264. A man feared by spirits




Let's take a look at the hierarchy. I want to know what's going on.
Yeah, that's more like it.
"Hm.

 Celeste and Eve both seemed to be following us.
 We went down Plumbum one floor at a time.

 All the dungeons were the same "breathable water" as the first floor.
 It was hard to fight because of the slowdown in movement, but wizards like Celeste weren't really affected by it.

 By the way, the gun's bullet speed was reduced.
 It was roughly half of its normal speed.

 Furthermore, if I started moving at full speed from the beginning, the resistance was so great that it would drain my strength considerably.
 It's best to keep moving slowly and always at the same pace.
 It's like walking in a pool.

 The monsters were all "fish".
 They could be dolphins with tusks, goldfish with horns, or whales with wings even though they're underwater.

 All were monsters with the appearance of a fish.
 Their characteristics are the same, if you don't take them down in one hit, they'll split.
 Even if you try your best to take them down in a single hit, my movement and ammunition speed are so slow that I often miss the fatal blow just in time.

 It's a tricky one.

"The problem here is the monster's split attribute.

 As he proceeded, Celeste accurately mentioned the problem.

'Yes,'
I wish I could change that, but how can you change the characteristics of a monster?
You could try breeding them to see if they work. The monster itself has changed.
Then I'll get a couple of guys from the house.
You'll be fine.

 Eve flipped out? He tilted his head slightly.

'It's a cyclo rule that breeding is more than two people with a genie. Tetramine probably hasn't been ratified, or rather introduced.
"Low-level enough for one person: ......
Is it just me?

 He chuckled bitterly and plunged in.

'You can do it at a lower level. I believe in rabbits.'
That's okay, I'll take care of it, but if you need help, I'll help you. I'll give you a carrots if you need it.
The rabbit's motivation is sky-high.

 Cheap or not, Eve's cooperation was installed for now, whether it was cheap or not.

 The group of three, making half-small talk, went down to the lower and lower floors, defeating monsters as they went.

     ☆

 Prumbum, the lowest level.
 Breathtaking water with dungeon snow falling.

This is the last one.
That's the hierarchy I heard about.
The monsters are together. The fish are doing the doggy paddle.
It's a strange sight, isn't it?

 Eve's explanation was right on target.
 The bottom level monster is a fish, but it has arms and legs.
 Its hands are densely hairy and its feet are wearing net tights.
 They are swimming with their hands and feet doing doggy paddling - a strange sight in the world.

'A fish, in a manner of speaking, in the same lineage, right?
Yeah. I think so.
'Well, let's take one down for bookmarks.

 I raised my gun.
 Whether I used it or not, I was going to take it down once so that the Repetition would be in a situation where I could use it.

 I loaded the gun with tracking rounds.
 After trying various things, I found that in this "underwater" situation, where the bullet speed is messed up due to the nature of the gun as a weapon, tracking rounds with homing ability can do the most damage.

 Of course, as I get used to it, I'll be able to use other bullets as well, but for now, I'm just going to bookmark it.

 I hold the gun up and put my finger on the trigger--

"Huh?
It's gone!

 Me and Celeste are surprised.
 The monster in my sights, the one I had been aiming at, had suddenly disappeared.

'Low level, take a closer look.'
...... all gone?

 When Eve pointed it out to me, I looked again and noticed that the monsters had completely disappeared.
 Earlier, the monsters had been swimming here and there, dog-whistling, like in a normal dungeon, but they were completely gone.

'The dungeon master is out!
I see. We can't afford to have the Dungeon Master rampaging around now, let's just find him and beat him.
Yeah.
I can't help it.

 At any rate, it didn't seem to be on this level, so we took the stairs back to the one floor above us.

'Huh?'

 The situation in front of me was astounding.
 One floor up, the fish monsters were swimming normally, as if nothing had happened.

'There are monsters? Aren't you the dungeon master?
That would be the case: "That's what happens when you get ...... dungeon masters and the monsters disappear in all levels.

 The rules of this world are surprisingly rigid.
 Drop S, there are few "exceptions" to the fact that my unique skills are not involved.

 Once the Dungeon Master is out, the monsters disappear from all levels of that dungeon, this is a no brainer.

I'll go back down.
Yeah.

 Celeste nodded, Eve silent.
 I went back to the bottom level with the two of them.

 There were no monsters. Only dungeon snow poured down, and the landscape was as lonely as it could get.

'What's going on here?'
Rabbit, I'm going to check with the people in town.

 Eve said, then turned and went up the stairs.
 After a few minutes of waiting, Eve returned.

'How did it go?'
No one knows, it's never happened before.
It's a curious phenomenon. As soon as Ryota-san raised his gun, this happened.
Yeah, that's right.
It's as if he didn't want Mr. Lyota to take him down.
"...... didn't want me to take you down? Here?
Yeah, .......

 Huffing, Celeste, she noticed too.
 There's another reason why the other levels are good and the bottom level is not.

 Spirits.

 The path that leads to the spirits is one of its main premises.
 Sometimes you have to kill monsters at the bottom level of a dungeon.

 I'm a drop S, and I can open that path much easier than a normal adventurer.
 But still.

 It's a very flexible world.
 Even if it's drop S, you can't do anything about it until you defeat the monster.

 If there were no monsters like there are now, even I can't go see the spirits.
 And I can control it.

'Spirit here, Prumbum. Don't you want to meet me?
'It makes sense when you think about it. The spirits control the monsters and drops in the dungeon, just as Aulum did. There's no reason to keep the monsters out.
If it's set up to produce a monster, a low level might accidentally break through.
So why don't you just get rid of the monster itself? Huh?

 The two friends and I would argue the situation with each other as if we were trying to answer each other's questions.
 The more we said it, the more we were convinced it was the right thing to do.

'But what should we do? I'm glad you're wary of Mr. Lyota, but I can't help it without the monster.
No, it's not a problem.
What?
"Eve.
'Low levels are rough with people.'

 Eve turned herself around once more and climbed the stairs.

'What's the meaning of this, Mr Lyota?'
The junk potato.
'Scraps: ...... Oh, bring me the drops from this level.
''Yes, we can hatch the drop items in this level and knock them down. Hagremonos will just revert to normal dropping monsters once they hatch in the original tier.
I see. But I wonder if it will work that well. It takes a lot of times for even Lyota-san to pave the way. And if you're going to do that in the flesh, isn't it hard to get the numbers you need?
...... No, I'm fine.

 I was feeling a certainty.

 A dungeon spirit that avoided me.
 So hardline that the moment I pointed my gun at it, it would obliterate all the monsters.
 I'm sure that's--

''Here you go.''

 I waited for a while, and then Eve came back with a bottle of white liquid.

'Are these the drops on this floor?'
Yeah, goat milk. I only had two bottles left.
Only two? I see, tetramine is hard to find people for, so the production volume is ...... okay, Lyota.
Yeah, I'll take care of it--I think one will be enough.

 I took the goat's milk, set it on the ground and got some distance from it, along with two of my friends.
 We waited for a while, and a limbed, dogpile fish hatched.

 He sets up his gun, fires a tracking round, and takes the fish down.

 Then the path was paved.
 The same thing we've done a few times before.
 And it wasn't just goat's milk, it was a path that led us all the way to the next level.

'I turned it off right away because I was afraid it would open up so easily.
'I see! That's amazing, Mr. Lyota.
Well, let's go.

 The open road, the spirit that tried to run away from me.
 If nothing else, I would have gone through or put it off, but when they get to this point, I'll have to come see them once.