My Room Has Become a Dungeon's Rest Area (LN) - Book 2: Chapter 5: (7)

「Huh? Why?」

I would have expected the danger to increase the deeper we went into the dungeon, not the other way round.

The first floor ought to be the safest…

「The first level is inhabited by humans and demi-humans who can’t survive on the surface. It’s full of criminals, and turf wars are common.」

Wh-what?!

According to Ria and Deet, the first level of the dungeon had literally become the territory of the human underground.

Several forces were engaged in turf wars.

In order of influence, these forces were the Thieves’ Guild (for those who made their living through burglary, theft and pickpocketing); the Merchants’ Guild (for those who dealt both in ordinary goods and in goods which could not be traded on the surface), and the Mercenaries’ Guild, which had recently risen to prominence and was nicknamed the Bodyguards’ Guild.

「Sounds a bit scary.」

I made a serious face, but Deet, relaxed, said, 「Well, you’ll be fine as long as you’re careful of the Bodyguards’ Guild.」

「What? Surely the Thieves’ Guild is worse?」

Traders and mercenaries had a legitimate occupation. To Japanese sensibilities, thieves were the only ones of the three who were criminals to begin with.

And Ria was in agreement with me.

「Yes, the Thieves’ Guild is bad, too.」

「Huh? What the heck?」

Ria and Deet seemed to be at odds in their opinions.

According to Deet, the Thieves’ Guild mostly stuck to the order given by its former leader, the legendary great thief Dorothea, to ‘never steal from the poor’.

They tended to target nobles and rich merchants. In other words, they were chivalrous thieves.

But for Ria, whose employers – a noble family – had ruined themselves trying to protect the people of their fief, this was intolerable.

「The Kache family had their assets stolen too, you know!」

「That wasn’t necessarily the work of the Thieves’ Guild from the Dungeon of Yomi.」

「I heard them mention Dorothea’s name!」

「It’s because the Thieves’ Guild takes in children without parents. They have to live somehow, even if that’s through crime. It’s all right if they’re stealing from nobles.」

「They should go to a proper orphanage!」

「They can’t all go to an orphanage!」

It didn’t look like the two of them were going to reach an agreement.

「What about the Merchants’ Guild?」

「It’s a good thing they’re around.」

According to Deet, they sold food, daily necessities, weapons, armour, and other items that were necessary for exploring the dungeon.

They also traded with criminals who could not sell their excavated artifacts in shops on the surface, so there were cheap bargains to be found.

But Ria did not look favourably on the Merchants’ Guild, either.

「They offer goods and services that are prohibited by the laws of the surface.」

They sold dangerous concoctions, young children, and cursed weapons, and offered gambling dens and other dubious services.

「But there are some people in this world who need those things. They’re sort of a necessary evil.」

Ria objected to what Deet was saying.

「You’ve been to the Merchants’ Guild’s gambling dens from time to time, haven’t you, Deet? People talk about it in the tavern at the Adventurer’s Guild, you know.」

「Ulp. But there are gambling dens on the surface, too…」

「The rates are different.」

「The Merchants’ Guild is even worse than the Thieves’ Guild. Forcing me to go into a gambling den……」

Until now, Deet hasn’t said anything in defence of the Merchants’ Guild, has she?

「There’s hardly anyone who could force you to go into a gambling den with them, Deet.」

Apparently, Deet was a fan of gambling.

「Well, if we don’t get involved with the Merchants’ Guild from our side, we’ll be fine.」

「Why isn’t anybody cracking down on them?」

Ria seemed to be finding it difficult to answer. Deet answered instead.

「If money is moving about, there are powerful people involved.」

Perhaps Ria had been unable to answer because she was embarrassed about how things were in her world, but the situation was much the same in Japan.

「And the last one, the Bodyguards’ Guild?」

「They’re the worst.」

Ria and Deet seemed to be in agreement on this.

It seemed that the guild’s main source of income was extorting money from merchants and beginner adventurers on the pretext of protection.

