As the bus driver quietly worried, Inari stepped off the bus and found herself facing a landscape where ruined city streets were mixed with new facilities.
Because a fixed dungeon—especially an unpopular one—was nearby, reconstruction had barely progressed.
When Inari glanced around, she noticed several commercial buildings that had likely been built to meet Awakener demand but had since shut down due to poor sales.
Regardless, Inari turned her gaze to the gate that led from the bus stop to the dungeon entrance.
As with other dungeons, armed guards stood watch—but compared to the two dungeons she’d seen before, these guards looked far more relaxed.
“Good work to thee. I’m the one who made the reservation—Kogami. May I pass?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, we did have a reservation.”
“Hold up… Kogami… ah, here it is. Go right ahead.”
“Umu.”
They glanced at the card she handed over, but it was half-hearted at best.
Inside, the facility seemed to contain only a staff building and the gate itself, and even the staff at the gate looked to be zoning out.
“So this is what cometh of a dungeon fallen out of favor…”
Peaceful? Sure. But if left unchecked, dungeons would eventually overflow with monsters. So Inari wasn’t entirely sure if this level of laxness was really a good thing.
“I’m the one who made the reservation—Kogami.”
“Ah, right, right. Good luck in there~”
Even this staff member lacked enthusiasm… but it wasn’t really Inari’s place to comment.
As she passed through the shimmering blue gate, the scenery before her shifted.
She now stood in an endless wasteland, dotted with crude dome-like houses resembling tents.
From afar came the thudding beat of drums—maybe they were having a festival?
The midday sun beamed down from a cloudless sky, casting a sharp light over the scene and illuminating Inari’s figure in full.
There would be no sneaking around in this place.
More importantly, there wasn’t just one village. Several could be seen.
“I see… so this be what they calleth a settlement-type dungeon.”
Trying to find the boss here would certainly be tedious. It made sense that they’d be in the most heavily defended spot, which meant a full-on battle against the orcs.
And since it wasn’t clear which village the boss resided in, one might have to exhaust themselves fighting through several before finding the right one. That would be a nightmare.
And if the drops weren’t worth it on top of that… yeah, it was easy to see why this dungeon wasn’t popular.
“Well, such matters concern me not.”
Even if she didn’t know which village held the boss…
The sky was bright and the view was wide open.
“Come forth, Kogetsu.”
At her call, a bow appeared in her hand—an elegant weapon radiating overwhelming divine energy.
The fox deity drew it back—far more powerfully than one might expect from her slender arms.
As she pulled the string to its limit, an arrow of radiant light formed in her grip.
She let it fly into the sky, where it burst apart, raining countless arrows of light down onto the earth below.
“GYAAAAGGHHHHHH!?”
“GRAGGHHHHHHHHH!”
“GYIHEEEEEEAAAAHHHH!”
“Oh-ho, now that’s a lovely chorus.”
The downpour of light arrows turned into a symphony of orc screams. Once the first wave subsided, roars of fury began to rise. Well, it was only natural. A surprise attack like that would enrage anyone.
But Inari showed no mercy. She nocked another arrow—this time firing a single shot normally.
With a ZUBAAAN that echoed like thunder, the arrow exploded in the heart of one of the orc villages, engulfing it in a fiery blast.
“GYEEEAAAAAHHH!”
Right in the middle of giving a charge order, the orc leader realized something was very, very wrong.
He didn’t know what that girl was, but she was clearly dangerous.
She radiated brilliant light and was killing his warriors en masse.
At this rate, they’d all be wiped out. He couldn’t allow that.
So the orc leader activated his divine gift—a skill.
Berserk Mode—sacrificing reason to greatly increase all physical abilities. A skill granted only to elite warriors.
With this, he could reach her. With this, he could kill her.
He gave the order to charge, rallying his surviving warriors, then activated the skill himself. His thoughts faded, his body surged with power.
He wouldn’t lose. Not now. Not with this power. He roared, ready to destroy his enemy—
“GYOOOOO—GUEHH!?”
A single beam of light pierced him straight on, erasing his upper half from existence.
Orcs nearby turned toward the sound and cried out in horror.
“B-BUEEEEEH!?”
“BUGYEEEEH!”
They didn’t have time to understand what had just happened before more arrows rained down, erasing them from the battlefield one by one.
Eventually, there were no orcs left standing in the village.
Still standing calmly near the entrance, Inari narrowed her eyes and looked toward the now-silent settlement.
“What loud braying they made. But it seemeth that was not the boss’s den after all.”
Inari differed from most adventurers in one key way—not in strength or power, but in mindset.
Namely… she didn’t care about drop items in the slightest.
And so, she quietly said, “Very well, on to the next one,” and drew her bow once more toward another orc village.
Thus, a ruthless and utterly one-sided slaughter, orchestrated by Inari, continued to echo with the cries of orcs for some time to come.