Chapter 37: For the Love of God, Don't Work with Adventurers (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: For the Love of God, Don't Work with Adventurers (6)
“Loot?”
-Equal shares.
“Who gets the treasure on the 30th floor?”
-Cloud.
“Party leader?”
-Cloud.
“And if you don't follow my orders?”
-We die...
“No, no. I won't kill you. Didn't I tell you? This dungeon can only be cleared with the four of us together. You won't die. You'll just get the shit beaten out of you. Got it?”
The three kneeling adventurers nodded.
Alright, I did it.
I've tamed these savage beasts.
A feeling of catharsis shot up my spine.
“Alright then, let's begin our exciting adventure!”
High on excitement, I descended into the dungeon.
But that excitement didn't last long.
“Pretty female! Mate! Mate!”
“Gubred...”
Yeah, I had a feeling it might be like this.
He must have tried to kill himself at least once in those 500 years.
Since even suicide didn't work, he must have been waiting for an explorer like me.
Hoping I would free his soul, bound to this dungeon.
But I failed to clear the dungeon.
How devastated he must have been.
He finally met an explorer, even told me his name, thinking he was about to die a glorious death, only to be revived again.
I can understand why his sanity vanished.
“Ugh... What's with that goblin? It's fucking huge. Well, a goblin's a goblin.”
“Strong goblin. Kill. Offer to ancestors.”
Gravelli and Gurua reached for their weapons. I raised a hand to stop them and walked toward Gubred.
“Cloud? What, you're gonna take him on alone?”
I nodded at Gravelli's words and drew the silver sword from my waist.
“Male! No interest. Die!”
Gubred's iron club came crashing down. I pushed off the ground. In an instant, the distance between us closed.
The silver sword was buried in his heart.
Shhhk. Gubred's body slumped forward.
I whispered to him.
“I'm sorry. I'll make sure it ends this time.”
Gubred didn't answer. He just collapsed with a peaceful expression. I watched him for a moment before turning my gaze to my party members.
“What are you doing? Let's go.”
Floors 5-10.
A labyrinth in the form of a meadow.
A place where giant wolves and King Fang Tigers roamed, and where the last party had struggled.
No, 'struggled' is putting it mildly.
They couldn't even kill a single wolf, could they?
Compared to them, this party is...
“Di-ie!”
Gurua spun like a top, axes in both hands. It was a simple technique, yet the wolves were shredded like fruit in a blender.
“Get lost, you fucking beasts! Ah, shit. Hey! You damn barbarian! I got a piece of flesh in my mouth because of you!”
Unlike Gurua, Gravelli toyed with the wolves using her brilliant spearmanship, precisely striking vital spots like the nape of the neck and the eyes.
Then, whenever another wolf tried to exploit an opening and charge at her...
“..!”
Kyle would block it with his greatshield.
The wolf, crashing against the spiked greatshield, had no choice but to retreat, wounded.
And so, the party members steadily killed off the wolves.
It wasn't quite a massacre, but it could certainly be called a hunt.
Thanks to that, we didn't have to go through the bizarre experience of meeting the boss on the 6th floor again. We descended to the 10th floor and met it there.
-Awooooooo!
Lightning shot out from the wolf boss's horn, spreading in all directions. Kyle raised his greatshield, and we hid behind him.
Kagagagagang-!
A harsh, grating sound filled the air, but Kyle's shield didn't budge.
It must be a shield with magic resistance.
The lightning from the boss subsided.
“The lightning's over. I'll go for the front. Gravelli and Gurua, you circle around to the sides. It won't be able to use a big lightning attack like that during combat. At most, it'll shoot a single bolt. Kyle, you watch for that and block it.”
Go.
The moment I uttered the word, the S-ranks scattered. I charged forward to draw the wolf boss's attention.
Meanwhile, Gurua and Gravelli steadily piled on the damage, and whenever the wolf boss shot out a desperate bolt of lightning, Kyle was quick to move and block it with his shield.
Hah, yeah. This is party play.
The taste of proper party play after so long was incredibly sweet. So much so that I wished this moment could last forever.
'Can't do that.'
No matter how much fun you're having, you have to know when to end it.
Otherwise, you get addicted.
I swung my sword at the exhausted wolf.
[Wolf Slayer]
The wolf's neck was split open.
Its headless body collapsed, and the head fell to the floor, bouncing a few times.
With the wolf boss defeated, the party members relaxed and let out a sigh.
“I heard dungeon bosses were tough, but I didn't think it'd be this hard. This isn't worth the effort...”
Gravelli grumbled as she slumped to the floor.
“Why don't you say that after you see this?”
I said, tapping the large treasure chest at the end of the boss room. When the three adventurers approached, I opened it.
Inside the chest were the rewards for clearing floors 5-10.
Lightning Sword.
Ring of Wind and Cloud.
Shield of Storms.
Lightning Earring.
About 10,000 Gold worth of treasure.
And other miscellaneous items.
Not just Gravelli and Kyle, but even Gurua's eyes went wide.
Soon, smiles bloomed on their faces.
I understood how they felt.
