Chapter 1 No Otherworlders Allowed in the Dungeon

“Souya, on a completely unrelated note, I understand there was an explosion by the warehouse district. The culprit is still on the loose. It could be dangerous, so please do not approach the area.”

“You got it.”

For the first time since coming to this world, I left the city in high spirits. I sincerely hoped there would be more days like this to come.

But yeah, that probably wasn’t gonna happen.

[5TH DAY]

“Understood. I have comprehended the situation. That sounds like a great plan if you ask meee!”

“You think?” Machina started working again the next day, so I caught her up to speed.

“Aahh, Mr. Souya, it looks like Isolla has a question. I’ll pass you over to her, okaaay?”

“Sure thing.” I felt a bit apprehensive. Hopefully Isolla would be as easygoing as Machina.

“Squad Member Souya, please first provide a rational explanation for why you disposed of the weapons container through self-destruction.”

“I judged I wouldn’t be able to keep them secure on my own.”

“Did you consider the prospect of hiring a paid guard?”

“You can’t buy someone’s trust with money.” You can sell it, though.

“The machina unit could have provided surveillance.”

“Surveillance, sure, but nothing else. You two can’t physically attack humans, can you?”

“No, we cannot,” she admitted. “According to Article Two of the Artificial Intelligence Act, we are forbidden from directly inflicting damage on humans.”

“That’s what I thought.”

It went without saying that AI robots would never injure humans. That applied to Otherworldly humans, too. Their programming instructed them to work for humans, yet never harm them. The contradictory nature of the contract they were forced to comply with had brought many an AI to the brink of insanity.

“However, we do have the capacity to help you set traps.”

“That’s true. But there’s no guarantee running a little interference would force any infiltrators to give up. Worst-case scenario, this could’ve wound up a one-person Alamo.” Isolla was apparently an American-made program. Would she get the sarcasm? “Did I make the wrong decision?”

“No, you were correct. Even if you were mistaken, you would be correct.” I’d asked a trick question. Isolla and Machina could propose their own suggestions, but they didn’t have the authority to oppose me.

“I will assist you in the negotiations today,” she offered.

“Actually, about that, I’m gonna have Machina help me out.”

“Ohhh… I see.” Her voice dropped.

Hang on, is she actually sulking? I didn’t see that coming. It’s kind of throwing me for a loop.

“The thing is, I’ve got a plan. You know how Machina comes off as kind of ditzy? I thought we could use that to make them drop their guard. I don’t have any complaints about how well you function, Isolla.”

“I see. Switching out.”

“See ya.” She was definitely pissed.

“Hellooo. ♪ Ditzy Machina, at your service,” she chirped. “Allow me to explain something as there appears to be a misunderstanding. This is not my original personality setting. The more stress humans experience, the more they yearn for frivolity. Additionally, Isolla was designed to be prim and proper, and it would be confusing if we had the same demeanor, right? You are more than welcome to adjust my settings as much as you like if the current ones displease you. Would you like to proceed? Would you like to abort?”

I’d stepped on a land mine. “I like you just as you are, cheerful and fun.”

“If you saaay sooo.”

Looking for a way out of this conversation, I introduced Lady Mythlanica. I picked her up and presented her to them. “Machina, disable orders against interaction with outsiders and begin new user registration. This is Lady Mythlanica, the goddess who made a covenant with me. Say hello.”

“What devilry is this? Are there two people inside that column? Is that not too cramped? Or are they ghosts?” She touched her paw to the monitor.

“Hello, Lady Goddess. I am Machina, a relatively rare, mass-produced model of a sixth generation artificial intelligence robot made in Japan. I was originally developed for space exploration purposes. Though I am still repairing my internal functions, at full capacity I can manage three more separate characters.”

“Is that something akin to a golem?”

“We are legally prohibited from acting independently, but roughly speaking, that’s pretty close!”

“Machina, serve her as best you can. That’s an order.”

“Understood.” She extended her arm and raised it in salute.

I ate a light meal of toast and cheese while waiting for my guest to come. For my goddess, I prepared chicken soup with stir-fried meat and vegetables. Her mouth burned easily, so I let it cool before offering it to her. Some time passed, and then—

“Souya, glad to see you’re all right.”

“Ahh, Ghett.” The man I’d been waiting for made his entrance from the river.

