“…Was there always a cave here?”
“Looks spacious inside. Should we check it out?”
The villagers walking through the forest found an unfamiliar cave.
Not unusual in itself. As long as the Demon Lord’s Army existed, shifts in terrain and the appearance of new dungeons were a familiar part of life.
Living out on the frontier, they had no way of knowing the Army was on the verge of collapse.
So they assumed this was another dungeon-like formation born from the Demon Lord’s power — a new one, same as always.
Something this out-of-the-way wouldn’t host a proper dungeon. Probably just a hollow shell formed from residual magical energy, with the shape but none of the substance.
Thinking that, they headed in without much preparation.
“…What do you think?”
“At minimum, this isn’t like the ones we’ve seen before.”
One step inside, and they knew.
The dungeon-like formations they were used to were just empty cavities — creatures inside, if any, were insects or small reptiles at most. No treasure chests, no traps, nothing worth going in for. Wild animals eventually moved in and made it home. That was how those places went.
This was different.
Not because they had exceptional detection skills.
Not because they sensed a monster presence or spotted a trap in advance.
“…Danger ahead. Turn back.”
“Who put up a sign like that? Maybe someone from the village found it first?”
“If that were it, we’d have heard about it. Village that small.”
Which meant the sign was put up by someone they didn’t know.
That alone was clearly wrong. An artificial object in a place like this was inherently strange.
They shifted their mindset and resolved to move very carefully.
“There’s a path…”
“With torches to light it, no less. That settles it — this is actually a dungeon.”
“Hard to imagine something with this kind of interior having nothing inside. Not like the old ones.”
It wasn’t reckless.
If something dungeon-like had appeared near the village, someone had to investigate it.
A dungeon-like thing appeared on its own wouldn’t be enough to get adventurers or the kingdom to move.
So the ones who normally handled stray monsters before they reached the village were the natural choice to take a look.
“There’s even a door. Which means there’s a room on the other side.”
“Monsters might be in there. Let’s get a look before we do anything.”
They eased the door open just slightly.
A peek through the gap — yes, monsters inside.
No sign they’d been noticed. They closed the door the same way they’d opened it, careful not to make a sound.
“What do we think?”
“Three goblins… about the same as what we’ve run into outside the village.”
“Try fighting them while keeping a clear path to retreat?”
Three on three — one each.
They’d fought goblin groups heading toward the village before, and those had more enemies than this.
Manageable. That was the judgment, and they swung the door open and moved into the room.
The goblins startled at the sudden intrusion, stumbled — and that hesitation, against opponents like these, was fatal.
One clean hit each, and the goblins went down.
“Same as normal goblins.”
“No reinforcements, no hidden mechanisms.”
“Let’s go a little further.”
Out of the room, and the corridor split left and right.
Nothing to distinguish one from the other, so they took the left. Another door, same as the last.
“Again. Hope it’s just goblins.”
“Same approach. Check our retreat first, then take a look.”
Exit confirmed, then a look inside.
More or less the same as before — same interior, goblins inside.
The only difference: one more monster than last time.
“Goblin Soldier…”
“We could take it with two of us on it, but then the other goblins become a problem.”
“Probably time to turn back.”
“But — look at that over there.”
Where he pointed: a wooden box in the corner.
A treasure chest. Not just monsters — a treasure chest.
The possibility of a mimic couldn’t be ruled out, but mimics don’t appear anywhere treasure chests wouldn’t. If a chest is here, it’s real.
Which settled it. This was a proper dungeon.
“What if we just had a look at what’s inside?”
“Don’t be stupid. Best case it’s a recovery item, worst case it’s a mimic.”
“Fair enough… looks like this is as far as we go.”
“Dungeon this size, the kingdom won’t mobilize. We’ll just report to the nearby adventurers’ guild.”
“Yeah. Getting killed by goblins because we pushed too far — not how I want to go.”
They understood their own limits.
So they didn’t push. Not having just enough strength to be reckless might have been lucky for them.
Only two rooms in, and the goblins were already incrementally stronger and more numerous. Going further would just mean facing worse odds.
And the deeper you go, the more the thinking shifts — we’ve come this far, might as well try one more room. A treasure chest along the way makes it worse.
The ones who decided to pull back at the second room might have been exactly the kind of people suited to the adventuring life.
◇
“They left — is that fine?”
“Yep. Better than expected, actually.”
Thanks to Pilukaya sharing his field of view, we’d been watching the new auxiliary dungeon from the moment it opened.
Three men who looked like villagers had entered, made it to the second room, and turned back.
No real outcome for either side.
I’d been thinking it was a bit of an inconclusive result, but Pilukaya called it better than expected.
“They came to confirm whether this was a real dungeon. Determining it was beyond them means they’ll report it to the adventurers’ guild.”
“Exactly. Which means the real thing starts now.”
“So adventurers capable of handling goblins will be dispatched.”
“Hmm~ maybe. But like I keep saying, it’s a frontier village. Whether anyone competent actually gets sent is another question.”
That’s a problem.
Then again, being short-handed is universal.
If whoever gets sent isn’t up to it… they’ll probably get overconfident, push too deep, and get taken out by monsters or a trap.
“Notice what that means? For a while, we’re looking at a bonus period — nothing but easy pickings walking in.”
“Yes. So from here, we manage the casualty rate carefully, and make sure we don’t get on the adventurers’ guild’s bad side.”
“Running a dungeon really is complicated.”
They really are the Four Heavenly Kings.
They’re scheming, and somehow they both look like they’re enjoying it.
And the fact that I’m enjoying it right alongside them without any sense of revulsion — that settles it. I’m completely a demon now.
Fine by me. If it comes down to a fight until one side is gone, I’ll do everything I can to keep my side — my fellow demons — alive.
…Now then. Time to think carefully about managing those casualty numbers.