Book 4: Chapter 6

Book 4: Chapter 6

Dungeon Exploration Beginning

Forest monster would come out at forest, desert monster at desert, and sea monster at sea. But, such problem didnt occur in ship travel.

It would be a different matter if the ship was small but, large ship that was owned by noble apparently wouldnt be attacked unless the monster was really gigantic. Besides even small ship had reverse hooks so that sea monster couldnt climb to the deck or traditional trick like scattering grass that monster disliked while fishing.

In the first place there was nearly a thousand years of history since human settled in this land. During that time, although nations fell and rose, the people living there kept doing their best to live. As the result the range that could be traveled with small ships were becoming environment where monster mostly didnt appear.

That was the situation so speaking of what I was doing, at most I was training by myself to improve my sorcery and having mock battle against Viro to reach level 4 in Short Sword Skill. Other than that I also talked with the people who were the colleague of the knight that I helped at that time.

M-miss adventurer, can I please have a little bit of your time to talk-!?

Alright.

As expected people like knights who chose fighting as their occupation had no prejudice even to adventurer. I too had grown in appearance to look like fourteen years old, almost like someone who was of age, so the knights especially the young ones kept coming to talk to me one after another without even treating me like a child. They asked me about my name or hobby.

I could understand why they asked my name, but what kind of reason they could have asking about my hobby?

My hobby is gathering herb?

As expected from you, a famous adventurer is knowledgeable even about medicine-!

Even I had the good sense to not say something like Im mixing poison in my free time. Certainly I also learned pharmacy from master, but why would hearing that make them red in the face.

About those young knights, the knight who I helped at the highway rushed toward us when he saw them crowding me. He bowed his head apologetically to me and dragged them away.

It really help me with Aria-chan here. The number of people coming to talk me is decreasing.

?

Mira placed her hand on my shoulder from behind and said such thing. When I tilted my head in puzzlement, Mira only smiled cheerfully and walked away toward the ships cafeteria. It seemed she had no intention to explain.

The voyage was so peaceful that the knights could let their mind wander like that, even so I didnt get any chance to talk with Elena even though it had been so long since we last met.

It was only natural if I thought about it. In the first place a mere adventurer needed an official reason even just to be able to look at the princesss face, but even without that reason the royal brother Amor wouldnt allow an adventurer to meet his niece.

Why do I know that? That was because Elenas bodyguard maid who knew me told me about Elenas circumstance when she came to talk to me.

She was someone who was also present when Elena was staying at that lakeshore castle for her rest. She was someone who Elena trusted very much as someone who had been guarding and taking care of her since she was a baby.

She also trusted my opinion immediately when Elena got kidnapped. Thinking back now, I got the feeling that it was also her who left the role of being Elenas personal attendant only to me and arranged an environment where Elena could easily make idle complaint in order to allow Elena to rest her heart.

That bodyguard maidChloe also told me about Seras son, Seo who was a year younger than me.

It seemed that even after I went missing, Seo still believed in my survival and focused into his training desperately. He was Seras son so it didnt really surprise me but it seemed he was really talented. He might be able to become rank 3 too if he kept training for several more years. She also said that he was looking forward to be able to meet with me but.

I pity that child

Why?

I looked puzzled because I didnt understand what she meant. In respond Chloe gently placed her hand on her cheek and sighed deeply.

Chloe was an attendant of the princess and a knight of the black ops at the same time. She had long black hair and slender body and kind appearance but, despite appearance she was apparently a heavy equipment type knight. She looked young, perhaps she was still in her early twenty, but her actual strength and reliability allowed her to participate as Elenas bodyguard this time too together with Sera.

She had combat strength around 400, a rank 3, so Elena should be fine under her protection unless there was something really unexpected. Her equipment was also different from her usual equipment, she was only wearing a loose maid uniform, but it seemed she was wearing extremely fine mythril chain that was weaved into a chain mail. Her defensive strength wasnt inferior even against the knight of royal guards. I heard she also brought a huge shield and a mace with her butif it was me I wouldnt even be able to move properly wearing such equipment.

By the way Sera looked no different than usual but, she prioritized speed like me and wore a maid uniform that was made from monster leather. Underneath it she was wearing a bustier that was created from mythril fiber. How much such thing cost? It seemed it was also Gelf who created that, so perhaps I should also order something similar if I got enough money in hand.

There was no problem with this side. Based from what Chloe told me, it seemed there was also no problem with Elena. In that case the problem might be the crown prince Ervan and the royal brother Amor.

Ervan who was worried for Elena who he saw as a sickly little sister apparently harbored distrust toward the black ops after what Grave did. That was why he refused to have bodyguard from the black ops. This time each participant was bringing two servants at most because the concept of the group was to be a small elite force, but in contrast to Elena who was being protected by elites of the black ops, Ervan was only bringing servants whose combat capacity was only so-so.

