CH 50

Chapter 50 – Discovery

“It’s really getting troublesome.”

Currently, I was on my way to a residential area as Komon. Monsters were already a common sight in the streets, and there were quite a number of them.

The reason was simple. Almost all of the buildings here and there had become dungeonized. Despite the situation being like this, the police and JSDF still didn’t have enough hands to go around… There were probably other places that had become a hellish scene just like this.

“By this point, maybe it would be better to just drop missiles or something and bomb those places.”

That way, the monsters would be wiped out easily. But as a result, the city would be completely flattened.

“Gyooooo!”

Discovering my presence, two orcs with spears in their hands came barreling towards me. But at that moment, Shiki jumped out of my shadow and cut them down instantly with his dual scythes.

“Nice job, Shiki.” (Komon)

“Yes. Thank you for your kind words, milady.” (Shiki)

Fortunately, there was no one around. But if there was, the fact that I was a human being accompanied by a monster would make me the talk of the town. However, there would surely be people who would accuse me of being the one controlling the monsters, which would be pretty troublesome.

If it ever came to that, I had any number of ways to deal with it, so it wouldn’t be that big of a problem. At that moment, Sol came down from the sky and perched on my shoulder.

“Master, I went to check out that house in advance.” (Sol)

“Right. How did it go?” (Komon)

“Sure enough, the house is filled with monsters. The row of houses next to it have also been dungeonized, it seems.” (Sol)

“Let’s just randomly hunt some monsters while heading for our destination.” (Komon)

Even if I didn’t do much, the two of them would already hunt down any monsters in our way, so it was easy. The monsters here were weak, at about F-Rank to D-Rank, so they were no match for Sol and Shiki.

Before long, we arrived at the Kishimoto residence.

“The monsters occupying this house are D-Rank and lower. The Core has already been confirmed on the east side of the second floor, in the Japanese-style room!” (Sol)

“Good work, Sol. Thanks for the reliable information.” (Komon)

As expected of the excellent scout that Sol was. As long as she was here, it was possible for us to act safely.

“So, have you confirmed the existence of Tasuke or the remains of Kishimoto’s wife?” (Komon)

“Sol isn’t sure if it’s his wife’s remains or not, but there were some bones on the first floor that look like they belong to a human being.” (Sol)

…So they ate her flesh. If her bones were still there, we might be able to recover those at least, and Kishimoto might reward us a little bit for that.

“What about Tasuke?” (Komon)

“About that… I’m sorry.” (Sol)

“So you haven’t found Tasuke…?” (Komon)

“Yes, unfortunately.” (Sol)

That meant that it was highly likely that his bones were in the belly of some monster somewhere or that he had escaped from the house. Kishimoto told me that it had been 10 days since his house had been dungeonized. If he hadn’t eaten or drank anything in 10 days, he might still be alive, but he’d already be on the brink of death.

“For now, our priority is to clear this dungeon. After that, we’ll search the place. Sol, clear out any monsters. Shiki, you will stay as my main escort and take out any monsters nearby.” (Komon)

“Okay!” (Sol)

“As you command!” (Shiki)

As soon as we entered the house, we were met by a bunch of goblins and slimes. Sol killed them all in one go and we made our way into the house.

I took Shiki with me, and I proceeded forward while using the [Trap Watch] to detect any traps.

Since it was a small-scale dungeon, the traps wouldn’t be too large. But poisoned arrows and other traps could still be a pain, so it was best to stay vigilant.

But anyway…

“This one won’t let you lay a hand on milady!” (Shiki)

“Sol will also carry out her duties!” (Sol)

Thanks to the two of them, I kind of… didn’t have anything to do. No, well, even though I couldn’t complain that we were moving along safely, it was still a bit of a let-down for me that these two were way too strong. I went upstairs and entered the Japanese-style room that Sol had reported about.

Sol was already there, and…

“Ah, you’ve already defeated them, huh?” (Komon)

The monsters that would normally be there guarding the Core were nowhere in sight. When I saw the Core embedded in the wall of the Japanese-style room, I walked over and stabbed it with my katana to destroy it.

The bizarre atmosphere shrouding the house changed, and the presence of the monsters disappeared at the same time. With that, the dungeon was cleared. Now, we could take things easy.

“Sol, Shiki. You two look for Tasuke.” (Komon)

I moved according to the information Sol provided and first headed to the kitchen alone. Naturally, the inside of the kitchen looked like a hurricane had passed through, and there were bloodstains all over the place, which probably belonged to Kishimoto’s wife.

And his wife was…

“I see, so this is…” (Komon)

In the back of the kitchen, there were bones scattered about that certainly looked like they belonged to a human. There were also remnants of the clothes that the wife may have been wearing.

The bones hadn’t been picked clean, and there was a strong decomposing smell coming from them due to the blood and flesh still attached to them. I probably had to cremate her remains for now.

Slightly reluctant to touch the bones, I eventually picked them up and put them in the <Box>.

Later, I would have to make a fire in the lawn somewhere and cremate the bones. It would surely be difficult to give them to Kishimoto with such a strong stench of decay, especially for the people near him.

That just left Tasuke. Since there weren’t any bones or anything, he might not even be alive anymore. Maybe if he had at least escaped to the outside… But there were also a lot of monsters living out there, so I had a feeling that Tasuke would’ve had a difficult time.

Well, it might just be better to retrieve the wife’s bones… I guess.

“…Huh?”

Then, I squinted and looked closely at the place where the bones had been. There seemed to be some kind of storage underneath the floor. It was a kind of place where people would normally store away food and other things for times of emergency, but…

“….! No way!”

I immediately opened the underground storage and looked inside. I was shocked by what I found there.

There were two plastic bottles with holes gnawed in them, and the floor was sopping wet. Lying conspicuously in the middle of all of that was an emaciated dog. But when the dog saw my face, he gave me a sad, feeble bark.

His body was completely wet, so he was shivering and trembling.

“Y-You’re alive…? Alright, good boy! I’m proud of you!”

I looked at Tasuke through the [Appraisal Looking-Glass] and saw that he had a ‘malnourished’ status. Fortunately, he wasn’t dehydrated. Without a doubt, the bottles of water that had been down here with him had helped him stay alive.

I immediately opened the <Shop> and entered in search terms related to the words ‘dog’, ‘nutrition’, and ‘immediate recovery’.

I found a hit―something called [Nutrition Potion (Dogs)], so I bought it and gave it to Tasuke.

At first, he was reluctant, but when I forced the potion down his throat, the trembling stopped, and the look in his eyes, which had been weak, gradually grew stronger.

He seemed to be confused by the sudden return of his body to a normal state, but…

“Everything will be alright now. I’ll bring you back to your owner right away,” I said as I patted and stroked his fur. Seeing that I wasn’t an enemy, he began to lick my face happily.

“Ahaha, that tickles.”

I liked animals as much as I liked children, and I didn’t want to see them dead if I could help it. So I was happy to see him safe and sound.

Either way, how could he survive in such a place for 10 days? How did he even hide down here?

What’s more, the underground storage was locked from the outside.