128. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (6)
128. Dungeon, Explosion, Reward (6)
"Kieeeek!"
[Wow, that's incredible. Glad I don't have a nose.]
A small monkey-shaped monster foamed at the mouth and rolled across the ground. The amplified garlic smell made the monsters' eyes water so badly that the sight was almost pitiful.
I'd known it was harsh enough to cause dizziness if you caught a whiff of it suddenly, but I hadn't expected the reaction to be this violent.
"What in the world did you bring?!"
Shuri asked with her tail standing stiff and straight. I gently planted a foot on a monster's head and kindly told her what was inside the box.
"Garlic."
Crunch.
Its head was softer than expected.
"Ga... garlic?"
"You know, the stuff you put in aglio e olio. That."
"Th—that stuff! It smelled awful!"
"So don't even think about taking your mask off. If you take it off... it's hell."
Viola had saved me the trouble of explaining. I closed the box and broke the disabled monsters' necks underfoot one by one. Most had been immobilized before they could even think of dodging, so we finished cleaning up the area in less than five minutes.
"Craft."
I dug a pit to hide the evidence, shoved all the bodies inside, and covered it roughly with dirt. I sprinkled in some extra garlic as well, so nothing would approach for a while.
Once I'd finished cleaning up, I looked over the fledglings waiting for my next order.
"That's how you deal with monsters. Understood?"
"What do we do when we run out of garlic from the box?"
"Then you just fight."
By then, our bodies would reek of garlic, so there would be no need to spray any more. The party nodded and prepared to move. I joined them and shouldered my pack.
I wanted to chew some jerky as we walked, but the thought of removing my gas mask and having to start shouting gas, gas, gas killed my appetite.
Had this been a mistake?
"Keep moving."
--------------------
Whether it was good luck or bad, we encountered the gaunt tree monsters five times.
The experience from the first battle helped enormously, and the second ended far more smoothly. In total, we fought them five times.
By the final battle, the fight ended before the tree monster could spit out its monkey spawn. Shuri's lightning magic and my mucus immobilized it before it could act, and it burned to death.
I looked at what Shuri and I had accomplished with satisfaction.
"Well done."
Wizards really were the best ranged DPS.
With a competent Wizard, maintaining formation and preventing the enemy from closing in allowed a party to wipe everything out with one or two spells. That was why explorers came running whenever a Wizard posted that they were looking for a party, practically begging them to join.
Elisa needed to grow into that kind of Wizard as well—a trump card capable of firing First-Class Magic once or twice. First-Class Magic was practically required to deal meaningful damage to the final boss.
I wanted to see a real Meteor too.
"Old man, my prosthetic arm's acting a little weird."
"Come here."
Was its durability worse than I'd expected? I rolled up Viola's sleeve and inspected the prosthetic. Bits of monster flesh were caught in its joints. She'd clearly been punching monsters in the face with it.
"Did you hit the monsters with the prosthetic?"
"They lunged at me so I just instinctively..."
"How much shock transferred to your shoulder?"
"Mm, quite a lot? My shoulder throbs a little."
"Maybe it doesn't absorb enough of the impact..."
"Still, it felt good to hit them."
She was certainly bold. Did the prosthetic still need further refinement? I placed a hand on her shoulder and released its coupling.
"I'm replacing it with the spare, so hold your sleeve up so it doesn't fall."
"Uh, um, got it, but it's a little..."
Why was she blushing? Was showing her armpit really that embarrassing? It wasn't as though I had only seen it once or twice.
Ah, was it because so many people were around?
"Shuri. Come here for a moment."
"Yes?"
"Viola seems embarrassed. I'll teach you how to attach the prosthetic, so replace it for me."
"Ah, old man!"
"Ah, yes!"
Shuri hurried over at my words and politely accepted the prosthetic. She handled it like a priceless object, so I told her there was no need to be so careful. Then I showed her the damaged prosthetic's coupling and explained step by step how to attach the replacement.
"L-like this?!"
"Yeah. That's all you have to do."
"Hup."
The moment the prosthetic was attached, Viola rotated her shoulder in every direction. Fortunately, the replacement itself had no problems, so we were able to resume the exploration immediately.
"Is this the staircase to the second floor?"
Unlike the entrance, which had just been a downhill slope, the path to the second floor had proper stairs.
This made the descent easier. We sat before the stairs and took a short rest. We'd come this far without stopping once, so this was the most efficient time for a break.
"Craft."
We gathered inside the small building I made and removed our gas masks. A pungent smell rushed into my nose the moment mine came off. After spraying garlic everywhere, the odor had apparently soaked into my entire body. I looked around and found everyone else suffering from it as well.
Shuri coughed and pulled her gas mask back on.
"It stings...!"
