Ossan, enters the abandoned mine *DISCLAIMER: I DON"T REALLY KNOW j.a.pANESE, THESE ARE MACHINE TRANSLATIONS THAT I TRY TO PUT INTO PROPER ENGLISH. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.*I HAVE A DISCORD SERVER IN CASE YOU WANT TO BE NOTIFIED WHEN I"M ABOUT TO POST A NEW UPDATE.
Contrary to what one might expect, the inside of the mine wasn"t completely dark, as it contained some sort of light-emitting ore.
A pale blue hue illuminates the surroundings all the way to the depths of a tunnel.
The clanking sound of steel hitting a hard surface, the indication that there"s someone fighting, reverberates from time to time. What will decide whether the monster or the mercenary wins is, ultimately, strength and luck.
So they don"t end up attacking each other by mistake in such a narrow pa.s.sway, Zeros" group is divided into vanguard and rearguard, but somehow he ended up in the former position despite being a magician.
Although that"s not particularly problematic for him, he was placed there after Jane grumbled: "I can"t help being anxious that this old man will try to s.e.xually hara.s.s me from behind.". In the end, the formation consisted of Zeros and Jane as the vanguards, plus Rena and Iris as the rearguards.
Rena"s role is to protect Iris, and she"s certainly the right person for the job considering she"s equipped with a tough-looking shield.
And, it would"ve been perfect if only she didn"t have a slovenly grin plastered on her face, seemingly immersed in her questionable thoughts…
"… Is she okay?"
"Ah, yeah. That"s the usual, don"t worry about it, mister."
"I-Is she really always like that? She"s bound to get reported if people see her like that though……"
"Well, she"s been reported several times, actually. Honestly, I think I should really start thinking about whether is good to keep a.s.sociating with her."
(It"s just her dangerous delusions, right? To be honest, I"m kind of afraid to ask, but…)
The mood wasn"t particularly comfortable. She had a strange ecstatic smile while murmuring weird things.
Although he could understand their content if he listened more closely, he stopped himself from doing so. His intuition told him that it might make him an accomplice to a crime.
There are things in this world that are better left unknown.
"She has to return to sanity in case a monster really appears. Shouldn"t you guys be concerned about that?"
"Well, she"ll probably return on her own, besides, I don"t think she"ll listen even if we ask her, just look at her…"
"I wish monsters would come out already."
In other words, Zeros will have to keep going forward while hearing the occasional coquettish panting from behind him, though in all honesty, he would"ve liked to be spared from it.
Then, Zeros suddenly stops. His enemy search skill picked up a reaction, and when he focused his awareness towards the end of the tunnel, he could indeed feel a presence heading towards them.
Incidentally, these types of skills are intuitive and don"t appear as images in one"s mind.
While a.s.serting that feeling in his mind, he sighs and proceeds to look around.
"What"s wrong, mister?"
"I sensed monsters" presences just now. I"m not entirely sure about their number, but they"re … Kobolds, maybe?"
"Rena, get back to your senses! Monster attack incoming!"
"Hah!? Where"s my cute little boy!? I had him tied to my bed with a rope… huh?"
(What kind of crime were you committing in your delusions? You totally sound like a convicted criminal…)
She seemed to have been thinking about a variety of dangerous things in her head. There are things Zeros would"ve liked to ask, but he felt like he shouldn"t listen for some reason. He doesn"t want to end up in prison with her.
He takes his mind off such silly topics and focuses his attention forward, where there"s a shadow approaching.
Its dog-like head, accompanied by a developed sense of smell, is certainly the distinctive feature of Kobolds.
Perhaps it has noticed them as well, as it"s preparing for battle.
Apparently, it was only a scout, given that there were multiple groups also approaching behind it.
"… Should we attack first?"
"Are there more of those guys coming from behind it? If not, then I"ll rush in…"
"Who has the lowest level here?"
"Hmm? I think both Rensan and Jane are around level 50."
