Chapter 3: Slime or Hamster

After looking through the family's house, Leander went down the sewer.

Each time he bent down to look beneath a piece of furniture, he told himself he was building muscles.

Each stair he took in the house was something he told himself, once again, that was towards building muscles.

So, even though he was tired by the end of the investigation, he was also happy!

He was not as happy to go down the dirty sewer grate.

As soon as he entered, he smelled something rotting in the air. He hoped it was the water, and not Pumpkin the Hamster.

How had the animal even made its way down a closed sewer grate? Something smelled about the entire situation, not just the water!

Leander suspected one of the children of throwing the hamster down the grate. Its lid also looked like it had recently been moved.

But the parents of the hellhounds had gushed over them and had not even said anything to suggest that they might be involved.

That was not to imply that Leander disliked children.

They were some of the few people who accepted him. But these had named him Sir Piggy and had poked him every chance they got.

So, he didn't exactly like them.

With unsure steps, Leander raised his battle staff. It was nothing magical. Just a glorified branch that was free for the taking on the weapon's rack at the Adventurer's Guild.

And, since Leander was short on funds, he had taken it.

He was looking where he was stepping, so he could avoid stepping into feces, if any were on the walk. This place looked like it hadn't been maintained in quite some time.

There was even moss growing on the walls.

Wait, what was the moss doing down here? In the dark? That made Leander stop and look around.

The moss looked healthy and was mana-rich...

Was there something down here? Should he go back?

But should he still consider himself an adventurer if he couldn't find a hamster?

He would be a failure, nothing more! A fat loser who would give up on everything he started! How long until he gives up his running-in-place routine?

Slime or hamster!

Leander roared into the nothingness and made a step forward!

He heard a click...

There was a pressure plate below his foot!

He began to sweat.

He had heard about such traps that exploded once you stepped off them.

What was he going to do? He could feel the malevolent mana under his foot! There was something down there! Something above his rank!

Many times, over, if the trap was any indication!

Leander began rummaging in his bag for something heavy he could put on the pressure plate. He took out a paperweight and placed it next to his foot.

Then, he leaped away from the pressure plate!

Instead of an explosion, gas started to fill the sewers! It had been naive of him to think that the paperweight would have helped him any.

 Leander pulled a scarf from his bag, wet it with water from his waterskin, and placed it around his mouth and nose.

It worked for smoke, right? It should work for gas!

He continued, this time quicker, calling out the hamster's name. Pumpkin was a ginger, so Leander had to look for something bright in the dimly lit sewer.

He did see something sparkling on the wall, but it wasn't fur.

Instead, it was a sapphire! Leander blinked. It didn't look like glass. But the F-rank adventurer was not stupid.

This was a trap.

An expensive trap, but a trap all the same.

The wall behind the jewel would probably throw him into the water. Or poison needles would come out of hidden holes.

Leander passed by the apparent trap and continued. His eyes were no longer stinging from the gas.

He heard a hum from the left and walked in that direction.

There, on a pedestal, was a small pearl-sized dungeon core. Guarding it was a herd of hamsters.

All ginger. With one that was double the size of the rest.

"Pumpkin?" Leander called, and, with squeaky roars, the hamsters charged!

 Only the biggest one did not move.

Like a general supervising his troops, he sat and stared coldly at Leander.

Leander gripped his staff.

These were cute fluff balls, he had to remind himself. The dungeon core must have bred Pumpkin. He couldn't turn his back on the possibility that the former pet was now a boss mob, as ridiculous as that sounded.

Leander had a job to do.

He threw the adorable ginger hamsters into the sewer waste one after the other. They turned into nothing before his eyes, their mana absorbed into the infant dungeon core.

Finally, Pumpkin charged.

Leander bent down, picked up the hamster, and did his best to keep it from biting him. Then, he went and took the core off the pedestal.

It was dangerous to leave dungeon cores in the sewers. Sure, this one had chosen hamsters, rather than snakes, alligators, or even bugs, for mobs, yet Leander had the sinking suspicion that this was only because Pumpkin had made it to it first.

The healer took out his mana-suppressing container, which he had thought he would never use, and placed the core inside.

Immediately, Pumpkin shrank and fell asleep.

"My first dungeon," Leander said, amazed.

Yes, it was not the stuff of legends, and his enemy had been a horde of hamsters, who had just chewed up his pant legs a little.

But it was his first mission, and Leander, F-ranked adventurer, would return to the Adventurer's Guild with a charge rescued and a dungeon core!

"When you are in dire straits, who comes to the rescue? Leander!" With a bounce to his step, Leander made his way back the way he had come from.

He passed by the sapphire again, and when he didn't feel any mana behind it, he took out a knife and took it from the wall.

No trap activated, and he even picked up his paperweight on the way back!

He would report the dungeon because he believed there were more traps and treasure hidden in the sewer, but he would let the rest do the cleanup.

For he was going back to claim the glory…