How to Survive as a Dungeon Manager in Another World

Episode 5 – Trust

Chirp. Chirp.

Tweet.

Crackle. Crackle.

The sounds of nature echoing here and there were quite pleasing to the ear.

I sat before the vigorously burning bonfire, lost in thought.

‘Now, this is more like it.’

Over the past few days, I had accomplished quite a bit.

I cleaned the dust-laden office, organized the supplies received from the Imperial family, and prepared a place suitable for Ludine to stay.

And that wasn’t all.

The suicide prevention signs, crafted using my modern knowledge.

I meticulously hammered them into every place where a person might consider ending it all, just in case.

“Hmm, not bad at all.”

Thanks to her, the office, which had felt like a haunted house, now seemed a bit more like a place where people lived.

‘The future’s the problem, isn’t it.’

I muttered, barely audible.

The place I currently found myself was attached to Calvaron, the so-called Cliff of Death, located in the northeastern part of Blackmore.

It was quite a distance from the western districts, teeming with fantastical creatures, oddities, and labyrinths.

Blackmore, true to its immense scale, had wildly varying degrees of danger in each district, but the western districts were particularly notorious.

Hence, the western districts were commonly referred to as the depths of Blackmore.

“So, the deeper we go, the more dangerous it gets?”

Ludine asked, slowly savoring a well-cooked piece of meat.

The meat, seasoned perfectly with salt, seemed to be quite to her liking.

“Yeah. It’s dangerous.”

I answered Ludine’s question casually.

Her eyes narrowed slightly at my response.

And.

“Will you go?”

Her question, blunt and direct.

At that question, I paused, lost in thought.

‘Go, will I?’

Frankly, I don’t want to.

But I have to.

The management areas designated by the Imperial Family included the forbidden zones of the west.

To write the monthly report for the Imperial Family, exploration was unavoidable.

More than that, most of the fortunate encounters from the original story were hidden in that area.

A sigh escaped me without realizing it.

Ludine, reading my sigh, nodded as if she roughly understood and then curved her lips upward.

“Should I go too?”

Her grey-beige eyes slowly shifted to meet mine.

She was beaming, our gazes locking.

A smile full of anticipation.

A moment of deliberation then seized me.

It was true that having her accompany me would be safer in many respects than moving alone.

‘Even the Crimson Eye bloomed.’

The Crimson Eye distinguishes the world between the living and the non-living.

It pierces through the essence of life, and is the most optimized ability for slaughter among the Three Eyes, which only those born with ominous stars can awaken.

I still remember it clearly.

She had cleaved a Black Wolf, a demon beast, in a single stroke with merely a dagger.

It was undoubtedly an act defying common sense.

And so.

“Follow if you wish.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I feigned reluctance and permitted her companionship.

Of course, Ludine, unaware of my true intentions, beamed and rejoiced.

But before that, there was something I had to make clear.

“Instead, there’s a condition.”

“Hm?”

I set forth the condition.

Towards her, unpredictable as she was.

“Refrain from impulsive actions.”

“Why?”

“If you act impulsively, it becomes troublesome for me.”

“…”

For a moment, Ludine’s gaze turned chillingly cold.

As if I had touched upon her inverse scale.

She still didn’t betray any animosity or murderous intent, but it was clear that the previous exchange had rubbed her the wrong way.

At least, the expression and gestures she showed me were clearly born from ‘dissatisfaction.’

‘But it’s a necessary step.’

She is a time bomb.

A time bomb that could go off at any moment, in any way.

Thus, a safeguard was needed.

To ensure her blade wouldn’t turn on me, and to prevent slaughter beyond my intent.

With such thoughts, I opened my mouth.

Recalling the line the protagonist in the original work had used to rehabilitate her.

“Madness.”

“!!!”

A single word.

A mere word, hammered like a stake into her mind.

A moment of chilling stillness descended.

After a pause, she murmured, her voice trembling.

“How did you…”

“I saw it before. Someone afflicted with the same madness as you.”

A lie.

But Rudine could have no way of knowing its truth.

“…”

Indeed.

A reaction.

I continued, my voice even.

“There’s no need to blame yourself.”

“…”

“One’s inherent nature can’t be altered, no matter how hard one tries.”

It was true, in fact.

The fate the world had sculpted for her could not be amended.

Therefore, I could speak with confidence.

“It is your destiny.”

She is a villain.

“You were born that way, and thus, you live that way.”

