“Ngh…”

I woke up to the sound of something rustling. My eyes were staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. At least, it was not the same as the ceiling in the room at the inn.

“Nii-san!!”

I, who was still lying down on a mat, was tackled by a small girl. Her name was Alexis.

“Nii-san! Nii-san! I’m glad!!”

Tears dropped down while a snot bridge formed from my clothes to her face. The snot looks… green, yuck. I grabbed a piece of cloth from my pocket and wiped it off. I grabbed another one and wiped her face.

“Don’t cry. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“Un!”

Once again, my body was hugged tightly by a small girl. Just how much strength does she have?

“Hmm? Kouta, you’re awake!”

A male adventurer with brown hair came walking towards me. His name was Ryuford, the father of Alexis. He uses a shield in his left hand, and a short sword in his right.

“I thought that you might have died back there, hahaha!”

“Father!!”

“Just kidding, just kidding. Anyway, are you all right now Kouta? When we seperated, we arrived at the adventurers guild and requested to help you, who stayed behind. When we arrived, we saw you lying on the ground, unconscious, surrounded by orc corpses, with the fluffball beside you.”

It appears that Furry killed the remaining orc shamans and immediately came back to guard my unconscious self. I really need to manage my mana properly. I got up and patted Alexis’ head.

“Sorry. I made you worry.”

A smile was formed on my face as I faced Alexis, who was still crying. Ryuford who saw this, had a cramped smile.

“That reminds me Kouta, we need to talk. Right now.”

Ryuford grabbed my arm and separated me from Alexis. She wanted to come with but was stopped by her doting father. After that, you can guess what happened. A long sermon, mostly about how his daughter is the best in the world and how I must keep away from her at all times.

Well, when Maya learned about this, she barged in the room where Ryuford was still lecturing me about how I should stay away from his daughter. Maya pinched his ear and dragged him to who knows where, so that was one situation avoided.

When I made my way to the main room of the guild, I saw adventurers who were wounded and some grieving over the loss of their comrades. Others who were healed by me in the inn were gazing at my direction with relief and sparkling eyes. One of them muttered “Saint-sama” under his breath while having red cheeks.

… Let’s forget about that. I headed towards the reception desk where the elf onee-san with the pitiful chest was stationed. She had sunken eyes and had a tired expression. Maybe she didn’t get enough sleep last night because of the attack I didn’t notice. If I remembered correctly, her name was Milly.

“Milly-san. Can I ask you a question?”

Milly was standing there with a tired expression and opened her mouth.

“What do you want?”

Not even giving the usual business smile, she responded with the same tired expression. If it’s like this, I might need to bring out the big guns. I whispered in Furry’s ear to do me a favor. She hesitated for a moment before agreeing with the reward of a full course meal, and a nap on my head after all of this is over. This lazy and glutton furball.

Furry jumped down from my head and approached the tired elf receptionist and did a dance. When Milly laid her eyes on Furry who was dancing, her expression turned to one of joy and happiness.

“Ahhh… So cute…”

Seriously, Furry dancing made me form a smile on my face. This is just too cute!

“Can I now ask a question Milly-san?”

“Sure, ask anything you want, except about my three-sizes and my private life.”

“…Yes.”

… She didn’t really need to mention the thing about her three-sizes.

“Did you notice the abnormality of the monsters that attacked the settlement?”

“So, you noticed it. I didn’t think a newbie like you would have knowledge about this.”

… She has a really sharp tongue.

“Anyway, why did orcs instead of golems attacked a settlement that situated inside a golem-themed dungeon? No matter how you put it, this is just too weird.”

“Yes. That is what we were investigating about earlier, and it turns out, someone instigated this attack, presumably, a demon.”

Don’t tell me, does this has something to do with one of the demon generals that we met on the 10th floor?

“How about the other settlements in the dungeon? The guild has a communication device for communicating with the other settlements and the town right?”

I heard about his from an adventurer at the inn. Apparently, every 15 floors, there is a human settlement with a purpose of a resting place. They also built branch guilds to give adventurers requests while dungeon diving.

“Sadly, communication from all outside locations have been cut. The guildmaster is on his way now to the next settlement in the upper floor to get a grasp of the situation. From what I heard from the guildmaster, the worst case scenario is that the town is overrun by the possibility of a monster flood. Luckily, the heroes were there so the town can pretty much hold up, but that is just if the invading monsters were weak.”

If that happened, and the town was attacked… No, get that thought away from my head. Kayaka, please be safe. I say my thanks with Milly and parted. My next destination is the family of three. I’m going to say my farewells before stacking up on rations and heading to the next settlement above.

