“It was fifteen days ago that the dungeon was discovered. One of our branch’s patrollers stumbled upon it quite by accident during a separate quest.”
While Reed was dismantling the makeshift tent he had been using as temporary shelter, Arine explained to me and Friede the essentials we needed to know about this mission.
“Judging by the magic density at the entrance, it appears to be a dungeon of at least six floors. Instead of reporting it to the Adventurer Guild, they decided to keep quiet to monopolize the dungeon’s treasures for our organization.”
If they reported the dungeon’s appearance to the Adventurer Guild, a horde of adventurers would surely swarm in, fighting for the treasure like it was a buffet.
The branch leader of the group that Arine and Reed belonged to obscured the dungeon from outside detection and sent their own exploration party inside.
If they could monopolize all the treasures, it wouldn’t matter what came out; they’d make a profit that far surpassed the cost of hiding it.
However, overly optimistic plans usually led to disastrous failures. If everything had gone smoothly, I wouldn’t have been summoned here in the first place.
“So it doesn’t seem like things are going as planned?”
“…Well, yes. We sent down twelve expedition team members, splitting them into three groups, but it’s been a week with no news.”
Arine sighed softly, nodding her head.
Twelve missing. That’s definitely a big deal.
With that number, they essentially used all their core strength, and now that strength had vanished without a trace.
“So I requested support from above. There are only the two of us left who are of the silver tier, so we were critically understaffed.”
The branch is doomed.
With silver tier strength, they might not be able to challenge the kingdom’s knights, but they could easily handle a noble’s knight; losing twelve out of fourteen of them is quite the blow.
If they are still alive and can be rescued, it’s not a huge problem… but if they all are dead, it’s all over.
Replenishing that level of strength would be an exceedingly difficult task.
Just think about it, why would someone who could secure a place as a knight go and join an underworld assassination organization?
They could simply join a suitable noble and gain a salary, honor, and perhaps even land if they play their cards right.
While the pay might seem better in the underworld, there aren’t many who would choose the criminal life over being a knight just for a few extra coins.
Only those who had some massive failure leading to the loss of their knighthood, or individuals whose personalities were so rotten they could never be knights anyway.
Only those with severe issues would even consider such nonsense.
Moreover, even the few who fit that bill couldn’t just be accepted without reservation; they’d have to be handpicked for loyalty to avoid betrayal for their own selfish gain.
I doubt whether such a thing is even possible with the capacity of a single branch.
If I were Argantir, I’d consider closing the branch and along with that, command for the branch leader to lose his head!
But since Argantir instructed me to explore the dungeon instead of killing the branch leader, it seems he thinks a bit differently from me.
Who knows? It may be that he has already sent an assassin to deal with the branch leader, so no need for me to step in.
◆◆
After forty minutes from the forest entrance by carriage, we arrived at a small cave nestled on top of a low hill, deep in the woods.
“We’re here. The entrance to the dungeon is inside here. Thanks to that, it was easy to conceal.”
Reed, who volunteered as the coachman, stopped the carriage beside a suitable tree.
While Friede, Arine, and I gathered our belongings from the cargo space, he removed the harness from the packhorse and tied the reins to the nearby tree.
“Can we just leave it tied like that?” I asked, tilting my head.
Unlike the carriage, the horses are living beings. Leaving them unattended like that could easily lead to being hunted by beasts or starving to death.
“It’s fine. Our branch comes by every two days to check on them to hide the mana leaking from the dungeon.”
Reed shrugged casually. Since the bottom-tier members would check in every two days, he thought the horses would be taken care of just fine.
“…If someone comes every two days, wouldn’t it be better to just set up a tent inside the cave and stay there?”
“There could be monsters from the dungeon that might come out, right? We’d need at least four or five people on watch if we set a lookout.”
That does make sense.
It’s definitely more efficient to send just one person every two days rather than cramming five people into the cave for that.
“I understand. Then we can head in right away. Lead the way.”
Anyway, since someone is looking after the horses, we don’t need to worry about them anymore.
Now, all we had to do was enter the dungeon and slaughter anything that stands in our way.
