Chapter 260: The Deepening Secret of the Dungeon
Chapter 260: The Deepening Secret of the Dungeon
“Why are you looking around so restlessly?”
As we were heading back to the village after leaving the ant nest, Diana asked quizzically from behind me.
Why was I looking around? To find adventurers, of course!
Adventurers, all of whom were at least above-average in looks, had to be out here right now, struggling to get monster penises erect!
…I didn’t have the courage to say that out loud.
“I’m just being cautious. I’m carrying you on my back, Diana. It would be a disaster if we were ambushed, wouldn’t it?”
Right. Diana was currently getting a piggyback ride from me.
Perhaps because Diana had held her debate nestled in my arms earlier, no one offered to cast a levitation spell this time when she climbed onto my back.
The Elder Sisters are finally getting the hint. If they keep developing their social awareness like this, they might even find a good man someday.
They’re a bit old, but they’re exceptional in both skill and looks, after all.
“Hmph. Hmph. To think you could say something so commendable. Is this all thanks to my tutelage?”
Diana patted my head, her voice filled with satisfaction.
Hell no, you old hag. I’ve always been a commendable guy.
Getting all high and mighty just because you won once earlier. Just you wait until tonight.
“It is commendable, but there’s no need to be so vigilant. We have them, after all,” Diana said, gesturing toward the Elder Sisters of the Mage Association following behind us.
“No. Of course the Elder Sisters are reliable, but there’s always a ‘what if.’ Even they might not be able to handle a surprise attack…”
“We’re almost at the village. Other adventurers usually take care of the monsters around here. Look, like over there.”
Sara, who was walking beside me, backed Diana up. She placed a hand on my shoulder and kneaded it as if to tell me to relax.
She was strong, so it felt pretty good.
But that wasn’t what was important right now.
“Where?!”
I spun my head toward Sara with ferocious intensity.
“H-huh? What?”
Perhaps because she’d never seen me like this, Sara’s cool expression crumbled and she looked a little flustered. Cute.
No, anyway!
“I mean! Where are the adventurers fighting?!”
“O-over there…”
Though bewildered, Sara raised a finger and pointed toward the horizon.
I looked where she was pointing and could definitely see some small dots moving.
Damn it. They’re too small, I can’t see them well. In that case…!
“That looks dangerous! Alright! Let’s go help them!”
“Huh? But… oh my?”
Sara sounded puzzled, but I ignored her and shot forward like an arrow.
Go, my legs! Cut through the wind, part the desert sands, and lead me to those adventurers! Before those women finish their struggle!
Even in a desert that was difficult to walk through, a distance like this was no obstacle when I was running at full speed.
I reached the adventurers’ battle in an instant.
“Aaaaaah!”
Thanks to that, Diana, who was on my back, screamed as if she were on a theme park thrill ride and clung tightly to me.
Hmph. Heh. Clinging to me so tightly. You like me that much, huh?
Anyway, having arrived at the scene of the battle, I suppressed my pounding heart, which was thumping with curiosity, and surveyed the situation. I was immediately disappointed.
Because the monsters the adventurers were fighting were scorpions.
You can’t get penises from them.
Just because monsters in this world looked like animals from my world didn’t mean they were the same creatures. The same went for these scorpions. Whether scorpions in this world had no males or I just hadn’t encountered one, I’d never once managed to get a penis from a scorpion.
Besides, even if you could, how would adventurers get a penis from a scorpion?
In a word, it was a bust.
“Tch… no, that’s not right. Phew. Thank goodness. It looks like they’re not in danger after all. I must have seen it wrong.”
“Kyaaaah!”
“What are you talking about? It looks very much like a dangerous situation to me.”
There were three adventurers before us. It seemed they had been trying to fight one scorpion when another one joined in.
The two vanguards were each handling one scorpion, but it was obvious at a glance that they were struggling.
But I spoke with a calmer expression than ever.
“This is the 2nd Floor. And right near the village. Does it make sense for adventurers who made it this far to struggle against just two weak monsters like that? No. It makes no sense. They’ll be fine without our help.”
I spat the words out quickly and tried to leave.
If I get involved with them, something troublesome is bound to happen. My gut is screaming at me.
But the adventurers spotted me and called for help before I could leave.
“Hey! Guwon! Help us!”
“And who might you be to act so familiar?”
“You said you’d take all three of us at once—!”
“Of course! I have to help! It’s not like we’re strangers! But there’s something we need to do first. You definitely asked for… help, so we can skip that part. How about the spoils after we save you…”
“Forget about that and just help us!”
I know. I was just kidding.
I gently set Diana down and walked up to a scorpion, delivering a soccer kick.
CRUNCH!
The scorpion was crushed by my single kick, its life ending then and there.
I guess leveling up my Martial Artist job in the ant nest for the past few days paid off. Well, even if it hadn’t, a weakling scorpion from the 2nd Floor would have been a one-punch job anyway.
“Phew. That should do it. Be careful on your way back.”
After easily dispatching the two scorpions with two kicks, I tried to make a cool exit.
“H-hey, wait! What’s the rush?”
What do you think? It’s because I’m afraid you’ll say something stupid again, you damn woman.
I stared intently at Kanna, who had a certain wild charm to her. Well, that wild charm was only skin-deep; in reality, she was incredibly weak, as I’d just witnessed.
Right. The three in front of me were all people I knew. They were the adventurers holding up the bottom of the Arachne Clan: the trio of Kanna, Serena, and Amy.
“Is there something else you need?”