Craving blood, pursuing slaughter.

Unwelcomed by anyone, destined to be cursed for a lifetime.

Such a villain, from within the pages of a novel.

Having lived a life tossed about by desire.

Destined to become a seed of corruption, ultimately ushering in the end.

And so.

“It’s a miracle you’ve survived this long.”

A somewhat aggressive statement, yet not a flicker in my brow.

The lines I deliver have already been proven by the original protagonist.

“…”

As expected.

Ludine’s startled eyes wavered fiercely.

She must be caught in a web of complex thoughts.

She accepts her innate nature, yet has always loathed it terribly.

Silence followed.

Still, it mirrors the original story.

And.

Breaking this silence, the protagonist of the original story says to her.

“I want you to live.”

Yes.

I’m certain that’s what he said.

It’s a rather memorable scene, hard to forget.

“Why?”

A moment later, she slowly lifted her head.

Her grey-ash eyes shattered softly in the light.

“Why do you want me to live?”

I stared intently at her face.

She, too, did not avert my gaze.

“Because I need you.”

“Me?”

“Yes. But it’d be a problem if you recklessly died, wouldn’t it?”

Ludine blinked, seemingly flustered by my response.

Having grown up her entire life feeding on the scorn and revulsion of others.

But, she was needed.

So, it was desired that she not die.

A rather uncouth pronouncement, that.

For who, upon being told they were needed and to cease their unruly ways, would receive it with good cheer?

Rudene, however, was different.

“…I see.”

Rudene, who had been silent, opened her mouth in a small way.

Her voice sounded as though locked away, deep within.

“I…should live, it seems.”

She had always yearned to be acknowledged.

She wished for someone to need her.

But those who faced her true nature invariably shunned her.

Yet at last, she had met one.

One who needed her.

Not some fabricated version of herself, but herself as she truly was.

Therefore.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

“I will listen well, too.”

“…Very good.”

Finally, her heart opened.

She beamed, like a puppy praised for its good behavior.

“As I said, your nature is not something you can simply fix.”

“Yes.”

“But aimless, mechanical killing will only invite disaster upon yourself.”

“I understand.”

…Did she really understand?

Hiding my unease, I continued.

“Even killing the same kind of person carries a different weight depending on *who* you kill.”

The history of humankind is a repetition of bloodshed.

Then, is all of humankind evil?

Nay, it is not so.

The reason being, they killed only those things “worthy of being killed.”

“Just kill what deserves to be killed.”

“What deserves to be killed?”

Kill bandits, and you’re hailed a hero.

Kill an ordinary soul, and you’re deemed a murderer.

Kill a beast to eat, and it is animal husbandry.

Kill an animal for amusement, and it is abuse.

A simple matter of allegiance.

Kill a comrade, and you are trash; kill an enemy, and it is self-defense.

Lacking justification, you are trash; possessing it, you are self-defense.

Good and evil were, from the very beginning, just so.

“You understand, yes?”

“Yes!”

A bright, clear answer.

Now comes the crux of the matter.

“So, whose side am I on?”

Gulp.

A question truly childish, but unavoidable.

She blinks.

The answer that returns after a moment—

“My side.”

Yes!

That’s it exactly!

“Then, what must not be killed?”

“You.”

“And?”

“…Innocent civilians, and—”

Rudine, who had been speaking, gazed directly at me.

“—Killing them just complicates things, these humans.”

A snicker.

Just as planned.

The next day.

“I’m hungry.”

“…You just ate like, thirty minutes ago?”

Rudinè and I left the office the moment dawn broke.

To head to the western district for the exploration of the survey site.

‘This road is a real mess.’

It must have rained during the night, because the muddy ground clung to our ankles with each step.

The air grew thick the further we walked, and a sigh involuntarily escaped my lips.

It was then.

“Luke?”

Rudinè halted abruptly.

Leaving me no choice but to stop as well.

“Look over there.”

“What?”

I craned my neck in the direction she was pointing.

Squinting, I could make out a dark, indistinct figure.

“…?”

The figure was walking towards us.

But something was off; their stride was rather aggressive, like someone consumed by anger.

Moreover.

“There’s something strange in their right hand…”

They were clutching something in their right hand.

The identity of which was none other than…

“…A sign?”

It was a sign.

A sign that was brutally smashed to pieces.

The inscription there read:

[Can you swim well?]

“!!!”

Huh.

Isn’t that what I wrote?