Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Gold Solis Party
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"Don't move another step from there."
Lionel turning Yohan into a bloody pulp right then and there didn't happen.
The moment Lionel, furious enough to make his hair stand on end, took a step toward Yohan, Gold Solis and Horsdruk's swords were already at his throat—having arrived without anyone noticing when.
The other carrier, the mage, also had yellow magical power rippling at the head of his staff pointed at Lionel.
And me?
'Yohan! You crazy bastard!'
Clap clap!
I was clapping with a mana herb between my teeth, enjoying the chaos.
"W-Wait a second."
Thanks to the cold sword edge at his throat and the staff aimed his way, Lionel quickly reined in his rage, his face paling as he spoke.
"Why are you only doing this to me? That little shit's the one who messed up!"
"Lionel."
"?"
"Do I look like a fool who'd fall for such lame excuses?"
Gold Solis growled, and Lionel flinched with a cowed expression.
"You've been the one clashing with other guests nonstop from the start. Didn't you ever think something like this would happen?"
At those words, Lionel averted his eyes.
Gold Solis and Horsdruk sheathed their swords from his throat.
"As the leader of this expedition, I can no longer tolerate your tyranny. Leave via the return stone."
"No way!"
Lionel shouted hysterically at Gold Solis's words.
"I can't do that! I paid good money! You can't treat me like this after I shelled out 100 gold!!"
"That money compensates everyone here for putting up with your rudeness."
"That's bullshit!"
"Bullshit? Do you know where you are? You wouldn't claim ignorance of how troublemakers in the dungeon are dealt with, would you?"
At Gold Solis's words, everyone who'd experienced the mid-layers or higher nodded in agreement.
The dungeon was a death trap for humanity.
The harsh environment, mounting stress, fraying sanity, and internal party conflicts.
Tragedies in the dungeon came in many forms, but party infighting leading to total annihilation wasn't rare.
Whether prepared or not, everyone entered staking their lives.
Veterans couldn't view lightly anything that threatened their survival.
"...Tch."
It was the most obvious truth, but as if the surrounding reactions were unexpected, Lionel twisted his face.
But soon, he glared at Yohan—the root of it all—with eyes full of hatred.
Yohan just met that gaze with a 'What?' look.
'Hmmm.'
I narrowed my eyes, watching.
'If we let this slide, that guy's 100% gonna cause trouble later.'
A textbook thug, right?
Expecting a guy like that to let it go was like hoping pigs might fly.
If things ended like this, Yohan would get dragged into hassle back in the city.
'Well, normally it wouldn't concern me.'
I smiled, watching Yohan stare indifferently at Lionel.
'Consider yourself lucky.'
Me helping another crawler out of pure goodwill, without taking anything in return? Not common.
'Plus, settle my own tab while I'm at it.'
"Mind if I step in?"
I approached Gold Solis and Lionel amid their argument (one-sided groveling, really) and spoke up.
As their eyes turned to me, I gave a friendly smile.
"Sure, Lionel's at fault too, but Yohan's reaction was a bit over the top, no? Wouldn't it be unfair to pin it all on Lionel?"
Confusion flashed in their eyes: 'What's this guy's deal?'
But Lionel, thinking I was on his side regardless, jumped in hastily.
"Exactly! It's unfair to dump it all on me!"
"Right?"
As I kept backing him, he nodded eagerly despite his puzzled look.
Gold Solis scowled, clicking his tongue as he eyed me.
'What're you thinking?'
'Leave it to me.'
After our wordless exchange, I turned to the crowd.
"Better to clear the air here in the dungeon than leave grudges, right? Dungeon matters end in the dungeon. So... how about a proper man-to-man fight? Loser apologizes and we call it even."
I threw playful jabs at the air, chirping 'Yup★Yup☆' in a cute voice.
Come on, Gold Solis. Lighten up—why the face like you saw something gross?
"Anyway, it's a mid-layer vet versus a total newbie on his first dungeon run, so we'll need some handicap."
"I don't mind!"
Lionel immediately shouted his agreement, making the surrounding crawlers frown.
Even with handicaps, one was on the verge of lower layers, the other a fresh chick— no balance there.
Beyond imbalance, if Lionel played dirty, it could traumatize Yohan badly.
Especially Delinger and Adel, who'd been buddying up with Yohan's group lately, glared at me for escalating.
"Hey."
Gold Solis roughly pulled me aside and growled in my ear.
"What're you really up to?"
"I've got a plan, trust me."
"...If anything goes wrong, don't think it'll blow over easy."
A clear warning.
From his perspective, more issues mid-expedition could tank his business rep.
I shrugged and turned to Yohan.
"What do you think, Yohan?"
"I'm fine with it."
In this tense spot, he nodded fearlessly.
Short sighs erupted at the pup's reckless bravado.
'This guy's definitely the type who won't live long.'
These types usually end up one way or another.
Die fast from overreaching, or survive to become a big shot.
Mostly the former, though.
"Shall we set some rules, then?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Crazy bastard."
"He's lost it!"
"Ow."
Lucas staring at Yohan in disbelief, and Ellis smacking his back as hard as she could.
"Seriously! Why'd you do that?!"
"He messed with my food."
"...Okay, that was wrong, but...!"