The harder the struggle, the sweeter the reward.
After a discussion about dividing the loot, we decided who would get what.
Gravelli took the Lightning Earring.
Kyle, the Shield of Storms.
Gurua, the Lightning Sword.
I took the Ring of Wind and Cloud.
I had originally thought about taking the Lightning Sword, but...
-Warrior. Does not wear. Things like rings. Shameful to ancestors!
Given Gurua's stubbornness, I decided to yield. It would look strange for a guy that big to wear a ring anyway. I even doubted if a ring would fit on his finger.
After dividing the loot, we rested in front of the bonfire.
Perhaps because we'd gotten some loot, the party's atmosphere was much more relaxed than before.
“Me. Have wife. Have son.”
“Is your wife pretty?”
“She is kind. Listens to me well, and teaches son well. A good mother.”
“This bastard won't even say she's pretty as an empty compliment. Anyway, if you're a barbarian, you must be from the Duchy of Politia. Why is a family man like you all the way out here in another country?”
“My son. Is a great warrior. Must become a greater warrior. For that, need much money.”
Huh? What, so he was a father working away from home?
I just thought he was a blockheaded barbarian... Suddenly, I started to feel a bit sorry for him.
“Don't you miss your family?”
“Miss them. Wife. Son. A lot. Wonder if they are well.”
Gurua's eyes, gazing at the bonfire, grew melancholic.
Instead of offering words of comfort, I just patted him on the back.
While I was doing that, Gravelli, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, spoke up.
“I've been wondering for a while, are you a noble?”
It was a random question.
Why bring up nobles all of a sudden?
“I know I'm devastatingly handsome, but I'm not a noble.”
“No... it's not about your face. It's that. That ornate pommel. I'm sure I've seen it somewhere.”
I looked down at my pommel.
It was a silver pommel engraved with the image of a proudly soaring eagle.
“I picked this up off the floor.”
Not the street floor, the floor of the dueling arena.
That, who was it?
The guy who was something-something Blue Rose, I think. The sword he used was rolling on the floor. The decoration on its pommel seemed to be made of a rather special material, so I just swiped it.
“But you're saying this is a noble family's crest?”
“I'm not sure, but I feel like I've seen it somewhere. I think it was in the Alitia Kingdom...”
Gravelli trailed off, as if unsure herself.
“Forget it. I'll look into it later, and if it belongs to a noble family, I'll return it then. Enough useless chatter, let's get some sleep. Tomorrow will be tougher than today.”
Naturally, the deeper you go into a dungeon, the higher the difficulty.
Even for an S-rank party that hunted enemies with ease on floors 5-10, the floors below—floors 10-15—were bound to be a struggle.
“Die, you son of a bitch!”
Gravelli's spear pierced a kobold's face.
Kobolds.
Dog-like monsters that walk on two legs, characterized by their hunched backs.
Their levels are around 20-25, so they should be easy monsters for S-ranks with an average level in the 30s, but...
-Sniff, yip yip yip!
-Yip!
-Yip yip yip!
“Shut up, you mutts!!”
There were just too many of them.
At first, there were only two or three, but as they started yapping, kobolds began appearing from all over.
This continued until we ended up being chased by dozens of them.
Swoosh.
A crossbow bolt fired by a kobold grazed Gravelli's cheek.
“Eek! Hey, Kyle! Block properly! You wanna be a widower?!”
“...!”
“Shut up! Don't talk back, just block! Is that shield you got as loot just for decoration? Hold one in each hand!”
“...!!!”
“Don't just stand there with that look of realization, hurry up and grab them!”
“Prey. Many. Warrior's blood. Boils!”
“Boils my ass. Hey, you damn barbarian!! You dare charge out alone like before, and I'll fucking kill you! Ah, seriously, what am I even doing? Cloud, you said you'd give the orders... What the. Are you laughing? You're laughing? You think this situation is funny?!”
Gravelli looked at my face, scowled, and started cursing.
Looks like I failed to control my expression.
But what can I do? It's genuinely fun.
'How long has it been since I was chased like this?'
The most memorable time was being pursued by the 3rd Legion Commander's personal extermination squad. I think I barely managed to shake them off after running for a whole week in the Elia Great Forest.
“Hey, you fucker! Stop laughing and tell us what to do! You said you'd be the leader!”
“Let's just run straight to the boss room.”
“...Did I hear you right? Could you say that again?”
“Let's run straight to the boss room.”
“Ha... Haha... Hahahaha...!”
Gravelli laughed with a look of disbelief, then pointed a finger at the kobolds chasing us.
“To the boss room? With those bastards? Why are you saying 'let's all go die' in such a roundabout way?”
“We won't die. Just trust me and follow.”
“What the f—”
“The path ahead is blocked. Gurua, Gravelli, break through!”
“Goddammit!”
“Kill!!”
Gravelli and Gurua broke through the kobolds blocking our path. Gurua would tear through them roughly with his axes, and Gravelli would finish them off with finesse.
While they cleared the way, I deflected the crossbow bolts that Kyle couldn't block with my sword.
