Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 130: To The Capital Of Ice And Death V

I was shown not to a guest room, but to Toto\'s private chambers.

It was a bit messy, with clothes that had been taken off strewn all over.

Even though it was a maid\'s private chambers, it was larger than the rooms of the finest inns in Lemuria. It was just a tiny little bit bigger than the floor area of the home I had acquired recently.

Really, it’s just by a tiny little bit.

Though I didn\'t see anything expensive, it had everything needed for daily life. A small kitchen. A sofa. A table and chairs. A fireplace that was lit by some kind of glowing ore.

「The two rooms in this corner are the toilet and the bathroom. The room across from them is my bedroom, so don\'t go in there. The room in the back is the guest bedroom」

「Understood」

The snowstorm was still blowing, so it was dark outside the window.

That made me wonder what time it was, but my trusty cheap watch was busted.

Its LCD had cracked after taking a hit from a wolf\'s claw.

I wonder if Makina can fix it? Even though it\'s a cheap watch, I\'m quite fond of it. Plus, it would be troublesome if I couldn\'t tell the time.

「I’ll wash your clothes at the same time, so please go into the bathroom without taking them off」

「Okay」

I was thrown into the bathroom right away.

It was a very basic bathroom, with just a bathtub and a washbasin. There was a drainage grate under the bathtub and a water pipe above it.

「If you pull that cord there, warm water will come out. Don\'t pull too hard or you\'ll drown」

「Got it」

That\'s amazing. To think that there\'s even hot water, there\'s got to be a limit to how luxurious private chambers can be.

It\'s so advanced even though it\'s the capital of vampires. ………………Could it be that this is for them to clean themselves off after getting bathed in blood?

「Come on, hurry up and take those rags off」

「Eh」

Getting naked in front of a woman I don\'t know is a bit……

「Come on」

She exhibited absolutely no interest or embarrassment. I was quickly stripped of my clothes and kicked into the empty bathtub. The feel of the cold ceramic gave me goosebumps.

I hurriedly pulled the cord and a large amount of hot water came pouring down from the water pipe.

「Oh, you only need to pull it very lightly」

「………Please say that earlier」

I had nearly drowned.

「Ooooh」

The hot water stung my wounds, but it still felt good.

I looked at my own skin and saw scars that looked like burn marks in various places. My brain hurt as the gathered memories of the wolves flashed through my mind.

I will likely be unable to keep a dog as a pet anymore. But I wonder if I\'ll still be alright with Shiba Inus.

Remembering it suddenly, I checked my right arm.

It was scarred, but it looked just like a normal right arm. There were no claws and no animal fur. It appeared that the transformation into a beast had been staved off.

More and more, I find myself glad that I contracted with Misuranika-sama. If I didn\'t have the power to nullify curses, my adventuring would have come to an early end long ago.

It\'s just……

According to the dragon-slayer god, people are influenced by the fate of their gods. Then, I wonder if it\'s disrespectful to think, "Is that why I’ve been dragged into all those battles so far?"

I\'m probably reading too much into it.

「What an unusual fabric. Is this stuff popular out there?」

「………………」

Toto was washing my clothes in a wooden tub.

Right next to the bathtub.

I just wish she would show a modicum of embarrassment in the face of a naked man. Or is it that she simply doesn\'t see me as a man?

「I\'m a foreigner. "Out there" is out of this world to me」

「Everything outside of Neomia is all the same. Be it out of this world or just a neighboring country, it\'s all "out there" to me」

Soap and a sponge on a stick were tossed to me.

I added more hot water and began to wash myself. The blood that had hardened all over my body dissolved into the hot water. It occurred to me that the sight of the blood might cause Toto to attack me.

I looked at her with trepidation, but she was still washing my clothes impassively.

「You may be a foreigner, but you\'re still an adventurer, so you must be affiliated with some country\'s Adventurers\' Guild. Which country is that?」

「Lemuria」

「Lemuria? Forgive me, I\'ve never heard of it before. Is it on the center or the left continent?」

「It\'s on this right continent. It\'s south of Neomia」

「Wait, is it a country formed by Rossian survivors? That would explain why you\'re here」

「No no. Even further south」

「Further south of Rossian? Oh, you must mean Beliale. I’ve heard that they make slaves work as adventurers in that country. I see………that explains the rags you wear」

Certainly, Lemuria was founded on the land where Beliale once stood, but what’s with the way this person is saying it? She\'s talking as if time has stood still for 500 years. No, it’s as if this is 500 years ago.

