The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"Wake up, wake up Ruruk-chi! Something's coming!"

When Leelin shook me awake, the [White Tiger] members were already in battle formation.

Since Leelin and Besmond were on the second half of the night watch, being woken up like this means they were doing their job properly. Well done.

As for my companions, there was me and Saaya still groggy, Elen and Punisuke still fast asleep, and Seori who seemed to have woken up quickly but was useless. 

...Yeah, to put it mildly, we're a hopeless party.

"Good morning, Leelin-san. Mererosu-san, you look beautiful today as well."

"Ruruk-kun, you're quite something. To sleep so deeply even with minor spirits on alert."

My morning banter was ignored.

I returned the minor spirits to magic essence and stretched widely. It's a bit early, but it feels like just before dawn. Not enough time to go back to sleep. Ah~ I slept well.

"So, what's the rush about?"

"Something triggered my presence detection. Multiple humanoid presences are approaching... could be demons."

Led by Mererosu and Leelin, everyone was tensely focused on the room's entrance.

I also use my "Eye of Illusion" to see through.

...Ah, I see. That's right, I remember now.

I relax my shoulders and decide to wake up Elen who's still sleeping.

"Elen, it's going to get noisy soon, so wake up."

"Mm... just a bit more."

"Geez! You'll be late for school!"

I try waking her up like a mother. It didn't have much effect.

Even shaking her and pinching her cheeks doesn't work. Sigh, what a troublesome one. Falling into such a deep sleep in a dungeon, aren't you being too careless?

Huh? What's that? Boome...? I can't hear you clearly.

"In times like these, you do this."

Saaya pinched Elen's nose.

After a while, Elen's face contorted in discomfort and she started breathing through her mouth. Saaya then tossed a Sugo-dama she took out from her item box into Elen's open mouth. What a devilish act!

Elen's eyes snapped open at the intense taste and smell of the Sugo-dama. She immediately sat up and launched a spell at Saaya.

"'Air's Rock'!"

"'Wind Bomb'!"

Oh, not bad.

Saaya instantly dispersed the air to neutralize Elen's magic. She must have known how to deal with it from seeing it up close so often.

"Mm... smelly. Cruel."

"It's your fault for not waking up."

Could it be they always do this? No wonder they don't get along.

I felt like I caught a glimpse of their daily female warfare(?), but anyway.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun, but it seems we have visitors, so get ready for battle."

"Mm."

"Understood."

The little girls quickly switched gears and glared at the entrance. By the way, Seori has been hiding behind my back the whole time.

Honestly, there's no need to be on guard, but this is just for show.

As if to prove this, the ones who appeared at the room's entrance were a group of elves.

At the front was a petite bob-cut girl, needless to say, it was Karmarike.

Mererosu let out a sigh of relief and lowered her weapon.

"Hey Karmarike. You caught up--"

"Ruruk-sama~~~~!"

She dashed and leaped at me.

Of course, I lightly dodged. Karmarike, who perfectly executed a face-first sliding landing, turned back with a nosebleed.

"Why did you dodge?!"

"Let me ask you instead, why did you think I'd catch you?"

Even though she's small, it's still a full-speed dash of a person jumping at you.

It would be heavy and painful, wouldn't it?

"Catch me!"

"No way. Well, if you really insist, it depends on the conditions."

"Conditions? I'll do anything!"

"Become a glamorous older sister. Then I'd even come to welcome you!"

"Ruruk-sama, you pervert! Boob maniac!"

Karmarike stomped her feet in frustration.

As we were having this stupid conversation, Mererosu sighed.

"Really Karmarike, read the room."

"That's right."

"Hey Distania. You caught up well."

"You guys were leaving marks on the route the whole time, right? We just followed those."

Seven elves entered the room.

Captain Distania, Vice-Captain Karmarike. Then four elite members of the guard unit I recognized, and one elf wearing a mask around their eyes.

It was a lady with long blonde hair parted in the middle and hanging down both sides.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ruruk-sama."

"Ah, yes. Hello."

For some reason, she immediately came in front of me and knelt down.

She must be one of those 'hunters'.

"I am Fia, from the sales department of Luney Trading Company. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"N-Nice to meet you. I'm Ruruk."

Why do these Luney Trading Company ladies always look at me with such unwavering, strong gazes? It made me a bit nervous.

"So you're going by Fia now, Centebet."

"Yes, I go by Fia at Luney Trading Company. As I'm accompanying the elf rescue team as a member of Luney Trading Company this time, please call me Fia."

"Got it, Fia. So why did you come all the way here? Weren't you supposed to be waiting with the dragon species in the magic tree forest according to the plan?"

