Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: The Protagonist is a Villain
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The atmosphere was uncomfortable. Incredibly uncomfortable. Karin wouldn't even meet my eyes, and Erina was fidgeting restlessly by Aei's side. Aei just walked on silently without saying a word. If he'd at least glared at me with murderous intent, I could've killed him on the spot, but seeing him act like someone who'd been terribly wronged made my conscience prickle.
It felt exactly like I was the one who'd done something wrong.
We climbed the stairs again and arrived at the door. The golem was still blocking the exit. Whether we fought or negotiated, we had things to do outside first, so now we needed to figure out how to open this door and get out.
"Let's smash it."
I said. Aei didn't properly respond, just nodded stiffly like some traffic guide mannequin. I called his name again.
"Hero?"
"Ah! Yes. Yes. What did you say?"
"Let's break this thing."
I pointed at the door blocked by the golem. What part of the golem was I touching? Its butt? Its back? I fiddled with the smooth surface of the golem. Karin and Aei drew their swords. I pulled out my mace too. Seeing me draw my mace, Karin asked.
"Won't you use the holy sword?"
"I'm not used to swords."
"Still, why not try hitting it with the holy sword? It might have some special effect."
I'd just checked the holy sword's status window, so I knew for sure it didn't have any such function, but explaining that would be a hassle. So I decided to do as Karin suggested. The sword felt good in my hand anyway, so it might even cut stone.
I pressed the blade against the golem's hard surface. Was it because it was a legendary sword? As soon as the edge touched the golem, it sliced through like tofu. It had felt as hard as iron when I touched it, but was this because the sword was holy? Seeing the blade sink into the stone, I pushed it in deeper.
"Gaaaaaaaah!"
At the same moment, an enormous scream echoed out. Me and the others all clutched our ears and dropped to the floor. The cave shook temporarily. And a status window popped up in front of my eyes.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ - Due to the effect of the trait Just Reward, the Mega Golem dies instantly. I couldn't make sense of it. What just died instantly? Fuck, it was supposed to only work on people. Was a golem a person?
But I didn't have time to argue. The golem was actually crumbling. The iron-hard golem was melting away like slime. The 7th floor revealed itself again before our eyes. The golem had melted into a puddle spread wide across the floor. And the floor was endlessly absorbing the golem's fluids.
"This is..."
Karin covered her mouth and slowly approached the golem's remains. The massively bloated golem body was gradually shrinking. The golem, whose limbs had been indistinctly oversized, was slowly taking on a human shape. A person. Yeah, this was a person. I called up the status window.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ * The status window of the dead cannot be confirmed. Fuck. Right. The golem, which had been shrinking rapidly, finally took the form of some man and became a cold corpse. There was a complex magic circle drawn on his back. Karin brushed over the magic circle. Below it was a deep sword mark that looked like the one I'd just made.
"It's a magic circle. Probably, someone transformed him into a golem using magic."
"Transformed into a golem?"
"Yes. Assuming these are ancients, that would fit. In ancient times, there was magic that forcibly transformed criminals' bodies into golems while preserving their egos."
It was fucking horrific magic. If what she said was true, this guy had been sealed down on the 7th underground floor in his right mind all this time. Waiting indefinitely for a hero who might never come with the holy sword. Unable to die or sleep, just continuing on.
That raised another question for me. Was the holy sword really what was sealed here in the first place? Shouldn't a holy sword be kept in a place like the royal palace basement? Why store it in a dungeon like this? And using these unbelievable criminal bastards to guard it. Karin drew a knife from her waist.
"Karin? Why the knife?"
"We should take the magic circle, right? We can't carry the whole body up, so peeling off the back skin and taking just the circle for study seems best."
"...There are soldiers up top. How about handing it over to them?"
"That sounds good too."
Karin's expression looked oddly disappointed. From the looks of her, she seemed to have gotten a taste for skinning criminals. Otherwise, why would a knight carry a skinning dagger on her waist? Preparing even a paring knife along with it—if she weren't a knight, she'd definitely be an Eve-level serial killer.
For now, we left the corpse there and headed up. There were six more golems above. Suddenly, a scary thought hit me. Seeing the others gauging the floor count, they were all thinking the same thing.