"Wash your faces with water. That'll make it a little better."
"Cough... Yohan, why are you perfectly fine?"
"I'm used to it."
Garlic flowed through Korean veins, after all.
Not that this body had any connection to Korea.
I decided to chalk it up to soul food.
Lost in idle thoughts, I watched the party suffer. They eventually followed my advice, soaked their faces with water, took jerky from their packs, and enjoyed a brief respite.
"It's going more smoothly than I expected."
"First floors usually aren't that difficult, and the money isn't great either. But Yohan, wouldn't we have been better off skinning those monsters? They were a new species. We might have gotten a decent price—"
"Their skin tore way too easily."
"What could survive a mithril shovel blade?! That thing could scratch even a dragon! It gouged chunks out of that enormous tree monster!"
"Mithril?"
"Ah."
Tsk. I glared at the thief cat for letting that slip. Lewis and Shuri were now staring at my shovel, so I confirmed that it was indeed made of mithril. I saw no reason to lie.
It wasn't as though the protagonist couple would spread the rumor everywhere.
"Don't go spreading rumors. For now, it's a secret."
Nothing was more troublesome than attracting annoying flies. Swatting them away would not have been difficult, but I had bought the shovel with embezzled money, which made the situation risky.
Fortunately, the thoroughly good-natured protagonist couple immediately agreed. Couples really did come to resemble one another.
"It's harder than I thought..."
"For an unexplored dungeon, this place isn't that difficult."
This raid was possible only because we had prepared and every member was capable. An ordinary adventurer party could easily have suffered a string of injuries while dealing with those tree monsters.
That kind of tree monster was the greatest threat to an adventurer party without a Wizard. Against anyone but us, it would have posed a serious obstacle.
Besides, those little monkeys weren't as easy as they looked, either.
They were weaker than goblins, but their sheer numbers and speed made them troublesome opponents.
They had simply failed to withstand the biochemical assault and died helplessly.
That was why thorough research mattered when exploring a dungeon. Even a party lacking combat power could dramatically reduce a dungeon's difficulty by bringing something that countered its monsters.
"...You must gather every last rumor. Sometimes a trivial piece of information will decide the outcome of a battle."
"Yes! I'll keep it in mind!"
"Yes!"
"I see..."
They truly were the protagonist couple—remarkably good-natured. They listened carefully even to advice that might one day save their lives. I smiled with satisfaction as Lewis and Shuri absorbed my knowledge.
If I kept training them like this, they'd eventually handle most problems without me lifting a finger. Looking forward to that day, I resolved to work Lewis hard.
...Though this dungeon was primarily a test, so I planned only to watch for now.
"Everyone, listen. There's something to check before we descend to the second floor. Shuri, how much mana remains?"
"About two-thirds left!"
"Once we reach the second floor, conserve your mana as much as possible. We don't know what may appear, so hold out with Fourth-Class Magic whenever you can. Use Third-Class Magic only when the situation becomes impossible. And Viola."
"Yeah."
"How many reagents do you have left?"
"I only used two. I beat down anything that got close with my prosthetic..."
"You're certainly putting it through its paces."
"It seemed wasteful to use reagents on those little monkeys. Besides, the best way to gather data on durability and design flaws is to test it directly. I already learned that flesh gets caught in the joints more easily than expected."
"Still, from the second floor onward, don't try to solve everything with your fists unless you have to. We don't know what may appear."
"Got it."
"Lewis, continue as you have been. Deflect as many attacks from the front as possible. If the situation becomes impossible, call me or ask Shuri to use Third-Class Magic."
"Understood."
"Sif, keep watching the surroundings. Report to me immediately if you notice a dangerous structure or signs of a monster. When combat begins, stay hidden whenever possible."
"Easy! Got it!"
"...Then shoulder your packs. We're going down to the second floor."
[I hope there's something fun on the second floor. The first floor was a complete bore.]
...That sounded ominous.
I confirmed that everyone had their packs on, left the building, and came to a stop before the stairs heading to the second floor.
"Has anyone forgotten anything?"
"No."
"Does anyone need to go?"
"Uh... could I go for a minute?"
Apparently someone did. I made a pit and a partition at a suitable spot, then returned to the others.
"If you need to go, make it quick. Don't go alone; go in groups of three."
At my words, the three women set down their packs and disappeared together behind the nearby partition. I watched Lewis scratch his head awkwardly, then stared at the stairs, where only silence flowed.
What could have been waiting on the second floor?
The monsters on the first floor had not been strong enough to massacre the adventurers.
If my guess was right, the first floor was only a taste, and the second floor...
"We're back!"
"Good. Everyone put your packs on."
It was time to descend to the second floor.
We stepped onto the stairway, lit only by faint lights.