By 2:30 AM, each squad had advanced from the Sky Cave to the first junction and completed their withdrawal. By 3:00 AM, they finished exploring the H6 Cave. Fighting broke out in various places during this time, but there were no injuries among the self-defense forces, and all creatures killed, except for the slime, were recovered.
---
This is Jinjirou Rockwell. Last night, I completed my daily alchemy routine and slept soundly. This morning, I finished my usual potion-making and sent the children off for delivery. I've already changed into my combat gear, leaving only my helmet and gloves aside. Now, I'm sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Lily, who is changing into her combat outfit in her room.
Yesterday, I had lunch inside the dungeon, but thinking back, it really didn't matter where I ate since I could use Transfer to teleport anywhere in no time. So today, I decided to return to the manor for lunch.
After waiting for about five minutes, Lily came down to the living room, and I put on my helmet and gloves.
"When time passes, the room might revert back to its original state. Should we try teleporting to the first entrance room today?"
"Is that even possible?"
"I can't say for sure that my knowledge of games and light novels will be useful in that dungeon, but it's not out of the question. In games, traps can reset after a while, and even if we deactivate them, they often reactivate. However, with your Detect something-or-other, I think we'll be safe from such tricks."
"Alright, then let's get going!"
As Lily clasped my palm, I activated Transfer, heading to the first room where the dungeon's exit was located.
Once in the "first room," Lily cast a light spell and followed it up with her Detect spell. The indentation in the wall that had contained a skeleton key remained unchanged, and despite Lily's spell, nothing flashed red.
"It seems that the idea of things respawning over time was incorrect."
"Still, let's make sure to cast 'Detect Something' properly," said Lily.
"Got it!"
As we stepped out into the hallway and Lily cast the spell again, we noticed that there were no red blips until the second door, but beyond it, there were the same red blips as before.
"It seems nothing has changed since last time. By the way, I wonder when those two high school girls will start exploring this dungeon."
"I'm not sure, but given the limitations on training within the temple's private grounds, it shouldn't be long."
"I see. We might run into them soon then."
As I said this, I glanced at Lily and saw a complex expression on her face. Well, it's understandable; she wouldn't want to meet them.
I opened the door to the first room and peered inside, finding nothing unusual.
"This is the room where we defeated the spider, and it looks the same. I don't think we need to check the next room."
Even so, I verified that the next room leading to the staircase was also unchanged.
From there, Lily proceeded to dispel each red blip one by one.
When she disarmed the trap on the next door, I held my staff in my left hand and opened the door with my right. In the middle of the room, there was a treasure chest.
When Lily shouted, "Detect Anomaly!" the chest blinked red. I looked around the room, but there were no other red blips indicating any anomalies.
Normally, I would lightly tap the treasure chest with my staff to check for traps, and then Lily would use her Detect Trap and Death Arm Trap spells to disarm them before I opened the chest with a skeleton key. But this time, since Lily mentioned she wanted to try something, I decided to let her take charge.
"Detect Life!"
The treasure chest, which had been flashing red, now began to blink green. To my surprise, Lily started flashing green as well, and soon I noticed I was glowing green too.
"Rockwell, that treasure chest is alive."
So that's what Detect Life does. I hadn't realized she had created a spell to identify living beings. Impressive.
When it comes to a living object that resembles a treasure chest, the only possibility is a mimic. I raised my staff above my head and brought it down on the chest.
The staff sank into the chest, and red ichor oozed out onto the floor. In no time, just like last time, the chest shrank into an amorphous black mass.
I stored the mimic's remains in my item box.
"Detect Life is pretty useful. But since we both know we're alive, could you turn off this green blinking?"
"Sorry, I'm not quite sure how to do that."
That's understandable. While it would be a huge problem if this kept up forever, it should wear off in half a day at most.
"That's just how it is, then. If we leave it alone, it should wear off eventually, right?"
"I think so, but since it was my first time using magic, I can't be sure," I replied. "Y-yeah, that's true. Let's hope we can revert to normal soon." I tried to maintain a calm expression, but a flicker of anxiety crept in. I wondered, would my extreme healing potion work on situations like this?
Note: MK3 Grenade
The MK3 is designed as an offensive grenade, unlike the M67, which is meant as a fragmentation (defensive) grenade. It aims to incapacitate or neutralize enemy personnel through the shockwave produced by its TNT explosion. With a smaller blast radius than fragmentation grenades, it poses less risk of harming nearby allies in close combat.
The second layer of the dungeon was monotonous and vast, so I decided to re-explore the first layer. I suspected there might be stairs leading to another level.
In a room I entered for the first time, thanks to Lily's Detect Life spell, I quickly realized that the treasure chest inside was actually a mimic. With that knowledge, defeating the mimic was effortless.
