Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 59

『What exactly is this situation?』

Having lost Claire (may she rest in peace), I was about to continue forward when something—or rather, someone—appeared.

Since I was making my way through the dungeon, I had trained myself to instinctively react to any approaching monsters.

The fact that I hadn’t sensed this presence meant that whatever—or whoever—it was, it wasn’t a monster.

At the same time, I didn’t know any humans who would casually wander into a place like this for a friendly chat.

If Michelle or Shifa had somehow made it here, I’d be shocked.

Not to mention, if they found out I had tried to ditch Claire, I’d probably get an earful.

Still, judging by the presence, I had a strong suspicion about who it was.

But seriously—how the hell did they even get here?

“Dungeon administrator?”

『That is correct. You figured it out quickly, Lacus.』

With a whoosh, a tiny girl appeared before me.

Huh.

Claire, who technically could have been classified as a “young-looking girl,” had just dropped out of the picture—only for the dungeon to immediately spawn another miniature entity?

Not bad, dungeon.

『Could you not just assume she’s dead?』

“Hm?”

“Lacus is horrible. To abandon a lovable, busty, loli beauty… truly heartless.”

『Since I owe you for the magic stones, I went ahead and removed the lingering magic from her body.』

…That was unnecessary.

Also, who the hell is a loli, where the hell is this busty part, and in what world is she a beauty?

And while we’re at it—when exactly did I help this so-called administrator?

…Oh, right.

When I wiped out everything above the lower levels, broke the dungeon administrator, and dumped the whole situation on them.

Yeah. That happened.

Well, I suppose harmony is a good thing.

“Why are you here?”

『Fwahahaha! An excellent question, Lacus! I have revived thanks to the massive number of magic stones you provided!』

“Why are you acting all high and mighty?”

『Because this is my original form! You simply twisted my existence through force! Do you know how exhilarating that was?!』

“Yeah, I already have enough of that from Claire. You can go home now.”

『How cruel! And here I was, thinking of rewarding you with all sorts of wonderful things!』

“He doesn’t need you. That’s my seat. We don’t need some last-minute newcomer stealing my role.”

“I have Shifa, so no thanks. You two can go somewhere else together.”

『Ugh…』

“Ugh…”

And just like that, both of them slumped over, clutching their heads in despair.

“By the way, why are you suddenly calling me ‘Lacus-dono’? You were just a mindless puppet mumbling ‘Rame teeehhh~’ a little while ago.”

『Thanks to the magic stones you gave me, I’ve regained enough strength to maintain the dungeon… And yet, you demand an explanation with a straight face? What kind of person are you?』

“Lacus is cruel. He plays with people and tosses them aside. Don’t think about it too much, or you’ll lose.”

I had asked on a whim, but now they were conspiring against me.

『I see… So you destroyed my dungeon just to bully me? You’re more terrifying than the demons I’ve heard about…』

“Disemna is nothing compared to Lacus. If he meets one, he’ll probably just cut it down in an instant.”

…You two do realize I can hear everything, right?

『Disemna… the ‘Abyssal Demon’… Now that is a name I haven’t heard in a long time.』

That statement caught my attention.

“You know about it?”

『How are you even hearing me right now?!』

“Lacus loves eavesdropping. Even if you whisper from the neighboring kingdom, he’ll hear it. There is no escape.”

“Now’s not the time for jokes. So, Dungeon Administrator—”

『Hiiiih! Please don’t kill me!』

What the hell?

I’m just asking a question.

“Do you know about Disemna?”

『Know about it? That demon was born in my dungeon. It eventually left on its own. I suppose you could call it a ‘Stampede,’ but it didn’t take a single monster with it. It just vanished, and I always wondered where it went.』

So that’s it.

The Abyssal Demon originated from a dungeon.

“On the surface, Ruined Demons were constantly clustering around it, but you’re saying Disemna left alone?”

『That’s right. It was… a strange demon. I don’t know anything about Ruined Demons.』

“Useless…”

『Hiiiih! Forgive me!』

Seriously, this thing overreacts to everything.

Well, there’s no way to track it now.

Disemna has spent years on the surface, growing stronger.

Other than knowing it was dungeon-born, this information doesn’t really help much.

“In any case, I need to get stronger if I want to take Disemna down.”

“Huh? Isn’t that unnecessary?”

『Disemna is just a lower-layer monster with high vigilance. I doubt it would ever try to fight you, Lacus-dono… Also, please stop destroying my dungeon!』

“I’ll try to be careful. But, you know… It’d be nice if I could start from the deep layers every time.”

『…I already set that up for you. So there’s no need for you to clear the lower layers ever again, right?』

The way she said it, with a teary-eyed expression, made it clear she had prepared it with all her might.

See? She can be useful when she tries.

Good job.

I reached out and patted her head, and she instantly froze, completely silent.

“Disemna might not be strong, but I can’t track it. I’m fairly certain it’s somewhere within this country—probably near the Riofendarl Viscountcy.”

『I see. So you need a detection ability… Hmm, hmm… Lacus-dono, you’ve absorbed a tremendous amount of monster magic, which has strengthened you considerably… but it seems you still have a massive amount of unused Skill Points.』

“…What?”

Out of nowhere, she just dropped a bombshell.

Skill Points?