Chapter 80
A few days after the celebration came an extended break, so Haruto left Totsuki and returned home.
A new World Gate had appeared at just the right time.
After preparing everything he might need, Haruto stood before the doorway of flowing silver light, took a deep breath, and stepped through.
In the next moment, a breeze carrying the faintly salty scent of the sea brushed against his face.
A brief look around confirmed that he had arrived on an island.
Cottony white clouds drifted across a clear blue sky, lush greenery blanketed the hills, and unfamiliar wildflowers bloomed freely beneath the sun. In the distance, a long coastline curved around the island, where waves crashed against the rocks and scattered into fine spray.
Haruto had little interest in admiring the scenery, however.
His first priority was determining which world he had entered.
Scanning the area, he soon spotted a town and immediately headed toward it.
As he drew closer, the details became clearer.
The stone-and-brick buildings looked sturdy, though most appeared surprisingly new, as if the settlement had only been built within the past few years.
The moment Haruto entered the town, surprise crossed his face.
The streets bustled with activity. Alongside ordinary humans were short, broad dwarves with compact muscles and thick beards, as well as slender, beautiful elves with pointed ears.
There were also small figures weaving quickly through the crowds.
At first glance, they looked like children, but their steps were light and their movements unusually nimble.
The sight only deepened Haruto’s curiosity about this world.
...
Haruto quietly blended into the crowd and struck up conversations with several locals under the pretense of asking for directions.
Piece by piece, he assembled a clearer picture.
Ordinary humans were known here as tall-men.
The childlike figures were actually members of the half-foot race, while dwarves and elves—once bitter enemies—had since reached a reconciliation.
What interested Haruto most, however, was the dungeon that everyone repeatedly mentioned.
According to the townspeople, a vast labyrinth lay beneath the island, and somewhere in its deepest reaches stood a Golden Kingdom.
Anyone who defeated the Mad Mage controlling the dungeon would inherit the kingdom’s immense wealth.
The legend had drawn adventurers from distant lands, and their arrival had transformed the island into the thriving settlement it was today.
"A dungeon, a Golden Kingdom, and a Mad Mage..."
Haruto repeated the key terms under his breath.
His eyes brightened, and excitement slowly spread across his face.
"So this is the world of Delicious in Dungeon!"
Once he identified the world, even his heartbeat quickened.
Compared with the gold hidden in the dungeon, Haruto cared far more about the countless monsters living inside it.
Every strange creature down there represented a potentially excellent ingredient.
Even more tempting was this world’s magic—especially teleportation, healing, and familiar magic.
Learning any of them would be an enormous advantage.
Teleportation magic was the most important.
If he mastered it, the next time he entered the Toriko world, he might finally be able to escape from inside the Regal Mammoth instead of remaining trapped within its body.
It would also give him a way to flee if he encountered danger while exploring other worlds.
Healing magic, meanwhile, might be useful for treating living ingredients.
It would only work on biological ingredients, but at least it could make harvesting them sustainable.
As for familiar magic, Haruto was most interested in its potential to cultivate unusual new ingredients.
It could greatly expand the variety of food at his disposal.
He could even combine it with healing magic.
Familiars still counted as living creatures, after all.
The more Haruto considered the possibilities, the stronger his anticipation became.
Still, he understood that learning those spells would not be easy.
Familiar magic alone required some form of dangerous-magic certification if studied through official channels.
Obtaining one would take far too much time and effort, and Haruto had no intention of wasting his stay on examinations and paperwork.
Fortunately, he had already prepared for that problem.
If the legitimate route was unavailable, he would simply use less legitimate methods.
The dungeon had attracted all kinds of people to this island, making the town a chaotic mixture of adventurers, merchants, criminals, and opportunists.
Finding magical texts should not be particularly difficult.
It would, however, be expensive.
Thankfully, Haruto knew that currencies varied between worlds, so he had brought a considerable amount of gold with him.
Gold served as a valuable commodity in most worlds, and this one was no exception.
Over the next several days, Haruto frequented the town’s black markets and spent lavishly purchasing magical books from underground dealers.
He successfully obtained texts covering teleportation, healing, and familiar magic, along with many other useful and interesting support spells.
There was light magic for illumination, heating magic that could cook ingredients anywhere without the trouble of starting a fire, and cleaning magic capable of quickly removing dirt and stains.
He even found several books containing ancient magic.
In this world, ancient magic was also known as "black magic," but Haruto did not care what people called it.
He only stopped buying books when the gold he had brought was nearly gone, and even then, he did so reluctantly.
...
Acquiring the books was one thing. Learning from them presented an entirely different problem.
Haruto was an outsider of uncertain origin.
He could blend into the town well enough, but convincing a legitimate mage to teach him was completely unrealistic.
With no better option, he began studying the books and experimenting on his own.
He had no intention of devoting the rest of his stay entirely to magic, however.
The dungeon’s rare monster ingredients were still waiting to be captured.
Haruto made his way to the dungeon entrance, which he had already passed several times during his stay.
He was about to enter when he suddenly slapped a hand against his forehead.
He had forgotten to buy a map.
Entering such an enormous and tangled labyrinth without one would only waste time and effort.
While Haruto considered where he might obtain a reliable map, three approaching figures caught his attention.
The one leading them was the tall-man Laios Touden, an obsessive monster enthusiast and the future "Devourer of All Things."
Beside him walked the half-elf Marcille Donato, a blonde-haired, green-eyed mage carrying a staff woven from a branch of the World Tree.
Following behind them was the half-foot Chilchuck Tims. Though he looked like a child, he was actually twenty-nine years old.
At that moment, Laios was speaking to Marcille and Chilchuck with an extremely serious expression.
"We’ll obtain all our food from inside the dungeon. It’s full of monsters, which means it must contain a complete ecosystem..."
"Humans should be able to survive by eating what lives down there."
"Monsters are edible too. Think back on all our previous adventures."
Marcille immediately pictured the ghouls, ghosts, gargoyles, and other horrors they had encountered in the dungeon.
Her face twisted in complete revulsion.
Chilchuck seemed less bothered.
Some monsters did look as though they might be edible.
Still arguing among themselves, the three entered the dungeon without paying any attention to Haruto standing near the entrance.