Chapter 29: Ryuu's Terrible Few Days.
....
Lido took his time with it, but the logic landed. A low sound came from somewhere in his throat — something between acknowledgement and approval — and he dipped his head toward Kihara.
"Your proposal is more practical than anything we've considered. I'll bring it back to the others." He glanced at Fels. "I'm going."
"Mm."
The undergrowth swallowed him. Fels turned her hooded face toward Kihara.
"The approach will take time to evaluate. Allow me to escort you back to the twentieth floor entrance."
"Appreciated. Walk me through the Xenos situation on the way — what they are, where they come from."
"Of course."
The picture Fels assembled during the walk back was more complicated than Kihara had expected. The Xenos weren't simply intelligent monsters — they were something genuinely in between, born from the dungeon itself, neither pure creature nor person, attacked by both sides whenever encountered. They had no stable territory, no safe ground anywhere.
The intelligence gap between individuals was significant. The most developed Xenos — Lido's type — could speak the common tongue fluently and demonstrated genuine capacity for learning. The lower-intelligence variants couldn't produce language, but could comprehend it, including the speech of regular monsters that no human could parse.
"So they can understand what the dungeon's monsters are saying," Kihara said, working through the implications. "That makes them potentially the single most useful scouting asset available to any adventuring party. If they ever develop to the point of integration, supporting roles would be the obvious application."
"Theoretically correct. The practical barrier is that surface dwellers are extremely unlikely to accept their existence in the near term."
"One problem at a time. First the numbers, then the leverage." He paused. "A question — can the Xenos reproduce?"
Fels gave a tired shake of her hood. "The females have the relevant characteristics. The males, as far as I'm aware, do not."
"So population growth depends entirely on what the dungeon produces naturally. That's a slow process."
"There is also a Familia that actively hunts them. Growth under those conditions is genuinely difficult."
Kihara looked at her sideways. "And you and Ouranos aren't intervening?"
"The Adventurer's Guild must remain neutral at all times."
"So you hand the mess to me."
Silence.
They were approaching the twentieth floor entrance. Kihara waved a hand with minimal patience.
"Go back and tell Ouranos to drop the idealistic version of this plan — the one where monsters and humans reach mutual understanding through goodwill alone. I'll work out the Xenos living situation. That's the more solvable problem."
"Understood."
Fels drifted toward the nineteenth floor entrance and disappeared into the dark.
"Right. Now let's find that fishing spot." He glanced downward at his shadow. "And Shinobu — thank you for the suggestions back there."
[Heheh~ I am Master's auxiliary brain. Solving problems on your behalf is simply what I do.]
Fair attribution, honestly. The entire Xenos strategy had been Shinobu's framework. Kihara's personal instinct when confronted with problems was to identify which one was directly in front of him and address it with the appropriate implement. Strategic planning at this scale was her contribution.
The fishing floor didn't announce itself the way Stardew Valley's mine levels did. There was no obvious marker near the entrance. But approximately three hundred metres east — conspicuously out of place in a floor built around forest — a stone cave opening sat in the rock face. The most likely candidate.
He walked in. About a minute of tunnel before the light changed, and then the tunnel opened up.
A waterfall descended from folds in the crystal ceiling into a lake of pale blue that reflected it back like glass. Silver shapes moved beneath the surface in unhurried patterns. On the green bank, several plump rabbits had frozen mid-chew to assess the intruder, then scattered when something yellow fell from a nearby tree and hit the grass.
The mine elevator chimed softly behind him. He turned — it had appeared at the entrance, right on schedule. And ahead, half-covered in green vines, a wooden chest sat against the stone.
"So the fishing floor and the treasure floor merged into a single hidden area."
Both the chest and the elevator were invisible to anyone but him — the same limitation as everywhere else. But as a location for the Xenos, it had everything: sufficient space, complete concealment, water, food sources, and mineral deposits.
"If they can mine ore, I can trade surface goods for materials. That cuts out a significant amount of effort on both sides."
[An excellent workforce with unique capabilities. The arrangement practically designs itself.]
"Open the chest, go back up, find Fels, get Lido down here. If he can access the hidden area, completing this task is just a matter of time."
He pulled the vines free and lifted the lid.
Another Orichalcum ingot.
He stared at it for a moment.
"...Is every chest in this dungeon going to give me metal bars?"
He took it, cast a last look at the waterfall and the silver fish beneath it, and stepped into the elevator.
Fifteen floors up, Ryuu Lion stood in the middle of the labyrinth with her composure in pieces.
She had pushed hard to get here. She was a Level 4 adventurer whose defining characteristic was speed — and the Level 3 she was trying to catch up with had apparently moved through these floors without leaving any trace she could follow. Not a scent trail, not a displaced monster, nothing.
He cleared faster than me. A Level 3 cleared these floors faster than a Level 4 whose entire build is speed.
She stood in the empty corridor for a while, processing this.
Then she set her jaw, turned downward, and kept going. She'd taken the day off. Coming back empty-handed wasn't acceptable.
The Xenos relocation to the hidden fishing area went smoothly. Two days after the initial meeting, Ouranos sent word through Fels: the Xenos task was considered complete.
Kihara's mood was excellent. He called Hestia and Lili, announced a celebratory dinner, and headed for the Hostess of Fertility.
He pushed the door open. A figure in green appeared immediately — smooth professional smile, voice perfectly calibrated to the correct register of welcome.
Ryuu had spent three days underground, found absolutely nothing, returned to work, and was now looking directly at him for the first time since.
"Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility. Three guests — right this way, please."
From the service area, Chloe and the others watched this exchange with the quiet intensity of people who have developed a theory and are gathering evidence.
She's in love with him, Chloe thought, watching Ryuu's careful, controlled expression. She's so nervous she's forgotten how to smile naturally.
The others reached the same conclusion at roughly the same moment.
The plan to assist Ryuu's love life, already in development, quietly upgraded itself to active status.
...
Thank you for reading.