Ch 89 – Relaxing Time at the Town

As the four heaved a sigh of relief after finding themselves in a town filled with other humans, their shoulders went to slump down as their adrenaline-filled bodies relaxed.

"We're finally safe," Bella muttered as they nodded their heads. With that said, the four went to walk forwards as they talked with other fellow adventurers and learned the gist of things.

From what they gathered, it seemed like after a thousand adventurers entered the dungeon entrance, it finally closed off, and considering there are more than a hundred adventurers in the town, it is safe to say all one thousand adventurers are currently located within the island.

"So this is the map, huh?" Lute muttered as they all gathered around the unfurled map in front of them, which dictates the whole island they are in as a whole. It seems like the whole island is a few kilometers big, so it's a pretty large place. We four started generally around this area," Lute pointed at a certain part in the map which was up northwest, meaning they were quite far away from the town and it was pretty lucky of them to find themselves here without a guide or anything of that sort.

"If we have taken any other direction, we would have strayed further away from the town, so it was lucky we went the direction Lute-san pointed at," Bella heaved a sigh of relief as they all felt cold sweat forming on their forehead. Death's door was truly just around the corner for them.

Clapping his hands, Lute gathered the other three's attention as he said, "Okay, so I'll try to find a vacant house for ourselves while you three try and gather more info about the current status for us, adventurers. Like is there a goal we need to do to get out of here? A Boss monster? A required item?"

Hearing his orders, the trio silently nodded their heads and went separate ways. Just like always, Kira went on his own as Honda and Bella went in the opposite direction Kira was headed.

Walking around, the duo encountered a lot of other adventurers. Some were injured, some were bruised, others were helping other adventurers, and it seems like many also appeared in the surrounding forest and not inside the town like the lucky adventurers. But a semblance of society hastily formed from the threat of the unknown. Some became makeshift doctors, guards, chefs, and such. The already built infrastructures and buildings in the town helped in assigning roles as there are already people selling hunted horned rabbits or deers, there were butchers, and also new restaurants. Money truly does the make go round.

"Do you think the Shadows have already infiltrated inside the town?" Bella whispered as they observe the people passing by under the shade of trees. Their minds were alert and cautious from their recent experiences with the Shadows.

"Sigh, we just lack too much information about them. From the Shadow we fought before, I can say it has the strength of a C Rank fighter, and considering how we are all feeble humans right now, dealing with one would be troublesome if we didn't know their weakness. But the problem persists, like how do they transform into humans in the first place? Can they perfectly replicate the personality, mannerisms, and habits of the human they became? Are they perfect copies of the original?" Honda listed out a series of problems they have to solve as Bella shook her head. The problem really was just too daunting for an average adventurer like Bella, but luckily for her, she was allied with the Looper, Honda Yuuya.

"Argh, how did our mana even disappear in the first place? Isn't mana needed to keep the structural integrity of a dungeon? Then why is there no hint of mana in the air right now!" Bella grumbled as Honda only shook his head. This dungeon truly was mysterious, having so many questions in his mind, Honda was prepared to die a couple of times to find out the truth. But good thing for him, he has allies from the very start to help him down the road.

'Now that I think about it, Lute and Kira are truly mysterious. Lute is just too… Calm? Yeah, calm is the right word.' Honda thought as he remembered his previous experiences with Lute and Kira. When he was saved by them, Lute and Kira had an aloof look to them, especially Kira whose eyes remained apathetic about the situation. Lute also remained calm about nearly any problem, even when they found hope for reaching other humans, Honda remembered clearly how Lute's eyes remained nonchalant.

As he thought more about it, the more intrigued he became. It was like the duo never faced real danger at all, it was like the threat the Shadows and the dungeon hold was nothing but fleeting clouds for the two. Especially with the white material Kira can materialize from nowhere, just the notion that his white armor can instantly make him a B Rank fighter gave off warning signals in his mind, it meant that he can simply overpower a Shadow if his hypothesis of them having C Rank bodies is proven true.

'Are they in any danger at all? Do the both of them have hidden trump cards?' Honda thought, but his concentration was broken when a pair of hands suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder which made him shout in surprise.

"Ha! You should have seen the look on your face!" Lute's cackling voice was heard behind him as he blushed.

"C'mon, I already got a vacant house for us four," Lute said which surprised Honda a bit. Just getting a house so fast should have taken a bit of time, but in less than an hour, Lute managed to acquire a house without any problems.

As they walked toward the house, Lute started to ask some questions, "So, what did you guys find out?"

"Sigh, we found nothing useful. Though there were rumors spreading around that people continued to find more and more scorch marks in the forest, so that's that," Honda reported with a groan. More scorch marks mean more Shadows, which means more problems for them to deal with.

"Do you think we should spread info about the Shadows? We can gather more allies-" Bella suggested but Lute cut her off.