"The situation has changed, so I thought I should urgently inform Ruruk-sama and Mererosu."

Fia took out a paper from her pocket.

What was written on it was... well, what is it? Hmm, I can't read it.

Both Mererosu and I tilted our heads.

"What does this say?" we asked in unison.

"I apologize, this is our company's cipher. I'll read it out loud. 'The purpose of the elf children's abduction has been discovered. They are being kept asleep in the dungeon to guide the way to the elf forest. The one taken to the castle is for a summoning ritual sacrifice. The summoning ritual requires the creation of a large-scale magic circle. The magic circle is predicted to be completed in 9 days. Please hurry.'... That's what it says."

A summoning ritual, huh.

As expected, they couldn't find out what they're trying to summon, but this is more than enough information.

After burning the letter with magic, Fia said,

"There are 5 days left from today. Mererosu, I recommend urgently forming a team to head to the castle for recovery. The dungeon exploration here is also a race against time, but Distania and I will help with this."

"I see. Ruruk-kun, Furat-kun, is it okay if I form a separate team based on my judgment?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"...Yes."

Well, depending on who goes, the dungeon has more people now so the danger level has decreased.

No matter how you look at it, the castle seems riskier.

Mererosu seemed to understand this too, and after thinking for a moment, she said,

"We'll go with a small elite team prioritizing travel speed. Me, Ruruk-kun, Lakirala-chan. And Seori-chan. That's all."

"...Mererosu, is that enough?"

Furat asked suspiciously.

Indeed, four people including Seori was fewer than expected.

"Yes. The reason is simple. To be honest, Ruruk-kun alone would be the most efficient. He's outstanding in both speed and strength. However, we might need scout skills and holy magic for traps and compatibility issues, so I think only I and Lakirala-chan need to accompany him. And Seori-chan, you have that skill you showed us yesterday, right? It can't be used here, but it's incredibly useful in wide-area annihilation battles. As expected of a true ancestor dragon."

Oh, Seori's outrageous skill is being praised. Seori looked somewhat fidgety and happy.

Furat nodded in understanding.

"I see, that's fine. Lakirala, make yourself useful."

"...You don't need to tell me that."

"Ruruk-sama~, I wanted to go with you too... but please take care of the children."

"Yeah. I'll do my best."

Karmarike pleaded as if praying, so I answered seriously without joking.

The ones who seemed unsatisfied with the team formation were my companions other than Seori. Especially Elen, who had her eyes sparkling at the mention of annihilation battles. Punisuke, who had woken up at some point, was the same.

Saaya simply looked worried if four people would be enough, but I think that's not a problem. If a dangerous opponent shows up, I plan to teleport everyone away immediately.

"So the dungeon team will have more people, but Furat-kun and Distania will be the leaders, okay? Please prioritize speed in the exploration as well."

"Mererosu, Luney Trading Company can provide additional dungeon exploration information, so please leave this to us."

"Understood. I'm counting on your support, Fia."

"Hey Mererosu, before you go, can you tell me a bit about the dungeon traps? It's my first time in a dungeon, so I'm a bit nervous..."

"Sure. First, about the types of traps--"

While the elves were exchanging information, I secretly called Saaya to a corner of the room.

"What's up? A goodbye kiss?"

"Idiot. I have a favor to ask. Can you hold onto this?"

What I took out from my item box was a bracelet with a green jewel embedded in it.

The one that Elen had infused with magic power was glowing faintly green.

"The phone thing?"

"Yeah. Can you help with the call experiment?"

"Of course! This means I can talk to Ruruk every day even when we're apart? Tee-hee."

Saaya happily put it on her arm.

As expected of a Luney Trading Company product, it had the same automatic expansion function as the item box that adjusts to the size of the wearer.

"The usage is simple, just touch the stone while talking. Apparently, only the wearer can hear the other person's voice, but if possible, I'd like you to have conversations when you're alone or in a corner of the room. Once a day at your timing, please."

"Got it. Is night okay? I'll pretend to go to the bathroom and talk then."

"It's fine even if you're actually in the bathroom, you know? Only voices can be heard anyway."

"...I might awaken to something, so I'll pass. I've decided to be a traditional heroine."

Aside from Saaya's incomprehensible commitment, I don't want to talk to someone while in the bathroom either.

Anyway, I've handed over the communication stone, so the request from Luney Trading Company should be fine.

After finishing our secret talk and returning to the center of the room, I also called out to the little girl and slime who were playing around looking bored.

"Elen, I'm counting on you to take care of Saaya and Punisuke."

"Mm."

"Punisuke, protect Elen and Saaya, okay?"

"I'll do my best nano! I won't lose this time nano!"

My companions were full of enthusiasm.

