#037 Entry
#037 Entry
After the unconventional encounter with Bareness.
We distanced ourselves from prying eyes, and after sorting things out as best we could, we headed for the dungeon where the rank-up examination was scheduled to take place, as originally planned.
Naturally, Morgen served as our guide.
She walked ahead with half her back exposed, the line of her spine fully on display, and watching her, I couldn't help thinking what a shame it was.
'Walking around like that makes it easy for liches to pull her vertebrae right out from behind.'
Skeleton soldiers suffer heavy attrition.
No matter how many hundreds of bones make up a human body, when a single bone breaks, a skeleton has to swap that bone out like a magitech machine part.
The vertebrae in particular are the most important thing for a skeleton.
Liches collected vertebrae not only for themselves but for their subordinate skeletons, and they made a habit of targeting people with weak defenses on their backs like that.
Still, I couldn't really say anything....
"The Azure Moon Goddess will protect her exposed parts too, right?"
"Yes."
"You too?"
"Yes."
Rosemas was no different.
She showed up for the examination wearing the 'dark-blue high-leg underwater combat suit' and 'white stockings' I'd seen at the clothing shop.
Still, maybe she had some sense of decency, because she'd thrown on a robe that was slightly see-through on the inside.
At a glance, the members most at risk in our party seemed to be Morgen first and then Rosemas, but....
"SKREEECH!"
"Hmph!"
Watching her casually deflect a Magic Beast's strike from afar, I got the feeling that I was the one in the most danger.
"Wow, goblins going for the clothes first—does that even make sense?"
"It's happening in reality right now, isn't it?"
"It's absurd."
All the monsters that attacked us on the way targeted our clothing rather than our exposed skin.
It was surely an attack pattern learned through long years of combat experience against human adventurers.
"Lucius, did you see that just now? It shot at Morgen's shoulder. It could've just shot her in the stomach."
"If it shot her in the stomach, it would bounce off because of the goddess's blessing."
"The world's gone mad, seriously."
Even low-grade Magic Beasts like goblins know that 'exposed skin can't be harmed.'
If that weren't the case, they'd have no reason to deliberately target cloth-covered areas while avoiding exposed skin.
The Azure Moon Goddess's blessing was more impressive than I'd imagined, and I seriously wondered whether I should change my outfit.
If they only targeted clothed areas, then minimizing the amount of clothing meant I'd only need to protect those areas, right?
"Lucius."
"Yes, Master."
"Should I just strip down and walk around too?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Think about it. If I cover only the parts that need covering, top and bottom, and protect just those areas with mana, I could defend my body efficiently, couldn't I?"
"Um, I'm sorry, but...."
Lucius pointed at my fully exposed legs.
"Master, you don't receive the goddess's blessing."
"True. But I'm not suggesting it because I think I'd receive the blessing. I'm talking about exploiting the enemy's assumptions and stereotypes."
"Assumptions?"
"Right. Until the enemy actually attacks an exposed area, they won't know I don't have the blessing, will they? So the enemy will attack my clothed areas first, right? Then I just block those."
Logical and reasonable.
I really was clever.
"How's that?"
"...But if an enemy attack happened to ricochet or something, you could get hurt."
"Hmm. That's true too."
A ricochet wouldn't exactly wound my body, but some other method....
"Ah."
Just then, a good idea came to me.
"After the examination's over, I'll have to go to a salon."
"...Why a salon?"
"To have a new outfit made."
I'd thought of a way to expose skin while simultaneously protecting my entire body.
Not to receive the goddess's blessing, but a very good way to shift the enemy's target point to a place where I could easily defend myself.
"Lucius, one wolf on your side."
Slash.
Even in the middle of our conversation, a beast attacked us.
Lucius lightly swung his sword and cut the wolf down.
"Sorry, I was reloading for a moment and missed it."
Morgen, who'd been far ahead, hurriedly ran back toward us.
In her hand was a small pistol with all six chambers empty.
A magitech pistol.
Apparently it was a six-shot pistol that fired by loading mana into it.
Its destructive and lethal power was about on par with a slightly faster Magic Missile.
Rosemas's wind arrows were far faster and stronger, but Morgen's magitech pistol had the advantage of being easy for anyone to handle.
"Are you hurt?"
"Master warned me right away, so I was able to respond. It seems the thing was hiding under a rotten tree."
"How do you know that?"
"I used to be a hunter."
"Wow...."
The way she sidled up to Lucius and wagged her tail at him was truly a sight to behold.
