The Troll's Three-Hour Nap

"Me? A troll?"

"Ah… I just need to rest a little. T-ten minutes should be enough…"

"You were spamming spells like crazy back there. Isn't mana control supposed to be basic?"

"Stop scolding me already… haa… I'm dying here."

Yeonhee watched No Hayun, whose entire body was shivering uncontrollably, and spoke up.

"We all know ten minutes won't cut it, so rest as long as you need. It's true we gained a lot thanks to you."

"…Understood…"

Even while answering, No Hayun's eyes kept drifting elsewhere. Glancing. Peeking.

Stop staring. You're going to bore a hole right through me. Is she scared I'll hit her again?

I did my best to ignore No Hayun's gaze as I diligently collected the lizardmen corpses and taught the lizard unit how to fillet them. It was an utterly bizarre sight for monsters to perform. I wondered what kind of wild imagination this scene was stirring up inside No Hayun's head.

What is she even mumbling about? She's completely lost it. What hunter in the world can maintain Mimicry this long? An elf might pull it off, but that's about it.

After muttering to herself for a long while, No Hayun finally collapsed onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

Zzz— Zzz—

"Haa… Seriously. Why is she like this? Doesn't the Bijeon Guild train their people properly? So much for one of the Three Great Guilds."

"She's been a nuisance in every way. Why would anyone chain-cast spells that heavy? It did make things easier for us, though."

"……"

We waited around twenty ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠minutes, but No Hayun showed no signs of waking. Falling asleep from overexerting her mana was actually a relatively mild side effect, yet it was still a hassle.

I grabbed No Hayun by the nape of her neck, lifted her up, and pointed at her while asking the party members what they thought.

"…Are you asking if we should carry her?"

"Wow… Is that guy even human? What kind of summon acts like that…?"

Yeonhee looked at me and shook her head vigorously. She soon summoned Lizard No. 2.

Slurp?

"No. 2, you'll be carrying this woman from now on."

Puff—

Lizard No. 2 didn't seem thrilled about Yeonhee's order to carry yet another passenger after the ironclad beetle, but it silently hoisted No Hayun onto its shoulder without complaint.

"She'll probably wake up before we get there, right?"

The "there" Helen referred to was the Lizardman Swamp at the farthest end of the dungeon—the place where the Lizardman Champion resided. Since it respawned every two hours, we needed to move quickly if we wanted even one attempt.

"Let's head out for now."

. . .

Three hours later.

"Ugh…? Hic!! Uwaaaah!!"

No Hayun, who had been drooling heavily while sound asleep on Lizard No. 2's shoulder, woke with a violent jerk. Having enjoyed a full three-hour deep sleep, the shock was enough to give her goosebumps all over.

Taking a nap inside a dungeon? It was the kind of behavior that would leave her speechless even if someone slapped her cheeks dozens of times.

While she slept those three hours, we had moved straight toward the Lizardman Swamp and encountered enemies only twice. Taking into account that No Hayun was out of commission and we had to protect her, I stayed at the front and chose a route that avoided combat as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much as possible.

Today's main objective was to obtain the artifact resting at the bottom of the swamp anyway. We could handle any battles on the way back depending on the situation.

"Aigoo— You're finally awake? Did you enjoy resting on those firm lizardman shoulders?"

"W-what!! How long was I unconscious?"

"Three hours…"

"Hic…"

Only then did she seem to realize what an enormous troll she had been. No Hayun bowed her head and offered an apology that actually sounded sincere.

At least you still have a shred of conscience.

She knew full well what it meant to become combat ineffective inside a dungeon. In truth, we would have been justified in abandoning her. In a way, we were her lifesavers, so an apology was the bare minimum.

"Enough of that. Let's talk about the situation right in front of us."

"Yes… We've arrived?"

"As you can see. The problem is there are way too many people ahead. We're at the very back of the line, and roughly ninety people got here before us. There won't be much left to go around… Still want to give it a try?"

Helen seemed to prefer waiting for the next turn so we could start the fight from a better position.

The boss stage here usually consisted of one Lizardman Champion and around fifty regular lizardmen. The standard number of participants for an attempt was one hundred. No one knew who originally set that benchmark, but it had become an unspoken rule everyone followed.

The clear reward was the achievement Swamp's Owner and a high chance of dropping multiple mid-grade Runes of the Giant.

