My Room Has Become a Dungeon's Rest Area (LN) - Book 2: Chapter 3: (2)

「If you want to help him, there’s a better way.」

「Oh! What is it?」

「You could offer a bigger reward through the Adventurer’s Guild. Only this time, make it a condition that he’s brought in alive.」

I get it. Rather than catching Enami first, and making enemies out of all the adventurers exploring the dungeon, it would be better to make allies of the other adventurers. That way, our chances of helping Enami would probably increase, too.

「But can we do something like that?」

「First, we ought to discuss it with the person who put out the request. But the important thing is that they just want Enami gone, so I think it should be okay.」

I see. In that case, we’d probably be helping the Adventurer’s Guild if we put out a request to trap Enami.

「Deet. I really shouldn’t ask, but about going to the Adventurer’s Guild……」

Before I could finish saying ‘Would you mind going?’, I was interrupted by Deet.

「I’m not going!」

「W-why?」

「I only just got back here! Humph!」

I did feel sorry for her. But I can’t just ignore the fact that Enami might get killed.

「I know it’s a big ask. But can you help me out?」

「If you’ll come with me, Thor, I’ll go……」

「What? You’re asking me to go to the Adventurer’s Guild?」

「Yeah. Who’s going to go apart from you, Thor? You’ll probably need directions to the surface, so I’ll come with you.」

It was an unexpected suggestion. Up until this point, I had only interacted with the other world through the dungeon.

Going to the Adventurer’s Guild meant going to a town where there were people from the other world.

Because my apartment was connected to the dungeon and there was nothing I could do about that, I felt that it was okay for me, a Japanese person, to get involved with the other world to that extent. But honestly, I was kind of interested, too.

Besides, I had a duty to rescue Enami.

「Shall we go and visit……the Adventurer’s Guild?」

I did feel like waiting until I’d levelled up a bit further, but with Deet – who could travel to the surface and back in 4 days by herself – guiding me, there wouldn’t be a problem.

Besides, Ria would probably be coming along, too.

「You’ll come too, won’t you, Ria?」

「What?! B-but I don’t have a sword, so I’d just be a burden……」

Of course. Ria didn’t have a sword.

「Hehehe…」

Deet burst out laughing suddenly.

「What?!」

「D’you know what I’m carrying on my back?」

Come to think of it, Deet was carrying a long item wrapped in cloth.

「I bought this for you, Ria. Yeah, it’s a present.」

「What?! For me?」

Deet took the cloth away with a smile.

「A s-sword!」

「It’s a claymore. It’s pretty good, so…」

「No way! I can’t accept this.」

「It’s okay, just take it. I don’t use stuff like that anyway. You haven’t been able to go back to the surface until now because you didn’t have a sword, right?」

「That’s……」

I approached Deet and said in a quiet voice,

「You just want Ria to go back to the surface, don’t you?」

「Ulp…I……」

That’s what I said, but I knew there was no way Deet had bought that sword purely out of self-interest.

「Thank you very much……I’ll pay you back.」

「It’s okay, I earn plenty.」

The two of them had become friends after all.

Seeing that、I let out a shout.

「All right! Let’s make our way through the dungeon to the surface, the three of us!」

「A-are we going right now?」Ria asked.

Of course, we couldn’t go straight away.

「No, probably tomorrow or the day after. We’ll need to prepare, right?」

「Y-yeah.」

We needed to make preparations if we were going to get through the dungeon, and I also had to contact the people at my part-time job.

While I’m at it, I’ll level up by clicking the mouse as many times as possible.

In combat, I want to focus on experience output, not input.

After all, it’s dangerous.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

Because Deet had returned, I decided to make a sumptuous meal of sukiyaki for dinner. I went to a specialist shop to buy the beef while the two of them were in the bath.

It was a bit expensive, but Deet had brought back a lot of gold coins from Gadheus with her, so I figured this much of an extravagance was all right.

