The Journey to the Dungeon
The journey to the dungeon was more peaceful than anyone could have imagined.
Or rather, there was no danger to speak of at all.
With this entourage and countless flags fluttering, who in their right mind would even consider attacking us?
Anyone who happened to cross our path would be startled once by the long line of fifty or so.
Then twice by the Fabidea family flags.
And a third time when they peeked out from the carriage window and saw Rophen.
Attacking such a group was tantamount to starting a small war.
Naturally, those who encountered us from afar all fled the path.
Of course, as always, there were those whose luck ran out.
Some fools who drew their swords without thinking and approached from afar before spotting the group and immediately vanishing into the forest.
“Bandits, huh.”
“What would you have me do?”
“What else? Kill them.”
Of course, Davie had no intention of letting that slip away. His goal was to spread his reputation, after all.
Davie halted the procession for a moment, then led only his own soldiers into the forest.
And several hours later, he returned covered head to toe in blood.
“……”
“A few escaped, but they won’t be settling anywhere near here anytime soon.”
Davie wiped the blood from his armor with the casual air of someone who had seen nothing out of the ordinary, while watching the mercenaries’ faces pale in shock.
Whether it was his natural disposition or the way knights were, the word “moderately” simply didn’t exist in Davie’s vocabulary.
The same held true when it came to provisioning.
The food supplies that had been loaded into the carriage were barely touched.
As soon as the sun began to set, they would blindly charge into the nearest village.
Whether the villagers screamed in terror or not, they would seize whatever they needed.
“Is this really acceptable…?”
“What do you mean?”
Joseph, noticing the village chief’s deeply lined face growing even darker, asked Dofnik in a sidelong glance.
Dofnik’s expression flickered with momentary confusion.
That was right. These people, too, were ultimately people of this world, and they held a completely different set of values from Joseph.
Nobles took what they needed from commoners if the situation demanded it.
It was a perfectly natural statement.
Honestly, to Joseph it seemed no different from banditry, but to them it was an entirely proper and even beneficial action that reduced losses.
“Hmm……”
Feeling uneasy as he watched the village, Dofnik added in a quiet voice.
“Are you worried about the village chief?”
But Joseph shook his head.
“I doubt anyone will starve.”
Honestly, those who held power didn’t seem to be worried at all.
No matter how small the village, those in charge existed, and such people always stockpiled what they needed in advance.
But when food vanished in such massive quantities, the first to suffer were, of course, the lowest members of the village.
The most destitute wanderers in the village.
People like Joseph in his past life.
……It’s pointless to worry about it.
Yet Joseph still didn’t intervene.
He knew himself that this was pointless sympathy.
He also knew that such softness was as good as poison in this world.
More than anything, now that I have some breathing room, I can afford to think such things.
If it had been Joseph from just a few years ago, he would have clung to the bowl of rice in front of him rather than watching someone starve right beside him.
Joseph soon shook the thought from his mind and returned to the carriage.
Regardless, Davie advanced without hesitation on any matter, and Joseph benefited from it.
That didn’t mean there were no problems within the group, however.
Fabidea nobles and Caladon merchants.
Knights’ retainers and city mercenaries.
At first glance, they seemed like complete opposites, yet they got along surprisingly well.
“Sir Knight, you truly have great courage. Us merchants like us can’t even muster the bravery to face bandits, after all.”
“Indeed. Thanks to you, I’ve come to understand just how useless mercenaries can be.”
Dofnik and Braham were flattering Davie so much that one might think they were the ones who had once tried to avoid him.
“Hmph. Knights must do what knights do.”
Davie nodded with satisfaction.
“Yes, Lord Davie is truly a trustworthy man.”
And Joseph, too, now subtly joined in the flattery.
At first, such conversations had seemed absurd to him, but soon he realized this was simply social life.
Thinking back, there had always been people who gave empty, ritualistic praise and those who accepted it while in power.
These people were doing the same, knowing that such nutrient-poor conversation was part of social life.
Whether I like it or not… this way I can avoid friction as much as possible.
This strange conversation where people of different ranks showed consideration for one another.
Because of that, Joseph decided to make an effort as well.
Flattering them too much wouldn’t be harmful.
The surprise was that it didn’t stop there.
The mercenaries were also getting along surprisingly well with Davie’s soldiers.
Of course, there was a subtle undercurrent between them that differed from the relationship with Davie and the merchants.
Unlike their employers, most of them were commoners, with only a few retainers.
In this world, knights’ soldiers were mostly commoners who had entered noble service thanks to their parents.
Unlike the mercenaries who had started eating sword rice because they had nothing, there was a silent rivalry between them.
But that was all. No small problems even arose.
After all, with a noble present, who would be crazy enough to pick a fight?
Of course, Joseph thought that, but he didn’t know that the reason they were staying calm had to do with Joseph and Rophen as well.
