Watchman and Butler?!

I left the watchtower, swung up onto Rin, and tipped my head back toward the sky.

I need this wrapped up before dark, at least.

I had other business later.

I didn't head back to Gailwarz. I made for the dungeon nearby instead. If my guess was right, that place would cough up an item that could push me into Expert Mid.

The last hidden piece I had left. I was about to say this one was mine…

Then I actually arrived, and the sight that greeted me stopped me cold.

There were the remains of a campfire right in front of the dungeon entrance. Traces of people were scattered all over the place, laid out so blatantly it almost looked like someone had done it on purpose. The dungeon was even standing open. That was not supposed to happen.

What the hell? How did they even know to come in here? Looking at the tracks, this wasn't one or two people.

The footprints alone belonged to several people. This was bad. If they claimed it first—

This is MY hidden piece!

I clenched my teeth and sprinted into the dungeon, pulling up the information as I went.

I stepped inside and started looking for signs of a fight. I kept scanning, then tilted my head. There weren't any.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

That's weird. Goddess, lend me your power! I need to see these ghosts!

"Heh heh. You can't even see something as paltry as a ghost? How pathetic!"

"See, without you, Goddess, I'm a co~rpse!"

"Ahaha! Stating the obvious, I see. Very well — I'll lend you my power!"

A soft gold light bloomed across my body a moment later. Strength welled up through me, and then something swam into view.

A person, torn apart with savage cruelty… no. A ghost. Behind it hung another one, hair hanging limp around its face. A Ghost and a Wraith. The Ghosts were just ghost-shaped; the Wraiths were the ones carrying weapons. That was the difference.

I only asked to see the ghosts, but I can feel power rising in me. Goddess, you're the best!

Wisps — actual spirits — were drifting around in there too. There were more monsters left than I'd expected. No — it didn't look like anyone had touched them at all. Which made even less sense.

What the hell? Why would they just push through without killing the monsters? It's not like they got attacked either.

The more I thought about it, the weirder it got. I put the question aside and carved my way forward, cutting down every monster I could see. Ghosts and Wraiths came rushing in with blades drawn, and I split them apart. The sword I carried wasn't some ordinary piece of steel, so even things like these just came apart. The wisps were cute, so I killed those as gently as I could.

I worked through them steadily and picked my way through the maze without much trouble. I already knew this place, for one thing — and unlike the usual run, this dungeon wasn't about killing a named boss.

"Apostle. Can you even reach the destination? You look exhausted."

"It's not hard. The left-hand rule works in here."

That was the thing. This dungeon was a maze. In a maze, forks appeared at random, and you could only pick one path forward. Keep going long enough and you'd hit the dungeon's objective near the end — or a dud, a trap, a monster, whatever the place decided to throw at you.

Finding the real path wasn't difficult. You put a hand on the wall and just kept walking.

Monsters kept showing up at every turn. The upside of spirit-type monsters was that they weren't bound by location, so they popped out from everywhere. I cut down every one I saw, and along the way I picked up a decent pile of the special materials only these things dropped.

I hear these can stand in for enhancement stones. I'll give them a taste later.

The thought of juicing up my gear with them later sent a little shiver through me. The blacksmith old man would definitely like these too, right?

I was somewhere around several dozen monsters deep when a title dropped.

Hmm. A little underwhelming for an Ancient-grade. Worth trying an upgrade?

I dumped a full twenty thousand points into it and hit enhance.

Yeah. That was more like it. Soul strike, huh.

Even my basic attacks were going to start hitting harder now.

I pushed on a little farther and finally figured out what the people who'd come in here were after.

From the looks of it, they're trying to grab the item and bounce. Not happening.

If a dungeon's only objective was finding a special item, technically you could snatch it and run. That was for dungeons without a guardian, though. I was pretty sure this one had one.

Then again, settings could change, so jumping to conclusions was a bad habit. Still. Actual item-and-ditch types, in a dungeon this low-level? That was almost impressive.

Let's see what kind of people they are first, then decide. God. Unbelievable.

I reached the final chamber. Four adventurers — men and women — were huddled over a single chest with their heads together.

"Try opening it with the key."

"I told you it doesn't work! You saw it a minute ago!"

"Don't get mad. You'll get wrinkles."

"Think there's some kind of password?"

Called it.

They don't even know how to open it. Opening the thing is the clear.

I decided to watch for a bit. They'd come here to steal and run, so they had to have something going on. I waited ten minutes.

"So then… if we flip it over, it'll open?"

"You think that's gonna work…?"

"I'm telling you, just smash it!"

"You tried smashing it earlier and your hammer got wrecked."

Oh, this was infuriating. Fuck it. I'd just do it myself.

I couldn't take it anymore. I was doing this!

I walked forward and started acting.

"Oh? Are you all adventurers too? Hero hopefuls?"

"Huh? How'd a little kid get in here…?"

"I'm a Hero, actually."

"Mm? Ah. Playing Hero, are we?"

Dismissed on the spot, of course. Fine. Ignore me all you want.

I slipped between them like it was nothing, looked down at the chest, and knocked on it a few times.

Clack. Tick!

The chest popped open at once. They stared in shock, and I glanced around at them.

"I am a Hero, though?"

One line, and they all stood there like someone had stuffed honey in their mouths. What a bunch of idiots.

"Hold on. You opened that chest in one go?!"

"This chest asked you a question, right?"

"Y-yeah. Recite an incantation that summons wealth."

"Yep. The answer is showmethemoney."