Obtaining Swamp's Owner would remove the 10% stat reduction penalty that applied to non-water-attribute entities upon entering the Lizardman Swamp dungeon.

The fact that No Hayun had carried her guildmates through this place probably meant she had helped them earn that achievement as well.

Our current levels—mine and Yeonhee's—were in the early-to-mid 30s. Until we hit level 40, we would have to camp out here, so this was an achievement we absolutely needed.

Better to go right away. While the back is chaotic, I can slip down alone and return.

I took Yeonhee's hand to draw her attention, then jerked my head forward a few times like a signal.

"Ah… How about we just do it this round?"

"Hmm… With Yeonhee here it might be enough… But people might mistake your summons for monsters, so you'll face some restrictions on your skills, right?"

"I'm planning to only call out the spirits and slimes at first. I'll handle the rest myself later."

This is a bit of a pain. It'll get better once Yeonhee becomes more famous.

Other hunters still couldn't easily accept that a summoner's creatures were monsters, so these restrictions were unfortunate.

We stepped inside the drawn line and declared our participation. Soon afterward, a transparent barrier rose behind us. The hunters in the back could no longer enter even if they wanted to. Installing such barricades was also part of the Hunter Management Agency staff's duties.

Rumble rumble rumble—

Bubble bubble bubble—

It's starting to rise.

The Lizardman Swamp varied by country, region, and timing, but it was generally around fifty meters in radius with a depth slightly over two meters. I had visited the one in Osaka, Japan during my previous life, and it wasn't much different.

Of course, my goal had been acquiring artifacts. Someone had offered to buy the cloak I obtained here at a high price.

After seeing that chilling warning, I never bothered visiting other locations to collect duplicates.

Even at two meters deep, climbing out wasn't easy. Falling in during battle could turn you into nutrients for the swamp—a truly dangerous terrain.

Something massive was slowly rising from within it. Logically, a creature of that size shouldn't even fit in a two-meter-deep swamp, but no one questioned such things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anymore.

"Go around over there! Do not enter inside the line—! Follow the order! Hey! Keep your place in line!"

One staff member was working hard to maintain order.

The hunters positioned themselves along the outer edge of the line where they wouldn't fall into the swamp. Since lizardmen were naturally aggressive and would initiate combat themselves, this arrangement worked.

Right before battle began, I traced a small heart in the air toward Yeonhee with my finger.

"Eh?!"

Yeonhee's face flushed bright red and she flinched in surprise, but she soon remembered our prearranged signal. She stuck her tongue out playfully and nodded.

It was the sign that I would temporarily leave the battlefield.

…It should be fine if I go, right? I'm a little anxious, but as long as the Lizardman Champion doesn't head this way, there shouldn't be any major problems. I brought No Hayun exactly for this moment anyway.

Our team's safety was the baseline, and even in my absence she needed to rank high enough in contribution to secure a Rune of the Giant. The champion only focused aggro on the closest enemies, so being positioned in the back might actually make it easier to deal damage freely. We also had the swamp-optimized lizard unit.

The lizard unit now numbered thirteen after three new additions. We couldn't summon all of them at once, but that was entirely Yeonhee's responsibility now.

Churrrrraaa— Kyaaaa—!!

The sharp roar made the hunters in front flinch.

—……!!!

The hunters roared back to shake off their tension and launched a coordinated assault on the Lizardman Champion.

Fortunately, No Hayun's gaze had also ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shifted in that direction.

I seized the moment to conceal myself and slipped beneath the swamp.

Bubble bubble—

The mud, long saturated with moisture, and nameless aquatic plants swallowed my bone-only legs. The cloudy muddy water darkened my already limited vision even further.

I already knew that in moments like these, it was easiest to simply close my eyes and rely on my senses.

Boom— Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang—

My body fully submerged as explosive sounds erupted in succession from above. Yet my nerves remained entirely focused on the faintly flickering waves of sensation.

Where are you… where…

Underwater, my concentration scattered and the sensory wave range fell well short of eighty meters. Still, it was more than enough for searching.

Reflecting on the past few artifact hunts, the location had always been slightly different from what I remembered.

But the fact that it's in the deepest part shouldn't have changed.

I crawled along the bottom like a quadruped for about two minutes. Finally, something registered in my senses.