Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: A Hidden Passage
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The endlessly layered traps were more than enough to exhaust the exploration team.
He could see why so many fairly skilled exploration teams had been mobilized, only to fail.
"This is just insane. You'd have to be out of your mind to set up such a massive barrier."
It was hard to understand what kind of secret they were hiding to have created such a formidable dungeon.
Sophia shook her head and slowly took a step forward.
It felt like she could finally escape this damn hell of traps.
A cluster of brilliant blue light, which looked like an exit, had finally appeared at the end of the hallway.
But just as she carefully stepped forward, a strange sound came from beneath her foot.
Click. Thunk!
"Wow! Are you kidding me? Right to the very end?"
"Watch out!"
A knight slightly ahead of her quickly grabbed her by the shoulder.
The very next moment, something fell from the ceiling and slammed into the ground.
CRASH!
Glancing back, she saw it was a mace, glistening and black.
Its heavy weight and sharp, protruding spikes felt menacing.
Getting hit by something like that would have surely pulverized her bones.
She never dreamed there would be a trap right in front of the exit.
After all, the mechanisms had stopped working the moment the glowing blue exit appeared.
It seemed it had been placed there deliberately to make intruders let their guard down.
"Whew! How vicious. That's the last of them, right?"
"We cannot let our guard down until the very end. Please... I wish you success, my lady."
"Why are you suddenly talking like that? As if it's all over."
"It's nothing. Haha."
The guard knight, Diego, looked down at Sophia with a faint smile.
Before she knew it, something warm was trickling from inside his helmet.
Her eyes widened and trembled violently.
"Knight Diego?"
"It was an ho-honor to serve you, Lady Sophia."
His head drooped weakly, and Diego tried to lean his body against Sophia's shoulder.
But her expression hardened, and she took a step to the side.
Thud!
The guard knight tumbled to the ground in an unsightly heap.
But Sophia, scowling, roughly pulled off Diego's helmet.
"O, spirit of great nature. Seal the fissure and drive out the malady. Cure."
Sssshhh...
A green light flowed from her hand, enveloping the wound, and the bleeding stopped in an instant.
She glanced at the helmet and saw that the sturdy steel plate was hideously torn.
It seemed he had been grazed by the mace while pulling her away.
After finishing the treatment, she poked Diego with her wand and spoke bluntly.
"Get up, mister."
"Ugh..."
"It wasn't even a serious wound, and you're trying to act all cool. It's not cool at all, so get up."
"Hey, you could have at least caught me. What was that? I really did pass out, you know."
"Reflect on your usual behavior. Were you ever a trustworthy knight?"
"What's wrong with me?"
"You spend all your time hitting on women, that's why it's so easy to say. At your age, you can't expect to find a first-time bride, you know?"
"Some people are into distinguished older men, you know."
"Just looking at that beard, you're not a distinguished older man, you're just plain old."
Though she handled it playfully, Diego's wound had been quite serious.
It was enough to cause a concussion even though he was protecting his body with aura.
If first aid had been delayed, it could have led to a much more severe outcome.
Sophia glanced back down the hallway they had come from and muttered bitterly.
"Anyway, the losses are immense."
"I didn't expect it to be this difficult either."
Diego had been her guard since she was a child, so they were quite comfortable with each other even now that she was grown.
Of course, they only spoke informally when no one else was watching.
Which meant that the other thirteen members had all died while escaping the hell of traps.
It was a devastating loss, especially since they didn't even know how much of the dungeon was left.
"I'm fine now. Let's go."
"You were fine to begin with. Stop making that needlessly wistful face and take the lead."
"Yes, yes."
Diego sprang to his feet and moved forward cautiously, wary of any more traps.
Fortunately, it seemed the mace had been the last of them, as there were no more threats.
Soon, the two of them passed through the blue curtain of light into the next area.
Just then, a group of people came walking out from the opposite side.
"Huh? Are those..."
Seeing them emerge from the blue curtain, they seemed to be the mercenary team that had gone the other way.
When she sent a wisp forward, she could see their faces clearly.
Sure enough, a familiar face was waiting for Sophia among them.
"Sir Jules!"
"You're safe! Thank goodness, my lady."
Spotting Jules Kainman, Sophia beamed and quickened her pace.
Though she restrained herself somewhat due to the watchful eyes, she couldn't hide her delight.
Soon, she glanced behind Jules.
She seemed curious about how much of their force remained.
To her surprise, the mercenary team appeared to have suffered only two losses.
Moreover, the other thirteen members showed no signs of injury.
"Looks like you had some bad luck?"
It was then.
As someone's voice rang out, Sophia's brow furrowed slightly.
It was the Treasure Hunter who had made the useless comment earlier about the right path being safer.
She ignored my question and turned her gaze to Jules Kainman.
"Were there not many traps on your side?"
"No, my lady. It was incredibly perilous."
"You don't seem to have suffered many losses..."
"We were lucky and identified the traps quickly."
