Chapter 71: Dungeon(4)
Chapter 71: Dungeon(4)
It was just as Kerry’s party was stepping out of the inn to prepare for the dungeon.
A crowd of people had gathered, murmuring amongst themselves. What’s this? Is there some kind of spectacle?
The people’s gazes were fixed on Kerry’s group.
“Is it true? Are they the hero party?”
“Then is that man the hero? I heard the hero was a woman.”
“I heard the hero was a muscular macho man. But he… doesn’t really look the part…”
An old man stepped forward from the murmuring crowd of villagers.
“Excuse me. I am the old man who serves as the chief of this village. If it’s not too much trouble… may I ask you a question?”
“…You may.”
“Is it true that you are the hero party, chosen by the Goddess Elena?”
Kerry nodded.
Of course, Lina wasn’t here yet, but that didn’t seem like it would be a problem.
The moment Kerry nodded, a cheer erupted from the crowd.
“I knew it! I had a feeling he was the hero.”
“Wow. He’s so tall and handsome.”
“And look at the ladies. They’re gorgeous. It’s no joke.”
Our party is certainly good-looking. But why have so many people gathered?
The village chief calmed the clamoring villagers and continued speaking.
His speech was so full of flowery language and delivered with such gravity that it was hard to listen to.
To summarize his words, it went something like this:
“The village is suffering from continuous attacks by spider monsters. As the village chief, I implore you. Please, get rid of the spider monsters. If you help us, we will offer you a reward, humble though it may be.”
A reward, huh? Kerry sidled up to the chief and whispered, asking how much.
Everyone was looking at them with sparkling eyes, calling them heroes. It wouldn’t do to tarnish Lina’s image by showing his materialistic side.
The chief cautiously held up three fingers.
Three gold? No, that can’t be it. Three gold is far too little for the hero party to save a village. It must be thirty gold.
Thirty gold was a sum of money Kerry couldn’t have even dreamed of back in his F-rank adventurer days.
Just then, someone came up to the village chief’s side and whispered to him.
Their voice was too low for Kerry’s party to hear.
“Chief. About the matter with the village maidens… shouldn’t we tell the heroes?”
“Watch your mouth. You are not to speak a word of that matter.”
Kerry saw the two of them whispering but didn’t pay it much mind.
Besides, the chief wasn’t a trustworthy guy anyway.
[Status - Demonkin]
Why is this town filled with nothing but shady characters? Then again, with a chief like that, it’s no wonder the village is in this state.
The chief and the villagers might not know it, but the only way to get rid of the nearby spider monsters was to clear the secret dungeon.
They were planning to tackle the dungeon with Lina anyway. And they were offering 30 gold for free. I’ll take it.
Kerry accepted the request.
There was no way the chief could have set a trap in a dungeon that you couldn’t leave until it was cleared.
The villagers lamented their plight, saying they were too scared to live here, and poured their hearts out to the hero party.
Kerry did his best to placate the public before leaving the street.
“Thirty gold divided by five is six gold each. What a windfall.”
“Weren’t we going to deal with the dungeon anyway? We didn’t have to accept the money.”
“What are you talking about, Victoria? You have to earn when you can.”
Victoria, having grown up a noble, didn’t seem to know the value of money. I’ll give her points for thinking of the common folk, though.
Natasha was just smiling, happy about the whole thing.
“Well then, let’s go shopping.”
Kerry slowly began the groundwork for conquering the dungeon.
Kerry prepared his strategy based on the dungeon information he had seen with the Goddess’s Eye.
Thanks to the frequent appearance of spider monsters in the area, related items were plentiful, so the preparations weren’t too difficult.
Now, all they needed was Lina.
Kerry was eager to get to the dungeon.
He couldn’t imagine failing to clear a dungeon with a team like this. If they cleared it, they might even get their hands on some Hero-grade equipment.
If a Hero-grade staff drops… Lina might even take care of me.
Just as Kerry was lost in his rosy vision of the future, Victoria gestured from the side, beckoning him over.
“Kerry. Come here for a moment.”
“?”
He followed Victoria to a gloomy corner of the inn.
