The Ultimate Sage Who Faked Incompetence and Was Disinherited Just Wants to Enjoy His New Life! - Episode 98: A Suspicious Shadow

Episode 98: A Suspicious Shadow

Break time was over. We were finally about to enter the “Coastline Dungeon”. The magical power we had consumed had mostly recovered, and the dungeon mapping was already complete. 

“This dungeon isn’t that big. It has three basement levels, and there are hardly any narrow passages. It’s actually pretty spacious.” 

“The increase in monsters is happening near a small room on the lowest floor. If we go there, we should be able to figure something out.” 

“Alright, lead the way.” 

“Leave it to me.” 

Elise used the Small Light spell. And with Ardan at the front, we entered the dungeon in our usual formation. After walking a bit, we arrived at a wide-open space, just as planned. 

There, bright light poured down from the ceiling onto a pure white sandy beach. It was a sight that didn’t feel like we were underground at all. 

“What is this?” 

“It looks beautiful, but it feels kind of creepy.” 

“It really feels like we’re outside.” 

Just as Pii-chan said, if you couldn’t see the walls, you’d mistake it for the outside. Looking closely at the beach, there were black stones scattered around. Magic stones. 

“There are magic stones lying around. What should we do?” 

“Let’s collect them later. First, we should figure out what’s causing the increase in monsters.” 

“Yeah, monsters are coming from that direction. Looks like monsters from the lower floor have come up.” 

Quadruped monsters were approaching from deeper inside. It seemed that the effect of Heaven Storm had ended just after wiping out the monsters on the first basement floor. 

“If it’s this spacious, it should be okay to use magic.” 

“Fel, take care of the distant monsters.” 

“Then I’ll leave the nearby monsters to you.” 

Saying that, I fired a Fire Arrow at the enemies coming from behind. 

There were many of them, but their quality wasn’t that high. So we managed to wipe out the first wave of monsters with ease. Elise used healing magic to recover our fatigue. 

“Seems like we’ll be fine for a while.” 

“So the monster attacks come in waves. Maybe that Water Spirit is acting as their commander, giving orders to the monsters?” 

“That could be possible. Maybe it lost its heart and became a real monster…” 

Lilia and I patted the dejected Pii-chan together. We had to cheer it up somehow. 

“It’s okay. Just like with you, Pii-chan, I’m sure if we destroy the magic stone, the gentle Water Spirit will return.” 

“That’s right. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure Fel will handle it somehow.” 

Ah, Lilia is putting some weird pressure on me. And she’s looking at me like, “Wait, don’t tell me you can’t do it?” Of course I can! I nodded strongly at Pii-chan. 

“Leave it to me. I’ll definitely save it.” 

With that, Pii-chan finally looked forward again. It’s possible we’ll need Pii-chan’s power to save the Water Spirit. We really need it to stay positive. 

“Is it the same kind of structure ahead too?” 

“As far as I’ve checked, yes. Narrow paths, then wide spaces — that pattern repeats.” 

“This dungeon has an unusual structure. If ancient people wanted to hide something here, I don’t think they would’ve made it like this.” 

Now that it’s mentioned, that’s true. What did they plan to hide in such a large space? And if it’s this bright, it’s easier to fight and easier to find hidden things too. 

Even if it was supposed to be an airship hangar, the corridors are too narrow for loading and unloading. 

“It’s hard to say. Maybe it was used as a resort.” 

“A resort?” 

“Yes. It might’ve been a place to rest the body during summer or winter. Places like that used to be scattered all over.” 

Did ancient people do what only royalty or a few wealthy nobles do now? Or maybe there were just a lot of nobles back then. If so, there must have been constant battles over succession. 

“So the ceiling being bright is because of that?” 

“I believe so. They might be using the earth vein’s magical power to recreate sunlight. And they’re probably controlling the temperature and humidity too.” 

“And now they’re using that earth vein to produce monsters. The earth vein is a bigger problem than I thought.”

Ardan was deep in thought. He was furrowing his brows deeply. There are several earth veins in the Kingdom of Fortune. If most of them are being used for dungeons, then somewhere, even now, monsters might be continuing to increase. 

Where are the remaining Spirits, I wonder. Could it be that, just like the Fire Spirit, controlled Spirits are secretly continuing to produce monsters inside dungeons that no one ever visits? 

If they were to overflow all at once……….. I really don’t want to think about that. 

“In that case, it’s probably best to deal with it before more monsters appear.” 

“That would be best. If possible, it’d be good to neutralize this dungeon…” 

“If we can seal off the earth vein, it’s possible. If it can no longer draw magical power from the earth vein, it won’t be able to produce monsters.” 

Sealing off the earth vein, huh. With Lilia, who can see magical power, and the Spirit Pii-chan, maybe we could somehow manage to seal it? 

Holding onto that thought, we continued deeper into the dungeon. 

Since each room was spacious, we could use magic freely. Because of that, we were able to reach the deepest part faster than expected. 

“So this is the final room. Just like we heard back in Kikyo Town, there were no treasures along the way.” 

“It’s no wonder people don’t come here. With how bright it is, if there were any treasure chests, there’s no way someone would miss them.” 

“The door’s been destroyed too. From the looks of it, everything inside the room has been taken out. There’s probably nothing left. I wonder what’s waiting for us in there.” 

We were about to take a break before going further in. But after seeing monsters coming out of the small room, we judged that resting here would be too risky. 

It was possible to put up a barrier and rest. But if monsters were wandering nearby, we wouldn’t be able to relax. 

“Alright, let’s try going inside. Maybe we can figure something out?” 

“There’s a reaction of magical power. Something Ghost-type is in there.” 

“The room isn’t that big. So unless we lure it out to around *that* area, we can’t use powerful magic.” 

She pointed at the wide room we had passed through earlier. If we wanted to take it down with magic in one go, we’d have to lure the “something” in the innermost room out to that spot. 

There’s no way to know unless we try. 

“Looks like I can finally test this sword’s true power.” 

Jill gave the mithril sword a pat. That’s right—this all started with how it was useless in a fight against Ghosts. 

Now that it had become a mithril weapon, he seemed eager to redeem himself. 

“If I knew this was coming, I would’ve asked them to make me a weapon too.” 

“When we return to the Kingdom of Fortune, let’s ask Rugald-san to make you a new weapon right away.” 

“Yeah, let’s do that. But first, we’ve got to give our all for the fight in front of us.” 

After nodding to each other, we stepped into the innermost room. 

This room was unlike the others we’d passed through—there was no light shining from the ceiling. Instead, a single point on the floor overflowed with light. It cast an eerie black rainbow that lit up the room. 

“What is that?” 

“How should I put it… Right, that’s a fountain of magical power.” 

Tilting her head, Lilia said that. In front of the fountain of magical power, a suspicious shadow stood with its back facing us. 

Is that the Water Spirit? 

When I looked at Pii-chan, it shook its head side to side. Looks like it was the wrong person. 

“Either way, we have to take that thing down first.” 

Jill drew his sword. Ardan readied his shield and took the mace from his waist. The rest of us kept our guard up and watched closely. 

Maybe it noticed our presence—it seemed to slowly turn around. 

It had no face, but it had two eerily glowing red lights. It gave the impression that it was looking straight at us.