The adventurers were climbing the steep terrain of the mountain range.
“How much longer do we have to climb? Wasn’t there supposed to be a dungeon nearby?”
However, unlike what was marked on the map, there was no sign of an actual dungeon.
It was the same when they looked around.
This was already the nth time they had come up empty-handed.
The adventurers were starting to get annoyed.
“Those Guild bastards grew fat selling cheap maps.”
The map they had was purchased from the Adventurer’s Guild.
The Adventurer’s Guild had only prohibited entry into the mountain range, but they still sold maps with terrain and dungeons marked normally.
However, none of it was accurate.
Since none of it was accurate and the map wasn’t cheap either, everyone was complaining.
“Perhaps.”
Iselin, a mage specializing in ice magic, spoke up.
“Maybe there really is something there? That’s why a noble commissioned us, right?”
Iselin’s claim was quite plausible.
“That makes sense.”
Graecto, a burly man, nodded in agreement with her words.
Graecto, holding a massive shield in his right hand and a large greatsword in his left, was truly awe-inspiring.
For an ordinary person, even lifting just that shield would have required considerable strength.
But Graecto lifted the shield and sword as if they were toys.
“In the first place, our objective isn’t dungeon exploration. The commission was to scout the mountain range and check for any unusual occurrences.”
Seeing everyone looking at him, Graecto shrugged his shoulders and continued.
“As Iselin said, we don’t know what’s happening in the mountain range. In the worst case, we might have become the guinea pigs to find out.”
Guinea pigs.
In his words, all the adventurers present had become experimental rats.
Something might really be happening in the mountain range.
Perhaps the ban on entering the mountain range was related to this?
And Graecto’s theory was that the Adventurer’s Guild and the noble might have conspired to orchestrate this.
“Damn it! No wonder they paid so much.”
Under normal circumstances, he would have dismissed that as a ridiculous claim, but this commission was too strange.
Especially since the advance payment alone was enough for each person present to live lavishly for a year.
At first, they just thought it was a commission from a generous noble.
Drawn by the large sum of money, they didn’t think too deeply.
Moreover, the commission was simple.
It was just reconnaissance and terrain exploration of the mountain range, so they didn’t assign it much importance.
“……”
But not anymore.
Weren’t all the maps they bought from the Adventurer’s Guild inaccurate?
They hadn’t checked every part, but they had been coming up empty-handed all along.
At this point, it wasn’t that the maps were wrong.
As everyone was thinking seriously, Nariel, who was at the front, exclaimed.
“There, there are footprints…!”
Indeed, there were footprints there.
But they were very faint.
Just slightly imprinted on the dirt path.
If it hadn’t been for Nariel, who was acting as a pathfinder, they would have passed by without noticing, they were that subtle.
“It seems there were some travelers before us. Nariel, can you tell roughly what kind of footprints they are?”
At Graecto’s words, Nariel stared intently at the footprints.
Although faint, fortunately, the footprints had distinct characteristics.
“Uh… first of all, there are four.”
Nariel continued to explain the characteristics.
“What’s strange is that, with one exception, they all seem to be monsters. Yes, three of the four look like skeletons.”
The footprints of the three beings were imprinted in the shape of bones.
So it was not difficult to identify them as skeletons.
“Skeletons?”
Graecto burst into laughter at her words.
“What, we’re scared of mere skeletons? Hahaha.”
It’s always frightening to face unknown beings.
But when the opponent is clear like this, it’s not difficult.
Especially since they were skeletons.
“Then who is the remaining one? Is it not a monster?”
After laughing, Graecto cleared his throat and asked another question.
“Ah, yes. First of all, they were wearing shoes, so I don’t know what it is.”
Unlike the bone imprints, one being’s imprints were clearly those of shoes.
“But I feel a strange aura.”
“A strange aura?”
“I don’t know what it is, but I feel that way.”
Nariel’s explanation ended there.
As soon as he heard that, Graecto turned away as if it were nothing.
After all, he had already figured out the rough details, so he didn’t need to talk to Nariel anymore.
To summarize, the opponents were four in number.
Three of them were skeletons.
The other one was wearing shoes.
‘A warlock.’
Of course, it could also be a monster.
Monsters wore equipment like humans, after all.
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
Even if he didn’t know who the remaining one was, three of them were definitely skeletons.
The adventurers here possessed the combat power to subdue skeletons without issue.
Therefore, he wasn’t worried.
Graecto looked at everyone and said.
“Perhaps the owners of those footprints are the ones we are looking for.”
They might be the ones messing with the current map.
And if they were scouting the mountain range, they were bound to meet them eventually.
“Since it’s come to this, why don’t we just split up? What do you say?”
What Graecto proposed was to divide the current group of adventurers into two.
One group would follow the footprints to track the unknown beings.
Another group would track the direction these footprints led in reverse.
Of course, it was too faint, and the footprints might have disappeared along the way.
But it would be much more efficient than blindly searching the mountain range.
Everyone nodded at his words.
They had been afraid just a little while ago, but now it was fine.
Rather, they wanted to finish quickly and get paid.
The adventurers began to divide their group as Graecto suggested.
“First, Nariel, you’re with the tracking party.”
Nariel, wearing her hat pulled down, gave a slight nod.
Her role was pathfinder.
It was a natural measure since she could easily track someone.
As the adventurers were dividing into parties, Nariel cautiously looked at the tree next to her.
‘The tree is trembling.’