『The portal is a manifestation of space-time travel. It’s no surprise then that there is a difference in the time』

Those are the words of the oldest A.I. I\'ve met.

Blood drained from my face and I turned pale.

「Excuse me! What year is it now in the Elysium calendar?!」

It has been 1240 years since the founding of Elysium.

「In the Neomia calendar, it\'s the year ×××. If I recall correctly, that makes it year ××× in the Elysium calendar」

「Huh?」

「×××, I said. Did you get hot water in your ears or something?」

「I\'m sorry. Say it one more time」

「Year ××× in the Elysium calendar」

I can\'t catch it.

Only at the precise moment she says the number, something interferes and renders the word inaudible. Just the number alone is changed into an unrecognizable static-like language. Is something disrupting the translation magic of Babel? This is the first time something like this has ever happened.

「Oh, err, sorry. Thank you very much」

「You\'re a strange one」

My head was spinning, but there was no point in panicking. So, even if it was only for show, I put on a calm face.

I felt some kind of clammy, unpleasant presence. Something like a large wriggling snake. It gave me the impression that even if I wanted to escape, I was already entangled in it.

And then.

I heard sounds from outside the bathroom.

"Toto, Toto," a young voice called out.

「I see that you\'re back. I\'m starving」

The door to the bathroom was opened unceremoniously.

In the doorway stood a young, dark-skinned elf.

『………………』

We stared at each other.

「You\'re supposed to be in hiding. Please exercise a little more caution」

「Souya!」

Maria leaped into the bathtub with her clothes on.

「I thought you were dead! Both Yukikaze and my communication device stopped working! I was able to get in, but I couldn\'t teleport out of the castle! Do you have any idea how worried I was?」

At the sound of Maria\'s voice, I felt anger rising in me.

「You know, this is all because you followed me here! If you had just gone home like I told you to, everything would have been fine!」

「That has got nothing to do with this!」

「Like hell! That has everything to do with this!」

Maria was shutting her eyes to her own faults.

「Quiet, you two. If the princess finds out, my head will roll. And you\'ll both be subjected to horrible torture」

『………………』

We shut up.

For a moment there, I had forgotten that I was in such a dangerous place.

「Souya, are you hurt?」

Maria touched the claw scar on my cheek.

I had similar-looking scars all over my body.

「My wounds have been treated already. Once I get some food and sleep, they\'ll heal up. What about you? Are you hurt?」

I pushed back her wet black hair and took a good look at her face.

「I told you, didn\'t I? That I\'m the fastest in the world at escaping. As soon as I regained consciousness, I kicked that beast-head in the face, then teleported away」

「Speaking of which, what was it that you fought against?」

Toto looked at me curiously.

「Do you need to ask? The wolves outside the castle, of course」

「You fought against the magic of the Endguard? You\'re a strange one indeed. Most people would have died」

「No, I did very nearly die」

I won\'t say anything about the two people who saved me. I don\'t know how trustworthy Toto is. Besides, there are just too many things that I don\'t know about those two.

It\'s the same for Barfuru.

The story about the Endguard\'s fight that he told me in the past. The one where the warriors took on the form of beasts and defeated the king of vampires.

As it turns out, that\'s complete bullshit. The Endguard is not a group of warriors. It\'s a system involving a curse. And even though the king of vampires has been defeated, the queen is still living a carefree life.

Or rather……

There\'s something more important.

「Maria, why are you here?」

「Toto\'s been helping me stay hidden」

「I caught her nibbling on some cheese in the pantry. I\'ve never kept one, so I thought that if I fed her, I might get to keep her」

It feels like she’s talking about a pet.

「Toto is pretty nice to me. She smells a lot like Lanseal」

「Is that so? I\'ve never raised kids before, so I was afraid I might be doing it all wrong」

So she’s never had a child, huh? Then I guess it\'s just a coincidence that she looks a lot like Tyutyu. I suppose this is that thing where there are at least 7 other people who look like you in the world.

Anyway, it\'s great that I managed to reunite with Maria. All we need to do now is to escape the castle and teleport away using Maria\'s power.

