Chapter 51
The city as a whole was enormous, but when divided into districts, each individual area was surprisingly small.
In other words, the city had been split into countless narrow, highly detailed sections.
There was especially no place suitable for such a large group to move around together.
“The roads are used by carriages and bicycles, and alien creatures sometimes jump out and block the way. If this many of us move together in a place like that, we’ll attract far too much attention.”
“True...”
“...But what’s a bicycle?”
“......”
In any case, they eventually reached the same conclusion as they had on the eleventh floor.
First, they would secure a base.
Then they would slowly investigate the Underground City and Devermos from there.
While they moved around searching for a suitable place, Dexter suddenly spoke.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, Captain.”
“What?”
“You and Senior Yohan... you’ve both been to the Underground City before, right?”
“So?”
“Then can’t we use your previous experience to find Devermos? You said it’s District 13-11, so shouldn’t everyone at least roughly know where it is?”
“The problem is that our experience and memories are almost useless here. The districts change every time.”
“Huh...?”
Danforth pointed toward the district number written on a nearby building.
“See that? It says District 13-4.”
“...Yes.”
“This used to be District 13-7.”
“...What?”
“Well, assuming my memory is right.”
“I’m not sure I understand...”
Belvar, who had been listening from behind them, added an explanation.
“They call it the ‘City Molting.’”
“M-Molting?”
“The entire structure of the Underground City changes every year. Building locations, district locations, everything.”
“......”
“Hundreds of residents die every time they’re caught in the molting. The city administrators spout nonsense about how the higher beings are working hard so every resident can equally enjoy the city’s blessings, but in reality, it’s nothing more than a scheme to interfere with people like us.”
Of course, that did not mean they had no countermeasure.
Belvar looked at his fellow dwarves, his expression becoming serious.
“From here on, it’s time for us dwarves to shine. Let’s hide so well that those bastards never notice us.”
They followed a long, winding alley for quite some time before reaching an empty clearing with several huge manholes.
Only weeds grew nearby, while old houses began appearing again about fifty meters away.
At Belvar’s signal, the soldiers stepped forward and opened every manhole in the area.
“Now then. It’s been a while since we entered the ‘Burrow Well.’”
There were many reasons why people ended their journeys.
Most suffered repeated defeats until they eventually lost their lives, bringing their journey to an unwilling end.
But even among the survivors, their fates were all different.
Some gave up on conquering the Dungeon, calling it a hopeless dream, and returned to the Dark Lands.
Some still held onto their dreams but were crushed by reality and remained somewhere inside the Dungeon.
Some became followers of the Inner Gods simply to survive.
Others belonged nowhere and merely wandered endlessly through the Dungeon.
There were countless people like that.
“We stopped our journey on the nineteenth floor. And while making our way back to the first floor, the place where we stayed the longest was this Underground City.”
They climbed down a seemingly endless ladder.
Until they finally reached terrain built from processed stone, Belvar continued telling stories from those days.
“To survive, we chose the deepest underground section of the Underground City. The sewers.”
He glanced around.
“This is another face of the Underground City. Residents avoid this place and call it the ‘Burrow Well.’ Most of the city’s magical beasts live down here.”
If the residents avoided this place, that also meant a large group could move around without worrying about being seen.
“We’ll establish our base here first, then head toward Devermos. We can worry about gathering allies afterward.”
Step. Step.
Thud. Thud.
Boom. Boom.
The footsteps of many different races mixed together and echoed through the sewer like a strange orchestra.
The outer walls were old and covered in mold, but they still looked remarkably sturdy.
Moss clung to several sections.
The water flowing through the center smelled unbearable, filled with the corpses of magical beasts and piles of garbage.
Farther ahead, the sewer disappeared into a blue mist that looked as though it led straight into the deep sea.
Everyone covered their noses against the smell of filth that seemed ready to cling to their bodies.
Some of the Weres looked like they were about to die.
The group continued along the wide paths on either side.
“There are four ends to the Burrow Well. The south gate has the highest magical-beast activity. It leads directly to the ‘Nameless Sea.’ Since we have no reason to visit the sea, we’ll naturally head toward the north gate.”
At first glance, every section appeared identical.
However, faint red lines running across the walls marked the boundaries between districts.
Using those markings, Belvar led them toward an area with relatively few magical beasts and closer access to Devermos.
Of course, the creatures that ruled this place had no intention of letting them pass peacefully.
Rustle, rustle.
Squeak! Squeak!
A swarm of magical beasts appeared from both directions.
Danforth stared at them with a sour expression.
“...You said there weren’t many beasts on this route.”
“I said they appeared less frequently. I never said there were fewer of them.”
“...Right. Damn it!”
Massive rodent-type magical beasts appeared first.
They were larger than a human face.
Behind them came man-eating cockroach beasts covered in glossy chitin.
There were so many that the floor almost seemed alive.
