Fuuka's values
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I tied the young man's hands behind his back and covered his mouth with cloth, dragging him to the deepest part of the labyrinth.
It seemed that all the monsters from the twenty-second floor had gathered here, as we hadn't encountered any more along the way. We had managed to reach this point without issue, and I could turn all the monsters into magic stones in such a short time. Perhaps I should thank this guy for that.
The deepest area had become a wide open space like a boss room, where nine people dressed as explorers were waiting, in addition to us.
"Heath!"
The middle-aged man with a beard, appearing to be in his forties, shouted when he saw the young man being restrained. It seemed that the guy we had just restrained was named Heath.
"Are you all his companions?" I asked, pointing at Heath.
"Yeah, that's right. Hey, kid. You think you can lay a hand on one of my comrades and get away with it?" The bearded man responded in a low voice, his eyes cold.
"The one who attacked first was him. He tried to force monsters onto us with malicious intent. It's only natural that I restrained him for self-defense," I explained.
"Tch, don't spout such nonsense. Do you really expect us to believe that crap?" the bearded man scoffed.
"Orun, let's just kill them all. Talking is a waste of time with scum like this," Fuuka, whose expression had barely changed, muttered, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
"Wait, Fuuka. Just give me a little more time," I stopped her, sensing that she was ready to strike.
Even if we were going to kill them, I wanted to gather some information first. I wanted to know why these people were harboring hostility toward us. After all, we would continue to conquer dungeons in the future, and I didn't want to face the same kind of obstruction again. If it was an issue we could eliminate beforehand, it was better to resolve it now.
"You're so confident, huh? Pretty cocky for an explorer from Tutril!" The bearded man shouted again, apparently irritated by my words.
"Explorer from Tutril," huh? Now that I think about it, Heath had called us that when he tried to push monsters onto us.
"My apologies, my comrade was rude. Let's get straight to the point. Why are you all so hostile toward us?" I asked bluntly.
"Huh? You don't even understand that?" the bearded man scoffed.
"Exactly. So, would you mind telling me? If we can solve this through discussion, all the better," I replied.
The bearded man trembled, his face turning bright red as he fumed.
It was something I had said to provoke him, but he was angrier than I had expected.
"You're really getting on my nerves...! Enough! Die, explorers from Tutril!"
With a roar, the bearded man raised a large axe in his hand. Following his lead, the other eight also drew their weapons.
They had crossed the final line.
As soon as I confirmed that they had entered a combat stance, I immediately used my [Gravity Manipulation] to amplify the gravity in the area where they stood.
"—Gahhh! W-What is this...?"
The bearded man collapsed face-first onto the ground, a shocked cry escaping his lips. The others were in a similar state, either face down or on one knee, struggling to stay upright, unable to move.
"Haruto-san, are there any other members of their group hiding nearby?"
"No, I've scouted the entire floor. Everyone here is accounted for,"
"Got it. Thanks, Haruto-san."
I thanked Haruto-san, then grabbed Heath by the collar as he kept groaning, "Mmm! Mmm!" I dragged him toward the others. He was desperately trying to resist, but my enhanced power was too much for him, and he was unable to put up any real resistance.
When I reached the group, I forcefully pulled on Heath's collar.
He staggered as he stepped into the area where gravity was intensified, then collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
"You were the ones who reached for your weapons first. I'll let you off with this for now. Now, let me ask you again: Why are you so hostile toward us?"
Though they had become my enemies the moment they drew their weapons, the first to do so was Fuuka. If they cooperated and gave me an honest answer, I had no intention of hurting them further. However, I needed to ensure they wouldn't come back for revenge later.
"Heh, is that how you ask someone a question? The explorers from Tutril are truly barbaric—"
Before the bearded man could finish his sentence, I intensified the gravity beneath him even further. The sound of his bones creaking under the pressure echoed through the air.
After a brief moment, I returned the gravity to the same level as the others. The bearded man was coughing heavily, struggling to catch his breath.
"You clearly don't understand your position. Right now, we're not equals. You should realize that your life or death is in my hands," I said coldly.
"Are you telling me that, in addition to taking our dungeon loot, you're going to take our lives too...?! You bastards!"
The bearded man glared at me with eyes filled with such anger, it seemed he could kill with a single look.
"…Take?"
"That's right! You came to conquer this dungeon, didn't you?! If this dungeon gets cleared, how are we supposed to make a living?!"
(…I see, so that's what this is about.)
Finally, I understood why these people were hostile toward us.
Explorers dive into dungeons and make a living by selling the magic stones and materials they collect. To put it simply, for an explorer, if the dungeon disappears, their source of income vanishes.
To these people, we were probably seen as enemies attempting to steal their livelihoods.
"If this dungeon disappears, how are we supposed to survive?! Are you telling me that my wife and kids are just supposed to starve to death? Huh?!"
The bearded man’s furious shout seemed to stir the others, and soon their voices filled the air in anger.
…If you only took this part in isolation, I’d undoubtedly look like the villain.
Just as I opened my mouth to counter, Fuuka spoke up before I could.
"—Pathetic."
(…Fuuka?)
"What did you say...? Hey, woman! Just because you're in a superior position, don't get cocky! You're trying to take our 'peace' from us for no reason! Do you even have the brain to understand that?!"
The bearded man yelled at Fuuka, but she didn’t even flinch, her expression completely indifferent.
"I understand that for you, this dungeon is the foundation of your livelihood and that you view us as unreasonable for trying to conquer it. With that in mind, I’ll say this: —It’s utterly pathetic."
"…………Ha, haha… Ahahahahaha! You’re crazy, all of you! That’s why you can do such unreasonable things without hesitation! Destroying people’s peace like this—no one normal could do that!!"