"Could it be... those people in the rooms here..."
Aei pointed at the lowest floor with a trembling hand. Four rooms on the lowest floor. Two beds per room, max capacity eight people. Total golems in the dungeon: seven. So seven people. Roughly matching the bed count. A space with no bathrooms or food storage. A clean space with no guards.
A man with a magic circle on his back. Transformed into a golem.
They hadn't all died or disappeared. We'd been facing the people who'd lived down here from the start. Erina sat on the floor, trembling. It was a seriously creepy and unsettling story. Aei looked at me.
Yeah, I was holding the holy sword. Or rather, honestly, I didn't even know if this was really the holy sword. Maybe it was just a sword placed here to torment these prisoners with false hope. In that case, our job was simple. Stab all the golems and set them free.
I thrust the blade forward and said,
"Let's free them one by one."
Since we'd brought the holy sword, they no longer needed to guard anything. Casual intruders might die out of curiosity, and we couldn't repurpose these golems anyway, so we had to eliminate them regardless.
We couldn't accompany every follow-up investigation team with Aei.
I went up floor by floor—6th, 5th, 4th—stabbing each golem's butt once good. Every time, they'd let out ear-piercing screams as their bodies shriveled. Was dying that painful? No one thanked me for freeing them. Not that I expected greetings anyway.
As I stabbed golem after golem, I thought: If the original is human, the sword's effect works even after transformation. Surprisingly versatile sword. If it works on human-turned golems, it might work on werewolves or zombies—things that were originally human.
I'd thought the first effect was just for backstabbing betrayers, but it had good utility.
After stabbing the 1st floor golem's butt, the last one too let out a grotesque scream and reverted to human form. The dungeon turned into a mystery-themed escape room cafe with scrawny men collapsed on every floor.
All the men had magic circles on their backs, bald heads, and nasty scars on their wrists like they'd worn handcuffs. After confirming the last one was dead, I prayed in Great Heavenly God Church style. Erina said,
"You know how to mourn the dead too?"
"I'm a high priest."
Aei seemed lost in thought watching me and Erina. Honestly, at this point, what did Erina's lies even matter? No matter how crazy she was, she wouldn't spew bullshit like 'baby-making alchemy' in front of Aei.
With those different thoughts, we exited.
Karin explained the corpses on the lower floors to the soldier guarding the dungeon, and they quickly took custody. We hadn't noticed inside the dungeon, but out here, the corpses clearly looked different from this kingdom's people.
After watching the corpses head to the palace, Karin asked,
"For now, shall we all go to the palace? If you go with us, there'll be a big reward along with the report."
As the holy sword's owner, I had to go no matter what, but Erina and Aei had no real reason. Their mission to explore the dungeon was done. They had no attachment to palace orders or reports anyway.
So Karin tempted them with 'big reward.' Erina shook her head and said,
"Ah, no. I'm going back to my kingdom now for the baby-making secret art..."
"Ah, sure."
Karin neatly cut her off. I shook my head too. Erina was the type who wouldn't drop her lies until someone smacked her beside the head. Karin already saw her as a total slut. Ever since that incident in the dungeon, she'd been giving Erina cold looks.
Karin looked at Aei with pitying eyes. She said,
"And you, Hero?"
"Ah, I..."
"Of course Aei's coming with me to Ahildern..."
Aei grabbed Erina's shoulder. Erina's eyes widened as she looked at Aei. Me and Karin unconsciously reached for our weapons. Naturally, we thought Aei would hit her.
But Aei didn't.
"Erina. I forgive you."
"Wh-what?"
"It's because I'm a woman that you couldn't be satisfied, right?"
"Th-that's..."
Erina rolled her eyes searching for words. But she had none. Aei grinned and said,
"Still, you love me, right Erina?"
"O-of course. I've always only..."
Aei hugged Erina tightly. And said,
"I'll come back as a man. I promise."
Then he kissed her cheek and vanished into the forest beyond. Karin narrowed her eyes even more at Erina. Erina stared blankly at the forest where Aei disappeared, caressing her cheek.
Before heading back, I need to fuck Erina one more time.