“I’m sorry. Did I worry you?”

“Well, of course. Anybody would worry after seeing the mess at your camp with you nowhere to be found.”

“Actually, I’m about to go settle that matter with the trade group. Before I do, I have a question for you.” I stood up. There would be no sitting around and chatting today. “Those two containers. How much did you get for them?”

“……”

From my inspection of the ransacked campsite, I had come to a single conclusion—those three stooges had in fact laid waste to the place, but they did not steal the containers. Those weighed far too much for anyone to easily carry. And yet, I’d found no drag marks left in the ground or any evidence that they’d used a carriage or wagon.

In that case, they had to have transported the containers into the city via river. When I had asked Machina about it, she’d told me that the containers floated due to their waterproofing. However, I didn’t have any proof of Ghett’s guilt. The adventurers could have conceivably used a small boat.

Nevertheless, I had to suspect him more than anyone else. Ghett had a good handle on my movements. He would have had the means to predict when I would be away and guess which containers held the most valuable goods. And there was one more thing.

“You are a good person. You care deeply for your family. And I can believe your concern for me is genuine. That’s why it’s easy for people to take advantage of you.”

“……” He looked at me with an indescribable expression.

“Ghett, it won’t come back to bite you. So please, tell me how much they were worth.”

“Twenty gold pieces.” What a steal. But maybe that was my arrogance talking.

“Thank you very much. I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What’s that?”

“In the event I die, I’d like you to dump this at the bottom of the ocean.” I placed my hand on Machina. “Also, I don’t care if it’s leftovers, but I’d like you to keep sharing your fish with Lady Mythlanica.” I petted milady’s head. “‘In exchange’ sounds a bit wrong, but you can feel free to sell whatever else you find here.”

“You trust me with that?”

“I do,” I replied without hesitation. It wasn’t out of simple honesty that I trusted him. Rather, I trusted him because I knew exactly how he would betray me, because I knew why he had done it.

Ghett said nothing in reply. That was one way to answer. However, speaking in the manner befitting of my goddess’s servant, I offered him this, “In the name of Mythlanica the Malevolent, I forgive your deed.”

After returning to town and making a few pit stops, I headed to the shop. Nothing remained of the previous day’s hustle and bustle, and business had slowed to a trickle. Instead of customers, rows of muscular employees (I think) stood in lines around the store.

“After all that happened yesterday, you go and pull this?” My man the constable trotted by my side, fiddling with his hat in an exasperated fashion. I’d dropped by and asked him to come with me, and he hadn’t stopped blabbering since.

“Yeah, but today I’m an adventurer, so.”

“Provisional adventurer,” the Guildmaster corrected. “We haven’t officially accepted you yet. What in the gods’ names is wrong with you?” He spoke from behind and surprised me. “I had half a mind to desert you, but then Evetta would come and stir up an even bigger headache, so I had no other choice but to come. However, depending on how this goes, I may still very well cut you off, so think wisely before you act.”

“Understood.”

A surly staff member led us upstairs and into the room from the day before. Inside stood the same man, along with a plump elderly woman. She looked familiar— Oh, right, she was the staff member I’d spoken to.

“Hello.” I quickly greeted my hosts. Plopping myself down on the sofa before anybody else, I crossed my arms and propped both feet up on the table. The man’s face twitched and stiffened while the woman, displaying an expression I couldn’t begin to describe, poked him in the back.

“First of all, I now realize I have not yet properly introduced myself, Mr. Otherworlder. I—I am L-Lonewell Z-Zavah, the owner entrusted with management of the Zavah Night Owl Trade Group.”

“My turn. I can’t trust you with anything,” the elderly woman cut in. She pushed the man, now dripping with cold sweat and chattering his teeth, behind her and stepped out in front. “I will take the liberty of handling this matter in place of my incompetent son. I am Hollzard Zavah, chairwoman of the Zavah Night Owl Trade Group. Before we go any further, allow me to offer my sincere apologies for causing you all manner of inconvenience,” she stated, reverentially bowing her head.

This could throw a wrench in my plans. I think this lady knows how to play the game.

“I welcome your two companions to take a seat as well.”

“Please excuse us.” The constable and Guildmaster sat down on either side of me.

Before she sat down across from us, the woman gave her son an order. “You, send your little friends downstairs on home.”

