Ch.191July’s Dungeon, and Terror (14)

Anyway, our party immediately went outside.

We had already cleared out most of the enemies outside the fortress. All we needed to do was make a run for it.

RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!! CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE!!

It was an old fortress to begin with. After setting off bombs inside, there was no way it would remain intact. The building collapsed helplessly.

From what I gathered, they had apparently discovered an armory while infiltrating. Then they stole the weapons and caused havoc—a very simple story.

Certainly impressive, but…

“Don’t you guys… know the meaning of moderation?”

I said immediately. They completely demolished the fortress.

“But it helped, didn’t it?”

Umi said with a bright smile.

“Well, yes, but…”

If our escape had been delayed even slightly, we would have been visiting an ancient tomb of piled stones.

“Anyway, this takes care of the Master’s forces, right?”

Tina asked.

“Yeah. No one got seriously hurt either… a great success!”

I exclaimed with a smile.

“But… didn’t you say we needed to find something underground?”

Taiga said at that moment.

“Ah…”

Only then did I realize the gravity of the situation.

We needed to search through this pile of rubble to find the underground facility.

“Well… this mess happened because I got myself captured, so I’ll put in some effort.”

Pril said, summoning her psycho-robot, Pink Teddy.

“I’ll help too.”

Sasix immediately summoned six psycho-robots at once.

A total of seven psycho-robots began excavation work right away.

BANG-BANG!! RUMBLE-RUMBLE!! BOOM!!

The psycho-robots pounded the pile of stones as if they were going to pulverize it.

The rubble was… becoming incredibly flat!!!

“This is… real work…!”

It seemed like they could build the Great Wall of China with this efficiency.

After about 10 minutes of work, the underground facility revealed itself. A shelter-like iron door appeared between the rocks.

“Phew… done, right?”

Sasix smiled at me.

“Would you… consider becoming a professional sergeant?”

I blurted out without thinking.

“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”

Sasix looked at me with cold eyes.

Ah. I couldn’t help saying that because of their excellent work speed.

“You were a huge help!! Sasix!! Pril!!!!”

I smiled and patted both their shoulders.

Well… I figured praising them generously here would help them feel less guilty. A kind of mood lightening.

“Hmph. This is nothing.”

Sasix chuckled. I really like this straightforward side of him.

“Anyway, let’s go in.”

I headed straight for the shelter.

As I feared, it was locked with a security system.

Why are characters in games always so good at securing doors? It felt like every door was locked with keys or security devices.

Finding a key in these ruins would be problematic.

“Not a key… but a keypad system.”

Sasix said.

There were strange character strings all over it.

Moreover… there was no character limit. The possibilities ranged from one character to a maximum of eight. It was nearly impossible to guess by trial and error.

No choice. We had to open it by physical means.

I swung my sword with a breath of concentration.

CLANG!!

With that, the shelter door was sliced off.

As expected. There’s nothing a sword can’t handle. Just as I was thinking that with a smile…

SHIIIIIK!!

The sliced shelter door immediately reattached itself.

CLANG! CLAAANG!

I frantically swung my sword.

“KIEEEEEK!!!”

I swung my sword like a madman.

However, even though I sliced it cleanly in two, the shelter door restored itself. It was as if time itself had been reversed.

“URYAAAAH!!! URAH!!”

Taiga, caught up in the moment, swung his baseball bat.

THWACK! THWACK!! THWAAACK!!!

The baseball bat bent and mangled the shelter door. But likewise, the door restored itself.

“KIEEEEEK!!!”

But… this is kind of fun? I screamed wildly as I swung my sword with all my might.

“IEEEEEEK!!!”

Umi… was just screaming without doing anything. She’s been influenced by me too much.

THWAAACK! THUD!!

Tina also tormented the shelter door with straight punches as if breaking plywood.

As expected, no matter how much we destroyed it, the shelter restored itself.

“STOP!!!! STOP IT!! YOU CRAZY PEOPLE!!!”

Sasix shouted. Only then did we come to our senses.

“We’ve confirmed it can’t be opened by physical means. We need to find another way.”

Sasix said.

“But… this is a language we don’t know. We don’t even know the keyword.”

I said.

“Ugh…”

Sasix’s face fell at those words.

“I know that language.”

Pril said.

“It’s the universal space language, the most commonly used language in the galaxy.”

Pril shrugged.

“What about English? Don’t they use English?”

I asked.

“Eng…lish? What’s that?”

Pril tilted her head.

So English, the language most known to Earth people, is just a fringe, niche language on a cosmic scale. The universe is vast indeed.