"Iris, it"s a crime to tell someone about other people"s levels, you know?"
Reincarnators generally have a higher level than the natives of this world. It appears that it was necessary to work towards raising their battle potential.
"I"ll stop their movements. You two, go ahead and defeat them to raise your levels."
"And the magic stones? Is it alright to take them? It"s common sense for mercenaries to get the magic stones of the prey they defeat."
"Sure, I don"t mind. I have enough to last a lifetime."
Zeros, who obtained a large number of magic stones during the time he was surviving in Far-flung forest, is not particularly looking to expand his collection. If he sells them all at once, he might single-handedly collapse the magic stone"s market and crash the kingdom"s economy as a whole.
"Alright, let"s do this. So, Jane will rush at the enemy, and I will follow after, are you okay with that?"
"Roger. You won"t complain later if I take them all for myself, right?"
"I won"t. Rather than that, please don"t get me involved."
"Let"s go!"
The attack formation has been decided. They start moving at once.
"〖Area Paralyze〗"
(*T.N: changed it a bit, and I think the author made a small typo;「『ゾーン・パライズ』 and it should be パラライズ.)
A ball of light is formed in Zeros" left hand, who then proceeds to shoot it towards the depths of the tunnel. Soon after, "Gyah!", a monster"s scream echoes in the tunnel.
At the same time, the two break into a run, and soon the Kobolds" death throes could be heard.
Zeros and Iris immediately headed towards their companions, not expecting, however, the pitiful state of the monsters" corpses.
Rena and Jane were cutting their chests open and taking out their magic stones.
"As always, it"s a disgusting thing to see."
"Is that so? I don"t really mind anymore."
Walking alongside Zeros, who"s smoking a cigarette, Iris holds her head.
"How could you adapt so easily, mister? I don"t get it."
"I"ve dismantled wild boars while hunting before. There"s not much of a difference, right?"
"Mister… so you were really brave."
"Did you know that a bear"s paws have a gelatin-like consistency? They are very tasty, and they also have collagen, so it"s definitely good for your skin."
"You make it sound as if they are like pig"s trotters. Disgusting. I really don"t wanna eat something like that."
In fact, Zeros had eaten pig"s trotters and pig heads before.
(Hmm, I would actually love to eat some again, offal too. And with a cold beer, it would be the best…… Oh, and pig ears* too…
[*T.N: ミミガー, okinawan dish of pig ears. I dare you to google that.]
… In this world, the alcohol they have is mostly wine and fruity ale. Surely they must have beer somewhere, right? I"d really like to at least have a cold beer one of these days.)
The old man really missed Izakaya bars*.
(*T.N: informal bars that serve alcohol and snacks. Typical after-work drinking places
Ale, which is the precursor of the modern-era beer, is not chilled, so it"s not a particularly delicious summertime drink. He, who knew how the beer in his former world tasted like, wasn"t satisfied by the warm ale produced in this world.
Today seemed to be one of those days where he really missed a cold beer.
"Hmm, should I try making a refrigerator? The problem is that they only sell ale in small barrels. I"d like to be able to buy it already bottled."
"A refrigerator, you say… Mister, are you planning to introduce modern technology?"
"No way, I"m going to make it for myself. I would like to be spared from having to deal with some sly, greedy merchant."
"Unfair! Why are you only making it for yourself?"
"Naturally, I"m not planning to interfere much with this world."
Those words come out, despite being responsible for a major revolution in the field of magic.
He wants to live a normal life, though there might be a gap between what"s "normal" for him and for other people. But, humans are creatures that choose to live their lives according to their own values, and at the same time, don"t find worth in the things they"re not interested in.
What is perfectly natural for some people might be considered insane for others.
In fact, he doesn"t consider himself to be a farmer, still believing to be unemployed. One might say, that at that point, his sense of value was already quite strange.
"Well then, I"ll continue to search for enemies… though it doesn"t seem like there are more monsters close by. The Kobolds from earlier were scouts, and I have the feeling that there will be more the deeper we go."