Her face was slightly flushed, as if she were excited. What’s with that suggestive look?
“Look at this.”
What Victoria showed him was a piece of black lingerie.
And it was the kind of underwear that was embarrassing to even call underwear, with gaping holes over the breasts and crotch.
This lewd woman!
“Huhu. What do you think?”
“Wait. You said you were stepping out for a bit, and you went to buy that?”
“Yes. I was passing by a lingerie shop when this caught my eye. I simply couldn’t pass it up.”
“…”
Why couldn’t you just pass it up? Everyone else manages just fine.
“Shall we not wear this and have another go? We must enjoy ourselves while Lina is away.”
“Natasha is awake now. And Lina should be back any minute.”
“It will be fine if it’s just for a little while.”
“It will not be fine!”
“It will be fine!”
“If we do it now, we’ll definitely get caught. I’ve got a strong feeling about it.”
This lustful woman knows no restraint!
It was then.
He could hear a faint murmur from the main hall. Turning his head toward the inn’s entrance, he saw Lina.
Lina was finally here.
“See? I told you it was dangerous.”
“Tch. Lina always has the worst timing.”
Kerry shook his head once. Then he waved at Lina, who was standing at the entrance.
Drawing the attention of everyone in the room, Lina approached Kerry.
“We weren’t separated for long, but it feels like it’s been a while, Lina.”
“Yes, I feel the same. I suppose we’ve spent a lot of time together lately.”
Kerry explained to Lina what had happened in her absence—the poor state of the villagers, and the request from the village chief.
He saved the most important part for last.
“Luckily, I was able to find the secret dungeon you mentioned ahead of time.”
“!”
“So I’ve made some preparations for the dungeon crawl on my own. Just sitting around waiting for you seemed like a waste of time.”
“…”
“If you don’t mind, would you take a look?”
These were the preliminary preparations Kerry had worked hard on.
But he couldn’t be sure how they would look to Lina, the regressor.
Lina opened the bag Kerry offered and checked the contents one by one.
Antidotes. A compass. A light orb that glowed when infused with mana. She could see various items necessary for clearing a dungeon.
He had meticulously packed only what was needed.
But among them was an item Lina didn’t recognize.
“What is this liquid?”
“That’s a solution that can be used to dissolve the spider monsters’ webs. It’s harmless to humans, of course. The skilled adventurers around here are already using it.”
“…”
Lina hadn’t known about a solution like this.
She knew other ways to deal with the troublesome webs, but having this liquid would be much better.
Lina stared intently at Kerry.
He’s competent.
She’d known it before, but now she was feeling it firsthand. Just how competent Kerry was.
Not only had he discovered the hidden dungeon, but his preparations for it were perfect.
Seeing the area around the dungeon swarming with spider monsters, Kerry must have deduced it was a spider dungeon. Based on that, he must have researched the monsters, figured out countermeasures, and prepared them in advance…
He’d done all this in less than half a day.
Most importantly, Kerry shouldn’t have known the dungeon’s contents, yet his preparations were as if he saw right through it.
The web-dissolving solution was another example. Even Lina hadn’t known about it.
It was likely information shared only among the veteran adventurers in this area.
“It looks fine. These preparations should be more than enough. I didn’t expect you to be so perfectly prepared in such a short time. Thanks to you, I think we’ll be able to save a lot of time.”
“I’m glad I did it right.”
“Actually, I also have a gift I prepared for you, Kerry.”
This is unexpected. Don’t tell me she disappeared all this time just to prepare a gift for me. No, that can’t be it, right?
“Here it is.”
Lina placed a worn-out bracelet on the table.
It was a shabby, old bracelet.
It looked so plain it almost seemed rude to offer it as a gift.
Victoria seemed to think so too, as she scowled and said, “Lina, this is too shabby for a gift. Are you short on money these days? If so, I could lend you some…”
“Haha. It’s not like that, Victoria.”
Kerry remained silent.
With the information currently displayed in his eyes, he didn’t dare open his mouth, for fear of what nonsense might come out.
