Chapter 14: Charlotte and the Abnormal… ×

Today was the day we’d be challenging the third floor of the dungeon.

While I was waiting in my room for Riven to come pick me up, for some reason Trishel showed up instead.

Wait—she’s banned from here. How did she even get in?

"Charlotte-chan. Do you have a moment?"

"Ugh. What is it?"

"Well, well. Have you been careful lately? You seem a little too defenseless."

You’re one to talk? I honestly thought that.
If anything, you’re on the side that does the attacking.

"I’m fine. That’s why I asked Riven-san to come pick me up today, isn’t it?"

"Really? Don’t go wandering alone into back alleys, okay? I’ve been hearing all sorts of nasty rumors lately, and your big sis worries, you know?"

"Who’s your big sis, who’s!?"

Ah—I ended up saying it out loud. She practically set me up for the retort, so it just slipped.
…Well, whatever. It’s Trishel.

At my sudden comeback, Trishel blinked in surprise, only to immediately break into a radiant smile.
――Wait, what!?

"…Hey, Charlotte-chan. Could it be… you don’t like me?"

"Eh, uh, no, well, that’s, um…"

"Yeah, yeah, I figured. Of course you’d dislike someone who makes sexual advances on you!"

You knew? Then was “stopping” never an option?

"Ahh, I was a little impatient, that’s all. I’m glad—you really do dislike me."

She moved almost like she was dancing, more delighted than I’d ever seen her.
Well, she’s always cheerful, but this? What exactly am I looking at right now?

I was so bewildered I couldn’t even form words.

"Oops, he’ll be here soon. Well then, I’ll take my leave."

"Ah, wait a—!"

"See you again in the dungeon~"

She said just that, then leapt out the window and vanished.
…What the hell was that? She was like a storm blowing through.

A little while later, I heard footsteps on the stairs. The one who appeared was Riven.

"…Why are you making such a stupid face?"

Even his usual sharp remark wasn’t enough to snap me out of the shock right away.

It took me some time to recover before I managed to return to reality.
No, seriously, what was that just now?

"So, what happened?"

"Well, Trishel came by and…"

I explained everything to Riven.
He, too, wore a grim expression, as though refusing to comprehend.

"Maybe you were hallucinating."

"No, no, no. It wasn’t anything like that!"

"Whatever. If it bothers you, just ask her directly later."

"It’s not that easy to bring up, you know!"

I’d rather not be the one to bring it up.
I mean, seriously, what was she even thinking? Recognizing she’s disliked and being happy about it? Doesn’t make sense. Normally you try to be liked. Even I don’t like being disliked—it stings, even if it’s inevitable sometimes.

Should I confirm it? Or just pretend it never happened and make things easier going forward?
Because asking would basically mean telling her “I dislike you.” Is that really okay?

We’ve still got dungeon runs planned, you know? I quit leeching precisely because I didn’t want this kind of awkwardness, so why do I have to deal with relationship headaches again? Isn’t this messed up?

I ended up clutching my head and crouching down.
A groan slipped out—this was the most troublesome situation I’d run into in a long time.

The real problem was… she probably wasn’t even thinking about it that deeply. That only made it harder for me.

"…Think all you want, but isn’t being late for our appointment more of a problem?"

"Uuuugh, that’s bad too. Fine, I get it, let’s go. Please."

"Good."

Staying in the inn hallway moaning wasn’t going to move anything forward.
I knew that, and knowing it only made the reality all the more painful.

That morning began in a way that drained all my motivation.

Our exploration picked up where we left off yesterday, starting from the third floor.

Of course, we had to pass through the first and second floors on the way, so we took the shortest route down. Factoring that in, from today onward we’d be doing one floor per day.

"…Yeah, looks like paralyzing poison’s being spread everywhere down here. Everyone, make sure to drink your antidote potions~"

At Trishel’s reminder, the rest of us downed our potions together in front of the stairs to the third floor.

