Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 92: The Frenetic Floors I

【114th day】

The look of the dungeon changes drastically after the 20th floor.

The last time I reached this floor, I was in critical condition and unconscious, so when I set foot on this floor again, I was taken aback.

This next section of the dungeon is known as "the frenetic floors", and it boasts high ceilings and wide passageways. The rooms are more than three times the size of the ones on the upper floors, and are each about the size of a small stadium.

Because of the sheer size, it makes me feel as if I had been turned into a dwarf.

And it's bright here.

The Shogaku stones that are in this section of the dungeon glow bright and hot. If it weren't for the lush green trees and vividly colored flowers that absorbed their light, it would have been too bright to even see what’s ahead.

Naturally, it's also warm and full of life.

Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and insects are carrying nectar.

If this were above ground, I would be able to gaze upon this scene idly.

But this is inside the dungeon.

「Enemies behind us! Lys, I need you to hold them at bay. Let me know when you're nearing your limit. Take out the enemy in front first! Shuna! Go!」

「Alright!」

In response to my command, a boy swordsman slashed at a bird.

Though I call it a bird, it isn’t the flying type. It’s the type that walks on the ground. Moreover, it isn’t bipedal in the way ostriches are. It walks upright on two legs like humans.

This bird is an avian being with an extraordinarily developed upper body.

Its devolved wings are balled up like fists at the tips, and its biceps are as thick as logs. If hit by one of those, humans would have no chance of surviving.

One annoying thing is that its head has remained small and bird-like despite its macho body.

It has cute round eyes, and goes "Kurupo~".

In essence, it’s a pigeon.

「ORRAAaaa!」

The boy swordsman swung his longsword, which ripped through the air loudly.

Sparks flew as the birdman's fist and his blade clashed.

Those fists, they're as hard as rocks. On top of that, it swings them with incredible speed.

This birdman, is strong.

The boy's longsword is far from ordinary. The same goes for his skill with the sword. So far, he had been able to kill the small fry with one or two blows. It's unusual for him to have so much trouble with one of the multitude of small fry monsters.

If he was alone, he would likely have had a much harder time.

The boy ducked down to avoid a punch, and then delivered a thrust from a low posture that pierced through the birdman’s knee.

"PIGYA!", it shrieked, sounding like a fool.

「Otou-san」

At the sound of my voice, an old swordsman rushed into the opening created by the boy.

Rapid but soundless steps.

The only thing I heard was the soft click of the katana being loosened from its scabbard.

The blade slid out from the scabbard.

A flash of silver light.

While maintaining its form, the birdman's body slid off diagonally.

The sound of the blade settling back into the scabbard was also quiet.

I hadn't been able to see the path of the sword at all.

The katana that Otou-san carries is a sort of demonic sword, but its effectiveness depends on the user. So much so that a club is more effective if the user isn't skilled enough.

「Souya, I'm almost at my limit」

From the rear of the party came the girl knight's report. She had been using defensive magic to keep insects at bay.

The two vanguards won’t make it in time.

I'll take care of it.

The insects behind us were bees. They had thick waists and their bodies were mostly yellow fringed with black. They were also quite big. Each one was about the size of a human's head.

I've heard that bees with narrow waists are more aggressive and bees with thicker waists are more docile, but this kind of knowledge doesn't apply inside the dungeon.

Over a dozen of them had gathered outside the dome of light, and were poking holes in it with their stingers.

「I can't hold it anymore」

After she uttered those words, the magic barrier shattered like glass and vanished like a mirage.

Running past the girl and the magician she was protecting, I leapt at the bees.

Pulling the silver sword from my back, I cut down two of them with one swing.

And then, two more with the return stroke of the blade.

They scattered and avoided my third swing.

Breaking into a run, I cut one of the retreating bees into two.

「Alright」

I had turned all of the bees' attention to me.

We faced off, and I slashed at three of them as I dodged their attacks.

I slashed at them, but I couldn't cut them down. I managed to crush the head of one of them, but the other two that I had struck returned to the fight immediately. A sticky yellow liquid had gotten all over my silver sword, and the thick honey had coagulated, dulling its cutting edge.

I didn't have the time to wipe it off.

I countered one of the bees by running it through, then let go of the silver sword.

I reached for the katana at my hip.

It’s a sibling sword of Otou-san's katana.

Otou-san's katana is called Arahabaki, and mine is called Kojin.[1]

However, I'm not about to do sexy stuff like using iai[2] or anything like that.

I drew it normally and held it in a two-handed stance.

My swordsmanship is straightforward and blunt. There is no beauty or elegance to it. It’s simply a killer's sword style, wielded with "one swing, one kill" in mind.

