Chapter 56

Chapter 56

The date of entry into the dungeon was quickly set again. It was because even if they looked through the dungeon strategy book, they couldn’t find any particular information about getting incapacitated as a whole in a group.

Besides that, there were many clashing opinions regarding the matter of going inside and taking a look rather than trying to find more information on earthquakes that didn’t affect the outside world.

So, after a few days, Andra received a simple checkup, put on her equipment as before, and headed to the magic circle where the crew was gathered. There was also Dustin, who didn’t show up in front of her after what happened between them prior to this.

Andra barely resisted glaring at Dustin. She had no intention of starting anything with him when so many people were watching here.

“Then come back safely this time.”

It was difficult to start since the crew, including Andra, skillfully boarded the glowing magic circle as soon as Cezanne’s words were finished. So, under the escort of the researchers, they entered the dungeon once more.

“Huu…”

When Andra opened her eyes, she felt the humid air and soon realized that she had really entered the dungeon once again.

It was still unpleasant. Though the crew might not remember, Andra took a deep breath as she recalled the hardships she went through in the dungeon. Please don’t happen again this time, she hoped.

As she somewhat got used to the dungeon’s damp/humid air, Andra went straight up to Dustin, strengthened herself and slapped him hard on the cheek. There was no hesitation in her hands.

Slap!

A loud, flesh-ripping sound echoed through the dungeon.

“M-Miss Avellin!”

Andra’s suddenness of it startled the crew. They looked at Andra and Dustin alternately, and a feeling of stillness quickly settled between them. Andra stared at Dustin as she turned her head. She hit him with so much force that her hands instantly grew numb.

Suddenly Dustin turned his head back. With all her might, Andra slapped his other cheek as if she had been waiting for that moment. Slap! Again, a sharp sound echoed through the dungeon. The crew members widened their eyes in surprise again.

On the other hand, Dustin said nothing after being slapped twice by Andra. He quietly turned his head back.

“You know why I am doing this, don’t you?”

After a while, Andra asked quietly in an angry voice.

“…I do.”

Dustin nodded, spitting out to the ground.

“You do?”

The day after she was pushed by Dustin one-sidedly, Andra was unable to get out of bed because of the pain as if she had been beaten all over her body. Her body, which would have usually recovered quickly with the magic, did not heal even after a day.

Fortunately, she recovered well after one more day, but that wasn’t the issue here for Andra.

Dustin’s attitude toward Andra that day was the problem.

Had it not been for the magic that was on the two of them, there was nothing strange about Dustin’s being locked up in a prison rather than a dungeon by now. To be honest, Andra wanted to kill Dustin.

But she couldn’t. Like it or not, they were on the same boat.

Andra gritted her teeth tightly. Her hand clenched into a fist trembled.

“Then do you think that it’s nothing?”

Dustin bit his mouth at Andra’s question. He seemed to avoid answering. Andra gritted her teeth. As expected, would it hurt his pride so much to say he’s sorry?

Andra was furious at Dustin’s attitude, but she decided to stop. Because dungeon attack was the first priority. Even now, slapping Dustin on the cheek was disrespectful to the other crew members. But she couldn’t bear the contempt she was feeling towards Dustin.

“That’s why the lowly northern bastards…”

“…….”

“I’ll talk to you again when we leave the dungeon.”

Trying to pull herself together, Andra walked past Dustin and reached the crew. She then bowed to them and politely apologized for her sudden action. Hone and a few of the crew members seemed to want to ask what had happened between Andra and Dustin, but they saw Andra’s expression sinking coldly and didn’t try to ask.

They can’t help but chalk it up to the age-old feud between Avellin and Airak again.

As time passed, the desolate atmosphere gradually disappeared due to Hone’s efforts, and the crew began to form a line and move forward. However, the members were passive in their exploration, fearing that the group fainting would happen like the last time. It was due to the leader, Zidaya’s will that there is nothing wrong with being careful.

“Nothing happened.”

How far did they walk? The crew, who had been walking non-stop, stopped for a moment. Among them, Eureas, the doctor and forager, spoke as he looked around the open fields.

As he said, they went past the places they had marked, but nothing appeared. They couldn’t even see the ancient script that Hone had seen before. Mercenary Bomenta broke through the soil with his feet, voicing his displeasure.

“The dungeon is strange today. I couldn’t see any traces of this dungeon already having been attacked before.”

Andra, who was right behind him, was terrified. Didn’t she and Dustin get help from the dragon in the dungeon raid? As Bomenta said, the dungeon had already been attacked before, but it wasn’t possible that there were no traces left in the dungeon at all.

