Labyrinth Renovation – 038 | Sousaku – 創作

Episode 38: Dungeon Mutation ②

In the first place, being an explorer is not an easy job that makes money easily.
Risking your life to dive into dungeons, you find yourself in a situation where half of the people die or are forced to retire within a year.
Only 30% or 20% of the remaining half will be able to climb to the middle ranks.
Those who reach the level of advanced explorer are but a privileged few.
And even if you manage to become a mid-level explorer, I hear that the income is not much different from a regular job.
Being an explorer is a job for lazy people who don't want to work diligently.

It is because of this underlying factor that there are popular and unpopular dungeons in various locations. There are hits and misses…… but……

From what I can see, both the box and the gloves are items that would be traded for gold coins.
I don't know if they are enchanted, but even if they are not magical items, there is nothing else like them. It could easily be offered as a gift to the nobility.
But wasn't that dungeon supposed to be full of nothing but junk?

"Fumu…… So this is from the first layer. I can't believe it, but…… Boy, did something unusual happen? Are you sure you found it in the Great Labyrinth of Melquodia? "
"Yes. That's definitely correct. We're always diving, so we don't go to different places…… Oh, there was someone with three huge monsters following them. That person told me. There's a treasure chest over there, she said."
"Hm, hmmmm? A person who has monsters under their command? What the heck is that? Was it a human being? "
"Yes, Fiona-san is a senior explorer, and she was with her, so she must be human. She didn't look like a monster. The three monsters were so big and powerful that I had never seen anything like them before, but they were very docile."
"Come to think of it, I was told to stay because Melquodia will become very profitable from now on. We weren't making any money, so we were thinking of moving to the Labyrinth City in Mathers."

The girl also talked freely about the information, but was it really true?
A human being accompanied by huge monsters revealing the location of a treasure chest?
It's like a labyrinth tale, isn't it?
"Hmm. But in reality, it happened……"
"E-Excuse me. So, can you buy it from me? If it's not that expensive, we're thinking of using it ourselves."
"I'll pay you good money. Don't worry. Just tell me a couple of things. Just to confirm, do treasure chests appear in the first layer of that dungeon? How many have you found so far? "
"……Well, we've been doing this for three years, but we've only found two……maybe three? I ignored them because I thought they were traps that couldn't be opened and would only contain useless items, but did they actually contain something this amazing? We didn't know……"
"That's why I was wondering if maybe we had been tricked by the senior explorers."

I'll bet that those senior explorers weren't lying. Normally, the only treasures that come out of the first layer are junk that is not worth the risk of getting caught in a trap. It's the same in every dungeon.
Furthermore, the treasure chest itself cannot be taken out of the dungeon.
That's a rule of the dungeon.

So this is unusual.
And a pretty big deal at that.

"……I'll give you three gold coins for the two. One piece for the box. Two for the gloves."
"Ehh!? Gold coins!? Not silver?"

The boy and girl are surprised, but it seems like a reasonable amount.
With three gold coins, a poor family can live for half a year. That's a lot of money, but I'm sure it includes information fees. No matter how good something is, you can't just sell it at a high price right away.
The important thing is that we were the first to learn about this 『abnormality』. That's what matters.

Maybe, just maybe?
I could feel my heart pounding.

Greo-san glanced at my face and spoke to the kids.

"Hey, kids. It's rare for something like this to appear in that dungeon. It's only for a few days, but could you accompany me as protection for some research? Of course, there'll be a big reward, okay? "
"Protection for some research……? That's fine, but we can only dive down to the first layer, is that okay? "
"With that getup, you must be mages, right? Then there's no problem. I have experience as a warrior, and if I bring along a few others with combat experience, we should be able to investigate up to the third layer."
"Greo-san! Please take me with you too! "

I couldn't help but interject.
Greo-san smiled slyly.

