「……What?」

They couldn’t understand what the man standing before them had said. No, rather, they didn’t want to believe it. After thinking about it, Diarog asked Southernus again, but Southernus’s reply was ruthless.

「The distilled spirits storage facility in the city east. There is a dungeon core there……to be exact, it’s not big enough yet to be called a dungeon core, but we have identified at the very least it will become a dungeon core in the near future. Judging from the situation, the cause of Magic Fever is likely to be due to the core.」

「……」

Again, Diarog was speechless at Southernus’s words.

Meanwhile, Seis, who had stayed silent after entering the room, spoke up.

「Southernus, have you ever gone down a dungeon?」

「I have not.」

「Then, why did you say that there was a dungeon core in the eastern storage facility.」

「It was Rei. He told me that he had gone down to the lowest level in the dungeon near Gilm. He probably saw it back then.」

「……I see. Well, considering his magic power and the Griffon following him, I guess it’s not impossible.」

「Yes. I don’t know about his magic power, but he has a Griffon following him. I thought I could believe his words and came here in a hurry to report. ……What should I do?」

At that question, Diarog replied in a fluster.

「What should you do? What do you think you should do!? You should know already! Isn’t it the cause of Magic Fever around this area? Destroy it immediately!」

「I thought that as well, but Rei said that with a dungeon core in the city, there was a possibility that Baar could be developed into a labyrinth city. I couldn’t make the decision carelessly. I would like Diarog-san, the person in charge of the city, to make the final decision.」

「M-Mmm.That’s true.」

At Southernus’s words, Seis nodded unintentionally. When it was mentioned that it could be developed into a labyrinth city, he certainly couldn’t deny the possibility.

However, Diarog spoke up to cut off Seis’s hesitation.

「Don’t say stupid things. We could consider the possibility of developing a labyrinth city if the dungeon core didn’t spread illness around it. However, we were able to deal with it this time only because it was such a well known illness as Magic Fever. The the dungeon core started spreading illness around it again, I’m not sure we could handle it. I don’t think it’s possible to develop Baar as a labyrinth city by doing such a dangerous thing and putting all the residents of Baar in danger.」

「……But, a dungeon core isn’t something we can hide. In particular, if someone who can sense magic power went by the eastern storage facility, they might even sense it right away. In that case, it shouldn’t take too long for your boss, that noble, to hear about it. ……If that happened, you would have to bear the blame of disposing of a dungeon core that might have benefited him without his permission. Moreover, since the lord is a mage with a certain level of skill, it would be impossible to trick him.」

「Don’t worry. The reason why I took this position as the representative lord was just because I wanted to protect the city. It was not for the interest of nobles or others.」

Seis was surprised by Diarog’s unexpected words and wore an embarrassed expression. Next to him, Southernus also stopped moving as well in surprise.

「What’s wrong? Southernus. Didn’t you hear my orders? Tell Rei to destroy the dungeon core immediately. Make it quick, if it really is a dungeon core, even if cases of Magic Fever stop, I don’t know what will happen next.」

「……Yes, I understand. I will inform Rei imme-……」

Immediately. That was what he was going to say. However, his words were cut off by someone who barged into the room the next moment.

Yes. This wasn’t the office, but the room next to it. Seis, the guild master, and Diarog, the city lord representative, were both in the room. So was Southernus, who had just received orders from the two.

「What’s going on!?」

While shouting, Southernus stood forward to protect the two while reaching for the sword at his waist. As expected of the captain of the guards, his movement were truly fast. Even if it was an assassin who had jumped in, there was no doubt he would be able to deal with them.

However, the person who had barged into the room was one of the guards who was usually out in front of the lord’s residence.

「S-S-S-Serious trouble! A purple fog appeared in the east side of the city! It’s also expanding rapidly!」

It might have been fortunate that the man who barged into the room wasn’t an assassin. However, the report he brought was most definitely unfortunate.

「The east of the city!?」

At the guard’s words, Diarog unintentionally gave a cry. It was unavoidable. Hearing about the mysterious phenomenon that had appeared from that direction, he was almost certain that it was related to the dungeon core he had just heard about.

「Tch, are we too late. So, specifically, what damage has been done?」

Southernus quickly released his hand from his sword, but the guard who barged into the room shook his head slightly.

「No, unfortunately we don’t know yet. However, I’ve asked a few people to check so we should find out soon.」

「……I see Diarog-san. I want to try to contact Rei somehow. If there’s purple fog, there’s no doubt it’s connected to the previous matter. Rei should be in the immediate vicinity. If it goes well, the damage should be minimal.」

Diarog heard Southernus’s words and immediately nodded.

Personally, he didn’t want to make such a reckless decision, but he judged that Southernus was the only one who could protect the city.

「Please. If you can contact Rei, tell him to destroy the dungeon core as soon as he can. ……Normally, I would send the guards to do it and keep you here, but considering their combat skill and magic power, you’re the mostly likely person to survive.」

「That is no problem. ……However, I would like to take a drink from Diarog-san’s valued stock if this finishes safely.」

「Hah-, deal. If this matter is settled, it will be my toast for victory.」

「After hearing that, I’ll have to come back safely no matter what. ……Then!」

With a smile and a promise, Southernus quickly left the room.

