Chapter 8
「How far has the 《Jet Black》 from earlier advanced?」
「By the way, this car is faster than the one on foot, but it doesn't seem to be catching up at all. It's too quiet.」
Mars and the others and Princess Lucille had entered the 『De Stogechel Demon Mine』 as the first group to travel by car, but they were unable to catch up with 《Jet Black》 who had entered alone earlier.
The group of adventurers behind them was apparently led by Onyx Lordlight.
He was actually supposed to come with Mars and others as part of the advance party, but Onyx left behind because he would have filled the back of the car by himself if he rode with them.
「This is the dungeon......Looks like it's just a cave. I've actually never been in one before.」
「Maybe it's just the lights leading from the entrance that makes it seem like more than it is. But be careful.」
「Yeah, I won't leave you.」
Lucille grabs Mars' arm and pulls him in close.
――I'm glad she does this, but I'm in trouble. ...... I can't look at Lilia.
Mars can easily imagine her staring at him.
The cave they were descending into had been cleared to some extent, and the tracks of the mining trolley continued.
There were lights on the ceiling, and by all appearances, it was just a mine.
However, since this is one of the Seven Great Dungeons, it could not possibly be that simple, and a sense of tension was felt in the air.
The 《Jet-Black》 probably rode a trolley all the way down the slope.
It was a hilly road, so if the brakes were released, the car would keep going until the tracks ran out.
Hazuki was driving the car, while Mars and the others sat in the back, with Lucille standing up and giving directions.
Lucille didn't want to be in charge, but Mars decided that just now when they were on the straight and narrow path, he could leave it to her to take care of her good mood.
Lucille's exuberance was clear for all to see, and it was clear that she really had a yearning to be an adventurer.
「Even though the outside has been cut down a bit, it's practically almost at the entrance, and they usually mine there, so there shouldn't be much danger. Let's hurry on ahead, too. Hazuki ......, right? More speed.」
「O-Okay. ......」
Hazuki was still able to talk when she introduced herself, but after they entered the dungeon and Lucille became more energetic, Hazuki was quiet.
Basically, she realized that she is not good with Lucille, who is a pushy type of person.
「You haven't talked at all since a while ago, but maybe you are discriminating against me because I am a Dwarf?」
「I-I'm not. ...... I-I'm just shy. ......」
The words of Lucille, who even now looks like a gal, sound like threats.
Hazuki was spoken to by such Lucille, and she was considerably shrinking.
It is the combination of the bully and the bullied child from the appearance.
――I'm sure Hazuki-chan would not be good with a type like Lucille-chan.
Lucille-chan is too used to being pushy or giving orders.
In fact, Hazuki-chan is freaked out .......
「――You are a stranger here, could you not give orders to one of our own? You may be a princess, but Hazuki is not your retainer.」
「L-Lilia-san, ......! A-Actually, I was a little scared! Huh!? The leader has been replaced by Mars-san!? Whoaa!」
「H-hey! Look where you're going!」
Lilia was panicked as the car swayed sideways.
Lilia's red face was probably not only due to impatience, and Mars' mouth relaxed.
「Lucille――chan. As Lilia said, Hazuki-chan is one of us. I don't want you to use a commanding tone.」
「R-right,...... well, I didn't mean it that way, I just used my usual tone of voice,...... I'm sorry.」
「As I said before we entered the dungeon, we don't treat you like a princess here. So you don't have any privileges. In the dungeon, you must follow my orders. Especially if you're just a companion.」
「............I'm sorry」
Lucille bowed her head honestly to Hazuki.
Mars thought the princess might get angry, but she was surprisingly open-minded.
「Ah, umm, umm.......Let's have fun! If you get irritated, things will get tense and you won't be able to work together!」
「I knew that status doesn't matter if you're an adventurer. It's cool to come from a noble background and not say that. And yet I'm ......
「Y-you don't have to worry too much about it. ...... Isn't it cool to hide your status? Ah, but it's cool to hide your abilities like Mars-san did when we first met! I was really surprised when he suddenly told me that he was a dungeon conqueror!」
「Right, it's cool! Someone who was made fun of is actually the strongest adventurer ......! Like Ernix from Ernix's Adventure Tales, who pretends to be a slave when he's really a count――」
「..!! I've read that book before! It was super interesting!」
「You've read it too!?」
「I just read it the other day!」
「Did you know that there is a sequel to the book, but with a different title!?」
「Eh, really!? I'm curious!」
Suddenly, Hazuki and Lucille hit it off.
Mars thinks it's not a bad thing that they've become friends, although, from his point of view, he'd rather Hazuki concentrate on driving.
――Are they both surprisingly nerdy types? I knew Hazuki-chan had a thing for that.
Basically, she's like a dream girl.
Leaving aside Hazuki and Lucille, who were introducing each other to interesting books they know, Mars looked at Lilia and Nemu.
Nemu looked a little sleepy, partly because it was early in the morning and partly because she had nothing to do.
「Lilia doesn't read adventure novels like that, does she?」
「Yes. Not that I don't read them at all. I prefer academic and―r-romance novels. I-I've never touched them before. ......」
Lilia looked away and hid her red face with a scarf.
Lilia likes romance novels with a difference in status. Perhaps she is comparing herself to them.
「Nemu likes books with lots of pictures-nya. She wants to draw something fun like that-nyaa?
「Maybe a picture book author in the future would be a good idea. Nemu-chan is also a good artist. That's not a child's drawing.」
「It would be nice to write about our adventures. Why didn't I think of that? It's hard to copy, but everyone wants to read about the adventures of the conquerors of the Seven Great Dungeons and other stories!」
「Let's all write it together. I think it would be interesting to see a different angle on the adventure if we all wrote the same thing.」
Assuming that I will live a long life, I now think that I should think about what I want to do with my life.
