Should You Seek Romance in a Dungeon? (2)
The moment we stepped into the dungeon, I wondered if I should call it lucky. So far, we hadn’t encountered any enemies.
“The traces here are pretty brutal,” Bruno muttered.
“No kidding…” Elena replied.
Their casual small talk actually summed up our current situation quite accurately.
The reason we hadn’t run into any hostiles yet was simple. The group that had entered before us had already slaughtered every single monster in the dungeon.
As a result, our unit’s advance had transformed into a journey following the previous party’s trail in an attempt to identify who they were.
“Captain, could you come over here and take a look at this?”
Surprisingly, Helmut called out to me in a completely normal tone, without mixing in his usual muscle-flexing bravado. He was the kind of guy who never lost his sense of humor even in serious situations. Was the tension finally getting to him too?
When I approached Helmut, I immediately understood why he was so tense. There, scattered across the ground, were the horribly burst remains of what appeared to be a slime.
Well, things were already serious, but now the danger level had just shot up even higher.
Just a dead slime? You’re really getting worked up over that?
Many people tend to think of slimes as nothing more than weak fodder mobs, but in this damn medieval fantasy world, slimes were anything but “just” anything. These weren’t the cute little trash mobs from Eastern RPGs. They were closer to the boss-level slimes you’d find in Western tabletop RPGs.
They possessed strong physical resistance, acidic bodies, and near-immortal vitality until their cores were destroyed. On top of that, they could even withstand the aura of a Sword Expert, which was why they were known as the natural enemy of knights.
It wasn’t impossible for knights to defeat them, but it required a long, drawn-out battle using only swordsmanship, and even then, avoiding injury was nearly impossible. That’s why slime extermination eventually stopped being the knights’ responsibility. The most common methods involved using magical tools like artifacts or scrolls… or simply having a mage handle it.
“Looks like there’s a mage among the predecessors,” I said.
“A mage?” Bruno asked, tilting his head.
“Yeah. I’m certain after seeing the slime corpse.”
Bruno still seemed confused and continued with his questions.
“Couldn’t it be something else? Like an offensive artifact? Or maybe a scroll?”
“First of all, the timing doesn’t add up.”
“Timing?”
“How long do you think it’s been since this dungeon was discovered?”
At most a week. Two weeks at the absolute longest. News had only reached the nearest territory, Weistenfel, about three days ago, so it couldn’t have been much longer than that.
For a brand-new dungeon with almost no available information, would they really invest in consumables like artifacts or scrolls so recklessly?
Let’s flip the logic. If they had obtained such reliable information in advance, wouldn’t they have cleared the dungeon and withdrawn long before the news even reached us? They wouldn’t have left any room for their presence to be exposed.
And if we consider the fundamental reason they entered this dungeon in the first place, the answer becomes obvious. They were almost certainly here to seek an artifact. In that case, it’s highly likely they would have brought along an expert capable of properly identifying what that artifact was.
Therefore, there was almost certainly a mage among them. After adding that explanation, I continued.
“And the other timing doesn’t match either.”
“Other timing…?”
“You found it yourself. The campsite traces where the fire had been put out not long ago.”
“Ah!”
Bruno nodded as if he finally understood. We had indeed discovered evidence earlier that the predecessors hadn’t entered very long ago. The traces of a campfire that had been extinguished recently.
This also suggested that the predecessors were pushing through the dungeon conquest in an extremely hasty manner. There might be an urgent reason forcing them to move without even having time to erase their tracks.
“Let me organize the situation. I think I’ve figured out the predecessors’ identity to some extent.”
Everyone nodded, urging me to continue. Elena shook her head so violently it looked like she couldn’t hold back anymore. Whoa, easy there. You’re going to hurt your neck.
I calmed Elena down a bit before speaking again.
“They’re most likely foreigners.”
“Foreigners?”
“Yes. I don’t know exactly where they’re from yet, but it’s almost certain they’re foreigners.”
Given the domestic chaos caused by the regular monster subjugation campaigns, there was zero chance that our kingdom’s knight orders had entered. The possibility of them being adventurers or mercenaries was also extremely low, since they hadn’t stopped by our territory to prepare. That left only one remaining possibility: foreigners.
“In the worst case, the predecessors could be something like a foreign nation’s secret unit.”
“But… isn’t that strange? This is right in the middle of the kingdom. How could they have traveled all the way here without being detected?”