"I"m just taking it slow right now, okay?… Because of mister and everyone else, I haven"t had my turn, that"s all."
"It"s the level difference, isn"t it? When your skills" levels are also high, it feels like you"re just messing around, right? Compared to that forest"s monsters, this is a child"s play. I can one-punch all these small fries."
"Uuu… that"s too much of a cheat, it"s so unfair, mister."
He fully understood that fact. That"s why he wanted to live in peace.
—
While he was talking to Iris, the girls finished collecting all the magic stones. However, they didn"t look all too happy.
"The magic stones are too small. These won"t give enough money for a new sword, we"re gonna need a lot more."
"They"re not very high quality, but well, at least we can cover part of our living expenses."
"What about the Kobolds" bodies? Shall I burn them?"
"We can just leave them as they are. By the time we"re back they"ll probably be gone, you know?"
"……eh?…"
He felt something odd in Jane"s words.
"Please wait a moment, what do you mean by that…?"
"Because other monsters will dispose of them, isn"t it?"
"That"s impossible. Are Worms wandering around these parts?"
"Supposedly, Worms appear in the lower layers, while, there are only Kobolds near the entrance, and Giant Ants after them."
"So, monsters won"t take care of the corpses? What a lousy ecosystem."
Monsters are living beings. And, as such, they will fight to secure food. The strong will naturally have priority in doing so, by means of attacking and eating the weak, and in turn, the weak fight amongst themselves for whatever leftover food remains.
However, such a food chain hasn"t been established in these tunnels.
If Jane"s and Rena"s story is to be believed, that would mean monsters settle down in each layer, just fighting the mercenaries that come inside the mine.
However, if there isn"t a food chain in place, all monsters will eventually die. Obviously, such a ridiculous thing is impossible.
"I have a question, does the type of monster you encounter changes according to the layer you"re in?"
"Hmm…? Ah! Yeah, that"s right. Giant Ants from the third level, and Big Spiders and Mount Scorpions starting from the fifth level."
"All of them are monsters that don"t predate on each other… Impossible!"
"Ah! I get it! This mine is a dungeon, right?"
"That is probably the case. For the dungeon, monsters and mercenaries are nothing but fodder. No matter whichever survives, it will get food in the end."
Dungeon. It"s a field-type monster that is sometimes born when the concentration of mana of a place exceeds a certain level.
The core is generated by condensing the mana from the ground, transforming the surrounding land into its own body, and then proceeding to summon monsters, which in turn, attracts their natural enemy: humans; thus, securing its food.
Ores, precious metals, jewelry, and so on, are produced to attract them and make them fight against the monsters.
In addition, the dungeon absorbs the bodies and souls of both humans and monsters after they die (though for some reason only the magic stones remain), and converts them into its own mana, allowing it to expand its scale and summon more monsters.
Though it doesn"t have an ego of its own, dungeons instinctively summon monsters and attract people just to maintain themselves. In other words, the mine is practically the belly of a huge monster.
Incidentally, the weapons and armor of the people that die inside it, are not absorbed, and by taking in the mana of the surroundings over a long period of time, they might get transformed into powerful equipment.
Such equipment is usually worn by the dungeon"s monsters, and since they receive a mana supply from it, they don"t become hungry and are able to breed indefinitely.
Even if too many monsters are produced, the balance is regained by releasing them outside the dungeon. This is a phenomenon known as "stampede", which towns and villages near dungeons are always on alert for.
The dungeon"s core is always shifting, and it"s hard to pinpoint its location.
To humans, it"s a place where they can make huge profits from, and at the same time, is an incredibly deadly danger zone.
The Mercenary Guild is always monitoring the situation around them, and other trade guilds help manage the surrounding areas, sometimes building gigantic towns nearby them.
Although it brought many business opportunities, it was also a dangerous place with a lot of trouble attached.
