The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"Calm down for now, we're Saaya's companions," I said, embodying the gentle adventurer's trademark of conveying a lack of hostility.

The chuunibyou girl was trembling in fear, so the first step was to get her to lower her guard. However, she seemed to be afraid not only of Punisuke, who had swallowed her whole, but also of me, who had pulverized the Man-eater in one blow. When I approached, she backed away.

"It's okay. This person is called Ruruk, and he's my companion, so you can relax," Saaya reassured her.

"B-but..." The dragon princess pointed at me with a shaking finger. "That human killed Manty!"

Huh?

... Ah, that's right. I did kick and shatter the Mimic Cat along with the Man-eater that had eaten it. It probably would have dissolved and died even if I hadn't kicked it, but my kick was indeed the cause of death.

If she could sense the moment her familiar died, it must have been when I delivered that kick.

"Eh? Manty-chan died?" Saaya exclaimed.

"Well, it happened like this..." I explained the situation.

I mean, you're the one who threw it out of fear, dragon princess.

Saaya sighed. "You really threw your familiar at the Man-eater?"

"Y-yes, but... I had no choice," the princess replied, her natural speech pattern slipping out.

Well, it's hard to talk to chuunibyou patients, so it's fine to leave her like this for now.

"Hah. It seems true that Manty-chan died from the aftermath of Ruruk defeating the monster, but Shadow-sama is also partly responsible for Manty-chan's death. Please promise not to throw your familiars from now on. And since Ruruk saved Shadow-sama, I'd like to call it even and let bygones be bygones," Saaya said.

"Uu, I understand..." the princess mumbled.

Saaya had finally given up on the familiar roleplay. Well, we were only asked to escort her to the 5th floor underground. After falling to such a deep level, it's not surprising she's not in the mood to continue playing pretend.

"Also, it was Punisuke who helped us land safely. Ruruk's slime familiar," Saaya added.

"Eh, a slime...? Not a King Slime?" The dragon princess looked confused. It was huge earlier, after all. By the way, King Slime is a B-rank monster. Even experienced adventurers have trouble with its durability.

"That's right. Unlike normal slimes, this one can talk," Saaya explained.

"Hello! I'm Punisuke!" the slime chirped.

"Eek!" The princess was startled again. Well, it's natural to be surprised when a slime talks.

"And this sheep-folk girl is Elenora. The four of us are adventuring together," Saaya continued.

"Mm. Elenora. Nice to meet you," Elenora greeted.

"Wah, cute... Ahem!" the princess caught herself.

"Now, why don't you introduce yourself to Ruruk and the others? Not to me," Saaya prompted.

"Ah!" The dragon princess, realizing we weren't enemies, stood up suddenly.

She struck a dramatic pose. "Listen well! My name is Shadow Darkness! Born from the darkness, the shadow of the world... Humans, bow before me!"

She's back to her usual self now that she feels safe.

Well, I have something I want to say. After being involved this much and in this emergency situation, I'm not going to pretend I don't know.

"That might be your setting, but you can be honest with us, Dragon Princess... or rather, Seori Bargiria," I said.

"Eek!?"

What Shadow? What shadow born from darkness?

You're clearly a light-attribute dragon species.

By the way, her detailed status looks like this:

------------------------

[Name] Seori Bargiria

[Race] Dragon - True Ancestor

[Level] 14

[HP] 890 (+580)

[MP] 620 (+340)

[STR] 440 (+250)

[END] 880 (+670)

[AGI] 240 (+180)

[INT] 250 (+160)

[LUK] 44

[Theoretical Skill] 70

[Magical Skill] 840

[Mystic Skill] 20

[Skills]

<Automatic>

"Light Magic Aptitude"

"High-Speed Flight" (Dragon form)

"Scale Hardening" (Dragon form)

"Intelligence Increase (Small)" (Human form)

"Auto-Recovery (Light)" (Human form)

<Activated>

"Forced Subjugation"

"Transformation"

"Breath (Light)" (Dragon form)

"Dragon-Slaying Bullet" (Human form)

------------------------

"Eh? Shadow-sama is that dragon princess? Not a noble lady?" Saaya asked, surprised.

"She was probably pretending to be a noble. The person taking care of her definitely seemed like a noble. So, what's the deal, Dragon Princess?" I pressed.

"T-the dragon princess is just my temporary form! My true self is a ominous being sealed in a place where even light cannot reach--"

"I told you to be honest, didn't I?"

