As Long as You Have the [Shop] Skill, the Dungeonized World Is a Breeze ~The Bullied Youth’s Payback

Chapter 65 – Family Background is Useful

“Hey, my bad, my bad. Sorry to keep you guys waiting.” (Kuzuhara)
Kuzuhara came running over with a hand raised. His expression seemed somewhat refreshed, but…

Did this guy seriously throw up?

I thought he had taken some time alone to clear his head, but he might have really been retching up the contents of his stomach.

“….Aight! Let’s get on with discussing the strategy.” (Kuzuhara)
….Those eyes. He certainly looked more refreshed, but unlike his wavering gaze before, the look in his eyes was firm. I could tell that he had sorted out his feelings.

“More importantly, wouldn’t it be better to start heading to the school first?” (Komon)
“No, the other side might have people monitoring us. It’s safe to talk here.” (Kuzuhara)
“….I see. That’s fine then.” (Komon)
Sol told me that there was no activity over there, so it was fine to wait and see for a little while longer.

“Originally, I was planning to send out my boys to scout out each of the labyrinthine buildings, but now that things are like this, there’s no helping it. The three of us will go around destroying them one by one.” (Kuzuhara)
Well, that was the only way. I could send Sol alone to the other buildings, but it was risky since I didn’t know what kind of traps were set in the labyrinthine buildings.

If there were traps that made it so you couldn’t get out unless you defeated the boss or mini-boss inside, it would be difficult for Sol to handle that alone, and it would waste a lot of time.

In that case, it would be better to keep Sol close to me…

I glanced over at Chake. He made eye contact and gave me a slight nod.

“Before that, Kuzuhara-san.” (Komon)
“Huh? What is it?” (Kuzuhara)
“I still haven’t told you, but I thought it’d be a good time to introduce you.” (Komon)
Kuzuhara knitted his brows as if to say ‘what in the world do you mean?’ while I gave a cue to Sol and summoned her back to me.

In the blink of an eye, Sol flew back from the school and landed on my shoulder.

“…?! A-An owl?” (Kuzuhara)
“Yes, that’s right. But she’s no ordinary owl.” (Komon)
“My name is Sol. Nice to meet you!”
“I-I-It can t-t-talk?! W-What in the world…?!” (Kuzuhara)
“…It’s too early to be surprised. Shiki.” (Komon)
From the shadow stretched out behind me, Shiki quietly appeared.

“This one is pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Shiki. This one is milady’s blade.”
Kuzuhara’s eyes were wide, and he was stunned in place, completely slack-jawed. Well, it was no wonder. Sol, who was an animal, suddenly began to speak in human tongue, and a ninja-looking guy suddenly appeared from the shadows.

“These two are what we would call monsters.” (Komon)
“….! Monsters, you said?” (Kuzuhara)
Kuzuhara’s eyes narrowed in alarm.

“Yeah. But they are known as Familiars, and they have sworn an oath of allegiance to me.” (Komon)
“F-Familiars? …Are you serious?” (Kuzuhara)
“She showed me a little while ago, too. That one called Shiki has a human-like appearance, but he’s a monster, without a doubt. Hey, show him that thing you showed me before.” (Chake)
In line with Chake’s words, I had Shiki use the <Transformation no Jutsu> to turn into Kuzuhara.

“I-It’s me…?!” (Kuzuhara)
I immediately had Shiki turn back to his original appearance, then instructed him to hide in the shadows.

“Even among other monsters, Sol and Shiki are quite strong. Enough to make up for the strength of those guys that had left you.” (Komon)
“…! I see… Who the hell are you?” (Kuzuhara)
I decided to tell Kuzuhara the background setting that I had made up for Komon.