Frustration showed on their faces at Yohan's half-logical excuse.
"...Arjen. Mind telling me what you were thinking starting this mess?"
And Delinger glaring at me reproachfully.
"This is insane. Instead of protecting the young sprout from that brute, you're egging it on? If you don't explain yourself, I'll stop this madness. And back in the city, I'll tell everyone what happened."
Whether he'd grown close to them quick, or this halfling thief was a rare decent sort despite his class, he warned me straight.
At Delinger's words, the bickering trio turned to me.
Ellis looked anxious as she spoke.
"Arjen... you have some plan, right?"
"Of course. Though Yohan has to hold up his end too."
The duel rules were simple.
No weapons, bare hands only.
And to bridge the power gap, Yohan could receive my buffs.
"...That 'plan' of yours intrigues me. How's a kid who was a civilian yesterday gonna beat a crawler who's reached layer 28?"
At Delinger's question, I held out a hand to Lucas.
"Lucas, mind lending a hand?"
"...Pardon?"
"Come on."
Lucas panicked at my sudden request.
But as I kept my hand out, he hesitantly clasped it.
Lucas's face flushed slightly holding my hand, and Ellis's eyes sharpened like axes watching.
"Give it a squeeze?"
"Pardon?"
"As hard as you can."
Lucas tilted his head at first but gripped hard at my urging.
'Hmm. About layer 8, I'd say?'
Impressively weak, really.
Seeing me unmoved sparked his male pride; face beet red, he squeezed harder, but I let go and did the same with Yohan.
'Definitely good synergy.'
Beyond base physique and training diffs, Yohan's grip was way stronger.
Roughly 1.5 times?
Decent layer adaptation at the same floor, but big strength gap.
Good dungeon resonance meant efficient mana and blessing uptake.
"Delinger, Adel—your turn too?"
"...What is this...?"
Delinger grumbled but extended his hand, assuming I had a point.
'Layers 18 to 20 at this level. Not frontline, so adjust for that.'
I mentally compared their physiques to Lionel's.
'No need for sanctuary-level here.'
Calculations done, I looked at Yohan.
"Yohan."
"Yes."
"You want to win, right?"
"Yes."
"I'll make you win."
I gripped the hilt of Keseff Heyrel slung on my back.
The staff I'd never used with Kaiden's party.
"But it'll hurt like hell for a while. You okay with that?"
Despite my warning, Yohan nodded calmly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...What the hell is this?"
Gold Solis muttered at the circle of people around the campsite.
Lionel strode confidently to the center, rolling his shoulders.
Yohan followed behind.
"Truth is, weaklings make me wanna puke... but I don't enjoy tormenting them hands-on."
Lionel smirked arrogantly at Yohan.
"Kneel, smash your head on the ground, beg forgiveness now, and I might show mercy."
"......"
"Hah, got pride, huh? Or some backup? Think Rusted Silver'll save you?"
Lionel snickered at Yohan.
"Does that mean without backup, you can't call out wrongdoing?"
"...What?"
"I asked if you can't do what needs doing without something to rely on."
"...Hah."
Faint anger brewed in Lionel's eyes.
"Ugh. Orphan or something? Why show you got no upbringing? You think you can mouth off here? Read the room?"
"Doesn't seem like I need to apologize."
"Sigh... Fuck, why's a nobody like you so cocky?"
"Enough talk."
Gold Solis cut in before it dragged on.
He glanced reluctantly at me, sighed at the pair, and spoke.
"Bare hands only. Lionel yields five moves to Yohan. Fight ends when one surrenders or I deem it impossible to continue. Objections?"
"None."
"None."
"Take positions."
They slowly spread apart.
"This won't end pretty for you."
"......"
As they traded pre-fight glares, Gold Solis approached me.
"...Remember my warning?"
Despite his intimidation, I waved playfully with a smile.
Gold Solis scowled irritably.
"Begin."
He declared the start.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Everyone wondered what ace I had up my sleeve.
My answer?
'None, really?'
"Begin."
Flash—!
With Gold Solis's signal, dirt exploded as a blur shot forward.
"Wha—Guh—!"
Covering 10 meters in one breath, Yohan's head slammed into Lionel's gut, shocking him.
"Guhack—!"
Lionel's waist bent from the unexpected abdominal blow.
Snap—!
Yohan's arms grabbed Lionel's calves and yanked.
"Kuh—!"
Lionel toppled instantly, Yohan mounting him.
"You little—!"
Regaining wits fast, Lionel thrust arms to shove Yohan off.
A fresh layer 8 crawler versus a battle-hardened layer 28 vet's muscle.
No blessing could close that raw gap.
Sharp-eyed watchers sighed briefly at the exchange.
Lucky ambush for a mount chance, but power would end it quick.
'Over.'
But that arm thrust merely to push.
Sloppy, exposed.
I smiled.
"Huh?"
Confusion from Lionel.
Even off-balance, his full shove barely budged Yohan.
In that stunned instant, Yohan wrapped the extended arm.
Realizing too late, Lionel tried to stop him.
"W-Wai—!"
But Yohan ignored and acted.
Crack-crunch—!
A gruesome snap echoed through camp.
"Gaaaaah—!"
Lionel's scream followed.