"Eek! I'm sorry, I'm a dragon species! A member of the True Ancestor clan!"

There we have it, a confession.

You say evidence obtained through threats has no legal basis? Well, we're at the bottom of the earth, so let's consider this extraterritorial.

"I don't know what the True Ancestor clan is... but anyway, this girl isn't Shadow Darkness, she's Seori Bargiria. A genuine 14-year-old dragon species. Whether she's the dragon king's daughter, granddaughter, or distant relative, I can't tell just by looking."

"Mm, I'm his daughter... I'm just in human form right now..."

The "Transformation" skill is probably what allows her to take human form. Judging from her other skills, she can freely choose between dragon and human forms.

"Well, I understand now. Using an alias isn't necessarily a bad thing, so don't worry about it. Nice to meet you properly, Seori," Saaya said with a smile, extending her hand.

"Ah..." Seori's cheeks flushed slightly as she took Saaya's hand, looking like she might cry.

Now that we've sorted things out to some extent, we need to think about what to do next.

Specifically, we need to get out of here.

"Mm... teleport?" Elenora whispered in my ear.

Honestly, I hadn't planned on coming to such a deep level of the dungeon, so I'd love to escape by teleporting. But the reception desk keeps a record of dungeon entries.

If we left by teleportation, it would create a contradiction, and more importantly, we haven't set up a teleportation anchor in the dragon capital yet. If we teleported, we'd end up in the previous town.

It would be too unnatural for a party that was supposed to have entered the dungeon to suddenly be in the previous town.

And there's more.

"Hey, Seori," I called out.

"Hmph, what do you want, human?"

"......"

"U-u-uuu..."

Seori nearly burst into tears when I glared at her silently.

It's not that I dislike chuunibyou patients. It's just that their reactions are a bit... interesting.

"Ruruk, don't be too mean to her, okay?" Saaya chided me.

"Fine, fine. So, Seori, when did you come to the dragon capital from this 'holy land'?"

"I-I was born from darkness about a year ago. In the gap of eternal time..."

Is it a year or eternal? Well, it's a year.

"And since then, you've been taken care of by nobles, right? What kind of life have you been living?"

"Hmph. The noble servants of darkness consider it an honor to offer me whatever I desire... Therefore, I have placed them under my protection. In my territory, the safety of my servants is all but guaranteed..."

"So, you've been just eating, sleeping, and playing? And staying indoors?"

"Hmph. To control the evil god, that too was necessary..."

"Wow, Ruruk, you're understanding what Seori is saying so accurately," Saaya remarked.

Oh, come to think of it, that's true.

I've acquired an unpleasant skill.

"But something doesn't add up," I mused.

"What is it? Did something happen?" Saaya asked.

"Well, you see..."

I honestly explained who had activated the trap that Saaya and Seori had fallen into.

Those guard soldiers were definitely officially employed. I couldn't tell if it was the soldiers' independent decision to trap Seori, or if it was the decision of their employer... that noble called Berlander, or if there was a third party's intention involved.

In any case, I don't know what would happen if Seori just went back. At the very least, I don't think everyone around her would welcome her. The trap from earlier was definitely meant to kill her.

The fact that we're in the lower levels of the dungeon itself isn't much of a problem for me and Elenora. Finding the transfer device might be troublesome, but with Elenora's magic, we should be able to reach it within a few days no matter how vast the area is.

What I'm worried about is whether we should pretend nothing happened and return with Seori.

"So, Seori. Do you have any idea why Berlander might hold a grudge against you..."

I trailed off as I looked at Seori's face.

She was crying.

"M-my servants wouldn't do such a thing!" she sobbed.

"Well... I understand how you feel, but I actually saw it..."

"That's a lie! I hate liars! Go away!"

Seori sat down on the ground and started crying.

...Uh, what should I do? This reaction is too unexpected.

"There, there," Saaya patted Seori's head. Seori buried her face in Saaya's chest. It looked like a small adult comforting a large child. Quite unfitting for a 14-year-old.

The mental ages in this world are really out of whack.

Well, I was wrong too.

I shouldn't have so easily said something that would make her doubt the people who had been kind to her for a year. I also regret misjudging Seori's innocence.

"...Well, anyway, let's look for the exit. We can think about the rest later. I'm counting on you, Elenora," I said.

"Mm. 'Full Survey'," Elenora activated her skill.

We waited for Seori to stop crying before starting to explore the dungeon.