“So we just need to know the keyword…”

Sasix looked at the completely pulverized fortress.

“Finding clues seems difficult.”

Tina said.

“……….Alright. Let’s try guessing.”

I said.

A clue… a clue. Although this was reality and different from the original game’s flow… the foundation was still a game.

Usually hints are hidden in conversations with NPCs.

Kirtan! Yes! Let me recall my conversation with Kirtan.

‘Shota… deeper… right there. There… ahaaah❤’

The memory of intense lovemaking flashed through my mind.

No, not that memory.

‘The ruins of the Georgian civilization are buried on this island.’

Suddenly, that line crossed my mind.

“Ah… Georgia.”

On a hunch, I spoke to Pril who was operating the panel.

“Pril. Can you input the keyword ‘Georgia’?”

I said.

“Georgia? Coffee?”

Umi tilted her head. She’s saying the same thing I would.

“Well… alright.”

Pril pressed the buttons on the terminal.

I doubted the password would be that intuitive. I couldn’t help but be skeptical.

Ding!!

“Beep boop… click clack.”

As alien machine sounds were heard, the door opened.

“H-how did you figure that out?!”

Sasix shouted.

“Well, I got a hint from Kirtan.”

I shrugged.

“Hmm… so you didn’t just do lewd things?”

Umi said.

“I enjoy everything there is to enjoy while getting everything I need.”

I said in a proud tone.

THWACK!

Taiga immediately punished my side.

“Something is irritating me…”

Taiga muttered.

“Anyway, let’s all go in.”

I said as I opened the door.

——–

WOOOONG!!

I was worried it might be dark, but it was full of lights. It was quite comfortable for an ancient ruin.

In the center, there was some kind of shiny main cannon. It looked… impressive!!!

It clearly appeared to be an ancient weapon.

It was smaller than I expected. Well, small enough to carry.

“Let’s go back to Kirtan.”

I instructed the group.

“If we bring this, Kirtan will help us, right?”

Umi said.

“Yeah. She said she’d support our victory.”

If she keeps her promise, that is.

“Can we trust her…”

Taiga seemed quite uncomfortable with the idea.

“That’s… probably nothing to worry about.”

Tina said with a bitter smile.

“Kirtan has already become a female. My female sensor activated.”

Tina said.

By the way, what’s a female sensor? Her remarks are consistently bizarre.

“Kirtan seemed completely smitten with Shota.”

Tina said.

“She could be pretending.”

Taiga really didn’t like Kirtan.

“I’m also completely smitten with Shota. I can recognize… my own kind.”

Tina spoke in a strangely profound tone. Tina… have you caught chuunibyou too?

“Anyway, let’s go back. The barrier has started shrinking.”

Sasix said.

The barrier was encroaching beyond the Master’s fortress. The barrier’s position was quite unfair from the Master’s perspective. They wouldn’t have lasted long anyway.

We immediately returned to Kirtan’s pirate group.

“Ah!! I’ve been waiting!! You put on quite a show over there!!”

Kirtan greeted us right away.

And… she flew straight into my arms.

WHOOSH!

Kirtan hugged me tightly.

“I was worried… mmm… you smell good… hehehe.”

Kirtan, with a completely relaxed expression, refused to let go of me.

“How dare you hug him so casually!!”

Taiga immediately got angry.

“Anyway, we got this.”

I pulled out the high-tech cannon from my back.

“It’s smaller than I expected… but oh, it’s definitely a treasure.”

Kirtan’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the treasure.

“This condensed cosmic energy. It could definitely destroy a planet!!”

Kirtan exclaimed.

“Hmph. Anyway, this is the first treasure that’s yours, right? You name it. I’ll let you have the honor.”

I said with a smile.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!”

At those words, Kirtan burst into laughter.

“As expected… you’re a man I acknowledge. You may not be a pirate, but you understand pirates better than anyone!!”

Kirtan said in a hearty tone, then continued in a cute voice, blushing slightly.

“With you… I could have a cozy married life, having children even on a vast spaceship.”

She’s really… too cute. I felt my heart flutter involuntarily.

“Kirtan. I love you.”

I immediately spoke my true feelings.

“S-suddenly saying such things…!”

Kirtan’s face turned bright red.

STOMP!

Taiga delicately stomped on my foot. That hurt.

“Anyway, you name it.”

I placed the cannon in Kirtan’s hands.

“Right… I’ve decided on a name!”

Kirtan raised the cannon high into the sky.

“This one’s name is… Star Breaker!!!”

Kirtan shouted vigorously.

Well… her naming sense isn’t that great either.

Anyway, that completed our deal with Kirtan.