Currently, only three dungeons have been found so far, but they are all low-leveled ones with only relatively weak monsters inhabiting them, which has also contributed to the weakening of the knights and magicians over time.
They can"t put to test their abilities and raise their levels in those places, leaving only the dense Far-flung forest as a place to train.
There are records of people from the old era who have managed to reach the depths of these dungeons, but in the present time, there aren"t any people capable of doing that, which is also due to their average level becoming lower compared to the past.
(*T.N: Take this paragraph with a grain of salt, it was very confusing, and I"m not sure whether the narrator is talking about the dungeons in general, this mine dungeon in particular, or far-flung forest. I just went with dungeons in general.)
If the mine were indeed a dungeon, Ahhan village would have the potential to develop into a city. At the same time, a lot more reckless people will die, though that"s not something the guilds care about, as they claim it"s the mercenaries" own responsibility.
"I"ve read before that dungeons are not hard to find. They"re attractive places if we only look at the amount of money you can make, but at the same time, there are a lot of troublesome things to find there."
"Like what for example?"
"It is unclear right now, but the monsters at the lowest layer might be increasing their numbers indiscriminately given that this dungeon hasn"t been conquered yet. Worst case scenario, those monsters might ascend from there and go outside the mine."
"Eh? Is this mine really a dungeon? Is there gonna be a stampede?"
"It"s still just a possibility. We may need to go to the bottom layer to ascertain the truth."
Suddenly, the air froze.
They don"t understand what Zeros is saying… Well, they understand but don"t want to believe it.
"… Naturally, I"ll go alone. Haah… what a pain, honestly."
"Oi, old man, are you sane!? There are only high-leveled monsters in the bottom layers, you know!?"
"How can you casually say such a thing!?"
"Ehh? I initially only came here to mine metal ores, but we may have found an undiscovered dungeon, you know? Most likely, we wouldn"t be able to get a good amount of ores unless we get closer to the bottom layer, and in the meantime, we"ll get swarmed by monsters…… which is almost exactly like the time I was lost in the forest. Monster parties* are really depressing…"
(*T.N: モンスター パーティー; I only found pictures of Halloween parties when I googled that, so I"m not exactly sure what it means, it"s probably some kind of pun.)
"So, you"re just feeling like exterminating monsters while mining!? You are insane! What are you gonna do if it"s an actual dungeon!?"
"I"ll run away if I"m in danger. I value my life, after all."
""People who value their lives don"t do such dangerous things!!""
How terrible.
"So, are you planning to go to the bottom layer to procure ores, right? What will you do if it"s packed with monsters…?"
"Naturally, annihilate them all."
He transformed into the "Zeros of that time" again. His goal is to have a peaceful life, and if an existence who threatens it appears, he was prepared to become an 【Annihilator】 once again. And, although he didn"t fancy such a chuunibyou-like nickname, he was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the motivation to eliminate said obstacles.
(*T.N: )
The time surviving in Far-flung forest may have imprinted a deep hostility against monsters in him.
Whether it"s a forest or a dungeon, he"ll go berserk anyways.
"Mister, are you sure it"ll be alright? Wouldn"t it be bad if the mine collapses?"
"I"ll be careful. Though, it will depend on whatever I find down there."
"Zeros-san, monsters can"t communicate with each other, right?"
"Iris, give it up."
"Eh? I just wanna see mister, the strongest human, beating down some monsters, though?"
If Zeros has the same specs as his game avatar, his strength could be considered to be peerless in this world.
With magic that boasted overwhelming attack power, in addition to extraordinary combat abilities, they were so vicious that they came to be known as 【Annihilators】. And one of them, Zeros, cannot possibly be called weak by any stretch of the imagination.
They were an unusual party of only five players that defeated raid-cla.s.s monsters, traumatized PKers by repeatedly attacking them, and made incredibly powerful equipment.
They were popular to the extent of being feared by the veteran players, and at the same time, new players yearned to be like them.
