Dungeons. They’re a staple element in fantasy.

They can take many forms, like caves, towers or castles.

But what they all have in common is that they’re complex and vast inside.

They span multiple layers, are filled with monsters and contain treasure chests, making them places packed with the romance of adventure.

But—

'Places like that hardly exist in reality.'

That’s right, locations that could truly be called dungeons scattered everywhere only exist in games.

'Well, obviously. Artificial structures like towers or castles are built for people to use, so there’s no way they’d be complex and massive inside, and even if they’ve been abandoned for a long time, it’s rare for neatly placed treasure chests to still be left behind'

Why?

Because everything valuable gets taken when they’re abandoned.

There’s no reason to leave treasure inside a structure that’s no longer in use.

…Well, after saying all that unromantic stuff, it’s not like they don’t exist at all.

They’re just “rare.”

* * *

Let’s go back to shortly after our Hero Party defeated the first executive of the Demon King Army.

“—And so, tomorrow we’ll be heading out to explore newly discovered ruins believed to date back roughly 2,700 years—”

Aleid explained while looking at the king’s letter granting permission for the expedition.

The briefing took place about a week after defeating the Demon King Army executive.

The day after capturing the small fortress guarded by that executive and his forces, we discovered the entrance to ruins hidden behind it, overgrown with weeds.

The discovery itself was accidental, but the ruins appeared extremely old.

Only a small temple-like structure remained above ground, with the entrance to the underground hidden beneath it.

After briefly checking inside, it was confirmed without a doubt that it was a “Dungeon.”

Experts were dispatched and after examining the materials and structure of the surface temple to determine its age, it took a week before we were granted permission for a full-scale exploration.

'In this world, dungeons are more of an archaeological subject, so it makes sense that they’re regulated. I get that, but still…'

“Ohh! This stone pavement material is…! Hah!? The pillars in the walls aren’t marble?! They’re made of a different material from the ceiling and floor as well, hmm!”

The person getting overly excited over just a hallway is the archaeologist, Mr. Azeparda.

Apparently, it’s a national rule that a scholar must accompany dungeon exploration, which is fine, but…

“Um, excuse me, Mr. Azeparda. We have limited food and water, so we’d like to proceed without taking too much time…”

“Oh, my apologies! It’s just that finding a new dungeon is extremely rare, so I got a bit carried away. I’m sorry.”

Even the kind-hearted Aleid is giving a wry smile.

Yes, this scholar is a bit too much of an enthusiast.

Every step we take, he stops to comment on this or that detail.

As a result, the investigation progressed extremely slowly.

It took us about two weeks to fully explore it.

And that was despite it only having six underground floors, each of which could normally be cleared in two to three hours.

Still, it’s not like in games where monsters appear every few steps.

The only real danger is traps, so as long as we don’t stop unnecessarily, progress is steady.

'Feeling like it’s a bit lacking is kind of greedy, huh.'

Well, even if monsters appeared, as a White Mage I’d just stay in the back casting support magic anyway, so it’s better if the party isn’t burdened.

“This dungeon was almost certainly built by the Yujiran Kingdom, which prospered around this area for roughly 600 years, from about 2,800 to 2,200 years ago.”

As we moved forward, Mr. Azeparda explained what he had learned.

According to him—

The Yujiran Kingdom was an extremely unusual nation among human countries at the time and kept its distance from others.

The Yujiran people had a strong sense of superiority and looked down on other nations and their people.

As a result, their population wasn’t very large and their territory wasn’t particularly vast.

On the other hand, they were said to be highly talented, supposedly justifying that superiority.

“They were said to be 300 years ahead of other nations. Others couldn’t understand what they could. They were the first in the world to wear mithril armor and so on. Many anecdotes and legends praise the Yujiran people.”

However, it was later revealed that all of this was nothing more than delusion.

The biggest turning point in archaeology came with the emergence of magic used to examine objects, such as “Analysis,” “Examination” and “Appraisal.”

“Most of the artifacts and stone tablets discovered within Yujiran territory, which recorded these legends, were made from primitive materials. If they were truly as advanced as claimed, they should have been preserved using far superior materials.”

There were also inconsistencies in artifact dating and overlaps or discrepancies in timelines with other records.

From many such points, it became difficult to conclude that the Yujiran people were truly exceptional.

“And then there’s this ruin! This underground 'Dungeon'—it’s so ancient that even my 'Analysis' magic can’t determine its age! It’s completely different from the surface temple!!”

From this, it’s highly likely that the Yujiran people simply settled on top of a pre-existing dungeon and made use of what they found within it.

'So it’s ancient relics, but stuff even more advanced than that era existed. I see…'

Powerful weapons, incredible gems and magical tools—

They likely used such things and pretended as though they had created them themselves, boasting to other nations.

That seems to be Mr. Azeparda’s interpretation of the truth behind the Yujiran people.

Later, the Yujiran Kingdom itself collapsed due to a coup.

Even so, the Yujiran people continued to believe in their own superiority and maintained little contact with other nations.

When the Demon King Army invaded 2,000 years ago, they were described as “the most poorly equipped people among humanity” and were swiftly wiped out.

“So that means this dungeon originally has nothing to do with the Yujiran Kingdom?”

“That is correct, Seitinias. This is a ruin from a far more ancient era!”

He’s really fired up.

Well, I get it, though.

* * *

…By the way, later on, we ended up fighting a pack of wolf-type monsters living on the deepest floor and even discovered a hidden room that the Yujiran people probably never found.

And yeah, I got seriously excited seeing a real treasure chest… but that’s a story for another time.