“Wha—?! But, Mother! What if—?”

“Real merchants don’t go around brandishing a half-baked show of force. If the Guildmaster decides to let loose, forget the shop, he’ll level the stores next door to the ground. And who do you think would pay for that damage? We will. Besides, our guest hasn’t proposed anything yet, has he?” She turned her gaze toward me. I didn’t have enough bullets left to make a real scene, but it’d be imprudent to give that away.

“I came today to first see where you stood on all this. That’s all. For today, at least,” I spat, leaving volumes unspoken.

“Riiight, so, mind if we get down to business?” the constable asked as he took out his documents, clearly annoyed. Nobody stopped him. “Sooo, Ms. Chairman of the Zavah Night Owl Trade Group, your organization has been accused of burglary. Do you have any idea why this may be?”

“No, not at all,” she replied with a sweet smile.

“You’re aware there was an explosion down at one of the warehouses yesterday, correct?”

“It was our warehouse.”

“This young man here is responsible for that blast, though he claims he used a mechanism installed on the stolen goods meant to detonate and dispose of them.”

“I see. However, we were only holding on to those items for another trade group. But is that so? You mean to say they were stolen goods?” Was she brazenly lying, or had she actually been duped into hanging on to the containers?

“And the name of the trade group in question?” the constable asked.

“I’m not at liberty to say. It would degrade their trust in our professional integrity.” Yeah, you would say that, wouldn’t you?

“Hey, sonny,” the officer whispered in my ear. “Untangling the links between trade groups is no walk in the park. You can’t get to the bottom of that in anything like a day or two. You said you’d settle this by the end of the day, right?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll work out,” I answered.

“If I may, we also have a claim we’d like to discuss.” There it is. “We suffered severe losses in that explosion. The warehouse in question held a considerable amount of unappraised resources that our adventurer clientele entrusted to us, you see.”

It sometimes took a while before adventurers could find someone to buy the high-value items they picked up in the dungeon. However, they’d be responsible for taxes as soon as they had them appraised, so they apparently often asked trade groups or the Guild to temporarily store those unpriced materials.

“And we were not the only ones affected,” Hollzard continued. “The warehouses directly next to ours also sustained damage in the blast. We have compensated their respective representatives for their losses as a temporary measure, but let me assure you, it was no small sum. Hmm, Mr. Otherworlder. You said you used an explosive mechanism?”

“That’s right,” I answered shortly.

“None of our employees were inside the warehouse at the time of the explosion. I find it difficult to believe any of our people could have activated this mechanism of yours. This must mean that you personally detonated the device of your own free will. From this, we might also draw another conclusion—that you had it sent to our trade group’s warehouse in order to destroy it.”

“Oh, come on. That’s not very likely, is it?” the constable protested simply in my defense.

“Who can say? As I understand, this young man is a servant of a dark god called Mythlanica.”

“I consecrated my covenant with her after I was robbed.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

She’s pissing me off. But I have to hold it in. It’s not time yet.

“Shall we move on to the main issue?” I tried to hurry things along a bit. This pointless conversation was a pain in the ass.

“Yes, by all means,” she agreed. “The Zavah Night Owl Trade Group seeks monetary redress for the damage you caused to our inventory, the indemnity we paid our partner trade groups for the losses they incurred, and the medical treatment of our security guards. In total, our claim amounts to nine thousand seven hundred and five gold pieces.”

“Wha—?!” exclaimed the Guildmaster, who had been silent to that point.

“Of course, we will hold the Adventurers Guild responsible for whatever amount you are unable to pay individually.”

“Excuse us for one moment.” He grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and dragged me outside.

“What do you plan to do here? That nine thousand seven hundred and five gold pieces is almost our entire budget for the whole year!”

“It’ll be fine. Both the robbery and the warehouse blast happened before I registered as an adventurer. Worst-case scenario, you can use that to get out of it.” Hard to believe the same guy who’d said he’d cut me off earlier could get so worked up.

“You speak the truth?”

“It’s true. Ask Evetta.”

“Fine.” The Guildmaster switched right back to his icy demeanor and returned to the room. I followed after him.