By the way, there was a transfer device four floors up and five floors down. Of course, we chose the closer one.

"'Blade Shift'," I sliced through a giant spider monster that lunged at us.

When I cut its vital point in one strike, the monster disappeared and dropped materials. The dungeon system that doesn't require skinning is really convenient.

Next to me, Elenora had just defeated another monster.

Saaya and the others were watching from the wall. Saaya was intently observing the battle, but Seori was too scared to move. Punisuke was taking a nap in Saaya's arms.

"Judging from these monsters, we're around the middle of the 50th floor?" I guessed.

"Mm. Around there," Elenora confirmed.

I was thinking in terms of Stoania standards.

Of course, Elenora's "Full Survey" covers the entire area up to the surface, so Elenora herself knows the answer. However, she doesn't seem to be counting the floors in detail. Well, there's no point in counting them anyway.

"How much further down do we need to go?"

"Mm... about 15 more."

So this dungeon goes down to around the 70th floor.

We came here before investigating the details, but unlike Stoania, this dungeon seems to have already been conquered to the bottom floor.

According to Elenora, there are several parties near the bottom floor. Once a dungeon has been conquered, conquest information is bought and sold, so if you can buy the information, the difficulty of re-conquering decreases.

The information fee gets higher the lower you go, but the monster materials also become more valuable. Many things can be turned into money in dungeons.

"Without prior information, normal people would be stuck on this floor, huh?"

We were fighting in a large room.

We were trapped in a room nearly 100 meters on each side, with hordes of monsters raining down from above.

However, for me and Elenora who were on guard, this level of trap could be foreseen and wasn't much of a problem. Most of the monsters were only around B-rank, so about 80% of them were taken out by Elenora's area attacks.

"Oh, Elenora's level is going up," I noticed.

"Mm. Happy," she replied.

Recently, it's been getting much harder to level up.

Elenora, who can slaughter hordes of monsters in one hit like this, might still grow, but for C-rank or lower monsters near town, it takes killing thousands just to gain one level. It would be different if there were monsters higher level than us, though.

"But I see. If you want to level up efficiently, using wide-area magic is the way to go... and in traps like this, B-rank monsters spawn in droves..."

I see, a revelation dawned on me.

I glanced at Saaya. Sensing something ominous, she averted her gaze.

This is a unique hotspot only found in dungeons. We shouldn't let this opportunity go to waste.

"Saaya, shall we start by learning intermediate magic?"

"R-Ruruk, didn't you say we should focus on building up my basic abilities first?"

"I have a brilliant idea... you'll learn while doing it."

"Ruruk, you're turning into Roze-san!"

No, no, I'm not that spartan.

Honestly, with Saaya's stats, she should have decent destructive power even with just a sword. If she ran seriously, she could easily outpace B-rank monsters and probably cut them down in one blow.

True, she lacks experience, so I don't want to force her into dangerous situations.

Speaking of lack of experience, the chuunibyou girl trembling behind Saaya is even more obvious.

"I-Is it over...?"

Despite being from the strongest race with relatively high total stats for her level, this useless girl who's too scared of monsters to be of any use cautiously opened her eyes.

Isn't she embarrassed to be protected by a 10-year-old human?

"It's okay now, Seori. Ruruk and Elenora took care of most of them."

Saaya said this, but she had actually defeated a couple with magic herself.

The pink-haired, scaredy-cat chuunibyou useless dragon princess let out a sigh of relief... wait a minute, isn't this girl overloaded with attributes?

"Hey, does taking the room with traps mean it's a shortcut?"

"Mm. This way."

We followed behind Elenora as she led the way.

Seori, still nervous, walked while lightly pinching Saaya's clothes. She seems to be keeping her distance from me too, probably out of fear. Well, I don't mind if she doesn't like me. Saaya has always been good at taking care of others, so they seem to get along well.

"Mm... there's a boss above."

According to Elenora, the next floor is 52.

Since we're going backwards through the dungeon, climbing the stairs often leads to the floor boss room.

I use my ability to see through walls and floors.

"Ah, you're right. Minotaurs... is this a family?"

Monsters with bull heads and human bodies. There are about 10 of them in the room. However, their sizes vary, with adults, children, and even a hunched-over elder Taur. What's an elder Taur anyway?

"Well, if we play it straight, they shouldn't be enemies. They're just B-rank monsters after all."

"Mm. One hit."

Thinking lightly of it, Elenora and I took the lead in climbing the stairs.

The moment we stepped into the room.