Elena voiced her doubt. Since Weistenfel was geographically located near the center of the kingdom, it was a perfectly reasonable question.
“That’s exactly why I called it the worst case. The fact that they managed to infiltrate this far without being noticed is proof of just how dangerous these opponents are.”
My answer to Elena’s question brought a heavy silence over the entire unit.
Hmm. Maybe I laid it on a bit too thick.
I wondered if I had been too negative with my predictions, but I believed it was better to prepare for the worst than to be caught off guard by overlooking the worst-case scenario.
“Anyway, let’s keep moving. Foreigners have invaded the very heart of our kingdom. If we just leave without doing anything and this leads to something like an assassination attempt on the royal family, that would be even worse, wouldn’t it?”
Bruno shuddered at those words.
Well, I couldn’t blame him. Even I got pretty nervous just thinking about getting caught up in some massive conspiracy involving the assassination of royalty or high-ranking nobles. One wrong move and our entire family could be wiped out.
We still didn’t know if this was that kind of incident. But it didn’t seem like it would be any less serious. Suddenly, unidentified foreigners had appeared in the middle of the kingdom. This was definitely not a trivial matter.
“Ah, Bruno. It’d be better if you head out and deliver the news.”
“Huh? Me? Leaving here by myself… wouldn’t that make me look like a total coward?”
“You’re the best rider in our unit. While you’re heading out, share the situation with Hans as well, then go to the territory and inform Lord Essenrot. Make sure to emphasize that this is urgent information that must be delivered to His Highness the Third Prince immediately. Got it?”
“…Understood.”
Bruno turned toward the dungeon entrance.
He’d do a good job. Despite his looks, he was the most skilled horseman among our unit’s noble scions.
If he switched between horses, he should be able to reach the territory in less than half a day.
“Then let’s continue our advance.”
With those words, we began heading toward the deepest part of the dungeon.
After walking for about an hour, a massive cavern suddenly came into view.
The cavern was littered with traces of destruction. The floor was slick with the blood of demonic beasts, and the walls were deeply gouged by sharp aura blades. The scars of a fierce battle were clearly visible everywhere.
We advanced carefully, nerves on edge as we scanned for any sign of the enemy. As I moved forward with full concentration, we soon reached the deepest part of the cavern.
There stood an enormous stone door that seemed far too grand for an underground space. My instincts told me this was the heart of the dungeon. The predecessors and the dungeon’s core artifact were almost certainly inside.
A fresh wave of tension surged through me, but I quickly calmed my mind and gave hand signals to my unit members.
Split to both sides and wait in front.
They nodded.
Elena and Helmut took positions on either side of the stone door and waited. As we got closer, faint voices began to drift out from inside.
“Is this the artifact?”
“It is, sir.”
It sounded like a conversation between a superior and his subordinate. The subtle tone in their voices confirmed that my guess had been correct.
They were foreigners. Probably from the desert region.
Back when I was still living in my father’s territory in Rosfel in the southern part of the kingdom, I’d had occasional opportunities to interact with merchants from the desert kingdom bordering the south. Thanks to that experience, I must have picked up on the subtle differences in their accents.
They were from the Biraf Coalition Kingdom.
“Does it appear to be in good condition?”
The superior’s question continued. A moment later, the voice of what was likely the mage responded.
“…It seems to be broken. It’s far too deteriorated to produce the effects we were expecting…”
“Then everything we’ve done to get here has been completely useless!”
A furious shout from the one presumed to be the leader rang out, followed by the sharp sound of a slap.
Smack!
Did he lose control and slap someone across the face? It was frustrating having to rely solely on sound to understand what was happening inside.
Just as I leaned against the stone door, trying to peek through any gap I could find—
Creeeeaaak!
An incredibly loud noise, completely unfitting for a stone door, echoed throughout the cavern. Then, as if it were nothing, the massive stone door swung open lightly.
“…”
“…”
And just like that, our unit and the enemies found themselves face-to-face with only the stone door between us.
…Of course. I knew it was too good to be true that we’d made it this far without trouble.
It was clearly made of stone, yet it opened like a damn wooden door. …My luck really does come in all shapes and sizes.
“W-who are you!”
“Helmut, set up the Altar Cannon! Right now!”
Fuck. Can the world please stop screwing me over for once?