◇◆◆◆◇

After that, we spent about ten days investigating, and sure enough, the Dharma Labyrinth—―apparently called the Great Labyrinth of Melquodia—―had no explorers at all. Other than Ares and Tina, who came to sell the box and gloves, we didn't see a single person in ten days.

And in those ten days, we found seventeen more of those boxes.
One per day on the first layer. One or two in the second layer. We couldn't find all three, but it seemed like there were three in the third layer.
What's more, the contents were all different. However, none of them resembled any of the existing items found in the first layer of a dungeon.
Of course, the number of items found may change in the future, but during the 10 days of searching, there was not a single day when no treasure chest was found.

Yes.
We found treasures every day.

All of the items found in the 17 treasure chests were wonderful.
I think the treasure in that dungeon doesn't change depending on the depth of the layers.
This is because there was no significant difference in content between the first and third layers.
Instead, the deeper you dive, the more treasure chests you will find.
Right now, we're the only ones diving there, so we were able to get everything, but from now on, it'll be a fierce competition.

All 17 treasures were amazing.

Liquor in a transparent bottle. Gloves knitted with soft, thick cotton yarn. Sandals made of thin, smooth leather. A writing instrument with graphite in the center of a wooden stick. A bundle of pure white paper, cut with precision. A knife made of an unknown material. Exquisitely crafted leather shoes. A bottle containing fruit juice. A mysterious item labeled insect repellent. A brush. A bag containing grain. Leather gloves (slightly different shape from the first ones). A small magical device that emits fire.

There were some duplicates, but even Greo-san, who has been in the business for a long time, had never seen any of them before.
Among them, the liquor was particularly surprising.

Three boxes containing alcohol were found.
At first, I didn't know what it was, so I drank it, prepared to end up in a temple if worse came to worst.
It smelled like alcohol, so I thought it would be okay, but it was surprisingly delicious.
What's more, it is so strong that it is almost extreme, and although it is a matter of taste, Greo-san even said he wanted to keep it for himself.
One bottle would probably cover a month's worth of expenses.
No, it would even be a suitable gift for the king. In any case, its value is immeasurable.

"…………Hey, Rick. What do you think? What would you do? "
"There's only one possible answer to that."

Spreading information and attracting people to the dungeon is the best thing for us merchants to do.
As the population increases, demand increases and goods are sold.
If we finish the preparations in advance, we can make more money than anyone else.

"Okay, I'll need more help anyway. This is a good opportunity for you to settle down.
"But I don't have enough money."
"I'll pay for that. Rick, things are about to get real crazy. I don't know what happened in that dungeon, but one thing I do know is that it's incredibly profitable. It's a dungeon that explorers have given up on because it's difficult and doesn't pay well, but now that it's changed so much, it's a different story. If anything, I want to dive in myself."
"You're right…… Even so, it's amazing…… Why did such treasures suddenly start appearing?"

I've never heard of treasure changing in a dungeon.
I wonder if Greo-san knows.

"……I'm not an expert, but…… maybe it's something called a dungeon mutation."
"Dungeon mutation……? "
"Yeah. Apparently, the types of monsters inside suddenly change, and the terrain and structure change as well. I only know it as a rumor, but that's probably what it is. Well, to be honest, I don't even know why dungeons exist. The important thing is that it's profitable."
"Certainly."

I discussed what to do next with Greo-san, and we decided that I would keep half of the items found in the dungeon.
In order for us to make money, we need to spread information.
We could keep this treasure all to ourselves, but that wouldn't be very profitable. Besides, they'll probably find out where they came from right away, and the chances of us getting into trouble will increase.
Even without doing that, if treasures like these can be found, this place will surely grow into a huge labyrinth city.

It was exciting.
As Greo-san says, it will definitely be a big deal.
When I imagine us standing in the middle of it all, I feel my heart swelling with pride as a merchant.
Now that we know the dungeon has started releasing its treasures, we're the only ones with the chance to act first.

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Thank you for reading.