#545 Dungeon Indulgence

“Depurressing! I can’t believe it already ended the moment it started!!!”

“This isn’t fair! Isn’t the guardian supposed to be waiting at the end of the dungeon? Why is he here at the entrance?!”

The S-class adventurers Black Cat and Golden Bat have completed their dungeon exploration.

The reason being the last boss was at the entrance.

It’s such a heinous setting that it makes S*uls-like games appear easy.

This is how anyone who recklessly challenges Sensei’s dungeon dies.

“But! Every dungeon has a strategy!”

“W-WHAT?!”

Silver Wolf replies smugly, “I’ll give you a hint. The Lifeless King in this dungeon is not just any Lifeless King! And I’m not just talking in terms of strength. If we were to encounter a normal, vicious, brutal immortal king, we wouldn’t be able to ramble on this long!”

“Now that you mention it...”

“Based on our past experiences, we would’ve been long dead.”

But they are alive.

Which means...

“Sensei is a Lifeless King with an unusual story to tell! If you ask politely, he will allow you to enter the dungeon!”

Silver Wolf...?

“You say hint, but aren’t you basically giving away the whole answer?”

“It dawned upon me in the middle of talking that concepts such as asking politely or showing courtesy don’t go through their thick heads, so...!”

I empathized with Silver Wolf’s concern when I saw the attitude of these two people first-hand.

“There’s no turning back if these rude idiots disrespect our kind Sensei, so I’m going to take the lead here and set an example...!”

Silver Wolf bows his head to Sensei and continues, “Please let us explore your dungeon! ...Hey, you two!”

“P-Purrlease...?!”

The two S-class students are overwhelmed by Silver Wolf’s appeal and follow suit. 

Sensei responds, “Mhm, go ahead.”

“YESSSSS!!!”

Sensei is as generous as usual.

“Manners are important too. If you have the title of first class, you must set a good example to those who look up to you by behaving in a manner befitting that title.”

“Yes, we understand!”

The only one who responded was Silver Wolf.

“All right! Now that we have purrmission let’s get to exploring!”

“I’ll be the first one to reach the lowest level! If I didn’t get to discover it, at least I’ll be the first to conquer it!!!”

The other two are back to focusing on the dungeon, willing to go in without regard to anything else.

“Aghhh! I’ve had it with these twooo!!!”

Silver Wolf breaks down in tears.

“There, there...”

Sensei puts his hand on his shoulder and comforts him.

* * *

And so, the two first-rate adventurers enter the dungeon in earnest.

However, you can’t really say the same when it comes to their attitude as human beings.

“Ohhh! What a refined interior!”

“The basic characteristics of a dungeon with a guardian!”

“The monsters have designated habitats!!!”

“This makes it easy to purrocure materials you want when you want them!”

“There’s a dead enddddd!”

“There’s a staircase over here!”

“We’re going down the stairsss!”

“Down and then up againnnn!!!”

...

They’re so impressed by every single thing. 

Golden Bat and Black Cat are like excited children at an amusement park as they happily explore the dungeon.

“That’s what usually happens to trueborn adventurers whenever they explore a new dungeon. It can’t be helped,” says Silver Wolf, melancholic.

Sensei’s dungeon is designed in a way that makes material collecting easy, so we can reach the bottommost level immediately if we want to.

Similarly, Golden Bat and Black Cat, both elite adventurers, flawlessly conquer the dungeon.

Even so, they are amazed by the monsters that appear and marvel at their rarity.

“All right! Next is the dragon dungeon nearby! Let’s go, Black Cat!”

“Wait...! All that excitement gave me a tummy ache! I’m going to take a break...”

“Ugh! Third-rate adventurers, I swear...!”

And yet, their avarice to seek out new dungeons remains.

Is their insatiable hunger what pushed them to S-class, I wonder?

“Still, I’m humiliated... Why wasn’t it me who discovered this dungeon first?!” grumbles Golden Bat.

I don’t really understand where his frustration is coming from. 

“You see, Golden Bat holds the record for the most newly discovered dungeons,” explains Silver Wolf. “It’s one of the greatest achievements of an adventurer to find an undiscovered dungeon. It must be frustrating for him, who has accomplished that multiple times to see someone else beat him to it.”

