Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Swamp Troll in the Labyrinth
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“Argh! Cut it off quick!”
“Run, you idiot!”
It wasn’t an open field but a labyrinth dungeon, so the walls echoed the screams and shouts from all directions.
“There are… a lot of traps…….”
“Well, it’s the lower levels, so no fancy ones.”
Pew! Thwack!
“Did you keep your shield up?”
The moment I stepped forward, Kane smacked away an incoming iron orb with his scabbard.
“Yeah, turned it on earlier.”
I murmured softly while tracing the orb’s path with my eyes.
It must have had magnets inside or something, because it bounced off the wall, rolled along the floor, and slipped neatly into a round hole.
Arrows would be too overwhelming in numbers, and magic traps were too extravagant for these low levels, so this was their style.
I was mildly impressed and stepped on the same spot again, but no iron orb came flying.
“Traps only reactivate after a cooldown.”
A faint rose scent wafted from behind me.
I turned to see the woman named Ruby from the tavern, waving her palm casually in greeting. The men behind her grinned good-naturedly.
“Oh, really? Thanks for the tip.”
I tried my best to smile back warmly……
……
Oops.
Maybe it was the Arrogance trait, but it didn’t come off as all that friendly.
I pulled my hood over my face to cover it and nodded slightly in greeting.
“The second floor has way more traps than monsters. Wanna team up? I know a path with fewer.”
The woman who’d introduced herself as Ruby glanced at me before fixing her gaze on Kane.
“We’re good. We’ll manage on our own.”
“Fair enough. Everyone wants to solo it at first. But if you need help, just say the word. I met a lot of kind folks when I was a newbie adventurer, so I wanna pay it forward.”
Ruby smiled gently and held up what looked like a hefty sandbag tied to a string.
“Prodding the floor ahead with one of these makes it easier. Good luck!”
“We’ll head out first. Hang in there, newbies.”
Ruby waved cheerfully as she passed, and the guys behind her chuckled and nodded before going ahead.
“They seem… nice… nicer than I thought.”
Luna sniffed the air as she spoke, and I just lifted the corner of my mouth in a smile.
“Yeah? Good to know, thanks to them.”
No sandbag on hand right now, though.
I’d stocked up plenty on rations for later and stuffed them into my large subspace.
I spun the ring on my finger with a clink, then opened my subspace to pull out an ear of corn and some string.
“Kane, you’re the strong one for this.”
I handed the corn cob and string to Kane with full confidence, and he tied the string to the open end without complaint, twirling it lightly to tap the floor ahead.
“I could’ve done it…….”
“Next time, wanna give it a try, Luna?”
“Yeah!”
Fair enough—she needed leveling up too.
No plans to bury her Frenzy trait in the dirt and use her purely as support this time; it’d be a waste.
Luna liked moving around anyway.
Thud! Pfft! Plink!
Kane deflected flying iron orbs, poisonous gas sprayed out, and thin needle-like spines shot up afterward.
“Thanks to Kane, this path is a breeze.”
Instead of floating my codex in the air, I held it in hand and patted my shoulder as I walked. Luna nodded.
“He’s so capable…….”
Whoosh!
“Hmm.”
Then, as Kane tapped the center of the path with the corn cob, flames burst out.
“…That looks tasty.”
I watched half the corn char and roast as it fell, licking my lips.
* * *
Crunch crunch!
“Tasty?”
In the end, somewhere between raw corn and charred black.
The slightly singed, nutty-smelling corn got collected, and Luna and I each took a bite.
It was just aromatic to me with no real flavor, but it seemed decent enough for Luna.
I handed her the half-eaten cob in my hand as she nodded, then spread a cloth on the floor for a snack break and pulled some water from my subspace.
“How much stuff is even in there?”
Kane took the canteen from me and drank as he asked. I hummed and spun my ring.
“Enough that if we got dropped in a desert right now, we wouldn’t starve?”
Vague as it was, Kane pondered it and opened his mouth to speak when a slightly musky—no, metallic—odor drifted in from somewhere.
I quickly stowed the canteen Kane tossed back into my subspace, gripped my codex, and stood. Luna stuffed the rest of her corn into her mouth.
“Smells like… prey…….”
“You can talk after you finish eating.”
Even with Luna chomping away like a squirrel beside me, the nutty scent gave way to a growing stench.
I hurriedly opened my codex and recited a Purification spell to cleanse the nearby air. Kane spoke up as if something clicked.
“Not certain, but… troll.”
I recalled the books I’d read here and nodded.
“And a bit of a fishy smell too.”
“Swamp troll.”
The realization hit that this wasn’t a monster for the low levels—
“Grurk…….”
Along with a gurgling rasp, a swamp troll rounded the corner ahead: green skin covered in lumpy boils, elongated arms dragging on the floor, a grotesque figure shambling into view.
“What the fuck?”
I cursed without thinking.
No, seriously, why the hell was this thing here?
Pushing aside the question of how, I needed to think fast.
Run? Or fight?
I gripped my codex and placed a hand on the Force Shield page, stepping back.
“Fall back.”
Trolls were slow movers.
Swamp trolls were decently quick in marshes but sluggish on land.
