Clear the Boss First - 2
The heavy stone door groaned open with a bizarre metallic screech, but my mind was already moving past it. I had seen the status window the moment Kallen appeared, and the information only confirmed what I already suspected.
I became certain it couldn’t possibly be true, yet here we were. The Imperial Knight Order. Of all the ridiculous things that could happen, this one took the cake. Still, there was no point dwelling on it.
What was done was done, and obsessing over it would only cost me time and focus. Right now, the boss raid took absolute priority.
“I-it’s the Imperial Knight Order…”
“It is. But that doesn’t matter.”
“How can you say it doesn’t matter? The Imperial Knight Order has come in person. How could this not be a big deal…”
“This is a dungeon. The Empire’s vast influence and the Knight Order’s reputation don’t mean anything here.”
Renya’s voice trembled with fear as she asked the question, but I didn’t even blink. My answer came out flat and calm.
“Unless they throw the first punch, we have no reason to engage them first.”
“You’re… a lot calmer than I expected?”
“There’s no reason to be afraid. The fact that the Imperial Knight Order showed up doesn’t change what we need to do.”
No matter how you looked at it, the situation remained the same. If his level had been higher than mine, I would have gone on high alert the second he appeared.
But he was only level twenty-five. The commander of the Imperial Knight Order was sitting at twenty-five. The absurdity of it almost made me laugh.
“Anyway, the important thing right now isn’t the Knight Order. It’s the boss. Let’s head into the boss room and—”
“You bastard…!”
I had just managed to settle the chaotic atmosphere when the knight commander’s voice cut through the corridor behind us.
“So you were hiding here, you vile, filthy coward!”
He had finally spotted us. His face was a mess, his armor dented and filthy from the climb. He hurriedly adjusted the sword in his grip, chest heaving as he shouted.
The sound of his ragged breathing echoed all the way down the hallway. It was clear he had burned through every last ounce of stamina just to reach this floor.
“Not content with mocking His Highness, you even stole imperial treasures and fled, you scum of the earth…”
“I didn’t steal anything. Those were legitimate spoils from a fair duel.”
“A fair duel? You dare call it that?!”
“If I had lost that duel, you people would have taken everything I owned. Isn’t that right?”
I answered calmly, taking one small breath before continuing.
“Besides, it was the Crown Prince who started the fight.”
“Such smooth lies from that glib tongue of yours… Do you truly hold the Empire in such contempt?!”
Typically, a knight commander projected a fierce presence and overwhelming pressure. But the man before me had none of that. If anything, he looked like a pretty boy who spent his time fluttering around banquets in silk clothes.
He was undeniably handsome, but his features were completely mismatched with the title of Imperial Knight Commander.
“He may give off a rather light impression, but appearances can be deceiving. He is a recognized talent within the Empire.”
As I stared openly at his face, turning over various thoughts, Adelheid spoke up quietly from beside me.
“He rose to the position of knight commander at the youngest age in the Empire’s history.”
“……”
“His swordsmanship is outstanding, but what people truly fear is his tongue.”
“……”
“He has a gift for slipping into people’s minds, twisting their psychology until they’re dancing in the palm of his hand.”
Adelheid’s warning was unusually grave.
“In terms of pure skill, many say he stands a cut above His Highness the Crown Prince. So—”
“Your explanation is too long. Let’s wrap this up and enter the boss room.”
I didn’t pay the slightest attention to Adelheid’s serious caution. As I had said before, the Imperial Knight Order was irrelevant. The boss was what mattered. I had no intention of wasting time on this nonsense.
“Wh-what?! Get your filthy hands off me this instant!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I walked straight up to the knight commander and grabbed him by the collar.
“I understand you chased me all the way here. But I’m busy right now.”
“B-busy…? Who do you think you’re speaking to with such arrogant nonsense…!”
“You look like you’re itching for a fight. In that case, go into the boss room ahead of me.”
“…What?”
They had said his ability to manipulate people through words was exceptional. I had been somewhat wary, but it seemed my concern was unnecessary.
He must have exhausted too much energy on the way up. His silver tongue had completely failed him; all he could do was mutter meaningless drivel.
“B-boss room…?”
“I’m giving you a special opportunity. This is your golden chance to claim the glory of the first clear.”
