Chapter 81
"We’ve barely said anything beyond what we needed to for the past ten days! All you’ve said is stuff like ‘A monster!’ or ‘Let’s take a break soon,’ or ‘Leave it to me!’ or ‘This way!’ Even when we take a break and I try talking to you, all you say is ‘Yeah’ or ‘You’re right’!"
"Well, there wasn’t much to talk about... And it’s not like there’s anything I want to ask you now."
"There’s plenty we could talk about! Like what you were like in the past! If it were Alice, she’d be all, ‘Hey, hey, Kagami-san! What’s that? What’s that?’ or ‘Kagami-san! Guess what, guess what!’ She’d happily talk about anything. I’m really disappointed by how detached you are, Menou. Zero points."
"I-I’m... sorry."
Menou had never minded their lack of conversation—in fact, had even enjoyed it. Now, Menou murmured an apology, looking a little downcast.
Finding her reaction a little amusing, Kagami smiled faintly. "Well, maybe that’s just what makes you you, Menou," he murmured with a sigh, then sat down on a suitably sized rock nearby.
"Anyway... looks like we’ve reached our destination. Are you sure it’s somewhere in this forest?"
"Yes. The place described in the books from the Demon King’s Castle should be right here. In the middle of the small forest south of the royal capital. The dungeon entrance should be there."
They had arrived at the Holy Forest that morning. Relieved to have finally made it, they had spent half the day searching, yet still hadn’t found the dungeon entrance that was supposed to be somewhere in the forest.
They had searched nearly every corner of the forest, even while fending off a few monster attacks. But they hadn’t found anywhere that looked like a dungeon entrance.
"Either the entrance is incredibly small... or the information is wrong to begin with."
"Impossible... That’s an old book passed down in the Demon King’s Castle. Are you saying it recorded false information?"
"But this is the Holy Forest, you know? Of all the spots where monsters near the royal capital make their lairs, this is where the weakest ones gather, and there aren’t many of them. I used to come here myself, but it’s not the kind of place you’d expect to find some amazing dungeon. I’ve never seen or heard of one. Since the monsters here are weak, plenty of adventurers come to train, too."
Hearing that, Menou looked perplexed.
Menou clearly remembered a cross marked in the middle of a small forest south of the royal capital.
She had checked the information herself after finding it in the Demon King’s Castle library while the Demon King was still alive. Even Estellara had acknowledged the place’s existence back then.
But after spending the day searching the area with Kagami, they still hadn’t found anything. They’d barely even encountered a monster, only once or twice.
The only thing weighing them down was the money they’d earned on the way here. They’d stopped in several towns and deposited some of it at the Adventurers’ Guild bank, but they kept earning more whenever they encountered monsters. The constant clinking of gold coins rubbing together echoed around them.
"What now? Should we head back to the nearest town? I’d rather avoid the royal capital, just in case."
"Let’s look around a little longer. We might’ve missed something."
With that, Kagami began a careful search, checking behind trees and parting the grass—places he hadn’t looked before.
For the next three hours, Kagami and Menou searched the Holy Forest thoroughly. But, as expected, they found no dungeon entrance, nor even a suspicious-looking spot that might have been one.