a stall and bought four snacks, two for each of them.

As he handed two to Ais, she muttered a thank you as she took them and ate with a bright smile on her face.

Eating both of them with great relish, they ran towards the dungeon until they finally reached the city’s highest tower, the tower of Babel. The gods built this tower to stop the invasion of monsters on the surface world. This tower of fifty floors at the center of the city was the world’s most important building as it effectively prevented monsters from going out and slaughtering the surface world.

As they walked to the large tower’s open doors, the two children saw the adventurers entering or exiting the dungeon repeatedly. Most of them were fitted with basic armour and wielded either a sword or axes. Adventurers with dagger or lances were relatively rarer.

Seeing the blood on the adventurers who came out of the dungeon, Ais and Aidan frowned slightly. Still, their desire to become stronger overwhelmed this disgusting scene as they entered the tower and walked towards the tower’s basement.

Before entering the basement stairs, there was a checkpoint where the adventurer would have to show their adventurer registration. This registration served to know who entered the dungeon at what time and what their goals were. If they didn’t come back within three days, they would be considered missing, and the guild would send a search team. However, this was more to confirm their death as the chance of them surviving was low. Moreover, it only worked on the first few floors as it would become impossible to search for them afterwards.

Entering the line of adventurers who were waiting to fill their information before entering the dungeon, Aidan and Ais attracted attention due to their small stature and their young age. “Kids, this isn’t a place to play. Go back home.” Said a man right behind them.

Turning around, Aidan smiled. “Thank you for the reminder, sir. We are fully aware that this isn’t a game, and Loki-sama already permitted us to go to the first floor of the dungeon.”

Upon hearing his words, he sighed and let it go. What could he do? They were part of the Loki familia, the strongest familia, and their goddess had agreed to let them enter the dungeon. At this point, interfering would be considered rude.

However, a few more guys didn’t seem to accept his words as they jeered at the two children of which the two new members of the Loki familia ignored. Those guys were different from the previous man who only wanted to help them. They were spouting whatever came to their mind, feeling a sense of superiority. Their leering didn’t continue for a long moment as a guard of the tower looked at them with a silent warning.

A few minutes later, Ais and Aidan stopped in front of the guild member, recording the people who entered the dungeon. She was wearing a blouse, and her clothes were spotless, along with glasses over her pale blue eyes. The woman had tied her hair in a ponytail as she held a feather pen to write down the name, familia of the adventurers and the floor they wished to go in the dungeon. Seeing two children, the guild worker was surprised but still did her job as they handed her their adventurer licence the guild made.

“Which floor are you going to today?” Asked the guild member as she recorded their name and familia.

“The first floor.” Answered Aidan as they took back their adventurer’s identification and left towards the basement upon receiving the guild woman’s blessings.

With a sense of excitement, they went down the hole in the middle of the basement. “Are you ready?” Asked Aidan, upon which he smiled knowingly upon seeing the excitement on her usual expressionless face.

Walking down the circular walkway to enter the first floor of the dungeon, the two saw dozens of adventurers walking up or down. Gripping his sword a bit tighter, Aidan finally put his foot on the first floor of the dungeon.