As I drank mine, I thought back to what happened that morning.
Sure enough, Trishel had joined us like nothing had happened.
The only difference was that she hadn’t immediately tried her usual harassment when we met up.

I’d been bracing myself, so the fact that she didn’t do anything actually caught me off guard.

At the same time, it confirmed that what happened in my room wasn’t a hallucination.

When our eyes met, she waved with a smile, looking as carefree as always. It really threw me off balance.

I finished drinking, exhaling with a soft sigh.

"Alright, let’s head down to the third floor."

At Reynard’s call, the three of them started down the stairs.
I slapped my cheeks once to reset my mood, then hurried to follow.

What awaited us on the third floor was… well, awful.
It was hard to even put into words—just awful, was the only thing that came to mind.

The moment we stepped down, the floor was shrouded in a thick yellow haze.

"…So this is the cause of the paralyzing poison spreading?"

"Maybe. It’s a little dangerous, but let’s try destroying one."

What we were looking at was a lump of flesh, pulsing as it sprayed out clouds of yellowish haze into the air—like it was scattering spores.

These lumps covered the walls of the corridor, leaving no gaps at all.

The passage had already been unpleasant, but now it was grotesque. Honestly, someone should praise me for not throwing up.

"Are you sure it’s safe to destroy them?"

"I don’t know. But these lumps weren’t here the last time we came. At this point, we should suspect the dungeon itself is transforming."

Saying that, Reynard drove his sword into one of the lumps.

It was predictable, maybe—once pierced, the lump burst violently, spraying yellow bodily fluid everywhere.

"Reynard!"

"I’m fine! Cough… Yeah, looks like destroying them is a bad idea."

He quickly downed an antidote potion to counteract the paralyzing poison he’d been exposed to.

Then he drank another resistance potion as well. Since the two share ingredients, he had to reapply it or the effects would be overwritten.

"From the looks of it, we’ll have to keep drinking antidote potions constantly while we’re on the third floor~"

"Agreed. If the whole floor is like this, then good thing we prepared ahead of time."

"Yes. I packed plenty of antidote potions in my magic bag too."

"Thanks. Well then, let’s begin the exploration."

And so, our journey into the floor shrouded in yellow paralyzing miasma began.

Naturally, breathing meant inhaling the haze. The antidote potions could neutralize it, but over long periods of exposure, their effects would start to wear thin, and numbness crept in.

Each time that happened, we had to drink again. That process alone ended up eating far more time than expected.

With a clear time limit hanging over the expedition, everyone was draining their mental stamina more than planned.

"Burn, baby burn~!"

Trishel incinerated waves of monsters with her magic as we pushed deeper into the third floor.

Physical exertion meant heavier breathing, which led to inhaling more poison—so we let Trishel’s spells take the lead in combat.

That gave us some leeway in terms of time, but…

"Sorry, I’m running low soon."

"It can’t be helped. We’ve relied on you for every fight since we came down here. From this point on, it’s just time to take risks."

The problem was, our resources overall were depleting rapidly.

Trishel’s mana, of course, but also everyone’s mental endurance. Potions remained, healing spells were still available, but without her magic in battle, those supplies would vanish faster than expected.

A resource war—the kind that usually only happens in the deep floors—was already playing out here, on the shallow third.

You could feel the exhaustion weighing heavier on everyone as we went on.

"…This won’t do. We’re retreating."

In the end, Reynard decided to withdraw before we’d even explored half the floor.

Getting back up was easy. This was just the third floor after all—close to the surface, nothing like the depths.

When we emerged, the sun was still high.

It had felt like we’d been down there forever, but in truth, not much time had passed.

"…Let’s continue tomorrow. We’ve still got time to spare."

"…Yeah."

Even the men looked tired.

Even Riven, of all people, showed a faint trace of fatigue.

