CH 119

Episode 119 – Monster Nest

I had learned a lot about Dungeons from Kirty’s explanation, but, from the way she had explained it, didn’t that mean that an abandoned Dungeon was just a cave? Since Magic Aggregates were responsible for spawning the monsters, special plants and minerals, and treasure chests, I couldn’t help but infer that there would be nothing of that sort in an abandoned Dungeon where the Magic Aggregate had already decayed.

“So… is there anything actually in these abandoned Dungeons? Since we took the time to come all the way here, will we possibly find some kind of treasure chest still here… or something like that?” (Lewin)

“Nope. Basically, a Dungeon becomes an abandoned Dungeon when it gets cleared. As a result, the adventurers who cleared the dungeon would’ve collected everything of value inside; it’d be very rare for any treasure chests to remain.” (Kirty)

If that was the case, then I felt even more confused as to why we came here. There didn’t seem to be even a single benefit for visiting an abandoned Dungeon.

“Then why did we come to this abandoned Dungeon, Kirty-san? I can’t come up with any reason for us to have come all the way out here.” (Lewin)

“Let’s see… if I had to say, there’s no reason for coming, really.” (Kirty)

“Just like you, everyone stops coming to abandoned Dungeons because they see no reason to do so. And consequently, monsters will start using the abandoned Dungeon as a nest to increase their numbers.” (Kirty)

“….I see. In other words, we came to this abandoned Dungeon because a large number of monsters have taken this place as their nest.” (Lewin)

“That’s exactly right. We could just keep walking around the forest and fighting the monsters that we run into, but that would be far less efficient.” (Kirty)

So basically, she brought me here to get even more combat experience…? I was starting to grasp her logic somewhat.

“Then let’s hurry up and go in. The monsters we’ll run into inside are going to be pretty much the same ones we encountered before, like Kobolds, Goblins, and Horn Rabbits. But the space is narrow within the confines of the Dungeon, and it’s going to be even darker in there. So be careful.” (Kirty)

“Yes, I understand. But…. isn’t it a bit rude to go barging into a monster’s nest?” (Lewin)

“However, if we don’t deal with this monster nest, eventually they’ll overflow into Nava Forest. From there, they’ll definitely attack people on the public roads one day. So even though it might seem like we’re playing dirty by attacking them in their nest, if we don’t do this, eventually we’ll be the ones being attacked.” (Kirty)

“….That’s true. I feel a little sorry for the monsters, but I’ll just think of them as becoming part of my experience points.” (Lewin)

After seeing Kirty smile as she nodded in agreement with my words, I led the way into the abandoned Dungeon.

Compared to the dimly lit forest outside, the inside of the dungeon was pretty much pitch black, making it incredibly difficult to even see what was right in front of me. Because of the darkness, I had a hard time taking even one step forward, but soon afterwards I heard Kirty cast some kind of magic from behind me.

“[Light]. How’s this? It should make it a bit easier to see.” (Kirty)

“Eh? Kirty-san, you can also use magic?” (Lewin)

“Only simple magic. More importantly, focus your eyes on the path ahead. The light will attract monsters.” (Kirty)

Just as Kirty warned, I could hear innumerable footsteps coming towards us from deeper within the Dungeon. I could hear the volume and number of footsteps gradually increasing as they approached.

…..This was looking pretty bad, to say the least. There were so many pairs of footsteps that I couldn’t even count them anymore, but what I could easily tell was that there were a massive number of monsters converging upon our location. The sheer numbers made me recoil in shock. Thinking that the exit was still fairly close by, I turned around in an attempt to retreat, but Kirty slowly shook her head with a smile.

Kirty’s smile, which I always thought was so beautiful, only looked terrifying to me at this moment in time… Judging by her expression, it seemed that she wouldn’t let me run away, so I had no choice but to prepare myself for the worst.

Drawing my steel sword, I took a stance as I prepared myself for the oncoming monsters. I stood there, waiting on full alert as the cacophony of footsteps closed in. Suddenly, I could see an incalculable horde of Goblins and Kobolds stepped into the glow of Kirty’s [Light]. There were Horn Rabbits amongst the swarm as well. At a glance, there were around 30 monsters approaching in this wave alone.

I could sense the presence of more monsters deeper in the Dungeon, which made me feel a foreboding sense of crisis right from the very start. However, since the layout was a small cave with a lot of narrow passages, I figured it could be manageable if I used this to my advantage. Even if they were to get behind us, Kirty was still there after all.

“Lewin. For the battle in this abandoned Dungeon, I won’t be participating at all,” Kirty said at that moment, as if she was listening to the thoughts in my head.

“Eh….? What do you mean by that?! If they get behind us—” (Lewin)

“I want to experience the feeling of being protected for once, you see. Come on now, concentrate on the monsters in front of you. They’re all coming at once.” (Kirty)

I couldn’t stop myself from shaking when I heard what Kirty said, but, in this situation, I had no choice but to prevent the monsters from getting past me. This made the difficulty level jump up drastically, but Kirty must have told me to do this because she thought I was capable of doing so.

Taking a deep breath as I recollected myself, I concentrated all of my attention on the monsters coming from the front.