The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 96: The Dungeon Along the Coast

Episode 96: The Dungeon Along the Coast

After returning to Kikyo Town, we first began gathering information. At this time, just before nightfall, many people were still coming and going. Right now, we should still be able to gather plenty of information.

“I’m going to visit the person who told me about that wasteland.” 

“Then we’ll try hitting places that look like they’ve had their shops here for a long time.”

Each of us moved separately. It would’ve been nice if the town had a library or reference center. But unfortunately, it didn’t seem like there was such a place.

I took Lilia along and visited several shops. Pii-chan was hiding in my pocket.

“What’s beyond the northern wasteland, you ask? Hmm, was there anything out there?” 

“Any information is fine. I’ll pay a reward.”

When I said that to the shopkeeper who was deep in thought, they brought out the previous generation. She had lived around here for a long time and seemed knowledgeable.

“Beyond the wasteland, huh. Come to think of it, long ago, I heard there used to be a dungeon there. I believe it was called the ‘Coastline Dungeon’. It was apparently conquered a long time ago. So there’s nothing left, or so they say.”

“Thank you for the valuable information. This is a small thank-you.” 

“Oh my! Is it really okay to receive this much? Thank you kindly.”

After giving money to the old lady who gave me the info, I headed toward the restaurant where we were supposed to meet up.

So there’s a dungeon beyond that wasteland. It seems the treasure’s already been taken and nothing remains. But apparently, the dungeon itself still exists.

Normally, even in a dungeon where all the treasure has been found and there’s no more profit to be made, adventurers still visit. That’s because monsters spawn in dungeons. Depending on the type of monster, their magic stones can still be valuable.

But since there are no adventurers in this country, once the treasure is all taken, the dungeon is probably abandoned. 

Still, if what Pii-chan said is true, the number of monsters in the dungeon should be controlled by the ancient people who built it. So they shouldn’t be increasing too much.

“That’s strange. Did something go wrong with the dungeon?” 

“A common problem is that the ley line being used dries up, so monsters stop appearing. There are quite a few abandoned places because of that.” 

“So then, those empty caves found here and there might be what’s left of old dungeons.”

Among adventurers, those empty caves were called “Disappointment Caves” 

People would get excited when they found an uncharted dungeon on the map and explored inside, only to find no treasure and not even any monsters. Of course that would be disappointing.

“Is it possible for a ley line being used to become too strong and cause more monsters to appear?” 

“I don’t think so. There should be a limit to the number of monsters that can exist within a dungeon. If there wasn’t, they’d end up causing a monster outbreak with their own hands. That would be a serious crime—a serious crime.”

I see, that makes sense. If monsters pouring out of a dungeon someone built were to attack a town or village and cause major damage, there’s no doubt it would lead to issues of responsibility. 

No one would take that kind of risk.

An out-of-control dungeon that the creator didn’t anticipate. 

I had nothing but a bad feeling. 

While that deep mist of unease swirled in my chest, I arrived at the inn. 

It looked like the others had already returned.

“You were late, Fel. Let’s eat first before we report.” 

“Sorry, sorry. I got some good info to make up for it.”

Saying that, I placed our dinner order. 

Everyone seemed to have waited for us. 

Maybe they were expecting to exchange information. Because the room was a private one. Much appreciated.

In front of us was a rather large pot. It was filled with plenty of meat and vegetables. 

It looked like we would each scoop from it and eat.

Once the pot was placed over the fire, the golden-colored soup inside began to bubble gently. 

The marbled red and white meat began to change color. A delicious aroma began to fill the room.

Once it had cooked down enough, we started eating. 

We dipped the ingredients into a dish with vinegar soy sauce before eating them.

“Mmm, delicious. This goes great with white rice. Here, Lilia, have some.” 

“Thank you. This country really serves this kind of rice and side dish set a lot, doesn’t it? Bread seems pretty rare.” 

“Yeah, that just shows how different food culture can be.”

I don’t dislike the food in this country. 

Somehow, it makes me feel calm inside.

Everyone else must have been hungry too, because we ate silently for a while. 

One bowl wasn’t enough, so I ordered seconds.

“Let’s hear Fel’s story.”

Once we had eaten a decent amount of dinner, Ardan spoke up. 

I told them about the dungeon I had just heard about. I also relayed the conversation I just had with Pii-chan.

“So that’s how it is. There might be a chance that monsters are overflowing from the dungeon, right?” 

“I think so too. From what I heard, there weren’t supposed to be that many monsters in the northern wasteland. Well, that information is from about a year ago though.”

Ardan had apparently looked into the number of monsters appearing in the wasteland. 

As a result, he seems to have judged that it was “not normal” 

Jill and Elise said similar things too. And it seems that until now, there were few monsters living in that wasteland, and not once had monsters come out to the highway.

“If they keep increasing like that, they might eventually reach the highway.” 

“That would be a serious problem. People in this country don’t bring escorts with them.” 

“That just shows how safe the country normally is. But if monsters appear, they won’t be able to handle it.” 

“What should we do…”

Ardan folded his arms and was thinking. 

Since there are no adventurers in this country, they can’t just say, “Can someone go check out the dungeon?” and expect anyone to go. 

If the person governing Kikyo Town is someone who would take immediate action, that would be nice. But that’s an unknown factor.

“We’re outsiders, after all. Even if we talk to someone higher up, who knows how far our message will get.” 

“I wonder how the people in this town make requests like that?” 

“Who knows? That’s something we’ll have to investigate first. But that’ll take time.”

We had just come to this country for the first time. So we didn’t really understand how things worked here. 

If it were our country, we could just report it to the Adventurers’ Guild, and they would handle it. 

So this is what they call a cultural difference. 

I didn’t think things would be this different just by crossing over to the neighboring continent.

But come to think of it, even on the continent our country is on, there were small differences between nations. 

There were places with Adventurers’ Guilds, but they didn’t cooperate with the country. Or countries that didn’t recognize non-human races.

Each country had its own culture, and they all claimed their way was best. 

No wonder conflicts happen.

Until Ardan came to a conclusion, the rest of us refrained from giving our opinions. 

That wasn’t because we were throwing the decision onto Ardan. 

It was because we all trusted that Ardan would point us in the right direction.

“Alright, tomorrow, let’s go take a look at that dungeon.” 

“Got it. We’ll be leaving this town eventually, but we can’t just ignore this.” 

“Looks like I’ll get more chances to test out my mithril sword.”

We’re free adventurers. 

We do things how we want to.

“The problem is that there’s very little information about that dungeon. According to Fel’s story, it sounds like a dungeon that was forgotten ages ago. So we might not be able to get any new info.” 

“That’s why, including that, let’s go to the dungeon first. If we go, we’ll know the distance. And we can get a rough idea of the structure using magic, right?” 

“Right. When it comes to dungeon structure, leave it to us.”

Lilia puffed out her chest proudly. 

If it’s dungeon investigation, leave it to us. 

As long as it’s not some extremely deep-level dungeon, we can investigate it.

Seeing that, Ardan nodded deeply. 

It seemed he confirmed that his decision was sound.

“We still have enough preserved food. So depending on the situation, we could even go straight into the dungeon.” 

“Hopefully, it’s not an emergency by that point…” 

“What do you think? If it’s right on the verge of overflowing, we’ll have to go in and defeat the monsters, right?” 

“That’s probably how it’ll go.”

The monsters in the wasteland weren’t that strong. 

If they really did come from the dungeon, we should be able to defeat them easily.

But if they’re in groups… 

We might have no choice but to use wide-area magic.