The Healer’s Strange Pet
“Be careful under your feet. It’s dark.”
Just as Er said, the dungeon was dark and stuffy.
As if the sunlight never reached the underground cavern, the thick scent of earth spread through the space. The place was far larger than anyone would expect.
A wide cavern where one or two people could walk around comfortably. It looked exactly like a dungeon should.
“It’s not as bad as I thought. There are places where you have to crouch and squeeze through… but how do you deal with those?”
“If we find a mage, it’ll be much easier. We’ll just burn them out or bring the whole thing down.”
That was what the mage had said, right before his words hung in the air.
The dagger in his hand, moving two steps ahead, suddenly stretched toward the back.
“Hold it. There are traces.”
“Traces?”
“Goblin footprints. At least seven.”
The man with the dagger studied the prints on the cavern floor. The lantern in his hand cast a weak light over them.
“Mithril. Not great, but it’ll last for a while.”
“Enough for a little cave like this.”
He kept shifting the lantern while speaking, then continued.
“Only goblin prints. No kobolds.”
“We should keep that possibility in mind.”
“Hah, what kind of nonsense. Anyone can see this is just a toddler’s playground.”
Ahin glanced at the man with a smirk, then curled his lip.
“Good. No embarrassing photos of you needed.”
“I wanted to see you rolling on the floor while dodging goblins.”
“…What?”
“Lucky nothing happened. Lucky.”
Ahin’s grin widened as he spoke. The man’s reaction was simple.
“Hah… You kids are the problem. You don’t even check the situation and you always start whining like this.”
With a metallic click, the dagger was drawn from its sheath and flashed under the lantern light.
“You only come to your senses when you see blood.”
“Kael, stop!”
“Whoa, Er, I have no idea what you’re thinking—”
Thwack.
A ghostly sound as the dagger dug into the cavern wall and sliced straight down. The blade was yanked free, leaving a small hole, and a chunk of dirt fell to the floor. Only then did the man sheathe it and speak.
“You think I was going to swing this?”
“You—”
“You never know when you’ll lose your way, so leaving traces is common sense, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Oh, that was a joke. A joke.”
The man lifted the lantern again, turned his back, and said,
“Those who don’t know what they’re doing always need to see blood to snap out of it.”
He lowered his waist to follow the footprints left on the cavern floor. Ahin watched his back for a moment, then sighed and tugged at his bag strap.
Er, standing between them, kept her expression tight. After a small sigh, she lowered the tip of her sword to the ground.
The party fell into heavy silence, the tension thick enough to choke on.
The silence was broken by Kael’s shout.
“Front! Three goblins!”
Following his gaze, the deepest part of the cavern came into view. Lantern light revealed three small creatures with child-sized bodies staring back with cloudy eyes.
In their hands they held crude stone clubs.
The goblins, with their mottled green skin, advanced toward the party.
“Ahin, back! I’ll handle the front line! Kael, support me!”
Er grabbed her shield, leaped forward, and shouted.
“Kiiiieeek!”
A monstrous scream rang out as stone club met shield. The clash sent a sharp, high-pitched cry echoing through the cavern.
“Pierce!”
A faint light brushed the tip of her sword. In that instant, Ahin realized it was mana—the proof of life itself—and took a sharp breath.
“Kiiiieeek!”
The goblin charging toward them let out one final scream, then fell, its neck pierced, dark blood spraying as it twitched weakly. Another goblin piled onto its back, its chest split open in a similar way. In a single clean sweep, Er sheathed her sword and wiped the blood from the blade with practiced ease.
Her form was flawless. The strike that overlapped two goblin bodies had shown off her exceptional swordsmanship.
The remaining two goblins staggered back, clearly shaken.
But it didn’t last long.
“Kiiiieeek!”
Just like their kin, they charged again, and the same fate awaited them.
“Haa…”
Ahin wiped blood from his own dagger while speaking softly.
“…You can use mana?”
“Yes. A little.”
“But why are you only Bronze rank…?”
Anyone who could wield even a drop of mana would be treated as a treasure. Knights or nobles would immediately grant formal knighthood. Joining the guild as a mana user meant Silver rank at the very least. Yet Er was only Bronze—lower than the vast majority of adventurers who were at least Iron rank. It was an under-ranking for her skill level.
“Lack of experience,” she said simply.
“Experience?”
“That’s why the guild keeps sending me small jobs…”
Er was strong. And she was beautiful. The guild master would no doubt drool at the thought of raising her. But Ahin muttered,
“I’d rather you weren’t around at all.”
“Then just reject the request.”
“Guild jobs pay well.”
Kael answered, already walking toward the goblin corpses with his own dagger drawn.
“And look at these shiny mithrils. We don’t even need to search for them.”
He spoke while collecting blood-stained stone fragments from the corpses.
“Lucky. Baby goblins always drop mithril.”
“Perfect start.”
Mithril was mana condensed inside monsters. Small pieces from weak creatures like goblins could still be valuable. All three goblins carried it, which was strangely lucky.
“Keep them. If you try to steal, I’ll kill you.”
Kael tossed the mithril at Ahin. Ahin had been hired only for carrying, so it wasn’t his share. Still, he quietly pocketed it.
“Kael, look at this.”
“What?”
“The goblins have wounds on their backs.”
Er studied the corpses and spoke.
In addition to the clean cuts she had made, there were other slashes—rakes and scratches.
“At least three more goblins than the seven footprints,” she said carefully.
They had to investigate.
Kael nodded without protest. They continued deeper into the dungeon.
As they went further in, more strange things appeared—stone clubs scattered about, blood trails, and goblin footprints everywhere.
“Pure goblin nest. Where are the kobolds?”
