“So there are decent reincarnates after all.”
“Of course there are. We wouldn’t bother securing one otherwise. Have we finished looking into this particular one?”
“Yes. Kunimatsu Yukio. Skill: Appraisal. He appears to be someone worth knowing.”
“We drew a good one.”
“When the other reincarnates moved on the underground demon realm, he was the one who tried to stop them. He was labeled a coward for it and was isolated by the group. He’s been training alone since.”
“Foolish of them. But convenient for us. Prioritize Kunimatsu over the other reincarnates.”
“Understood.”
◇
“Kunimatsu-sama. Your schedule for today, if you would.”
“Um, yes. I’m planning to go hunt monsters — to train, I mean.”
Since that day, I’d been moved to an extravagant guest room.
On top of that, a beautiful maid assigned to look after me personally. Extraordinary treatment.
I hadn’t thought about it in the game, but these are castle-serving maids — each one of them is genuinely striking.
Having someone like that fuss over me is honestly difficult to get used to.
“By yourself, Kunimatsu-sama?”
“Yes, well… it’s easier right now.”
“I see. Please don’t hesitate to request an escort whenever you need one.”
She doesn’t push. That helps more than she knows.
And so today, like every day, I went out alone to fight monsters.
No companions. At first I was with my classmates, but after I suggested moving cautiously, I gradually stopped being included. Eventually they stopped acknowledging me at all.
So I’ve been making do with Appraisal, the skill the goddess gave me.
I’d assumed it just let me read status information, but it turned out to be considerably more useful than expected — in a good way.
For one thing, I can appraise any target within a very wide range.
When fighting monsters, I can see at a glance what’s around me and how many.
And since I know their strength, I’m not walking into anything dangerous.
It’s not just stats either — I can see their attack methods, drop items, and weaknesses, so the information content is far beyond what I’d anticipated.
Knowing everything in advance means I can defeat monsters steadily without overextending, and since I can track my own status too, I know exactly how much stronger I’m becoming.
The efficiency compared to grinding blindly is completely different.
“Kunimatsu-sama. Thank you for your advice the other day.”
“Oh — no, I’m glad if it was useful.”
The one who bowed was a castle soldier.
I’d overheard him mentioning a dungeon that had appeared near a frontier village — something about it nagged at me, so I’d approached him.
He showed me the map, gave me a rough location and what information they had. The details concerned me.
It wasn’t a cave or anything natural — it was definitely a dungeon. But the monsters inside were weak goblins, and the soldiers spoke about it optimistically, assuming adventurers would clear it eventually.
But leaving that place alone would probably be a mistake.
Because a dungeon in that location didn’t exist in the game.
“Without your repeated warnings, we would have been wiped out there.”
“No — you managed to retreat because of your own ability…”
As soon as I heard about it, I flagged it as potentially dangerous and asked the soldiers to investigate.
I told them not to let their guard down, reminded them multiple times that it might be more dangerous than it looked — they gave me skeptical looks but agreed to go.
And my prediction came true.
They pushed the Goblin King boss to the brink, but then a sudden cascade of boulders triggered all at once. They came close to being completely wiped out.
As a result of that warning, I ended up being credited with far more than I deserved, and was given a different level of accommodation from the other reincarnates.
I can feel the resentment from my classmates, but there haven’t been any direct problems yet.
So it’s a good thing, probably — except the thing I’m actually worried about is that dungeon, which I still don’t understand.
“…Um, I have a favor to ask.”
“Of course. Whatever is in our power, we’ll help.”
Running into this soldier right now is good timing. Better to deal with the source of worry while I can.
I should see it for myself and assess how dangerous it actually is.
A dungeon I don’t recognize from the game means it’s likely additional content.
That kind of content usually has higher difficulty than the main game…
I’d hate for it to sit there, grow over time, and eventually become a bigger threat than the Demon Lord.
Better to investigate even if it means pushing myself a little.
“That dungeon — would you come investigate it with me?”
“…Admittedly, the place was more dangerous than we anticipated. With your help, Kunimatsu-sama, we might actually be able to clear it.”
“I can’t promise how much help I’ll actually be, but I agree it should be dealt with sooner rather than later.”