Sensing Sophia's foul mood, Jules answered as cautiously as possible.
He figured that boasting about the Treasure Hunter's accomplishments would only worsen the young marquess's mood.
She lowered her voice and asked a few more questions.
"Was he really that skilled? Enough to raise the survival rate so much?"
"Well, that is..."
Jules Kainman suddenly recalled the sight of the Treasure Hunter's back as he navigated the traps alone.
All sorts of dangers had assailed them, but strangely, the man had seemed completely at ease.
No, perhaps he was just lucky.
There were countless moments where he made a seemingly meaningless move, and an attack would happen to miss him.
The way he dodged projectiles with strange shouts and peculiar movements was particularly unimpressive.
Nevertheless, the Treasure Hunter had perfectly disarmed the traps, which was why the mercenary team's losses had been so low.
In the end, Jules had no choice but to answer this way.
"I'm not sure myself. Let's just say he's a man of incredible fortune."
"What kind of explanation is that?"
"I'm merely saying that he's difficult to describe."
"Hmm."
Sophia gazed at the Treasure Hunter with an intrigued expression for a moment before losing interest.
His strange performance was quite surprising, but she had other things to focus on right now.
* * *
'No, what on earth did they do? Unless they deliberately walked into a death trap... Don't tell me she used them as meat shields just to save herself?'
I stared at the knight team, now reduced to just two survivors, with an incredulous look.
Although my contribution had been significant, the mercenary team had also played their part.
They had handled the major traps, which had lessened the pressure on me as I cleared the path.
If the knight team had used a similar method, they wouldn't have lost so many of their members.
'I shouldn't overthink it. Their path might have just been harder.'
They weren't my knights anyway, so there was no need for me to meddle.
"Looks like you had some bad luck?"
I threw out a little jab, but the marquess's daughter didn't react at all.
Since she was at a disadvantage, it seemed she intended to ignore me completely.
I decided to do the same and focus solely on clearing the dungeon.
'There's nothing here.'
After the hell of traps, the path didn't continue.
I walked to the end of the large, rectangular room, but I couldn't see any traps, let alone any special objects.
It just felt like we were completely isolated.
"There must be a path hidden somewhere. Search every inch."
"Yes, my lady."
At Sophia's command, the mercenaries scattered to examine the walls, ceiling, and floor.
Meanwhile, the two surviving knights waited near her.
With so few guards left, they seemed reluctant to stray too far.
As a result, the search was sluggish.
Even after a long time, they couldn't find a way forward.
Even my excellent powers of observation yielded no significant results.
"Take a short break. Everyone, return."
"Yes, my lady."
Deciding this wasn't working, Sophia called the mercenaries back.
The exploration team leaned against the walls one by one to rest.
After making their way through countless traps, their fatigue was bound to be immense.
A few mercenaries fell into a deep sleep the moment their heads touched the wall.
'It's too dark, they can't seem to find anything. Isn't there any stronger light magic?'
I grumbled inwardly and glanced at Sophia.
A 5th-tier Solar Beam would probably light up the entire dungeon.
It was a problem that the exploration team's only magic user could only use wisps.
But it wasn't as if I, participating as a Treasure Hunter, could just cast a spell.
"Can we talk for a moment?"
As I was examining the dungeon walls again with the help of a light artifact, I suddenly heard a voice.
It was Lady Sophia, who had approached me.
I had actually already sensed her presence.
I just pretended not to notice because I didn't know why she was coming over.
"Please, speak."
I replied with a deliberately composed expression.
Sophia hesitated slightly and glanced back at the mercenaries.
"...I heard that the right path was also filled with traps, just like ours. Even down to pulling the lever."
"Is that so?"
"It seems I can no longer deny the value of a Treasure Hunter. From now on, I will listen carefully to your opinions, so please feel free to offer them."
"Oh? Is that so?"
It felt like the marquess's daughter was forcing herself to praise me for the greater good.
'Aha! So she was hesitating because of her pride? Heh heh. Is that it?'
Now that I had the exploration leader's acknowledgment, my reward at the end of this would surely be greater.
"I don't know what to say, now that you've finally acknowledged me."
"In that spirit, let me ask you one thing. How should we overcome this obstacle?"
"Ahem! Well, about that."
Full of confidence, I placed a hand on the dungeon wall and prepared to offer my expert opinion.
Even though I wasn't a real Treasure Hunter, of course.
Rrr-click!
But just then, a brick suddenly sank inward, causing me to stumble sideways.
Slam!
"Whoa-?"
"Kyaa!"
In that instant, the wall spun around, swallowing us both whole.
I was thrown to the ground but quickly scrambled to my feet and pounded on the wall.
"Hey, wait! There are people in here! Help!"
But the wall, having rotated a half-turn, showed no sign of moving.
As I pounded on the heavy stone, however, I suddenly felt a chilling presence.
'Ugh?'
A strange feeling made me turn around, and my eyes fell on Sophia, bathed in the green light of a wisp.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"