A bit far, but we could sprint upstairs and it wouldn’t keep up.
That was my pitch, but Kane shot it down instantly.
“That’d just cause more trouble upstairs. Plus, it’s already spotted us.”
“Kraaak!”
Boom!
It let out a massive roar and swung its long, dragging arm, smashing the wall hard.
True to form for a troll that swam against swamp currents, the power was immense—chunks of the labyrinth wall crumbled to dust.
One solid hit from that, and we were done.
“No way, even after seeing that…….”
“Besides, I need to get stronger, right?”
His tone demanded trust. I grimaced.
Right, that’s the kind of guy he was.
The type who endured humiliation, persecution, and betrayal, only to walk an unacknowledged path for the continent.
“…I’ll… cover you too.”
Even Luna crouched low and moved toward Kane. I sighed, shook my head, and recited the Force Shield.
“Left forearm for each, activates like Arm Shield. One block per hit, I’ll refresh as needed, but only ten pages total. Keep count.”
And with a ranged DPS present, kiting was standard.
“One shot of support fire, narrow hall means one and done—then I switch to backup.”
“…Got it!”
“Yeah.”
No big explosions in a passage, and with my codex utility-focused, only basic attacks.
“With the power of truth, pierce thy foe.”
Neutral Magic Missile and wind-attuned Wind Arrow.
A blunt white missile tinged green and sharp-tipped arrows materialized around me.
Multiple foci snapped into my mind at once.
Like juggling several game screens—my stomach churned, but this was nothing.
I slowly raised my hand and launched the spells at the approaching swamp troll’s head.
Bang! Thunk! Thwack thwack!
Missile blasts and arrows ripping leather. That kicked it off—Kane and Luna charged.
Amid ear-splitting roars, the troll raised a massive hand to shield its head, leaving one cheek shredded.
It healed visibly, the burst eyeball regrowing like sprouting mushrooms.
Hunched over, it still hit three meters. Arms as long as Kane was tall.
Filling the passage, one swing was a huge threat.
But as the troll’s scraping arm lunged, Kane wall-jumped and twisted aside.
The moment its hand embedded in the wall, Kane planted a foot on the arm and climbed.
“Bind and root it firm. Blind it with brilliant flash.”
I bound the troll’s wall-stuck hand again, timed a Flash to its blind spot as Kane attacked.
But even that bulky frame summoned superhuman strength when its life was on the line.
As Kane stabbed for the neck vertebrae from above, the troll ducked, twisted, and took it on the shoulder—eyes shut, roaring.
“Gwaaak!”
But Luna waited below.
Dodging Kane’s blade by lowering its head, shifting its center of gravity—Luna braced her hands on the floor, sprang up like a spring, and snapped a kick into the troll’s jaw. Teeth shattered, saliva spraying the wall.
“Ugh……!”
Regenerated shoulder muscles yanked Kane’s sword, locking him—then its good arm swung, knocking Luna mid-spin as she tried to land.
My prepped Force Shield took the blow. Seeing Luna flying my way, I activated my codex.
“One force made meaningless… Luna!”
I angled a Force Shield along her trajectory, called her name as the signal—she twisted midair, kicked off the shield, and rocketed back, slamming another kick into the troll’s jaw.
Kane synced up: balanced atop it, he channeled mana into his blade, yanked it from the shoulder. With the troll’s head reared from Luna’s kick, he drove it straight into the eye socket, shattering the neck vertebrae.
He rode it down, blade gripped, adding his weight in a diagonal slash from face through throat to chest—then plunged a hand into the gash and crushed the heart.
“Grk… guk…….”
Face split, foaming blood, the troll’s bulk toppled, liquified to sludge, leaving one small magic stone.
“Haa… ugh…….”
…Protagonist party was protagonist party, alright.
Worried for nothing. Seriously.
I watched them finish without major wounds despite green status, chuckled emptily, and approached.
“Why doesn’t the blood vanish?”
The troll melted away, but the mess lingered. I cast Purification and Clean to wash them off, then picked up the magic stone.
“Pocket money.”
Luna aside, how much had Kane ever earned himself?
His body had basically been the currency.
I tossed the stone to Kane as he sheathed his sword, then pulled a candy from my subspace for teary-eyed Luna.
“Tasty…….”
Special-ordered carrot candy just for you, Luna.
(For the record, I tried one and never touched it again.)
“Unexpected.”
“What is?”
Kane eyed me as he took the stone.
“Didn’t peg you for a city kid only.”
Pot calling the kettle black.
I was surprised too. Thought I’d flail, but maybe the sense of detachment—or unwillingly treating this like a game.
Parties usually built synergy and swapped roles for that stuff.
If I’d faced that monster solo back in my Strong Guardian days, I’d have bolted or looked pathetic.
‘But right now, something outweighed the fear.’
I smirked at Kane’s sunken gaze.
“Your future master. This much is nothing.”
So much debt. Pay it all. Don’t forget. He clicked his tongue and turned away.
Good—remember that, and save my ass in Gadia.
“For now… let’s call it here and head up.”
“Yeah… I’m hungry…….”
All the shocks had drained me, so I said that, stroked Luna’s hair, and turned around.