Welcome to the Impregnable Demon King Castle - Chapter 199-2

199 –  It’s a Dungeon Type that Adapts to the Invaders…? (Part 2)

The reason why the camp wasn’t set up in front of the Dungeon is that if in a one-in-a-million chance that an Imitation steps out of the Dungeon and goes on a rampage, it might destroy the equipment and the like.

It’s all over if it destroys the Cocoons that transfer our consciousness to our Avatars.

We would have to fight with our own flesh and blood, and we might lose our lives.

Therefore, a number of people are stationed in front of the Dungeon, while the camp is set up at the halfway point between the village and the Dungeon.

If anything comes out, we’ll receive a report, then we’ll use our Avatars to deal with the Imitations.

「Now then…」

Stepping out of the Cocoon, I check my equipment. Right now, I am the Black Sorcerer Lem.

Covered in a black robe, sword cane in hand. Also, hanging from my waist…is a sword.

Surprisingly, no one, including Milla, mentioned it.

Everyone just looked at me warmly.

…Perhaps they could pretty much guess why if they know about my dream.

「Lem, am I wearing this right?」

The White Sorcerer member of my party, Yoss, raises his voice.

Pulling his hair over his ears, he shows me the device.

It is a tool that is equipped on the ear, where the important part is shaped to fit snugly in the ear.

「Yeah, looks fine.」

「Thank you very much. All things considered…you really are cool, Lem. I thought this about you during the Tag Tournament as well, you’re really open-minded.」

「…It’s just how you use it.」

His eyes were staring at me, shining with respect, to the point that it was dazzling. It made me let out a strained laugh.

「It is amazing in and of itself to think of something like that. It is not something to be so humble about.」

「It is just as Milla says…!」

「What an honest boy, you are, Yoss. Since you are a boy there is no danger of……you are a boy, yes?」

「Wh-what are you saying? …Do I look like a woman?」

「Apologies, it is because you have such an androgynous face.」

「He really does have a cute face~. And cuteness does not discriminate.」

Even Sitri joined in.

「Urgh… I’m a man. If you like, you could ask everyone who was in the hot spring with me. That’s right, you were there as well, weren’t you, Lem?」

He looked this way with a troubled look.

Furcus is already in her Avatar and, as one would expect, she isn’t eating anything and just standing there, but I can tell that she’s just thinking about food.

As my sword master, we trained together a lot, so I’ve come to understand this kind of thing.

「Hm? Oh, yeah, you’re right.」

I answer Yoss while thinking.

…That my party seems alright.

In a good way, as usual.

They don’t show any trepidation or anxiety because they are capable people who have control over their emotions.

「Shall we go, Mr. Clan Leader?」

「Heh, it will be difficult to lose while leading members like these.」

Even Arthur and Ex are calm.

「Oh Maggie. The thought of you exposing your beautiful skin in front of everyone fills my heart with such anguish. Could this be love or possessiveness?」

Margret is a summoner who replaces various equipment instantly. That process involves her becoming completely naked for an instant.

「Thank you for your concern. However, everyone gathered here is nothing short of capable individuals. Certainly not those that would get distracted by one naked woman.」

「What if I looked at you like a hungry wolf?」

「Goodness, Lady Merlin, that certainly won’t do.」

Merlin and Maggie’s conversation was the same as usual.

By the way, Merlin is usually like that to people she’s taken a liking to who are not from her party, so she isn’t seriously aiming for Maggie…I think. They’ve been sticking real close to me, but I have a feeling that the Demon King Castle members have been targeted as well recently.

Ex and Arthur spoke with the remaining male Minotaur saying「Take care of those two.」to which he replied「Leave it to me.」

Taking the role of the defender, he will protect Merlin and Maggie.

The Ex party, the Lem party, which doesn’t have to usual restriction of having a Hero leader, and the three groups of five-member parties are accompanied by several non-combatants.

Consisting of government officials who are here to witness the investigation, the photography team prepared by Fellow, and those that boast the strength enough to lend a hand to carry big heavy equipment.

「Shall we go and take part in the Spirit’s little game?」

Everyone responded to Ex’s voice with cheers or nods.

Then, we touch the prepared Teleportation Recording Stone and, one by one, teleport to the Safe Room connecting the second and third stratum.

The Safe Room is like a large room made out of the dirt, but there is no evidence of the Imitations invading it, so it can be quickly judged as safe.

…This Dungeon really was made while referencing modern-day Dungeons.

『Testing, testing, everyone hear me?』

I could hear Ex’s voice come out of the device fitted in my ear.

『Seems to be working fine. Next is…uh…I’ll just press this-』

His voice was cut off. But the members of Ex’s party should still be able to hear him.

The device that was provided to everyone’s Avatar is a communications device.

Usually, Lemegeton would be using such devices to give orders and advice to the Monsters in various strata from the video room.

Otherwise, those on the Dungeon side would do the same to give instructions.

In a wide forest area, for example, it would be difficult to efficiently find a group of five Adventurers without any information.

You can’t just fortify the entrance and Boss area with Monsters, and if you were to place them at specific spots to lie in wait, it would all be for naught if the Adventurers don’t end up passing through that spot.

Also, this isn’t entertaining to the viewers in the first place. It just becomes a video of a bunch of people wandering in a forest.

So, in order to make Dungeon Clears thrilling, the Adventurer’s movements are relayed to the Monsters.

This time, we’re using those devices to communicate with fellow invaders.

It has two channels. One for the whole Clan, and one for the party only.

This was made with the condition that, in case of emergency, we would have to work as a party unit.

If one were to get separated, they can communicate with other parties, and also interact with party members.

In addition, the Clan channel can also communicate with the investigation team back at camp.

Even though it was an Original Dungeon investigation, since all they had hired so far were Adventurers, they would have naturally tended to just add more people to the conventional method.

Some of the previous investigation teams may have incorporated this information, but there is no way to know because the information is not shared or passed on.

Since this Dungeon seemed to be taking steps to divide the invaders, it was thought that it would be useful to establish a means of communication.

「Well, this is interesting. I wonder if we could use these in normal Clears as well. What do you think, Arthur?」

「While it would be convenient to be able to talk with each other even while whispering, I do wonder if this would make things more confusing for the viewers.」

「Maybe we could add in our voices later in post.」

「But there’s a difference in our actions when we’re shouting or whispering, right? We can’t ignore the visual cues that our motions can convey to the viewer.」

「Hmm…」

Ex and Arthur were having such a conversation.

「Alright, everyone done with testing? Let’s get going. Just a little down this passageway is the door that leads to the third stratum. It appears the first investigation team wasn’t able to investigate much of it, so information is scarce. Brace yourselves.」