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Tl: Sam

…

　Ten years had already passed since the birth of dungeons in the world.
　During that time, dungeons had been thoroughly investigated by researchers from all over the world, and the magical elements and awakened people could be explained fairly scientifically.

　Even so, however, the key 『dungeon 』 was still largely unexplained.

　Where did they come from? What is their purpose?
　Were they natural phenomena? Or were they artificially created? 　The more one investigates, the more one learns, and that is the biggest mystery of all.
　Maki may have solved part of that mystery.

　If monsters came from a world different from ours, then dungeons would be no different. If we could prove that the dungeon came from a different world, many problems might be solved.

　If the world heard about this hypothesis, they would be very interested in it and make a fuss about it.
　But I …… wasn’t so interested.

“Oh, really?”
“Aren’t you rather low …… tension, Tanaka-kun?　Is it something that doesn’t matter to you?”
“It’s not that I don’t care, but …… it won’t change what I’m going to do.
“I’m curious. What exactly is it that you do?”

　Maki-san asked with interest.
　A little embarrassed, I answer.

“It’s obvious. Slay the enemies that harm me and my loved ones. No matter where the dungeons and monsters come from, that won’t change.”
“…… Hmmm.”

　Maki-san grinned as she looked at me happily.

“What is it?”
“Even just three days can change a person; you’ve become quite reliable. Tachibana must be very proud.”

(Tl: there’s a chinese idiom here. The original story is a Chinese traditional story. It is based on the story of a young Chinese man who surprised everyone by learning < the art of war > in a very short time. This is what the young man is said to have said to the surprised adults around him.

・男子、三日会わざれば刮目して見よ. “If you have not seen the young man for more than three days, The next time you see him, look at him carefully.”

The meaning is that a young person can grow into a different person in three days.)

“……Thank you very much.”

　After complimenting me, Maki-san waved the smoke from her cigarette as if thinking a little.
　Then she said something that I had never imagined.

“This is hardly known even within the government, but …… recently there have been signs of increased activity in the Imperial Palace dungeon.”
What do you mean?”

　Maki’s sudden words startled me.
　The dungeon directly below the Imperial Palace is one of the most difficult dungeons in the world, which was conquered by 300 searchers including me, Amatsuki and Dojima-san, and we managed to conquer it with the loss of more than 200 people.

　Seven years ago, we managed to deactivate the Imperial Palace dungeon after a desperate struggle. But if it were to be activated again, the world would be in an uproar.
　The Imperial Palace dungeon is a unique type of dungeon. If it were to be activated, it would mean that a large number of monsters would appear in Tokyo once again.

“I miss it. The time I spent in that dungeon was one of the most exciting days of my life. I can still remember them vividly.”

　Yes, Maki was one of the members who dived with us in the dungeon just below the Imperial Palace.
　She was not with us as a combatant, but as a special researcher to study the inside of the dungeon. However, she was more active than the other explorers, using weapons created by “magical science,” which combines magical elements and scientific technology, and contributed greatly to the dungeon invasion.

　Thanks to her power, Maki survived the dungeon just below the Imperial Palace and became one of the returnees, making her name even more well-known. 　The stigma of having once been involved in illegal research was erased, and she rose to the position of director of the Bureau of Magical Research.

Why did you give me such important information?”
“I thought that if we ever had to conquer that dungeon again, you would be the key to it. If that’s the case, it’s good that you know. So that you won’t have any doubts when the time comes.”

　Maki-san said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
　It’s true, that dungeon is where my mentor lost her life. I can say that it is a place of trauma for me. When the time comes, I might hesitate. But,

“If the time comes, I will go there. There are too many things that are important to me here in Tokyo.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I look forward to the day when I can go there with you again.”

　Maki-san replied with a smile of genuine pleasure on her face.
　I thanked her and headed home with Riri.

…..

Tl Note: We have another returnee enterring the chat, and she’s just going around raising flads here and there. I’m actually looking foward to the next chapter

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