Near Arima Onsen lies the ruins of Ochibayama Castle—commonly known as Arima Castle.
It’s said to date back to the Nanboku-cho period, but no one really knows who built it.
When you hear “castle”, you might think of famous ones like Osaka Castle or Himeji Castle, but this is just a ruin now. The only remaining structure is Myokenji Temple.
Still, the view overlooking the Arima hot spring town from the mountain peak isn’t bad at all.
We were walking through the forest a little ways off from the summit.
If it were just us, we’d probably look like a group of high schoolers on a hike, but the line of clearly non-civilian men in black suits (public security escorts) trailing behind us made it pretty unsettling.
Well, with Tuna along, this was to be expected.
「Glad I got to explain the treasure dungeon. Really, we owe a lot to that nameless Italian explorer who discovered this place.」
「Didn’t Oshino-san show us a page earlier that had the discoverer’s name? It was written right there: Enrico Verdini.」
「I didn’t read that far. It’s the same name as that Portuguese ‘Prince of the Navigators’, right?」
「Nope, the navigator prince is Henrique, not Enrico. Also, Verdini’s name was on the first line of the page.」
「…I didn’t even read that far.」
Ayame and Milk corrected me right away.
It was one thing to admit I hadn’t read the paper, but mixing up Enrico and Henrique was an actual blunder.
Come on, I took Japanese history for my social studies elective.
Not saying I know a lot of Japanese history, but still.
「Even Team Messiah’s Beta is powerless before Milk and the others.」
Aoki laughed like it wasn’t his problem.
「Don’t act like you knew about ‘Prince Enrique the Navigator’ or anything.」
「I don’t know the navigator guy, but I do know Enrique von B〇chevsky from Fighting Bo〇k! And also from Rom〇Saga 2—」
Aoki started rambling about stuff I couldn’t follow at all.
Seriously, I had no idea what he was talking about.
「Quit with the nonsense. We’re turning off the main path here, so keep up.」
Using a map and her phone’s GPS, Hime led the way deep into the mountain.
And there it was—the entrance to the Treasure Dungeon.
As expected, the door was secured with a padlock.
Just like the one we’d seen on Awaji Island.
I pulled the key out from my inventory and inserted it into the keyhole.
The padlock and the key both vanished.
「Now then, I shall begin the Ritual of Abundance.」
Mikoto stepped forward to perform the ritual that increases the number of treasure chests inside the dungeon.
Huh, she’s actually giving this a pretty solemn atmosphere.
「We’re going into the dungeon now. Here—thank you.」
Hime handed the smartphone she was holding to one of the Public Security officers.
Wait, that wasn’t her phone?
Oh right—now that I think about it, I left my own phone and other electronics back at the inn, since we can’t bring them into dungeons.
-0-
We quietly placed a PD a short distance away from the Treasure Dungeon and began to prepare for entry. I did a quick headcount—
「Ano, sorry to ask now, but… what exactly are we doing here?」
「Huh?」
I turned around—and there was Kurumizato-san, holding little Kisaichi in her arms.
「Wait… Karen-chan, you followed us!?」
「Was that bad!? I was thinking of going with everyone to the tea ceremony class, but then I saw Mizuno-senpai and the others heading off somewhere, so I rushed to catch up. I wanted to rejoin you guys, but the men in black blocked the way and I couldn’t get through until now!」
Ahh… right, the Public Security guys had formed a wall across the path.
Akashi-san must’ve noticed that Kurumizato-san wasn’t with us, but since we didn’t bring our phones, she couldn’t contact us.
For now, we borrowed another phone from the officers, and while Hime used it to let Akashi-san know Kurumizato had come this way, Mizuno-san began explaining the situation.
「Wait, a Treasure Dungeon!? That was a thing!?」
「Yup. So… what do we do? Only eight people can go in. Should I stay behind after all?」
「It’s fine. If either I or Mikoto-sama uses a tag along, we can bring a ninth person.」
Oh right—there was that option.
Just as Mikoto finished her ritual.
Still, if we asked her to use the tag along now, she’d probably snap back with something like, “So now that I’m done with the important stuff, I get stuck with that!?” Yeah… better not.
「Then, I’ll link up with Ichino-san.」
「…O-Okay.」
Ayame placed her hand on my waist as she spoke.
Honestly, it could’ve just been two of the girls pairing up, but since neither Milk nor Hime said anything, I guess this setup was acceptable.
And with that, all nine of us entered the Treasure Dungeon.
-0-
「Huh? It’s going backward!? How do you make it go forward?」
「I don’t know—oh, wait, it moved forward! You press this button here!」
Inside the Treasure Dungeon, two Danpons were happily playing together.
Looks like the game console and TV I gave them were coming in handy.
「So that’s a Danpon… Looks just like our school principal Danpol but the vibe is totally different.」
「Why are they playing Mari〇 Kart together, anyway?」
Aoki posed the perfectly reasonable question with a straight face.
Yeah… I agree.
We only set up the PD like five minutes ago.
How are they already mid-game?
「Danpon, we’re here.」
I held out a box of carbonated senbei crackers as I spoke.
「Ah, Taira! Welcome back, nano desu! Oh, are those snacks for us?」
「Oh, guests! Been a while. No need for an explanation since it’s your second visit—huh? There’s a lot of you this time. One, two, three… eight people?」
「I’m here too.」
「There are nine of you!?」
Ayame released the tag along skill and stepped away from my waist.
「Is that a problem?」
「It’s not a problem, nano desu. I mean, even Mari〇 Kart is usually for two players, but if the conditions are right, you can have up to eight! However, we only have eight rooms prepared in here.」
「I see…」
So someone does have to stay behind.
In that case—
「What’s the matter? I’m going in, of course. I came here to open treasure chests, didn’t I?」
Why is Mikoto so obsessed with these chests anyway?
「Then I’ll go with Karen-chan. Even if it’s supposed to be safe, going into a dungeon alone is still scary.」
「Yes! I’d be super nervous by myself too! I’ll stick with Mizuno-senpai!」
And so, we reorganized ourselves into eight with a pair and once again, the nine of us entered the Treasure Dungeon.
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