Don't Go Down Blindly
"We shouldn't go down without a plan. We ought to decide where we're headed first."
Yujun said it plainly. Dwarf zombies wandered every reach of the Kingdom of Sitahel, and the ground around what looked like the royal palace was no exception. Move at random, and they would almost certainly end up surrounded.
"Let's go inside the kingdom. Someone might still be alive."
"Right."
They followed the rampart, careful to stay out of the dwarf zombies' sight. Even so, a few of the sharper ones spotted Yujun's party and came charging, and each time Yujun stepped forward and cut them down. Hong Yeji held her own against the dwarf zombies, but she could not kill them with anything like his ease.
Shhk. Shhk.
One astonishment after another. The dwarf zombies never so much as brushed a hair on him before they folded, one after another. He was not even timing the exchanges. Every time he extended the sword, they seemed to offer him their necks.
She stared, mouth open.
"How does he kill them that easily?"
"...I think he's the strongest person I've ever seen."
Their shock was only natural. Dwarf zombies that looked terribly strong lost their lives without managing a single thing against Yujun. Watching him, it felt as if he alone lived in another world.
They followed the wall until they reached the stretch beside the palace. No magic circle guarded it, nor any barrier.
With a crash, Yujun smashed a high window and climbed through. The other two, and Paranet, came in after him.
Inside, the palace was unnaturally quiet—so quiet that even the noise of the dwarf zombies failed to carry in. Yujun pressed a finger to his lips. His keen senses had already caught several presences.
"Follow me. Quietly."
Shin Jiwon and Hong Yeji nodded without a word.
A wide corridor lay under a carpet of fine make. Yujun took the right-hand passage. No dwarf zombies or corpses were in sight, but the smell of blood drifted from somewhere not far off. They kept moving toward the presences he felt, and then stopped dead before a door.
"Here?"
"Quiet."
He eased the handle back. The door was not locked. Yujun and the others stepped inside.
"P-please, spare us!"
"We're sorry!"
Three young dwarves trembled in the room. Children they might be, but they were players all the same, and he did not lower his guard. Still, the fact that they were holding on to their reason was a small relief.
"Not zombies. So the plague hasn't taken them?"
"Yes! We're fine! Please don't hurt us!"
The dwarf who looked eldest of the three begged.
"Why are you hiding in a place like this?"
"Monsters are wandering outside. We thought this was the safest place we could find."
"No parents of your own? Guardians, anyone like that?"
"...They all ran away, or turned into monsters."
"You three brothers?"
"Yes. I'm the eldest, and these are my little brothers."
"Were you planning to keep hiding here?"
"Yes... It's scary outside."
Yujun turned his back on them.
"What should we do?"
"They're children. We should help them."
For the first time, Shin Jiwon put her own view forward. Hong Yeji opposed it at once.
"And how do we know they haven't already caught it? We don't even properly understand the plague in the Kingdom of Sitahel. What if they suddenly turn into monsters and jump us?"
"...Th-that... Yujun would..."
"He doesn't have eyes in the back of his head. How's he supposed to answer an ambush right in front of his face? Yujun, I think the right choice is to leave those dwarves as they are and go."
The two opinions split, and Hong Yeji was plainly right. Something like a virus might already lie dormant in those dwarves. Help them half-heartedly, and the party could be the ones in danger.
"Since the two of you disagree, I'll decide."
"All right."
He had meant to do as he pleased anyway.
Shin Jiwon wanted to help the dwarves. Yujun studied her in silence.
Doesn't look like an act.
Wanting to help dwarves in a situation like this—she seemed kind by nature. He turned back to the children.
"Who are you, really? Why were you in the palace?"
"Th-that's..."
The eldest dwarf hesitated. Then the third one spoke.
"We're princes! So please save us! We'll reward you!"
"W-wait. Yohen! Mother said not to reveal who we are so carelessly..."
"Brother! Mother's gone—what does that matter? We have to survive first!"
"You're princes?"
"Yes."
"That's right."
"Hmm. Is that so."
He hesitated, just a little. He had been ready to leave them behind. But princes.
"Do you happen to know where the palace storehouse is?"
Yujun asked it with a pleasant smile.
"Why?"
"They say there's an incredibly strong monster in there. We came to hunt it."
"Oh! I know that place! I used to play right up to the door all the time! The head maid wouldn't let me go in, though..."
"Can you tell us where it is?"
"Of course!"
He had wondered whether they would actually fall for it. Innocent, as children are. Then the eldest dwarf shot to his feet.
"Wait. It's too dangerous for Yohen to go."
"Why?"