To tell the truth, I want to defeat Barfuru by myself, but it would be a wiser move to ask for help from Lemuria. I still haven\'t figured out his true intentions, but a betrayal is a betrayal.

His reasons don\'t matter.

The only problem is that the situation here in Neomia is very different from what I\'ve heard. Since Barfuru was the source of the information, it could be that the vampire attack in Rossian was his doing. No, maybe the lady was behind it. There are too many things that I don\'t know. If I make a hasty decision, it can prove fatal. So I\'m putting everything on hold.

「Hmm, Maria?」

She had gone limp with her head resting on my shoulder.

I tapped her cheek lightly, but there was no response. Then, I noticed the slow breathing of sleep.

「She probably fell asleep because she felt safe at last. I had thought that she had grown attached to me, but it seems that she never really let her guard down in the end. Hmm………for some reason, I\'m feeling extraordinarily angry」

"Give her to me," Toto said, thrusting out both her hands.

I hesitated for a moment, but decided to take advantage of her for now.

Toto stripped off Maria\'s wet clothes and carried her out of the bathroom. I added more hot water then scrubbed myself while trying not to aggravate my wounds.

Maybe it was because I felt relieved, but I also found myself getting extremely sleepy.

「Here\'s a change of clothes」

Toto poked half her body back into the bathroom and threw down a change of clothes and a towel.

After I had washed, wiped myself dry, and changed my clothes, I exited the bathroom.

「Are you hungry?」

「Umm, a little」

「Then just bear with it」

Who the heck answers like that?!

「Adventurer, you should sleep for now. The princess is a capricious person. If you want to keep up with her, you will first need to regain your strength」

I was shown to the bedroom, where I found Maria already sleeping in the bed.

She was dressed in a nightgown that made her look like a teru teru bozu[1].

「Let me ask you one thing. Since the two of you are lovers, do you get off on this young body night after night?」

「I don\'t. She considers herself my wife, but to me, she\'s more like a difficult daughter」

「There are parents who lay their hands on their daughters though?」

「I have zero interest in doing that」

「Then you can sleep here with her. I\'ll put away the bed I had prepared for you outdoors」

I\'ll freeze to death if you make me sleep outside, you know?

Toto retrieved a pillow from outside the window.

「Good night. Sweet dreams」

「Thank you」

The pillow was really cold. It was just short of being frozen.

The lights were extinguished and the door was closed quietly. There was barely any light coming in from the outside. When I shut my eyes, I couldn\'t sense any light at all.

When I got into the bed, Maria naturally reached out and hugged me.

I stroked her hair and put my lips to her forehead, and a strange feeling came over me.

It\'s an emotion I don\'t know the name of.

「Hey, Maria, when you grow up, you’re gonna have big boobs, you know?」

After whispering that to her as she slept, I too fell into a deep sleep.

This time, it was my turn to snuggle up against her.

[1] A teru teru bozu is a kind of doll made simply with tissues or white cloth. It’s said that hanging one from the eaves will cause the rain to stop or make the weather clear the next day. It’s an old custom done by children especially when they’re looking forward to a special event like a field trip the next day. (pic courtesy of gimon-answer.com)

That reveal at the end. I’m sure you’ve guessed it, but Souya knows that because he has seen the grown-up Maria before. I don’t need to tell you when, right? I mean, if you read the last chapter carefully, you’ll realize that she used a portal to send Souya into the castle after all.

It’s already been brought up a couple of times that portals are able to transcend not only space but time as well. And with this, I can finally tell you something that I’ve wanted to for the longest time: This is the singularly most unique story with time travel that I have ever read! Because it is one in which time travel plays an important part in the plot yet is never ever abused.

I love Toto’s personality so much lmao. You hungry? A little? Then suck it up. XD And she’s always tossing or throwing things. And you realize that “the bed she prepared” was just a pillow outside the window, right? She cracks me up so much. And yes, “Toto” is the name of Tyutyu’s mother, as those who have gone back to check must have realized. So is this Toto Tyutyu’s mum or not? I’ll mention that never having raised a child =/= never had a child though, so is this a mistaken assumption Souya made? Or… By the way, if you find it weird that she makes this request: “please go into the bathroom without taking them off”, it’s because Japanese people typically take off their clothes in an area outside of the bathroom and not inside the bathroom itself.

With that, this arc has come to a heartwarming end. What’s next? 2 more arcs to go! Stay tuned!