"...Huh?"

In an instant, the scenery changed completely.

The room where the Minotaurs should have been was gone, replaced by a flower field.

It was a field dungeon with a small stream flowing through a flower meadow.

"Eh, what happened? Could it be... a teleportation trap?"

I hadn't seen such a trap before, so I wasn't on guard. No, this is no excuse. It's my fault for not anticipating it.

Elenora is next to me. She must have teleported with me.

But behind us... Saaya and Punisuke are gone! And the chuunibyou girl too!

"'Full Survey' -- Ruruk, done!"

As expected of Elenora, she detected them immediately without losing her composure.

I also use my ability to see through the floor. Quite far below -- probably about 10 floors down, I could see Saaya and the others, tiny as beans.

They were surrounded by Minotaurs, under attack.

This is bad. Even Saaya can't handle that many on her own yet.

"'Relative Teleportation'!"

I roughly grabbed Elenora and teleported instantly.

When I returned, Saaya was being attacked by three sword strikes simultaneously. Looking closer, there were two types of Minotaurs: the larger ones fought with swords, while the smaller ones used bows.

Saaya was blocking all the Minotaur attacks head-on.

But her small body had several lacerations--

"'Bow down'!"

I shouted reflexively.

The Minotaurs fell helplessly. Before they could move an inch, I used "Rending Bullet" to simultaneously destroy the heads of all 10 Minotaurs.

In an instant, 10 sets of materials dropped.

------------------------

> "Composure" has been activated

------------------------

Immediately after, the blood that had rushed to my head cooled down.

"Phew... Saaya, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I was a bit panicked though."

Saaya said with a shy "ehehe."

For now, I give her a potion to drink. Fortunately, all her wounds were shallow and healed immediately with just one regular potion.

"But Ruruk, what happened to you guys? You disappeared for about ten seconds."

"It was a teleportation trap. A nasty one that teleports the first person who enters the room 10 floors up."

"I didn't know there were traps like that."

"It's a common pattern in games... sorry, I let my guard down."

"It's okay, it's okay. You came back right away."

"Sorry. It's also my mistake that Elenora and I stepped on it at the same time. It would have been better if one of us had stayed behind."

At the very least, we could have easily wiped out the Minotaurs.

"Don't apologize. I was a bit surprised too, but thanks to that, I gained some confidence."

"Confidence?"

"Yeah. I realized I can fight pretty well even on my own."

Indeed, withstanding attacks from 10 Minotaurs for over 10 seconds is praiseworthy. Normal adventurers wouldn't last more than a few seconds before being hit by arrows or swords.

"But Saaya, couldn't you have maneuvered more safely if you had dodged instead of taking the attacks head-on? Why did you do something so dangerous?"

"Because I had something to protect."

Saaya glanced behind her.

There was Punisuke still sleeping peacefully, and Seori clinging to the ground.

"......"

"......"

"U-uuu... I can't move, I'm scared..."

Crap. I forgot to exclude her from the targets of my "Word of Power."

"Sorry, Seori. I got you involved. Come on, get up."

"Eek! Don't come near me!"

Realizing that the mysterious attack was my power, Seori screamed and moved away again.

Well, I guess this is my own fault.

"Sorry, Saaya, I'll leave it to you."

"Ahaha... Hey, Seori. Ruruk didn't mean to do that. He was trying to help us, so can you forgive him?"

"......"

"From Seori's perspective, Ruruk might be too strong and scary. He can kill a Man-eater with one kick after all. He's certainly not a normal human."

"He's a monster..."

Hey, stop with the monster talk.

"But you know, Ruruk is our companion. He uses that strong power to protect us. If Ruruk were an enemy, even I might cry and beg for forgiveness... but Ruruk is on our side, so you don't need to worry."

Saaya said gently, as if admonishing her.

Seori turned a frightened gaze towards me.

"Then... why?"

"?"

"Why did you attack earlier?"

"W-well... even Ruruk makes mistakes sometimes."

"That's not it!"

Seori shouted, as if squeezing the words out of her lungs.

"That person never looked at me! He only thought about saving Saaya from the start! I could tell that much!"

Ah... I've done it.

I couldn't say anything in response to Seori's words.

It's true that earlier I was panicked and only thinking about Saaya. That can't be called a mistake. In my subconscious, Seori wasn't included among those I needed to protect. That's why she was caught in the crossfire. That's why I forgot about her. I thought I was being careful consciously, but... damn it, I'm so incompetent.

