Chapter 23: Charlotte and the End of the Disturbance

"Ah! Right! What about the meat slime!?"

While celebrating with Reynard, it suddenly came to mind. It should have fallen along with us, but where did it go?

"Now that you mention it. We didn’t exactly have the luxury to worry about that."

"I’ll go take a quick look!"

I let go of Reynard’s hand and began to search around. There were still things I wanted to investigate about that meat slime. What exactly was that vision it showed me? Why was it so fixated on me? Too many questions without answers. That strange feeling I’d picked up on—still unresolved. I couldn’t just let it go.

Since it should have fallen together with us, it should be near the collapsed boss… it didn’t get crushed under it, right? I searched around the boss’s corpse, but its figure was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you find it?"

"...No. It’s nowhere."

"Maybe it really was a monster. They say when you try to drag a monster into a boss floor, some strange force pushes it back out."

Just as Reynard suggested, it could have been a monster. But my gut told me otherwise. That thing wasn’t a monster. Then… what was it? I didn’t know. That’s why I was looking.

"Maybe it really is stuck under the boss’s body…"

"Hmm, I don’t think so. I was paying close attention the whole fight, but I never sensed any other living presence near the boss."

Trishel shot down my hopeful guess. If she said so, then it had to be true. She wasn’t the type to be wrong about that. So where had it gone? Was it really just a monster…?

"There’s also the possibility it headed deeper into the dungeon."

"Oh, right."

"And besides—doesn’t this belong to it?"

What Riven had found was a white gemstone it had dropped. Apparently, it had been lying on the ground.

"...Hmm. Looked at like this, it’s just a plain white stone."

"Do you see anything in it? Anything unusual?"

"No, nothing in particular. Here."

"Hey—!"

He tossed it carelessly, and I barely managed to catch it before it hit the ground. But just like that, nothing strange appeared in my vision. What had that thing been, back on the upper floors?

"A white stone, huh…"

"Something on your mind, Riven? You look thoughtful."

"No, I was just reminded of an old fairy tale."

A fairy tale? Not the sort of thing I expected from him. So even a man like him had a softer side once.

Our eyes met. He quickly looked away. Cleared his throat.

"In my country, they say that long ago there were White Devils."

"White Devils?"

"Vile fiends that twisted the forms of life. As traces of them, white gemstones like this would sometimes appear."

What a grim fairy tale. So that’s the kind of story he grew up with—explains why he turned out like this.

"Where I grew up, it was a White Angel instead. A kind angel who healed everyone’s wounds."

Trishel chimed in, almost as if to challenge his tale. Huh. Guess it depends on the region. Fairy tales do shift around like that. In some places, the story of the cruel sisters who gouged out eyes gets edited into something tamer. Tales change as they spread.

"As the angel exhausted its power, it shed white tears before vanishing. That was the version I heard."

"Huh. So both versions have something white left behind in the end."

"This is my first time hearing any of this. Trishel, it’s rare for you to talk about your birthplace."

"Well, just this once."

Saying that, Trishel cast a fleeting glance at Riven. What was that about? I really hoped they wouldn’t start fighting again. Things were tense enough before we even entered the dungeon. Before it got awkward, I hurried to steer the topic away.

"Anyway, it’s just a fairy tale. Back to reality—what should we do now?"

"That’s a tough question. Do we even have any option besides retreating?"

"Yeah, I suppose not."

I was still curious where that meat slime had gone, but realistically, after a boss battle, our options were limited. Go forward or turn back. Advancing wasn’t in the plan, and with our resources, it would be reckless. Which meant retreat was the only choice. There was no point risking our return route just to chase that thing. I was curious, yes, but that was all. No reason to gamble our lives over it.

"Since we went through all the trouble of defeating it, let's check if there's anything related to the anomaly."

"Wasn't this thing supposed to have a magic stone inside its eye? And the meat from the body should also—"

Even after all that movement, the vanguard group was still full of energy as they headed over to dismantle the area boss.

Me? I'm completely exhausted. Tired. I just want to go home and rest.

Also, I want to wash myself. Clean everything off. Wipe everything down.

I want to take a bath. Haven't had the chance to soak in one in this life yet.

I noticed Trishel coming closer to me, but at this point, I'm ignoring her.

I'm really, truly tired. Do whatever you want. Sudden boss battles are hell on the heart.

Normally, she'd take this chance to make at least one inappropriate comment, but maybe because we're inside a dungeon, she's restraining herself.

Good.

"So, how was it? Did you find anything?"

I asked the vanguard group, who had just returned from dismantling the boss, if they discovered anything unusual.

My guess? Nothing.

"Nothing at all."

"Yep, nothing."

"Thought so."

As expected. I figured as much.

"'Thought so,' huh? If you knew this was going to be a waste of time, you should’ve said so from the start."

"Ah! No, that’s not what I meant! I mean, it is what I meant, but not exactly!"

"Which is it? Speak clearly."

Riven folded his arms, looking irritated.

Don’t be mad. Scary.

"I just thought… if the boss was the cause of the anomaly, then we'd expect this kind of problem to be happening more frequently."

"Hmm… I see."

The only one who nodded as if she understood was, surprisingly, Trishel.

Reynard and Riven, meanwhile, looked like they didn’t get it at all.

"Why’s that?"

"It's simple. If a stationary boss was the cause of the anomaly, then every time a boss appeared, an anomaly would likely occur too, right? In that case, it’d make more sense if anomalies showed up more often in dungeons where bosses are being defeated."

"Ah, so it’s more of a probability issue? If that’s the case, I think I kinda get it."

Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it that deeply myself, but I just nodded along anyway.

So stop giving me that suspicious look.

"…Well, fine. I understand your reasoning. So, where exactly is the cause of the anomaly?"

"Isn’t finding that the entire point of this request? Or did our big dumb battle junkie forget after just a few days~?"

Hey, stop provoking him!

And you, don’t put your hand on your sword!

"Wait, wait, wait! We're heading back to the surface right now, so don’t waste your energy on pointless fights!"

"…So, you’re saying it’s fine if we fight after we’re back?"

"Nope. Against the law on the surface. So, no."

"You little…"

I got an exasperated look for that, but at least the heat between them simmered down.

As long as it doesn’t escalate into a fight, I don’t care how much they sigh at me.

If they want to commit crimes after we’re back and safe, that’s their business. As long as I don’t get dragged into it, I’m fine.

With the two hotheads calmed down, we decided to leave the dungeon for now.

Thankfully, nothing happened on the way back either. If only the trip to the boss had been this smooth, too…

And, to get straight to the conclusion—starting from that day, the dungeon anomalies stopped.

A few days later, we regrouped and went diving into the dungeon again. The moment we stepped inside, I could immediately feel the air was different.

Just to be sure, we spent a few days checking each floor, but the paralyzing poison miasma on the third floor was gone, and there was no sign of it returning.

We still didn’t know the exact cause, but we had no choice but to conclude that the anomaly had subsided.

We submitted the white gemstone as evidence to the Guild, and among ourselves, we came to the tentative conclusion that the meat-slime creature had probably been the cause.

But in the end… what the hell was that thing?

Trishel had this look on her face like she knew something, but she dodged every question I asked, and I couldn’t get any real answers out of her.

Riven also seemed unusually gloomy, which caught my attention.

Do those two know something they’re not telling us…?

Either way, thanks to the boss materials and the completion reward, I walked away with a hefty amount of money this time.

With my savings looking decent now… maybe it’s finally time to put my plans into motion.