“No, it’s just that…”
“Guwon-ssi. Are you perhaps on your way to the village?”
As Kanna hesitated, Serena stepped forward.
“I am.”
“If so, could we ask a favor? I know it’s shameless of us, but please let us accompany you to the village.”
Huh? They want to come with us to the village?
The village really wasn’t far.
At most, we’d run into monsters maybe two or three more times.
And they were scared of that? Then how did they even get this far?
A quick glance showed that none of them were seriously injured. For them to be here, in perfect condition, yet unable to handle the weakest monsters on the 2nd Floor meant…
As I stared at them, Kanna flinched as if she’d been struck and avoided my gaze.
Serena spoke calmly, a slightly embarrassed look on her face.
“Members of large clans like us can use teleportation circles for floors we haven’t reached yet. It’s more efficient to level up by teleporting between floors.”
“I heard the teleport registration system was also intended to prevent unskilled adventurers from challenging deep floors and dying pointless deaths.”
“Of course. That’s why it’s mandatory to bring an escort when teleporting to a floor we haven’t reached. However…”
As she said that, Serena glanced at Kanna.
I see. I think I get the gist of it.
It was a clan-exclusive system meant for safe and rapid growth with an escort, but that Kanna girl must have recklessly come to the 2nd Floor without one. Serena and Amy were just dragged along.
“Sigh. Alright. I’ll take you to the village. Just wait a bit. I have companions with me, too. They’ll be here soon.”
Putting Kanna aside, I felt sorry for Serena and Amy. What a pain, all because they have a bad friend.
“Really?! Thanks! You really are a good guy! Even if you don’t keep your promises!”
Aargh! I want to sew that mouth of hers shut.
Her energy seemingly restored now that I’d agreed to take her to the village, Kanna approached me and started talking in a friendly manner.
“By the way, I heard the rumors. You’ve been doing amazing things lately, right? And you made some huge discovery a while back.”
“Ah, so the Guild announced it?”
“Yeah. Everyone’s going crazy over it. They’re even saying it’ll change the paradigm of dungeon exploration. Even Alicia-ssi, who’s usually so laid-back, has been so absorbed in exploring the dungeon that she hasn’t been doing many escorts lately.”
Kanna said it with a hint of boredom.
I see. So that’s what happened. In that case, the fact that they ended up in danger wasn’t entirely unrelated to me. Well, it was still their own fault, though.
“Anyway, who are your companions, Guwon-ssi? Are you talking about Sara-ssi, who we saw before?”
Amy also seemed quite happy to see me and approached me energetically.
“Yeah. Sara’s here, of course. And also… over there.”
“Guwon! You can’t just run off on your own like that!”
Just as I pointed behind me, Sara caught up and chided me.
And behind Sara, the rest of our group was following in a line.
“Eh…”
Who was it that made that sound?
Seeing the people following behind Sara, the bodies of the three Arachne Clan members froze like stone.
Right. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t intimidated by those silver cloaks.
“G-Guwon… no. Guwon-ssi? Guwon-nim? A-are, are they your companions?”
Seeing even Kanna that scared, the power those Elder Sisters wielded must be truly incredible.
I wonder if she’d faint if I told her the person next to me is the supreme Archmage, Diana Telluna? I kind of want to see it.
“Oh? Amy-ssi? It’s been a while.”
“Leia! What are you doing here?!”
And surprisingly, there were acquaintances among them.
Ah, they’re both priestesses, so maybe it’s not that surprising?
“I’m traveling with Guwon-ssi.”
As Leia gently came to my side and linked her arm with mine, Amy’s eyes went wide.
“What? The Leia? H-how on earth?!”
To think she still didn’t know Leia was with me. This girl must barely ever go to the temple. Just what I’d expect from the young lady who, despite being a priestess, tried to tempt me into a foursome.
Wait, now that I think about it, wasn’t that a real problem? I heard it’s taboo among the clergy. This girl is a total delinquent, contrary to her appearance.
Anyway, even that delinquent girl seemed burdened by the fact that she was with the Elder Sisters of the Mage Association. She stuck close to Leia and tried her best not to look their way.
“H-how are all of them gathered here? Is there about to be a huge fight or something?”
…Come to think of it, I heard the Elder Sisters used to have a bad relationship because they were always fighting over Diana.
You’d never know it now, since they’re always laughing and chatting together around Diana.
I see. It seems the reason this trio is so scared isn’t just because they’re intimidated by high-ranking people.
“Fufu. It’s not like that. These people are… here to help Guwon-ssi for a little while.”
Leia thought for a moment before using me as an excuse, not revealing Diana’s identity.
She was being considerate of Diana, who preferred to keep her identity secret.
Thanks to her, the way the three of them were looking at me became incredibly burdensome.
“A-amazing… How could he gather all of them… I tried to have a foursome with a guy like that…”
“Ahem! A-hem! Anyway, now that everyone’s here, let’s head back to the village! I want to get back quickly and lie down in a bed for the first time in a while!”
“Mm. Let’s.”
Diana climbed back onto my back as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And the Elder Sisters from the Mage Association gathered around, forming a circle as if to surround Diana.
Since I was carrying Diana, it would look like they were surrounding me.
“Shall we be on our way?”
On top of that, one of the Elder Sisters looked our way and even used honorifics.
“W-was he someone incredibly important? And I said to a person like that…”
I could see Kanna agonizing beside me.
Hmph. So this is what it feels like to bask in borrowed glory. Not a bad feeling at all.
Without clearing up the trio’s misunderstanding, I started walking toward the village.