Outside the cobalt dungeon.
　The adventurers who were not allowed inside were making a lot of noise.

　The entrance to the dungeon was clogged with iron.
　Iron bars, a dropped item from the first floor underground of the Cobalt Dungeon.
　It blocked the entrance like a pile of crumbling medals, making it impossible for anyone to get in or out.

''Hey, don't bother, you need to move faster than that!
I can't!
'Yes!　It comes out faster than you can move it out ...... and it increases faster than you can move it out.
"Then get more people in here!
That's why it's impossible. There's no point in adding more people to the entrance.

　Some of them were working as if they were clearing a landslide, but as the people who were actually doing it were whining, no matter how much they removed, iron bars were coming out from inside at a faster pace than that, and the entrances and exits were narrow to begin with.
　Although we've already removed nearly a thousand bars, there's no indication that a path will open up.

　The adventurers have been irritated.
　Not being able to enter the dungeon meant that they would stop earning money. It's a good thing to be frustrated.

'What's this all about?　What the hell is wrong with you?
I'm talking about the guy who came out from inside when it wasn't yet like this, and he's got Ryota Sato inside.
That 'untouchable', the leader of the Lyota family?
Yeah. It's just sitting there, but it seems to have the ability to reflect attacks. All the monster has to do is attack, and it will take itself down. And that's what happened.
Why are you doing that?
That's what I'm talking about. ......

　One of the adventurers put a hand over his mouth and stifled his voice.

'That guy said he was almost assassinated last night.
Assassination?
Yeah. And he used a woman to blow himself up.
'What kind of idiot are you?　You know you're going to get the 'untouchable' backlash if you do that.
You heard the rumors?
Rumor?　...... The dungeon debris latched onto the example of Cyclo?
Yeah.
You mean Linus Ronin?　That guy is an idiot!

　The adventurer who's been ranting loudly for a while now is even more furious.
　The adventurer who is talking is killing his voice, but it's almost meaningless.
　Everyone around them was paying attention to the conversation between the two.

''What would happen if you used a woman to blow yourself up--this is what would happen!
Oh, there it is. The untouchables are here. The only way to do that is to stay in the safest dungeon in the world, because you don't know when they're coming for you. And since we don't know when they are going to attack us, we can't afford to give up our automatic counterattack.
"They're making sense!　Linus.

　As the adventurer spat, similar voices rose from all over the place.
　The voices cursing Linus rose incessantly.

　　　　　☆

　Sametylene Dungeon Association, President's Office.
　Linus angrily blurted out the papers he had just read through.

　The papers were mostly complaints of sorts.
　An adventurer's complaint, a buyer's complaint.
　Cobalt, complaints about the fact that a whole dungeon with a lot of money to be earned no longer functioned, gathered at Linus' place.

　Ostensibly, they're telling the head of the association to do something about it, but in some places the phrase "it's your fault, so do something about it, quickly" stands out as a detour.

　It's not just the paperwork that's to blame, it's the blame of the self - even if it's self-inflicted, and Linus, who was subjected to a concentrated barrage of fire, angrily blasted the papers and others in a fit of rage.
　He let his frustration dissipate by throwing every single thing he could see, not just the papers, but every single thing he could see.

'Let's stay,'

　Then Nicholas came to visit.
　Nicholas came in front of Linus, who had his head in his hands, looking his usual, aloof and elusive.

'How are you?'
What are you doing here?
Well, well, well, I just wanted to say thank you.
You're grateful?
'For giving me a reason to fight him. Thanks to you, Ankato-san, we haven't had a good fight in a long time, huh?
'How dare you show your face in that!　You failed!
It's all right. You pick a fight, and the guy who loses it has to obey you.
Obey?
Hey. This guy has a message for you.

　Nicholas remained smiling, but Linus's expression grew stronger.

'It depends on how you come out. 'That's what I said.'
Depends on how well I get out?　You need money?

　Nicholas snickered.

'So you want me to apologize then?'

　This time he shrugged his shoulders with a frown.

Well, I guess I'll just say I got the message. I'm going to be stuck with this one.

　Nicholas turns himself aloof and turns to leave.
　He stops when he puts his hand on the doorknob of the Chairman's office and says to himself.

'Yeah, yeah. According to the prediction, the Dungeon Master is going to appear in Cobalt around tomorrow. The prediction for his appearance is the bottom floor.
!
Bye.

　Having finished saying what he wanted to say, Nicholas left this time.
　The rest of Linus began to shake with fear.
　Frightened.

　Dungeon Master is a tricky one that will change the dungeon's ecology and drop items if left unattended.
　Because of its nasty nature, predicting its appearance is very important.
　And now, its appearance has been announced.
　In the cobalt dungeon, where no one is allowed to enter.

　More bashing has befallen Linus.

　　　　　☆

　The Chairman's office at night, after dark.
　Linus holds his head at his desk, surrounded by even more piles of papers.

　He has aged ten years in about half a day, and it's getting to be that way.
　Then Cell comes in.

'You're interrupting me,'
What? ......

　Entering the room, Cell came glossily in front of Linus and looked down at him arrogantly.

'Looks like the bashing is going badly,'
d*mn it ....... I don't think it's any of your business.
Yes. But I'm afraid I can't stomach it.
What?

　Linus wonders, and Cell throws the papers in front of him.

'What's this?'
"Read on.

　Linus cautiously looks over the documents at his prompting.
　At first, he had a quizzical look on his face, but gradually he turned pale.

"Hey, this is ......!
I don't like to depress the dog in the water. That's a document to inform you that you've been pulling money out of Indor.
......
'Most of the money that was supposed to support Indor was in your pocket. I got it from people who wanted to take advantage of this time to beat you.
What are you going to do?
I don't like this kind of thing to come out in the open, even if it's in a different city. "I don't like this kind of thing to come out in the open, even if it's in another city. But things have gotten so big that if you're the kind of person who has a lot of enemies, you're going to find something even more disgusting.

　Right?　He looks at Linus with a look of concern.
　Linus flinches.
　He's practically already out, and he's already grabbed it, Cell insists, without saying a word.

　No, it doesn't have to be claimed.
　There's no way that Cell, the party involved in the dungeon dust case, doesn't have a grip on it.
　If it's put out at this point in time, that would be complete ruin.

　Hesitation, anguish, and ...... resignation.
　Various emotions came and went, and Linus, who knew more about himself (、、、、) and the horror of the cell than anything else, gave up.

'I'm resigning, so give me a break.
"I will tell Master Sato.

　Cell said, and this time he left the room.
　Just before closing the door, I glanced at Linus' figure, who had aged another decade in this instant ...... and looked like an old man.

''That's as good as it gets, Master Sato,''

　Cell stares ahead with reverence in his eyes and walks away, thinking about the man who isn't here.

'I forced him to resign just by sitting there. It's a feat that only Master Satou can pull off.

　The aristocracy of Ryota's followers were becoming more and more fascinated with him because of this one incident.