With the way the clothes were designed, Marinnie’s monstrous half was covered. Despite that, her beauty tended to gather attention anyway.
(Season 389, the third day...)
By the time Marinnie had left the council and stepped outside, the date had changed. It seemed to her that they were picking a fight, so she’d reflexively responded in kind, but she felt a sense of disbelief over their claims.
Had a mutation really appeared on the first floor that was so strong it made dungeon diving impossible? It seemed unlikely. They’d gone through the trouble of calling Marinnie, though, so something probably had happened.
Marinnie decided to return through the front entrance. Whatever was going on a rampage on the first floor had taken up camp right inside the square and was massacring every adventurer that dared enter.
Marinnie walked through the wilderness on the outskirts of town and came upon an old, decrepit-looking stone building. It looked like a small roadside shrine, but it was the official entrance into the Aldora Labyrinth.
There was a booth placed to the side of the building, watching over the entrance, with a human stationed there at all times. They had put up a sign in front of the entrance that forbade entry—probably in response to the crisis they were facing.
Marinnie was a monster, though, so she proceeded inside; she didn’t need to heed human rules.
Once she was free from prying human eyes inside the dungeon, Marinnie stripped off her dress. She would never get used to its constricting feeling.
As she walked down the stairs, she heard a voice coming from the square.
“Oh, but if an adventurer dies and comes back as a ghost, do they count as monsters?”
“Adventurers who die here have everything used up—from their body to their souls—so I don’t think there’s anything left to become ghosts.”
The owner of that voice is probably the monster in question, Marinnie thought as she reached the first-floor square.
Once she reached the source, she was taken utterly by surprise—she was face-to-face with a strange mimic with limbs, something she’d never seen before.
“Oh, uhh... Good eve—”
“Whoa, what’s this? A mimic? Am I right? But why does it have legs? And why is it here?” We made them weak, but maybe something went wrong with the mass production?
Marinnie used her Appraisal skill. It was a level 12 mimic, and its name was Harumi.
The fact that it had managed to raise its level that high within the dungeon, where it was notoriously difficult to level, told Marinnie that it had sent quite the number of adventurers to their graves.
However, what she couldn’t tell was how the mimic had managed to do that. Even if it was a sudden mutation, it should’ve been impossible for the monster to completely annihilate the first floor adventurers.
Wait, it’s wearing a strange pair of high heels. Maybe that’s the cause?
Marinnie appraised the high heels.
[Appraisal attempt...failed!]
It must be quite rare. Marinnie tried again...and froze.
[Error: You are not allowed a second try.]
The anger radiating from the heels—so strong it was almost like a curse—overpowered Marinnie.
I’ve heard that some legendary items have a will. Could this really be one of those?
Somehow, she managed to come to her senses. If she hadn’t, it would’ve looked like she was cowed by a mimic that had been made through her own orders, and there was no way her pride would allow for that.
Still, it seemed that Harumi had noticed Marinnie’s hesitation. Fortunately, she’d only interpreted it as surprise over her strange form.
“Ahh, sorry, sorry. You’re Harumi, right? I’m Marinnie. D’you remember me?”
After hearing the mimic’s story, Marinnie learned that she’d been attacked by adventurers and managed to gain this form somehow when she tried to save herself through her Mimicry skill. According to her, once that had happened, one of the adventurers betrayed the others to save her. Then, said adventurer had forced her to wear those strange high heels—the Crimson Rose.
The hell was he trying to accomplish?
The mimic’s claimed sequence of events was confusing, but in Marinnie’s opinion, it seemed that it really was the high heels that were enhancing Harumi’s strength so much. She didn’t know the specs of the shoes, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was a legendary—or even ancient legendary—item.
Harumi would probably be fine, no matter who came for her, as long as she had those shoes on.
Although, in all honesty, it would’ve been easy for Marinnie to kill Harumi. As an administrator, Marinnie was in possession of a command that would instantly kill the mimic. It was the best option to settle the entire incident peacefully.
But the whole thing didn’t sit right with Marinnie. She hated doing things that struck her as unfair, and killing off a subordinate just because it was proving an inconvenience by trying to do its job was one of them.
That was why she decided to do everything in her power for the little mimic.
(Season 389, the fourth day...)
The council hadn’t done anything yet, but Marinnie knew they would take some sort of action during the season. She was pretty sure there wouldn’t be a hero, but she could easily imagine them sending in a group of high-ranking adventurers.
In the end, though, nothing happened that day.
(Season 389, the fifth day...)
“Marinnie here! I’m here in Lord Aldora’s place to declare that season 389 is over! Good work, everyone! Everyone who survived, please wait where you are; the dungeon keeper will be coming to get you!”
The season had come to an end, so Marinnie made the announcement.
She had a small idea of what had happened on the first floor based on the movement of souls. From the large amount of souls coming out from there, Marinnie could tell Harumi had managed to defeat all her challengers.
So in the end, Harumi had survived. Not only that, but she hadn’t done so by running and hiding.
Adventurers had been forbidden from entering after the second day in the season, so Marinnie had expected the dungeon to end up in the red souls-wise. As it turned out, they actually ended up raking it in.
Lord Aldora came to visit Marinnie in her room. “Good evening! Check out all the souls we’ve got!”
“It’s all thanks to Harumi—the mimic I told you about the other day. Looks like she made a killing.”
“I see! Good, good... Hmm... But given her accomplishments, I get the feeling her reward’s gonna have to be something incredible according to our rules...”
“Yeah, I think you’re right... I never expected so many big names to show up, only to die.”
“Right? I think we gotta recommend her to the EliMon Center!”
“EliMon? You mean the Elite Monster Center?! Isn’t that kinda extra?”
Elite monsters were direct subordinates of the great demon lords. It was hard to even be considered a candidate. Even if Harumi had her Crimson Rose, Marinnie didn’t believe that the heels alone would be able to carry her through.
“Nope! She can do it! I believe in her!”
Ah, so it’s the same old, same old...
Marinnie knew that Lord Aldora had already made up her mind, and nothing she said would change anything.
I feel kinda sorry for Harumi, but it’s true that we can’t afford to keep her here either...
By Marinnie’s estimation, it was no longer possible to place Harumi anywhere in the dungeon. The only options were to coddle her and treat her like a pet, or end her. Both options seemed too cruel to Marinnie.
In the end, leaving the dungeon was probably the best choice after all.
Well, Harumi, just try your best, I guess!
In the end, Marinnie could only irresponsibly cheer Harumi on in her heart.