The Pseudo-Kunoichi from Another World (Part 14): The Garden Dungeon (3)

“Well, Walter… I don’t know how long we’ll be gone, so I leave this with you for now,” I said as I put 5 gold coins into his hands.

If we used food costs as a comparison, it’s about 5 million yen. If something happens to me in the dungeon, Walter and the girls should be able to get by for a while without having to resort to crime again.

“Ms. Shino…!” Walter said loudly, unable to peel his eyes off the money in his hands. “These are gold coins! You’re going to trust me with all these?”

… I realized he probably didn’t have much in the way of good financial sense.

“Of course I don’t expect you to spend it in one place,” I said. “This is just insurance should something happen to us. When we come back, you’ll get more as a reward, for sure.”

“This is way too much…” Walter said, suddenly looking down and going quiet.

I wondered what was wrong with him.

“Hey… is this survey going to be dangerous?” he asked.

“What are you so worried about?” I asked.

“What else?!” Walter yelled. “If you die, we’ll be homeless again!”

Someone like Walter wouldn’t normally say something like this, right? … He’s cute like this. Ah, I shouldn’t be thinking of young boys in this way… but I’m already kind of getting there.

“It’s alright, Big Sister is strong,” I said as I pulled his head into my chest. “I’ll make sure to come back, so please wait here like a good boy, okay?

“Dah!” Walter yells. “Not this again! He-Hey, you can’t treat me like a little kid!”

Aww… did he already develop immunity this early? There’s no nosebleed this time.

“Oh, Big Bro Walt is so sneaky…” Laurina muttered.

“Sneaa-kkyyy…” Mavin hums. 

I laugh and let go of Walter who flees without a second thought. “Laurina, Mavin, come here,” I say as I turn them.

“Woo!” Mavin says as she leaps into my chest and touches one of my breasts. “Fluffy-fluffy~.”

“Yeah, fluffy,” Laurina says as she nuzzles her face into my chest. “I want to have at least this much when I grow up…”

Hmm, why weren’t they as embarrassed as Walter?

“With other girls, this is okay if you all want it, but you should remember you’ll get bigger in the next 3-4 years, okay?”

“Then in four more years, we can do this all the time?!” Laurina says.

Why is this happening?

Nellie tears them away when it seems they’re not letting go. “Both of you, behave yourselves!” she snaps. “And Lady Shino…!”

“Y-Yes…?” I stammer.

Did I go too far? Is she angry at me?

“… I want to do this with you later, too…” Nellie whispers, blushing red as her ears lower in embarrassment.

Ugh… Nellie is just too amazing… my heart is melting from the cuteness…

---

Dan, Dean, Nellie, and I were all assembled at the dungeon portal on my land. Walter and the girls were also there to see us off.

“I don’t think there are any monsters more powerful than what we’ve seen so far… but I’ll give this to you, too, just in case,” I said as I handed Walter a summoning item.

“What is this?” he asked.

“This is an item that can summon a [Shinobi Dog: Silver Fang] for a while,” I explained.

“Shinobi… dog…?” Walter asked.

(I should mention, the “Sliver Fang” summon was based on the manga of the same name.)¹

“Hmm… think of it as a very smart dog that was trained to fight,” I explained.

“So a dog, got it…” Walter said. “How strong is it?”

“Ah, maybe a little stronger than a Horned Wolf,” I said.

“Are you serious right now?!” Walter sputtered. “This thing is as strong as a C-rank monster?!”

This item would summon them at about 1/3rd of my level, so at level 28, they’re stronger than a Horned Wolf. In terms of adventurers, it’s similar to a B-rank warrior.

“If you say its name [Silver Fang] or if the item senses you’re in danger, he’ll be summoned,” I explained. “He’ll stay until you dismiss him or he loses in battle.”

“… Understood,” Walter said.

With that, I thought there was nothing more to worry about back here.

… Or so I believed.

