My Room Has Become a Dungeon's Rest Area (LN) - Book 2: Chapter 5: (2)

Behind me, Deet huffed discontentedly.

It was as I was looking over my shoulder to admonish her, 「Shut up, Deet」that it happened.

「Whaaaaat?!」

The voice came from behind me again, but this time it was Ria’s voice.

「What’s up, Ria? Did I startle you?」

「S-Sir Thor – over there……」

Ria, shocked, pointed towards the door to the entryway of the apartment building.

Isn’t that just the normal entrance hall door? I don’t see anything unusual about it. Doesn’t it just look like a simple stone wall to people from the other world? Nothing for her to be so shocked about……?

「R-Ria. Could it be that you’re seeing the entrance hall door instead of the stone wall of the dungeon?」

Ria nodded her head up and down several times.

「Huh? Wh-what do you mean? I can’t see it at all!」

「I can’t see it either. Can you see a door there, Lady Ria?」

It seems like neither Deet nor Shizuku can see it. In which case……

「Y-yes. One that I’ve never seen before…… Is it the door to your apartment, Sir Thor?」

Neither Deet nor Shizuku could see it. Only Ria could.

If that’s the case, then…… I handed Deet not the duplicate key, but the real one.

「Deet. I want to check whether the door appears for you when you’re holding the key.」

「The key? Oh! Is that it!」

Deet took the key from me and looked behind her to where the door was.

「Ah, there it is! Does this mean that, if I’ve got the key, I can come into your apartment whenever I like?! That’s right, isn’t it, Thor?」

Just as I thought. I’m going to ignore Deet’s selfish chatter and try another little experiment.

「See if you can open the entrance hall door with the key, Ria.」

「Oh, okay! I’ll give it a go!」

Dress armour clanking, Ria ran up to the entryway door.

「Er, should I put the key in this hole and turn it?」

「Yeah, that’s right.」

It was the first time she’d seen a dimple key, so it had perplexed her a bit, but she seemed to have worked out that, since it was a key, all she had to do was put it in the lock and turn it.

「Oh, it opened!」

Ria opened the entrance hall door halfway.

「It looks as if even people from the other world can get into my apartment if they use the key.」

I wonder if the key has any other effects?

「Oh! Outside! The sky!」

「Huh?」

Looking into the room from the entrance hall, Ria pointed.

「Can you see the outdoors from my apartment window?」

「Yes! That’s the place called ‘Japan’, isn’t it?」

Apparently, if someone from the other world had the key to my room, then – even from within the dungeon – they could see the door to the entrance hall, and from the window they could see the scenery of Japan, just as someone from this world could.

Deet also peeked at the room from behind my back.

「 It’s true! The key to your apartment is very useful, Thor.」

「Deet. I want to see if Shizuku can see it, too. Try giving her the key.」

「Okay.」

I wonder if even Shizuku, a white slime, can see it?

「I can see it! I can see the view of Japan outside!」

「Ooh, it looks like it works on monsters, too. Okay! Maybe…! Shizuku, the key! Please give me the key!」

「H-here.」

I took the key from Shizuku and ran to the iron door. From behind, I could hear the footsteps of Ria and the others following me.

「What’s wrong, Sir Thor?」

「Ria, can you get your shield ready just in case, and block any monsters if they appear?」

「O-of course.」

「Deet, when you’ve pressed the button that opens and closes the iron door, press it one more time.」

「Huh? Why?」

「Just do it!」

Ria lifted her shield, and Deet, with a wondering look on her face, pressed the button that would open and close the iron door.

The iron door began to rise little by little.

「Okay, that’s enough. I get it! Press it once again to close it. Close it!」

「O-okay.」

The door closed completely.

「What was that all about?」

「Deet, if you and the others have the key to my room, you can see out of the doors and windows that no-one from the other world has seen yet, which you can use to get into Japan, right?」

「That’s right. Oh – perhaps – 」

「Until now, you’ve been seeing a stone wall on the other side of the iron door, but if you have the key, the stone wall disappears.」

Apparently, the key of this stigmatised property allowed the holder to pass freely between Japan and the other world.

Ria and the others all looked at one another. The truth was, I had another hypothesis.

「Incidentally… I know they’re often full of traps, or used by monsters as dens, but aren’t there spaces in the dungeon that can only be locked from the inside and that practically scream ‘camp here’?」

Deet had told me about them.