"Well then, I guess we’re disbanding here? I’ll head back first~"

Trishel was the only one still full of energy. She’d been the one casting the most magic, yet she looked completely fine.

Honestly, she had more energy than me—probably twice as much.

"Why is she always that energetic?"

Yeah, I wanted to know too.

We followed the usual flow of disbanding, each of us heading back into town.

Even in broad daylight, it was dangerous for me to walk alone here, so I begged Riven to act as my escort.

He had a sharp tongue, but if I begged hard enough, he always listened. The more I thought about it, the more I suspected he might actually be a good guy beneath it all.

Well—his words were harsh, and his scowling face was terrifying. That was all.

"…It’s written all over your face."

"Eh? No, no, I wasn’t thinking about anything like that."

"I don’t know what exactly you were thinking, but I can tell it was something rude."

"Ahaha…"

I forced a smile, trying to smooth it over. Did it work?

…It seemed he decided to let it slide.

Thank goodness. When it came to things like this, dealing with him was surprisingly easy.

"We should be arriving at the Stray Cat Inn soon. Thanks again for every time."

"It’s part of the contract. And it was a job I got thanks to you in the first place. At the very least, I’ll return the favor that much."

He spoke like it was only natural, while at the same time reminding me it was all for profit.

I couldn’t help but give a wry smile. Easy to deal with, yes. But… somehow, it left a bitter aftertaste.

"Here’s fine?"

"Yes, I’ll be alright. Thank you very much."

"Don’t mention it. It’ll happen often enough in the future—so long as you keep being useful to me."

With that, Riven turned his back and headed down the street we’d come from.

That left me with free time until later. I wondered what he’d be doing now. Probably working out in his room, or something like that.

As for me, I figured I might as well help around the inn.

At least, that was the plan—until I noticed the figure of a crying girl in an alleyway.

Deep in the shadows of the backstreet, a girl was sitting and sobbing. Her clothes were ragged. Most likely a vagrant. Or perhaps she’d just been beaten.

I glanced around. No one else seemed to have noticed her.

…Children being mistreated was an everyday occurrence in this town. Behind the scenes, who knew how many were being forced into prostitution?

Stopping just because I happened to stumble upon it—that would only be hypocrisy. Really, it was only my own mood that was souring.

I tried to avert my eyes. But the sound of her crying lingered stubbornly in my ears. Don’t pay attention. No one helped me back then, did they? Not God, not anyone.

『Mom, everyone, D-dad… Somebody, please…!』

The memories flashed across my mind.

That day. That scene. The one I’d tried to forget, yet still haunted my dreams.

…My feet halted.

I should walk away. If I got involved, I’d just be inviting trouble. In this town, only fools stick their necks out for others. There were plenty of reasons not to get involved.

And only one reason to get involved—that I couldn’t stand it.

Really, there was no choice at all.

I sighed, annoyed at myself. What a fool I was.

I turned my steps toward the alley. It was close to the inn, in a part of town where the streets were relatively safe. As long as I didn’t go too deep, I wouldn’t run into anyone too shady.

Repeating that to myself, I walked toward the girl.

"What’s wrong? Are you alright?"

I crouched down, holding out a hand to her, bringing myself to her tear-stained gaze.

Slowly, fearfully, she lifted her face. Her cheeks were streaked with tears, and a dark bruise stood out across her skin.

"I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

"It’s okay, it’s alright. Come on, why don’t you walk with me for a bit?"

"No, no, that’s not it. I’m sorry…"

She kept trembling, like she was terrified of something.

I tried to reassure her, softening my tone.

"What do you mean it’s not? My place is close by. How about we go there, and you can tell me?"

But she shook her head violently, rejecting the idea.

No—this wasn’t rejection. It was—

"I’m sorry… run, run away!"

"…Eh?"

Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind, pressing a cloth against my mouth.

A sweet scent filled my nose.

This was… one of the drugs banned on the surface…

Before I could resist, my consciousness slipped away.