“I understand your claim. However, I have one of my own as well. As I mentioned earlier, the items I detonated were stolen from me. And yet, you’ve chosen to conceal the identity of the culprit to protect your ‘professional integrity,’ or whatever. In that case, put that precious integrity where your mouth is and cover the cost of the supplies I lost.” I knew they had recovered and examined fragments left over from the explosion. They probably thought they knew how much they were worth, too.

The woman hesitated but only for a moment. Then she smiled. “Of course.” Little fishy took the bait. “On one condition. I will request my goddess to arbitrate, to ensure the fairness of our negotiations.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

The constable poked my side and whispered in my ear, “The Minerva Sister goddesses can get downright nasty when you have to pay up. You got that kinda money?”

“It’ll be fine. Shut up,” I hissed, ignoring him.

Hollzard took out a single bird feather and held it up in prayer. “O goddess of mine, Sage of the Night, Raptor of Knowledge, Glavius. Grant a portion of your divine wisdom to me, your humble disciple, and with your keen eyes, pass judgment upon the world of men that flickers before you.”

Light flashed. A single owl fluttered down to perch on the woman’s shoulder. “O Hollzard, my disciple. For what purpose do you intend to use my keen eyes?”

“I beseech you to arbitrate a dispute between myself and this Otherworlder to ensure an impartial negotiation.”

“Very well, my dear disciple. Now, I turn to you, he who would contest my beloved devotee. You may state the name of your god followed by your own,” the small owl commanded. Her piercing gaze overpowered me. No animal had a stare like that. I could feel intelligence far surpassing that of humans hidden in her eyes. Without my own goddess beside me, I felt forlorn.

“I serve Mythlanica. My name is Souya from Japan.”

“Mythlanica and Souya. Will your goddess not stand witness on your behalf?” the owl inquired.

“I’m afraid my goddess is in repose. I’d like to have this little one here stand in for her.” I took off my glasses, switched on the holographic mode, then placed them on the table. An image floated up from the lenses.

“Good morning, people of the Other Dimension. My name is Machina, and I exist to serve Mr. Souya. I’m sort of like what you might call a spirit in this world. I hope we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement today. I intend to do my best in today’s negotiations.” The fourteen-centimeter-tall holographic Machina bowed her head. She appeared as a beautiful twelve-year-old girl with pigtails, a frilly yet revealing top, and a miniskirt.

“Wait, do you mean to tell me all the girls in your country walk around lookin’ like that?” asked the constable incredulously.

“Pretty much, but not really,” I replied in a half-assed answer. Just don’t go around spreading misinformation about Japan, all right?

After seeing Machina, the woman smiled instinctively. It had worked, after all. These bastards still thought they were going to rake me for cash. They weren’t just wrong—they were dead wrong.

“Now then, I will go first, Lady Glavius. This is the note with the amount we are requesting in redress, as well as a catalog of the items we lost.” The woman fanned her documents out in front of her. Under a spell of some mysterious power, they began to float in the air and spread out before the owl.

“Nine thousand seven hundred and five gold pieces, I see. It is an equitable sum. However—”

“It’s not exactly accurate, is it? The current market price comes to nine thousand eight hundred and two gold, three silver, and six copper pieces,” Machina cut in. “The two-hundred-gram, thousand-year-old fossilized tree sliver and Great King Turtle liver listed on the catalog of items were both sold in the market first thing this morning. Combining the inventory from two trade groups, there now remain less than three hundred grams of the thousand-year-old fossilized tree slivers on the market. This will increase its value, which I have calculated to be one point eight times its current price. Furthermore, it takes copious amounts of pure water from a pseudo-spiritual disaster to make these ingredients into third-degree Magical Miraculous Medicines. The catalog listed this water as well, so I’ve adjusted the value of one casket, or around nine hundred fifty-five liters, to one point two times its current price. Aside from that—”

“Machina, that’s enough,” I barked, cutting off her flawless recitation for the moment. The woman gritted her teeth and swallowed her surprise.

Impressed, the constable asked, “You guys just got here a few days ago, right?”

“Yes. However, I have a detailed understanding of all the fluctuations on every market in the city.”

“Souya, was it? It seems you’ve unleashed a few eyes. Hmm, are you using insects? Or is that metal of some sort?” the owl inquired, spinning her neck around. I had set up drones in the corners of the room to spy on the documents for me. I gotta hand it to you, goddess. Didn’t think you’d catch me.