That was when. The mage Fyun pointed to one side. There was a burrow emitting a dim light where he was pointing.

“Look over there, everyone.”

“Um, is it a passage?”

“It could be, or it could just be a hidden room.”

As they approached the cave that looked like a passage, the dim light grew brighter. The crew turned to each other at the light streaming across the cave. They were asking for opinions on whether to enter this place or not. Of course, it wasn’t long before most of the crew agreed to enter the passage.

“Don’t touch anything, just follow the steps I’ve walked over.”

Hone, the guide, naturally took the lead first. She said that there might be a trap, so the crew should not touch anything and follow in her steps. The crew then lined up and carefully stepped into the passage.

The light grew towards the end. Fortunately, the crew reached the end of the passage without any traps and found a large room through the wide open door.

As they entered the room, they saw a small altar with a large stone statue. On the altar, a box is placed.

“Where are we…?”

Eureas asked, narrowing his eyebrows in the fairly simple room. Fyun was the one who answered that question.

“From the looks of the altar, it seems like a forgotten temple.”

“A temple? Doesn’t it look too simple to be a temple?”

“If you think of it as a dungeon made in ancient times, it does make sense, Mister Eureas. Right, Miss Avellin?”

Hone answered Eureas’s doubts and asked for Andra’s consent. Of course, Andra couldn’t fully agree with Hone’s opinion because she had seen the splendid ancient temple before, but she had no choice but to nod her head. The splendid temple she had seen before was something only she and Dustin had witnessed. In fact, it was also a temple that could only be seen in the early ancient times.

“If you call it an ancient dungeon, it is possible. And the splendor of the temple is not important, but the rituals it contains.”

“Then whose temple is this?”

Bomenta asked, pointing to the statue. Andra looked at the stone statue wearing the bones of an animal’s face. Nera, the god of greed and conflict. However, the stone statue did not seem to represent Nera. It was because she felt as if it was Nera’s agent. It felt like a gatekeeper protecting the temple.

Perhaps Dustin felt the same way, and their eyes met by chance. Of course, Andra immediately turned her head away, as if she had seen something she should not see.

Andra kindly explained to Bomenta.

“I can’t say for sure, but looking at the symbols, it is highly probable that it is the god of greed and conflict among the nine ancient gods.”

“Wow, that’s a lot different from what I thought.”

Hone muttered next to her. Andra hastily added words.

“A stone statue can be an agent. Like a gatekeeper…”

“Oh, then this might be the gateway leading to the next step to attack the dungeon. It looks like we went the right way.”

With a bright face, Hone announced this to the crew. The crew seemed to agree with that opinion. Then, Zidaya pointed to the box on the altar.

“Then why not take a look at what’s inside the box? Shall I go and take a look?”

“No. You have to be careful. If that box is related to this gateway, the dungeon’s trap may be triggered as soon as you touch it. I will go and take a look first.”

Hone put the bag she was carrying on the floor and took something out of it. At first glance, the unusual thing seemed to be the equipment guides were using. Everyone looked at it curiously.

All sorts of strange things came out one after another in the guide’s bag. Andra looked at Hone’s equipment with curious eyes.

“Haha, everyone looks at me like that, so I don’t know what to do. That’s why it’s so much fun to be a guide.”

After making a light joke, Horne grabbed her gear and went straight to the altar. Then she looked around the box in her own way, and then she opened the lid. The old looking box opened very easily. Hone looked inside. Shortly thereafter, Hone waved her hand to the crew, indicating that they could come over.

The crew, including Andra, approached Hone and looked inside the box. Inside the box was something like a blue egg. Andra looked at it carefully with a puzzled face. According to what she read in the book, that…

“Is this a dungeon core?”

“Yes. It is usually found in dungeons inhabited by monsters. It means the completion of the attack.”

“But why…”

“As Bomenta said earlier, someone may have already attacked the dungeon, or it may just be what this dungeon is like. Mystery-type dungeons are literally riddles. There is no set method to attack it.”

Hone responded by pulling out a handkerchief and picking up the blue egg. As the blue egg came out of the box, it shone even more brilliantly. She soon slipped it into a barrel and locked it tight.

“But this dungeon is unique. So is this expedition. This is the first time we explored the area, but then found this place right away. Was being incapacitated as a group one of the conditions for successfully attacking the dungeon?”

After getting the blue egg, Eureas mumbled as he shoved a candy into his mouth, feeling relieved.

“Well, Eureas is right. After that, you can’t see the ancient characters anymore, don’t you? Miss Avellin, did you find any ancient texts while coming all the way here?”