“Next, it’s my turn.”

When Alec and the branch leader finished their report, Zighart opened his mouth, signaling it was his turn to speak.

What he had been investigating was whether there existed a unique, one-time boss-like presence in dungeons.

This was what had been weighing most on my mind. It had been holding us back quite a bit…!

Zighart had gathered information from neighboring territories and researched various materials with Fiora and the alchemists of the domain capital.

I wondered if there was a specific reason why he worked with alchemists instead of civil officers, and it turns out there was.

In any case, their research revealed that such boss-like entities did indeed exist.

The dungeons in neighboring territories have a long history, and with no one left who remembers those times, they had to compare various records, which was quite tedious, Zighart complained.

It seems the existence of these bosses was noted in documents, but since we might have to fight them in the future, they needed to verify the information thoroughly.

…All this effort while I was enjoying my dungeon explorations…

“I understand the story, but… how did you become so certain about it?”

After hearing the explanation, Liesel asked Zighart to confirm.

“Ah, all territories have records about the monsters used to create barriers. However, there are also distinctly different types—powerful weapons or magical tools created from monsters with no recorded defeats.”

“…I see.”

Hearing this, Liesel nodded as if something came to mind.

In our case, the Cymodoki is used for the barrier, and from it, we get that weird sash-like weapon of mine.

But apart from that, there’s something much stronger and of unknown origin?

Defeating powerful monsters, especially Demon King-class ones, is a symbol of a domain’s military strength. There’s no reason to hide it.

Even so, powerful weapons or magical tools… Fiora was actively discussing her views on the matter, but I decided to ignore it for now.

“Hey?”

When I poked Seriana’s arm, who was sitting beside me, she turned to look at me.

“What?”

“Does Zelkis have anything like that?”

“…When the head of the Müller family is inaugurated, they inherit a spear. Is that what you mean? It’s stored in the treasure vault and only brought out during the inauguration ceremony. I’ve only seen it once myself.”

“Huh…”

So, it does exist… But if even Seriana has only seen it once, it might be tough for me to catch a glimpse of it. Maybe during the next head transition?

◇

“So, do we have the capability to take down this big shot with our current forces?”

While I was preoccupied with thoughts of mysterious items, the discussion had already shifted to whether we could defeat it.

It seemed confirmed that the boss existed.

Moreover, there was a high chance that there was one boss each in the middle and lower layers.

The layer divisions are just our convenient naming convention and might not have any real significance, but it’s surprising how shallow the locations seem.

And there are two of them…

“We should be able to defeat them. At most, they’re equivalent to mid-tier demons. The type of monster seems to match those that appear in the dungeon—demon types for demon monsters, beast types for beast monsters, and so on. But for this place… it’s a bit harder to predict.”

Upon hearing Zighart’s assessment, Liesel and the others looked over the records of the monsters encountered.

I didn’t need to check; I remembered the variety—very mixed.

I hadn’t seen them myself, but apparently, even magic bugs appeared. And we still didn’t know what monsters might emerge after the middle layers.

Zighart didn’t seem to doubt that we could defeat the bosses, but it was hard to imagine what might appear.

After a moment of contemplation, Liesel opened his mouth again.

“We should defeat them before opening the dungeon to the public. Zighart, what forces do you think are necessary?”

“Alec, me, Fiora, Sera, preferably Luban and August. For Sera’s escort, either Teresa or Elena.”

Ah, I’m included… Well, of course I am!

“August?”

“Yes. I’ll adjust things so I can leave the city. But Zighart, isn’t this too few people? When exploring the lower layers, I’ve heard it’s common to bring backup squads for support.”

Although August immediately agreed to leave the city, he still seemed skeptical.

“Exploration requires manpower, but we just need to defeat them this time. A smaller group is more maneuverable. Pulling troops from the knights to secure the middle layers would strain the city, even for a short time. I’ve already planned a method for transporting the remains, even if we manage to avoid destroying the core. It’ll be fine.”

Zighart seemed prepared, answering without hesitation.

Ah, right… Since the boss is in the dungeon, destroying the core means the materials won’t remain.

If we aren’t careful, we’ll end up wasting valuable resources…

The transportation method was probably my 【Hideout】, but he might’ve avoided mentioning it because of the branch leader’s presence.

“Alright, then there’s no issue. Lady Sera, would you be willing to participate?”

“Hm? Sure, no problem!”

“Understood. I’ll ensure everything is arranged so we won’t be missed. As for Lord Luban… perhaps we can call him under the pretense of checking the direct route during the rainy season?”

Saying this, August glanced at Alec.

“Sounds good… He doesn’t shy away from acting personally, so it should be fine.”

Alec agreed with a nod.

During the rainy season, opportunities to travel outside are scarce, so this would be a natural excuse… Or would it?

…Well, whatever.

Even so, it’s impressive how easily they come up with such smooth lies.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera・【Hideout】+1 【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】・【Floating Orb】【Shadow Sword】【Crimson Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Snake’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】・60 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・28 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】・1 card

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・2 cards