"Do mages all live in places like this?"

Dragged by Silverfantes, we walked directly into the entrance.

But the situation inside was really bad. As soon as we entered, we saw all sorts of experimental props on the table in the living room, along with some books and notes with gibberish written on them, looking like various scraps of paper.

"I've seen this before... All mages are like this, paying no attention to their appearance."

"Hey hey, but I'm also a mage. You, you map gun..."

"Eh?"

Silverfantes gave me a strange look.

"Are you a mage? I thought you were more like an engineer or something."

"Uh..."

This guy didn't seem to be wrong. I feel like I haven't really done anything a mage would do, but more like an engineer...

Occupation Expansion Successful

Obtained Occupation: Engineer LV30

Obtained Skill: Strong Memory

Obtained Skill: Decipher

Obtained Skill: Mimic

Strong Memory: Remember anything seen within 30 seconds forever, once a day.

Decipher: Can obtain manufacturing possibilities for mechanical divisions that can be perfectly disassembled.

Mimic: 20% chance to directly replicate a surrounding mechanical unit.

...

Hey, I just love inventing, I don't actually want to be an engineer. Why give me an occupation all of a sudden?

And what's going on now? We just entered the dungeon rhythm, why suddenly add an occupation?

"What's wrong?"

Silverfantes asked beside me.

"Your expression just went from surprised to helpless. Did you discover something?"

"Not really, just feeling helpless towards those guys who unjustly label us mages as those who like messy environments."

"Haha... Don't worry about it. Okay, let's continue forward."

"Well... you seem quite excited."

I looked at the kid.

"Most people would be scared in a place like this, wouldn't they?"

"I am scared too."

Silverfantes smiled bitterly.

"But I always feel excited when there's a chance to save others!"

"Is that so."

This guy... really is a child.

Normally, no one would pay him any attention, only us idlers...

Well, I don't know why, but suddenly I felt like helping him. I feel... this guy has a lot of the same qualities as my past self.

Perhaps when I was a child, I also had dreams of saving the world, but at some point, I always felt that being able to live happily was the best goal.

"Alright, let's go. Since you're too scared to walk outside, we'll have to find a way out from inside."

"Is... that so?"

"Of course, I think, since the other party has already built the house on the mountain, naturally they have dug out a lot of space inside the mountain. According to their thinking, it's probably not a problem at all to dig tunnels between the various buildings inside the mountain."

As I spoke, I released the drone.

"Eh? Why did you release your robot?"

"It's a drone... Well, that's how you guys see it."

I looked helplessly at Silverfantes.

"But this guy is better called a drone. Of course, I didn't release it to play. I don't know how many clues are inside the house, but many things are not visible to the naked eye. So..."

The drone flew into the air, switched the lens to ultraviolet, and scanned the surrounding walls.

"If there are frequent comings and goings here, there should be traces on the walls, floors, and so on."

Although this was said, under the UV light, the whole room seemed to be covered in various liquids, giving the impression that the entire effect looked like the works of those so-called artists.

But the scanning results were pretty good. At least now I know that the entire building below is empty.

"Let's go, this way."

Saying so, I headed towards the back of the stairwell.

Although this was a building built among the mountains, it was still man-made, so naturally many of the structures were similar to those of a regular building.

For example, the passage to the basement.

Sure enough, after kicking open the small door behind the stairwell, there was a passage leading underground.

"It seems he has turned the entire basement into another space. What do you think? We're going down now, are you okay with that?"

"Of course..."

Although he said so, the tone of his voice had changed when he spoke.

"Let's go... Let's go."

"Eh, I thought you were too scared to go."

I laughed, then turned on the drone's front light and let it fly in.

"I'll set the drone to illuminate those torches ahead. Don't worry."

I pointed to the torches that had just been lit on the wall inside.

"Wow! Your thing called a drone has so many functions."

"Uh... yeah."

Seeing the admiration in this guy's eyes was really strange...

Well... he's just a kid, so it's not hard to understand.

"Okay, let's go down. Who knows how big this place is, and how long it will take to find those people who are being held captive."

Before, we saw those captives through the drone, but that was just a cursory view from the clouds. It's really hard to pinpoint without a detailed map of the entire mountain's topography.

Well, since we're invading someone's lair, it's natural to thoroughly search the entire place from top to bottom.

With that in mind, we started walking down the passage.

But suddenly, after taking a few steps, there was a loud explosion from above.

I turned around to see that the light at the entrance we had just come in through had disappeared, obviously blocked by something.

"Eh? Dale, what's happening?"

Silverfantes, who was walking in front of me, asked.

"It's... nothing... let's go."

There's no point in mentioning that the way back is blocked.

"People are still waiting for us to rescue them!"

"True!"

This guy is really...