The last guy I’d fought in the season had been really strong, but had he really been a hero? True, he’d managed to beat me up really easily, but it seemed to me that heroes should’ve been even stronger than that!
“Ah, for some reason there was just a dead one on the first floor. That’s why he wasn’t counted as your kill, Harumi,” she explained apologetically.
“Oh, that’s fine. I don’t plan on trying to claim credit for someone that kicked the bucket on their own.”
What she said made sense, despite her appeasing tone—I wasn’t the one that had killed him, after all.
“Anyway, back to dungeons—we set the difficulty so that humans’ll want to come back, even though a fair number of them always die. So we take their souls and spirits and make more monsters. Then, we have those monsters continue killing adventurers. It’s a cycle.”
“Huh? Does that mean I was made from a human spirit?”
“Well...it feels rude to say this, but for weaker monsters—like the ones we place on the first floor—we just mix together a bunch of leftover bits willy-nilly. So you don’t really have a base or a past as someone else.”
Leftovers...
W-Well, that’s still fine. It’s not like I was totally shocked by the truth, or anything!
Still, I felt like my personality and point of view was pretty close to a human’s, so I was willing to bet that a large part of what had been mixed into me was human.
“That’s pretty much it when it comes to dungeons. Do you have any questions?”
“I get it for the most part. So, where’s the EliMon Center?”
“It’s far north, on the demon continent across an ocean. It’s a monster paradise—there aren’t any humans living there.”
“Uhhh, that sounds really far...”
The moment she’d mentioned an ocean only cemented the fact that it was a huge distance away. I was still thinking it would all work out somehow, though.
“It is—”
“Oh, that reminds me. A senior of mine, Slatarou, mentioned that monsters can warp between dungeons. Will I be doing something like that to get over there instantly?”
That was how I’d heard the merchants were getting to and from this dungeon, at least. If I could use that, I could get there in a flash!
“There is a warp fountain which you can use if you pay enough souls, but you’re forbidden from using it, Harumi.”
Whaaaat?! I thought, but of course I bit my tongue. My displeasure still seemed to be written on my nonexistent face anyway.
“Your level’s too low. You need to train a little more to be able to use it. So I was wondering if you could just get there by foot. You can train and raise your level while you’re at it...”
“Uhh, but I thought I was being recommended for that EliMon place because I’m strong?”
“You are! But right now, that’s only thanks to your item, right? I don’t think that’ll fly in the EliMon Center.”
“Umm, I’m not really happy about this, but I did suggest giving it to someone with a higher level...”
I brought up the idea again because walking all the way to another continent sounded like way too much work. The results I’d put out were entirely thanks to my legendary item, the Crimson Rose high heels. That meant anyone could use them to do the same.
“Well, let’s see... Would you mind lending them to me?”
“Here.”
I did as I was told. I took off the heels and gave them to Lord Aldora. Even if she’d demanded that I hand them over, I wasn’t exactly in a position to refuse.
Lord Aldora took off her right shoe and tried it on.
Oohh, it really does look good on someone with an actual human body shape.
*Pwomf!*
With a flashy noise, her right ankle exploded.
What?! Why?!
I was sent into a panic as the Crimson Rose heels landed in front of me.
“See? If the legs aren’t beautiful enough, the shoes won’t allow you to wear them!”
“That’s terrifying! That damn thief—what the hell did he make me wear?!”
“That’s why we’re recommending you. You’re good enough because you’re able to wear those shoes. But that’s still not quite enough, so I was hoping you’d try to raise your level more.”
While she was talking, Lord Aldora’s foot regenerated. She quickly put her shoes back on.
Man, she really is amazing. She could’ve just explained the whole thing to me, but she went out of her way to demonstrate it.
“But will I really be fine on the surface? I don’t really have anything to compare myself to.”
“Well, there aren’t any invasion-type monster bases around here, so the surface is pretty much entirely ruled by humans. If a monster were to just walk around all nonchalantly up there, it’d definitely kick up a fuss.”
“Uhh, isn’t that...bad?”
An entire civilization of humans versus a single monster—who would win? Even though I could use my explosions effectively, I refused to underestimate a horde of adventurers. As long as they knew about my powers, they’d be able to create a plan to counter that.
“That’s why I’m going to assign an underling to you! Come here!”
Beckoned over by Lord Aldora’s call, someone came over from a corner of the room.
It was a girl wearing very cute clothes. She didn’t have any wings, tail, or horns, so she looked like a normal human.
What’s going on here?
“This is Pekora—Peko—the coppélia. She’s a puppet-type monster, which is kind of like a golem. She’s categorized as an inorganic, so she’ll be able to talk to you. I was thinking that if you have her act as a monster tamer, you’ll be able to travel above ground no problem!”
Ahhh, yeah...
I had the distinct feeling that her plan wouldn’t work out at all, but Lord Aldora seemed very enthused about her idea. As a lowly underling, I couldn’t really object.