Chapter 35
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Southern Dungeon
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Two weeks passed.
The operation to clear the mines scattered across the forest was nearing its end, and the muscle aches that had tormented my entire body had subsided to a tolerable level.
…The fact that the pain hadn't vanished completely after two whole weeks, but had merely improved to a 'tolerable level,' was no longer much of a shock.
Who was there to blame?
I had only myself to blame for my god-awful stat distribution.
“…It’s quiet again today.”
“I know.”
“Everyone else is bustling about the forest. I’m not sure if it’s okay for us to just sit here like this.”
“There’s no reason for you to feel uncomfortable, Rireu. We’re just following our superior’s orders.”
“…Still, it feels awkward.”
The mine-clearing operation would have finished much faster if Rireu and I had joined in, but I had my stamina issues, and she had to be available to act as a communications specialist.
On top of that, the deeper we went into the uncharted territory, the rougher the terrain became, and we encountered dangerous plants whose poison could paralyze a person with a single touch. With my physical abilities far below the standard, I would have only been a hindrance to the work.
‘Besides, I've never learned how to do something like remove mines.’
I was a novice who had just barely figured out why mages chanted spells. How could I be expected to handle dangerous objects like mines when I hadn't even mastered the basics of magic?
Isn't that like handing a five-year-old a loaded pistol?
The reason I was lying here in the corner of the wagon, staring blankly with Rireu at the leaves and the sunlight filtering through them… was, strictly speaking, for everyone's safety.
“Then, shouldn’t we at least help with constructing the outpost? It feels a little… awkward, resting for two weeks without doing anything.”
“…Help with construction?”
“Yes.”
“Rireu, have you ever studied architecture?”
“…No.”
“Have you ever even held a hammer?”
“…I haven’t.”
“Then staying put is the best way to help.”
“I suppose that’s true, but…!”
It's not that I'm lazy or trying to slack off. I'm doing nothing because there's nothing I *can* do.
“The road paving is complete! We have an urgent request for supplies from Vellaland, so we’ll be sending a wagon with food and weapons first!”
Vellaland was a fierce battleground where countless Mazoku and hero parties were locked in bloody conflict.
The Akilliptus Forest Zone was an important region in the game precisely because it could serve as a supply route directly connecting that battleground, Vellaland, to the capital. Therefore, Company Commander Bellua had no reason to oppose the decision of the unnamed dwarf platoon leader.
Bellua nodded and ordered the dwarf platoon leader and his subordinates to escort the supply wagon.
As I watched the wagon depart into the distance, killing time with useless thoughts like, ‘The bread on that wagon is incredibly hard,’ I began to feel a faint light beside me.
The crystal orb Rireu had placed on the wagon floor had begun to glow.
“…Oh, just a moment.”
Rireu put away the review notebook she was holding, quickly placed her hand on the crystal orb, and carefully opened her mouth.
“Ah, ah. Um, communication security… communication security….”
The young elf still seemed very clumsy with military communication protocols.
—Communication security. This is 5th-Circle Mage Chris Waver, 2nd Platoon, 7th Infantry Unit of the Capital Royal Guard. Reporting the discovery of an unusual item. The elf says it’s a plant used as a material for Philia Fiber… It looks like a rose. It has no thorns, and there’s a thick, egg-like object on the innermost part of the leaf.
In the game, Philia Fiber was a rare and expensive material used to craft high-performance ranger hoods.
If I were an archer, I would have jumped up and cheered… but as a mage, it wasn't particularly useful to me.
Well, if we just gather it and load it onto the wagon, the quartermasters will take care of the rest.
“For now, please collect everything you see. As the elf said, it is quite a valuable item.”
—Understood. We have swept our entire assigned sector, so we will be able to return by tomorrow morning.
If I remembered correctly, obtaining the plant for Philia Fiber required climbing a cliff hundreds of meters high on the eastern edge of the forest. The fact that a report of its successful acquisition had come in from such a treacherous location made it easy to infer that the operation was truly nearing its end.
