Chapter 33: For the Love of God, Don’t Work with Adventurers (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 33: For the Love of God, Don’t Work with Adventurers (2)
"Hey, are we there yet? Is that monster nest still far?"
It had been about an hour since we started climbing the mountain. The kid named Chris began to whine, his shoulders slumped.
Zenia soothed him.
"Chris, we haven't been going that long, have we? You can handle this much."
"How am I supposed to handle it if I don't even know where we're going? You never told us where this monster nest is."
"I'm sure he'll tell us later. That's why we got such a large advance, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
Chris's momentum faltered a bit. Seizing the opportunity, the old guy... Kurva, spoke up.
"No, Ms. Zenia. Your son is right; this is an important matter. Not only do we not know the location of the nest, but we don't even know what kind of monster it is. Ignoring such things could put our lives at risk."
"Ah... is that so...?"
Kurva said this, crossing his arms and trying to look cool.
Zenia's reaction was far from pleased.
It was only natural. No matter how young she looked, she was the mother of a mid-teen son.
She'd been an adventurer since before having her child, so her experience likely surpassed Kurva's, if anything.
So, of course, she wouldn't be happy about some guy with less experience undermining her authority, especially in front of her son.
Of course, Kurva probably hadn't intended to offend her.
He was likely trying to win everyone over, one by one, as part of his strategy.
"Right? I'm right, aren't I? See, Mom? He says I'm right!"
And just as he'd planned, he did manage to win over the kid.
"...I see. I guess Mom was wrong."
But he'd lost points with Zenia, the one who actually mattered.
Still, it's about time I told them.
When I was gathering the adventurers, I hadn't mentioned exploring a dungeon.
That would have drawn too much attention.
Someone would have tried to buy the dungeon's location or take it by force.
Either way, it would have been a pain.
That's why I'd used the pretense of subjugating a monster nest instead.
And now that we were far from the city and well up the mountain, it seemed like a good time to reveal my true purpose.
I told them the real reason I'd brought them here.
"W-What?! A dungeon?!"
"Holy shit, no way. A dungeon?"
"...Are you serious?"
Their reactions varied, but they were all wide-eyed with shock.
"I knew it... So that's why the advance was so large..."
Zenia, for her part, seemed to understand. After all, even Kurva had been suspicious; there was no way she hadn't been. The request had been questionable from any angle.
The large sum of money had simply kept them quiet.
In any case, the three of them followed me up the mountain, their expressions much brighter than before.
After a few more hours of climbing, we arrived at a pond surrounded by peach trees.
"Huh? Where's the dungeon here?"
"Just wait, you punk."
I took off my armor and clothes.
"Oh my?! W-Why are you suddenly taking off your clothes?"
Zenia covered her eyes and whipped her head away.
"There's a device at the bottom of this lake that opens the dungeon."
"Ah, I-I see."
"...Mom, why is your face red?"
"Hey, you! When was my face ever red?!"
Zenia and Chris bickered like a typical mother and son.
"..."
Kurva was glaring at me with hostile eyes.
Hey, I get why you're pissed, but if you've got a problem with it, you should've been born handsome. Besides, at least your dick still works, right? I'm practically a pseudo-female right now, for fuck's sake.
After some light stretching, I dove into the lake. It was so clear I could easily see the fish swimming in the pond.
One of them was as big as my forearm. It must have mistaken me for a large meal, because it opened its maw and lunged with its sharp teeth.
This little shit.
I grabbed the cannibalistic fish by its head and tail and bit down on the back of its neck.
It was tougher than I expected, and my jaw ached, but I couldn't let a creature that dared to reverse the food chain live.
After that, I continued to search the bottom of the lake, punishing any other misbehaving fish that tried to swim up the food chain.
Found it.
I found a chain with a round ring hidden between the rocks.
I grabbed the ring and pulled.
Rumble—
With a loud noise, the structure of the lake began to change.
A miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, occurred in the center of the lake.
The bottom rose up, forming a staircase that led down from the surface.
I swam to the center of the lake and climbed out of the water. As I walked up the stairs, I could see the three of them staring at the lake, their jaws hanging open.
After getting dressed and putting on my gear, I gestured with my chin.
