“Yeah, I think so. That’s where I found you.”
“That means I might find my way back home somewhere in there, right?”
“Well, I guess the possibility exists,” I replied hesitantly. Oh, so Miss Sumire wants to return to her original world. If I had to be honest, the chances of her managing that didn’t seem high. But I didn’t see any point in telling her that right now, so instead, I asked, “Do you want to try going next week? I can show you around, though only up to the 9th Level.”
“Is that really okay?!”
“You can’t escape dungeon exploring so long as you’re a student at this academy. Let’s get you used to it nice and slow.”
“But you want to go next week?”
“There’s a lot we have to do to prepare, like buying supplies we’ll need for the exploration.”
“Oh, that makes sense!”
“I’d also like to familiarize you with the services the academy offers, so I’ll show you around again tomorrow.”
“Thank you!” Miss Sumire chirped.
I spent virtually the rest of the week in her company, explaining how to survive and thrive in this world.
✦ ✦ ✦
“And that’s about it as far as recent events go.”
“Hmm...”
Though I’d decided to avoid talking to Eri about Miss Sumire, she’d forced me to give her all the details about my time with her.
“We’re about to go dungeon exploring and... What is it, Eri?” I noticed that after I delivered my general summary of my week, Eri’s expression had turned grumpy.
She heaved a dramatic sigh before replying, “I’m so bored! You spend all your time with that girl from another world!”
“What do you want me to do about that? The headmaster ordered me to do this, and Sumire just arrived in this world.”
“Huh? ‘Sumire’? When did you drop the honorific?! I knew it! You slept with her!”
“Of course I didn’t!”
“Then why did you drop the formality? That’s not how you told the story!”
“She said that she doesn’t like me calling her ‘Miss Sumire.’ Said that it sounds like we’re strangers.” That being said, Sumire still referred to me as “Mister Eugene.” I wouldn’t mind her dropping the prefix with me too. “Anyway, see you later, Eri. I’m heading out to Babel.”
“I’ll be watching your dungeon exploration from here! ☆ And I’ll be making sure you don’t lay a finger on that Sumire girl!”
“I won’t! And you don’t have to waste your time watching us explore the lower levels.” We would be making the dull climb up to the 9th Level, so I doubted anything interesting would happen.
“Do your best, Eugene!”
“Sure, sure,” I replied, waving at the Demon Queen as she lounged about on the bed like a dozing cat. Then I left the Seventh Sealed Prison.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Wow! So this shows what’s going on inside the dungeon?” Sumire exclaimed as she stared up at the giant monitor hanging over the plaza before the Last Dungeon.
“That’s the Satellite System,” I explained. “It doesn’t just display the goings-on in the Last Dungeon to us here. Everyone on the Southern Continent can watch it—it keeps people informed about every country’s progress.”
“Th-That’s an amazing feature! But what’s the point of that?”
I supposed it was only natural that all of this was still unfamiliar to a girl hailing from another world.
“Well, the first reason is safety. Even in a normal dungeon, it’s not rare for trouble to occur between explorers, which can then lead to more serious crime. Thanks to the Satellite System, the explorers in the Last Dungeon, Babel, are on their best behavior. They’ve got the whole continent’s eyes on them, after all.”
“That makes... Wait, huh?” Sumire tilted her head to the side. “But I was almost attacked.”
“Oh... In your case, they probably mistook you for a monster.” I couldn’t blame the spectators. Sumire was the person who’d turned the 5th Level into a sea of fire. I’d also had my guard up when I first encountered her, as I’d thought her a monster or demon.
“I-I see,” Sumire said, lowering her head sadly.
“You’re a student at the academy now, so don’t worry about it too much. If anyone’s mean to you, I’ll knock them flat.”
“Hee hee, thank you.” Sumire’s expression brightened again, so I continued with my explanation.
“The other reason is that the countries on the Southern Continent are trying to conquer the Last Dungeon to improve their reputations, so they’re all checking the Satellite System to monitor how their rivals are performing.”
“A country can gain prestige if they explore the dungeon?” Sumire asked. It was a question I’d expected from her, as she’d only come to this world about a week ago, so I decided to include the historical background of the Last Dungeon in my explanation.
“Did you know that the Southern Continent was in a constant state of war until about five hundred years ago?”
“Miss Rin taught me that during our classes!”
Back then, the relationships between the Grenflare Empire, the Cardia Halidom, and the Blue Sea Union hadn’t been as cordial as they were today. All three powers had histories of bloodshed and conflict.
“A certain explorer put a stop to all that,” I continued. “He discovered a weapon in Babel and used that to single-handedly defeat all three armies.”
“Huuuh?! He did that all by himself?!”
“Well, he had a companion, so it was the two of them. Apparently, he didn’t actually want to stop the war, but Althena, the goddess of justice, ordered him to. After he put an end to the conflict, he continued to enter and explore the dungeon. That was when the quarreling nations realized that conquering the Last Dungeon, Babel, would have far greater returns than simply winning a war.”
“Oh, that makes sense. So that’s why every country is so eager to explore the dungeon.”
“Since then, dungeon exploration’s become such a priority that not even a single war has broken out. Instead, all three powers are competing to see what they can find in Babel or how quickly they can get through it. Some even refer to our current era as the Age of Dungeon Exploration.”
Sumire made an understanding noise and nodded fervently. At some point during our conversation, we’d reached the front of the line to the dungeon desk. We handed our student handbooks to the receptionist and finished our applications without trouble. I glanced to the side and saw that Sumire’s expression had tensed up from nerves.
“Just relax,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“R-Right!”
We showed the dungeon staff our student ID’s and then walked inside.