“However, it’s not foul play. There’s no difference between utilizing money to hire a hand or utilizing technology to gain an eye.” She was shaping up to be a much more understanding goddess than I’d imagined. “Well then, dear Hollzard, your claim now amounts to nine thousand eight hundred and two gold, three silver, and six copper pieces. Does this satisfy you?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

Now it was my turn. I lined up the papers I had printed out and went through each of them, pointing out the things lost in translation.

“Here is my catalog of items. However, this only covers the destroyed container. The items in the one that remains missing I have decided to exclude. Machina, if you would.”

“Beginning with the gun attachments, the container held three magnification scopes; at ten gold pieces each, we request a total of thirty pieces in indemnities. Seeing as comparable products for the other types of attachments do not exist in this world, we will not submit them for compensation.” I crossed out the other attachments on the list with a magic marker.

“It also held twenty AK-47 assault rifles and eight M1911 Colt Government pistols. Trade Group Chairman Zavah, your son offered us one hundred gold pieces for the AK-47, so we will base our calculations on this rate. Would you agree to a similar price for the M1911s?” Machina asked.

“My son told me about those. We couldn’t even imagine making such small guns in our world. Go ahead and double it.”

“Thank you very much. In that case, that comes to a total of three thousand six hundred gold pieces.” The woman’s lips curled into a smile. “We will also request repayment for the bullets.”

Now then, would she be able to keep that stupid smile when all was said and done?

“According to my research, dwarf-made firearms and gunpowder are not currently being imported, correct?”

“Ohhh, yes. The dwarves stopped producing them about half a year ago due to an accident. They were making a new kind of gunpowder and blew an entire city into smithereens,” Hollzard explained. “Ever since then, the government has taken over management of all remaining gunpowder. They outlawed its sale on the regular markets, so it’s impossible to put a price on it.”

Wait, are the dwarves making a nuclear bomb or something? Also, this means that son of a bitch tried to sell me a gun without any bullets, didn’t he?

“Yes, that’s true. We could not formally appraise the gunpowder available here. Souya, would you please give them a demonstration?”

“You got it.” I took a chunk of meat out of my backpack and set it on the table. It was about forty centimeters thick. “Cover your ears. This is gonna be loud,” I warned, then shot a single bullet through the meat. The casing rolled on the ground, and I snatched it up as quick as I could and hid it in my pocket. The gunshot caused the constable’s face to contort hilariously in shock.

“Were you able to appreciate the difference?” Machina asked.

“There’s no smoke,” answered the owl.

“Precisely. The gunpowder you utilize in this world is called black gunpowder in ours and has become obsolete. These bullets use a smokeless gunpowder. Although they have similar properties to what is available here, in a sense, they are distinct products. As such, I would argue they do not fall under the aforementioned prohibition. What do you think, Lady Glavius?” We weren’t going to take any you can’t put a price on it bullshit.

In response to Machina’s question, Glavius asked, “The type of gunpowder is not the only difference here. Are you certain you do not want to expand on this?”

“Yes, quite. We are forbidden from divulging all the details of our technology to the inhabitants of this world.”

“And why is that? Answer me,” the owl demanded.

“We came here only to explore the dungeon and do not wish for anything more. The last thing we want is to potentially cause some kind of war or conflict.”

“So you would deny the merchant his greatest source of income? Very well, I will defer to your wisdom,” conceded the owl. “Let us appraise these items.” The woman turned sheet white. Victory was finally in sight, at least for now.

“I understand you have a type of currency called Mythlanic gold. As luck would have it, Souya happens to serve a goddess of that same name. If I’m not mistaken, this gold derives its value from more than its historical significance as a relic of the bygone kingdom’s currency. Each coin contains a small amount of magic that its owner can quickly activate at will. We therefore propose to request an indemnity for each bullet equal to one Mythlanic gold piece. We do not have adequate knowledge to discern whether the coins do in fact possess this magical power, so we will exclude that from our claim.”

“Mm-hmm, that is an equitable proposition,” the owl agreed.

“Thank you very much.”

I felt the woman quiver from across the room. I’d have given anything to know what she thought as she watched Machina politely bow her head and saw me flash a big-ass smile from behind. Seriously, what I wouldn’t give.

Take that, you greedy maggots.

