In the chamber downstairs, there was a single girl. She looked young at a glance, but she was about fourteen or fifteen like Alice.
Her hair was long enough to touch the ground, and her attire was very Japanese─like a traditional noblewoman’s kimono. She reminded me of a hina doll, or an old Japanese princess.
“Are you Plumbum?” I asked her.
“Another human... Here to deceive me, I presume.”
The girl─surely the spirit Plumbum, given where we were─glared at me with evident hostility. But that told me one thing. She hadn’t gotten rid of the monsters just to evade me in particular; she’d done it to refuse all human entry.
“Deceive you? Did something happen between you and humans in the past?”
“Trying to deny it, are you?”
She raised a hand. Suddenly, I felt a ton of wind pressure. I crossed my arms to guard and stood my ground, but...
“Gah!” I screamed as pain ran through every inch of my body. I looked and realized that all of the fish-like monsters from this dungeon were attacking me from all angles. “Wait! Hear me out─”
“Leave me! I refuse to speak with humans!”
Enraged, she waved her hand again. During this second attack, I temporarily shifted my focus to my surroundings.
Multiple monsters appeared in different directions, surrounding me. I jumped back to evade, took out my two guns, and fired growth and normal rounds. In doing so, I’d intercepted and shot down the monsters attacking me.
“Now you’ve done it...” she growled.
“Kh!”
This was getting nowhere fast.
I loaded recovery rounds into both guns and fired them both; they combined to make a restraining round.
Ropes of light bound Plumbum. When she tried to raise her hand and couldn’t, the rage in her eyes only grew. That was a look of raw rejection.
Normally, that would make me hesitate. But I looked into her eyes and asked, “What happened to you? Tell me. I might be able to help you out.”
“Meaningless prattle. You humans use such kind words, only to betray in the end.”
“...Were you betrayed?”
“I was!” Her eyes went wide with rage. I almost expected fire to spew from them.
“Tell me what happened to you.”
“...Very well. If you so demand, then you may learn of humanity’s sins.” Still enraged, Plumbum answered and told me what had happened. “Once upon a time, a human male came to my abode. He was strong and brave.”
A seasoned adventurer, then.
She continued, “That was my first time meeting one of your kind. He told me all about humanity, of a world beyond my reckoning. In return, I granted him power that only I could wield.” That meant that she’d made him a spirit-blessed. “He said that he’d be going home for a moment.”
Hmm? Wait...is it just me, or is this not going where I was expecting it to?
“He claimed he’d return. He promised me. I trusted him and let him leave...and yet!” Fierce winds struck me as she screamed. “He never did. He used the power I gave him so flippantly, but never did he come back to me. He died, and I never saw him again.”
“...Did he die recently?”
“Yes. I know because the power I gave him has returned to me. Now do you understand? Humans are beasts that readily break promises.”
“You’re wrong about that.”
“Explain how!”
“He couldn’t come back even if he wanted to. It’s extremely hard for humans to get here.”
“Nonsense! He claimed that he’d ‘just wandered in here while working normally.’”
“He just didn’t realize how lucky he was─”
“How dare you?!” Plumbum’s anger only intensified.
I wasn’t lying, but that only incited her rage further.
“He might’ve broken his promise, but I wouldn’t. I always keep my─”
“I won’t allow you to fool me again!” She raised her hand again.
I braced myself, but no monster attacked. Instead, a turtle appeared in front of her.
“Repetition!” I used my ultimate farming magic─but it failed to kill the turtle.
Now that I got a closer look, this one’s shell was a different color. Was it a different monster, then? Despite that, it was like the other. It multiplied faster than the last, doubling once per second.
I fired my guns, but these turtles were just as hard.
I couldn’t stop them, I realized. Just then, a staircase appeared in front of me among the multiplying turtles.
“Get out of my sight, human!”
Repetition didn’t work, the turtles were no weaker, and they multiplied at five times the speed.
There was only one way this could go.
I gritted my teeth and ran up the staircase she’d provided. When I reached the top, I was outside of the dungeon.
Phew... I’d better retreat and devise a strategy.
Knowing that, I turned and left the dungeon. However, I stopped myself.
Turning just my head, I looked back at the dungeon.
No... That won’t do.
Plumbum thought that the human had abandoned her. If I left her now, she’d think that she was right all along.
I couldn’t do that. I had to go and see her. To make her see reason.
I went back into the dungeon and sprinted down to the last floor. We’d used one of the only two bottles of goat’s milk left in town, so I put the true final bottle on the ground.
When the outsider spawned, I killed it with Repetition.
The staircase appeared, and I went down. The multiplying turtle was back, but I likewise took it down with Repetition.
Now I was back in Plumbum’s chamber.
“Wha?! What do you mean to do?”
“Hear me out, please.”
“No! I’ve heard enough!” She summoned the turtle again. It multiplied again, far too fast for me to defeat it. The staircase appeared once more. “Begone!”
“I’m not leaving,” I said quietly yet firmly.
She hesitated. I could see her wavering.
The turtles continued to multiply, filling up the room. With my Absolute Rock pebble and SS-rank HP and stamina, I decided to weather it.
“Creeeaaak…”
I heard a disquieting noise inside me. Even my SS-rank stats and invincibility mode were buckling under this force.
“Gah!” I coughed up blood. The taste of iron filled my mouth.
“Wh-Why would you go so far to...” She was speechless.
“I can’t overlook someone like you,” I replied.
“L-Like me...?”
“Stuck alone in a place like this, unable to see the people you care about, forced to live in a place where little missed connections can cause so much pain.” I gazed into her eyes. “I can’t overlook that.”
“Ah...!”
“So I want to help you. This pain is nothing compared to that─” My words trailed off. My vision fogged up, and my mind seemed to fade.
Even still, the pressure of the turtles continued to intensify. Plumbum wasn’t affected, naturally, but it felt like this would crush me to a pulp before long. As my limit approached, I let go of consciousness─
Clench!
I gritted my teeth, wrung out the last of my energy, and managed to keep hold of it.
“Trust meee!” As soon as I finished that sentence, I lost feeling in my feet.
I’m past my limit. Is this the end?
But just then, I heard Plumbum’s faint voice.
“...Do you mean it?”
“Huh?”
“Can I truly trust you?”
“...Yeah.”
“You’ll come and see me again?”
“I will. There may be days when I can’t come, but I’ll have a friend do it if I have to.”
“A...friend?”
“Yeah. Hell, I’ll take you outside if you want.”
“I...suppose that’s fine, but...” she murmured. Plumbum reminded me of Aurum in some ways, though they were different. She didn’t have much interest in the outside world; what she really wanted was guests. Finally, she said, “Okay.”
“Huh?”
“I...will trust you.”
I did my best to stand on shaky feet and replied firmly, “Yeah... Just trust me.”
She finally smiled warmly, like melting snow.