The Elf's Report and the Egg of Victory
"Princess, it’s only natural that you smell elf. There’s an elf among the enemies, after all."
"Oh, right. ...Hmm, but it smells a bit strong, doesn't it? It’s a bit too thick to be just a lingering scent."
"Perhaps they are just beyond the wall? The scent must be drifting through the air. The enemy is surely building a wall to buy time, and they intend to rain arrows down upon us the moment we arrive."
"Is that so... Well, fine. It doesn't really matter if that's not it. I'll just beat them all to death anyway."
As the Penguin and Furcas continued to smash through the walls, Ryun, who had been passing over the heads of the Cockatrices, felt a wave of relief. She was grateful that the enemy was an avian legion. If she ever told her Master about this situation later, she would be sure to mention it: she had survived only because the enemy had bird brains.
"Sniff, sniff... somehow it feels even stronger..."
"The wall must be almost gone now. Look. There. This clearing is exactly where we encountered the enemy's Ghoul unit. Now, in the next clearing, the enemy's vicious trap, the Hell of Fire... oh, the wall appeared first."
"Hey! We came here to kill the enemy, not to break down walls! Why on earth are you being such an idiot, unable to kill the enemy in one go—!"
Ryun left the bickering Penguin behind and crawled rapidly toward her destination. The Cockatrices were puzzled by the rustling sounds coming from the ceiling, but it was unlikely that those at the tail end would be able to alert the vanguard. Ryun had already reached her target point. She pointed at the floor toward the slimes advancing in front of her, and the slimes created a wide hole. It was the perfect hole for Ryun to descend into.
"Operation start."
Kkeureureuk! The slimes began to gnaw into the ground vertically, drawing a long cylinder. There was no need for temporary walls, and the slimes, having abandoned stealthy movement, worked with incredible speed.
Kkiiiieeeek!! Noticing the reaction from the ceiling, the Cockatrices at the rear screamed and turned their bodies. Standing with both feet in the passage, Ryun waved at them once, then quickly aimed her bow at the Cockatrices and smiled brightly.
"Sorry for killing you? If I were to say it on behalf of my Master..."
Ryun hardened her expression and loaded three wind arrows onto her bow at once.
"You have to die so that I can evolve to 4-Star and bear my Master's child."
Pabababak! Ryun's wind arrows flew toward the eyes of the Cockatrices. The wind arrows, shot in a triple-layered stack, tore through the air like fighter jets in formation.
Kkiieek!! The Cockatrice at the very back was hit in the eye by the wind arrows and collapsed. Despite the arrows being three stacked wind arrows with high piercing power, only one Cockatrice had its eye burst and fell.
"Tsk."
Ryun clicked her tongue at the lack of a clean piercing wound, but she quickly created more wind arrows. She had to take down as many Cockatrices as possible with her own hands before the slimes finished their work. Fortunately, the width of the cave wasn't very large, and the Cockatrices were moving in a single file following the leader. There was no need to adjust her aim. She just had to shoot. Rapid-fire was Ryun's specialty.
Pabababak! Pabababak!
Kkiiiiik!! A Cockatrice that had turned to attack Ryun had three arrows lodged in its neck and slammed its head into the wall. A moment later, somewhere in the distance, the sound of bones breaking echoed like a reverberation.
— Kill that elf bitch—!!!
"Caught me."
She had thought she might get away with it thanks to Furcas, but it seemed the Penguin hadn't let go of its suspicion until the end. Ryun glanced up at the slimes on the ceiling behind her head.
"...Is this going to be a bit tight?"
Pababak! Ryun stepped back and fired arrows at the charging Cockatrices. The Cockatrices ran through the dungeon like ostriches on two legs, reading the trajectory of Ryun's wind arrows and moving their heads here and there to dodge them.
Pabababak! Ryun fired a barrage of arrows so the Cockatrices couldn't dodge. The Cockatrice at the very front stepped on the ground and collapsed as a hole was punched through its ankle.
Kkiiiiik!! The following Cockatrice stepped on the fallen one and leaped over it. Ryun's expression stiffened for a moment, and even her hand, about to fire an arrow, froze.
Thud, thud, thud-thud-thud! The Cockatrices weren't the problem. The problem was the black mass charging from far away, stepping on the heads of the Cockatrices.
"You elf bitch, you're dead—!!"