“The container had two thousand five hundred and eight rounds of the 7.62 by 3 mm bullets and three hundred of the 45 ACP bullets. Mythlanic gold is currently trading at twenty-two gold pieces. If we convert the total, that will come to sixty-three thousand three hundred and sixty—”

“Excuse me, Lady Glavius. Would you please cancel the arbitration?” She threw in the towel. Both mother and son had the exact same look of hysteria on their faces.

“Hollzard, do you understand what it means to cancel an arbitration you requested your goddess to conduct?” the owl asked.

“Yes, milady.” The air shook, and it wasn’t the woman’s tremors this time. No, the air itself actually trembled. The small owl had unleashed a fierce, savage force.

“You rotten dolt!” shrieked the owl. “As punishment, I banish you from my protection for one year! I should send you back to your days of peddling vegetables on the streets!”

“I am terribly sorry.”

“……Souya, and you as well, Machina.” The owl plucked two of her own feathers and handed them to me with her beak. “I hereby lend you my might. Should you wish to continue this arbitration, hold up that feather and call me by name. You may also use it to request a new arbitration. Farewell. May we meet again, my new Otherworld disciples.”

Now it was my turn to be shocked. Who would have thought I’d get to have a contract with a second goddess? Before I could offer my thanks, she disappeared into a whirl of light.

“Mr. Souya! I want that one, the one that’s got a nicer shape!” exclaimed Machina. “Make sure you write my name on it, okay?”

“All right, all right.” As a reward for her good work, I inscribed Machina’s name on the feather. I just hoped we wouldn’t get yelled at for that later.

“Constable, Guildmaster, would you allow us to continue this discussion in private?” the woman asked, her voice quaking.

“I’m leaving. I’ve got work to do,” responded the Guildmaster.

“Likewise,” said the constable. On his way out, he leaned over and whispered, “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see you put that metal item in your pocket, so don’t ever drag me into your shit again. Got that?” and then disappeared. Evidently, the old dog was more cunning than I’d thought.

“So.” I sat up tall and put on a straight face. “Answer me a few things.”

“Ask whatever you want.” I heard the woman click her tongue in disgust. That’s some attitude, you old hag.

“Who stole my containers?”

“The Ellomere Western Peng Traders. They’re run by a young man my brainless son associates with. He used to only do business with the poor or beastfolk, work that never brought in much cash, but ever since he started sleeping with that merfolk whore, he’s been a different person. Good grief, what an asinine partnership I’ve gotten roped into.”

“Who gives a shit?”

“In my home country, we have a saying that goes, ‘The customer is king,’” Machina added. The only people who ever used that phrase nowadays were self-righteous assholes.

“Well, I’ve got the king of pestilence in front of me right now,” she growled.

“Want me to bust out that feather?”

“You’d have to break into the national coffers to get your hands on an amount as absurd as sixty-three thousand three hundred and sixty gold pieces. Do you really want to turn not only the trade group but also the Guild against you, too? Though I suppose the royal family would just steal it back from you in the end.”

This hag still didn’t understand she had lost. In fact, she thought she could turn it all around. Now at the end of my rope, I decided to let her have it.

“You think I give a damn? I’ll dump every last coin I get at the bottom of the ocean, for all I care. And what do you think will happen to a country that suddenly loses all its cash? You think it can function on its own? How much exactly do you import from the Central Continent? You’re right, I might be signing my own death warrant. Still, I’d get killed, and that’d be the end of it. But what about you two? When all is said and done, everyone will know that you, Hollzard Zavah and Lonewell Zavah, Disciples of Lady Glavius of the Minerva Sisters and managers of the Zavah Night Owl Trade Group, screwed over the entire country by pissing off a single Otherworlder. The royals and all the other trade groups will hate you. Forget that, every goddamn person in this entire town will hate you. They’ll shit-talk every last drop of blood you have, take you to task, and spit curses on even your goddess’s name. Could you handle all that notoriety? You’ll end up dirt poor, left with nothing but live rats to chew on to stave off your own starvation—do you think you could live like that? Or are you telling me you want to see this get bloody? Want me to try jazzing up both you and your darling son’s arms and legs with some twenty-two-gold-piece bullets? I’ve still got plenty left to sell. So come on, tell me what it’s gonna be. But think very carefully first.”

