Chapter 201
Chapter 201
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 201
Chapter Title: Hassan's Business
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"Right here."
"It's true, just as Sir Hassan said! There's a huge, huge hole! A hole this deep!"
Paranoya shuddered violently at the hole bored so deeply into the ground that its bottom was impossible to see.
She picked up a nearby pebble and rolled it inside.
Roll, roll, thump, thump.
A fairly round pebble produced a sound of endlessly tumbling away. It was clear just from the feel that this was a deeply dug tunnel.
"Is the goblins' king in this place?"
"Probably."
"...How dare they, how dare they-!"
Paranoya trembled like a boiling kettle at my nonchalant answer. Then she shrieked.
"How dare a mere goblin use the title of king, bypassing Sir Hassan? I cannot tolerate this...!! I'll go drag it out right now...!!"
Paranoya seemed utterly furious at the existence of this goblin king.
Such vivid rage.
Paranoya really was emotionally unstable.
That made me wonder if bringing her along had been the right call.
It was the day after discovering the rabbit burrow.
When I tried to go in alone, it had already gotten dark.
And if, by some one-in-a-million chance, I couldn't escape the cave, I might end up reported missing. So it seemed best to have at least one companion.
Someone to warn of danger outside and call for help if needed.
Thus, the companion I called was Paranoya.
She knew I could use necromancy, so there was no issue sneaking her along.
Luna had grilled me, of course: "Hassan, where are you going alone with Paranoya?"
When I brushed it off with "Goblin hunting," she surprisingly didn't press further, probably because it was Paranoya.
She even said, "Sorry I'm busy. I should be going as your fixed party member!" looking regretful enough to make my nose tingle.
Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since Luna and I had partied up for hunts. Back then it felt like death, but now those hardships were just fond memories.
"Sir Hassan, then you go down first...!!"
Paranoya's voice snapped me out of my reminiscence.
"You're telling me to go first?"
"You're Sir Hassan, a mighty warrior who easily crushes even Jupiter's knights!! But I, I'm a frail nymph compared to you, so going first wouldn't help...!!"
She puffed herself up as my top follower and right hand usually, but now she downplayed herself as a frail nymph.
This bitch-.
I realized Paranoya was scared of this pitch-black cave. No wonder, it was frightening.
Honestly, I was reluctant to go down there too. Who knew what might jump out.
But thinking she was using me as a shield annoyed me.
"Paranoya, my right hand Paranoya. A right hand should take the lead in places like this."
"Th-that... uh...."
"You get 6% of Hell's shares. To stand above others, you need to boldly take the front at times like this."
"I-is that so...?"
I could see Paranoya's crimson pupils quake massively. She glanced back and forth between my face and the pitch-black cave entrance.
"Then, I'll take just 0.5%..."
Finally, in a crawling voice, she slashed her own share. She must have been that terrified to give up her reward.
I understood, though. Paranoya had said she feared narrow, dark caves.
Probably flashbacks to hiding in caves from hunters as a child. Trauma doesn't vanish easily.
I feared spiders, and Elfriede.
No need to torment Paranoya further.
I looked around, then said as if with no choice.
"Then shall we send the minions first? Pull out some bones from the bag."
"That, I've prepared in advance as your top follower Paranoya...!!"
Paranoya, who had been gloomy moments ago, dumped the bulging bag from her back onto the ground, eager to prove her usefulness.
The bag, swollen like military gear, was full of bones. Stolen from Luna's material jar.
"How about it? Aren't they in perfect condition!? I, Paranoya, selected only the most usable bones-!!"
They looked like ordinary bone piles to me. But Paranoya boasted as if she'd done something amazing.
Since she was puffing up for praise, I just said well done.
"Good job, Paranoya."
"Hehehe, as Sir Hassan's right arm, it's only natural... Then, can you raise my share back to 6%?"
"No."
I gestured lightly at the scattered bones. They soon assembled and fitted together, reborn as four bone goblins.
"Using necromancy without incantations...? And creating four royal guards with blue soulfire eyes...."
Paranoya trembled in genuine awe, at a loss for words.
Come to think of it, this was the first time showing her my improved necromancy after all the practice.
Even to an ex-cultist, was my skill impressive?
In this world, chantless magic was advanced, from what I recalled.
Elfriede got called a great adventurer for casting fire magic without chants.
Thinking that way made me feel smug, floating on air.
"This is basic. Now go pave the way ahead, minions."
Thus, the small bone goblins were dropped into the narrow hole. After a while, their clattering—scrape, scrape—stopped.
『Settling minion combat.』
『Karma Value +11』
『Current Karma Value +321』
The floating text left me stunned.
+11 Karma Value meant the bone goblins had killed something deep below.
If Paranoya or I had gone first, we'd have been ambushed right away.
