Ch.209[Chapter 209] Enter the Dungeon

The judicial dungeon was said to have been created at an unknown time.

Legend has it that this underground prison was once the tallest spire in the world, but disappeared into the ground during Gacha Land’s first regression.

Of course, anyone who has visited this gloomy, stuffy dungeon even once would think that’s just a legend.

There is another legend about this dungeon.

It is said that in the deepest part of this dungeon, there is a sword with its handle and blade reversed.

The legend says that if you stab your heart with that sword, you’ll get a chance to go back to the past and correct your mistakes.

However, the person who first discovered this must have been quite remarkable.

It means they broke through the dungeon’s master, the Death Knight.

Paradoxically, this dungeon has been conquered more than once, yet has never been conquered at all.

Perhaps it’s because the time axis is misaligned.

“…so it says.”

Sir Dominic read the inscription on the wall by the flickering torchlight.

The writing, which seemed to have been written by multiple people, was chaotic and disorganized, but even this information could be important to Sir Dominic in his current situation.

“The time axis is misaligned…”

Sir Dominic put everything else aside and remembered just one thing: that the time axis was misaligned.

After all, nothing else mattered to Sir Dominic, who only needed to survive in this underground prison for a week.

“…By the way.”

Sir Dominic turned his head at the gaze he felt from behind.

Eyes watching Sir Dominic from the darkness.

“How long are you going to just stare?”

Sir Dominic sighed and spoke to the beings beyond the darkness.

The beings beyond the darkness were startled and closed their eyes.

It was as if they believed they wouldn’t be seen if not for their glowing eyes.

But Sir Dominic sighed once more.

“…I can see your legs.”

Sir Dominic pointed his finger at where the light reached.

There was a spider leg slightly protruding.

“Huh? Uh, oh. Pervert!”

The being in the darkness was startled and opened its eyes wide.

And hurriedly pulled the exposed spider leg back into the darkness.

“Why are you following me?”

Sir Dominic addressed the being in the darkness, having noticed its presence.

The being seemed to think it was secretly tailing him, but to Sir Dominic’s senses, it felt like a puppy following him around.

“How did you know? Is it a pervert’s intuition?”

The one in the darkness growled at Sir Dominic.

Eight red eyes turned fierce.

“No, how could I not notice when you’re so obvious?”

“…Ugh. I thought it was perfect tailing.”

The being in the darkness sighed.

“Since you’ve been discovered, why not show yourself?”

“Why don’t you turn off the light? The flickering torch makes me dizzy, like I’m seeing eight people!”

Sir Dominic was silent for a moment.

He realized that the being in the darkness had poor eyesight.

“Well, then let’s just talk like this.”

“Fine. It feels like a random chat, which is strange. Pervert.”

The one beyond the darkness said, starting to grumble.

“Why do you invade a lady’s room? Both you and that wizard who just came in earlier.”

“Wizard? You said they just came in?”

Sir Dominic asked the being beyond the darkness.

“Yes. Rudely releasing terrible creatures everywhere. Things like squirrels and rabbits. Ugh, goodness. I hate small animals coming out of corners so much.”

I can barely tolerate elephants, said the being beyond the darkness.

“Where did the wizard go?”

“Who knows? Probably laying eggs in some narrow corner?”

The being in the darkness shuddered as if it was too horrible to think about.

Wondering if they should call pest control.

“Then what are all those things beside you?”

Sir Dominic looked at the several lights floating around the eight eyes.

“Ah.”

The being in the darkness looked at the colorful, twinkling lights and said as if it was nothing special.

“Gaming keyboard.”

And it really was nothing special.

“I’m a basement dweller, you see. My mom always tells me to go outside and eat people, but I prefer staying in my room playing games.”

The being in the darkness said something terrible so casually, but Sir Dominic didn’t mind.

It was because the one in the darkness showed no intention of attacking Sir Dominic.

If it had been aggressive, Sir Dominic would have responded, but in his position of having to survive for a week before proceeding to trial, conserving energy was best.

“Fine. You don’t seem to have any intention of attacking me.”

“Of course not. Why would I? I’m a lady, despite appearances. I hate violence! Mom’s nagging is enough violence for me!”

The being in the darkness protested.

“Then I won’t attack you either. But will you allow me to stay for a week?”

