Chapter 94: Suddenly, a Gatekeeper Part 1

「You know, there are a whole lots of things I would like to point out right about now.」

「I will gladly listen to you sometime later, but leave it at that for now.」

Under the gazes that were piercing me right now I tried my best to crack a smile while I simply shrugged my shoulders…… But it was no surprise that Pencilgton and Katsu would like to know just what the hell was going on here.

For the time being I promised them I would explain everything later, so that we wouldn’t waste any more time.

「Y-you assholes, how did you even managed to get in here……!?」

「My dear Sanraku-kun, you really need to learn how to cover your tracks better. You’ve placed some of the materials from crystal scorpion into the shared inventory, right? Those monsters spawn only in one particular place, so it was relatively easy to predict where you were headed from that point on.」

「So you’ve been tailing me ever since that place…… I’ve made a huge blunder……」

「You’ve also fucked up by ignoring our emails. From that point forward we knew that you’d be here so we planned to be two steps ahead of you. But the most deciding factor……」

As Pencilgton continued to point out all of my blunders, Emul was looking between him and me alternatively.

「I- I thought they were your friends Sanraku-san. Is it that bad that they followed us in here……?」

「Ahh…… Emul, you’d be wise to remember…… These guys are our friends for now, but you never know when they might turn into enemies. So stay vigilant.」

「Hahaha, it’s so funny seeing you trying to antagonize us so much.」

「Hahaha, yes, yes, these guys are the important pawns of mine…… I mean friends! I meant to say they are my best friends!」

Basically, each and every one of us was acting as if the other two would instantly turn on us. It’s good for Emul to know about that. These guys are razor-sharp when it comes to cunning tactics. And while operating two razors at the same time, it is quite easy to cut yourself by accident.

「Anyways, there’s a high chance that at the bottom of that hole is the item that we must obtain to satisfy the conditions for repairing the reactor. So let’s stop just standing in here and jump down. You first, Katsu.」

「Right, you heard the man! Jump down, Katsu-kun!」

「Ohh, shucks, why do I feel like I’m going to regret this?」

On the battlefield, one must always be aware of one’s surroundings and be cautious not to attract too much hate onto yourself. You fail to do that and you’re basically minced meat.

「Well, it’s all good, but……」

This is this, and that is that. After some more complaints, Katsu eventually gave up and tied the rope to a piece of rubble, and started to descend down the elevator’s shaft with quick, swift movements.

Sometime later we could hear the rope being pulled strongly as Katsu went back to us after doing some reconnaissance.

「So, what was down there?」

「Just a small robot that looked exactly like Gravekeeper Wezaemon.」

There was a brief silence.

「No, no, that can’t be right! Why would someone as imposing and impossible to kill like him be stuck in here of all places?」

「Okay, alright, maybe it’s not Wezaemon himself, but it certainly is one heck of an imposing robot! And it looks like it guarding some door down there as well.」

So it looks like that instead of another Matryoshka we have some genuine gatekeeper on our hands right now.

We then listen to Katsu as he tells us the layout of the lower floor and the position of the gatekeeper, thinking of the best strategy to beat it.

「By the way, what’s the deal with that black puss in boots over there?」

「I heard that! And I’m a Holy Sword, mind you!」

「Katsu-kun, sometimes I think that this careless tongue of yours will be your end one of these days. You can see just at the first glance that she’s a fierce warrior and a fine artisan.」

When Pencilgton said that Katsu looked really confused for some reason and I couldn’t help but smile as well.

「For now, why don’t we all go down there and try to feel the place up, preferably without waking up that guardian robot, ok?」

It was really annoying that my party was getting bigger and bigger, but after adding two more people to my animal entourage we were all set to go.

「It’s not all that unusual to form parties with NPCs, but for those NPCs to be animals, that’s a first for me.」

「What’s the deal? It’s more unique that way.」

「That being said, try to push me down this hole and you’re in some deep sh*t, buddy.」