CHAPTER 80: SIBLINGS SURVIVE THE STAMPEDE AND RETURN HOME

　The screams of the ferocious monsters have died down, and the slimes and goblins can be seen moving in the distance.

“Is it over?” (Haru)

　Tens of minutes had already passed since the group of monsters in the forest had been wiped out. After that, a few more monsters appeared here and there, but now they’re gone and all I can see are the monsters in the first layer, which probably appeared regardless of the stampede.

“That’s right. I guess that’s the end of earning experience. Well, it went up quite a bit.”

　My level has gone up by two since I looked at my status before. If we think about it, that bear must have had quite a bit of experience. During this stampede, we were able to defeat a total of four unique monsters.

　Except for the bear, the other unique monsters were strong enough that we could beat them without using any magic or skills, but they were still unique monsters. I guess we can expect some decent drops.

　All of the dropped items from the monsters we killed were stored in mine and Haru’s item pouches directly received from the [Prison Gate], so we don’t know what was dropped. We’re going to check it slowly after this.

“Well, we’re done, but I am still stuffed since it was easy because we weren’t moving. What do you want to do after this?” (Haru)

“It’s already night, why don’t we take a bath and go to bed?” (Kei)

“That’s right. When now that I thought about it, I now feel sleepy. Can I take a bath first?” (Haru)

“Okay. I’m going to do some maintenance on my equipment, so let’s go and rest. Then, do you want to go home?” (Kei)

“Yup. Let’s go!” (Haru)

　When Haru raises her hand lightly, the hole made by the [Prison Gate] disappears.

　After seeing it, I put my hand in the Item Pouch and take out a lot of low-level metal drops.

　The metal thorns in front of me from the [Bind] and [Alchemy] have been turned into stronger materials to withstand the oncoming monsters, so they are not easy to destroy.

　Touching the low-level metal material with my left hand, then touching the thorny vines with my right hand, then I used [Alchemy]. If I hit it with my sword I can confirm that the material of the vines has changed since they are easily cut.

“This should be okay.” (Kei)

　I can put a big piece in the Item Pouch as it is, but if I try to use them for something in the future, it would be difficult to use it if it is still this big, so I have to make it smaller before storing them.

“Okay, let’s go home!” (Haru)

　I followed Haru as she cheerfully walked back to the basement with a wry smile on my face. Speaking of which.

　Looking back, I can see slimes crawling without any sign of them aiming for the entrance.

“Is this stampede related to the subjugation of Rimdobmur?” (Kei)

　Going home, I polished my weapons as I ponder about this. Haru took off her equipment and headed for the bath.

　There are a few suspicious things about this stampede. Because of the timing, we thought the stampede was directly caused by the defeat of Rimdobmur, or the huge explosion used to defeat it.

　But if the explosion was the cause, the monster would have come at us. So it’s more likely that something happened in the defeat of Rimdobmur.

　None of the monsters we killed with the traps caused a stampede, so it can’t be that a special monster appeared.

　If that’s the case, does that mean that defeating Rimdobmur will cause a stampede in the entire dungeon? No, if such a fact exists, there’s no way we wouldn’t know about it. Recently, we’ve been researching information about the dungeon. I’ve been gathering a lot of information about Rimdobmur, among other things.

　And there was another strange feeling.

“The timing is too strange.” (Kei)

　I was getting sleepy and couldn’t think straight. I didn’t want to fall asleep, so I said what I was thinking out loud and woke up.

　To be honest, I’m not sure when the stampede started. We only noticed it when we saw the monsters leaving the forest.

　However, we can tell from the type of monsters that had accumulated at the entrance of the dungeon that it hadn’t been that long. Was it during or after the battle? Is the cause due to an internal or external factor?

“External factor?” (Kei)

　The types of monsters that appear in each level of the dungeon are the same in every dungeon. If that’s the case, it wouldn’t be surprising if the cause of this apparently abnormal stampede was something outside of our dungeon.

　I reached for the computer that was nearby but I stopped my hand.

“Brother, I’m done with my bath. Good night.” (Haru)

　Haru drowsily went into her own futon and fell asleep.

“How about tomorrow?” (Kei)

　I put my polished weapon in my Item Pouch and put it in the safe. I took a quick bath, laid out my futon next to Haru’s as usual, and went to sleep.