31. The Wolf from the West (6)
31. The Wolf from the West (6)
- 1 -
"There is nothing you absolutely must do in the dungeon while I am gone, so focus on reclaiming your health."
"... Understood."
Beside Sonia, who bowed her head deeply, Mire and the soldiers lined up to bid farewell. Amidst them, Jacob, who had not yet been 'disposed of,' and Maria, who glared at me as if she wanted to kill me, could also be seen.
I intended to leave them and a portion of the troops behind to guard the dungeon.
I could not bring Sonia on the journey into the human world when her ability to defend herself was sealed, and I could not leave without posting anyone to protect and watch over her and the others.
Though Mire no doubt felt a strange affinity for Sonia for reasons even she herself did not understand, that would not serve as the driving force to violate my orders, so it mattered not.
As I said, the contract between a necromancer and a summon is not so simple.
"Once you recover your body, you will be able to do anything. Bear with it until then."
"... Yes."
Sonia's eyes still flickered with unresolved hatred, yet she composed herself courteously. I patted her arm several times in encouragement, as it was clear she still had not settled her thoughts.
In the past, her shoulders would have been at just the right height.
Now, she had grown healthier and taller, already surpassing the height I'd once been, and she was still growing.
... Well, whatever.
People say you grow until age twenty-five, and Sonia is now in her early twenties.
As for me, I am a monster whose form has been fixed since birth.
"Then, I shall be off."
- Tak!
"Please take care of yourself."
And so, I departed from the dungeon.
- 2 -
"Is this something you accomplished using that body?"
"Yes. The identity of an information guild member is exceedingly useful, after all."
Talhan proved to be quite competent even after becoming undead.
Considering the travel time, the fact that he had forged a small trading company capable of sending supplies from Solemio to Kopjerin in three days at most was proof enough.
『Name - Talhan (Natalie)』
『Attributes - Stamina 19 (22) / Technique 24 (27) / Endurance 15 (18) / Magic Power 32 (16) / Resistance 13 (24)』
『Traits - Specialization: Dagger, Trace Finding, Information Analysis (Deactivated)』
The body that Talhan currently inhabited, no matter how I looked at it, appeared to be a woman of the typical 'Assassin' class.
She had deep auburn hair, so dark it was nearly black, tied in a ponytail beneath her hood, and deeply saturated blue eyes.
Why it was a woman's body again, I did not know...
"When approaching as a female body, it is easier to get close if you are a woman. When male adventurers are with a woman, the time they let their guard down the most is, after all, only when they are doing... that sort of thing."
"Is that so."
"It seems you are looking at me strangely..."
Still quick on the uptake, I see. At this level, it wouldn't be strange if 'Quick-Witted' were added as a trait.
Though the problem was that the nature of his work was unsavory.
"I was not. Your dedication is admirable. I look forward to your continued good work."
"... Yes, Master. During the journey, I shall call you Miss."
"Do so."
Turning my gaze from the coachman's seat to look inside the carriage, I saw several adventurers sleeping there.
All were apprentice-grade adventurers, placed under hypnosis in advance with the cover story that this small trading company had hired them to transport supplies.
My ability level was still insufficient to cast it on full-fledged adventurers, it seemed.
'Still, it's only a weak hypnosis, yet they sleep soundly.'
I had put them to sleep with a simple suggestion in order to converse now, and they would wake up naturally on their own, so they would not sense anything amiss.
Thanks to that, the only ones here possessing abilities of formal rank or higher were myself, Talhan, and Shue.
Of course, the soldiers hidden within my shadow were as well.
"It may feel stuffy, but bear with it a little."
"Yeah..."
- Tak.
The answer came simultaneously from inside and outside my shadow.
The climate of the area was nearly tropical. Shue, wrapped in a thick hood, was liable to tire from the heat, and the soldiers waiting within my shadow, being sentient, had reason to feel bored.
It could not be helped.
Shue was too beautiful, and my soldiers too conspicuous.
"It's alright. I'm with the Lady, after all."
- Dalkak-dalkak.
"... Thank you."
As if sensing my mood, Shue and my soldiers offered words and gestures meant to reassure me further.
It made me feel that I had truly found fine subordinates, considering my own abilities.
"So. What kind of place is that city? Talhan."
"The city of 'Kopjerin'. The nickname used among the bureaucratic court nobles is the Southern Capital."
According to Talhan, the city of Kopjerin was one of the most important cities in the Haisen Kingdom, the nation in whose territory my dungeon lay.
A nickname like 'Southern Capital' made its importance intuitively clear.
"Of all places, a dungeon lord was discovered right next to such a city, which is why they are making such a fuss."
"Yes, correct."
Of course, even with Kopjerin so important, there was no reason they would gather reinforcements from the entire city simply because a single dungeon lord had been discovered.
That lord's grade was said to be 'High-rank', but to put it another way, it was merely high-rank.
In this world, there were at least three grades above that.
