WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈
Chapter 77: Lullaby
──────
Dreamland, Area 3.
Third floor of the mansion, 23:00.
There had been an incident involving a monster.
Still, it had not been a particularly threatening enemy.
It had not appeared again since they defeated it.
It was best to assume it had been eliminated.
Dragrade had investigated the second floor.
The food in the Dining Room was safe to eat.
Unlike the odd-numbered floors, the even-numbered floors had no hours during which activity was prohibited.
He relayed the results of his investigation.
The group immediately headed to the Dining Room to satisfy their hunger and thirst.
Just as he said, the count did not rise.
"This is pretty good."
"It looks like something you would see at a banquet."
The food truly was a feast.
As though it were rewarding them for all their hard work.
It was the most precious meal in the world.
"There's nothing for us to fear now."
"So this is how you clear Area 3."
"Even if we can't clear it this time, we'll be able to begin the next raid from a much more advantageous position."
"Right. Just like the Elevator the Dwarves discovered."
After getting plenty of rest, they relayed all the information they had gathered so far to the recording team.
The biggest issue was still where they could use the Escape Scroll.
They decided to place their hopes on the Elevator.
They were currently in Area 3.
There was no way the Dungeon Master would let them pass through Area 1 and Area 2 for free, so they were certain an Elevator had to exist at the end of this area.
"The recording team will be waiting at the entrance again. We can have them try it once."
"I completely agree."
They resumed their exploration.
.
.
.
.
.
Fourth floor of the mansion.
Fifth floor of the mansion.
Sixth floor of the mansion.
Seventh floor of the mansion.
Eighth floor of the mansion.
...
...
The group pulled the levers and steadily climbed the stairs.
On the odd-numbered floors, they only had to find the key, then unlock the Drawing Room door and enter.
On the even-numbered floors, they simply had to break down the Master Bedroom door, so there was nothing difficult about it.
Now that they knew everything, there was no dungeon more trivial than this one.
Even so, they could not let their guard down.
There might be a trick they had not discovered yet.
They carefully watched the color of the hallways as they moved forward.
.
.
.
.
.
Everything was going remarkably smoothly.
Yet Krok's expression remained stiff.
He could not shake the uneasy feeling.
There was still a question left unanswered.
It was what had happened on the first floor.
Hector, Olivia, Bitters, Comfort, Leo, Krok, and Dragrade.
There had definitely been seven people on the first floor.
Yet the Death Count had only risen by six.
Fine. He could let that slide.
Maybe someone had not met a certain condition.
It did not matter much right now.
But why had the count risen when they killed the monster?
If the count went up, that meant it was not the right answer.
How were they supposed to deal with it if not by killing it with a Longsword?
Should they wait until the monster disappeared?
No. That could not be it.
If they had not acted, Dragrade would have suffered something terrible.
"What are you thinking so hard about?"
"The monster."
"The monster... Well, there is no chance it will not appear again, so it really is something to think about. Even if we can kill it with a Longsword, the count still rises..."
"The monster appeared at exactly two in the morning, correct? How about we stop investigating before then and wait in a safe room, like a Study or Guest Room on an odd-numbered floor?"
Krok nodded.
During their first investigation of the first floor, Krok had visited a Guest Room.
Dragrade seemed to have stayed there for quite some time as well.
The Study was uncertain, but the Guest Room was definitely safe.
It was a reasonable idea.
.
.
.
.
.
Ninth floor of the mansion, 03:00.
Krok looked at the clock.
It was long past two, but there was no sign of the monster appearing.
"Was I worrying for nothing...?"
"Either way, that's a relief."
The group left the Guest Room to continue their exploration.
Krok rose from the floor to follow them, but then stopped.
"Hm...?"
This was a Guest Room.
An ordinary room with a bed, a chair, a table, and an oddly large wardrobe.
It definitely was.
Yet something felt off.
It felt like he was forgetting something important.
'Did I forget something?'
"Krok. Hurry up."
"If you don't hurry, we're leaving you behind."
"Ah, yes..."
Krok stared at the Guest Room.
Then he shook his head and followed the others.
.
.
.
.
.
Tenth floor of the mansion.