They were awfully kind to beginners and completely merciless towards their opponents. In fact, Iris had once received their help when she first joined the game, though, unfortunately, the other party wasn"t Zeros.
He goes ahead with a light gait while Rena and Jane stood in a daze. There was absolutely no sense of crisis.
"C"mon, let"s start mining then! It"s useless to worry about mister, after all."
"Iris, is Zeros-san that strong?"
"He"s really strong, you know? That"s why, I don"t know why he wants to stay low so much. With his strength, it"ll be easy to become super famous and stuff."
"And what would be so wrong with being famous? As a mercenary, I naturally want to raise my fame by showing off my ability. I"ll be able to take on more important requests that way."
"Someone once said: "there are only two paths the strong can follow: to be revered or to be feared." And I think mister is the latter."
The two exchange glances. The man in question, who"s smoking a cigarette while leisurely walking ahead of them, doesn"t seem like such a person.
However, even if Iris says that there"s more to him than meets the eye, it"s impossible for them to just nod and accept it without questions. After all, the two have no clue about the 【Annihilators】.
At the end of the tunnel was a large s.p.a.ce. Using a 【Magic Note】, he summoned a familiar to search for enemies, and sure enough, above, on a rocky surface, there was another mining gallery where there were Kobolds equipped with bows loitering around. Although their numbers were small, being showered with arrows from above may end up in instant death depending on the situation.
But because the gallery was quite s.p.a.cious as it was, despite the Kobolds being armed with knives, Jane prepared her longsword while handing her shortsword to Iris.
"Their numbers are small because mercenaries come here frequently."
"But archers are such a nuisance though. Being aimed at is really annoying."
"Should I cast 〖Air Protection〗 on you? It can deflect arrows for a fixed period of time."
"Luckily, there are only a few archers, support magic is unnecessary. I"ll go clean up for a bit."
"""Eh?"""
Something like preparing an ambush was irrelevant for Zeros. He heads there with graceful steps, and the moment the Kobolds detect his presence, they howl to alert their comrades.
As if responding to that, his body starts to levitate in the air. It"s the flight magic 〖Wings of the Dark Bird〗(*T.N:闇鳥の翼 )
The dog-headed monsters who were preparing their bows were confused for a moment. Aiming at that gap, he threw a dagger towards the head of a Kobold who died instantly. Retracting the wire attached to the handle of the dagger, the weapon quickly returns to his hand, only for him to then hurl it towards another Kobold at a high speed in a single beat.
It was already too late for the Kobold who knocked an arrow and fired towards Zeros in a hurry, as it was skillfully deflected by his dagger.
After being confused for a moment, the Kobold tried to knock another arrow, however, Zeros didn"t miss that opening and beheaded the monster with a single swing.
The rest of the Kobolds, who judged that bows wouldn"t work, started running all at once in an effort to force Zeros into close combat. Ultimately, they have higher physical prowess than humans.
It seems like their roles are divided between those who leap high in the air, aiming to directly attack him, and those who approach while running to seal his movements.
Nevertheless, ignoring the attacks from the air, Zeros hurls his dagger into the crowd of running Kobolds.
"Gyoba…"
A Kobold let out a m.u.f.fled voice.
Even after defeating one of them, a seemingly endless number of Kobolds approach him.
"〖Black Lighting〗"
A jet-black thunder is emitted around Zeros. The Kobolds are struck by it and are instantly electrocuted.
"…… You"re a magician, right, old man? What are you doing close combat for?"
"So strong. Rather than a magician, isn"t he more of an a.s.sa.s.sin?"
"What an awfully flashy a.s.sa.s.sin. They"re supposed to conceal themselves, not rampage around… What kind of ninja are you?"
"It looks like he"s making them explode with his fists, although he"s not using a lot of magic."
"His hand-to-hand combat skills are amazing. I don"t get it, is he really a magician?"
"What really is being a magician then? Looking at mister really makes me feel the huge gap between us."