"Are you just going to stand there gawking? Aren't you going into the dungeon?"
Finally snapping out of it, the three of them scurried after me.
We descended the stairs and walked straight ahead until the stone wall of the lake parted to either side.
A large stone gate was revealed.
—Prove your worth.
The three adventurers were startled by the sudden voice. I cut my palm with a dagger, smeared enough blood on it, and pressed it against the stone gate.
—O worthy one. You are granted entry.
Once my worth was proven, the stone gate opened with a grinding sound. As the four of us stepped inside, it immediately closed behind us. We could hear the sound of water crashing down beyond the gate.
"...How do we get out?" Zenia asked, her voice filled with worry.
I let out a short laugh.
"We haven't even found any treasure yet, and you're already worried about getting out?"
"Ah... well, that's true, but..."
"I know how to get out, so don't worry. Just focus on the dungeon for now. And as I've already said, let me make this clear again. Any treasure found in the dungeon will be divided equally. However, the treasure from the 30th floor is mine. Does everyone agree?"
"...Isn't the treasure on the lowest floor usually the best?"
"..."
"Ah, alright! I was just saying! Don't look at me like that!"
A slight glare was all it took to fix Chris's disgruntled expression.
It looks like I'll have to beat the crap out of that kid behind Zenia's back later to establish the pecking order. He acts just like a middle schooler who wants to fight every time you make eye contact.
...While I'm at it, should I just put them all in their place?
I used to do that back when I worked with rough mercenaries.
I glanced over my party members.
A young-looking mother fussing over her son's bangs, and a son who's sick of it.
An old guy sneaking glances at said young-looking mother.
Yeah. Probably not necessary.
"...Let's go."
Taking out a torch, I headed into the dark cavern.
The first five floors of the dungeon were a series of caverns. Goblins lived here, but they weren't your ordinary goblins.
Hobgoblins, Goblin Shamans, Goblin Knights, and so on.
All sorts of goblin variants roamed the place.
Goblin Knight might sound a bit strange, but...
"Aish! Why is a damn goblin better armed than me?!"
These things were decked out in full plate armor, just like real knights.
Thanks to that, Chris had the dishonorable experience of going toe-to-toe with a goblin.
Watching him, a lot of things went through my mind.
In the game, the Goblin Knight was level 15. Chris is level 16.
Goblin Knight or not, in the game, it was just a mob.
The kind of mob that would die in three to five normal attacks from the player or a companion, or one to two hits from a skill.
But Chris was fighting on even footing with that mob. And that was despite being one level higher.
I guess an NPC is an NPC after all...
There's a limit to their growth potential.
You could just think that Chris is weak, but that would be looking at the situation too optimistically.
I have to be objective.
Right now, we're on the upper floors of the dungeon, so we're only seeing weak monsters like goblins. But the deeper we go, the tougher they'll get.
On floors 5-10, monsters are level 15-20.
On floors 10-15, they're level 20-25.
On floors 15-20, they're level 25-30.
The monster levels increase progressively like this, until monsters in the level 40 range start appearing on the lowest floor.
Meanwhile, the adventurers with me are levels 23, 16, and 21.
To reach the 30th floor, I'll have to level them up.
Of course, I have no intention of putting them in any real danger.
I plan on taking care of the dangerous monsters and bosses myself.
They just need to grow strong enough not to die easily on the lower floors.
...Is that even possible?
Honestly, I don't know. I'll just have to try. Even if I fail, I still have two more chances.
Besides, even if I fail this time, there are plenty of ways to keep the three of them quiet until I clear the dungeon.
"Oh? Over there. Isn't that the place you mentioned, Mr. Cloud?"
Zenia pointed to a goblin camp enclosed by a leather fence with a large totem in the middle.
The boss zone of the 5th floor.
"Looks like it. You have good eyes, Ms. Zenia."
"I've always been confident in my eyesight. If what you said is true, the strongest goblin should be in there... What should we do? Should we scout it out and launch a surprise attack?"
"No. There's no need for that. You all wait here."
Leaving a wide-eyed Zenia behind, I ran toward the goblin camp.
Swish, swish, swish.
Arrows shot by goblin archers cut through the air. Motion perception is tied to the agility stat, and my agility wasn't so low that I couldn't dodge arrows from goblins.