◆◆
The cave was dark and damp, filled with the distinct stench of beasts.
The uneven floor was littered with bones from various animals, and the air was tainted with the foul smell of excrement and rotten meat.
“It seems this used to be a beast den.”
“Yeah, that’s what I heard.”
Reed nodded, casually showing off the fur cloak draped over his shoulder. Its rough white fur glowed slightly in the lantern’s light.
A snow bear fur cloak.
Seeing Arine wearing one herself, I started to gather where the original owners of this cave had gone.
Did the whole family just come together and sleep forever, turning into cloaks?
Not that I felt pity for them, given that human skulls were also mixed among the scattered bones.
Good snow bears are only dead snow bears. A saying and a truth every adventurer knows.
“We’re almost there. If we go left at this fork… do you see it? That crack over there.”
After walking for about ten minutes after that, we finally arrived at the entrance of the dungeon.
“A crack….”
It certainly looked the part.
The rocky wall at the very end of the cave had a gigantic hole broken where the upper section had shattered, surrounded by cracks and small fissures.
Did a truck crash into this place? Is this the entrance to a dungeon or just a half-collapsed cave passage?
The only elements reminiscent of a dungeon were the creepy atmosphere and the bizarre magic circle carved around the gaping entrance.
Of course, that magic circle was not part of the dungeon; it was merely inscribed by the members who discovered the dungeon to hide the mana leaking from the entrance.
“I’ll take the lead from here. Hold your lanterns up and follow me.”
“Yes!””Understood.””Will do!”
I drew Edelmut and stepped into the crack.
Whoosh— A sensation hit me as the air quality instantly changed.
The beastly and rotten smells seemed to vanish, replaced by slightly murky air that was undeniably cleaner than the cave.
So this is the dungeon.
I stood ready with my sword, focusing on what lay ahead as my party members followed in.
“Phew… it smells better here.”
“Somewhere here, our comrades…”
Reed, now with a bow and arrows in hand, chattered as he approached, while Arine, receiving the lantern, lifted it high to illuminate the surroundings.
“Hmm….”
Then lastly, Friede, with her black iron greatsword resting on her shoulder, strolled in, taking up the rear of our party.
After confirming that everyone was through, we carefully began to move forward, guided by the light of the lantern held high by Arine.
Gooohhhh…
In the vast and dim dungeon, a chilling wind blew from the depths, letting out a strange call as if welcoming new visitors.
◆◆
Maybe it was because we were close to the ground level. The landscape of the first floor looked remarkably similar to the cave outside the dungeon.
With the stalactites and rock formations, it almost felt like a half-collapsed rocky pathway.
“It’s much bigger inside than I expected.”
However, unlike the cave we just passed through, the inside of the dungeon was wide like a plaza.
Due to the depth and heaps of rubble littering the ground, the narrowness of the paths was about the same as the caves outside.
But as we continued deeper, the previously dark dungeon began to brighten slightly.
Not from sunlight shining in, but because of strange glowing minerals embedded everywhere on the ceiling, walls, and floor.
Sharp crystals emitting a soft and faint blue light.
“What is that…?”
“Those are glow crystals. They give off light because they’re infused with mana.”
Arine seemed a bit surprised by this brand-new sight, while Reed explained the nature of the crystals in a calm tone that suggested he was familiar with it.
“They’re materials used for magical tools, and while they can sell for a decent price if mined… these ones are worthless. The glow is just too dim.”
“The brighter they are, the more expensive they are?”
“Correct. The higher the mana content, the stronger the light they emit. But these ones aren’t even usable as lights; they’d barely sell for anything.”
For a gambling addict, he sure is knowledgeable.
Or maybe it’s because he’s a gambling addict that he is knowledgeable?
With the amount of money spent on entertainment compared to others, to not end up a beggar, he must know all about dungeon treasures.
Yet still, since he couldn’t repay his gambling debts and had to step into this organization, it seems that knowledge didn’t help much after all.
But hey, knowing about something valuable doesn’t matter at all if it never shows up in front of you.
Just like these glow crystals.
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