That part was great, but the Detect Life effect also impacted both me and Lily, turning us into flashing green beacons. I looked ridiculous in my dark attire, complemented by a silver helmet that oddly reflected light.
Strangely enough, not only the exposed parts but also the armor emitted a green light. I don't watch many superhero shows, so I can't say for sure, but I doubt there are many heroes like us who shimmer all over.
"This room was just a mimic, so let's move on," I said. We exited the room and returned to the corridor, advancing a little further before going through our usual routine and entering the next room.
This room was quite spacious, a square compared to the previous ones, and instead of a flimsy door, a sturdy metal one stood opposite the entrance.
"Detect Anomaly!" After I spoke the incantation, Lily followed suit, and nine red blinking lights appeared on the floor, arranged in a neat 3x3 grid.
Approaching the nearest blinking light, Lily cast "Identify Trap," but it seemed it wasn't a trap at all. Then, she uttered "Knock," and the section of the floor flashing red slid open, revealing three 3x3 panels marked with numbers from one to nine. Although these numbers surely weren't the familiar Arabic numerals, I imagined they were being translated in my mind into something recognizable.
"What do you think this is?" I asked.
"Not sure. They look like buttons, so let's give them a press. We don't know what might happen, so Lily, stay close to the door. I'll use my staff to push one."
After confirming that Lily had stepped back, I pressed the first button on the staff, but nothing happened.
X X X X X X
= X X X + = > = 1⃣ X X +
X X X X X X
=: Entrance and exit from the corridor
+: Metal door
X: Red blips
"What's going on?
Shall we take a look further?"
"Yes. I've identified the trap. There's no danger here. Let's try 'Knock!'"
When Lily chanted 'Knock' at the red-blinking floor, the section slid open, revealing a 3x3 panel with numbers from 1 to 9, just like before.
"Maybe the rest of the red blips are all the same."
"Let's open them all first."
In the end, all nine previously blinking spots revealed 3x3 panels marked with numbers from 1 to 9.
"If we match the numbers, could that open the door over there?"
"How about we first check if 'Knock' opens the door?"
"That's a good idea. Knock!"
The metal door didn't budge. There was no keyhole for the skeleton key either. I could theoretically use Transfer to teleport to the other side, but I had no clear image of what awaited me there, so I hesitated. Even if I could teleport, I might end up directly over a trap, and while my Transfer skill is at Max Level, mistakes are still possible—there's always a chance of ending up 'inside a stone.' Instead of using Transfer, I tried to store a piece of the door's metal in my item box, but that didn't work either.
"To open that door, you definitely need to align the numbers," I said. "From my knowledge of light novels and games, it seems like a magic square. I'm not really good at those."
"Hehe, even Rockwell has something he's not good at," Lily replied. "Odd-numbered magic squares, like 3x3 or 5x5, have patterns that make them easy to solve. Since this is a 3x3, it goes like this:
6, 7, 2
1, 5, 9
8, 3, 4."
As Lily spoke, she arranged the numbers, and after placing the last 4, she said, "Wait, all the numbers match, but the door isn't opening."
Curious about any changes, I approached the door and noticed a unique keyhole right in the center of the metallic surface. It was clearly time for the skeleton key. I inserted the key into the lock and turned it slowly. With a grinding sound, the door began to sink smoothly into the floor. Realizing that if I left it, the key would snap when it hit the ground, I quickly pulled it out. Although I had a spare in my item box, the thought had slipped my mind in the moment.
Once the door sank completely, a straight corridor appeared beyond it. I couldn't tell what the correct answer was, but this corridor must be it. The light shining from above Lily and the glow of the hallway illuminated the space, revealing that there were no doors or forks in the walls.
"This is amazing!"
Before stepping into the corridor beyond the door, Lily cast her detect spell. According to my light novel and gaming knowledge, there shouldn't be any traps in this corridor. At least, that's what I thought, but then I noticed red blinking lights everywhere. As it turned out, every inch of the place was rigged with traps, all of which Lily patiently disarmed one by one.
After we advanced about a hundred meters, the corridor grew brighter ahead, and when we finally stepped out, we emerged into a vast sky cave. I couldn't see the ceiling; it was lost in the light filtering down from above. The immense height of this cavern was astonishing, considering how deep we had descended underground. This was the very essence of the wondrous sky cavern that defined this dungeon.
While the path from the entrance had been artificial, the vast sky cave beyond was entirely natural. Vibrant flowers in shades of red, white, blue, and yellow bloomed profusely, their fruits dangling enticingly from the trees. The sounds of birds singing and fluttering filled the air, and a faint sound of flowing water drifted from deeper into the cave.
"Is this a paradise?" I mused. The paradise above might be an illusion, but this underground haven felt very real.