CH 128

“Master, something’s coming. Is this noise… A person?”

And just as Sera says, it’s someone we saw by the entrance before. Actually, it’s eight people. Are they still looking for the wolf?

These guys appear like they’re jumping out of the forest, and look like they’re in tatters.

I recognize one of those faces. I think his name is Fred.

He flinches when he first sees us, but quickly looks relieved and crumbles to the ground.

Some of these people look badly hurt.

Mia has a concerned look on her face. I’m not sure if I should tell her to use Heal.

I didn’t really think about it before, because Leila’s party also had Trisha, but not many people can use Holy Magic. Or to be more precise. Not many people who can use Holy Magic join parties.

“Sora, can I heal?”

I figured you’d ask that. Mia is so nice.

I take Mia aside with me, and tell her what I was just thinking about Holy Magic. She lived in the church, and around people who could use Holy Magic, so she never noticed that it’s actually an uncommon thing. That’s why I have to tell her about the risk that it carries, because it stands out. We’re in another country, but it’s never good to encourage weird rumors.

“If that happens, save me again, Sora…”

I can’t say I won’t.

Normally I’d stop her, but we’re in the dungeon, and there’s always a chance that people might see her using Holy Magic anyway, so there’s really no point in hiding it in this place.

I ask Hikari and Sera to watch out for any threats, and start treating them. We treat what we can with Heal, and use potions to treat wounds when it looks like that will be enough. For some reason, they’re more surprised by the potions than the spell.

“Thanks. You saved us.”

“So, what happened? I can sort of picture it, but…”

“Yes, the hunt failed. It was a disaster.”

“Then why are you here? Shouldn’t you run to another floor?”

Everyone closes their mouths and focuses their eyes on Fred, who meekly nods and starts speaking.

“The thing we thought was a dark wolf is actually a shadow wolf.”

He says to start with. Shadow wolf is on a higher rank, right? A rank like the orclord?

“It was all going smoothly at first, but once that thing joined the fight, our group collapsed. It happened so quickly, and we all ran without thinking of anything else. I was standing before the staircase to the fourth floor before I knew it. There were already a few people there, but everyone was standing still for some reason.”

“Some reason? We couldn’t go any further. The staircase was right there, but it was like there was an invisible wall blocking us.”

“I took out a return stone I was given, and despaired. Normally a return stone should shine, but that shine was completely gone.”

I listen quietly as Fred keeps talking.

He takes out the return stone and shows it. Yes, at first glance, it just looks like a normal stone. I cast Appraisal, and it lists ‘brings people back from a dungeon’ as its effect, but there’s a note saying it’s unusable right now.

“There are rooms in the dungeon where return stones become unusable, boss rooms. That means this field is now a boss room. Why? I don’t know, but to be blunt, this effect will only be lifted if the shadow wolf is defeated, or we all die.”

“Well, I understand. Boss rooms are inaccessible from the outside, right?”

“Yes, so we can’t expect reinforcements either. Something like this has never happened before. At least not that I’ve heard of.”

That voice sounds like it’s coming from a man whose heart is broken, and it’s painted with despair.

“By the way, what happens when the dungeon changes?”

The dungeon periodically resets its interior.

“Ah, boss rooms don’t change…”

Now he sounds like he’s at his wits end.

“Then tell us how to defeat a shadow wolf.”

Sera might know, but I ask the adventurers in front of me.

It doesn’t look like Fred knows a lot about it, but another adventurer does.

According to him, shadow wolves have high resistance to physical attacks and magic. Only a powerful attack can get through their shadow armor. They’re weak against light and holy magic, and there are items like holy water that can give something the holy element. Apparently weapons made of silver work too.

“That girl can use Heal, can’t she? Can she use holy attacks too?”

“She can, but I don’t know if she’s reached the level where she can use them in an actual battle. And they lack power anyway.”

“If she can hit it, that could remove its shadow armor temporarily. Do you think that will work?”

I see, but it might be hard for her to hit it. It would be one thing if we could immobilize or something, but…

“She could hit the shadow wolf if it was still. But can you take it down if it doesn’t have that shadow armor?”

“We can. We should be able to.”

“…What about items? You said holy water works too. Don’t you have any?”

I ask, but no one responds. They don’t even look at me.

Dark wolves are also weak against it, and they didn’t bring any?

They say they don’t have it. At least the ones that are here don’t.

But when I ask if we can’t return to their base and look there, they tell me no one brought any. Are these people all right…

I guess no one has any.

“Sera, have you ever fought a shadow wolf?”

“No, I’ve only heard about it.”

“Do you think you can hit it with magic, Mia?”

“From what I’ve heard, it sounds hard. It sounds like a whole other level of pressure compared to the monsters I’ve fought. Even the magic I fired at the blood snake barely worked.”

“You heard her.”

“But we can’t get out of here unless we defeat it.”

“All I can tell you is good luck.”

“Why are you acting like this is someone else’s business? You’re in this mess too.”

“There might be a secret path somewhere, right? And the guild should notice something’s wrong and take measures.”

I don’t want to go out of my way to put myself at risk. It would be one thing if we didn’t have food, or had some other reason to hurry.

But there’s another problem. If left alone, that shadow wolf might evolve.

I could fight, but my instincts tell me it’s not a good idea to fight in front of other people too much.

“Master, we should at least move away from here for now. It might come here after them.”

Sera’s right. We’re done treating them, so we should move. If I register it with Map and use Presence Detection, it should be easy to spot when it’s close.

“Well then, we’re off. Whatever we’re going to do, we need to prepare.”

“W-wait. You’re just going to leave us?”

“We’re not in the same party or anything, right? What do you expect from rookies like us anyway?”

They forgot that sadly, we’re just beginners.

But they’re following us for some reason. It doesn’t even look like they have any camping equipment, although anyone who looks at us would think the same about us. Are they after our food? Hikari’s going to be furious if they are.