WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 32: Demon Realm Sanjiba
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Demon Realm Helldream was divided into seven Grand Duchies.
Like the Tumanist Empire, it was structured so that high-ranking Grand Dukes each ruled their own Grand Duchy.
At a glance, the Seven Grand Dukes seemed to stand at the very top, but that was only half true.
Officially, the 72 Lords reigned over all nonhuman peoples.
The 72 Dungeons were the origin of the Nonhuman Demon Realm. Their history stretched back more than a thousand years, so they were also considered sacred and inviolable.
Of course, that was only in name. Since the Empire was founded, their prestige had faded.
These days, the Seven Grand Dukes could even say, “What do you expect me to do about it?” to lower-ranked Lords.
‘It won’t affect me, though.’
The Grand Dukes’ authority only worked on bosses outside roughly the top twenty.
It held no sway over me now that I was a boss of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.
Well, none of that mattered.
The 72 Dungeons Assembly was sacred in itself, and hosting it was an enormous symbolic honor for the Grand Duchy in charge.
For that reason, the Assembly rotated through the seven Grand Duchies, with each hosting once, before being postponed indefinitely.
“Kirik. The air’s different here. But it’s okay. The more I breathe it, the more I like it.”
The eighth 72 Dungeons Assembly was resuming after a hundred years.
With one day remaining before it began, we arrived in the Demon Realm through a Merchant Association portal.
Sañjīva, a city large enough to be called the capital, was the Grand Duchy hosting this Assembly.
We had come early to scout out the city and rest before tomorrow’s Assembly.
“Charlotte. Are you breathing all right?”
“Yes. I think I’m fine because I’m a Magic Human.”
The oxygen in the Demon Realm was fundamentally different from what ordinary humans thought of as oxygen.
Rather than something that allowed humans to breathe, it was more like poisonous gas that took their lives.
That only applied to humans, though. Balutak was an Insect, so Balutak was fine.
Fortunately, evolving into a Magic Human created mana respiratory organs that could replace oxygen. Thanks to that, Charlotte could breathe using the mana stored inside her body even without oxygen.
Even if she ran out of mana, Balutak’s backpack was packed with Mana Potions, so there was less to worry about.
Mana let her breathe, but the oxygen still had harmful effects.
To deal with that, Charlotte wore a gas mask without goggles that covered only her nose and mouth, completely blocking the outside air.
“It suits you.”
“...Thank you.”
With the gas mask and her robe’s hood, she looked like the heroine of some post-apocalyptic story.
“I’m still worried. Will the Merchant Association really protect the dungeon properly?”
“Don’t worry about it. We came here to rest, after all.”
If it were only the Merchant Association, I might have been concerned. But it had provided support together with the Grand Duchy, so there was no need to worry too much.
Their forces ranged from level fifty at the lowest to level seventy at the highest. They were dependable.
The cities of the Demon Realm were generally a blend of pale purple and black.
As an undead, a child of darkness, I felt cozy there, just like being in a dungeon.
“Kirik. Demon Realm colors are dark. It’s like a dungeon.”
Balutak had lived in a forest full of colors, so it seemed the view bothered them more than the air.
Only the overall color palette was dark. The city’s structure and systems were similar to the Empire’s.
I already knew that from seeing it countless times in the game.
Restaurants, smithies, and clothing stores filled the streets. In the square, a fountain and a skyscraper-tall clock tower displayed their grandeur.
They called it the hellish Nonhuman Demon Realm, but the city hardly matched that name.
It was far removed from barbarism, a city with nothing but darker colors. It somewhat resembled a city after the apocalypse, yet it had its own charm.
The nonhuman peoples had intelligence comparable to humans, so they had achieved this kind of progress.
“Sniff, sniff. Huh? Isn’t that a human over there?”
“Huh? What? I think it is. Why is there a human in Sañjīva?”
Contrary to what I had hoped, I couldn’t relax.
The square was crowded enough already, and everyone’s attention turned toward Charlotte.
We had somehow hidden her appearance, but we couldn’t fool the noses of nonhuman peoples with sharp senses of smell.
In the middle of the Demon Realm, it was a futile disguise.
Perhaps feeling the stares, Charlotte’s shoulders hunched.
She couldn’t hide herself anyway, but seeing her clutch her hood and pull it down tightly was rather pitiful.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Stand up straight.”
I patted Charlotte’s shoulder encouragingly.
“You didn’t come here as an ordinary human. You came as the adjutant of Faith’s Tomb. Walk with confidence.”
“...Thank you.”
“And Balutak.”
“Kirik?”
“Make the scariest face you can while you walk. Make them too afraid to even look our way.”
“Kirik. Got it. Kieeek!”
With a shriek, Balutak’s face twisted into something terrifying.
As expected of a spawn of the Insect King, a DLC boss, it was an appearance enough to frighten even a demon.
“Gasp.”
“What’s with that Insect? What happened to its face?”
“Hey, don’t look. They’ll pick a fight with you.”
More than half the gazes directed our way disappeared.
Maybe that made Balutak proud. They snorted and distorted their face even further.
“Kieeek!”
“Enough already. Don’t overdo it.”
“Kirik...”
Balutak had been terrifying as a DLC boss, but now all I could think about was how to handle this little brat.
I glanced at Charlotte.
I couldn’t make out even the faintest change in expression through her gas mask, but she definitely seemed to be feeling better.
“Thank you, Boss. Thank you too, Balutak.”
After that, Charlotte walked with more confidence.
Right. We came here to rest, so she shouldn’t feel uncomfortable.
