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Tl: Sam

…

“Down …… in the dungeon?””

　I was puzzled by Dagosuke’s unexpected words.
　I had been in this dungeon for some time now, but I had never sensed a dangerous presence from below.

” I could feel the presence of a bad guy from below, and there were a lot of creatures above, so I couldn’t go up or down, so I was stuck here in the lake.”

　The large number of signs above must mean people outside the dungeon.
　This dungeon is located underground in Tokyo.
　It is very difficult even for me to trace the presence of people on the ground from here. Dagosuke’s sensing ability must be quite high.

“Who is this 『 bad guy』?　Is he one of your own people?”

「I’m certainly curious about that.」
「Could it be Cthulhu?」
「I can’t avoid a direct burial of my SAN value.」(Tl: I have no idea what SAN means, it does have to do with the cthulhu mythos tho)
「This dungeon is too dangerous!」
「Well, the most dangerous guy is on the screen.」
「I’m sure Shachiken is the worst one.」

“I don’t know the details, but I don’t think he’s my kin. If they were my kin, I would have gone to them for help.”
“…… that’s true too.”

　Well, what is going on?
　Dagosuke absolutely must be sent back to the surface, but I am also concerned about the mysterious presence at the bottom of the dungeon.

　The safest route would be to send Dagosuke back to the surface as quickly as possible and then go back to the bottom of the dungeon. However, this would take the longest time. If we climbed up from here, it would take half a day to get to the surface. The question remains whether we can leave the bad guy there for a long time.
　This is my hunch. It’s just a hunch, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave him there. I have an irresolvable sense of urgency. I don’t want to leave the guy alone because my hunch is usually right.

　The next thing I can think of is to let Dagosuke go to the surface alone and I dive in the dungeon alone. This would be the least time-consuming way to accomplish my goal.
　However, the question remains whether it is safe to let …… Dagosuke go alone.
　Dagosuke is a nice guy, but he looks like a monster. I don’t know what kind of problems he might encounter if he goes out alone on the ground. It would be a relief if the Ministry of Religious Affairs would protect him, but there is a possibility that some group will attack him before he can be protected.
　It is even possible that an employee of the Ministry of Magic Countermeasures will attack them in the first place. No organization is monolithic, and there must be many employees who strongly hate monsters.

　There is also a strong possibility that a foreign organization will get involved and kidnap Dagosuke. If that happens, he will not be spared from an autopsy experiment that no good child should be allowed to see. It is too dangerous to move him alone.

　There is a way to have him wait here alone, but there is also a possibility that they will come here to retrieve Dagosuke. That would be dangerous as well.

「What are you going to do, Shachiken?」
「I’m sure he’ll come back, as expected.」
「But I don’t want him to leave such a bad guy behind.」
「Hmmm, that’s a tough one.」

　There is no perfect answer to this question.
　After much deliberation, I made a decision.

“Dagosuke. Will you come with me to the end of the dungeon?”
“Eh, sure, wait ….., Ehhhh?

　Dagosuke makes a beautifully executed comical comment.
　He didn’t grow up in Kansai, did he?

“Why are you going all the way out there?　If that guy wasn’t your objective, why don’t you just leave him alone!?”
“Now that I know, I can’t leave him alone. There are a lot of people above this dungeon. We have to defeat the dangerous ones.”
“That’s true, but ……”

　Dagosuke clearly looked uncomfortable.
　I guess he’s really scared of that 『 dangerous guy 』.

“I understand that you don’t like it, but I want you to trust me. No matter what happens, I’ll get you home safely.”
“Brother ……!　I understand!　I, Dagosuke, will go with you to hell and back!”

　Dagosuke beat his chest and expressed his determination.
　He seems to have managed to convince me.

「[Sad news] Dagosuke-kun is so simple minded .」
「No, I wouldn’t say no if Shachiken asked me too.」
「This is a proposal, isn’t it?」
「No, are you sure you’re okay to go down there?　Shouldn’t you come back?」
「Normally, yes, but it’s Tanaka, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.」
「Tanaka!　Be careful!」
「I was actually a little disappointed that you were leaving already, so I’m glad you’re here.」
「I’d love to see him in trouble, wouldn’t you?」
「I’m getting nervous.」

　I put away the table set I had put out and stood on the path leading down to the dungeon with Dagosuke.
　The magical element wafting from below was quite thick. Naturally, the monsters would be more powerful.

“It’s time to go. I’m going to skip ahead.”
“I’ll leave it to you!　With my brother, even in fire or water!”

　And so, with my newfound friend, I set out for the depths of the dungeon.

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