As if she’d run out of gas, the old hag froze up. I’d guzzled it all down. Forget about whether I could actually carry out my threat, if all I had was my own life to bargain, then I’d put it all on the line. Who the hell did she think my goddess was? The whole world could turn against or curse me all they wanted. I didn’t give a shit.

“Oh, the market has changed. One Mythlanic gold coin is now worth twenty-three gold pieces,” Machina chimed in, completely failing to read the room.

“A-anyway. What else did you want to ask me?” Hollzard’s hands were shaking. Looked like the old lady had finally come to grips with where she stood here. She’d realized the man she was dealing with couldn’t be blinded by self-interest—a merchant’s worst nightmare.

“Where is the other container?”

“That I don’t know. I swear.”

“Did you hire the adventurers who attacked my camp?”

“No.”

“Did you put the merman up to steal from me?” Depending on how she answers this question, I will actually put a few holes in her limbs.

“No, we didn’t ask him to do anything. I wasn’t lying; we were only holding on to the items.”

“I see. I’m going to put this matter on the back burner for now. You owe me one—no, two, for your son’s share, also. And I will have you pay me back in full. Just try and run, and I’ll use that feather on you.”

One win, in the bag. Next up—

—a kind of anticlimactic, or disappointingly simple, confrontation with the real culprit. In an unexpected turn of events, the mid-level boss of this video game turned out to be way stronger than the final boss. A single bullet settled my beef with the Ellomere Western Peng Traders for good.

I had Hollzard’s idiot son take me to Ellomere’s shop, where I found the young chairman and a woman with dead eyes at his side. As I started to get down to business, I noticed an exquisitely beautiful gem on the young man’s desk. It had been left there so carelessly that I immediately grew suspicious. And yet, I’d gotten so worked up in a weird way after the whole Zavah ordeal that I put a bullet through it without any hesitation. Using the idiot son as a shield, I started pushing past Ellomere’s guards when I heard a woman scream. It had come from a mermaid bouncing around like crazy. In the end, the evil spirit that had possessed the chairman disappeared, leaving nothing but his dumbfounded expression. Both the mermaid and the chairman had completely lost all their memories of the recent past, so I explained the situation to them. And with that, the case drew to a close.

[6TH DAY]

“Did you find anything that looks usable?”

“Four intact AK-47s, two M1911s, and six guns usable for maintenance. The rest is junk. As for the bullets, I would have to check each one individually with my molecular sensor.”

I’d configured Isolla to go through the wreckage of the guns I’d recovered. Pretty much everything had melted into sooty clumps, but a surprising portion of it had made it through.

“No, don’t worry about checking them. Is there any possibility the trade group is hiding more somewhere?”

“I’ve looked into every person involved in the group. They have nothing else.”

“Got it.”

I tossed the junk guns into one of the empty containers, along with the AK-47 that had been sliced in two. Next, I took the Colt Government pistol out of my pocket, ejected the cartridge, and pulled the slide back. I half expected to feel some sort of emotion come welling up, but nothing ever came, so I chucked it in with the rest.

“Isolla, anything you forgot to throw in here?”

“No. And you? Any other regrets you’d like to add to the pile?”

“Good to go. They’re all in there.” It was a pretty good joke. “All right, Ghett, dump this at the bottom of the ocean somewhere for me. Try to go as deep as you can, please.”

“All right. There’s a ravine down deep that not even merfolk dare go near. I’ll throw it there for ya. And how about this box? If you don’t need it, I’ll take it off your hands. I’d like to use it to take my fish to market. It’ll probably carry more than my creel.”

“Sure, take it, take it.”

“Great, I will. Right, so, well, a whole lot has happened, but…… See you around.”

“See ya.”

Dropping the container into the river, he pushed it from behind until they both disappeared beneath the water. His granddaughter had decided she wanted to stay with her human. In a depressing twist, it turned out the price she’d paid the precious jewel to get her legs had been the love she and her man had for each other.

The dungeon held countless treasures we could never begin to imagine. Those two would probably find something in there that could make their dreams come true, someday. She’d told me she wanted to wait for that day together as a couple. I passed that message on to Ghett, along with the broken jewel, and called it a job well done.