"Then, I'll go first, so follow closely behind."
"Got it! I'll guard Sir Hassan's back-!"
I squeezed my body into the narrow hole. Its size was just right for a burly adult male like me to crawl down prone.
If I'd gained even a bit more fat or muscle, I might've gotten stuck. Good thing I had no claustrophobia.
"Sir Hassan, Sir Hassan-! Th-the tunnel's narrowing...!! The tunnel, it's trying to eat me...!! C-can't breathe...!!"
Paranoya made a huge fuss following right behind me.
It was spacious enough for me in full gear. Yet a nymph, two heads shorter and slimmer, struggled with the width? It didn't make sense.
"Don't exaggerate, just follow."
"Uuuh, uuuh-, c-can't breathe...."
"Damn it. Then grab my leg."
"Th-thank you...!"
So I dragged Paranoya clinging to my ankle, crawling low through the tunnel.
Crunch.
She gripped my calf so hard it was uncomfortable, but it seemed to calm her, so that was good.
If she'd kept fussing noisily, I'd have gotten on edge too.
Scrape, scraaaape-.
After crawling a long way, I vaguely noticed the ceiling widening, making it easier.
From barely slithering flat like a snake, now I could raise my upper body, soon walk upright as width and height increased.
I activated "Hand of Grace" and scanned around—dead goblin corpses littered the floor.
Surrounded by bone goblins growling with blue soulfire eyes.
"Good, Paranoya. Start dropping glowstones from here to mark the path. Got it?"
"Marking paths is what I do best...!! B-by any chance, if I do well, is there a reward?"
"Yeah, do well and I'll give one."
"U-uuuh, reward...."
Trembling with motivation at the promise, Paranoya finally pulled a glowing stone from her bag.
Glowstone.
A stone that glows when infused with light source—5 coppers each, fairly pricey.
Shiny rocks had many uses in this electricity-less world, but adventurers like me often used them to mark dark dungeon paths.
"Don't lose them, and collect them on the way back."
"No worries there...!! Then onward, Sir Hassan!"
"Yeah."
Before that, I didn't forget to raise the eleven goblin corpses as undead. Now totaling fifteen revived goblins.
First time commanding this many at once.
No prying eyes, so I could raise freely.
Maybe test how many I could handle simultaneously? Goblins would be swarming inside.
As I pondered, Paranoya yelled exaggeratedly: "Raising over ten undead without chants or tools-!!"
Her voice echoed through the burrow, tensing my neck.
"Hey, be careful, we don't know what's here. Better keep quiet."
"Uuh, wise indeed...! Still, so many undead—it's like an army of death...."
Army of death.
Half her chatter could be ignored, but it fit perfectly describing me commanding over ten undead.
Surrounded by bone goblin escorts on all sides—very reassuring.
"Then, let's move out."
Thus, the blue soulfires and I delved deeper into the tunnel. It was longer than expected, with many rooms—like what?
"S-so complex! Like an ant nest in the yard...!!"
Just as Paranoya said, it felt like invading a massive ant nest. Except ants, it was packed with ugly green monsters.
Grraaah!!
Keeek, keeesh! Keeek!
Scattered goblin packs appeared occasionally, but they were grabbed by my charging blue-eyed undead at my gesture and torn apart.
『Settling minion combat-.』
『Settling minion combat-.』
Easy.
Too easy?
Was dungeon crawling always this simple?
Gaaaaaaaah-!!!
No need for me to fight; bone goblins roared and charged at sighted enemies.
No fear or hesitation—just ripping apart those I deemed foes.
As my loyal minions stole lives, victims joined my death legion.
"Rise, minions-."
Crunch, cruuunch-.
No refusing the draft.
This was seriously unfair.
"T-to profane life like this.... Freshly killed corpses turned irresistibly into undead—such mercilessness! The epitome of evil under heaven-!"
In the darkness, Paranoya's crimson eyes flickered strangely.
Her face flushed with eerie ecstasy, she licked her dry lips with a red tongue.
That vibe evoked our first meeting at the stump logging site, when she'd terrified me—something bewitching about her.
Come to think of it, she was a pretty scary cultist back then.
"Sir Hassan, truly godlike majesty...!! By now, even those goblin idiots must bitterly realize how foolish it is to oppose Hell's archduke...!!"
My minions were fighting, yet Paranoya was more excited—maybe the dark, dank tunnel's allure. Her praise wasn't unwelcome.
Tremble-.
At my feet knelt a quivering green monster. Smaller than others—maybe a young one?
Kek. Kehket... gruuuh....
Prostrated, it offered me a shiny glass shard. At that instant, Paranoya growled.
"Th-this bastard just insulted Sir Hassan as a fool-headed nigger...!!"
I had to ask if I'd misheard.
"What did you say?"