[TS] Surviving in a Yuri Visual Novel

Leo headed towards the area where the dungeon had reportedly appeared, accompanied by Irina and Chloe, while I was with Leticia.

The area where Leticia and I arrived was a small village formed by farmers located some distance from the imperial capital.

As we entered the village, we could see the anxious faces of the residents who seemed to be trembling with fear. It seemed that the presence of the dungeon was causing them significant distress.

Of all places for a dungeon to appear, it had to be in a village that didn’t even have a proper force to defend itself. A terrible disaster could have easily occurred.

Fortunately, we should be grateful that the dungeon showed no reactions at all.

‘…Well, most of the people in this village have experienced the Demon War, so I guess that’s understandable.’

During the time when the war was active, there were many Mazoku aiming to break the outskirts before storming the capital.

Countless villages had been trampled by such Mazoku.

Since the village mostly had older individuals rather than children, they were likely more aware of the dungeon’s dangers than the residents of the imperial capital.

The difference between those who had experienced the war and those who hadn’t was like night and day. In contrast, the children who hadn’t experienced the war seemed unable to fully accept the warnings from the adults, though they were still sensing the threat.

Just as we were about to head towards the dungeon after confirming with our eyes that the village was not directly harmed, a middle-aged man appeared before us.

The man bowed to both of us and, showing respect, addressed Leticia.

“Are you the Sage?”

“And you are?”

“I am Ganesha, the village chief. I heard from the knight who came as a representative of His Majesty the Emperor. I didn’t expect to meet one of the Hero party members, the Sage, like this.”

The middle-aged man, Ganesha, introduced himself, his eyes gleaming with admiration as he gazed at Leticia. A mixture of pure admiration, reverence, and gratitude filled his gaze. It was a look I had seen countless times since the end of the war with the Mazoku.

At that moment, Ganesha looked at me beside Leticia and asked.

“Is this person part of your party?”

“My wife… ugh.”

“She’s part of the party.”

“Oh, I see. It’s clear to me at a glance that she is no ordinary individual.”

I stepped on Leticia’s foot, who was about to naturally say “wife,” and with a smile on my face, I responded that she was part of the party.

Ignoring the small groan that escaped Leticia and her frown, I looked back at Ganesha, who seemed to be mesmerized by something and bowed to us.

“The knight has returned to the capital, so I will guide you to the dungeon.”

“Isn’t it dangerous to go to the dungeon? Just telling us the location should be enough.”

“I am well aware of the dungeon’s dangers. I plan to guide you up to a safe point, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

I value my own life as well. Ganesha added seriously.

This was the word of someone who had experienced war firsthand.

It was true that as the head of the village, he couldn’t be easily dismissed. However, even though the dungeon had not caused any harm yet, a dungeon was still a dungeon. It could be dangerous, and I preferred not to be guided by a civilian without any fighting power, but having the village chief’s guidance would likely help us reach the dungeon more quickly.

After a moment of hesitation, Leticia and I exchanged a glance and nodded to Ganesha.

“Then please guide us only to the front of the dungeon. We’ll take care of the rest, so don’t follow us.”

“As I mentioned earlier, I also value my life. I am only taking on the role of a guide because I want to help the Sage a little… Thank you very much. You can just follow me.”

He clearly said he wanted to help, even if it was for a pointless guiding role.

It would have been fine if he just told us the general direction. After all, being a dungeon, we would be able to see it well from a bit of a distance due to its massive size.

But did he have to insist on guiding us?

I looked back at Ganesha, who was telling us to follow him, with a puzzled expression. Was he hiding something? He didn’t seem to have any ulterior motives, but for some reason, my nerves felt on edge, leading me to unnecessary suspicions.

“Charlotte.”

“Leticia?”

“I don’t think the village chief is lying. It doesn’t feel like a trap either. So, relax your expression. He’s a human and hasn’t fallen, so you can rest easy.”

“…Does he just want to help us sincerely?”

“Perhaps.”