The volley of arrows didn't even graze my skin.
I ignored the panicked goblin archers and ran past them. Seven goblins blocked my path—a mix of hobs, knights, shamans, and others.
It wasn't a problem.
I used a skill I learned in the last city I visited.
[Frenzied Strikes]
It was a skill that unleashed five attacks on random enemies.
My sword drew a silver arc, and the heads of five goblins fell. The two remaining goblins, startled, tried to retreat, but it was no use.
Running wasn't an option for them.
This wasn't a turn-based battle.
[Frenzied Strikes]
The heads of the two goblins flew into the air.
I cut down everything that stood in my way. Stepping over the blood-soaked ground, I entered the tent in the center of the camp.
There, sitting on a throne-like chair, was a goblin of a completely different size than any I had seen before.
Bigger than an orc, smaller than an ogre.
This monster, which could hardly be called a goblin anymore, was the king of the goblins.
The Goblin Lord.
"So you've finally come."
Even though I had entered his tent, the creature made no move to fight. He simply leaned back in his chair and looked down at me.
"You're late. Far too late."
The Goblin Lord muttered.
His words made no sense.
"What do you mean, late?"
"I speak of the time it took you to reach this place. It took far too long."
"Too long? We arrived here less than a day after entering the dungeon."
"Five hundred years."
A weight of years that a single day couldn't compare to spilled from the lord's lips.
"I have waited 500 years. For someone like you to arrive."
"...That's a long time to wait."
The lord nodded.
"It was. Long enough for a mighty warrior to grow weak. A body like steel has grown soft, and a spirit that once held a fiery passion has become feeble."
Grown weak, huh...
He was right.
The Goblin Lord was a boss mob from the early-to-mid-game of 'Hero's Party'.
That meant he was around level 30.
There was no way a monster like that could be the first boss of a dungeon.
To balance things, they naturally had to add the 'weakened' setting.
"So? You've waited a long time. Is it time to enjoy a fight for the first time in ages?"
This time, the lord shook his head.
"That is not it, young human. I am telling you that I am tired, and I wish for you to end it."
"...That sounds a lot like you're asking me to kill you."
"You are correct. Now, kill me."
"I don't understand. I get that you want to die; it's obvious your mind is not all there. But you won't even resist? Isn't this usually when you fight with all your might, calling it the last battle of your life?"
"What meaning is there in fighting with a body that has grown so weak?" the lord said with a faint smile.
"In the past, I was strong. I defeated the Orc Great Chieftain in a duel and used his head as a totem. I led my clan to war and brought even the proud elves to their knees. Even now, when I close my eyes, those memories come back to me as vividly as ever."
Closing his eyes, the lord wore an ecstatic expression as if reliving old memories. When he opened them again, reality set in, and he gave a bitter smile.
"To fight with this body would only tarnish those memories. So I ask you, little human. Kill me. Free me from this cursed place."
I brought my silver sword to the lord's heart.
"You don't talk or think like a goblin."
"Because I am of the clan, yet I have transcended it."
"What's your name?"
"My name? Why ask the name of a goblin who is about to die? Do you intend to remember it?"
"Maybe. For a while."
"How kind of you. My name is Gubred. And what is your name, young human?"
"Cloud."
"A fine name. Warrior Cloud, I wish for my name to be remembered for a long time. Therefore, I, Gubred, King of Goblins, shall bless the path before you."
"Alright. Thank you, Gubred, King of Goblins. You've suffered long enough. Now, rest."
The silver sword plunged into Gubred's heart. The pain must have been immense, yet Gubred didn't even let out a groan.
He departed with a peaceful smile on his face.
"...The disconnect is seriously jarring."
In the game, this was the guy who would get hearts in his eyes at the sight of the Pink-haired Slut, Isabelle, and shout, "Pretty female! Mate! Mate!"
"Is it because there are no women around?"
Would his reaction have been different if I'd brought Zenia in with me?
Pondering this question, I turned away from Gubred's corpse.
I didn't absorb his soul into the pattern.
He said he spent 500 years in this damn place.
I'll let him rest.
Blessing of Gubred, King of Goblins
-All Growth Stats +1