"I-I can't trust someone like that..."

"...But, Ruruk is..."

Saaya looked at me with an expression like she was about to cry.

This is the seed I sowed. I have to do something about it.

"I'm sorry. I always prioritize the safety of party members in my actions. So I apologize for that."

"......"

"But I don't intend to treat you as an enemy or ignore you. If anything, I want to get along with you. If possible, I'd like to continue being friends with you as Saaya's friend even after we escape from this dungeon."

"......"

"So tell me. If you're scared of me, what should I do? I have no intention of hurting you at all. Honestly, I'm not strong enough mentally to keep a straight face while being feared by someone I'm supposed to protect."

A bit of my true feelings slipped out.

It's not that I want to be liked. But for me, who used to be in a weak position, being feared by someone like this for the first time... just being aware of it made my chest hurt.

I guess I'm just a coward.

"...It's impossible."

"Why? Because I killed your familiar?"

"That's not it..."

"Then why? If you say it's just a visceral reaction, I'll give up, but..."

"...Because you're similar."

Huh?

Similar? To whom?

"You're similar to Papa!"

Papa... you mean the Dragon King?

What does she mean by similar to the Dragon King?

"The way you kill monsters with a straight face! The way good humans like Saaya like you! The way you casually use incomprehensible powers! Everything is similar!"

...Well, isn't that mostly because you can't understand his strength and that's why he's scary?

From what I've heard, the Dragon King is the strongest being on the continent, so of course his strength is incomprehensible.

Please don't lump me together with such a genuine monster.

But well, after hearing all this, I can understand.

Seori fundamentally doesn't match my style. There's no need to force myself to get close to someone like that in a dangerous dungeon.

"I see, I understand. Then I'll try not to get close to Seori."

"Eh?"

For some reason, Seori looked uneasy.

No, no, I'm not becoming your enemy.

"Saaya, please understand. There's no need to mediate between me and Seori. It's about putting the right person in the right place."

"...I see. I understand."

Come to think of it, this might be the first time I've encountered someone like this.

In my previous life, I didn't have many acquaintances to begin with. It's probably because I've made more acquaintances now... Ah, I'm feeling a bit sentimental. I have a fragile heart after all.

Although it ended up like this, we've sorted things out for now. Now for the Minotaur materials... Ah, Elenora has already collected them without me noticing. As expected of her.

Saaya strokes my back, visibly dejected. Elenora also comforts me by gently pressing the sleeping Punisuke against my cheek.

"Are you... not going to protect me...?"

That's why I missed that small whisper.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Seori had lived a life far removed from danger until now.

Even when she was in the holy land, her father kept watch over her even when she went to hunting grounds, because she was the Dragon King's daughter. Seori could only fight small, harmless monsters.

For her, who had been raised overprotectively, it was boring... but it was normal.

Suddenly dropped into the lower levels of a dungeon said to be very dangerous, she was inwardly panicking. Yet she managed to put on a calm facade because she had made her first friend right beside her.

She didn't want to worry the small human girl -- it was none other than Ruruk and the others who unintentionally trampled on Seori's small pride as she tried to act as usual, at least on the surface.

Seori was afraid of the unfathomable threat reminiscent of her father, afraid of the monsters, yet she desperately tried to keep up.

But it wasn't enough.

Ruruk, who slaughtered vicious monsters that made her legs freeze without changing his expression. There were many reasons to fear him. But that doesn't mean he wasn't reliable. At least he had the power to protect Seori.

But she made a mistake.

Seori had always been poor at expressing herself, often causing unnecessary trouble. This time too, she only answered because she was asked why she was scared. It was nothing more, nothing less.

As a result, she felt abandoned by Ruruk.

He might not protect her anymore.

Seori thought so. Of course, Ruruk didn't mean it that way. He just wanted an opportunity to close the distance, and she was still someone to protect.

But there was no way Seori could understand that. And in reality, Ruruk had once attacked, involving Seori.

For Seori, that was enough.

That alone was enough for her anxiety to swell enormously.

"...!"

Her first friend -- the lovely Saaya.

The strong and young sheep-folk -- Elenora.

They admire Ruruk.

If Ruruk doesn't try to protect Seori, they might abandon her too.

No.

That was too scary to bear.

So Seori pointed her fingertip at his back.

She didn't want to be alone in a place like this.

From her trembling lips, words naturally leaked out.

Along with the activation of her skill.

"'Forced Subjugation'"