"The bigger problem was the location where that lord settled."
"It's a gorge with a road connected to the capital... No wonder the humans of a nation that uses trade as its primary means of livelihood are throwing fits."
A gorge running between two small, rugged mountains that served as the shortest route connecting the southern capital of Kopjerin and the kingdom's capital, Halash.
The vampire's dungeon had settled there, in a place the Haisen Kingdom called the 'Golden Road,' referring to it as the east-west artery of logistics in the Eastern Continent.
And of all things, it was a zombie-type, one of the types that could rapidly expand its forces as time passed, so it was only natural for the kingdom's high officials to react strongly.
"It seems they had been hiding well up until now."
"That is likely why they are viewing it as an even greater issue."
That made sense.
Because it meant that, at worst, Haisen's national enterprise could have been entirely at the mercy of a single dungeon lord.
Even if I were the king of that nation, it would have been a situation where I could never maintain composure.
Subsequently, restrictions might be placed on dungeon activities, I suspected.
- Lady.
As I was thinking that, the awaited contact arrived.
"Good afternoon. Daniel."
- Ah, yes. Though I am on my way to battle.
"Indeed."
News came that Daniel's adventurer group and the Kopjerin dungeon subjugation army they were accompanying had set out.
In that case, there was no need to stop by the city; we could simply deliver the supplies straight to that subjugation army and join them.
The supplies themselves were genuinely prepared, so there would be no cause for suspicion, and we no longer needed to worry about attracting attention while staying in the city.
Our party was packed with beauties, so we were bound to attract stares no matter what, making this even more fortunate.
- I contacted you to confirm the instructions.
"It is fine for you to fight aggressively. However, do take care of your own body."
- ... Is it really alright? The opponent is also a dungeon lord, and you, Lady, are also...
"All dungeon lords are enemies of one another, Daniel."
Of course, that was not the only reason.
Just as Daniel worried, I did not wish for the kingdom's army and the dungeon lord's army to suffer heavy losses against each other. If I had to say, I was hoping the kingdom's army would achieve victory after taking moderate losses.
And given the strength of forces Daniel had reported, I had no great need to worry about that.
"If the forces gathered by the kingdom are at the level you described, that dungeon lord will be at a level where they will not fall easily even if they give it their all."
- Will it truly be so? There are many Elite-grade adventurers, and even some of the kingdom's knight orders...
"How much help can an army of a nation steeped in peace possibly be? The adventurers will surely play a major role, I suppose."
A high-rank dungeon lord was, in terms of simple stats, comparable to an Elite-grade adventurer or summoned creature. Even so, under these conditions, even if there were several more Elite-grade demon beasts, the dungeon side would be at a disadvantage.
After all, it was a fight between a single high-rank dungeon and an army formed by the kingdom gathering roughly half of its emergency forces.
However, a dungeon lord who had reached high-rank possessed one advantage that those below did not.
"That place is a vampire's home ground. The dungeon interior and the surrounding area will certainly have become an environment difficult for humans to operate in."
It was the advantage called 'Dungeon's Magical Domain Conversion.'
This was, literally, a characteristic of the dungeon itself that transformed its interior into a space optimized for the dungeon lord.
Of course, as it was still only a high-rank dungeon lord, the domain's strength and breadth would be limited. But since the lord was already rampaging, the domain had extended outward, making it difficult even for weaker humans to approach.
And even if they succeeded in approaching the dungeon, ordinary soldiers—far from being able to infiltrate it—would have to deal with demon beasts charging out from inside.
"Moreover, that dungeon is currently rampaging. You must not go in expecting the danger level of its demon beasts to be that of a normal high-rank dungeon."
- What level should I anticipate?
Since the dungeon lord would be pouring magic power into its forces without restraint while also exterminating or subjugating the wild demon beasts nearby, the level and aggressiveness of the dungeon's demon beasts would be far beyond what they were before.
"At least half a tier higher. You said that lord is high-rank and quite mature, so wouldn't it be possible for one or two Elite-class monsters to emerge?"
- If those become even stronger... it would certainly be dangerous.
A dungeon where, though few in number, a single elite monster and a dungeon lord of comparable strength were running wild. If one let their guard down here, it would become a battlefield where even I would struggle to preserve my life.
Daniel, who was merely a High-grade adventurer, would be in even greater danger.
"Your chances of being included in the infiltration force are high. Thoroughly inspect your equipment to see if it can withstand the toxicity of the magical domain, Daniel. I do not wish to lose you yet."
- Understood.
"Still, I trust that you will not easily die to such maddened creatures. Take good care of yourself, for Maria's sake."
- ... Yes. Thank you, Lady.
Of course, it was a battle against a dungeon lord that had lost its reason and turned into a wild beast, but fortunately, it was also a fight where I could watch for opportunities while hiding among humans.
I, too, lacked the confidence that I could achieve my objective.
"It should be interesting."