「That’s right. There are places just like this one – they’re called ‘rooms’. Oh – does that mean…?!」

「Yeah. It might be that they’re linked to my room, too.」

「Th-that’s possible. It might be worth investigating.」

「Well, this key seems pretty useful, doesn’t it? It might count as a precious artiefact in the other world. Ria, keep it with you and don’t lose it under any circumstances, okay?」

「G-got it!」

Ria nodded, her expression serious.

Bracing myself, I said to the party,「Well then, let’s set out for the surface!」

I was expecting a response of 「Ooh!」. However…

「I want one, too! I want a key! I wanna key, I wanna key!」

Deet began demanding a key like a spoiled brat.

「Huh? But we’re going to the surface of the other world now…… I’m just having Ria look after the key for me, it’s not like I’ve given it to her or anything……」

「S-Sir Thor? May I speak freely? I don’t…… I don’t want the key.」

What? Ria…… She was holding the little key close to her, protecting it with her breastplate and gauntlet. She looked up, tearfully.

「H-here you go. You can have it……」

「Really? Oh, I’m so happy!」

「Why did you only give the key to Ria? Discrimination! This is discrimination, Thor!」

Jiggling, Shizuku said, 「Are there only two of those keys, Master? I want one, too…」

「Y-yeah. I might be able to get another one from a locksmith in Japan, though.」

Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.

In a spirited voice, Deet said, 「A locksmith?! Let’s go! Let’s go to the locksmith!」

However I looked at it, she had much more motivation for that than she did for going to rescue Enami.

Well, maybe it’s all right. She helped Ria, and she brought us gold, so I’m grateful to her for that.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

I ended up leaving Ria and Shizuku in my room and heading out with Deet once again into the streets of Japan.

We went into the locksmith’s, and I asked whether they could make me some duplicate keys.

「We can do you two keys in about half an hour.」

「I see. Yes please.」

We had some time to kill.

「There’s a park nearby. Shall we go there?」

「So there are parks in Japan, too?」

「That’s right.」

「I thought it was just buildings and roads with cars on.」

「The area near the station is like that, but if you go a little further out, there are fields, too.」

Although Tachikawa is a ‘city’, it’s really in the suburbs. It takes about half an hour to get to Shinjuku. It’s pretty far from the metropolis.

「Oh, r-really? I see. There has to be somewhere that produces the food, I suppose.」

「Well, in any case, shall we go to the park?」

We arrived at the park. It wasn’t anything special, just a wide open park; the signboard read ‘Kurenai Park’, and there were children playing there energetically.

The two of us sat down on the grass. Perhaps as a precaution, Deet pulled the hat that she wore to cover her ears even further over her face. There was a subtle distance between us.

That might just have been her nature; she was a sorceress who was used to working alone.

「This place you call Japan is really developed, isn’t it? There are people and buildings everywhere.」

「Well, I suppose.」

「Don’t you have wars and stuff?」

「Not in about 70 years.」

「Maybe that’s why it’s so developed. But I can’t see a single elf or demi-human anywhere. Aren’t there any in this kingdom?」

Oh. Is that why she’s on her guard?

「In this world, there are no elves or demi-humans in Japan or in any of the other countries.」

「What? You’ve got to be kidding me.」

「It’s true.」

「Is that because humans wiped them out?」Deet asked sharply. Perhaps her misanthropy is actually a hatred of humans.

「No, humans have fought wars against each other in the past, but I’ve never heard of them going to war against elves or demi-humans.」

「I wonder if that’s really true.」

Surely we haven’t…… No, wait.

「Well, giants and demi-humans come up in myths. But those stories aren’t considered to be real.」

「I see. Well, that’s okay. I’ll believe you. I’m sorry, by the way.」

「Huh? What for?」

「For selfishly saying that I wanted the key and stuff, even though it’s your home, Thor.」

To tell the truth, I didn’t mind Deet and the others coming into my apartment at all.

「I wanted to give it to you so that you guys could come to my home whenever. If you’ve got a key, you’ll be able to.」

「Thor…… Thank you.」

「I want to show you around a Japanese city, too. There’s more to Tachikawa than Tons Quijote. There’s a cinema, and a pool, and a place where you can have BBQs…」

Now I think about it, of all those things, they might have BBQs in the other world, too.

「That sounds so fun!」

「Deet, the dungeon is dangerous, even for you. You ought to join a party. Ria and I will band together with you when we’re free.」

「Really? I’ll think about it.」

Deet pulled her hat even further down over her face, which had gone red, and quietly came to sit closer to me.