When I’d come back from the Japanese-style room, I asked Shizuku, who was in the closet,

「Are those two still in the bath?」

「Yep.」

「I see. I’ve been and bought some delicious meat, so from now on, let’s all eat together.」

「I can’t eat with you.」

Shizuku trembled. It wasn’t the trembling of happiness but of sadness.

Little by little, I was becoming able to work out Shizuku’s emotions from the way she trembled.

「It’s okay, it’s okay.」

「Will you leave some meat for me?」

「No. Come and eat with us. I’m dressed, so you’ll turn into my clothes.」

「Oh! Is……is that okay?」

「Of course.」

Shizuku jiggled as if she was really happy.

I stripped off in the closet.

Straight away, Shizuku attached herself to my body, turning into an exact replica of the clothes I’d just taken off.

「All right! Shall we prepare the sukiyaki before those two come out of their bath?」

「I’ll learn that dish so that next time I can make it for you, Master!」

So Shizuku has that type of special skill? That’s a big help.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

「Mmm! This is so tasty. What the heck is it?!」

「It really is! The meat is so sweet and tender!」

It seemed Deet and Ria liked my sukiyaki.

「It’s beef. If you eat it with rice, it’s even tastier.」

While the two of them were distracted by how much they liked the sukiyaki, I slipped some meat and rice inside my cuff for Shizuku.

I could tell that Shizuku, who had turned into my clothes, was jiggling with delight.

I should try some, too.

「Mmm, this is delicious! Probably because I used high-quality Japanese beef today.」

Was that the only reason? It was probably also in part because we were all eating the sukiyaki together.

While we were drinking tea and chatting after finishing our sukiyaki, Ria suddenly stood up.

「Sir Thor. Deet.」

「What?」

「What’s wrong?」

Ria was smiling, but her face was quite serious.

「Now that I’ve got a sword again for the first time in a while, I’m going to take this sword I’ve been given and swing it around in the big room in the dungeon.」

I understand. That’s probably a natural line of thinking for an adventurer who explores dungeons.

Maybe I’ll go for a bit of a tour, as well.

I’ve come up with another way of getting stronger.

「Is it okay if I come for a look around, too?」

「No, I’d like to train by myself for a little while. Is that all right?」

It was rare for Ria to speak to me so firmly.

「I-I see. I don’t mind.」

「I’m sorry. It was selfish of me to say that.」

「But you can’t return to this room without me, so is it okay if I come and meet you after about an hour?」

「Yes! Thank you.」

It seems there are a lot of people who like to train by themselves.

Ria went out into the dungeon from the entryway.

Leaving Deet in the dining room, I took Shizuku off in the Japanese-style room and put my normal clothes back on.

「Shizuku, I’ve got a small favour to ask.」

「What is it, Master?」

「Could you disguise yourself as a stone wall for a bit and spy on Ria’s training for me?」

「How will that help you?」

「If I put you on once you’ve memorised Ria’s movements, I think I should be able to trace her moves.」

Even though my status has improved, I think it’ll still be pretty tricky for a Japanese person like me to do battle with a monster unexpectedly.

By wearing Shizuku, who can memorise the movements of a skilled warrior, I should be able to learn those movements easily. I’ll do super-training in my version of martial arts, which uses Shizuku.

Maybe I could even go with her to a dojo where people practised sports like karate and aikido.

「I understand, Master!」

It seemed as if smart little Shizuku had understood my thinking.

Opening the door to the entryway quietly, I stepped outside just a little way. Here, we were in the shadow of the big pillar, so we shouldn’t be noticed by Ria.

「Okay, please study the movements of Ria the knight and come back to me!」

「Yes, Master!」

Blending into the stone floor, Shizuku started to move away from me.

「All right. I can go and meet Ria and Shizuku in about an hour.」

With this in mind, I went to close the entryway door.

「Master! It’s terrible! Lady Ria has collapsed!」

Shizuku’s shout echoed around the big room in the dungeon.

Panicking, I ran towards the two of them.

Why had Ria collapsed?!