Honestly, maybe because it's a small-scale dungeon, there doesn't seem to be any significant enemies except for the final boss.

The only concern is demon intervention, but unless they make a big mistake, Elen shouldn't lose. I've asked Saaya to make an emergency call if it seems dangerous, so it should be fine.

"Alright Ruruk-kun, Lakirala-chan, Seori-chan. Let's go."

"Yes."

"...Okay."

"Hmph. Destiny calls for me."

And so, we left the dungeon as the recovery team.

Our destination is the castle where the mid-level demon is said to live.

We decided to move with stealth prioritizing speed, but...

"What's this?"

Just one hour after leaving the dungeon.

If we head northwest over the mountains, there's supposed to be a castle where the elf child is imprisoned.

We've left the navigation to Mererosu. As a solo adventurer, Mererosu was more than capable of progressing according to the map while scouting.

What we found was probably the first settlement in demon territory.

I say probably because there were no demons in sight.

To begin with, there are many mysteries about the social structure of demons, and I only know what Roze taught me. They reproduce through the same reproductive acts as humans, but because they can't bear children unless their magic wavelengths match, they don't have the concept of marriage and have a territorial consciousness similar to wild animals.

Culturally, they're incomparably inferior to humans, and what they excel at is magical talent. As for racial characteristics, they can see magic essence and magic power from birth -- that's about it.

Regarding housing, the environment is culturally old. The demons who have power in the area like to build castles, but castles are conspicuous. For a race engaged in territorial disputes like Showa era yankee conflicts, they won't build a castle unless they're very confident.

Therefore, I heard that even if lower-ranked demons live in groups, they create and live in inconspicuous settlements.

Well, I can understand that.

What was before our eyes was a demon settlement.

There were only about ten shoddy houses that looked like mere shacks, seemingly serving no purpose other than securing a place to sleep. There was just one well in the center, and the rest was just houses. It was visibly clear that they had been living quietly, as if afraid of standing out.

"There are traces of recent habitation... but no one's here. It's like they suddenly disappeared."

Mererosu made this judgment after checking several houses.

A vanished settlement, huh. It's like the introduction to a cheap mystery, but it would be genuinely scary if it happened in real life. Come to think of it, in the Shaboom region where Saaya's family lives, the people of a settlement disappeared about 50 years ago too.

I wonder if such dark incidents occur regularly in this other world. That's scary.

"Aruji~"

The clumsy dragon princess starts trembling in fear at the horror development. As you can see, despite claiming to be a minion of darkness, she has no resistance to the depth of darkness.

While Mererosu was scouting and investigating, we were on guard just in case. Then, suddenly Lakirala frowned, focusing her gaze on one point.

"...Hey Ruruk. You said this was a demon settlement, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"...Then, what's that?"

What Lakirala pointed at was a hole at the edge of the settlement.

It was a vertical hole that looked like it had been dug with just a shovel, without any technique. They probably usually throw garbage in it, as the surrounding grass was withered and it was located a bit away from any house, standing alone.

In that hole, something that looked rotten was piled up, almost overflowing...

"Ugh!? Seori, don't look!"

"Y-Yes, my lord!"

I ordered Seori before approaching the hole.

...Ugh.

What was discarded there were chunks of meat.

Insects were swarming and it was starting to rot. Chunks of meat that looked like they had been cut into blocks, bones and all. There was clearly enough for over a dozen people piled up.

This was enough to make me feel like throwing up.

"...They're corpses, right?"

"Yes. Probably the killed demons."

Is the settlement empty because they were killed and thrown in here?

Mererosu noticed our state and rushed over. She frowned upon seeing inside the hole but quickly composed herself.

"This is terrible. Ruruk-kun, can you bury it?"

"Yes. 'Alchemy.'"

There was no reason to refuse, so I immediately covered it with surrounding soil.

Of course, this is an unknown settlement. We didn't erect a gravestone, just covered it.

"I wonder what happened... Even if they're lower-ranked, demons have high combat ability, right?"

"Yes. None of the demons I've met hardly even chanted for their magic."

"To cut them up like this... a mid-level demon, or perhaps..."

I don't want to say it, but considering the brutality, it might be a fairly high-ranking demon.

This could mean we might encounter an upper-level demon — someone on par with Skato. Since there were still recognizable pieces of flesh, it probably happened only a day or two ago, so there's a possibility we might run into them ahead.

Since they haven't crossed paths with us, I don't think they went towards the dungeon.

"Everyone, let's proceed with caution," Mererosu said.

"Yes."

"...Alright."

"Y-Yes, my lord. Please stay close, Aruji."

After that, we moved carefully for a while.

Thanks to that, we were able to progress that day without encountering anyone.