Was she really an examiner?
Being an examiner was something anyone could do, but hadn't she volunteered just because she wanted to be with Lucius?
"......."
Look at this.
Rosemas was looking quite uncomfortable right now.
-Rosemas. The examiner and I will talk about the test, so you go talk with Lucius alone.
-C-Can I?
-Of course.
That was the plan—though of course I hadn't told Rosemas and meant to create the mood naturally!—but Morgen latched onto Lucius and ruined it.
'Dungeon, please appear soon.'
I'd rather just arrive at the exam site in question quickly.
With an earnest heart, I pushed through the forest path and moved forward.
And then.
"A black mage's abandoned dungeon?"
"Yes."
The place Morgen introduced was a workshop formerly used by a necromancer—a forest cave that a black mage had used as a workshop without permission.
"They say the black mage conducted research on reviving corpses here."
"So we just have to deal with the black mage?"
"No, Arthur. The black mage has already left the dungeon."
"Ah-ha."
I had a sense of what the request would involve.
"So corpses are rising because of the traces the black mage left in his workshop."
"That's right, Witch. This mission is...."
Morgen took out papers with the mission written on them and handed one to me and one to Lucius.
"Cleaning the abandoned laboratory. The 'cleaning' here doesn't mean sweeping and scrubbing—it means dealing with monsters that have crept into the laboratory, or any undead animated by lingering souls."
"This is a D Rank mission...?"
Lucius didn't seem to have a good grasp of it.
At first listen, the mission sounded like a simple courage test, since if there was nothing in the abandoned dungeon, you could just go in and come out.
"Just cleaning...?"
"Lucius. Are you disappointed?"
"No, Master."
"You are, though."
I lightly tapped Lucius on the head with my staff.
"There's a reason it's a D Rank mission. There might be a monster inside you can't handle. Do you think you could clear a D Rank mission with pure swordsmanship alone?"
"......."
Lucius lowered his head with a complicated expression.
He'd keep agonizing over it.
His own power was A Rank or higher, and he'd seen the Mercenary King—who, like him, wielded a Holy Sword—being praised by others as an S Rank, while he himself was a shabby E Rank.
"No one starts out at the top. You struggle where no one can see to climb to the summit. So don't be so disappointed about doing this kind of work right now. Someday you might take part in a giant Magic Beast subjugation or a large-scale dungeon raid."
"Understood, Master."
Any man wants to wield the power he holds.
Lucius was frustrated by how easy the mission was because he wielded a Holy Sword.
If he didn't have the Holy Sword, wouldn't he be walking along right now trembling with fear and tension?
"Still, let's confirm one thing before we go. Morgen. If nothing appears inside the abandoned laboratory, we won't fail, right?"
"Yes. That's why I'm attached as the examiner—to confirm you really went in. Over there."
Morgen pushed through the underbrush and moved forward.
Every time her arms got scratched, a blue light flashed—clear proof that the Azure Moon Goddess's blessing was taking effect.
"Here."
Morgen pointed to a small cave below the cliff.
The interior was dark and hard to see, so I lit the lamp I'd prepared in advance.
'I should conserve mana.'
Using Light Magic would be more convenient, but that would cost me some of my lifespan.
What can be solved with money should be solved with money.
The lamplight wasn't that dim, and it was enough to make our way through the dark cave.
"Rosemas will just follow behind with me. To set the rules in advance: until you shout 'Help!', we'll only observe from behind."
"Understood."
I wasn't sure there'd ever be a need to ask for help.
No, if anything, Morgen might be the one asking for help.
"Master, I'll take the lead."
"Lucius."
I pulled off Lucius's glove.
"You should take the ring out and wear it."
"...Ah."
Lucius looked startled with a blank face, and I shoved his glove into his inner pocket.
"If something happens, you'll need to use it. I'll leave the judgment to you."
"Ah, understood. But...."
"Don't worry. If a problem arises, I'll handle the cleanup."
I had a bad feeling about this.
* * *
"......Hm?"
At the sound from outside, the old man picked up his skull-topped staff.
"...Visitors, is it. Tch, I left this place abandoned for too long."
Clack, clack.
"Insolent brats. One male and three maidens, is it.... Daring to trespass in someone else's home. Hmm...."
Clack, clack.
"I'll kill them first and offer them up as sacrifices to Him."
Clack, clack.
"The Great Demon King Belphegor will be pleased. Heh heh heh."
The old man picked up a shotgun.
"Welcome to the dungeon of Shax the Demon, you whelps."