Well, many people have already seen this dungeon, me included...!

“That’s right! His nosiness is annoying at times, meow!”

“Huh? Professor?!”

A cat suddenly jumps onto my shoulder.

You mustn’t think of it as an ordinary cat because he’s actually a Lifeless King—the oldest one, in fact—and is commonly known as the Professor.

“Oh! Purrofessor! Hello!”

“Have you been diligently studying the way of the cat every day, meow?”

Black Cat and the Professor—two cat characters meowing noisily. 

They seem to have become good friends since they met each other in the dungeon exploring competition held recently.

“What did you mean by your statement earlier, Professor? You sounded like you know this person.”

“Excuse me? Black Cat is the only talking cat I’m acquainted with.”

Golden Bat doesn’t seem acquainted with the Professor.

“Well, I don’t blame him for not knowing me. I did wipe his memory, after all, meow.”

“Huh?”

“His habit of finding dungeons is a real nuisance. I don’t want to expose my dungeon to the public, and yet he finds it regardless of the inconvenience he’s causing, meow.”

Oh, the Professor did say that he stored his body, which has lived for so long that it is on the verge of decay, by sealing it in his dungeon.

From there, he emits some kind of psywave and sees the world through the cat he possesses. 

In other words, the Professor’s main body is his weak point, and it won’t do him any good if the dungeon’s whereabouts were known to the public.

“Not even I know the precise location of his dungeon,” says Sensei.

“If such a dungeon does exist, I will find it! I know what I’m going to do next!”

Golden Bat was delighted to hear this story.

“And I’m stumped because I know you will, meow.”

“Huh?”

“You find it time and again without fail. Each time, I’d erase your memories and send you to a settlement, but you still find my dungeon again. It’s a bother. I think I’ve erased your memory more than my paws can count, meow.”

“Huh? What? Huuuuuh?”

Golden Bat, confused, blinks his eyes rapidly.

Meanwhile, Silver Wolf and Black Cat remain overwhelmed and speechless.

“But you’re as good-hearted as ever, Professor. Other Lifeless Kings would’ve killed him the moment he invaded their territory.”

“Because if I did, the next ones would follow, which would be another nuisance. It’s best to fool him into thinking it never happened, meow.”

In other words, this S-class adventurer who is good at discovering new dungeons has been finding the same place without even realizing he has been there.

“I’ll tell you this now—don’t ever look for my dungeon again. It’s annoying having to erase your memory and send you back every time, meow.”

“Have I actually discovered more dungeons than I know and remember...?!”

The same one countless times, though.

Golden Bat may just have a terrifying talent and spirit.

“The same applies to the dungeons here. The saint doesn’t want his residence exposed to the public, meow.”

“Indeed. If my and Veil’s dungeons were registered with the Adventurers’ Guild, it’d cause trouble for Lord Saint and his farm. We must not let that happen,” supplements Sensei. 

“Maybe I’ll erase their memories today. That’s the safest way to go about this, meow.”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO!”

Hearing this, the two dungeon junkies, Golden Bat and Black Cat, scream like it’s the end of the world.

“No, wait! We’ve encountered such a wonderful dungeon, but now you’re going to make us forget about it?!”

“Nyo! Anything but that, purrlease! Aren’t we friends, Purrofessor...?!”

They plead, but the other party is absolute.

One mustn’t forget that once they set their minds on something, there is nothing the living can do about it.

“Well, I’m not all that bad of a person. If you agree to a few conditions, I won’t erase your memories, meow.”

“Really?! Thank you, Purrofessor! I knew you were a reasonable purrson!”

All this meowing is making my ears ring.

“This one goes without saying, but you mustn’t talk about this place. There are other conditions, meow.”

“Anything! If I get to explore this wonderful dungeon again, we’ll promise you anything!”

“Anything, you say, meow?”

In fact, this is all part of the plan.

Think about it. Why did we invite the S-class adventurers?

I haven’t mentioned the reason behind this until now, but it’s about time everyone finds out.

We need their cooperation for a certain event...

And we’re trying to negotiate a good deal with them.