They could only look in amazement at the figure of Zeros, trampling down and ma.s.sacring the Kobolds.
"If you keep daydreaming, he"s gonna steal all of our prey, you know? C"mon you two, let"s go."
"Ye～ess."
"I think it"d be faster if Zeros-san gets rid of them…"
With the appearance of new enemies besides Zeros, the remaining Kobolds became even more restless.
"It might not be as good as mister"s, but take this! 〖Area Paralyze〗!!"
"Let"s go, Rena!"
"Yeah yeah, I don"t really want to, but it can"t be helped."
Iris shoots a wide-range paralyzing attack, while Rena and Jane a.s.sume a fighting stance before charging forward.
Jane swings her longsword, mowing down the nearby Kobolds, and on the other hand, Rena proceeds to finish off the ones unaffected by the magic Iris shot by stabbing them with her sword.
Like that, it didn"t take long for the Kobolds in the gallery to be wiped out.
—
While observing the surroundings filled with monsters" corpses, Zeros witnesses the irrefutable proof that the mine was actually a dungeon: The Kobolds" remains gradually turned into dust, only leaving behind the magic stones.
"T-This is… the dungeon eating the Kobolds?"
"Apparently. It"s the first time I"ve seen it. It doesn"t seem like a very appetizing meal, though. I wonder why only the magic stones remain."
"If you think about it, we didn"t have to dismantle the Kobolds, right?"
"What was our struggle for, then? Kobolds have no usable materials other than their magic stones, and apparently there wasn"t any need to dismantle them."
"Why didn"t anyone notice that this place was a dungeon? How strange."
The reason lied behind that area being a mine. Naturally, mines are places to extract metal ores from, but when there are countless monsters inhabiting them, said task becomes impossible.
Even if they managed to get rid of the monsters at first, their numbers will only continue to increase, eventually making it impossible to completely exterminate them. So, in the end, only people who need metal for a particular reason visit the mine.
Mercenaries, for example, come looking for ores to make weapons and armor, but once they do, there"s no reason to come back again, at least for a while. Additionally, blacksmiths would place requests for mercenaries to bring them ores, but generally, no one comes to that place every day.
Therefore, the small bits of information they individually gather remain split up and diluted, and eventually, forgotten.
In other words, no one was actually familiar with the abandoned mine. As a result, even when the corpses of the defeated monsters were left alone, it was simply thought that other monsters predated on them…… until now, however.
"Is the mining site still ahead?"
"Ah…… but, I feel like the structure has changed a lot."
"Is that so? Then, that means the dungeon is growing."
"I remember this being a narrow tunnel, but for some reason, it"s now a big open area…"
If what Jane said is to be believed, it would mean the dungeon had changed its structure as a result of growing stronger. Furthermore, the mine will continue being a dungeon unless the dungeon core is found and destroyed.
Nonetheless, Zeros has no intention of capturing the dungeon. To him, in order to prevent monsters from causing a stampede, they should just thin out their numbers.
If he chose to capture the dungeon for his own satisfaction, it might cause trouble to other people, especially to Ahhan village.
When he visited it, his impression was that it had few villagers though it wasn"t quite desolated. It seemed to him that there were more ill-bred mercenaries walking around the village than actual villagers.
The cause is the incessant brawls and disturbances caused by them, and the knights stationed in the village are not a.s.sertive in cracking down on them. They can only survive thanks to the existence of the abandoned mine, but once the dungeon is captured, they may not be able to live there anymore.
Dungeons attract great disasters, but also great benefits.
"I think we"re done collecting the magic stones."
"Then, let"s go ahead. We can probably get enough metal for Jane"s sword."
"Yeah, I"m here for my sword. I don"t care about dungeons or anything like that."
The group advances further.
Iris and Rena wanted the magic stones to cover their living expenses, Jane wanted ores for a new sword, and Zeros was looking for materials to make a dryer and a refrigerator. Each of them hurries ahead for the sake of their own goals.