I knew it well. I'd laughed my ass off the first time I saw this one. It wasn't just a spell that summoned wealth — it made you filthy rich. Heh heh.

The adventurers were losing their minds in their own ways. I looked over the item that had come out of the chest. A Noble-grade artifact. Yes. This was the one I'd wanted!

I started to walk out with it, and the adventurers stepped in front of me.

"Leave that and get lost, kid."

"Think we're joking? We'll kill a child just as easy!"

"Or maybe I should have a little fun with him first, since he's kinda cute? Ohoho."

"We've got Those Who Recite Sins backing us, you know? Kid or woman, we can kill whoever we want and nobody'll say a word!"

I sighed the second I heard it. What, Those Who Recite Sins again?

"Haa. Those Who Recite Sins, no matter where I go. Fuck. Their cult leader's already dead and they're still this damn impressive."

"Did you just cuss at us? Guess I'll start by ripping your tongue out."

They rushed me. Naturally, I put them all down.

Two of them were women, so I checked their faces. One was a pig. The other had no chest at all and had only grown her ass.

Fuck. Both of them are disgusting.

I killed one, killed another, killed one of the men. I left the last one on purpose.

I pinned the remaining guy — a muscular type — and asked him a question.

"Hey. Why'd the cult hire you? And what were you doing in here?"

"The fuck you on about. Get lost, you retarded little shit. Wait — are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you a half-goblin?"

He sneered up at me. I shrugged and lifted my sword.

I took one of his arms off.

"GYAAAAAGH!"

"One arm, two legs left. Oh, and if we count what's between your legs as a leg, that's three."

"W-wait, khhk, th-the c-cult told us to find every dungeon in the country… and clear them. That's all!"

"Why?"

"I don't know. Something about eliminating future threats? Please, s-spare me."

Eliminating future threats? So they were tearing through every dungeon in the country and clearing them?

That's a problem. Hidden pieces I want could end up in someone else's hands.

Leaving this alone would get ugly. They'd find all the ordinary dungeons, sure. Hidden pieces weren't the kind of thing that got discovered easily unless you were spectacularly unlucky. Even so, the idea of someone else walking off with what was supposed to be mine didn't sit right.

"Thanks for answering so well."

"Hahh — y-you're letting me go, right?"

"Of course. Live a good life from now on."

"Th-thank you…!"

He picked up his own severed arm, face gone bloodless, and turned his back. The instant he did, I smashed the flat of the blade into the back of his skull.

CLANG!

He went out cold.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"I'm going to use him as a gift."

I'd piled up a lot of points this time anyway. Been a while since I dumped some into stats!

I allocated them all the way to level 50. And then Dawn Guardian lit up.

A new effect had actually unlocked. Ohhh. Right now?!

Holy shit. My sword was a beam weapon now? Could I just start spamming it like Excalibur~?

No, wait. I don't even have mana. I'd have to run the whole thing on ki, and that's limited, so spamming it is off the table.

Ah. So that was why spirit weapons needed a Master. Mana backup mattered this much!

Anyway. I gripped the item I'd just gotten and shouted.

"Expert Mid, let's GOOO!"

The item flared bright and vanished. At the same time my body shone silver, the light bursting outward in every direction before settling back to normal. That effect still looked cool, even now.

I looked down at my chest. Five of them, wrapped in light. I'd stepped into Expert Mid.

I grow, the sword grows. Not bad!

I grinned, slung the man over my shoulder, and headed out. I climbed onto Rin and ran.

The place I arrived at was the dungeon where Drom lived. The moment I stepped inside, Drom bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.

"B-Boss! You're here?"

"Yeah. Hey, Drom."

"Yes, Boss!"

"I've got a favor to ask."

I set the man down. I'd slapped a rag over the stump on the way here and done a rough job of stopping the bleeding. No idea if it had actually worked.

Not that it was my problem.

Drom tilted his head.

"What is it?"

"You know what's out that way if you keep going?"

"The highlands, ain't it?"

"You know there's a temple around there, right?"

"Can't say I know about any temple."

Drom kept tilting his head. Then he thought for a second, and his mouth fell open.

"Ah. Those building scraps — you don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mean…?"

"That's the one. There's a watchtower near there. I want you to stay in it and keep an eye on things — make sure the workers are doing alright, make sure no monsters or other weirdos come wandering in. I'm giving you a job."

Drom's eyes went wide. His ears pricked up like a rabbit's.

"M-me? I'm gonna be a watchman AND a butler?!"

"…Think of it however you want. But the top floor of the tower is my bedroom, so if you go in there, you're dead."

"I-I absolutely won't, Boss!"

"Good. This guy's a gift. This bastard's Runner Mid. When he wakes up, fight him. It'll probably help your skills along."

That was the whole reason I'd bothered dragging the man here — to raise Drom. From the way he talked, this guy was already a full-on henchman. But he was a dungeon named-mob originally. Getting along with a creature like that never hurt. Drom grinned.

"Once I take him down… can I eat him?"

"Do whatever you want."

"Hah, thank you so much! Boss, thank you, really! Lashu's the best! Milky-white Laaashu!"

I left Drom's cheering behind me and climbed onto Rin. Time to take care of what was left, right?

Shall I pay Gailwarz a visit?

I had exactly one thing to do. It had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been a while — I needed to go see Abeiru's bitch of a mother. Anya.

I wondered how she'd been getting by. I was planning a slightly different opening this time.

I ran on Rin's back and laughed without a sound. I was already heating up.