Rophen mostly stayed in the carriage, but whenever Joseph left it, he would follow like a shadow.
Even if there were people he didn’t like, his nerves would be drawn to the presence of a beast in front of him.
“Don’t come any closer. He lived in the Harbert Forest.”
Moreover, some of the mercenaries had participated in the Harbert Forest subjugation, so word of Rophen spread quickly within the group.
And because of that, the way people looked at the mage who brought Rophen and his soldiers began to change slightly.
Of course, they knew he wasn’t just any mage since he traveled with Davie.
But there was a difference between hearing about it and seeing it for oneself.
“Here’s dinner.”
The mercenaries and soldiers stared at Derik serving smoked monster meat with blank expressions.
After about ten days, they finally reached the area near the mountain where the dungeon was said to be.
It was three days later than expected, but there was no choice.
Because the number of people and supplies had doubled, it took longer to move each time.
“We’ll have to set up camp nearby.”
Davie looked around once and said.
Then he leaped onto the carriage.
Normally, subordinates would scout such places, but Davie seemed to have no desire to waste time.
Thanks to his eyesight being better than an average person’s, he found a suitable spot without much delay.
There were many small thickets reaching up to chest height, but no large trees.
After ordering the mercenaries and soldiers to cut down the nearby trees, a wide clearing was soon created.
“Begin.”
As soon as Davie gave the order, everyone began digging and leveling the ground to build the camp.
Unlike when they stayed along the roadside, they would be here for a while, so they worked with real seriousness.
And naturally, Joseph’s tent was set up as well.
The tent was quite large for three people and one beast—Joseph, Rophen, and the soldiers.
He had pitched camp outside many times before, but never on this scale.
That was thanks to Joseph’s thorough preparations.
“The luggage from my carriage will be carried by the soldiers. Don’t touch it.”
After about an hour, more than twenty large and small tents had been set up across the wide clearing.
In the center was the conference tent and Davie’s tent, and beside it was Joseph’s slightly smaller tent.
Dofnik and Braham had apparently decided to share one tent, and it wasn’t small either.
Surrounding these three large tents were clusters of smaller ones.
Right after the camp was completed, Davie summoned Joseph, Dofnik, and Braham.
It was to draw up a specific subjugation plan.
Actually, Dofnik and Braham didn’t need to attend since they would be guarding the camp, but since they had flattered Davie so much, they were allowed to enter the conference tent.
“We plan to enter the dungeon as soon as the sun rises tomorrow.”
Once the three were seated, Davie immediately opened his mouth.
“Could you be more specific?”
Dofnik asked cautiously.
Actually, Davie had only told Joseph that it was similar to the Harbert Forest and hadn’t given any detailed explanation.
Of course, this was because he thought that the mage Joseph would know more about dungeons than he did.
Davie nodded in agreement and gestured to the servant.
The servant stepped forward and began explaining the dungeon.
“This dungeon appears to be a transformed cave.”
“A cave?”
“Yes. It’s dark and damp, so it would make a good dungeon environment.”
If one thought of a dungeon in the modern sense, one would imagine a labyrinth hiding ancient treasures, but the dungeons of this world were similar yet different.
Here, places where large numbers of monsters began appearing were roughly called dungeons.
Since there was no one systematically organizing information like in modern times, everyone called them that way.
Just as they called a shady mage a shaman.
Because of that, there were several reasons why dungeons formed.
First, as the servant mentioned, they occurred naturally in dark, damp places.
If there was no clear cause and they only caused harm to humans, they were often left alone.
Upon thinking about it, the Harbert Forest was one such case.
“Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any shamans involved.”
“Yes. If there had been rumors of that, Lord Viscount would have issued a subjugation decree himself.”
Other possibilities included facilities left behind by mages.
Since research was usually abandoned after completion, monsters gathered and multiplied, leaking out.
The place where Joseph found the rope that stopped the flow of mana was one such case.
“Is there no giant monster involved?”
“That’s still difficult to say for certain.”
Finally, there was the case where a single massive monster suddenly appeared.
Normally, when a strong monster appeared, miasma would gather around it.
It was a shaman’s doing, but the bear monster’s den in Valois Territory was like that.
Of course, this wasn’t a very common case.
“Then would it be better to request the Church’s help?”
“……It’s not certain yet. If there’s a clear reason, I’ll request it then.”
The servant glanced at Davie’s eyes when Joseph asked.
Looking closely, Dofnik and Braham were also watching Davie’s eyes, and it seemed they weren’t in a situation where they could easily request help from the Church.
Thinking about it, that makes sense.
Joseph didn’t know how much Church land existed within the Fabidea Territory, but considering the Caladon Church’s tendencies, hiring them would cost a considerable sum.
Without a clear justification, it was still premature to recruit them.
The Church’s image in this area really isn’t good…
Joseph thought to himself and let out a small snort of laughter.