The reason she was adept at pathfinding wasn’t just her agility.
It was because she could sense nature.
But this was a secret she hadn’t told anyone.
Nariel touched the tree.
The tree was trembling severely.
Nariel closed her eyes and shared the tree’s emotions.
‘Darkness.’
It was dark to the point of being unfathomable.
‘And desire.’
Desire existed within that darkness.
‘Finally, greed.’
Endless greed was unfolding.
Nariel opened her eyes, feeling a sense of dread.
“What on earth is this….”
It was an indescribable feeling.
* * *
Steam rose.
Warm vapor reached the ceiling, condensed into water droplets, and fell to the floor.
In the hollowed-out spot, warm water mixed with slimes of various colors.
It was a slime bath.
And in the center of the slime bath.
“Clack.”
Sat an Arch Lich.
The Arch Lich’s skeletal structure shimmered in the warm water, emitting light.
Sticky slimes were cleaning every nook and cranny of the Arch Lich’s bones.
A slight acidity was emitted from the slimes, but it was nothing to the Arch Lich.
It even felt refreshing.
“Clack.”
Bathing in the warm slime bath was a peculiar yet fantastic experience.
The Arch Lich wore a smile on his face, as if satisfied.
The slimes were cleaning not only the Arch Lich but also the shoes he was wearing.
The luxurious-looking shoes were one of the ‘small tokens of appreciation’ Skoll had given to the Arch Lich.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich ordered the skeletons attending him to come in as well.
The skeletons hesitated, but after the Arch Lich spoke again, they finally entered the bath.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich was satisfied.
Enjoying it alone would be a bribe.
But enjoying it together?
It was merely receiving ordinary attention.
After enjoying the bath for a long time, he got out.
The Arch Lich nodded and picked up his notebook.
Holding a fountain pen gifted by Skoll in one hand, he smoothly wrote down.
– Sticky Puddle Dungeon, no problems.
This was not personal bias. There were truly no problems.
Currently, the master leading the ‘Sticky Puddle’ dungeon was a 3-star King Slime.
As its name suggested, it was larger than a normal slime, and its combat power was not to be underestimated.
“Pew!”
The King Slime roared.
– Roaring like the master of a dungeon, its demeanor is rough. It appears quite threatening to adventurers.
Based on these points, the Arch Lich recorded meticulously.
The record for this dungeon was also quickly finished.
“Clack.”
As the Arch Lich spoke, the skeletons also got out of the slime bath.
It was time to leave.
The skeletons began to position themselves.
To the Arch Lich’s left stood skeleton holding a notebook, and to his right stood skeleton holding a fountain pen.
The skeleton behind the Arch Lich held a pack made of slime mucus, along with the ‘small tokens of appreciation’ received from Skoll.
The King Slime had gifted it, saying it was more effective when applied to the body.
The Arch Lich nodded and emerged from the slime dungeon.
They had already inspected two out of four dungeons.
[Red-Haired Tribe] – Completed, no issues.
[Sticky Puddle] – Completed, no issues.
And there were two more dungeons left.
[Village Covered in Mist]
[Scraps of the Demonic Realm]
While considering where to go next, the Arch Lich decided to visit the ‘Scraps of the Demonic Realm’ dungeon, which was relatively closer.
The Arch Lich and the skeletons began to move.
They were all undead.
Since they didn’t need rest, they continued walking.
They walked and walked.
Repeating this action, they eventually arrived at the dungeon.
[Scraps of the Demonic Realm]
A skeleton soldier was waiting in front of it, and as soon as it spotted the Arch Lich, it ran over.
“Clack!”
Then, it saluted the Arch Lich with a loud noise.
The Arch Lich nodded.
– Swift actions. These are grounds for commendation.
In fact, rather than being swift, they were all undead.
The skeleton soldier was also undead, so it didn’t need to sleep or rest.
And indeed, that skeleton soldier had been standing guard at the entrance since the ‘Scraps of the Demonic Realm’ dungeon was created.
It had never left its post.
As the Arch Lich entered the dungeon, the soldier returned to guarding the vicinity of the dungeon entrance.
“Clack!”
“Clack!”
As the Arch Lich entered the dungeon, everyone greeted him.
The ‘Scraps of the Demonic Realm’ dungeon was entirely composed of skeletons.
There were Skeleton Swordsmen, as well as Skeleton Archers and Mages.
Of course, there were also lower-ranked beings.
Soldiers, Archer Apprentices, Magic Trainees, and so on…
And a Skeleton Knight approached the Arch Lich and clasped its hands.
This was the dungeon’s master, a 3-star Skeleton Knight.
Originally a 2-star Skeleton Swordsman, it had evolved to 3-star after coming under the great Master.
Clatter-
Clatter-
If you look closely at them greeting the Arch Lich, you can see their bodies trembling slightly.
They were actually afraid of the Arch Lich.
The Arch Lich, the Inspector.
Because he was sent from a high-ranking dungeon for inspection.
And above all, because he could explode them.
One of the Arch Lich’s skills was corpse explosion.
He could explode undead monsters of a lower rank than himself.
However, the Arch Lich was a 5-star being.
All the skeletons present were within the range of the Arch Lich’s skills.
The fear that their own bones might explode at any moment made them tremble.
To them, the Arch Lich was more than an inspector; he was a source of dread and terror.
“Clack.”
The Arch Lich opened his mouth.
The inspection would begin now.