「Do they really protect them?」

「I’ve heard of them tagging along, unasked, on beginner adventurers’ expeditions under the guise of being bodyguards, and then taking everything that the party earns.」

Ria was angry. Even Deet, who recognised the existence of ‘necessary evils’, was hard on the Bodyguards’ Guild.

「They collect a toll on the best road for getting to the underground levels. They call it a ‘management fee’.」

The dungeon was massive. It was only now that I found out that there was more than one road, or set of steps, leading from each underground level to the other levels.

Deet knew the safest – and fastest – route that would take us to the surface.

Apparently, the Bodyguards’ Guild hogged one of the most convenient roads to the first floor.

「If there’s just one of you, they’ll treat you like a nobody, but if there’s a crowd of you, they’ll be outnumbered!」

In any case, there were almost no monsters on the first level; it was a zone where humans and demi-humans could live. But instead of monsters, there were lots of shady people and areas.

Somehow, I felt that the Thieves’ Guild was the least bad out of all of them.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

We finished our curry, and walked through the forest with the sunlight pouring down on us.

As we were walking, I suddenly realised something.

「I know I had you turn green, Shizuku, but will that be enough? On the first level, won’t I stand out if I’m carrying a slime around with me?」

「If there are people who have the ability to detect monsters, they’ll certainly use that skill. She might be exposed as a white slime」Ria said, troubled.

That lot on the first floor will probably use monster detection skills.

「M-Master. Am I causing you trouble?」Shizuku asked, trembling sadly.

「No, not at all! Hop in my rucksack, you’ll be fine.」

Ria shook her head.

「There are guys in the Bodyguards’ Guild who’ll make you show them what’s in your bag in case you have valuables in there. There are ways of not showing them, but…… You might end up fighting over whether you show them or not.」

「Hmm…… I’ve got it! I’ll just get Shizuku to turn into my clothes.」

「Your clothes?」

「Oh, Shizuku can turn into clothes, can’t she?」

This time, Shizuku trembled with happiness.

「I can!」

「I-Is that so? But there are people who have the ability to appraise your stuff, too, you know.」

「Huh?」

「Because your clothes are unusual, Thor, they might use their skill to appraise them. They won’t think your clothes could be as valuable as a white slime, but when they try to appraise Shizuku in the guise of your clothes, they won’t be able to, and that might make them suspicious.」

「So that’s no good, then?」

That’s true. Clothes from Japan are unusual.

Oh, wait! It’ll be okay if the clothes are normal ones, won’t it?

「I think you only saw them from a distance, Shizuku, but could you turn into that person’s clothes?」

「‘That person’? Who do you mean?」

If I took on the appearance of that person, they shouldn’t go to the trouble of appraising my clothes.

♦︎ ♦︎ ♦︎

「What do you think, Ria, Deet?」

I was wearing tattered leather armour.

I was dressed like Dan, the adventurer with the cross-shaped scar on his face to whom we’d given the Miso Ichiban.

I think I look pretty cool.

「You look like a veteran adventurer!」

「Ooh, it suits you, it really suits you.」

「All right!」

Just what I’d expect from Shizuku’s copying ability.

「I’m happy that I could make you happy, Master!」

「It’s a bit weird that I have a pickaxe for a weapon. If I had an iron sword or something, I’d be the very picture of an adventurer.」

Deet laughed, and said, 「Yeah. When we get to the first floor, I’ll buy you one.」

「Really? In that case, let me take a picture of all of us on my phone.」

Ria and Deet seemed not to understand what I meant. But I was sure that if I printed the picture out and gave it to her when we got back to Japan, Deet would be happy.

We came across a natural cave in the forest. Inside it, I could see different levels in the stone which looked like a staircase.

「Well, we’re almost at the first floor. Be careful not to argue with any of the residents, okay?」

I focused my mind on Deet’s words as we climbed the staircase inside the cave.