“Viola, that arm…”
“Uncle, well, I made it with Johann.”
Viola rolled up her sleeves and showed her steel hand to Lewis and Shuri. The prosthetic arm, reflecting the hot sunlight, spread a grey hue around.
“So this replaces your arm?”
“Yeah. The testing isn’t fully done yet, so I don’t know how it will perform in combat, but I can manage everyday tasks without any issues. I’m sure I’ll make a fortune with this.”
Absolutely stoked!
Viola’s excited voice pleasantly burrowed into my ears.
It’s nice to see her looking much brighter than when she first came to me for help.
It was worth all the effort put into making over ten prosthetic arms in the lead-up to our journey to the dungeon.
“You two. Have you seen Sif?”
“Just us.”
What could be taking Sif so long? Is something wrong? As I worried, a black thief cat was seen waving its hand while dashing from the other side of the street.
Just running late, huh?
Sif came to a halt right in front of me, panting heavily.
“Sorry, I was taking care of my little siblings…”
“It’s fine. We’re all gathered now.”
It wasn’t too late, so waiting a bit was acceptable.
“So we are going into the dungeon as five? Wow, I’m nervous!”
Shuri, with the most innocent face in this rather intimidating party, wagged her tail to show her delight.
She had the most bubbly personality among us, serving as a buffer for the team. Since she’s friends with Viola, there shouldn’t be much discord.
“Sif will handle scouting. Lewis will be at the front. Then I’ll be next. Shuri and Viola, you two take the rear.”
“A well-balanced formation!”
I don’t know how party compositions work in this world, but you can’t beat the basic combination of a front-liner warrior and a rear-support mage.
It’s rare to find a mage in a real adventurer party due to the difficulty in recruiting one.
Mages could work safely if they just put on a mage badge, so there’s no need to venture out and gamble with their lives.
“Johann, why am I the scout? Can’t you do it?”
“You said you knew how to dismantle traps. Might as well take on the scouting as well while you’re at it. I need to pay attention to the rear too.”
Besides, what else could she do? She barely had any combat ability to participate… if only she had developed some bombs, I would’ve told her to throw those.
Seeing I had no rebuttal, Sif nodded her head.
She was essentially the only one in this party who couldn’t fight, so I had to assign her something to ensure she had her role.
“Alright, everyone, gather around. I’ll brief you on the dungeon we are about to tackle while we have some drinks at the cafe.”
I chose a corner in the cafe where I had once shared orange juice with Sif and laid out a bundle of papers on the table.
“The dungeon we are going to is an unexplored dungeon found in the forest near Bellen, west of Kalon. It’s called the Beast’s Grave. It’s named after testimonies from other parties that explored the entrance and found traces of beasts.”
“Beasts…”
“The exact type still hasn’t been identified. However, considering that seasoned adventurers have fallen victim to them, it’s highly likely there are strong monsters that can’t be found in the nearby towns.
So, make sure to follow my orders.”
This time, the party nodded in agreement. They recognized the importance of following an experienced leader in situations like these.
…Looking at it this way, my experiences from the cracks seem to be paying off quite well.
Typically, kids lack self-awareness and end up becoming snacks for the monsters due to their reckless behavior.
I pulled out four small pouches from my bag. The party gazed at me with questioning expressions, exchanging looks. The one who finally asked was Lewis.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a deodorizer. It won’t erase all the scents, but it should help you avoid enemy ambushes a bit.”
Ah, I almost forgot about that. I took out the key item for this dungeon exploration from my bag and laid it on the table. This time, there were exactly four, matching our number.
“Take one each and use it the moment we enter the dungeon.”
“What is this? It looks peculiar…”
“You’ll find out once we enter the dungeon. Don’t take it off until we’ve emptied the entire dungeon. It’ll be your lifeline.”
If they take it off, they’ll be facing hell. Just like those who followed my command in the cracks, they nodded without any resistance to my words. This is why it’s good to have people you know.
If you bring in new ones, it’ll take forever to explain to them and convince them.
“Check if you’ve forgotten anything before we leave. Once we depart, we can’t return.”
“Four!”
“Understood.”
At my command, everyone scrambled to rummage through their backpacks. I also took a moment to check my own backpack and confirm I had everything prepared for the Beast’s Grave.
I hope it all works out.
As I closed my bag and secured the entrance, I stood up. It’s time to catch the carriage so we arrive on schedule.
As soon as I stood, everyone else followed suit.
“Then, I’ll be off.”