“Nii-san!”

I saw Alexis who was treating some of the injured and walked towards her. She had a smile that was as beautiful as a flower blooming in Spring.

“Alexis-san, where are your parents?”

“Mou, stop calling me with honorifics. I won’t answer until you call me by my name only.”

“Then, Alexis, where are your parents?”

Alexis’ face turned red for a moment before replying, saying that both of them were helping with the aftermath of the invasion.

“I see. Then, can you please tell them that I am leaving for the surface. I still have something to do up there.”

“What!? Why!? Could you stay here with us and help just until the rebuilding of the settlement is finished?”

Hmm…? Why do I sense a slight desperation from Alexis’ words.

“I can’t. I still need to hurry and reach the surface, to fulfill my promise.”

“Then, take me with you!”

“You can’t.”

Alexis had a face that would seem to start crying anytime soon. I can hear Ryuford’s scream in my ears again, even if it was just imaginary.

“Actually, why not?”

A voice of a girl entered my ears. I turned around and saw a woman with blonde hair rolled down until her back, wearing what seems to be a priestess’ clothing.

“Are you sure? That you can make Alexis come with me?”

“Oh I’m sure. Alexis has spent 14 years inside this dungeon without ever seeing the surface. And it’s just a little over a month before she becomes independent, so why not start now, with a trusty guide to help her in her adventure?”

I see, if she was going to be independent by next month, why not get someone trustworthy enough to help her start out. And in this place, most adventurers here are veterans who has no use for weaklings, so it might be a little hard for her to find someone who can protect her.

“But shouldn’t you tell Ryuford about this first?”

If Ryuford heard about this topic, no doubt he would chase me to the ends of the earth, with a reason of, “My daughter is eloping with a sick bastard and you’re telling me to do nothing!?”

Yep, I can clearly hear him saying that when I go to the surface with Alexis.

“Don’t worry, I will take care of it. I want my daughter to find happiness in life. Not be some father and mother’s girl her whole life.”

If she says it like that, then I have no reason to refuse.

“Very well. Well then Alexis, you heard that, start getting ready for departure.”

“Y- yes!”

Alexis quickly dashed to prepare her things for the starting point of her adventure.

“I wonder how Kayaka is doing…”

With my uneasiness surfacing, I quickly retracted it into my heart and started buying some rations.

…

~ Kayaka POV ~

“There’s too many of them! This town can’t hold out!”

A shout from a defending soldier was heard from the walls, before being smashed by a flying boulder.

“Hyoudo! Get ready! We’re leaving!”

“But what about the town!? The citizens!?”

“It’s too late for this town. Unless, you want to fight a losing battle where losing means your life. And I’m not losing mine until I meet Kouta-nii again.”

My will to live became stronger after separating from Kouta-nii. I know that he is still alive. I just know it! And I won’t die until I meet him again!

Another soldier was crushed by a flying boulder. The enemies numbered more than a thousand, and is emerging from the dungeon, but this is strange. Isn’t the dungeon supposed to be a golem-type dungeon? Then why are the monsters all living creatures? Something is definitely wrong here, and I don’t want to find out at the cost of my life.

I straddled on a horse that I got from the country and donned my self-made equipment. I saw a fat creature charging towards me. I held my hammer up high and commanded my horse to meet it head on. I slowly shifted the direction of the horse just enough to miss the charge of the monster. When we the monster missed us and entered the range of my hammer, I swung my hammer down and crushed its head. Blood and brain matter splattered on the ground, coloring it red.

“I need to get out of here.”

Behind me are my classmates, or the heroes, and the remaining surviving knights. Luckily, no heroes died during the invasion and we were able to escape the monster flood, and headed back to the royal capital, Rotte.

…

~ Third Person POV ~

In a dark room, two demons were meeting. Both of them were the reason why the dungeon town, Fault was overrun by monsters.

“So the heroes got away, such a shame. I wanted to hear at least one hero’s cry of grief and sorrow. Ahh such a waste, such a waste, SUCH A WASTE!!!”

“Calm down! We still have another hero we can kill. He should be inside the dungeon now.”

“Is that right Veda? Then, allow me to have a taste of him.”

“Wait, he survived when I tried to attack him, so you better watch out. He may have several cards up his sleeves.”

“Is that so? Kekekeke… Then, allow me to let you taste despair, oh hero. Kekekeke…”

Creepy laughter echoed through the dark room, and the two demons vanished from sight.