“The guild still says—”
“Fresh-faced kids like us who can’t even tell goblins from kobolds are the ones who wrote this report! The guild does everything like crap—got it?”
Kael spat the curse, then suddenly remembered something and spoke again.
“Hey, Scrap Iron!”
“…Me?”
“Yeah. You’re perfect timing.”
Ahin, looking extremely wary, was teased by the corner of Kael’s mouth.
“Even killing goblins would make you an adventurer.”
“Kael! Stop! What are you saying?!”
“It’d be a shame to end like this. At least teach the newbie how to fight!”
One goblin alone, even an adult man could kill, but packs made hunting together the only safe way. They were weak monsters.
“Drop the bag and come on! One or two goblins are nothing!”
“Rule violation! A low-rank adventurer hired as a porter can’t fight!”
“Who cares about the rules? If you’re going to complain, why even bring the porter?”
It was supposed to be a secret job. Er had brought in a rookie who didn’t even match the rank. The contradiction in her actions was too obvious to ignore.
“Come here now!”
Ahin obeyed, setting his bag down. Er started to speak, but Ahin met her eyes for a split second and shook his head, warning her off.
“Why are you doing this?”
“What do you mean? It’s teamwork. Here, hold this dagger. How’s it feel? A bit heavy?”
Kael handed over the dagger with a grin and teased.
“It’s fine.”
“Ah, it’s tougher than it looks!”
Er’s expression shifted as she watched the two of them act like friends.
Kael lectured on swordsmanship, how to strike vital points, any empty words.
“Just talking won’t help. Let’s see real combat!”
“Real combat…”
Ahin gripped the dagger and looked it over, then spoke.
“Why me?”
“What?”
“You’re clearly enjoying my panic. Not happening. I’d rather focus on my role.”
Ahin sheathed the dagger and tossed it back. Kael forced a laugh.
“Hah, hahaha… No way. I’m only being honest—”
“Honest? Who’d believe that?”
“…”
Kael wiped his hair and sighed.
“Hah… That’s why kids are like this. Adults offer kindness and you don’t even say ‘thank you’… Hey, be honest. Are you scared? Scared of a single goblin…?”
“Ah, yeah. I’m terrified. So scared I can’t move.”
Ahin shrugged casually. Er, watching, had to question what she was seeing.
He didn’t need to act like this. If he truly wanted to hide his Philanthropist curse, he could have been gentler.
“Hah! Er! What kind of rookie did you bring as a porter?!”
“Y-yes?”
“You didn’t even plan to fight, right? Look at the kid—zero weapons!”
As Kael said, Ahin carried no weapons.
“This guy wanted to cheat us from the start!”
“No! Ahin—”
“So what now? You gonna break the party?”
“Ahin?”
Kael’s exaggerated gestures and voice showed he hadn’t caught the tension. Er had.
“That’s right. I tried to strip away your little cheat schemes. Now what? Abandon me? Kill me? You can’t do either. Two Bronze adventurers returning with an Iron rank loss would get the guild’s worst treatment.”
“You—!”
Any observer would see Kael as a vicious dog gobbling up a newbie. Guild penalties would follow. Bronze adventurers hated that most of all.
“This— this bastard…!”
“Stop talking nonsense and explore the dungeon. Keep it up and I might actually die.”
“Hah! Er! You with this—”
“Party leader, you’re naive too, huh. Playing innocent to get work done… you end up punished. Got it?”
At that moment, Ahin accepted the villain role.
Er knew about his curse. By hiding that a party member carried the curse, she had protected him. When they returned to the guild, Ahin’s adventurer status would be revoked. Kael’s open insult left no room for argument. The guild would trust Kael’s word over a rookie with no experience.
Original plan be damned. He didn’t want to drag the only person who had offered a hand into trouble. Better to cut ties now and let Er be the victim instead.
“Ahin, why—”
“Hah, Er. Do your eyes work? How could you—”
“You keep saying that creepy stuff. I might just off myself.”
“You crazy bastard… Fine. Good. Let’s—”
Kael lunged forward right after insulting Ahin.
“Krrk, krkrk…”
“What’s that sound?”
“Animal?”
It sounded like something boiling over. Kael swung the lantern into the darkness.
What the light revealed was the head of a dog.
But the body beneath was not a dog’s.
Two legs covered in fur, hunched waist, free hands gripping a club-like weapon.
A kobold.
Kael shouted upon recognizing it.
“Kobold!”
“You said there were no traces!”
“I did!”
But that wasn’t the important part now.
Kobolds were weak like goblins, yet still classified as monsters. One mistake and it would be dangerous.
“Wait… That thing looks off?”
“What are you talking about, Scrap Iron?”
“Kobolds don’t charge without warning. Why—”
As Ahin said, the kobold had stopped moving the moment it spotted them. It stood there with a strangely vacant expression, as if it had lost all reason to move.
“It does look strange. Be careful—”
“Careful? It’s just a kobold tantrum! One strike—”
And then the moment.
Thud.
The kobold collapsed. Everyone froze.
Only then did they see it.
The kobold’s back was shredded to pieces. The wounds looked freshly made, skin torn, blood bubbling out. The sharp stench of blood made Ahin swallow dryly.
Drdrdr, drdrdr.
A dragging sound. Their shallow breathing filled the cavern until a new noise echoed—something being dragged.
Instinct screamed to turn and run. The darkness beyond the fallen kobold was silent.
Breathing stopped. Hearts pounded louder than ever.
Was it a trick of the light?
No.
The slit pupils that appeared in the darkness were enough to make anyone feel primal terror.
The lantern light reflected off scales that shimmered unnaturally, trapping them in place.
“L-lizardman…”
A giant with reptilian skin.
A rusted old window in its hand, the lizard stared at them.