I want to leave something for my children, of course, but also something else.
「I have lots of books in my room, so let's read and talk together!」
「Of course! So there are humans who understand too!」
「Once we've decided that, let's hurry up with the attack! We'll accelerate!」
「Th-that's!... ――We're on a slope!」
The moment Hazuki stepped on the accelerator, the car plummeted down the hill into the depths of the dungeon.
From there, it was a scream of agony.
The car continued down the slope at over a hundred kilometers per hour, and in no time at all, the safe, well-lit section was over, and the trolley tracks had been cut off.
The lights on the car were so unreliable that they illuminated only five meters ahead at most.
The cleared road was over, and the steel wheels bounced on pebbles.
It was a roller coaster ride with no guarantee of life, going down an almost pitch-black road with no way to see ahead.
「O-Oh, no! Hazuki-chan, brake!」
「I-I-I-I'm stepping on the brake, but it won't stop!」
「Hold on to something for now, all of you We're going to get blown off!」
Once the car got up to speed, it seemed to be out of control.
The brakes were inadequate.
With his whole body, Mars covered everyone except Hazuki, the driver, and pressed them against the body of the car.
There was a tremor that would have sent them all flying if they had not held on.
「Nya, nya, nyaa! Nemu is going to be blown away-nya!」
「M-My chest is shaking and it hurts!」
「What!? That's terrible!」
「N-now is not the time for that!」
Mars stared at Lilia's breasts, which were shaking violently, but it was too dark to see clearly, and she was certainly not in the mood for it.
The body of the car was swaying up and down, left and right, and there was no telling when they would be sent flying.
It would be quite dangerous for Lilia and Hazuki to be blown away, even though Mars and Nemu are physically strong.
「Wh-What's that clicking sound I've been hearing!?」
「I-It's a trap, isn't it!? We probably stepped all over it with the car! I know because I get caught in them all the time!」
Obviously, multiple traps were sounding.
Mars thinks quite a few traps have been triggered in a chain reaction.
――Isn't this bad?
I could manage one by one with my physical strength, but could I protect everyone at the same time in an environment with such unstable footholds?
「This is not a place you can be proud to be caught in a trap! ――Rocks from behind!」
「――What? The ground in f-front of us just snapped open and disappeared. ......!?」
With a rumbling sound, several huge rocks, each about three meters in diameter, roll in from behind.
Water, presumably melted snow, poured out of a hole in the ceiling, and a wall of rocks and water closed in from behind.
And then ― a little further on, the road went out to the extent of five meters.
「Are you kidding me ......! 『Body Strengthening』!」
Mars activates his magic and throws Lilia, Nemu, and Lucille, in turn, onto the safe ground at the end of the hole.
Finally, holding Hazuki in the driver's seat, Mars himself jumps with all his might.
The impact of stepping into the hole shattered the back of the car, which was soon crushed by the large rock and lost its original shape, flowing into the hole with water, and eventually, the hole was covered by a lid and back to normal again.
「――I thought I was going to die. Is everyone hurt?」
They replied one after another that they were fine. Everyone could at least passively catch themselves, so it seemed to be only a scratch.
「I-I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be that fast. ......」
「But it was kind of fun to see everything moving at once, wasn't it-nya?
「I understand what you're saying, but ...... it was a scream machine I didn't really want to experience.」
Slumping to the ground, Mars felt sweat pouring out of his body.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events and looked up at the ceiling in the pitch-black space.
A few seconds later, Lilia activated the magic of a small candle-like light with her fingertips and saw Hazuki on her knees.
She was thrusting her butt up and looked rather like she was pressing her face into a pillow and waiting for back penetration.
「I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere ......」
「Well, it's done now. I must apologize for wrecking the car, though.」
「Th-that's right......! I'm sorry, Lucille-chan!」
「――Ahaha, ahahaha! D-dungeons are so scary! I-I thought I was going to die! Ahaha!」
「Lucille-chan is broken ......!」
Lucille laughs hard, clutching her stomach.
Mars could see that the relief made her laugh uncontrollably, and Mars and the others laughed, too.
All at once, they were out of it(?).
「Sigh...... well, I'm just glad everyone is okay. Dungeons are like this all the time, and in some cases, monsters come out with them, so be careful.」
「You can't know all this just by reading books. ......」
「What is written in books is only part of the story. First of all, they are written by some people for some people only. It's not always right.」
Lucille smiled and nodded her head.
Lilia had never tried to get involved with Lucille.
Or rather, she had been blatantly avoiding her, but perhaps because of the relaxation after the tension, they were conversing naturally.
「Nemu's hat is gone-nya!」
「I noticed mine, too. ...... I'm sorry. Even though you went to the trouble of buying it for me ......」
「I must have lost it earlier. I threw you as hard as I could...... since we're in a dungeon and the temperature isn't that low, so you don't have to wear it, do you? We've got plenty of replacements.」
It was actually Mars' fault.
But there are plenty of clothes, and losing a hat or two won't cause any problems.
「May I fetch it from the treasury?」
「Are you cold?」
「N-no, that's not the case. ...... There are a lot of reasons.」
「......? If Lilia says so, all right.」
There, Hazuki activates magic that illuminates a range of about ten meters around her.
This is the magic she always uses in the dungeon.
「Hazuki! Not now!」
「What, is it bad?」
The brighter it gets, the better they can see each other's faces.
The magic of the lights was basic and not particularly problematic, but Lucille's eyes were wide open and she was staring at Lilia and Nemu with a hole in her eye.
「Beastsman ......? And――Elf.」
Lucille's eyes showed a definite dislike for Lilia, just as Lilia's did.
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