The Penguin was running backward through the dungeon, stepping on the heads of the Cockatrices. At a speed faster than she had imagined, Ryun was startled and stepped back significantly.
"Everyone, faster!"
Kagagagak! The slimes also instinctively felt the danger and began to gnaw at the ceiling. Ryun fired arrows indiscriminately to delay the enemy's charge as much as possible.
Pabababak! One Cockatrice collapsed, bleeding as if it had been stabbed by a knife. The Cockatrice next to it had a hole punched through the wing it was trying to spread and toppled over. The Cockatrice struggling on the floor had its neck broken as it was crushed by the Cockatrices rushing from behind.
"How dare you deceive me and attack the rear?!"
"Hmph."
Ryun aimed her bowstring at the charging Penguin. What kind of reward would the Master give her if she killed the one who looked like the enemy leader? Ryun took a short breath and squeezed out her remaining mana.
Swaaaak—!! The wind arrow Ryun fired flew through the air at a much faster speed than ever before. The target of the arrow, which grazed over the heads of the Cockatrices, was naturally the Penguin. As it had a large surface area, the Penguin was a very wide target.
"Weryaaa—t!!"
And the Penguin didn't dodge at all. Having read the trajectory of the wind arrow, the Penguin raised its hand high and brought it down in a chop.
Poo—k!! The Penguin struck two of the wind arrows into the ground, and the one remaining arrow pierced the Penguin's side. With a sound of rushing wind, a hollow hole was punched through the Penguin's side.
"Huh?"
Ryun doubted her eyes for a moment. As if a hole had been punched in a cotton quilt, neither blood nor flesh splattered from the Penguin's side. The Penguin was weak, to the point where it was hard to believe it was the leader of the Cockatrice unit. No.
"That's... not flesh?"
"This is a disguise, you idiot!"
The Penguin's beak split wide open. A black light shone from within, and Ryun almost fainted as she grasped the nature of that black silhouette at a glance.
"Kkyaaaa!"
With a strange scream, the Penguin thrust its foot toward Ryun. The flying kick, coming in with the Cockatrices as a springboard, looked fast and powerful enough to break Ryun's waist. If it touched her, she would die. Ryun gulped.
"Pfft."
Ryun burst into laughter, and at the same time, a very faint tremor was transmitted from the ceiling. Clap. Ryun clapped her hands, and at the same time, the ceiling collapsed with a roar.
"Wha-"
"This is what we call a wall, you moron."
Ryun waved at the Penguin visible through the pile of dirt.
"Doesn't it look just like you?"
"Youuuu—!!"
Rumble. The ceiling collapsed. A partition wall at least 1 meter thick formed in the passage, and Ryun hurriedly stepped back three paces.
BOOM!! Something slammed into the wall so hard that the wall Ryun was looking at shook for a moment. However, there was no such thing as a hole being punched through the wall.
"...Almost died."
Ryun stroked her chest with a face that had just escaped a brush with death. If the slimes had been even one second late in collapsing the ceiling, Ryun might have had her waist broken by the Penguin's kick and become a body that could never bear a child.
"...That can't happen!"
Ryun vowed to herself and quickly gave instructions to the slimes.
"Operation Phase 2 start! Keep digging the ceiling in an '∩' shape!"
Kkeureureuk, Kkeureureuk. The slimes continued the tunnel in the ceiling they had created, following Ryun's orders. Ryun ran along the passage and smiled broadly.
"Mission success—!!"
Hysterical screams seemed to be coming from beyond the wall, but Ryun ignored them refreshingly.
"...Ah."
However, there was something she couldn't ignore. "Another woman... sigh."
Should she not tell him? But Ryun decided not to omit what she had dared to discover, in order to please her Master. If she reported it, something good would surely happen. Ryun brushed the dirt and dust off her body, thinking of her Master, who would have a big smile on his face at her report.
"Hehehe!"
Ryun exited the straight passage and ran through the dungeon, guided by the Flare Pantheras running below the dungeon.
* * *
Thwack, thwack-thwack! The Penguin detached Furcas's right arm and struck Furcas's head with it.
"My instinct was right! If you hadn't been making weird noises next to me, I would have killed that elf bitch! What is this!"
Thwack, thwack-thwack. The black arm wielded by the Penguin hit Furcas's head again and again. It didn't hurt at all, but Furcas's heart ached.
"I, I am sorry..."