“…Hmm.”

The being in the darkness began to contemplate.

But that contemplation wasn’t very long.

“No.”

A clear refusal.

“Why not?”

Sir Dominic asked the being in the darkness.

“If your week means a week in this dungeon, that’s fine. But your week means a week outside, doesn’t it? Right?”

“Is it different?”

“Yes, very different.”

The being in the darkness continued.

“One week outside is about 2 years here.”

“2 years?”

“Yes. About 700 days?”

Sir Dominic was greatly surprised by the words of the being in the darkness.

He immediately recalled the inscription he had just read.

The inscription about the misaligned time axis.

He knew somewhat about misaligned time axes through System Industries, but he had never seen a time axis twisted this severely.

“Don’t you feel like time passes slowly when you’re bored or have nothing to do? Here, it really does go slower. That’s the kind of place this is.”

“Isn’t that too extreme?”

“Exactly. Staying in a lady’s room for 2 years is problematic.”

Sir Dominic was talking about having to stay here for 2 years, but the being in the darkness blurted out something irrelevant.

“…I have no choice. Is there any alternative?”

Sir Dominic asked the being in the darkness for options.

“Well, if you want, I can introduce you to other friends. The problem is I don’t know if they’ll be friendly to you.”

“Or… if you think you can’t endure such a long time, there’s a way to conquer this dungeon. Do you know the legend of the sword with the handle and blade reversed?”

Sir Dominic recalled the inscription he had just read.

He thought there was something like that.

“They say if you stab yourself with that sword, you can change the past. If you came here because you did something wrong, you can change the past and make it as if it never happened.”

Sir Dominic pondered the words of the being in the darkness.

In his mind, the options of enduring 700 days and conquering the dungeon were weighed against each other.

After the scales wavered similarly for a moment, they soon tipped toward conquering the dungeon.

Sir Dominic finally made his decision and nodded.

“Good. I’ll conquer the dungeon.”

“Good thinking.”

The being in the darkness seemed to be grinning.

“By the way, if you’re going to conquer the dungeon…”

Her hesitation was palpable even from here.

“Can I come with you?”

“Come with me?”

Sir Dominic expressed his doubt to the being in the darkness.

Why would she want to follow Sir Dominic?

“Despite appearances, I’m a merchant. My job is to trade with others and make profit. Though these days I make a living by trading items—”

The exchange rate between Credit and gold has fallen a lot lately. The being in the darkness sighed.

“Actually, I need cash urgently. There was a pretty avatar released, so I bought Gacha Stones behind my mom’s back. If mom finds out, my back won’t survive, you know? I need to restore my bank account before then.”

“Of course, being the weakest in the dungeon, all I can do to help you is buy and sell various items, but that should be quite helpful to you. What do you think? Interested? You are, right?”

The being in the darkness now spoke to Sir Dominic almost pleadingly.

Sir Dominic unconsciously nodded at the powerful plea.

“Yay! Good. I’ll price things fairly, so don’t worry about being ripped off. I’ll only take a tiny profit.”

A pale, thin arm shot out from the darkness.

The arm seemed to be offering a handshake to Sir Dominic.

“Come on. We need to shake hands to finalize the contract.”

Sir Dominic stared at the skinny arm for a moment.

And then he reached out and grasped the hand that emerged from the darkness.

[A dungeon contract has been issued.]

[Sickly Mary (hereinafter Party A) will sell items to Sir Dominic (hereinafter Party B) at 10% discount. Conversely, when buying items, she will purchase at 10% higher price.]

[Party B cannot buy or sell items from merchants other than Party A throughout the adventure.]

[Party A has the obligation to open her stall and purchase items when Party B wishes.]

[Party A: Sickly Mary (seal) / Party B: Sir Dominic (seal)]

Sir Dominic felt a stinging sensation at his fingertip.

Bringing the torch closer to look at his fingertip, he saw blood flowing from it.

“There. Now that we’ve shaken hands, you need to stamp the contract with your fingerprint.”

The being in the darkness, labeled as Sickly Mary, let pale blood from her white fingertip drop onto the contract.

Sir Dominic realized that he now had no choice but to proceed with this contract.

Sir Dominic looked at the being in the darkness, Mary, for a moment.

And then stamped the contract with his bloody fingerprint.