17. O Sole Mio (7)
17. O Sole Mio (7)
- 1 -
"...There's a dungeon here."
Leonis Den's skill was excellent, befitting his rank as a senior mage of the former Fate Guild.
Using all manner of enchanted tools and his own experience, he had succeeded—not at any of the candidate locations Daniel had flagged while searching for the dungeon, but in detecting the dungeon's presence along the path between one point and another.
"Huh? You mean here?"
"Yes. Right here."
"Whoa..."
At first, however, no one could easily believe him.
That was entirely because of the state of the dungeon entrance.
"H-huh... M-maybe, Sir Mage, perhaps you might be mistaken this time..."
"..."
So great was the disbelief that even the man who spoke didn't seem to register that his words had been completely ignored.
And it was understandable.
What Leonis had pointed to was a dungeon entrance buried under collapsed earth and stone, as if a landslide had occurred.
"Did it know we were coming and blocked it...?"
"No. Dungeon Lords don't avoid incoming attacks. Surely this is nothing more than an accident."
Leonis disagreed with Mariana's assessment.
As he said, it was common knowledge in this world that a Dungeon Lord never avoided a fight that came to it.
Occasionally, there were entities that employed deceptive tactics.
But the established theory was that those were only a very small minority that had learned such tactics and achieved victory, and that 'tactical retreats' or 'dungeon concealment' only appeared after they had accumulated far more experience—not when a dungeon was as 'young' as this one.
Moreover, even those entities ultimately concluded the most crucial phase through combat, so with Libertas's actions still unknown, this judgment was entirely in line with common sense.
"How are we supposed to break through that...?"
In any case, to confirm the dungeon supposedly inside, they would have to break through this collapsed cave.
While people were directing disconcerted gazes at the collapse, Rita pointed somewhere and spoke.
"Over there. There seems to be something like an entrance."
"Excuse me? Oh... It's true! Miss Angelita the mage has been a great help! There's an unblocked section over there!"
Gyeonghan, who never missed a chance to deliver quiet flattery even in this situation, left the impression on those around him that he was a truly excellent man. With the sharp eyes characteristic of a tracker, he confirmed Rita's observation and provided additional testimony.
Everyone's gaze gathered that way, and soon their expressions all brightened.
Because there was indeed a passageway there, just large enough for a single person to pass through.
"When giving tactical instructions, I will be as brief as possible. Daniel and I will enter first. The three—Gyeonghan, Robin, and Susan—will move from the rear, focusing on protecting the mages. Leonis and Jacob, enter once we send a signal back."
Right after the adventurers finished their final checks upon discovering the dungeon they were to enter, Mariana stood among the gathered party and gave her orders.
The group moved according to her rapid instructions.
While the two newly hired apprentice-level warriors briefly struggled to find their positions, there were enough people directing traffic that it didn't take long.
"There is nothing suspected to be a trap."
"No magic is laid on it either."
"Then, we will enter."
Before entry, Jacob, the apprentice trap specialist, inspected the dungeon structures while Leonis checked for magical traps.
The moment they heard there were no abnormalities, Mariana and Daniel, who had been waiting with curved sword and short sword drawn, entered first.
Immediately after—
- Kieeeek!! Humans!!
"That's a goblin sound."
"Ah, dear. You can tell it's not just one or two from the noise alone. I'll go in first!"
"I will as well."
The moment they heard the goblins' voices, Jacob and Gyeonghan, who had already loaded their crossbow and bow, conveyed their intention to enter to the party.
It wasn't that they were ignoring Mariana's plan, but when dealing with goblins, those capable of ranged attacks needed to enter first.
Goblins themselves were weak monsters, but when a small number of stronger foes attacked, they very actively adopted hit-and-run tactics—or more precisely, a strategy of fleeing and then lying in wait for an opportunity.
"Mages, fall in behind us... Huh? Miss Angelita?"
However, there was someone who moved faster than them.
Rita, originally positioned at the rear, took Sonia's hand, moved ahead, and then turned back toward them with a quiet smile.
"I'll go in first."
"Wait just...! Miss Angelita, Sonia is...!"
"Please take your time coming."
"No, that's...!"
Ignoring Leonis's attempts to stop her, Rita slipped into the entrance just like that. Sonia, whose hand was held by Rita, followed without any sign of resistance.
Naturally, Leonis, worried about Sonia, followed right behind them.
"U-uh... What do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do! Let's go in too!"
If they left the mages like this, who knew what kind of accident might happen inside. Even if the mages got a little hurt, it wouldn't change the reward they were supposed to receive—but that didn't make it desirable, either.
Naturally, the mercenaries also immediately entered, following right behind the mages.
But what met the eyes of the adventurers who entered the cave that way wasn't the mages' flustered faces, nor Mariana's expression full of anger asking why they had broken the plan and entered first.
Hwareureureuk...!!
- Kieeeeaak!!
- It's hot, it's hot!!
It was a fire burning on goblin oil, brightly illuminating their surroundings and filling their entire field of vision save for a large pillar at the center.
- 2 -
The group's reaction when we discovered the dungeon entrance was exactly as I had expected. Though, it was something I had done believing they would think that way from the beginning.
A Dungeon Lord does not avoid an approaching battle.
That this was common sense was absurd, but it turned out to be true. When I thought of this plan, my 'body' had felt a sense of rejection, after all.
What were they, some kind of warrior race?
Still, perhaps 'Nobility' placed a higher value on victory through honorable means rather than deceiving the enemy through trickery, so it didn't interfere with this thought and action. If anything, it helped suppress my body's instincts.