My indifferent remark made his eyes flicker with growing confusion. He slowly turned to look behind him, one eyebrow slightly raised.
“I have no idea what you’re suddenly talking about… Do you think we struggled all the way up here just to defeat the dungeon’s master?”
He swept his gaze across his exhausted subordinates, then forced his ragged breathing under control as best he could.
“We came here to punish you—the wretch who has tarnished the Empire’s honor and trampled upon imperial authority.”
His voice rang with firm determination.
“I do not believe for a second that I can defeat you easily through force alone.”
“……”
“I know exactly what kind of monster you are and how dangerous this gamble is.”
“……”
“Even so, I cannot simply stand by. Even if it costs me my life, I will pass judgment upon you!”
Having declared his resolve so dramatically, the knight commander breathed heavily. Even while caught by the collar, he slowly readjusted his grip on his sword with a solemn expression, as if determined to prove he had not earned his position through empty titles.
However—
“Prepare yourself, you worthless piece of—”
“We’re here. Go on in.”
We had already reached the boss room. Still holding him by the collar, I reached out without hesitation and shoved the massive stone door open with one powerful push.
The heavy door opened with a long, eerie groan. Only then did the knight commander realize what was happening. He began twisting desperately in my grip.
“Wh-what the hell are you doing?! Let go of me! Let go right now!”
“A dungeon isn’t a place you visit to catch people. It’s a place you visit to catch monsters.”
No matter how violently he struggled, my body didn’t move an inch. All his flailing was pointless.
“The surest way to defeat me is to kill the boss before I do.”
“That’s complete nonsense! Just let go already!”
“Go in. And clear it.”
With those final indifferent words, I tossed the knight commander lightly into the boss room.
“W-wait—!”
“It’d be too much for you alone, so I’ll send your subordinates in with you.”
Once you entered a boss room, there was no escaping under your own power. Thanks to that trait, it was easy to shove the rest of his men inside as well.
“With their captain already in the boss room, the subordinates can’t just stand around outside with their arms folded.”
It wasn’t exactly pleasant to hand over a perfectly prepared raid to someone else. But the man had shown such desperate resolve. It would be a tremendous waste for them to leave without even seeing the boss room.
“It feels somehow cruel… yet strangely satisfying,” Renya murmured.
“That’s a rather misleading way to put it. This isn’t cruelty.”
After pushing every last subordinate into the room, the wide-open stone door slammed shut on its own, as if it had been waiting for the right moment.
“Why do adventurers deliberately visit dungeons when they know how dangerous they are?”
“Huh? Well… for valuable loot and fame, I suppose?”
“Exactly. That’s what dungeons are for.”
I answered Renya’s dazed question without hesitation.
“That’s why people race to discover dungeons first. That’s why they compete to clear the boss before anyone else.”
“But those people didn’t come here to clear the dungeon.”
“They walked in here with their own two feet. That’s all the answer you need.”
Whatever status or honor they held outside, whatever grand justification they carried with them—it meant nothing. The dungeon didn’t care about any of it. Inside these walls, everyone was simply a challenger. Nothing more, nothing less.
“After going through all that hardship to get here, it would be ridiculous to just turn around and leave.”
“So that’s why you let them go first…?”
“Yes. Their chances of clearing it aren’t high anyway, and they were being rather noisy.”
It was the perfect solution. Two birds with one stone.
Beyond the firmly closed stone door, the knight commander’s desperate shouts and his subordinates’ frantic voices continued without pause.
But they had chased me this far with such fierce determination. As the official Imperial Knight Order, they probably wouldn’t fall too easily.
“On another note, it seems none of you recognized the saint’s actual younger sister.”
After roughly settling the situation, I decided to kill some time with light conversation.
“Now that I think about it, even you didn’t realize who Renya was at first, Adelheid.”
“…The saint specifically told me not to go around telling people I’m her sister.”
Adelheid blinked several times, looking momentarily dazed by my casual question. After a brief hesitation, she answered.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it too. That the saint even had a younger sister.”
“It seems she draws a very strict line when it comes to her background and family.”
Both Adelheid and Renya still carried traces of bewilderment on their faces. But at least they had read the room.
Neither of them brought up the Imperial Knight Order trapped inside the boss room again. They simply went with the flow, responding appropriately to my questions and slowly letting their tension ease.
“……Does she have some kind of circumstances?”