Eleventh floor of the mansion.
Twelfth floor of the mansion.
Thirteenth floor of the mansion.
Fourteenth floor of the mansion.
Fifteenth floor of the mansion.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion.
They continued climbing the stairs without stopping.
There were sixty-four floors left.
They were moving at a remarkable pace compared to the first day.
They had given themselves plenty of time to rest, so if they kept walking diligently, they could theoretically climb around twenty-seven floors a day.
They could escape Area 3 in three days.
"What are you going to do once we're out?"
"I'm going to drink a beer first, then think about it."
"You're going to forget that you wanted beer anyway. Is there any point to this conversation?"
"It'll be fine if we write it in the journal."
"That's true."
Olivia and Hector had been sacrificed.
The Academy expedition team was not in good shape either.
Still, the fact that they could get out gave the four knights at least a little comfort.
Dragrade looked at the clock and murmured.
"Shall I get started?"
His voice was so quiet that no one heard it.
.
.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 07:30.
"Should we rest here for a while?"
"Why am I still so tired, no matter how much I sleep?"
"Everyone spent the night wide awake because of the Death Count."
The group rested in the hallway.
Despite climbing this far in one go, the Death Count had not risen at all.
Everyone must have relaxed.
"Just in case... I'll stand watch first."
"You've been doing it alone since last time... Are you really all right?"
"We'll take turns this time. I'll go first, then rest for a long while afterward."
"What a meticulous strategy..."
Dragrade stood watch.
Everyone else sprawled out in the hallway.
They could not be bothered to head to a Guest Room on an odd-numbered floor.
Besides, they were people who could sleep just fine on dirt floors.
Krok closed his eyes as well.
The exhaustion that had built up carried him into sleep.
Dragrade rummaged through his backpack.
Then, as if he had found something useful, he pulled out an item.
It was Incense.
Depending on the amount used, it could help those suffering from insomnia sleep, or let killers put their targets to sleep before an assassination.
He lit the Incense.
So everyone could sleep comfortably.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 08:00.
「13」
One person vanished from the hallway.
A scream rang out.
The others simply remained lying there.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 08:05.
「12」
Another person vanished.
No one woke up.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 08:10.
「9」
"Beer..."
As though dreaming of something pleasant, someone scratched their stomach while mumbling in their sleep, then vanished.
Only two people remained in the hallway.
"Mmm..."
Dragrade carefully covered Krok's ears as the knight shifted in his sleep.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 08:25.
「8」
Krok woke up.
With a pained expression, he clutched his neck.
'Huh...?'
The mansion gave him no time to react.
An invisible collar fastened around his neck.
An unknown force began dragging him toward the Prison.
"Urk..."
Trying to speak was impossible.
He could barely breathe, so there was no way he could make a proper sound.
What the hell was going on?
What happened to the others?
Had the count risen?
Did Dragrade get caught?
Scrape, scrape, scrape.
Even while his body dragged across the floor, Krok looked around.
Then he saw it.
Dragrade stood in place, looking down at him.
Krok understood.
What had happened to him.
What fate the others had met.
He understood it all.
So that was it.
That was what it was.
Only now did every piece of the puzzle fall into place.
The unease he had felt in the Guest Room on the ninth floor.
It was the full-length mirror.
The full-length mirror he had seen on the first floor was not there.
The Guest Rooms on the other floors were the same.
Only the Guest Room on the first floor had a mirror.
Leo and Krok had gone to the Guest Room.
Because Dragrade's Communication Magic had been cut off.
They had limited information at the time.
Then one incident after another had erupted like a storm, burying the matter.
But that was the one problem they should not have simply overlooked.
That thing was a fake.
A fake Dragrade.
-G...i...v...e... i...t... b...a...c...k.
Then the thing they had killed with their swords...
Krok's expression twisted further.
The truth was too much to bear.
But every negative emotion came from thought.
From that perspective, perhaps Krok was fortunate.
Bzzzzzz-
A tool unlike anything he had ever seen would soon turn Krok into nothing more than a lump of flesh incapable of doing anything.
He could not pass the information on to the recording team.
After all, once subjected to such torture, he would become an idiot capable of nothing but screaming.
"Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh!"
Screams echoed through the sixteenth floor of the mansion.
They did not seem likely to stop anytime soon.
.
.
.
.
.
The sole survivor on the sixteenth floor stared at the ceiling.
The Wave was not over yet.
She lay there quietly, waiting for someone.
.
.
.
.
.
Sixteenth floor of the mansion, 09:00.
Step.
Step.
A figure appeared on the sixteenth floor.
It had the form of a woman whose body melted like mud.
It was the real Dragrade.
He looked exactly as he had before the knights butchered him yesterday.
The real Dragrade fell to his knees and begged.
"Give it back... Give it back... Give it back..."
"Should I give it back?"
Dragrade repeated the same words like a parrot.
He looked pitifully foolish.
"Give it back... Give it back... Give it back..."
"I'll give it back."
She smiled.
She intended to keep her promise.
To return Dragrade's body, the one occupying it had to undergo a necessary process.
Crack, crack.
Dragrade's expression twisted.
She began mutilating herself.
First, she cut off the wings Dragrade had been most proud of.
Then she cut off the legs, so he could never walk freely again.
Finally, she severed the one remaining arm.
"Ahhh... Aahhh... Aahhh..."
It seemed like she might soon die from blood loss.
But every time she tore off a body part, she drank a High-Grade Healing Potion.
Once the wound sealed perfectly, she began again.
The completed body of Dragrade looked like a roly-poly doll.
"Take it."
"Aaaaaaaaaah..."
She took Dragrade's freedom away.
Her expression was satisfied.
Dragrade received his body back.
Even though he had returned to the body he wanted so desperately, he did not look happy at all.
"Uuuh... Uuuh... Uwah..."
Dragrade no longer spoke in normal language.
He simply began crying like a newborn where he lay.
"......"
Then she blinked.
Her eyes looked different from before.
She tried to approach the crying Dragrade.
But at a certain point, she stopped.
She only stood there and stared at him endlessly.
She tilted her head.
"Why?"
After a while, she moved her legs again.
.
.
.
"Good boy. Good boy."
"......"
"There, there, there. That's it."
Dragrade returned to his mother's arms.
Holding him in her arms, she whispered softly.
From that moment on, Dragrade stopped crying.
She smiled as she looked at him, now quiet.
She sang a lullaby.
So he could sleep peacefully and have good dreams.
Just like when he had first been born in the dungeon as a hatchling.
Quietly.
"My baby sleeps so soundly. Doggy, don't bark..."
It might have been nothing more than a woman with a melting body holding someone with no limbs as she sang alone.
Yet the scene looked remarkably warm.
Like a moment from the past.
It seemed somehow familiar to them.
.
.
.
Then there was no one left.
* * *
*This is an old comment.
dragonbrat: Honestly, I can't help but hate him.
dragonbrat: If I said I didn't resent him, that'd be a lie.
dragonbrat: But you know.
dragonbrat: I die here, but...
dragonbrat: Still...
.
.
.
.
.
This Wave had been successfully defended too.
I stretched.
"Ugh..."
The reactions of the Veterans who had spent time with dragonbrat in the past.
And me, skimming through old posts right now.
How should I put it?
It did not feel like the kind of revenge dragonbrat would really carry out.
"That's kind of ironic."
It was only a hypothetical, but if Dragrade had not betrayed dragonbrat, perhaps Dragrade would have appeared in dragonbrat's posts too.
Just like antqueen showing off her offspring.
"Ah, I'm tired."
Of course, the past was the past.
The dead were dead.
The living had to think about the future.
That was undeniably true.
"Blegh."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go collect them soon."
I took my eyes off the monitor and stood up.
Then I showered Malrang with pets.
Even more vigorously than usual today.
"Malrang, let's stay together for a long, long time."
"Blegh?"
I spoke quietly to Malrang as it rubbed against me.
How should I put it?
As though Malrang knew how bitter I felt, it stretched out part of itself and brushed the back of my hand.
"Are you comforting me?"
"Blegh."
It looked just like someone holding out a hand.
A smile rose to my lips without me realizing it.
I took Malrang's hand.
Then I started walking.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