Amor whose participation was decided too suddenly was in an even worse condition. He claimed that he could protect himself and only brought luggage carrier with him.

Clara was bringing female knights of Dandall with her so her situation was still better than those two but, Sera and Chloe would have to focus completely on defense in order to protect Amor and Ervan, so it didnt feel like those two could be counted as fighting strength.

In other words, we could think that the one in charge of offense in this dungeon exploration would be solely our Rainbow Sword.

Even if we had the royal guards with us who could be entrusted with the fighting to some degree, considering the situation, it would be better for the royal guards to be entrusted with the defense and us with the offense instead of all of us taking care of offense and defense together.

With that in mind, I wanted to have a spar with Sera too if possible, but Sera too on paper was a maid so she had no free time like that. And having a spar with Feld or Dalton on the ships cramped deck was impossible.

I also want to see Miras spirit magic at least once

Stop, the ship will seriously sink!

Viro suddenly cut in from the side and stopped that.

When I wondered why he suddenly butted into the conversation, it seemed he was looking for a chance to talk with Chloe seeing that she was a pretty maid of the palace.

He mentioned that recently he got a lover didnt he?

Then please excuse me.

But Chloe smiled sweetly and simply turned her back to return to Elenas side. Viros eyes unsteadily followed the swaying of her hip. But then he twitched in surprise when I grabbed his shoulder.

No, you misunderstand okay!? Im devoted to my current girlfriend, honest! But, that kind of neat and clean beauty is still a sight for sore eyes whether youre single or not, thats why Im looking, just for a bit-

Viro started confessing his deed for some reason. I looked at him with a slightly cold gaze while nodding a little.

Then if youre free, please be my sparring partner.

Again!?

Because of that Viro became my sparring partner most of the times.

Unlike Sera or me who used multiple weapons, Viro was an orthodox light warrior. Compared to me who specialized in killing enemy in battle against enemy, I could feel the difference in sharpness and variety from his technique.

Your thinking of putting your weight into a simple attack isnt wrong. But, dont get too focused in only that. We aint warrior like Feld or Dalton. But if you still want an attack like a warrior even then, master just a single technique to the extreme.

Got it.

Viro trained himself not to defeat the enemy, what he trained himself in was the strength to survive in every situation by training his every aspect uniformly.

In a sense, it was a tactic that was partly similar with master and my tactic to survive by ourselves.

Because he was someone like that, he was able to survive even in the battle against Grave. I had to learn that lesson from him no matter what. From it I could feel the way of fighting of an adventurer who excelled in group battle.

.

We arrived at our destination, the island four days later in the middle of night.

Based from what my Night Vision saw, it must be a scenic place if it was noon but, although the undertaking this time was found out by a part of the noble faction, as expected it didnt change that the fact that we were travelling incognito. That was partly because this undertaking was something that the average noble couldnt know about, but partly it was also because we didnt know whether the assassin guild that had washed off its hand from this was genuine in their withdrawal or just pretending.

Although from here we were going to head to the large scale dungeon that was managed by the duke house, it should be dangerous for us to even enter into the city. The citizens would have noticed that some noble was coming by the time this large ship entered the harbor, but just knowing that wouldnt cause any commotion. But, our group that would enter the dungeon plus the guards and servants that Duke Fudale prepared consisted of great number. We would draw attention when we acted.

If rumor was formed from that, the other nobles would also realize where the royalties who werent seen in the capital had gone to.

It looks like we have a plan for that. Theres a mansion for guest near the dungeon. Its for the royalty who visit this island. Its something like the lakeshore castle at Dandall.

Viro had quickly obtained information and taught us the plan from now.

We wouldnt enter the city and headed directly to the guest mansion near the dungeon. We would make our preparation there and then entered the dungeon early in the morning two days later.

When my eyes met Elena who was being surrounded by the royal guards and Amor, she made a small troubled smile.

In the first place I accepted Viros invitation and participated in this bodyguard mission was to prevent any unforeseen accident from befalling Elena but, there was no way Amor would allow me to get near Elena.

Elena had conceded the position of crown prince to her brother without any protest because of her poor health. Amor who was being kept as a freeloader in the royal family must be seeing himself in her. I could sympathize with his position but, someone who had their hands full with their own matter was worrying if they got driven into a corner.

Even the crown prince Ervan who had tried several times to talk to me at the beginning got obstructed many times by Amor. Right now he was occupying himself by looking after the scared looking Clara.

He was neglecting his other fiance Carla, but from the start she was someone who even entered a dungeon by herself. She didnt bring a single attendant with her and only carried a single storage expanded bag. She looked to be the one most at ease among everyone here.

Even the royal guards whose role should be including Carlas protection sensed her dangerous atmosphere and wouldnt get any closer than necessary toward her. That Carla noticed my gaze and lightly waved her hand at me with an innocent smile.

