The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"Spatial Transfer"

Thanks to the evolved numerology "Mystic Eye," I can now teleport anywhere. Of course, this includes the middle layers of the dungeon, which have become a stampede zone.

"Hey, you're working hard."

"You finally came! You're late!"

"Sorry, various things happened... Here, I brought some candy."

I offer Saaya-san, who's puffing her cheeks, some elf-made konpeitō. Just then, a giant orc covered in full armor appears from the stairs in front of us, but Nagi cuts it down in one swift move and turns back.

"I'm tired after fighting for a whole day straight. I'm getting sleepy."

"That's right. Elenora and Punisuke might be fine, but we've been waiting for Ruruk to take us to the lowest floor."

Saaya and Nagi seem dissatisfied. Elen and Punisuke still seem to be enjoying themselves.

However, my instructions were just to stop the stampede itself, or if that wasn't possible, to thin out the monsters. If it was just about thinning out monsters, we could do that near the surface, so I thought they went to the lowest floor to level up without being disturbed by other parties.

I mean, come on.

"Couldn't Elen take you to the lowest floor if that's all you wanted?"

"Huh?"

Saaya and Nagi turn to look at Elen. Elen, who can now use "Transfer Gate" to places she's been to before, expressionlessly averts her gaze.

"..."

"Hey, Elenora! Why didn't you say anything if you could do it?!"

"That's right! We got tired for nothing! We could have gone to stop the stampede right away!"

Even as the two shake her shoulders vigorously, the expressionless Elen says just one thing.

"Can't. Kill. Monsters."

"You battle maniac, give it a rest!"

The voice of reason seems to have given up on dealing with the unrepentant Elen and sits down. I give a wry smile as they turn tearful eyes towards me.

"...I'm sleepy and feeling a bit sick. Hey Ruruk, can we go home now?"

"Can I be angry now?"

"Good work. Well, your levels went up quite a bit because of it."

It shows after spending a whole day mowing down high-rank monsters that kept spawning endlessly. Their levels have increased significantly from the previous day.

Elen: Level 63 → 76. Since her magic power is maxed out, there's not much change in her status.

Saaya: Level 26 → 39. Her total additive status has become a monstrous 7800.

Nagi: Level 27 → 43. Her agility has increased considerably.

Punisuke: Level 30 → 35. His endurance has increased even further. He's tough as nails now.

"Stampedes are really optimal for leveling, huh."

"Don't say that outside. You'll make enemies."

I got glared at. I understand, you know.

Since Saaya and Nagi are tired and there are no monsters nearby, we decided to take a short break. They could go back first if they wanted, but I wanted them to see the mastermind and items at the lowest floor while we were here.

As I offer warm soup to Saaya and Nagi who are sitting down, Punisuke jumps at me.

"Hey Master~! You're sparkling so much! You look so cool~!"

"Oh, you can tell? I've become much stronger too~"

"Amazing!"

As expected of Punisuke, he seems to understand.

"Come to think of it, you defeated most of the monsters in Stoania, right? Did you max out your level?"

"Hm, unfair."

"Yeah... well, there were a few problems because of that."

"Problems?"

"It's faster to show you than to explain. Here -- 'Threshold Compilation'"

I don't intend to hide it from my companions anymore.

I took out a paper and copied my status onto it.

Starting with Level 264, each status exceeding 20,000, and an incomprehensible race name - there's a lot to comment on.

"...Huh? What's this?"

"Hm. Unfair."

"You're a damn cheat bastard."

"Master is amazing~!"

"I was surprised too. But what's done is done, and there's nothing we can do about it."

To be honest, I don't feel like I've changed much.

If I fight seriously, it would probably be different, but I rarely went all out except when fighting the Dragon King.

Also, Nagi-chan, your language is getting worse.

"Well, that's how the leveling was a great success. By the way, I also leveled up Seori and Karmarike."

"Leveling up during a war... Hey, are you sure you're not making enemies? Are you okay?"

"I wonder. The Queen of Stoania called me a hero who saved the country."

"...You're probably resented by some people."

Saaya said with an exasperated look.

I understand that if you stand out too much, you'll face resentment from people who were supposed to be active. But what's done is done.

"Well, we're on your side, Ruruk, so it'll be fine no matter what happens. You did well, good job, good job."

"Yeah."

Ching. Saaya earned some big sister points.

As I was talking about Seori and Karmarike's achievements, several dozen monsters came up the stairs again. Since both had finished drinking their soup,

"Alright, let's head to the lowest floor after we defeat them."

"Roger that."

"Mm."

"Understood."

"Master is watching! I'll do my best!"

My fired-up companions wiped out the monsters in an instant.

Mataisa Dungeon, 100th floor.

Usually, this is the final point ruled by the dungeon boss, the Quokka Magician, and it's a vast earthy floor.

But when we teleported there, there was no Quokka Magician, but a single human instead.

"W-Why are you here?!"

Surprised by our sudden appearance, he stepped back a few paces with a shrill voice.

I answer with a sigh.

"That's my line... Savey-san."

Savey Akuninaru.

Lilith's fiancé and the son of Duke Akuninaru, why is he in a place like this?

The answer would be clear if we knew what the small treasure-like object in his hand was.

[["Pseudo-Core"

 > An artificial core created to mimic the dungeon core. A holy relic that allows control of the dungeon for a short period.

 >> The owner is Savey Akuninaru.]]

Realizing that I was looking at the pseudo-core, Savey hurriedly hid it behind his back.

"H-How did you get here?! The transfer device should be stopped--"

"Since when?"

I interrupted Savey's words.

"...W-What do you mean?"

"Since when have you been in contact with the Maguu Empire?"