In any case, thanks to this, I was able to enter the dungeon after showing everyone that I had achieved the modest merit of discovering the dungeon entrance.
"Sonia. Just what on earth..."
"When did you learn that kind of magic, Miss Sonia?"
After we cleared out the goblins at the dungeon entrance like that, Mariana and Leonis—the two who knew about Sonia—gathered together.
Their doubts were a natural course of events.
Previously, Sonia had only learned detection and protection magic at a level fitting for an apprentice.
But she had suddenly learned high-level elemental magic from somewhere, and they couldn't help but be surprised.
"Well, that's..."
At that, Sonia didn't answer right away and hesitated.
Maybe it was because I had told her there was no need to reveal that she had learned something from me.
It was a useless hesitation. Her eyes were already glancing sidelong at me.
People's gazes gathered quickly.
『Traits - Magic: Detection, Magic: Protection, Magic: Flame Wall, Magic: Poison Arrow, Magic: Absorbing Plant, Mana Overadaptation』
As a result, the traits window I could now see on her had changed.
Three offensive magics had been added.
At the same time, these also existed in my own status window. The only difference was that while all of mine were 'Advanced', her traits were 'Ordinary'.
I couldn't be sure, but the difference likely arose because I had learned the magic and then taught her. Perhaps my teaching skills weren't all that great.
No one can be good at everything.
The hostile nature of the magic was for the same reason. While she had hoped to learn offensive magic, the magic itself had been obtained from the Mammon Trading Company, after all.
"Because she wanted it, I taught her a few things I knew."
"Is that so? Teaching magic would be no easy decision to make... I did have my suspicions when I heard the title Miss Sonia used for Miss Angelita."
Leonis looked surprised.
Magic in this world was filled with intuition, experience, and calculations through invisible coordinates, so it wasn't easy to learn solely from books. Therefore, when learning any kind of magic, the presence of a suitable teacher or master was essential.
But in an age where such knowledge was treated as property, the method to create that special property was, naturally, premium property itself—an obvious fact.
He had generously shared such special property with someone he hadn't known for long, so it was only natural for Leonis to be surprised.
In truth, to me, it was merely a matter of distributing things I had quickly learned through the status window and probably 'Nobility', but that was how it looked to others.
That was the reason Sonia called me 'Teacher'.
"I might not have, if I weren't involved, but she's a life I saved. Isn't it basic human decency to help her so she doesn't die too easily somewhere?"
"Even so, an ordinary mage wouldn't go that far..."
"Is that so?"
Amid my casual reply and Leonis's admiration, people's gazes shifted.
It seemed they were now treating me as 'a mage who is kind and also pretty', whereas before I had merely been 'a pretty mage who hasn't shown an eccentric temperament yet'.
"To do so much for Sonia. I truly thank you, Miss Angelita."
"Don't mention it. As I said before, it's only natural for me."
"Was it just groundless suspicion after all...?"
Seeing even Mariana show more friendliness than before, and even Daniel—who had been suspicious all along—show admiration, it really did seem that magic was treated as extremely precious.
You could say the feeling was, 'She even teaches magic, how could she possibly be a suspicious person?'
Though the demons themselves, apparently, readily treated it as merchandise at their trading company.
In the first place, even Daniel, who was so suspicious, had never even seemed to entertain the assumption that I might be a Dungeon Lord from the start. Perhaps it was only natural that suspicion itself wouldn't last long.
"Enough small talk. We'll move out. Let's move quickly while the mood is good."
Mariana clapped her hands to gather everyone's attention, and the group began to move again.
This time, the formation changed.
Mariana and one of the warriors recruited this time took the left and right flanks, while Leonis, the detection mage, and Jacob, who had learned trap skills, stood at the front center.
In the middle, Daniel and Gyeonghan—who had the sharpest eyes and greatest speed—kept both the mages and scouts in view while guarding the surroundings. At the very rear stood me, Sonia, and the remaining warrior.
It was the standard textbook formation for a dungeon that hadn't been around long.
Since the chance of enemies appearing from behind was almost nonexistent, it was a formation focused on properly guarding against enemies from the front and flanks while also protecting the mages.
"Here... it's just like here..."
"Miss Sonia. It's all right. You can find your friends."
"That's right. Teacher... with my own hands, I definitely will..."
As the long corridor I had put so much care into appeared before the first entrance, memories of the past resurfaced for Sonia, causing her to falter briefly and voice her mental pain.
But she herself showed a strong will, rising up and shaking it off in her own way.
"The passage really is incredibly long."
"Don't stop keeping watch. According to Sonia's testimony, we don't know what might be hiding beside this passage or on the ceiling."
"But would a young Dungeon Lord really use a deception tactic like that? In the first place, there's no way it could even know to."
"It might not have at the start. But it might know now—just how effective an ambush can be."
Following Mariana's rational words, the group tensed their bodies and walked, practically crawling, through the long, long corridor.
For a time close to an hour.
"Up ahead. I see light."
"Finally, this boring section is ending..."
"Don't let your guard down until the very end. Ambushes executed at times like this tend to be fatal."
Just as the party, somewhat mentally exhausted, was stepping into the room,
I encountered a welcome presence and smiled.
"Teacher...?"
"Sonia. Prepare your magic."
"Prepare for battle—!!"
Before my eyes stood a single skeleton holding a familiar longsword.
Along with over fifty masters of blue-glowing eyes.