B-by, the royal command, we shall commence the dungeon exploration now-

After a while the dungeon exploration got started by Ervans nervous declaration.

With his words as the signal, the officer knights surrounded the royalties to protect them. Then Ervan pointed a ring that had a crest engraved on it. With that a stone door surfaced on a large rock where there was nothing there before. It slowly began to open with a loud sound and when that door opened fully, Ervan stepped inside with the knights protecting him. The other royalties followed behind him.

Were going too.

We nodded at Daltons words and followed them.

We became the last one entering, but after walking forward for some time we entered an open space. There we switched position with the royalties and took the frontline position.

The area until this point was created by the past royal sorcerers. The color of the walls changed from the way ahead. This area with different color was the interior of the dungeon.

.

Lets go Aria.

Roger.

From here on ahead would be the job for us Rainbow Sword.

The scout Viro and I went ahead to detect trap and other danger. The dungeons trap wasnt something delicate like mechanical mechanism, but simple things like poison gas spurting out when you stepped on the trigger or the ceiling crumbling. But despite their simplicity a lot of them were lethal in large scale. We had to be especially more careful in this situation where we had a lot of amateurs coming along.

Viro checked for trap with his instinct and experience. He used his own body to check for the safety while going ahead.

Aria, give it a try.

Got it.

Viro taught me the method and I checked for trap at that place. But the place that I investigated wasnt the path that we were going to take but the side path. We had to be careful with amateur accompanying us because some of them sometimes could go off on their own somewhere because of a little bit of curiosity or taking care of their physiological need.

I didnt learn only from Viros teaching but also from watching his technique with my own eyes. I also used my eyes to check for any unnatural magic particle. And I was checking the side road not only for trap.

Viro.

Aa, theyre here huh. Theyre heading this way.

The group formation would become longer the more people it had. The longer the formation became, the more time it would take to pass through a spot.

If it was just a single party of several people, they could just pass through without accident, but with our group that took time to pass, it increased the chance of monster appearing from unexpected place.

What do you think it will be?

Viro gave me a testing question. I imagined the enemys form just like he taught me before.

Unknown footsteps. The steps are wide and fast and heavy. The footstep of one side is heavier than the other, so they are holding weapon in one hand. They large humanoid monsternumber estimation is three or four.

Based on those criterias they might be orc or ogre but, they might be ogre I guess. Ogre isnt as heavy as orc but their physical ability is high and their footsteps are faster and heavier. Dalton! Enemy detected, presumed ogre. Four at least!

Viro used the darkness sorcerys Noise to send his voice to Dalton and others at the back. It seemed they could hear it. I could hear the commotion from the knights over there.

This dungeon was apparently a beast demihuman type dungeon, similar like the dungeon near the capital. I had no problem with it because facing humanoid enemy was easier for me but.

Theres no point with us not making sound.

Well, dont say that. even knights dont have that many chance to face high ranked monster, so theyll calm down after seeing us defeating a few. Look, both are coming.

Right after Viro said that, muscular humanoid monsters with height that reached two meters and horn growing from their forehead appeared from the side path.

.

Ogre Difficulty Rank

Magic PowerStamina

Overall Combat StrenghtWith Body Strenghtening

.

Ogre was rank 3 just like orc, but orc was a low rank 3 while ogre could be considered a high rank 3.

Ogre was really strong but not as strong as an orc soldier. Even so its hide was harder than an orc. I pulled out my black dagger instead of a knife and stepped ahead, but a large hand grabbed my shoulder.

Feld?

Its our turn.

Feld grinned and rushed forward with his magic steel great sword. Behind him Dalton whose body was wrapped in mithril full plate armor went forward with every step of his creating tremors.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

The ogres also rushed out with only two when they saw that only two humans came rushing at them.

There was difference in the fundamental status between ogre and mankind like dwarf and human, so the action of the ogres was understandable. But

HAAH!

Feld suddenly rushed so fast he looked blurry. The ogre raised up its club to swing it down on Feld. But Felds great sword bisected the ogre along with its club vertically.

*DODON-* The ogre that was split into two scattered blood while falling on the ground loudly. Amazing. When watching the fight from far, it was as though Feld was the ogre here.

Aa, I see.

Right? Both are like ogre right?

After having such carefree exchange, Dalton arrived at the battle just slightly later than Feld.

DOORYAAAAA!

Dalton sprang forward and bounced back the crude club that the ogre swung with his armor. Then he crushed the ogre like a waxwork with his huge mithril war hammer.

So this was Rainbow Sword, the adventurers who were top class even in the whole country.

The knights who had also caught up from behind cheered in admiration from the view.

Before this they saw the monsters that appeared in dungeon as terrifying monster like in the fairy tale that they heard in their childhood, but now they understood that it was just an opponent they could fight and regained their composure.

Feld and Dalton finished off the remaining ogres in the blink of eye and returned back. The knights let out shouts of joy as though to extol them.