“…Since the world has transformed, non-human beings… in other words, monsters, have appeared. Right?” (Komon)
“Ah, yeah.” (Kuzuhara)
“We think that the world inhabited by monsters has somehow become connected to our planet, which is why dungeons and monsters started to appear.” (Komon)
“W-We?” (Kuzuhara)
“Yes, we… the Komon family.” (Komon)
I knew that this clan background would come in handy. After all, as long as you said it was a family secret, they couldn’t pursue the matter any further.

“S-So you’re saying that the world where monsters live has merged with Earth?” (Kuzuhara)
“It’s not that straightforward, but the nuances are similar. But in the end, this is just our conjecture.” (Komon)
“I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say. How is that related to the monsters you have under you?” (Kuzuhara)
“…From time immemorial, there have been many unexplained disappearances in Japan.” (Komon)
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden…?” (Kuzuhara)
“Just listen to me. Suddenly, people disappear in an instant. And no matter where you look, they can’t be found. It’s as if they were never there in the first place. Do you know what we call this phenomenon?” (Komon)
“…?” (Kuzuhara)
“―Being ‘spirited away’.” (Komon)
“…! I’ve heard of that.” (Kuzuhara)
Well then, the explanation was going well so far. I had to put on an impressive manner while telling this part or he wouldn’t take the bait.

“These mysterious disappearances… We think they’ve been sent to another world.” (Komon)
“Another world? That’s just fantasy…” (Kuzuhara)
“You’re still saying that after we’re already living in a world like this?” (Komon)
“Ugh… That’s true…” (Kuzuhara)
By all rights, this normally wouldn’t even pass as a funny story. But in reality, the Earth had been taken over by this fantasy.

“I believe that this other world is the home of the monsters, where these two come from as well.” (Komon)
“…! Hey, then…” (Kuzuhara)
It seemed that he had already gotten what I was trying to say. I accidentally let out a smile as I continued with the last part of the explanation.

“Right. Since there have been beings who have gone from this world to the other world, it makes sense that there were also beings that came from that world to ours, no?” (Komon)
“…!? Are you saying that… those guys are…?” (Kuzuhara)
“Yes. The Komon family is a clan that protects those aberrant beings that came from that other world.” (Komon)
It was just a story that I had made up, but I felt like it was a pretty probable explanation. The world had already become like this, so it was at least a possibility.

They were in different planes, but there was originally a parallel world inhabited by monsters. And after some incident occurred, the planes began to overlap slightly, creating the current situation.

Perhaps, even now, the gap between the planes was gradually approaching zero. I had a hunch that when the planes overlapped completely, Earth and the other world would fuse and transform into a completely different world altogether.

The reason why many parts of the Earth were gradually becoming dungeonized was because the planes hadn’t completely merged together yet. Although it would take a while longer, the gap between the planes was slowly disappearing, which was the reason why the dungeonization was still gradually occurring.

Thinking about it that way, it made sense, even though it seemed like an incredible guess.

“…B-But why can they speak? Besides, the monsters we’ve seen aren’t the type of guys that listen to humans.” (Kuzuhara)
Well, that was the obvious question to ask.

“Some monsters are born with special abilities.” (Komon)
“Special abilities?” (Kuzuhara)
“Humans have them too, don’t they? Some people seem so gifted it was like they were chosen by God.” (Komon)
“Well, sure…” (Kuzuhara)
“Among the monsters we try to protect, there are naturally violent monsters who only bring harm. More than 90% are, in fact. But some of them, like these two, can understand and communicate in human language.” (Komon)
“Hoh, is that so?” (Kuzuhara)
This guy is pretty simple-minded, isn’t he? He can believe this kind of made-up story so easily…

“There are ones who help us, the protectors, in this way. And these ones are their descendents.” (Komon)
“Descendants?!” (Kuzuhara)
“Yes. These two are monsters born and raised on Earth. So even if you were thinking of asking them about the other world, they don’t know anything about it.” (Komon)
With this, it was no longer a problem if Sol and Shiki didn’t know anything about this world I was speaking of. This way, we could also avoid any inconsistencies or slip ups in our story.