The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

As we descended the stairs, we entered a world of stone.

"This is great! This is what a dungeon should be! More, give me more!"

It was exactly like the image of dungeons I had played in games before. Stone mazes, monsters jumping out, traps and treasure chests, occasional encounters with other adventurers. I want to explore dungeons like this for the rest of my life~ I want to stay a child forever~ Always be a dungeon kid~ Surrounded by my beloved labyrinth~!

I got carried away defeating the monsters that appeared and had to rely on my "Calm and Collected" skill to cool down.

Phew. Time to chill out.

"Hmph... The only regrettable thing is that the enemies are too weak."

"Well, we're still only on the 5th floor. Only small fry appear here."

The lowest-ranked monsters like Gray Rabbits, Slimes, and Baby Goblins. This area is filled with monsters that children can defeat barehanded if they try hard enough, or at least monsters that are unlikely to kill them even if they can't defeat them.

"But what do you think, Master? One kick is all it takes?"

"What are you saying? Do you even know your own stats?"

No, I'm not a Appraiser, so how could I know? I was debating whether to point that out when she continued,

"It depends on the country, but at level 19, you've long since surpassed the realm of a beginner. Even if your basic stats are low because you're still growing, if your total stats for each attribute exceed 300, you're easily above the average adult male."

"Eh, really? With just 300?"

"Listen, Ruruk, ordinary people don't train their bodies much, don't level up, and don't fight monsters. Being an adventurer is a dangerous job. Unless you really love freedom or have a dream of striking it rich, most people don't choose this profession."

"Ah... that's true, isn't it?"

Come to think of it, this industry doesn't have social security or health insurance. If you get injured and can't work before making a fortune, that's the end of your career. If you want to become strong safely, it's normal to aim to become a soldier or knight. Like my brothers.

"This dungeon is famous and has many strong individuals, so there are quite a few with stats over 3000, but it's too early to compare yourself to them."

"How strong is the strongest person here?"

"According to information, there are currently seven S-rank adventurer parties in this city, and one of them is SS-rank. The leader of that party supposedly has some stats exceeding 4000."

"Is that so... Wait, didn't Elen have magic power around 6000?"

"This child is special. Her magic power alone exceeds that of upper-class demons."

Upper-class demons, huh... Well, I don't know much about demons, so I'm not sure how impressive that is. But I can understand that it's on a different level. She can use such large-scale magic repeatedly, after all.

As we were talking about this, we arrived at the exit of this floor - in other words, the entrance to the 6th floor. There were no guards or anything, so we descended without concern. The face of the receptionist who had warned us earlier flashed through my mind.

"Sorry, big sis. I'm a bad kid, so I'm going to break my promise."

"Stop the nonsense and keep moving."

However, floors 6-9 weren't much different. The monsters were only slightly stronger. The only difference was the change in the gazes of the adventurers we met. While no one showed outright malice or hostility, we attracted more attention as a party of children walking around. Even discounting the prejudice against Elen being a sheep-folk, I felt we received quite a lot of those looks.

The maze wasn't much of a challenge either - or rather, previous adventurers had left directions on the walls and floors - and we quickly reached the 10th floor. The upper floors were beyond mere spoilers; they had become mere walking paths, except for the monsters that appeared.

Next to the bottom of the stairs leading to the 10th floor, there was a dead-end room. Inside the room, about five cylinder-like objects about two meters tall were lined up at intervals, emitting a faint blue light.

"That's the teleportation device. Go register."

"Oh, so that's it."

I took out my adventurer card and held it up to the device. Spiritual essence emitted from the device was absorbed into the card. The card glowed faintly like the device, then returned to normal. Elen also registered her location information in the same way.

The registration was over in no time, but even after Elen returned to Roze, I was still staring intently at the device. I couldn't pass up the chance to observe such a rare item.

"...The surface layer is a basic transcription formula. Of course, it's connected to the ley lines in real-time, but what's this second layer? I can't see it clearly, but is this representing the location information? The layer below is even harder to see, hmm, it looks like a circulation circuit but feels different. Could it be a summoning formula? No, the movement of the spiritual essence is too quiet for that. And what are these holes in the spiritual essence scattered here and there? If I can't see them, does that mean... it's mana? So the teleportation device is a composite technology device? But still—"

"Sigh, here we go again. Elenora, bring him along."

"Mm."

I was grabbed by the collar and dragged away by the sheep child. I continued thinking with my arms folded until I was pulled out of the room.

We met them on the 16th floor.

"Hey, kid! Isn't that the kid?"

"Yeah, yeah! It's the kid and the sheep girl from earlier!"

"You've come to heaven."

It was the trio we met at the Adventurers' Guild.

I immediately bowed my head. I also knew that these people had been called by the Guild Master while I was being treated for my injuries.

"I forgot to say earlier, but thank you very much. Thanks to your help, the Guild Master promised not to hold me accountable."

"Don't worry about it. Those bastards pissed us off. If you hadn't started punching, we would have made the first move."

"That's right! The Guild Master understood the situation properly too."

"They're in hell. This is heaven."

They grinned at us.

"By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Ruruk. And this sheep-folk is,"

"Mm, Elenora."

"I'm a civilian porter."

Master, you're really going to stick with that, aren't you?

After we introduced ourselves, the trio relaxed and returned our greetings.