---

Floor 1

“… Amazing…” Dan muttered after we entered the dungeon, “it really does connect straight from the city.”

“Begging your pardon, Dan, but there was no reason to believe Ms. Shino was lying,” Dean said.

I honestly didn’t know where we were compared to ground-level, but for the sake of convenience, let’s call this “Floor 1”. This level is made of stone similar to the magic circle we stepped on and looks like a natural cave, except for some sections that were clearly carved out. The walls are made of rock and the width of the passages means only one person could be at the vanguard.

It wasn’t completely dark due to some luminescent moss on the walls, but we still had Nellie use [Sustained Light] to ensure full visibility.

“Do you mind exploring a dungeon such as this?” I asked. “I heard at the guild that a dungeon which connects directly to a city is a rarity.”

“Oh, Ms. Shino, you’re so considerate…” Dean said. “Yes, you’re correct. It’s risky to have a dungeon with a magic portal allowing free travel from both directions, so it’s normally avoided.”

“However… this is almost a natural cave,” Dan said, “and pretty cramped, too. What do we do about our formation?”

“Of course, it’s best for the one with a buckler, metal armour, and a breastplate to be the vanguard,” Dean said.

“Right, your long sword is useless if you’re not on the frontlines in the first place,” Dan said. “I use a crossbow and dagger, but what about your fighting styles? You said your class was ‘Kunoichi’ but I’ve never heard of that before.”

“Well, I’m more of a vanguard myself but I’m fine in the middle guard,” I said. “Nellie is an all-rounder.”

“Hmm, then it’s Dean, me, the Beast-man girl, and you at the rearguard.”

“Understood,” I said.

We proceeded in a line about 2 meters apart. After ten minutes of walking, we reach a fork in the road; the right path seems to be sloping upward.

“For now, let’s go right,” Dan said. “If this is a natural cave, we might reach the outside world from there.”

“Mmm, it’s important to know exactly where this dungeon is,” I said.

Nobody contested, so to the right we went. After five minutes, we saw light pouring in from an exit. “This is…” I muttered.

“An exit…” Dean muttered, looking a bit lost. “Do you think it really leads outside?”

“Outside… a forest… do you think the goblin imp, the giant clam, the large slug, and the blade bats came from a place like that?” I asked.

“What do you make of this, Dan?” Nellie asked.

“Hmm… at least it seems like we’re not in a neighbouring country from the vegetation,” Dan said.

“It’s amazing how you can glean this much from so little,” I said.

“Are we doubling back and checking the other direction?” Dan asked.

“We are,” I said.

Dan turned back, then suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground. “I see…” he muttered to himself as he examined something, “the monster wards are written on the opposite side… it’s easy for the monsters to get in but difficult for them to get out.”

“A monster ward?” I asked.

“Ah, unlike barrier stones, it only works on weaker monsters, but the effect is semi-permanent,” Dan explained. “It should only be possible for certain magicians to make them.”

I sighed. “I’m glad I hired you, Dan. You know so much more than just dungeons.”

“Well, they don’t call me a Seeker for nothing,” Dan said.

Dean is looking at me with misty eyes. I wondered what’s wrong?

“Dean,” Nellie said.

“… What is it, Nellie?” he asked.

“My mistress is still more powerful,” she said.

“Fr-From now on, I will prove my true value!” Dean said, excited.

I have no idea why he’s like this, though.

“Let’s go back to that fork,” I said.

We go down the left path and eventually heard a jarring, intimidating cry.

“Careful, that’s a goblin’s roar,” Dan said.

“Ha, so what if it is a goblin?!” Dean says.

“Lower your voice, Dean,” I hissed. “We’ll lose if they have numbers or high-rank evolutions on their side…”

“Then let me be your champion!” Dean cried. “Ms. Shino, please bear witness!”

“Eh?” I ask. “Ah–”

Dean’s gone running off.