「Fuuu」

As if pouring everything I had into them, I unleashed diagonal slashes from the shoulder.

One by one, I carefully and meticulously cut them down.

Raise it, swing it down, kill, dodge, raise it again, swing it down, and kill. It's a sword style where that process is repeated over and over again.

But I was bothered by the response I felt as I cut through the insects' carapace like tofu.

My sword swings hadn't dulled, but my blade had.

This time, it wasn't only because of the honey.

Its cutting edge had chipped.

Not again.

This katana is sharp. It's sharp, but because of that, it's fragile. The ones who made it were aware of this, which is why they had incorporated a repair mechanism into its scabbard.

However, in reality,

From the time we started using the katanas in actual combat, Otou-san had not once used this repair mechanism. He never failed to maintain it during breaks, but his blade had never become dull during combat.

This is the difference in skill between us.

No, the problem is that my body is unable to keep up with my skills.

Four enemies left.

「Agathion, intercept them」

A red sword shot out from my back and attacked the bees.

Holding the scabbard with my left hand, I slid the ball of my left thumb along the back of the blade. When I reached the end of the blade, I tipped the opening of the scabbard up, inserted the tip of the blade into it, and then sheathed the katana.

I tapped the butt of the scabbard on the ground, activating the mechanism, then held the scabbard to my ear.

I heard the sound of popping bubbles.

It was followed by the sound of the cutting edge of the demonic sword regenerating after absorbing the Reika water that had filled the scabbard.

The battle between the magic sword and the bees had developed into a dogfight, during which the sword pierced and killed two of them.

Two enemies left.

Just as the sound of the bubbles died down, Agathion took down one more.

「Get back」

The magic sword backed off, I tossed aside the scabbard, raised the katana high above my head, and then cut the last bee into two with a single blow.

Oh, that’s a passable strike.

I imprinted the feeling of it into my arms so that I wouldn't forget.

If I can do this every time, I'll have become a competent swordsman. Right now, I'm not quite there. I'm somewhere below average.

There was nothing left in the verdant corridor but the corpses of birds and insects.

I kicked the scabbard up with my foot, and sheathed the katana. The magic sword returned to its sheath on my back by itself.

I searched for enemies.

「Check for signs of possible enemies」

Just to be safe, I had everyone in the party check for enemies as well. Especially the insects, whose legs and eyes still twitched even after being cut in half. I prodded them with my scabbard to make sure that they wouldn't attack again.

「Rana, I can do that myself」

The magician of our party had picked up my silver sword and was wiping its blade with a cloth.

「No, I want the honey」

「Oh, I see」

The honey-soaked cloth was stuffed into a jar. She would probably strain it to collect the honey later. She was also removing the honey stomachs from the dead bees and scooping the honey inside them into jars.

The way she licked the honey that had gotten on her fingers was strangely seductive.

Rana is an elf.

Elves love honey.

According to an old legend, elves came to live in forests because of their love of honey.

It isn't really the case nowadays, but there was apparently a time when the term "elf" was synonymous with magic, and magic was closely associated with elves.

Magic and honey go hand in hand.

I've heard that honey can be used to make an elixir that restores magic power.

However, just the other ingredients alone are already quite expensive, and the method of making the elixir is a well-kept secret, so the magicians who know how to make it usually consume it themselves, especially if they are adventurers.

On rare occasions, the elixir can be found in stores, but it’s something that has to be drunk to see its effects, so it’s extremely difficult to determine if the elixirs on sale are authentic or not.

In the past, a certain merchant company purchased a large amount of the elixir. But it was a scam where only the bottle for testing was real and the rest were fakes.

A merchant who falls for scams loses credibility both within and outside the merchant company. It's harsh, but that's just the way it is.

Perhaps it's because such a story exists, but the merchant companies here are pretty stringent when it comes to the elixir.

On top of all that, it can't be stored for long.

There's just too much risk involved. Hence, it's worthless as a commodity.

In Rana's case, she’s able to recover her magic power with sugary sweets due to her constitution, so she doesn't need to rely on honey or the elixir. But that doesn't mean that she doesn't have a taste for honey.

Each bottle costs one gold coin though, so I can't buy much for her.

「Souya, I'm getting hungry. Let's grab a quick bite」

「Yeah, of course」

I accepted Otou-san's suggestion.

We were currently on the 24th floor.

We had come the entire way here without taking any breaks. The layout of the frenetic floors had been simple, but enemies had been strong and numerous.

When we fought in the passageways, we were hemmed in by the enemies that had detected the noise we made. In the open spaces, we were surrounded in no time.

For that reason, there had been no safe places for us to rest even if we had wanted to.