———–
“Ugh, my back…”
The first to jump out of the carriage was Sif, clutching her back and groaning. I followed after her, adjusted my backpack, and looked up at the sky. The journey from Kalon to Bellen took half a day, and the sky was now painted a crimson hue.
“My shoulder…”
“Is it really painful?”
“It feels like skin is getting pinched every time we hit a bump. I’m not sure if it’s phantom pain or what.”
At Viola’s words, I glanced at her shoulder. Although it wasn’t visible due to her clothing, she said she felt pain every time the carriage shook, so I worried there might be a flaw in the prosthetic.
“I’ll check on it when we get to the inn.”
“Thanks, Uncle.”
“Uncle…? Uncle! Uncle, huh! That suits you well!”
Sif, standing next to me, tilted her head and burst into laughter. Her laughter was oddly reminiscent of a cat’s meow, which got on my nerves, prompting me to give her a stern ultimatum.
“I’ll have to think about how much to deduct from your salary.”
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Young and handsome brother!”
Do you think I’d change my mind just because of such blatant flattery?
“Hahaha.”
Shuri seemed to find our exchanges amusing and giggled until we made eye contact, at which point she tucked her tail and looked around.
[Isn’t the contractor being too narrow-minded? Women prefer men with a broad mindset.]
I’m not exactly unpopular with the ladies.
…Though it feels more like a father-daughter relationship than anything romantic.
I hope Millia doesn’t cause any trouble while we’re away from the dungeon.
No, that’s not what I should be concerned with right now. I stood at the forefront of the party and announced today’s last plan.
“We’ll find an inn for the night and have dinner before resting. We might get excited in a new city, but we must not forget that our goal is the dungeon, so no going out at night.”
“Four!”
“Yes, sir!”
It seems like only Lewis and Shuri were responding earnestly.
“Where shall we find the inn?”
“I’m thinking of searching for one. Do you know of any?”
“I’m a pure Kalon native, so I’ve never been to Bellen.”
Considering he was from the slums of Kalon, he probably hadn’t ventured outside much.
I asked the other students to confirm, but none of them had any knowledge of Bellen either.
I don’t know much either. I’ve heard the name in games, but it’s just a passing town at position D. It’s hardly noteworthy, with only a side quest or two to speak of.
“…Then it looks like we’ll have to put in some legwork. Alright, let’s head out.”
They sure look like little ducklings following behind me.
So, am I the mother duck?
I brushed off Rue’s odd metaphor and walked toward the entrance of Bellen.
————
“Yawn…”
“Shuri, you alright?”
“Uhh… just tired from the morning…”
After taking my eyes off the main couple’s lovey-dovey antics from dawn, I closely examined the dungeon’s entrance, which reeked of rotting corpses.
It looked like a cave at first glance, but the peculiar ominous atmosphere confirmed this was indeed the Beast’s Grave.
“Let’s drop our backpacks here and wait. I’ll set up some traps just in case.”
I extended the shovel I had in my backpack and began to scrawl on the ground. It was a rough sketch of a blueprint. This should suffice.
“Crafting.”
In an instant, a pit appeared before me, large enough to stop a bear in its tracks. I scattered those pits around and called out Rue.
“Rue, I’m going to use magic.”
[Big one or small one?]
“Of course, a small one.”
I extended my hands and muttered the incantation.
“Sprinkler.”
[Your naming sense is something else.]
A transparent liquid sprayed from my hands, the sticky substance dispersing like a spray bottle. I carefully doused the area surrounding the traps with the goo.
“Uncle, what are you spraying?”
“A sticky slime. It should bind anyone who steps on it briefly. Small creatures won’t be able to move at all.”
To put it simply, it was akin to magical rat poison.
It might sound silly when you say rat poison, but when you spread it over a large area, the monsters that fall into the pits won’t be able to escape easily.
After meticulously sprinkling the slime over the traps, I turned to the party standing by the entrance, looking dazed.
“I’ll be going in now. Everyone, light your lamps.”
They scrambled to light their lamps in a flurry at my command. I had no idea how much light the dungeon would provide, so it was necessary. To put it bluntly, if it turned out like the last crack with no light source, it’d be a nightmare.
Shouldering my backpack, I took my first steps down the slope leading into the dungeon.
“Follow me while maintaining formation as previously mentioned. And keep doubting my words to a minimum.”
I heard anxious responses from behind me.
That was a satisfying reaction.
Well then, shall we descend slowly?
We stepped into the darkness that lay before us like it was tempting the explorers.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.