The Darkness Was Comfortable for Me

Chapter 112: Reunion Overcoming Death and Hunting Horn Boy

We walked our way to the lord’s mansion while we were having harmless talk.

At that time, I asked her about the reason why the color had left the giant crystal at the entrance of the dungeon…the Spirit Stone.

The spawning of a Demon Lord happens when the stagnation of the dungeon (called the Demonic Swirl) accumulates to a certain threshold. And when the Demon Lord is subjugated, that stagnated part gets cleared instantly, and it goes to the state it is now.

However, the inside of the dungeon is ‘way too clean’ in this state, so the spawning of monsters decreases quite a lot. That’s why, for a certain period of time after the Demon Lord subjugation, it is prohibited to enter the dungeon.

In other words, the spawning of a Demon Lord and its subjugation, everything has been factored in in the management of the dungeon. I feel like this is a pretty tightrope walk here, but it is probably difficult to not rely on the resources of the dungeon at this point in time.

Rifreya drew a lot of eyes on the way to the venue.

She had light that couldn’t help but draw the eyes of others.

She will most likely become the best Light Templar.

She is on the complete opposite spectrum from me who can only live by being smeared in darkness.

My chance meeting with Rifreya in this city, at that dungeon, was a miracle in itself, and the whim of God.

The party venue that is the lord’s mansion is located in the Great Water Spirit’s ruling territory. It is pretty far away from the dungeon. It is also far away from the Great Spirit’s church, so it doesn’t seem like there will be any problems with a Loved One like me participating.

Since learning that Great Spirits come to eat Loved Ones, I have been careful about the distance to the Great Church to the point of being paranoiac.

“What an incredible mansion… Is the lord here a noble?” (Hikaru)

“Of course he is. The one who owns this land is Count Pelme. The predecessor of the count invited the Great Spirits to this land, and that’s how the history of the dungeon city apparently began.” (Rifreya)

“Invited?” (Hikaru)

“Eh, you didn’t know, Hikaru? In order to make a dungeon, you need to gather at least 3 Great Spirit-samas, you know?” (Rifreya)

“I did hear that before, but…I see, a human gathered Great Spirits, and purposely made a dungeon that spawned monsters.” (Hikaru)

Whichever the case, this is a big mansion.

It is not a castle, but the plot is vast and it is like a 2 story palace with a garden.

Judging from the watchtowers and the old stone walls, it must be a pretty old building.

It might have been there since before it became a dungeon city.

We managed to get inside freely, and it was possible to get to the venue just like that.

As a Japanese person, this kind of place gives me the image that it has strict security, but it might actually be pretty unexpectedly lax.

“Ah! You guys…!”

“Eh?”

“Yeah, it really is them! Do you have a bit of time?”

Being called, I turned around, and there were men I think I have seen before.

Their impression changes quite a lot with their attires being different, but it seems to be the party that was kicked about in front of the stairs to the 2nd Floor.

By the time we arrived then, everyone was in tatters and completely exhausted, but at least it seems like they have recovered enough to show up to the party.

I have not witnessed the end results of it after all. So they have all survived, huh. Or maybe some of their group died to the Demon Lord? I can’t tell.

A boy in their group -that is quite a bit young compared to the others- was looking over here with glittery eyes.

The young man that seems to be their leader continued the conversation.

“You saved us there. If not for your help, we would have been wiped out. Please let us give you our thanks.”

“No no, the ones who saved you directly are Alex and the others. We came slightly afterwards.” (Hikaru)

At that time, the ones already fighting were Alex and the others.

We simply came in to back them up.

“Of course, we are grateful to them too. They are the 3 of the Thunder Fangs who are the rising energetic party. It was impressive how they managed to last that long against a Demon Lord.”

Thunder Fangs…? That’s their party name?

They are pretty nice guys, but with them giving themselves such a strong-sounding name, I feel like it is more because of taste here…

Well…they must be at the age where they like that sort of stuff. Or maybe it comes from the Canadian taste of Alex? A Japanese person would be too embarrassed to give themselves a name like that, but he is probably the type that would just push it through…

The explorer young man added a ‘but’ after giving his gratitude towards Alex and the others.

“…If it had only been them, the frontline would have crumbled really quickly. We were watching from the back, so we can tell. They were really strong, but it was natural that they were losing the initiative against a Demon Lord. If you guys hadn’t come, it would have ended in just a few minutes. If that happened, we would have been killed too.”

It is true that Alex doesn’t seem like he can fight in a team that well just yet.

I do think he did well for an earthling with less than 1 year of experience as an explorer, but it must have looked like they were lacking when fighting with just 3 against a Demon Lord.

Also, if we had lost, these guys would have been killed by the Demon Lord too.

The Demon Lord was aggressive, and didn’t look like the type that would let you go even if you can’t move.

So I say, but we are just talking of the results here.

If it had only been us without Alex and his group, we would have lost as well.

“Anyways, just accept our gratitude. You two…no, it is because you took command that we managed to stand our ground at that place.”

“Command, you say… It is simply that my battle style was compatible against that Demon Lord.” (Hikaru)

“That’s not true! I was watching the whole time while blowing the hunting horn. You gave orders and the Demon Lord moved exactly as you told…! It was as if you were seeing the future!”

The boy with sparkly eyes entered the conversation passionately.

The boy that was blowing the hunting horn desperately the whole time.

At that time he was in constant tears, so this gives me quite the different impression.

Anyways, it seems like I have been evaluated strangely here, but saying I can see the future is exaggerating it too much there.

The Demon Lord didn’t have that many move patterns.

Or more like, monsters themselves don’t have that many move patterns.

“…Well, at that time I was simply in a trance there, but I am glad to hear that I managed to save someone.” (Hikaru)

It is actually a victory we all managed to win with our joint efforts.

I simply fulfilled my own role, so I do feel like they are misunderstanding something here.

“Aah, Hikaru is getting embarrassed. Even though he can fight that well, his self-evaluation is low after all.” (Rifreya)

“No, it is not like I fought. I am simply good at buying time.” (Hikaru)

“See? He immediately goes and says stuff like that.” (Rifreya)

The evaluation Rifreya has of me is also strangely high, but that must be the biased opinion of being in a party together. Rifreya is a warrior, so there’s also the part of her having a good affinity with me.

“Hey hey, I have not seen you in this city before, Hikaru-san, but did you dive in a different dungeon somewhere? With that strength, you could be a Gnome Gold Rank, or…no, it wouldn’t even be strange if you were an Undine Mithril Rank.”

It seems like the Tiers of explorers work even in other dungeons.

The hunting horn boy probably misunderstood me as a veteran explorer that came from another dungeon.

If I were to tell him the truth, he would probably be disappointed, but there’s no real need to hide it.

“I am Bronze.” (Hikaru)

“Eh…? You are bronze? Meaning that you are Spiritus Rank…right?”

“Yeah, I became an explorer just recently.” (Hikaru)

“No way… To think you were a Spiritus…”