The bearded man’s fury reached its peak, and his eyes were bloodshot, filled with rage.
In contrast, Fuuka’s gaze toward the man was icy cold, almost as if freezing him in place.
"Go ahead, hurl all the insults you want. If it makes you feel better… it’s easier that way."
"Look who’s talking about avoiding the truth! It’s you who’s trying to look away! I’ve told you time and again! What you’re trying to do will ultimately get us all killed!!"
"That’s not true. What we’re trying to do is conquer this dungeon."
"That’s exactly it! What you’re trying to do will—"
"Even if this dungeon disappears, it doesn’t mean you’ll die immediately. If you do die, it’ll be because you’ve lived in 'laziness.' For you to push that responsibility onto us is utterly unreasonable."
Fuuka didn’t raise her voice.
And yet, her words held such force that they drowned out the bearded man's shouting.
"Living in laziness? Us...? Don’t mess with me! We've been coming to this dungeon almost every day for over twenty years, working ourselves to the bone for the people living in this land! How dare a little girl who knows nothing spout such nonsense!!"
"I understand. You said earlier that 'we are destroying your peace.' —But there is no such thing as peace in this world... anywhere... People who only see that nonexistent illusion are no different from those who have stopped moving forward, lazy people. It’s only natural to call them that."
"What... What are you saying...?"
"You think that tomorrow will be the same as today, and today is the same as yesterday, so you believe peace is a given. —But peace, that so-called everyday peace you think is secure, is nothing more than a thin layer of ice that could break at any moment."
Fuuka's voice was as emotionless as ever.
And yet, the words she was weaving now carried her "feelings," and it was clear as day.
"If you truly seek 'peace,' then you should not remain in a place you think is peaceful. If you stay there, living lazily and comfortably, that 'shallow peace' will inevitably be destroyed by people like us."
"..."
The group, who had been shouting at us just moments ago, fell silent at Fuuka’s words.
Fuuka came from Kyūka.
And, a few years ago, a civil war had broken out there.
She must have built her current worldview based on her experiences during that conflict.
In this current situation, there's no way these people, who talk about 'peace' and 'security,' have the words or mindset to argue with Fuuka.
"Even if we conquer this dungeon, it doesn’t mean you’ll die immediately. That said, you still have time to struggle to survive. You seem to think this dungeon is everything for you, but the experiences you’ve gained here will not disappear once the dungeon is gone. If you don’t give up, your lives are far from over."
With those final words, Fuuka stepped forward into the area where the gravity was amplified.
—Into the area where my ability was increasing the gravity.
"Hey..."
The bearded man muttered in concern, but Fuuka simply walked past him, unaffected by the amplified gravity, and continued toward the dungeon's core.
"Why... why is she walking normally...?"
The bearded man watched Fuuka in stunned silence, completely baffled.
"She said a lot, so I’ll say just one thing from my side. Are you aware of the current situation the Kingdom is facing?"
Once Fuuka had passed through the amplified gravity area, I returned it to normal and addressed the bearded man.
"...You're talking about the war with the Empire, right? I know about that much."
The bearded man responded somewhat dismissively, though he answered my question.
"Yes, that’s right. And the most widely accepted theory right now is that the Empire possesses a method to flood dungeons."
"Huh!? The Empire... can control dungeons!?"
The bearded man’s eyes widened in shock, as if he had never heard such a thing before.
Before we set out from Tutril on our mission from Princess Lucila, all the explorer guilds in the kingdom had already spread the word about this information to alert the explorers.
The same information had circulated in the local explorer guild near the town where we had gathered, which had also acquired knowledge of the dungeon.
Even so, we got here from Tutril in the shortest time possible.
That said, if the local explorer guild already has this information, it means they have a far faster method of information transmission than the usual channels.
Personally, I’m curious about that method.
It would certainly be incredibly useful for our clan as well.
—Ah, I got sidetracked.
"This information could have been easily obtained by going to the explorer guild. From the way you've been acting, I thought you might know, but it seems you didn’t."
"So, the reason you're trying to conquer this dungeon is..."
"Exactly what you’re thinking. If flooding occurs during the war, it will be difficult for the kingdom to provide aid to this town. That's why conquering this dungeon became necessary to prevent the flooding."
"I see... So that’s what’s been happening... We didn’t know... what we were really doing..."
The bearded man, now understanding the true reason behind our dungeon conquest, lowered his shoulders in regret.
"Well, there’s no harm done to us. We don’t intend to keep lecturing you. We have plenty of other dungeons we need to conquer anyway."
"Thank you... And I'm sorry. What your girl said earlier really hit home. You're right... Even if this dungeon is gone, it doesn't mean we're going to die. We shouldn’t be standing still here."
"I see. In that case, be sure to tell her that directly."
As I said this, I looked over at Fuuka. She had already reached the base of the pillar.
In the center of this domed space, there was a pillar made of the same crystal material as the entrances to each dungeon floor, stretching up to the ceiling. However, the pillar was broken in the middle, with the lower part of the pillar and the upper part converging to hold the dungeon core—a large magical stone—floating in the air.
Fuuka placed her right hand on the hilt of the sword she held in her left hand and, with the motion of a quick draw, slashed at the pillar.
A diagonal crack ran across the pillar, and the lower part of it slid down as it collapsed, causing the dungeon core to fall under the force of gravity.
Fuuka effortlessly caught the falling dungeon core and began walking toward us.
And with that, we’ve completed the conquest of the first dungeon.
There were a few troubles along the way, but at this rate, we’ll continue conquering dungeons one after another.
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