 

 

Turning back the clock, back at the eastern storage facility right after Southernus left. At that moment, Rei and Set were watching the dungeon core but didn’t notice any abnormalities.

That was why Set noticed it first. The dungeon core before them was starting to emit magic power.

「Gururu~!」

Rei, who had no ability to sense magic power, tightened his expression at Set’s alert cry.

He didn’t know what had happened. But, he was able to perceive that something bad was happening based on instinct.

And the next moment, a clearly visible abnormality revealed itself in Rei’s eyes.

「Purple……fog?」

Yes, the dungeon core started pulsing as if it were breathing, and at the same time purple fog was blown out from the dungeon core.

A clear abnormality.

Rei judged that he should destroy the dungeon core and raise his Death Scythe. However, the next moment.

「Woah!?」

He immediately raised a cry of astonishment and retreated from where he had been a moment ago.

「Gururururu~!」

The attack was blocked by a swing of Set’s fore claws. Set immediately blasting away the thing that had attacked Rei.

It was something that could be called similar to an opaque slime. The difference was that the slime was producing purple fog from its body. At the same time, the dungeon core started to create one slime after another, releasing them into the surroundings.

「No way, this……does it plan to make this area into a dungeon!?」

The slimes that existed in dungeons would clean up the corpses of monsters and adventurers without distinction. They would dissolve them and absorb them. In other words, slimes were absolutely indispensable for dungeons. And as since a dungeon core could create a dungeon, it was by no means impossible to create slimes.

「Damn it, I don’t have time to wait for Southernus. As it is, the residents of Baar will suffer a lot of damage. Then!」

This, if it had happened in a normal situation, the damage wouldn’t have bee so great. But right now in the city of Baar, many people were bedridden due to Magic Fever. Even if Magic Fever had been cured with the produced medicine, like the innkeepers of the inn Rei stayed in, most of them couldn’t get out of bed due to physical exhaustion.

There were a lot of medicinal ingredients, but the number of pharmacists and alchemists who could produce the medicine were limited. And what was produced naturally were given to priority patients with severe symptoms.

「Tch, there’s no end! Set, open up the way to the dungeon core!. This is a storage place for distilled spirits. Use anything except Fire Breath!」

While swinging the Death Scythe freely and cutting down the slime that were being produce, Rei gave Set and order.

The slimes that were sliced apart quickly disappeared, but when that happened, it also created more purple fog.

(Damn it, fortunately this fog has no effect on me, but if I consider what happened with Magic Fever, this is probably related to some sort of illness as well. One way or another, this dungeon core……)

「Gururu~!」

Set immediately used his skills at Rei’s words. The next moment after his cry, two 30cm diameter water balls appeared in front of Set.

「Do it!」

Following Rei’s orders, Set released his water balls. The two water balls, shot out at high speed, popped any slimes it the moment it came it contact with them, scattering them into the surroundings. And as soon as the slimes tried to fill the gap, another water ball would fly through, destroying the slimes which were just created by the dungeon core.

「Okay. Haaah-!」

Rei dashed towards his target, not missing the momentary gap where slimes had disappeared from the path leading to the area around the dungeon core.

Raising his speed with the Shoes of Sleipnir and his own explosive leg strength, he shortened the distance instantly.

「Get destroyed!」

He swung the Death Scythe with all the magic power he could pour into it. The blade was swung down in a flash, cutting the dungeon core in two without even a momentary resistance.

The next moment, the dungeon core disappeared like smoke……

【Death Scythe has acquired the skill『Terrain Manipulation Lv.1』】

At the same time, an announcement that could be considered familiar flowed into Rei’s mind.

「……What?」

「Guru~?」

It appeared that Set had heard the same announcement as Rei. He looked with puzzlement at Reil

(The Magic Beast Art should only level by absorbing monster magic stones. Why would it absorb a dungeon core?)

Although Rei thought about it on the spot for several seconds, he realised that he had no time to think about inspecting the new skill he had gotten from the dungeon core.

The dungeon core that had been spitting out slimes had been destroyed and the number of slimes wouldn’t increase further. However, the problem was the slimes that had already been created. Above all, the purple fog that the slimes seemed to spit out would also be released when they were killed. Although Rei and Set didn’t seem to suffer any particular adverse effects, he couldn’t leave the dangerous mist as saw it.

「Well, let’s first tell the guards.」

「Guru~」

While he was thinking about that, the purple fog that was the remnant of the slimes filled the inside of the storage area and started to leak from the gaps at the front of the building.

Whatever he did, Rei decided that it would be best to cooperate with someone who knew the city well as he and Set ran towards the door.

However, when Rei came out from the storage area, what he saw was the two guards who guarded the repository fallen on the ground.

************************************************

【Death Scythe】

『Corrosion　Lv.1』 『Flying Slash　Lv.2』 『Magic Shield　Lv.1』 『Power Slash Lv.1』『Wind Hand　Lv.1』 『Terrain Manipulation　Lv.1』new

Terrain Manipulation: When the Death Scythe’s handle is touching the ground, it is possible to manipulate the terrain around it in a limited range. At Lv.1 the ground around it it a 10m diameter can be raised or depressed by 10cm.

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