Savey swallowed hard, seemingly overwhelmed by my intimidating glare.

Savey is Lilith's fiancé. Right now, he's just a fiancé, but if Savey turns out to be a spy for another country, it would cause trouble for Lilith as well.

I'm not interested in what kind of relationship the Akuninaru Duke family has with which country, but it's a different story if it causes trouble for my precious sister. Depending on the situation, disposing of him here in the darkness might be an option -- I pierced Savey with a cold gaze.

Savey raises his voice.

"I don't know anything about the Maguu Empire. I got this from my old man!"

"'Tell the truth'"

"Ah, fine! Is there something wrong with that?! I got it from an imperial envoy who came to our house a while ago! Then three days ago, when I returned home, there was a notice of engagement cancellation from the Muuteru family, and even an order to appear from the Knight Order. My cowardly old man was about to run away immediately, so I figured it out. My old man's blunder of leaking information to the Maguu Empire had been discovered."

"I see. Then, why did Savey-san cause the stampede?"

"Because it's all over anyway. Our family is finished. At best, my father and us brothers will be stripped of our titles... at worst, executed. If we have to suffer because of my stupid old man, I at least wanted to get revenge on Lilith and the Muuteru family who abandoned me! If a stampede occurs, all the knights will fight the monsters! Those stupid knight families can just die fighting!"

"...Ruruk, this guy is the worst. He's scum."

Nagi said mercilessly.

I had my thoughts too, but I just let out a single sigh. There's no point in arguing here.

After saying all that, Savey's eyes widened. He seemed unable to believe that he had confessed honestly.

"...What did you do to me..."

"I understand the situation. So, you're the Dungeon Master now, right? I'll ask just in case, but do you have any intention of stopping the stampede quietly?"

"Don't be ridiculous! What good would that do? Our Akuninaru family is already finished!"

"I see. Then we'll have to stop you by force."

"Hah! Can you do it? I'm the Dungeon Master now. I know because I became the Dungeon Master. If I die, the dungeon will collapse! If you do that, it'll cause a huge problem on the surface too!"

Savey tries to threaten us.

I understand that he's half desperate. If we do something half-hearted, in the worst case, he might commit suicide and involve the royal capital.

It would be easy to just neutralize him, but he's still holding onto the pseudo-core. I don't want to do anything unpredictable.

"Then we won't attack Savey-san. Our goal is just to stop the stampede. We don't want to destroy the dungeon."

"Y-You seem to understand well!"

"But we don't intend to hold back, you know? We'll be your opponents until the magic power you transferred to that core runs out."

"...Are you an idiot? Are you serious?"

"As serious as can be. Come on, don't be scared, hurry up and turn your attention to us. Or do you not have the power to control it properly?"

"Don't mock me! You'll regret this!"

Savey raised the pseudo-core.

While his own magic power isn't that much, his control precision is indeed high. With the help of the pseudo-core's power, he keeps creating monsters one after another.

In the blink of an eye, monsters fill up all directions. It seems he made them all B-rank monsters. He's quite skillful in creating them.

"That's a good number. Saaya and Nagi, you can rest."

"Thank goodness."

"We leave it to you."

Saaya and Nagi sheathed their weapons.

Seeing this, Savey let out a dry laugh.

"What's wrong, Teacher Ruruk? Don't tell me you've given up--"

"Elen, take the rear."

"Mm. 'Stone Edge'"

Elen's basic magic was released towards the back, slicing up all the monsters there.

"...Huh?"

"Punisuke, take the front."

"Leave it to me! Hiyah!"

Punisuke, wielding the whip mode "Cold Blade," sliced all the remaining monsters in front cleanly in half, top to bottom.

All the created monsters have turned into materials.

"...Eh? Eh?"

Savey was flustered.

I taunt him.

"What's wrong? This isn't even a warm-up for my companions."

"Gh! Then how about this!"

The next to be created was a horde of A-rank monsters.

I confirmed that the magic power stored in the pseudo-core visibly decreased. It seems the magic consumption is related to the quality of the monsters. Well, that's natural.

"How about this! Now--"

"'Gravity Purge'"

"..."

"Weak."

Elen, who caught everything except us and Savey in range, crushed the monsters with a pop. Even though it's supposed to be a single-target purge spell, it became an area attack... well, it's nothing new for Elen at this point.

Savey was surprised looking at Elen. Come to think of it, he had misunderstood that the magic user in my party was a "second-rate magician who couldn't even enter the Central Magic Association".

"A sheep person? Don't tell me that one is..."

"Sorry to interrupt your surprise, but is this all?"

"S-Shut up! I'll finish this in one go!"

The moment Savey raised the pseudo-core, about ten Quokka Magicians crawled out from the ground.

It's not bad that he created S-rank monsters specialized in magic to counter Elen.

"But it's naive... Punisuke, do it."

"Yes! Gun mode 'Scorching Bullet'!"

Growing wings on its back, it aimed ten gun cores at the Quokka Magicians.

And what was fired were scorching hot mithril bullets.

The physical attack, overwhelmingly faster than sound, blew off the heads of the Quokka Magicians.

In an instant, the S-rank monsters turned into materials.

"...No way..."

"We've used quite a bit of resources too. Are you still going to continue?"

"...Damn it! Damn damn damn damn!"

Savey screamed while throwing the pseudo-core to the ground on his knees. Perhaps because he had created ten dungeon bosses, there was hardly any magic power left.

The pseudo-core rolled to my feet. It's not something that would break from being thrown, but I let out a sigh of relief.

"I... I...!"

As Savey let out sobs and repeatedly hit the ground, we quietly watched him.