“Understood. I’ll go speak to the unit commander immediately!”
“Thank you. I appreciate it…”
Alright. No turning back now.
Well — if it’s dangerous, we all retreat immediately, soldiers included.
Either way, I’ve committed to entering a dungeon I don’t recognize.
“If the early sections are just run-of-the-mill weak monsters that’ll be fine… though something like finding a baby creature we could deal with before it grows would make things even easier.”
◇
“Three Goblin Soldiers and ten goblins in the next room.”
“Understood! You heard him — no Mages yet! Take them down clean!”
Proceeding smoothly so far.
The path branches occasionally, but it’s not a confusing layout.
And since monsters only appear inside rooms, I can analyze all enemy forces in advance.
The soldiers handle the actual fighting, so I haven’t needed to engage at all.
“The treasure chest contains… looks like recovery items.”
“You can tell before opening it?”
“It’s the only thing I’m good for.”
Early-access consumable items.
…Strange. If this is additional content, the monsters are ordinary and the items aren’t notable.
I’d expected rare monsters or rare items tucked somewhere hard to find, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Which means maybe it really is a dungeon that grows gradually with story progression.
“Kunimatsu-sama, up ahead —”
“Yes, looks like the boss room. One Goblin King, ten Mages, ten Soldiers. The King and the Mages will buff the others. We should reduce the Mages first.”
“We defeated some of them last time, but they’ve respawned as expected…”
“However, each one individually is weaker than any of you. As long as we account for the traps, a full wipe should be possible.”
Honestly, this is already as good as cleared.
The boss room monsters — same types, same numbers as what the soldiers described from last time.
Last time they had to withdraw because of the traps, but without those they’d have finished the job.
So this time it should be straightforward.
“No traps remaining. It seems triggering them all last time consumed them.”
“You can tell that too… remarkable. Then we won’t be caught off guard this time!”
I scanned every corner of the boss room. Only monsters and a treasure chest.
I’d been shown a sample monster trap beforehand to test whether Appraisal could read it — it could. Which means if there were traps in the boss room, I’d see them. There are none.
“Ready! Move in!”
At the unit commander’s order, the soldiers poured into the boss room.
Their roles were already assigned. Some held against the Soldiers’ attacks, others moved on the Mages.
The commander was handling the King personally — holding position, buying time.
I need to do what only I can do.
Scanning the room again — still nothing that registers as a trap.
No boulders on the ceiling. Nothing on the walls or floor shows up in Appraisal.
This room really is just the monsters.
“Rescanned the room! No traps! Focus entirely on the monsters!”
“Appreciated! King is mine! Multiple targets on the Mages, then clean up the Soldiers!”
As he spoke, the soldiers were already bringing down the Mages one by one.
Every Mage that fell made the next one easier to kill.
The commander, who’d been straining to hold the King at the start, looked noticeably more comfortable as the buffs dropped off.
“Commander! Just the one left!”
“Everyone performed well!”
And the last Goblin King went down without ceremony.
…Done. It’s over?
Already?
This was additional content — and all we fought were goblins?
No enemies that could threaten the world later, nothing that could grow into something worse than the final boss…
Dead end here, it seems. All that’s in the back is a treasure chest that looks somewhat better than the ones along the way.
Contents are… a silver sword. Well, that’s about right.
Mid-game weapon. Nothing special — it can be upgraded to last through the end, but there’s no special enchantment that makes it the key to beating any particular boss. It’s just equipment.
Hmm… maybe I was overthinking this.
It’s additional-content dungeon, but maybe it was a beginner-friendly one?
Nothing but goblins, traps that can only trigger once — it feels like a dungeon designed to teach new players how to fight and explore. And clearing it rewards you with a decent weapon. That seems to be all it was.
“Kunimatsu-sama. Thank you so much! Because of you, we cleared the dungeon without a single casualty!”
“No — it was your strength that did it.”
“We have the king’s permission. Please take the chest’s contents with you.”
“Oh — thank you.”
Is that alright? I didn’t fight at all.
But since it’s a chance to pick up a reasonably good weapon, I should accept the offer.
And so the investigation of an unfamiliar dungeon that had been weighing on me ended, for us, as a complete success.