「Otou-san, is there anywhere that looks like it might be a good place to rest?」

「No. That's just how it is here. Let's just eat something quick」

Up to this point, we had pulled through thanks to our high individual fighting strength, but it had been a forced march that would have wiped out any normal party. As a result, fatigue had set in.

On top of that, we still have to fight the guardian of this floor despite our fatigue. It's an unknown enemy that we have absolutely no information on.

Well, challenging the unknown is both the true appeal and the essence of adventuring.

There's nothing wrong with being cautious, but cowardice won't turn things around.

No matter what comes up, we will simply have to cut it down.

「Yukikaze, tell Ea to come back」

『Younger-sister-sama is in the middle of something right now』

「In the middle of something?」

The party members here are, starting from the back, Lys, Rana, me, Otou-san, and Shuna.

And my younger sister is currently acting separately for the purpose of scouting and splitting up the enemies.

In a way, she’s the one in least danger. She has a cloak that turns her invisible for as long as her magic power lasts. It even eliminates smells and sounds. She’s able to completely hide herself from this world's senses.

While it's a piece of equipment that’s meant for one person, I had wondered if we could use it to traverse the floors one by one in turn. But well, things weren’t going to be that easy.

Only Ea and I can use it.

In addition, even though I can use it, ten seconds is my limit. Depending on her condition, my sister can use it for up to four hours.

What the heck is with that huge difference?

Well, even if it makes her disappear completely, that doesn't guarantee that she will be safe. I have my sister's regeneration point and magic power displayed on the LCD of my glasses at all times.

「Yukikaze, what’s Ea doing right now?」

『She's taking apart the nest』

「Nest?」

Depending on the situation she is in, sending an emergency communication may endanger her. That's the reason why the A.I. hanging on my belt is acting as a go-between, but I'm not quite getting the gist of what's going on.

Everyone else in the party was shoveling portable rations into their mouths. Monster remains were scattered all around us, but we had gone through too much to be fazed by something like that.

「Then tell Ea to rejoin us as soon as she's――」

『Onii-chan! Sorry! I think I messed up!』

I got an emergency communication from my sister.

She had bypassed the A.I. and connected directly to my glasses' communication function.

「What happened?」

『Maybe their pheromones got onto the cloak?! Even when I try to hide, they still come after me!』

「It's okay, just rejoin us」

『Got it!』

The communication cut off. Oddly enough, I was hearing more joy than panic in her voice.

「Everyone, stop eating. Ea is coming our way with enemies in tow」

「Eh, what the heck is she doing?」

Shuna made a disgruntled face. Everyone else just took it in stride.

I enlarged the map on the LCD of my glasses.

The red dot indicating Ea's position was coming towards us at a rapid pace.

「We'll be able to see her in ten seconds. Prepare for battle. I'm counting on you for the first move, Shuna」

「Under~stood」

Shuna replied, with a piece of dried meat in his mouth. He held his sword up lightly so that he would be able to respond to anything quickly.

「Counting down, three, two, one. I see her」

My sister rounded the corner of the verdant passageway and came into view.

She waved at us with an enormous grin on her face.

At first glance, she looked like a thief from the Showa era. She was carrying a wrapped bundle on her back. As if it was filled to bursting, I could see parts of a bees’ nest poking out.

Needless to say, behind her was an army of bees in hot pursuit.

This is not remotely at the level of getting pheromones on the cloak.

She had simply taken too much of the bees’ nest!

[1] Kōjin, also known as Sanbo-Kōjin(三宝荒神) is the Japanese god of fire, the hearth and the kitchen. He embodies fire controlled and turned toward a good purpose that’s said to destroy all impurity, and represents violent forces that are turned towards the betterment of humankind. Yes, it’s a kitchen god, which suits Souya a lot. Interestingly, though I’m not sure if this is the author’s intent, it’s also a slang word for testicles or lewdness, which also suits Souya well. (? ???)

[2] Most of you probably already know this, but just in case.

Iai, or Iai-do(居合道) is commonly known as the art of drawing the katana, cutting down the opponent, then returning the blade to the scabbard, all in one smooth motion. Of course, that’s just the sword technique, and this art also has the philosophy of "being constantly prepared, match/meet the opposition/enemy swiftly", hence the primary emphasis in “iai” is on the psychological state of being present(居).

Lol, Ea’s being her usual self. And it’s Souya’s debut as a vanguard. Also, no more dark dungeon. Yeah, this dungeon gets weirder the deeper they go. Well, there’s not much for me to comment on since it’s such a frenetic start to the volume. Double chapter next time, which will end this arc. O.o Yup, it’s not called the frenetic floor for no reason haha. Stay tuned!