"The Shadows are intelligent, you know that right? If they were to know that we know, then chaos will ensue as they just drop their disguise and go for the kill. Nearly all of us are weak and have no experience dealing with them maybe except for us four, so hundreds will die if we do that," Lute said as the air around them became more ominous.

The difference in capabilities between Shadows and the humans is just too large now considering they have no mana. An A Rank adventurer can easily deal with any Shadows, but an average human is just a pig waiting to be slaughtered when facing a Shadow.

'Shit, how will I even deal with this later?' Honda asked himself, knowing that he will have to somehow find a way to deal with all the shadows with the big discrepancy in strength. 'If only I have a way to transfer my memories to others. If I had that ability, then everything would be so much easier.'

Soon, the trio found themselves in their new vacant house which was made of wood and had a crude roof made of something akin to straw and was colored a light shade of yellow. But it seems to be sturdy enough to handle itself for a few more years. Upon opening the door, they were greeted with a room full of dust accumulated from a long time of it staying here, indicating that time has gone by in the dungeon before the first adventurers entered the dungeon.

'Are we even the first adventurers to enter the dungeon? What if this dungeon has opened before, perhaps in another place if that is even possible, and other adventurers got trapped here and made a town? What if one of them even created the Shadows?' Honda thought as they went to clean the place, though it was dusty, after using the brooms inside the house, they got to cleaning and in less than 30 minutes, the whole house was already relatively clean.

Grinning, Honda went to wipe the sweat over his forehead as everything seemed to be a lot more normal than before. He has never experienced this type of life before after being transmigrated to this world, he has lived a life of riches and worship, so he enjoyed these simple things. It was like he was back to the time he went to his grandparents' house during summer vacation and helped them clean the house.

"Good job, team!" Lute said as they all gathered in the living room and sat around the wooden table over wooden chairs. Their faces were brimming with sweat except for Kira who doesn't have a speck of sweat over his body even when he was wearing stuffy clothes but he was just probably more physically fit compared to them. And surprisingly enough, even Lute has less sweat compared to Honda and Bella, and he seems relatively fine compared to them.

"Cleaning the whole house with just brooms really does take a lot of time, but at least we have the manpower of four people, so we were able to finish it quite quickly," Honda said with a grin as Lute chuckled.

Standing up, Lute groaned and stretched his back, saying: "Well, you three just stay here while I cook us lunch. Everyone should be famished by now."

After hearing his suggestion, Honda and Bella cheered as a few minutes passed by.

Prepping their plates, Lute sat down on his chair as steam went up into the air from their bowl of rice and curry. The fragrant smell emanating from it made their stomachs rumble in hunger from the strenuous activities they have done today. And considering they were all adventurers with well-developed bodies, they need a lot of calories every day to function properly.

"Thank you for the food!" The trio shouted except Kira as they started to dig in. But both Honda and Bella secretly communicated with each other through their eyes as they saw Kira about to eat his first spoon of curry, the mystery of his mask and how he eats plaguing their minds since yesterday and this is perhaps the time to find answers to that mystery!

*Chomp*

With agape mouths and wide eyes, they saw the wooden spoon filled with rice and curry just phased through the white mask over his face like it was just a mere projection. The sound of curry being chewed upon emanated from behind his mask as the wooden spoon was taken out with no curry left on top of it.

'H-h-he's mask is an illusion?!' Honda and Bella thought at the same time, but Honda instantly calmed himself down and remembered the scene last night. In the scene where Kira was covered in a skin-tight white armor where his armor and mask seemed to blend, so does that mean his mask is made of the same white material Kira can wield and use?

Leaving that question unsolved, the four ate their fill as Lute grabbed all of their plates.

"Yawn, I guess it's an appropriate time for all of us to take a quick power nap, right?" Lute muttered as Honda and Bella nodded with drooping eyes. They didn't get an ounce of proper sleep yesterday considering they took turns sleeping, so a power nap would really help their mental state.

So without further ado, the duo went to their respective rooms and slept for a good four hours, a time far from what is considered a "nap". So, the duo woke up with a body that wants more sleep but they relent as they still have more things to do today, like gather info.

"Huh? What's this?" Honda muttered as they arrived at the living room and saw a note on top of the wooden table, and he went to read it.

"Heyo Yuuya-san, Bella-san! Me (Lute) and Kira just went to do a little something which is a top-secret mission, so just enjoy the rest of the day without us ( •̀ ω •́ )✧, now don't do anything naughty now, hehehe. We probably won't be back until tomorrow so I left enough money for you guys to eat at this restaurant where an acquaintance of mine is working as the head chef, just say to him "Lute sends his regards" and you'll get a 10% discount, his name is Greg by the way. He also has a habit, or more of a tick where he keeps snapping his fingers, though he himself doesn't even notice it, so just ignore that, goodbye (≧∇≦)ﾉ." Reading the written text, Honda can't help but feel Lute was similar to those people back on Earth.

AN: This is 2189 words, you're welcome.

(July 15, 2022 – 233rd day of writing)