“That idiot…” Dan growl as we’re forced to chase after him. “This is bad, Ms. Shino, we’re not usually like this… but I suppose I’ll have to show you just how good we can be!”

We came out into a cavern about twice the size of a Japanese classroom.

“Come at me!” Dean yells, confident even as he’s surrounded by 20 goblins. “This is your end! Evil Breakerrrr…!”

As expected of a B-rank, he could fend them off just fine, however–“Nellie, over there at that stalagmite—I can sense magic,” I said. “Blow it away.”

“Yes, Lady Shino,” Nellie said as she took out her ladle.

“Huh?” Dan asked, confused. “Oi, what are you doing fooling around at a time like thi–”

“[Fire Ball].”

The ladle draws the necessary mana from Nellie, builds up in the bowl, then flies off as a fire ball. Its power is increased by 1.2 times [Magic Tool +], by 15% from [Household Tool Mastery], and with INT +1 from the stat bonus, it’s now nearing 1.4 times the power than usual.

Fwoom.

“Dagaaaaahhh…!” screeches a goblin mage trying to fire a spell at Dean’s back. It and several others around it quickly disappear in a fiery blaze.

“… Little lady, you wouldn’t happen to be a magic specialist, would you?” Dan asked.

“Yes, I’m a Luminous Maid.”

“So your class is something of a magical powerhouse.”

“Lady Shino just tailor made my magic ladle to my stats, is all,” Nellie said.

“So that means she’s not The Creator?”

“Tch… Dan!” I said. “What’s is with that awful name?”

“No, you see, your name became pretty famous recently,” Dan said. “Someone made a lot of magic knives in a short amount of time, a completely new magical tool. My sources call her ‘The Creator’.”

“That sounds like a terrible name made up by two girls who just graduated from grade school…” I muttered.

Dean came back while I was suffering from that unexpected bout of psychological damage. “Ms. Shino! Did you see my marvelous display?”

“Idiot…!” Dan yelled.

Thunk!

He hit Dean over the head with his fist.

“Ow…!” Dean yelled. “What are you doing, Dan?”

“You’re lucky we only needed one shot…” Dan grumbled. “Ms. Shino found a goblin mage aiming at you from behind, then this little lady killed it with a fireball. Did you even realize any of that before now?”

“Uh…”

“You can’t just act as you always do: no scouting, no strategy, just rushing in,” Dan growled. “Our priority is ‘safety’.”

“… I admit that was reckless of me…” Dean muttered.

I don’t know exactly what kind of history Dan was referring to, but Dean seems to have realized his mistake, so I’d say everything’s alright now.

… Huh?

“Looks like a treasure chest,” I said as I approached it. “Maybe this was a colony of goblins. Should I open it?”

“Treasure chest?” Dan said. “Wait, no, no, Ms. Shino! Leave it to me…”

I cast [Detect Treasure Traps]… and we’ve got a hit: poison needle. I disabled it then opened it up.

Dan stopped. “Oh… it wasn’t booby-trapped?”

“It was, there was a poison needle and I disabled it,” I replied.

“Ms. Shino, you can disable booby traps on treasure chests?”

“Yes, and the locks, too,” I said.

[Detect Treasure Traps] was useless for detecting and disabling traps built into the dungeon itself, though. Dungeons just weren’t a thing in Sengoku Online.

I check our loot: a small heal potion plus 20 silver coins. “There doesn’t seem to be much in here… everyone, come take it if you’d like,” I said.

“You sure…?” Dan asked. “It just occurred to me that we never talked about loot distribution earlier… didn’t realize you’d be this generous.”

“Well, you can take the basics like money, potions, etc. If we get something valuable like a jewel or a magic item, however, we’ll discuss who gets it.”

“Is that so?” Dan said. “I and Dan will get everything else in that case.”

“I don’t mind,” I said.

“Haa, you’re a real saint,” Dan said.

“Don’t mention it,” I said. “Well, once we loot everything, why don’t we go deeper underground?”