“Kirik. Balutak doesn’t like Demon Realm. Balutak wants to go home. Balutak wants to see Buraltak.”
“...It’s Kelotak.”
“Kirik? That’s right. Buraltak’s name changed to Kelotak. The Great Chieftain named her.”
Apparently, Kelotak was female, and Balutak and her(?) had that sort of relationship.
“Balutak is a deer. Buraltak is a clear river. Buraltak solves Balutak’s thirst. So Balutak cherishes Buraltak.”
Balutak had spent their entire life in the forest.
That was probably why the lore book had so many lines using forest-related metaphors.
‘No, quit calling her Buraltak.’
At this point, I wondered if this was deliberate rather than an intelligence issue.
Come to think of it, it was strange. Why was someone named Buraltak female? Was Balutak gay?
It was hard to distinguish male and female Insects by appearance.
Who knew? Maybe Balutak really was gay and liked a male Buraltak.
As I walked along, entertaining pointless thoughts, Charlotte pointed at a grand building.
“Boss. I think that’s a Beast Store.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a store frequently used by dungeon bosses. They deal in Beasts that the Merchant Association doesn’t carry, so I think it would be worth taking a look.”
There was a subtle expectation in Charlotte’s eyes.
Our dungeon’s defenses were still rather weak.
Even if Rose Sha sent support, they were ultimately reinforcements. We needed to strengthen our own forces.
I could also see levels through my system.
If there was a Beast that was high-level, cheap, and easy to handle, I was more than willing to buy it.
“How much travel money do we have left?”
“We have a total of 2,023,000 Cell.”
I knew it already, but our dungeon was really poor.
It couldn’t be helped. We were a newly established dungeon that had only just begun to settle in.
When high-grade monsters cost close to ten million Cell, two million wasn’t nearly enough.
Maybe I should just window-shop. If I saw something cheap with high potential, I could buy it.
Ding!
The bell greeted me first when I opened the door.
“Welcome.”
The Beast Store owner was a cat-faced Beastfolk wearing a monocle.
Despite their appearance, their voice was quite rough.
The owner gave us a quick look and seemed about to return to work, but their gaze stopped on Charlotte.
“A half-human, half-demon person? Or human?”
“I’m a Magic Human.”
“So, human in the end. Sorry, but humans aren’t allowed in here. Please leave.”
We had been turned away before even three seconds had passed.
I could have revealed that I was a boss of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss and handled it somehow, but I didn’t want to cause an unnecessary scene. It wasn’t that important.
Before we could all leave, Charlotte stepped outside by herself.
“Please take your time looking around. I’ll wait here.”
I hesitated a little.
Just looking at Beasts was enough to set a man’s heart ablaze.
I hadn’t shown it, but I had been excited too.
When I checked Charlotte’s expression, she genuinely seemed fine.
“All right. Balutak, stay by Charlotte’s side. A human alone in the Demon Realm would be in danger.”
“Kirik. Got it.”
I should look at Beasts by myself.
Some time alone. Even better.
* * *
“Kirik. Demon Realm hates humans. Why?”
“There are reasons. You wouldn’t understand even if I explained.”
“Kirik. Balutak is smart. But Adjutant is smarter. Balutak will be quiet.”
Charlotte let out a deep sigh.
She had expected it, but discrimination against humans was rampant here after all.
Given the tangled history between them, she couldn’t say it was unfair. Still, she couldn’t help feeling upset.
Worry and anxiety coiled in one corner of Charlotte’s heart.
If the city square was already like this, thinking about the Assembly made her feel hopeless.
‘What if I only cause trouble for the Boss?’
She had come because of the Boss’s decision, but that didn’t make her worries disappear.
Thinking any more about it would only make her feel worse.
Charlotte decided to clear her mind and simply kill time until the Boss returned.
“Kirik. Adjutant wants to go in, but Adjutant can’t go in. Then why are we here? Can’t we just go somewhere else?”
“It’s a Beast Store. The Boss only needs to go inside.”
Charlotte had grasped some of the Boss’s abilities.
The Boss could see a Beast’s potential and evolve them.
Balutak, right beside her, was proof enough of those abilities.
Balutak was a little stupid, but their abilities were outstanding.
“The Boss might only look around and come back out. Still, I firmly believe in the Boss’s Foresight.”
“Kirik. Balutak hopes it’s a female Insect.”
“That won’t happen. And you have a female named Kelotak─”
Charlotte’s expression stiffened as she stopped speaking.
For some reason, a passing Werewolf walked up to her.
Balutak looked back and forth between them with questioning eyes. They sensed a strange tension between the two.
Charlotte stared up at the Werewolf for a moment before struggling to speak.
“Have you been well?”
Ptooey.
Instead of words, the Werewolf spat.
Sticky saliva clung to Charlotte’s eyebrow, making her shut her eyes reflexively.
Before Charlotte could wipe it away, a rough hand pulled off her hood.
Charlotte’s face was fully exposed, and a vicious face loomed before her.
“You still have an insolent face.”
“....”
“What brings you to the Demon Realm, you bitch? Are you so desperate to die that you came here, you human bitch?”
“Kieeek!”
“Please stay still. They are someone we must not touch.”
Charlotte hurriedly stopped Balutak from rushing in.
One wrong touch, and someone would die. More accurately, this was someone who could make that happen.
“This is Boss Gergoer, ranked twenty-first.”
Charlotte knew Gergoer.
The memory was so unpleasant that she hesitated even to bring it up.
“...They were once my boss.”
Footnotes:
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