…Still, he called his partner ‘the elf’ instead of by her name after they spent two weeks sweeping the forest together.
It seemed that mage, Chris Waver, had also had his fill of the elven personality.
“Ah, ah, communication security….”
“Communication security. Communication security.”
As if to prove my prediction correct, five reports came in today alone. Most of them stated that they had finished patrolling their assigned areas and would return by this evening or tomorrow morning.
‘What a sweet gig.’
I was quite flustered when the spirit gave me a quest I'd never heard of, but looking back now, it was a completely cushy job.
After all, I was a ‘general.’
What kind of general runs around disarming mines themselves? They lie back and enjoy the sweet life, of course. All the actual work gets passed down to the poor, low-ranking soldiers.
All I had to do was wait in anticipation for the 'special gift' the spirit had mentioned, while blankly watching the construction of the barracks, warehouse, and fortifications enter its final stages.
…It wouldn't hurt to have a sweet event like this once in a while, right? Even with 1 luck, it's not like bad things can happen every single hour of every single day.
That would be absurd.
* * *
“Aaaargh! It's still there! It's still here! The shit those filthy Mazoku left behind!”
Fuck, I guess it is possible.
“Damn it, my forest…! My forest, I can't bear it! Those pieces of trash!”
As soon as the company’s mages and elves returned, Rireu and I immediately took Trian and headed for the great tree where the runestone was buried.
We had walked this path once before, and thanks to Trian’s expert guidance from having tirelessly roamed the area for the past two weeks, we arrived in a fraction of the time it took us the first time.
We reached the tree while the sun was still high in the afternoon sky and, without delay, placed our hands on the runestone.
“Why did you stop halfway through the job? Are you trying to mock me?”
And so… the spirit appeared before us, pissed off for some reason yet again.
“I apologize. I was certain we had surveyed the entire forest… Could you perhaps tell us in which area you sense that foul demonic energy?”
I first bowed my head and, just as before, focused on calming the spirit.
“Hmph… Fine, it is possible for a human. You are mortals, not transcendent beings… You can make mistakes.”
Unlike last time, I managed to calm the crazy deer with only about six apologies. It seems like the more I do this, the better I get at calming spirits.
“…At the southern end, there is a deep cave. It seems you missed the filthy stench of the Mazoku bastards contained within.”
A deep cave at the southern end of the forest?
…I have a bad feeling about this.
“Um… Spirit?”
“Dajin. My name is Dajin. Address me as such from now on.”
Well, you took your sweet time with the introductions.
“Ah, yes, Lord Dajin. I ask just in case, but when you say that cave… are you referring to the one with the mysterious property that prevents one from observing its interior from the outside?”
“You seem to know that cave well. Yes, that one. The cave where once you step inside, you cannot exit through the entrance and must explore to the very end to find the way out. It seems I don't need to give you directions. If you know the location, hurry up and take care of it. I’m so full of irritation I can barely stand it anymore.”
That's a dungeon, you crazy bastard.
“…How did the Mazoku manage to leave their shit in there?”
I asked with a disbelieving scoff.
“How should I know? I’m not curious about what those disgusting things are thinking, and I certainly have no desire to find out.”
The southern dungeon of the forest was a place where a very useful artifact for the Barbarian class was given as the final reward. But befitting such a great prize, it was famous for its extreme difficulty, so I wanted to avoid it if at all possible….
“Heh. What can I do?”
All I can do is accept my fate….
“…I'll be expecting a special gift.”
“Don't you worry about the gift. I will open a path to a new dimension for you.”
That glittering deer had no idea what I was feeling as I turned back towards the base, letting out a hearty laugh as it slowly began to disappear back into the runestone.
“…Do you know something about the cave in the southern forest?”
Rireu, who had kept her head bowed ever since the spirit appeared, finally let out a sigh of relief as the damned deer vanished, then looked up and asked.
“I need to discuss this with the company commander.”