Incidentally, Zeros had a lot more things he was planning to make.
Christine de Elwell. She is the third daughter of Viscount Elwell and originally was supposed to attend the Istor Magic Academy. However, she was currently training to become a knight.
When there was no heir to the house of the Viscount of Elwell, the head adopted a boy from a branch family to become his son-in-law. That was her father, Edward, the vice-captain of the Royal Guard. Known as a brave but gentle man.
However, one day he received a poisoned arrow during a bandit subjugation operation and didn"t make it home. And, given that there was no male successor, she was to take over the position of head of the family over her two older sisters who had already been married to other houses.
For some reason, the probability that a girl was born in this family was abnormally high.
The reason why she didn"t end up going to the Academy was that she couldn"t use magic, the same as Celestina. But, unlike her, she didn"t have an outstanding academic ability. In fact, quite the opposite.
As an aside, Celestina was able to enter the Academy due to the maneuvers of the magicians who wanted the backing of the Duke. There were a lot of faction members within the lecturers, and it wasn"t possible to oppose the house that leads their own faction.
But, the Elwell house was originally a family of knights, and she wasn"t particularly attached to the idea of being a magician.
One of the reasons she went to this abandoned mine was, first, to train, and secondly, for a sword.
She grew up listening to the stories of her father, Edward, who worked as a mercenary when he was younger. Extracting metal ores from the mine to make his own sword, and earning a living with his own two hands.
Wanting to follow her father"s steps, she thought about making her own sword (as expected, working as a mercenary was impossible).
She came to the abandoned mine after cutting her long hair and cross-dressing as a boy.
And, currently, she"s mining. Squeezing the handle of the pickaxe with her thin fingers, she takes on that laborious task.
…… But, with her fatigued body, she wasn"t able to progress much further.
"…… Tch. Mining is really hard. I was naive."
"Well, it"s manual labor after all. It"s quite the exhausting work."
"… I"m sorry for making you guys go with me."
"We don"t mind. Christine-sama carries the Elwell family on her shoulders, it"s natural for us to protect you."
Around her, four knights dressed up as mercenaries were mining alongside her. They were all knighted by her father, Edward, and were orphans or born in the slums.
They are indebted to her father and have pledged allegiance to the Elwell house.
"It was bad to leave Christine-sama alone back then."
"Ahh…… How could we allow the acts of such ruffians to go without punishment."
"I swear I"ll beat them up next time I see them!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
They were returning back to her side after gathering intelligence the moment the magician"s sword was thrust at the neck of one of the mercenaries who were quarreling with her.
"That was incredible, though. I didn"t even notice the moment he unsheathed his sword."
"What a terrific ability. He might be even stronger than Edward-sama."
"But he was a magician, right? Isn"t that strange?"
"I guess he wasn"t a magician from this country."
They were terrified of the suspicious-looking magician.
His ability to instantly unsheath his sword, and repairing a sword with an unknown magic without any equipment. It was clear that neither his swordsmanship nor his magic were average.
"It should be fine with this much."
"All we have to do now is get back to the village and then head back to the territory. I"m looking forward to seeing what kind of sword will it be."
They have managed to accomplish what they came in here for, and so, everyone was preparing to leave the abandoned mine. However, they had no idea that the mine was in reality, a dungeon……
Dungeons have many traps inside them. And, older dungeons tend to have stronger ones which sometimes trigger without any warning.
This is a system made to hunt monsters when there is little fodder to sustain itself, though humans may also end up being their victims.
"Hyaah!?"
When she was walking along with the knights, Christine was suddenly sucked into the ground.
It was a trap called "pit shooter".
And, the opening was immediately closed again.
""""Christine-samaaaa!!""""
Its distinctive feature is that, even if someone tries to forcefully open it, once it"s closed, it won"t open again for a certain amount of time.
The opening remained stubbornly closed as if to ridiculed the fl.u.s.tered knights.