Chapter 326

Dungeon of Colors

After two days of walking around the town of Byld, we decided to head for the dungeon.

"Oniichan, are we going this way~?"

"Oniichan, boat is that way, you know?”

"We have to finish our business before we go to the dungeon.”

Before we go to the dungeon, I"m going to see Evan-san and Scott-san off to the Rubia and book a ship for the return trip.

“”Business~?””

“Yeah. We have to secure a ship for the way back.”

“”Going back~?””

“We will be returning before the winter because of Wald-sama’s wedding. We will have to find a ship that can get us there on time.”

We need to make sure that we don"t make a blunder and fail to attend.

“Wedding!”

“We have to go!”

“That’s right. I will tell you this in advance. I promised you before that we can take our time in the next advanced-level dungeon, but let’s make it a different dungeon. This time, we must return on the ship we book no matter what.”

“”Okay, got it.””

After seeing the two off and booking the ship, we headed for the dungeon.

The 94th Dungeon, "Colors," is an advanced-level dungeon with fifty levels, located very close to the town of Byld, and can be reached in about thirty minutes on foot.

“”We arrived~!””

“It really is close to the town, isn’t it~”

“”Close~!””

Perhaps it was because we were so close to the town, but we could see a few people heading for the dungeon just like us.

I"m sure the higher level dungeons are difficult to get to even at the lower levels without a certain level of skill. I wonder if there are many strong adventurers in Byld, or if the lower levels of the Dungeon of Colors aren"t that difficult.

“Let’s go in.”

“Quickly.”

“Yes, yes, I know.”

The entrance to the dungeon here was in ruins that resembled a building.

As we approached the entrance, a group of people who looked like adventurers looked at us twice as if they were wondering what we were doing.

It"s not that there aren"t ordinary people who come to visit the dungeon, but in their case, they have a lot of guards with them, so I guess they are surprised that there aren"t any with us.

“”Ohh~””

“... Whoah~”

As we pa.s.sed through the first hall and entered the first level, the kids and I couldn"t help but shout in surprise. The first level looked like a forest, but to our surprise, the colors were very strange.

“Red and blue~”

“White and black~”

“Look, there’s yellow, too~”

“There’s green as well~”

“Yeah, there are all kinds of colors here~ As expected of the Dungeon of Colors.”

The trunks and branches were whitish but still normal-looking, but the leaves were full of striking colors.

“”Amazing~””

“Yeah, it really is.”

I heard that you can get all kinds of dyes in this dungeon, I wonder if these plants can be used for dyes?

“... No, I guess not.”

I checked the nearby plants with Appraisal just to be sure, but there was nothing that I could use.

“”Ah!””

“What is it?”

“Monster.”

“Is here~”

“Eh, where?”

“”Over there~””

“... Eh?”

It seems that Allen and Elena have found a monster, but I have no idea where it is. When I used Detection skill, I realized that it was certainly somewhere nearby, but… I couldn’t find it with sight.

“Same color.”

“As the leaves~”

“Ah, there it is!”

What I found after the twins’ hint was a Hiding Chameleon. The chameleon blended in perfectly with the yellow leaves.

Chameleons are originally creatures that blend into the background, but the Hiding Chameleon was a monster that specializes in concealment.

“Allen, Elena, can you hit it with your magic at it?”

“”Can~!------Water Ball!””

I told the children, who had a firm grasp of the monster’s position, to defeat it, and they immediately released Water Ball.

Then, loot fell down from the tree, and the children immediately went to pick it up.

“”What’s this?””

“Ah, that’s a dye.”

“”Die?””

“Dye. A material for dyeing cloth. You can use it to make yellow cloth.”

“”Ohh~””

The drop was a bottle with a slushy liquid in it, which was yellow dye.

If defeating a Hiding Chameleon a.s.similated to yellow gave you yellow dye, does that mean that defeating a Hiding Chameleon a.s.similated to… any other color will give you dye of that color?

“Oniichan.”

“There’s another~”

“Really? What color?”

“It’s blue~”

“Can defeat?”

“Go ahead.”

“”Okay~””

The children soon found a blue a.s.similated Hiding Chameleon, which they defeated, and we were able to get the blue dye. My hypothesis seemed to be correct.

“I see, this means we can get dyes of all colors.”

If the Hiding Chameleons can a.s.similate all hues and shades of colors, then I guess we really can get a wide variety of dyes. However…—---

“This dungeon is going to be hard on eyes~”

The color scheme of the forest alone was tiring on the eyes, but if we have to stare at it to find the monsters… the strain on the eyes will be considerable.

“So the reason why there were so many eye medicines at the drug store in Byld was because there was a high demand for them, huh~”

When we entered the drug store during our sightseeing tour of the town, I had noticed that there were many medicines related to eyes. But I didn"t buy it because I didn"t think we needed it~

… No, well, in our case, it should also mean that there won’t be anything wrong with us!

"Allen, Elena, if your eyes get tired, tell me right away.”

“”Oka~y.””

"Well then, let"s get going.”

“”Yeah!””

As we proceeded deeper into the forest, we found a few more Hiding Chameleons, which the children quickly took care of each time.

“”Oniichan.””

“What is it? Are you tired?”

“Is fine!”

“Not tired!”

“Joule and others.”

“Can’t call them yet?”

As we move deeper into the forest and there was less and less sign of people, the kids started asking for Joule and the others.

On the first level, only the Hiding Chameleons has appeared so far. They were D-ranked monsters, which is not that strong, so even in the advanced dungeon like this, there should be a few adventurers in sight here and there, but…—---

“Why not?”

I"m not comfortable walking around with them in the town, but I don’t really care about being seen by adventurers in forests and dungeons anymore. The adventurers in Rubia know quite a bit about us already, anyway.

That"s why I called Joule and the others.

(Uoh! What is this place!?)

(These are incredible colors~ n~ is this a dungeon?)

(Oh, if this is a dungeon, then these colors makes sense.)

(Dungeon! Yay~!)

(I see!)

When Joule and the others who I had summoned saw the surrounding scenery, they were surprised but quickly accepted it. You guys are very adaptable, aren"t you?

“As you expected, this place is a dungeon. An advance-level dungeon.”

(Ohh! Are you looking for a Magic Ring then!?)

“No, we have a limited time, so it"s not a serious dive. Well, we can look for it if it"s within the deadline, but I don"t think there"s much hope at the lower levels~”

(Is that so? Well, it doesn"t change the fact that we"re going to have fun as we go~)

“Well, yeah.”

At any rate, we will be looking for a way to go to the lower levels while looking for materials and such. So, we might as well look for treasures.

“Oh, this is still the first floor, and there might be people here and there, so don’t get too far away from us, okay? It would be really troublesome if a battle broke because people mistook you ´for the dungeon’s monsters.”

(((((Okay.)))))

After giving a crisp reply, everyone immediately began to walk while playing with the children.