[Name – Pilgrim’s Worn Bracelet]
[Grade – Relic]
[Summary – A bracelet made in ancient times. Its appearance is worn and unimpressive, but its function remains intact. Infusing mana into the bracelet in a set sequence will generate a shield. The shield’s strength increases indefinitely according to the amount of mana infused.]
“…”
It was the first time he’d ever seen a Relic-grade item.
The Relic grade wasn’t classified among Rare, Hero, Legendary, or Mythic. It was a completely separate tier.
He’d heard that some Relics had functions that could rival even Mythic-grade items.
Though this bracelet didn’t seem to be quite on that level.
Still, this is useful. It’s especially perfect for someone like me, who only has a ton of mana thanks to that elixir.
It felt like a custom-made gift that Lina had gone out of her way to get for him. A tsunami of emotion washed over him.
“It may look like just an old bracelet, but it’s an item that’s perfectly suited for you, Kerry. I was able to acquire it by chance at a place I had to visit. The method of use is a bit unusual, but I’ll teach you that later.”
There was no way she could have acquired an item like this “by chance.”
Anyone can see she went out of her way to get this. You and your inability to be honest, you regressor!
“The bracelet’s function is to generate a shield when you infuse it with mana. Since you know how to handle mana and have an abundance of it from the elixir, it should be quite useful… Kerry? Are you all right?”
“Kerry, what is it? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No. I was just… overcome with emotion for a moment.”
“That’s so like you, Kerry.”
It was a Relic-grade item, something he’d never even seen since coming to this world. And to think he would be the one to own it.
Lina was a really good person. I made the right choice, pledging my loyalty to the regressor!
“If I’d known you’d be this happy, I would have given it to you sooner… I’m sorry.”
“Not at all, Lina. Phew. I’m finally calming down a little. I don’t know if I can just accept such a fine item…”
“You are more than worthy of it, Kerry. Besides, I’ll feel more at ease if you accept it.”
Kerry carefully slipped the worn bracelet onto his wrist. I’ll have to test this out later when no one’s around.
“And I’m sorry to seem like I’m rushing, but I’d like to enter the dungeon sometime today.”
“I’m fine with that.”
“I am fine with it as well.”
“We should let Natasha know, she’s upstairs with her grandmother.”
And so, the party’s trip to the dungeon was decided.
A forest, not too far from the village.
Seen off by the villagers, Lina’s party entered the woods. After running through the forest for a few hours, familiar spider monsters came into view.
Some spider monsters had the upper torso of a woman, and some didn’t. The ones that appeared this time were ordinary spider monsters.
In other words, they had no breasts.
“What a shame.”
“What is a shame, Kerry?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Surely you’re not disappointed because you can’t see any spider monsters with their breasts dangling out, are you?”
“…”
At Victoria’s words, a flustered Lina spoke up.
“D-Dangling breasts?”
“Ah, you must not have seen them, Lina. We’ve encountered them once. Some of those spider monsters have the upper body of a woman. And yet, the brazen things shake their tits at any man they see! They’re infuriating.”
“…”
“Once we’re inside the dungeon, we might see hordes of those breast-dangling monsters.”
“!”
Lina’s face turned bright red.
Apparently, she knew about this dungeon, but she hadn’t cleared it herself.
Flustered to the point of blushing, Lina kept glancing at me for some reason.
She looked as flustered as someone who’d gone to see a romance movie with her boyfriend, only for a steamy bed scene to suddenly appear.
But that didn’t last long.
The spider monsters began to charge at us, their poisonous fangs glinting.
“Kieeeek!”
“Don’t you dare charge my husband!”
As always, the reliable Natasha.
For the record, we left the old hag behind.
Her shamanism was useful, but she was old, and a dungeon felt too dangerous for her.
The spiders died helplessly.
Mere mobs were no match for the hero party.
“We’re getting close to the dungeon. To think there are so many spider monsters around here. The dungeon’s corruption seems to have progressed quite a bit.”
If the spider monsters were such a headache, why did the village just leave the dungeon alone? Was it because they couldn’t find it? Could it be that despite such obvious signs, not a single villager noticed?
It was possible, but… remembering the chief’s true identity, he couldn’t shake the suspicion that there was another reason.