Thanks to everyone sticking to their roles, after running for several hours, we managed to arrive right in front of the boss room on the 15th floor.
We had traversed from the 11th to the 15th floor in just a few hours! It was nothing short of a phenomenal record.
“I know you're exhausted, but hang in there a little longer. See that big stone door? If we open it, go inside, and lock it, the kobolds won't be able to get in.”
No answer came.
They were probably too tired to even reply.
Reaching the boss room, we opened the stone door and went inside.
“What? There's no lock! Hey, Cloud! What's going on? You said it would lock!”
Gravelli panicked as she tried to close and lock the stone door.
“Oh, that? It's fine, it's already locked. It's designed to lock the moment intruders enter.”
Gravelli gave me a strange look and pushed the stone door.
But it didn't budge.
“What? Don't tell me we're trapped.”
“Not trapped, exactly.”
Thump!
The 15th-floor boss room was shaped like a circular corridor.
A heavy sound came from within the corridor. A large silhouette began to appear from the darkness beyond the torchlight, and soon, it revealed itself.
-Grrrr...
What appeared was a bizarre kobold.
It was about three meters tall with muscles to match. In its four arms, it held weapons like maces, axes, and greatswords.
Just one look told you it was on a completely different level from a normal kobold.
This was the boss of the 15th floor, the King Kobold.
Maybe because it had four arms, in the game, it was a boss that could act twice per turn.
Its damage was high, too, so it was a real pain in the ass.
But this isn't a game.
'Should I have one person on each arm?'
With that thought, I looked back at my party members.
After being chased by kobolds for hours, they were a mess.
They had wounds all over their bodies, bleeding. More than anything, they were all exhausted, their breathing ragged.
'...Looks like a raid is out of the question.'
That would have been fun. What a shame. I licked my lips and spoke to the three of them.
“You guys rest now. I'll take care of this.”
Twirling my sword, I walked toward the King Kobold.
“...Let me ask you one thing.”
We were roasting kobold meat over the bonfire when Gravelli spoke.
“Decided to finally speak, have you? I was getting lonely since you've been so quiet.”
“You had that much skill, so why did you just stand by while we were being chased by the kobolds?”
“I wasn't just standing by, but... I get what you're asking. The reason is simple. I was afraid you'd die.”
“What?”
Gravelli furrowed her brow, not understanding.
“I told you. I was afraid you'd die. No matter how strong I am, I only have one sword. And there were more kobolds than I could count. Was there any guarantee you wouldn't die while I was fighting them?”
“...No.”
“Right. That's why. So stop asking weird questions and eat some meat. You must have used a lot of energy running around.”
I handed Gravelli a meat skewer. It was perfectly cooked, with juices dripping from it.
She took it but didn't eat, asking another question.
“I'm just asking, but... you don't have any intention of being satisfied with this and leaving, do you?”
“None.”
I answered firmly. If I was going to quit here, I wouldn't have come in the first place. It would just be a waste of an opportunity. Besides, this party has potential. There was no reason to stop.
“Right... I see.”
Gravelli nodded. Then she placed the meat skewer I'd given her back over the bonfire.
“It's already cooked.”
“I'll eat it in a bit. I still have somewhere to spend my energy.”
“You do?”
“I'm going to have sex with Kyle.”
“...?”
What did you say? Did I hear that right?
“Sex in a dungeon...? I mean, I know you two are married, but... isn't that a bit much?”
“What's the big deal? It's safe in here. And if I don't have sex, I don't think I'll be able to relieve this fucking stress.”
“You're going to do it in the corridor? With me and Gurua here?”
“You two will have to leave, obviously.”
“...You do know there are kobolds outside, right?”
“So what? You're strong. Or do you want to join in? I'm fine with it.”
Oh, for fuck's sake.
“What the hell...”
“Alright, you're out. Barbarian. What about you? Wanna join?”
Gravelli placed a hand on her perky chest, making a sexual appeal.
I frowned.
“Hey, come on, Gurua has a family...”
“I will do it.”
“This crazy bastard?”
I stared at Gurua, dumbfounded. He met my gaze confidently.
“You'll do it? Really?”
“For smooth work. Rest. Is necessary.”
“Rest is necessary, sure... but what about your family? You have a family. If you do it with her, your happy home will be ruined.”
“It is the opposite. To protect happy home, I must do this.”
Gurua said this with a dead-serious face, without a single stutter.
To protect his happy home?
What kind of bullshit is this...
“...Hey, don't tell me it's because your wife is just 'kind-looking,' right? Like, you get the urge to cheat every time you see her, so you let it out like this sometimes... That's not it, right? I want to believe it's not.”
Gurua avoided my gaze.
Hey, why are you looking away?
Look me in the eye.
“...I don't even know anymore. Do whatever the hell you want.”
I sighed and got to my feet.
I trudged out of the corridor. Before I closed the stone door, I heard Gravelli shout.
“Don't come in until I say so! And no peeking!”
I didn't answer and just closed the stone door. I leaned my back against it and slid down to the floor.
“An orgy... an orgy in a dungeon...”
This is an insult to the dungeon