I said, rubbing my brow, which kept wrinkling.
This is getting more and more complicated.
* * *
We had to go on an expedition to the southern dungeon.
Upon hearing the news, Company Commander Bellua looked at me with a rare expression of trouble.
“A dungeon expedition…? Hmm….”
Bellua's reaction was not particularly strange. After all, the objective of the contingent here was to ‘complete the outpost and secure it.’
Unlike the ‘mine-clearing’ mission, where they could immediately return to the front lines if a battle was reported at the main base, personnel assigned to a ‘dungeon expedition’ could not receive reports of what was happening at the main base and could not return at will.
Not forgetting one's primary objective was a crucial virtue for a soldier, especially a commander, so Bellua's reaction was perfectly reasonable.
“The choice is entirely up to you, Commander. I don’t want to interfere with the completion and defense of the outpost.”
So I, too, backed down easily. It was a bit of a waste of time, but I could just form my own party and clear the dungeon in my spare time after the outpost was stabilized.
“Make the efficient choice, Bellua. This mage's time is not valued the same as ours. He's a prodigy called 'The Future of the Continent's People,' so how precious must each of his days be?”
Surprisingly, it was Sergeant Trian who lent weight to my words.
…By the way, when did I get the nickname 'The Future of the Continent's People'?
I scowled at Trian, but the elf paid no mind to me, the subject of the conversation, and continued what he was saying.
“This mage must grow much stronger in the future. We, the Allied Forces, have a duty to support that growth. Besides, even if the worst should happen… we have Alter, an 8th-Circle mage, so I doubt it will be a major problem.”
“Hmm….”
Trian’s words had a point.
At a time when I should have been busy leveling up every single day, I had gone two whole weeks without attending Alter’s classes.
Of course, Rireu had been by my side teaching me things, but she was no match for Alter’s top-tier instructional abilities. Worse, I couldn't even concentrate because I would randomly enter a defensive turtle-like state without any warning.
Even if construction was in its final stages, it would still take about a week for interior work and finishing touches.
I had already spent the past two weeks lying in a wagon, re-reading books I'd already finished or listening to Rireu's lecture-that-wasn't-a-lecture, an inefficient use of my leveling time. Wasting any more time was a problem for me as well.
“Besides, isn't that mage completely useless for construction? You're handling most of the command anyway. Rather than having him stand around like an ornament, it would be better to just let him go clear the dungeon.”
Tch, if it weren't for that damn attitude, I might have even thanked the elf.
“……”
Bellua the Black Hammer stroked her chin with her large hand, lost in thought. She had a duty to protect her subordinates and build the outpost, but she also had a duty to diligently assist the promising youth who would become the future of humanity.
“…Very well. With Lord Alter, an 8th-Circle mage, present, we shouldn’t have to worry too much. In truth, our contingent could have handled the outpost construction on its own… We were blessed with mages like you and Lord Alter, far beyond what the mission required in the first place.”
After much deliberation, Bellua spoke, then began to list the names of her platoon leaders, saying I would need a good warrior for the dungeon exploration.
Among the names she recited, there was one I recognized, and I pointed to it without a second thought.
“I would like to go with Rex, son of Belzark.”
It would be better to go with Rex, with whom I've already fought to protect each other's lives, than with a group of complete strangers.
“He is a formidable warrior. A friend with an upright character you can trust with your back in the most extreme situations. In addition, I recommend you take Trian as well. He has a very… ‘elf-like’ way of speaking, but… he's agile and has a keen eye, so he'll make an excellent guide in the dungeon.”
“…Whatever, I don’t care.”
…To be precise, this was a requisition by a superior officer, so that elf bastard didn't really have the right to refuse, unless he had some truly special circumstances.
And yet, watching him shrug and pout as if he had no choice made my head throb slightly.
This guy is… a soldier?
“…What are you staring at?”
…Never mind. I shouldn't try to understand him or change him. An elf was just being an 'elf.' What can you do?