My Refrigerator Turned Into A Dungeon

Goodness And Evil. Karma And AestheticsThe car that exited the highway slowly climbs the gentle slope leading into the mountains. Gradually, the view fills with more gree

Goodness And Evil. Karma And AestheticsThe car that exited the highway slowly climbs the gentle slope leading into the mountains. Gradually, the view fills with more gree

Goodness And Evil. Karma And Aesthetics

The car that exited the highway slowly climbs the gentle slope leading into the mountains. Gradually, the view fills with more greenery, and the majestic Mount Haruna comes into sight ahead. And the one gripping the steering wheel is Nina-san.

Though she was once a paper driver and didn’t want to drive a rental car of that size, she seemed eager to try driving this smaller car and offered to take the wheel at the service area.

"Small cars really do respond well, huh?"

Hmm, by "respond well", she’s not talking about the accelerator but the steering. She must mean the car’s handling.

"Ah, that’s because the front wheels are right under your feet. With cars that have longer fronts or wheels under the seats, the movement feels delayed by a beat. These light cars handle almost like motorcycles, so they’re easier for me to drive too."

"I see, so the position of the tires makes that much of a difference in how it feels, huh?"

Serai-san, sitting in the passenger seat, doesn’t have a driver’s license, so her knowledge about cars is zero.

But watching Nina-san enjoy driving, she looks a little envious. Well, I hear Serai-san’s family home has a big yard, so maybe I’ll let her drive a bit on private property.

"Mmm~! But the weather’s so nice, perfect for sightseeing. Sigh, I wish Ruu could’ve come too~. I would’ve shown her around Kusatsu’s hot spring town."

"Yeah, true. But it’s only natural for parents to worry about their kids. There’s nothing we can do about that."

And so, the conversation shifts to Ruu, who couldn’t join this trip. Well, Ruu herself wanted to come, but unfortunately, her father didn’t give his approval.

But don’t think poorly of Ruu’s father.

As Nina-san said, it’s only natural for a parent who loves their child. After all, with things like the Dungeon Stampede—a nightmare no one can make sense of—her father has been seriously injured every time. So his concern for his daughter’s safety is purely out of love.

In fact, knowing that he’s not just some rigid, by-the-book type makes me feel a little relieved.

I mean, Ruu’s father is a judge, a super elite job, right?

He’s diligently handling such a job, supporting his family, and even sending his daughter to an expensive university. He’s truly the pillar of his household, doing more than anyone could ask for.

Meanwhile, here I am, currently unemployed, hiding two extremely dangerous dungeons, and running around falsifying the origins of dungeon ingredients. …How about that difference?

Actually, when I think about it again, I’m doing some pretty outrageous stuff.

Oh, by the way, the owner of the izakaya Murasaki, who asked me to supply dungeon ingredients, got hit with a one-month suspension. Apparently, it’s a crime to serve customers with ingredients of dubious origin.

But according to Take-chan, there were mitigating circumstances, so the punishment was relatively light.

Still, even Take-chan seemed taken aback by me, who took down a giant crocodile and then picked a fight with the police. "I knew you were a crazy guy, but I didn’t think you’d go this far", he said, which I’ll take as a compliment.

Yeah, I’ll accept that as praise.

But he also advised me, "Cops hold grudges and can be relentless. You’ve definitely caught their attention with this." So, taking that into account, I plan to avoid the police for a while.

Anyway, even someone like a judge, who must remain impartial, is still a parent.

When it comes to their precious only daughter, emotions can sometimes take precedence. I don’t see that as either good or evil, but rather as human nature—something inherent to being human.

Yeah, if he were the type to coldly cut down Ma Su without hesitation, I’d have no idea how to deal with him.

Well, in any case, it’s not like someone like me, who’s piled up all sorts of misdeeds, has any right to criticize Ruu’s father.

But even someone like me has sworn to protect the woman I love, even at the cost of my own life.

And I’ve been restraining myself from misusing my skills or aura power.

For example, my skill [Charm] is a highly potent mental interference skill, an upgraded version of [Fascination]. If I used it without limits, I could completely change Ruu’s father’s opinion or even buy a car for 1 yen at a used car dealership.

But that goes against my principles of loving freedom and honesty.

Stubborn as I am, even if I go against society’s rules, I don’t want to compromise my own aesthetics. And… if I forced things like that, the backlash or recoil would be severe, and I’m sure it would lead to unforeseen misfortunes.

The same goes for making money.

If I misused my skills or aura power now, I could make as much money as I wanted.

It’s incredibly cliché, but if I casually sat down at a pachinko machine and used transparent salt to block the pins, I could guide all the balls into the winning slots with ease. I could even do the same thing without using skills, just with aura telekinesis.

But if I did something like that, the god of salt might get angry and strip me of my skills! So it’s best not to misuse such abilities.

While I was lost in these thoughts, suddenly, both Nina-san and Serai-san in the front seats let out screams.

""Kyaaa!!""

At the same time, a bang! shook the car, followed by a thud and a crunch—a very unpleasant vibration from something getting caught between the car’s undercarriage and the asphalt.