Soon, we went down a flight of stairs just past the goblin colony.

---

Floor B1

As we reached the bottom of the steps, our surroundings were now undoubtedly man-made, the walls made of smooth rock. “Everything’s suddenly gotten wider…” I said, “and the paths look carved out, too.”

“Aah, I suppose the real dungeon crawl starts here…” Dan said.

Right, let’s reassess our tactics. “Don’t you think we should change our formation?” I said. “Maybe the men should be lined up.”

“Are you good with sharing the vanguard with Dean, Ms. Shino?” Dan asked.

“Yes.”

“What are you saying, Dan?” Dean butt-in. “To put Ms. Shino right up front…”

“Oh, are you saying you don’t want to be next to me?” I asked.

“N-No, no!” Dean sputtered. “That’s not what I meant…”

“Then our formation is decided?”

From this point, the vanguard was now me me and Dean, Dan in the middle, while Nellie brought up the rear.

This floor was so much larger than the one before and way more complicated at that. We spent half-an-hour walking without seeing a single monster or any stairs leading further down. But when something was off, Nellie was the first to notice.

“Lady Shino…” she said. “I sense something ahead.”

“Understood,” I said.

“Is there?” Dan asked. “I don’t hear a thing, but alright.”

“Dan, we Beast-men have a keener sense of smell than humans,” Nellie said, “so trust me when I say something smells suspicious.”

And lo and behold, at the end of the passage was the source of the smell: three giant earthworms, wide as a human head.

“This… could get ugly,” Dan said. “Those are Man-Eater Worms. C-rank at best but they have regeneration abilities. If you don’t do enough damage in time, it’ll heal up.”

“Eugh… this is going to be gross,” I said, readying my weapons. “Let’s kill them quickly.” 

“Charge!” I and Dean cry as we attack the man-eater worms.

I didn’t use a skill, just two slashes left and right to sever a worm’s head. Dean used [Assault] on the other and Nellie shot the third with a [Light Bullet] from her knife.

Dean was suddenly looking at me anxiously. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“It’s nothing…” he replied. “I heard from Nellie, but… you’re so much more powerful than I expected.”

“No, Dean, you must have misheard,” I said. “I’m sure she said ‘My mistress is not that powerful.’”

“Did I now? My apologies,” Dean said. “Still, I’m sure you’re much more powerful than me, Ms. Shino.”

It’s important to be able to objectively see and assess your abilities, that of your companions, and your enemies. In that respect, Dean is still an excellent adventure, and I can appreciate that sort of competence in someone of a lower level than me. 

“So, shall we take the bounty part?” I asked. “We’ll have to do it slowly, but… huh?”

The man-eater worm corpses have disappeared.

“Oh, you didn’t know?” Dan said. “Monsters summoned into a dungeon will either return to their original spots or back to the world when they die.”

“So the goblins that came from the dungeon settled down at my property, which is why they didn’t disappear,” I said.

“You got it,” Dan said. “In exchange, they’re far more likely to drop magic gems. The theory goes that because there’s so much magic used up in the process, the excess hardens into gems more easily.”

“I see… is this what you meant?” I asked as I picked up a gem; it wasn’t as big as the Death Mantis from before, but it looked similar enough.

“Hey, speak of the devil…” Dan said. “Lucky you.”

“Here, take it,” I said, tossing it to him.

“Do you really want me to have this?” Dan asked as he caught it.

“I won’t get much use out of it,” I said.

“Well then, in that case, thanks,” Dan said as he pocketed it. “Now, let’s get going.”

Just behind those worms was the next flight of stairs, after all.

---

1. Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginga:_Nagareboshi_Gin

Translator’s Note: Is anyone else particularly entertained at how the author captured the quintessential MMO experience? We’ve got a tank who rushes straight into monsters and forces the rest to run and catch up with him, all because he wants to impress a girl in the group.

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