CH.20 Returning to the Dungeon

CH.20 Returning to the Dungeon

“Are you really going to bring her along into the forest?” Zayaan of Prime Rib was still trying to convince the baron that bringing Alice was a bad idea. I mean I agree, but I wouldn’t go against a noble on that.

Out of our crew, two knights and the two coach drivers were going to stay here. Their job was to protect the carriages and the horses. Not that the crew we had going into the dungeon was going to be small. Myself, the baron and his daughter, Henry the butler and two knights, as well as all of Prime Rib were coming. That’s ten people walking through an overgrown forest.

(Laura, you better make sure we don’t get lost.) I say to Laura. I don’t doubt her abilities. I’m more so confirming it to myself.

(Master please rest assured that I will take perfect care of you.) Laura reassured me.

(Yeah, I know you will. It’s myself that I’m worried about. Well, more like I’m worried that I can’t keep this party safe.) I just am not sure I can protect everyone if something bad happens. The strongest monster in my collection is Slot Machine, but it might be too big for the forest. I might have to rely on something like Hunter Spider or Flash Assailant in an emergency. But I don’t know if Hunter Spider is too large and Flash Assailant has a negative effect of only staying summoned for 15 minutes instead of the usual 2 hours. Well at least it won’t lose attack for every card I have. It would quickly become useless.

“Brian, is something wrong?” It was Alex who came up to me and asked that.

“Not really. I’m just a little worried about meeting any monsters in the forest. I was just thinking what monster to summon if that happens.” I answer honestly.

“Wouldn’t that spear imp be fine? If it’s strong enough to give that kind of deadly blow to a horned bison, it should be fine in fighting whatever we find in the forest.” Alex made a good point. Sadly that is not how my skill works. And a 500/500 monster really isn’t that strong. I’m pretty sure the only reason why it managed to kill that bison is because it got in a surprise attack.

“I can’t actually summon that Spear cretin again. You saw how those cards vanished after I let the Frenzied panda and Spear cretin go. I do have others, but I just want a good balance of power, and a size that can move in that forest. I can’t just summon something as large as even that panda was. I have to rely on smaller monsters, but they just don’t always have enough strength.” I explained.

“I see. But I don’t think you need to worry. These woods are known for only having goblins in them. And it is our job to keep you safe.” Alex is better at this talking thing than I expected. I guess he really could be the leader of their team if Zay wasn’t an overachiever.

“Thanks.” I say to Alex. “That does reassure me that everything will go fine.”

“I don’t think you should say something like that.” Lucia, who was standing next to Alex, took part in the conversation. “That is called a red flag.”

“It might be, but I do have an idea of what to do if something bad happens. I’ll just have to summon a big monster that can uproot the forest and allow us to escape.” I mean the Slot machine might do a lot more than that, but I’m honestly not sure. Times like this I really wished I would have gotten a Dark magician. Actually, doesn't the Magic ruler have some Toons already? Toon Blue-Eyes would be useful as well. It’s small and super powerful. As long as it doesn’t kill us along with the enemy.

“Hey Brian, get over here! We are moving out and you need to take the lead!” Zayaan shouted over. I guess his talks with the baron ended in his failure.

—

Our group went in the order of myself with Rico in the lead, Zay with one of the knights behind us, then the baron and Alice, Henry and Lucia behind them and holding the rear Alex with the other knight.

“Why do we need them?” Rico asks.

“We are going to reactivate a dungeon. The dungeon can use them as material.” Zay answers.

“Just pick them up so we can move on.” I say to Rico. It’s not like we are in a major hurry but it will be a pain to make our way back after dark. I hope that Henry's item box or whatever it is has camping equipment if it comes to that.

—

We don’t see any more monsters on our way to the dungeon. We only had one other stop so that Alice (and some others as well but I blame Alice since she asked) had a nature's call.

During that stop I also noticed that the knight in the rear had been marking the trees with a knife. I guess having a way back without me would be useful. Well a compass would work just as well. They should have some of those, right?

As we make it to the dungeon entrance, our line groups back up.

“Here we are.” I say to everyone.

“So this is a dungeon. It really just looks like a normal cave.” The baron says.

“Do we even know that it’s a dungeon?” Rico doubts me. Can’t really blame him too much. This does seem super sketchy. I’m sure the baron would not have come himself if I didn’t have system support.

“Hey, do you know what made these large footprints?” One of the knights ask, after spotting the footprints of Uraby.

“Yeah, they were made by a monster I summoned.” I answer.

“I thought you said your powerful monsters are too large for this forest.” Alex says to me.

“They are, but I only used it inside the dungeon.” I answer.

“That’s enough small talk. Let’s head inside.” The baron gave an order. I guess he also wants to get this done.

We head inside the dungeon.