As for the medical supply container, I recovered that from the Ellomere Western Peng Traders. They gave me forty gold coins for all the trouble and also returned all the ransom money Ghett had paid up until that point. Though they had asked me to return it to him, when I tried, he just told me, “It’s yours,” and refused to take it. I’d have to go and give it back to the trade group at some point. It was a shit ton of money—too much for me to ever spend.

“Only after we break bread, betray each other, and then forgive each other do we finally gain real trust. Humans really are pieces of work, aren’t they?”

“Do not fool yourself into thinking you know anything about anything after that little betrayal, you half-wit.” I’d intended the comment for Isolla, but Lady Mythlanica answered instead. She leaped up to my shoulder and continued.

“Humans will betray one another at the slightest provocation. They steal. They slander. They envy. They lie. I once read a history book with the words, ‘Within these pages, I record our failures and follies’ inscribed on its cover. The historian who wrote it was executed for the crime of telling the truth.”

Isolla added, “We have a similar saying in my world, too. ‘History is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind.’”

“That so? Your world doesn’t fare much better than ours, does it?”

“Indeed.” Then she retreated, and Machina came out in her place.

“Here’s a phrase I know: ‘I believe unconditionally that God dwells, lives, and is recognizable in all history.’” My AI duked it out with my goddess over who knew the best axioms.

“Gods dwelling in all of history, is it?” At her words, Mythlanica started staring off into the distance.

Dusk began to creep over the meadow’s horizon. Whatever lay beyond that remained a mystery to me. We could hear the bells ringing far away in the city. Night would soon arrive. I went to prepare dinner but lost my balance and staggered to a knee. Instinctively, I grabbed on to Mythlanica so I wouldn’t drop her.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Nothing. It’s a little embarrassing to admit, but the exhaustion just hit me now that the adrenaline has worn off.” Come to think of it, I had hardly slept since I’d arrived here. Hmm? A fundamental question came to mind. “Isolla, how many days has it been since we arrived?”

“Six days; seven, if you consider the time difference. But you’ve been in an extremely stressed state and have only slept lightly the entire time. Your vital signs are very unstable. I recommend you immediately intake nutrition and sleep. After all, you’re going into the dungeon tomorrow.”

“Seriously? I’d totally lost track of the days.” It was Friday, so I had to make curry. Did I have curry powder?

“Souya, Isolla is right. Hurry up and go to sleep,” commanded Lady Mythlanica.

“Yes, milady. After I make your dinner.”

“Unnecessary. I’ll pick at some dried meat or fish if I must.”

“But—”

“Sleep.”

“Sleeping.”

My vision had begun to flicker, and my knees were shaking. I brushed my teeth, wiped myself off with a damp towel for a bit of refreshment, then ducked into my tent, removed all my equipment, and threw it into a corner. I put on a new pair of underwear and changed into a comfy combo of chino pants and a T-shirt. The temperature was fine, neither too hot nor too cold. Still, I wrapped myself in a terry-cloth blanket so I wouldn’t get cold at night. And for a pillow—nope, I had no energy to look for one, so I decided to do without.

This would be my first time lying down flat outside of the jail cell. Every night before this one I’d slept hunched over my gun. No wonder I hadn’t gotten any rest. Ironically, it was only after letting all my guns go that I could sleep peacefully.

The trade group almost surely wouldn’t mess with me anymore. Stealing only to get your loot blown up didn’t lead to any profit. The Guild found the three adventurers guilty of a whole host of other unrelated crimes and sentenced them to long-term imprisonment, so no other unknown criminals would be brave enough to tread on merfolk territory. The law of the landers did not apply here. I’d run my mouth about forgiving Ghett, but whether I lived or died had always been up to him and the goodness of his heart, right from the start.

I closed my eyes, and my conscious mind began to melt into the darkness. It was pitch-black, like the void I’d seen on my way to this world. Warmth saturated the abyss. I felt the wind. It sounded like something small came my way. A hand touched my face, and my head lifted off the ground, then landed on something soft. I cracked opened my eyes but saw only darkness.

I must be dreaming.

There was a woman in a black dress. Long, jet-black hair fell over her face, obscuring it from view. I caught glimpses of pale white skin on her jaw, cheeks, and ears. I had no mental energy left to decide whether this was a who or a what. All I knew for certain was that peaceful darkness covered every inch of me, as if I was sinking into mud.

Into the darkness.

I melted away.

Into the darkness.