"I'm Desuto. I'm the leader of this party 【Cheap Beer】, and I work as a scout. Nice to meet you, Ruruk, Miss Elenora. And you too, Mr. Porter."

"I'm Soda. Cool name, right? By the way, I'm a scout."

"Hellheaven. Scout."

Wait, you're all scouts?

They were a very memorable party with many distinctive features. Looking closer, all three were lightly equipped with just short daggers and small bags. They didn't seem very interested in bringing back a lot of monster materials. Aren't they here to make money?

"So, Ruruk, we're almost at the 20th floor. As we get closer to the 20th floor, stray C-rank monsters start appearing. If you don't turn back here, you'll have to push on to the teleportation device. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes, that's no problem. We plan to register at the 20th floor teleportation device before heading back today. What floor are you aiming for?"

"We're planning to stop at the 20th floor too. We've got some good snacks today."

Saying this, Desuto opened the small game bag hanging from his waist to show us.

Inside was a live bird monster. Its body hair was quite yellow, with a red beak and comb. It was about the size that could be held in one hand. It seemed to be unconscious, breathing but with its mouth wide open as if surprised. I've never seen anything like it, even in monster encyclopedias.

"What kind of monster is this?"

"It's called a Gaga Chicken. They're not often hunted because they're very wary and their cries are stupidly loud, but the meat is delicious. It goes well with alcohol. It's a monster unique to this dungeon."

"That's right! There's nothing better than grilling this guy to eat with after-work drinks."

"It's truly heaven."

Soda and Hellheaven also proudly held up their game bags.

Could it be that these people are delving into the dungeon just to procure snacks for their drinks?

Inside me, the desire to ask why all three of them were scouts and the feeling that I'd rather not know were battling like a seesaw game.

"So anyway, we're just going to push on to the teleportation device. Why don't we go together?"

"Yeah, yeah! We'll protect you!"

"Injuries are hell."

"Yes, thank you very much."

Regardless of safety, there was no reason to refuse to accompany such nice people.

Leveling up by defeating monsters around here would be minimal anyway, and if Roze didn't object, it probably meant it was okay to go along with them.

We advanced in a friendly atmosphere with the three members of 【Cheap Beer】, reaching the 19th floor without any particular problems. Even on the 19th floor, no significant monsters appeared, and all the enemies that had shown up until then were detected by 【Cheap Beer】's scout skills and hunted before they could approach us.

They were quite a competent scout party.

"Ah, there are the stairs."

"Yeah. Finally, we can drink— Wait, Ruruk!"

Desuto shouted sharply.

Ahead, we could see a cow-like monster coming up the exit stairs.

It was a one-eyed magical cow, a Catoblepas. It hadn't noticed us yet due to the distance, but it was walking straight towards us.

Desuto clicked his tongue.

"Damn, of all things, it had to be that guy. The 'Scout Killer Catoblepas'."

"That's right... That petrifying magical eye is troublesome. We didn't bring any smoke bombs today, should we all charge in and take our chances?"

"Heaven or hell."

All three of them had expressions like it was the end of the world, facing just one C-rank monster.

Thank you very much. I've learned a lot about the disadvantages of having a party of all the same job.

Well, I'll ask just in case.

"Do you have any means to prevent status effects?"

"Nope. Do you guys have any? Of course not."

"Yeah, I'd rather use that money on drinks."

"Only hell awaits."

Hmm, I understand what Iso-san from the tavern meant.

They're nice people, but disappointing in many ways.

I guess we'll handle this ourselves. Either way, I'm partially resistant to petrification, and Elen can nullify it with her skill.

"Can't be helped, let's retreat guys. If we can pass by somewhere, we might have a chance to—"

"Elen, if you please."

"Mm. 'Fireball'."

A small fireball flew straight and hit the Catoblepas, exploding on impact.

The Catoblepas fell, charred black.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Eh?"

The members of 【Cheap Beer】 stood dumbfounded.

I rushed over to the twitching Catoblepas and quickly cut off its head with my short dagger.

Then the Catoblepas disappeared, and materials dropped in its place.

Unlike on the surface, for some reason monsters killed inside the dungeon immediately turn into materials like this. If you want specific parts for sure, you need to capture them alive and take them back, like the three members of 【Cheap Beer】 do.

"Horns, hooves, and meat... It would have been nice if the magical eye had dropped too."

"Mm, meat looks tasty."

"Let's make this our dinner tonight."

I collected all the materials and handed them to Roze.

Roze pretended to put them in her bag but actually stored them in her item box.

As they watched us easily defeat the Catoblepas, the C-rank party 【Cheap Beer】 huddled together and whispered:

"Hey Soda, Hellheaven, those kids are still G-rank, right?"

"Y-yeah, no doubt about it."

"......"

"Hey everyone! Shall we get going~?"

The three looked up at my call, but they seemed unable to respond immediately, conflicting emotions smoldering in their chests.

"What's wrong? I'll treat you all to a drink when we get back to the guild as thanks!"

"We're coming right now!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Heaven!"

However, such emotions evaporated like dew in the face of the promise of alcohol.

And so, Elen and I made some fun new friends as we began our dungeon conquest.

For nearly four years after that, we continued our adventurer activities while conquering the dungeon.

Our triumphant advance knew no bounds—

《 The Disciple Arc → END  NEXT → The Heart Arc 》