It wasn't that the Penguin didn't listen to Furcas, but rather that a problem arose because Furcas was focused on only one thought. Revenge. The Penguin, who kept wanting to look around, and Furcas, who was obsessed with the idea that they had to move forward quickly, were out of sync. If Furcas had been just a little more relaxed, he would have quickly noticed the existence of the elf who was creating a hole in the ceiling and moving to the rear.
"If I hadn't been so meddlesome..."
"I understand the circumstances well enough! But why didn't you trust my instinct!"
Thwack, thwack-thwack. The Penguin threw its black arm onto the floor. It stomped on it while panting, but the arm only got a little bit of dirt on it and didn't hurt at all. The Penguin was just venting its anger, and Furcas felt even more sorry for that.
"Annoying! I'm going to smash this dungeon, Andras and everything! What the hell is this?! Why is an elf acting as a subordinate in a dungeon?!"
"That... considering there's an Orc, isn't it an elf who was violated by an Orc?"
"......Just don't talk today. I'll just trust my instinct."
"......."
Furcas bowed his head in embarrassment. Even he, who had said it, thought it was absurd. An elf violated by an Orc and becoming a subordinate—where in the world could such an absurd thing happen?
The Penguin muttered as it pushed its hand through the collapsed wall.
"Even if Father-Halpas did this humiliating thing because he wanted to eat Andras, we, as subordinates, shouldn't think about such things."
Crackle, crackle! The water spilled by the Penguin made the wall freeze. Furcas approached with a scythe, but the Penguin stopped him.
"We can't break through this. We have to go head-on."
"Yes? Don't we just need to break through like before?"
"It's not a thin wall like before. It's this thick."
The Penguin spread both arms wide and let Furcas know the distance it felt with its mana.
"So you mean it's incredibly thick?"
"Yes! It seems the passage itself has collapsed. We are trapped now. ...It seems they want us to come head-on. That's why they blocked the rear."
The Penguin brushed its hands off and opened its beak wide.
"Let's kill everyone except Andras. Yes. Okay. I don't think I can let this go just like that."
The Penguin panted, fanning its hand inside its beak.
"I need to cool off a bit before we go. ...Ugh, why is it so hot here? ...I have to take it off. Tsk."
Something began to wiggle and pop out from between the Penguin's beak. It was, clearly, a human hand.
* * *
"Master!"
"Ryun!"
I hugged Ryun, who was covered in dirt and dust. Ryun had perfectly completed her mission and, having joined up with the Flare Pantheras, had safely returned to the final intercept room through the underground passage.
"Did you block the entrance you came in through well?"
"Yes! The slimes collapsed the ceiling as they came down at the end. They also collapsed the underground passages here and there. They won't be able to sneak in underground."
"Good. Even if a 4th wave comes out, it will be the same. Hehe, now I just have to welcome them head-on. Ryun, aren't you hungry? Do you want to eat this?"
I handed Ryun a large egg that had been roasted to a golden brown. The egg, as big as Ryun's chest, was steaming.
"What is this?"
"I roasted an egg."
"...Whose egg is it?"
"Harpy and Andras egg."
As the ranch stabilized, edible eggs were supplied normally, and I had taken a few of them and shoved them into the floor where hellfire was boiling. After several trials and error, I succeeded in realizing the kind of stone-roasted eggs you could only see at a hot spring.
"I think you'll be able to have a full meal with just one. It's a shame there's nothing to dip it in right now."
"Why isn't there? You can just spread that on it and eat it."
"That's a clever thing to say, but don't play with your food."
I grabbed Ryun's ears and fiddled with them, punishing her. Only by touching them to the point where it might hurt a little could Ryun feel the stimulation of pressing down beyond pleasure.
"Let's see... Level 68? That's impressive. How many did you catch?"
"I think I caught more than three sets. ...Master, more than that, good news!"
Ryun stood on tiptoe and whispered something in my ear. Hearing Ryun's words, I couldn't help but gulp.
"There's a female human inside? ...Is she pretty?"
"Yes, very."
Ryun hadn't just succeeded in her mission; she had also brought back the best information. "So, Ryun. Is there anything you want?"
"Can I try sprinkling that on the roasted egg and eating it?"
"......."
In the end, I used holy magic to sprinkle a little bit on it. She didn't play with it, but really ate it deliciously, which made me feel even stranger.