Even if we don’t remember it, didn’t our Hero party help him during the war? As Leticia said that, she placed her hand on my shoulder and reminded me that being overly suspicious of others was not a good habit, to which I nodded.

That was certainly true.

“I’m sorry. I was too sensitive.”

“Hehe. You don’t need to apologize to me. The village chief knows this road better than we do, so let’s trust him and follow.”

I agreed with Leticia’s words. As I took in her reaction, which showed that she was amused, I felt a bit awkward.

“Sage, this way!”

Regardless, the chief, who had gone ahead, seemed not to care about our conversation. To be precise, he probably hadn’t heard it at all. Seeing the chief’s somewhat excited expression, which was not fitting for his age, I muttered as if I had reached enlightenment.

“I must have been imagining things.”

Yeah.

Even if it was a trap, I didn’t think it would be a problem.

“Haha.”

Leticia let out a small laugh as I followed the chief with her. Before long, we arrived at the front of the problematic dungeon.

The dungeon appeared to be based on a cave. The cave itself seemed to have transformed into a dungeon, and an artificial, massive door welcomed us.

According to Ganesha, it was said to have existed since ancient times. Leticia and I sent Ganesha back to the village, who had worked hard up to this point, and began our serious investigation.

“This dungeon is bigger than I expected. It’s really fortunate that nothing has happened since it appeared.”

If an elite soldier from the Demon King’s army had popped out from such a large dungeon, this village, which didn’t even have proper equipment, would have been turned into a wasteland in no time.

Imagining the worst possible future, I frowned.

“Do you think Leo’s side is the same?”

“Probably similar.”

Leticia, who had been observing the dungeon, continued while sliding her finger along the dungeon’s wall.

“It doesn’t seem like it was created to use this cave as a temporary base; rather, it seems designed to lure humans in… yet there’s no sense of life inside.”

“This dungeon feels like just an empty shell.”

An unnecessarily large shell without any content. That’s what I would liken this dungeon to. Just as Leticia said, I felt no life within.

A chilling silence separated us.

Tap, tap.

I knocked on the dungeon’s door with my hand and asked into the air.

“Is this really functioning?”

“Best if it doesn’t, but it’s definitely active. And this might be part of their scheme as well. If they spread dungeons across the world, it would be hard to see it as just a simple provocation.”

“Speaking of which, the previous Demon King didn’t typically make dungeons this large, did he?”

“The dungeons were meant for surprise attacks. He didn’t create large ones. Small dungeons wouldn’t be easily noticeable and were good for ambushes, as humans who entered the dungeon were usually taken down helplessly by the Demon King’s army.”

Leticia’s eyes shone strangely.

She must be picking up the energy of another ability different from the magical energy flowing through the dungeon.

I could see a hazy curtain enveloping the entire dungeon since I had awakened my magical eye, but Leticia could see beyond that, so her vision in such matters was more accurate.

After a few minutes had passed, Leticia raised an eyebrow.

“Well, to investigate in more detail, we’ll need to go inside. The wave patterns of this dungeon are entirely different from those of the previous Demon King.”

“Since we’ll have to go inside eventually anyway, it doesn’t really matter… but is there a chance it might be a trap?”

“It could be a trap.”

“…I really don’t want to go inside anymore.”

I voiced my reluctance, exuding a sense of dread. Leticia smiled slightly at that. After giving her a once-over, I placed my hand on the dungeon door.

My hand seemed pitifully small beside the dungeon’s door. Eventually, the veins in my wrist bulged. As I felt the magical energy concentrate in my hand, I opened the dungeon door with a surprising strength that seemed unbelievable from my slender fingers.

Creeeak, creeeak—

With a horrible noise like opening a rusty iron door, I squinted and glanced around at the dungeon’s scenery before speaking.

“It feels like this dungeon was just created, but I thought there would at least be one Mazoku soldier inside. Yet, there isn’t even a single monster here.”

“I know. Was its purpose really just to buy time?”

And just as we were about to step into the dungeon, the door closed behind us, and a new quest appeared before our eyes.

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