"You said there's a dangerous monster there. Don't take Yohen. I'll guide you instead."
"Fine. Doesn't matter which of you."
"Brother Yorun, don't. Let's just all go together. It's scarier if you go and leave the two of us behind."
"Want all three of you to come along, then? I'll handle the monster anyway, so you don't need to worry much."
"R-really? Human mister, are you strong?"
"Yeah. Even if a dragon showed up, it wouldn't be a problem."
"E-even a dragon?! Whoa!"
He was showing off a little, since they were children. Not empty bravado, either—he had taken an ancient dragon not long ago. Hong Yeji's stare from behind sat uncomfortably on him.
"What."
Yujun said it curtly. Hong Yeji sidled closer and whispered.
"You take down dragons?"
"I can."
"What?! For real?"
"No. You're awfully naive, Yeji."
Hong Yeji stared at him as if she could not believe her ears. The moment he said he could, she had believed him, because it had sounded as if he truly could.
"Should I lead the way?"
At the eldest dwarf's question, Yujun shook his head.
"Just tell us where it is. We don't know where the dwar— no. Where the monsters might show up."
"Okay!"
"Oh, and Jiwon, use Purification on them."
"Yes! I will!"
They cast the purification skill as a precaution, then moved on. The palace storehouse was not far. They followed the corridor and climbed a floor, and a single massive iron door came into view. Magic had been worked into it as well, and it did not look as if ordinary means would open it.
"Any rooms nearby?"
"Why?"
"You need somewhere to hide. You can't come in with us. It's dangerous."
"Oh, the places with four doors are all rooms you can rest in. I don't know whether there are monsters or not..."
"All right. Wait a moment."
Yujun took the nearest door and opened it.
"Kraaaak!"
At once a bloated dwarf zombie burst out and lunged for his head. But the sword Yujun had already thrust punched clean through its skull.
"Knew there was one."
He had felt a single faint presence outside the room. The dwarf zombie had been clever enough to hold its breath and wait until they opened the door.
The dwarf zombies earlier only charged in blind... Are they evolving?
It might not be so. If the guess was right, though, the situation was far more serious. Yujun looked the room over, then spoke.
"Want to rest in here? We'll finish the monster and be right back."
"O-okay!"
"We'll trust you and wait!"
The dwarves gazed at Yujun with shining eyes and nodded again and again. His astonishing skill had won them over. He settled the children, stepped back out, and walked up to the great iron door.
"How are you going to open it?"
"I'll break it."
"Break it? Won't the dwarf zombies hear the noise and swarm us?"
"Just watch."
He could have used an item to dampen the noise, but there was no need. Yujun closed his eyes. His Swordsmanship trait was SSS, and a high-grade trait gem was set into it besides. In short, his blade rivaled EX-tier Swordsmanship. He set his stance and swung at the iron door. Mana rode the sword as it split the metal—three strokes, and the door parted without a sound. A way in opened.
"There's really nothing you can't do with a single sword."
"I'm a player."
"What kind of player can do that? I'm dying to know."
"I can, for one."
It was open bragging, and she had nothing to say to it. He was right. Whether Hong Yeji liked it or not, Yujun walked straight into the storehouse. Nothing else registered on his senses.
There really is a lot in here.
Fitting for a dwarven kingdom's storehouse, the goods were fine. Rare and Heroic equipment, heaped in piles. There were even Unique-grade items. Unique sat between Heroic and Legendary, a grade found nearly as rarely as Legendary itself.
Hong Yeji and Shin Jiwon came in after him, and their mouths fell open.
"Whoa... there really are so many items."
"Thirty or forty at most. I looked through all of them. Nothing Legendary. Why hoard trash like this?"
Disappointment had roughened Yujun's tongue.
"Even so, look at this. Sell all of it on the black market and you'd make tens of millions."
No player could look at those items and feel no greed. Yujun was disappointed only because he could already pile mountains of things far better than this.
"You pick first, Yujun. As we agreed. You can take all of them, if you want..."
"I was going to take them all anyway."
He dropped the pieces that looked halfway decent into his inventory. To his eye every last one of them was trash, but he chose the least bad of the lot.
"I'll spare you two apiece."
He said it as if he were doing them a favor. The other two would have to be grateful for even that. Yujun sank into thought.
Is this really all? It's still a dwarven palace storehouse. The dwarves might already have taken the good items and fled. But would they have had the presence of mind? From the state of the kingdom, everything seemed to have turned all at once. They would have been out of their heads just trying to run. And the Storyteller would not have mentioned the palace storehouse for nothing.
A hidden place in a spot like this is basically law... no. It's standard.
Yujun did not give up hope.